Dash sat down with a sigh in the corner of her cramped office, freshly showered, letting out a groan of annoyance as pain rocketed through her side. She was going to yell at Applejack about this, that was for sure. It hadn't seemed like the thing to do at the time, and she somewhat understood the farmer's rage, but it didn't warrant… this! Dash chanced a peek at her side and cringed. Mother of all bruises, that was for sure. She could walk it off of course, mare she was, but it would've been nice to have just not had it happen.

Maybe she'd just been too overjoyed from the night before to blow a gasket right there. Besides, Mac had kinda done that for her. Dash smiled merely thinking about it. About him.

She had Mac. Finally. She knew him, maybe even loved him. The pain in her side faded a little. Maybe that was how Mac had felt when he'd forgotten his heat for a moment. Man, she wanted to hug him again. Her arms couldn't even reach all the way around, come to think of it, but their contact just seemed so right. It wasn't lustful or anything, especially when it should have been.

Dash had never felt so excited over a thing so intangible. It was strange, to think that she was lonely as all get out only a week ago, and now… well she wasn't really sure what stage she was in, but she liked it. There was some stuff she had to work out in her head, but Mac's willingness to answer questions had gone a long way. Obviously she hadn't asked the really personal ones, but that didn't surprise her. Though they didn't stop her from wondering, of course.

It wasn't really strange that she was curious, right? She didn't think so. It was such a strange thing to think about, and she still wasn't sure what things were like.

He was in heat, and normally that was a mare thing, constricted to mare parts. But there he was, with an erection that she could just now begin to think about in an erotic sense. Well, not now. Not at work. Dammit, work.

Dash squinted, thinking. What did having a dick feel lik-

The door opened, and she just about had a heart attack. "AAAH!" Dash exclaimed, pushing herself roughly into the arm of her chair. Thunderlane walked inside. "What is it with you and not knocking?" She asked, perturbed. "Seriously!"

"What's got you so jumpy?" He asked, and everything from the last sixteen hours spun through her brain.

Dash let out a breath. "Just a little tired. Thoughtful, I guess." She replied. Technically not a lie. She wasn't like Applejack, she could definitely lie, but she just preferred not to. Fewer possible enemies that way.

"Thoughtful in a good way?" He asked, sitting on the corner of her desk.

"Yeah. I can say I have a coltfriend now."

"Oh, seriously?!" Thunderlane exclaimed. "Nice job!" He stepped off the desk, offering her a hoof bump that she gladly returned.

"Yeah, I'm pretty happy about it." Dash replied.

"I would assume so. You aren't going out and telling anypony about it though, any reason for that? Privacy?" He asked, returning to his seat.

"Mostly that. If ponies find out, I guess I don't mind, but it just seems simpler without that."

"Probably some jealousy'd be going around after that discovery, huh?" He asked, and she nodded. "Though I'm sure you'll have at least a few stallions breathing sighs of relief. Can't say those guys will be too annoyed with you."

"Stallions were always easier to talk to anyway." Dash replied. "Less emotional stuff."

Thunderlane laughed. "I hope you realize that's the reason you can hang around stallions so easily. Romance may be different, but it's hard to dislike a mare that acts like one of us."

"So I'm eye candy and have a personality?" She asked, chuckling. "You're too kind."

"I live to please." He responded, taking a little bow. "Anyway, got any plans for today? It's not like there's much to do on the weather front, no pun intended."

"Yeah. Kinda wanted something to do, though." Her side gave a pang of annoying pain, but she downplayed it well. It was on the side opposite him anyway.

"That's not like you. Bit of Mac's work ethic rubbing off?"

"Ha, maybe." Dash paused. "I guess I'd just rather get through the time I'm not with him as quickly as possible."

"I know the feeling." Thunderlane responded, picking up a snow globe from Dash's desk to examine. "It fades a little, after a while. Not so overpowering. I kinda like it, though." He became silent, thinking for a moment before he burst out into laughter. "And here we are, talking about feelings."

"It's not so bad if it isn't like the usual gossip." Dash put on her best impression of Rarity. "Ooh, did you see that stallion, darling? What a stud, and his flank! It's a pity, though, because I heard from my friend that her friend is going out with him, and they aren't speaking to each other anymore because of it. But I'll tell you what I heard…"

"Alright, enough." The stallion responded, wiping a tear from his eye. "I get it." He got up, grabbing the doorknob with a hoof. "See you later. Got a little work of my own to get done." He finished, leaving and closing the door behind himself.

Dash waited a few seconds, before she turned to look at her side. Ooh, that was worse than she thought. Her skin had turned a dark blue over a large splotch of flesh, and it almost hurt to look at. Applejack was in for a nice, crisp punch to the jaw.

And what was with that whole thing anyway? She could understand being overprotective. Her father was overprotective of her in a million ways. But at some point, it had to have registered through her brain that maybe it wasn't what it looked like because Dash had been there, and not some other random mare. She could have understood Applejack's rage a little more if it had been another mare, and not just because it wouldn't be her with the giant bruise.

I mean, maybe she could have been mad, and so on. But she'd gone a little far against one of the ponies she trusted the most. At least, Dash hoped she trusted her. Yeah, she better by now. So there was another reason Applejack deserved an uppercut the next time they met. Like she needed two reasons.

She had to look busy, at least. If somepony came in and saw her just laying around, it wouldn't look good. She could sleep on clouds because she almost never got caught, and the fact that everything still got done gave her a lot more leeway. There was probably some paperwork she had an excuse to work on now, and the fact that she was in the office gave her no excuse not to get to work.

Come to think of it, there was some junk about their quota, and some more about other stuff like cloud supply and mountain rainfall. They couldn't possibly control everything, but she wished they could. That'd be a lot fewer forms.

She pulled open a drawer on a filing cabinet, hauling out a huge folder, which Dash slapped on the desk. The blue mare paused to swear under her breath, putting an angry hoof to her side. This wasn't a bruise, that bone had definitely just moved. Ooh, she hated that feeling. Made her feel sick.

But it was just a rib, she'd had worse. She didn't really need the hospital for that. They couldn't do much anyway, other than a wrap around her chest. What if the bone was offset? She didn't know how to align bones, more than the obvious parts. This was probably the first time she was torn between getting help or not. If she just got this paperwork done now, that meant that she wouldn't be cramming in as much before audits, and that meant that she'd see more of Mac during that time, in which she had a history of being lonely. She hated being lonely.

"Dammit!" She muttered. "Broken bones come first." It would've been nice if a higher up had actually heard the stupid struggle going on in her head. She didn't really want a promotion, but it'd still make her look good. This entire train of thought was retarded.

Dash closed the door of her office behind herself, walking towards the door.

"Weather issues?" A unicorn behind the front desk asked.

"No, just broke my rib." Dash responded, walking through the door before the mare could ask a follow up question. Maybe that'd put in a shot for her toughness. Or maybe it'd make her look stupid if they assumed she'd somehow done it in her office.

Alright, so she'd go by the hospital, see if everything was alright, punch Applejack in the face and yell at her, and then check for oranges. Maybe a pony in the Canterlot insane asylum had come up with the same sentence at some point today.

Dash still felt rather happy, all things considered. She didn't consider flying to speed things up, because it would only make things worse. Her flight earlier had probably done enough of that, though. She wasn't grounded, hopefully, but- wow, that would suck if she was. Eh, at least she had stuff to occupy her on the ground now.

She came to a halt, staring at the dirt. Dash, fastest and most awesome flyer in Equestria, had just shrugged off the possibility of being grounded for a while. Was she high?

Dash told herself that it would be horrible not flying for a couple days. It had been before. Getting to her house would be annoying, but she didn't really care. She didn't feel that annoyed or put out.

She walked up to the front desk of the Ponyville hospital on autopilot, getting out of her thoughts long enough to notice the stallion in scrubs behind the counter.

"Soooo, I broke my rib, and I was wondering if I could just have somepony take a look at it real quick."

"When did you break it?"

"Today." Dash responded, turning to point to the bruise. Something about that position really fucking hurt.

The receptionist skeptically reached for an intercom microphone. "We've got a mare with a broken rib, minimal further damage."

"If you're not in too much pain, fill out these forms." He said, sliding a clipboard at her. "It'll help speed stuff up."

Dash nodded, taking the board and a pen and taking a seat. Her thoughts turned to Mac again, and time slipped by.

Not a bad break. Couple days, they said. Try not to fly, they said. Dash rolled her eyes. She lived in the sky, that was hardly even possible.

The bandages wrapped around her sides felt a little too tight, and they left her in a state of feeling perpetually short on breath. It definitely kept the bone from shifting as much as it could, but that didn't mean it wasn't annoying. Walking long distances sucked.

She could see the barn, though the window was obscured by the treetops. She needed something snazzy to say to Applejack before she unleashed a stiff upper cut. Or getting mad worked. Dash wasn't livid or anything, but keeping her from flying and the lack of trust deserved at least one punch. Sure, she understood what Applejack had done, just as she was sure the farmer would understand why she was going to have a nice bruise on her face.

Dash stopped in front of the barn, looking up at a window with a lack of citrus fruit. Dammit. She heard hoof steps and turned, catching sight of the orange mare. Applejack gave her a slight nod as she passed, which almost made Dash hold her punch. Almost.

Applejack sprawled backwards onto the ground as Dash clutched at her side. Soooo worth it.

"What in tarnation!" Applejack yelled, getting to her hooves. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Dash cut her off.

"Look, Applejack." Dash said calmly. "I could handle things in a civilized manner, but we both know that such a plan hardly solves tensions."

"What are ya-"

"How could you not trust me!?" Dash asked, pointing to her side. "Like this was really what was necessary! I'm grounded for a few days while these bandages work their magic!"

"Look, Dash, Ah-"

"No! I- You're supposed to trust me, not overreact!"

"Ah-" Applejack hung her head. "Ah know." She paused, and Dash decided to let the silence trail on. "But look, Ah know that what Ah did wasn't warranted, but look- Mac's heat is a sensitive thing to him to say the least, and when Ah saw ya there- I just got so angry. It as nothing to do with ya, but he'd just blame himself forever if anything happened, and he's- look, the reason Ah didn't seem to trust ya is because Ah didn't think that far ahead."

"I can see that." Dash replied, calming slightly. "You always were pretty impulsive."

"Careful on the moral high ground, Dash." Applejack replied with a chuckle. "Ya might slip."

Dash batted a hoof at her. "I'll never get over your sayings. We good?"

"More or less." Applejack replied. "Can't say Ah'm too mad about something Ah kinda deserved."

"Glad to hear it." Dash paused. "The first part, I mean. Just tell me if Mac wants to see me, alright? How's he doing?"

Applejack let out a low whistle. "Not good." She moved a few steps closer, lowering her voice. "It's a bad heat, and before ya go off blaming yourself, Ah highly doubt it's you anyway. He's prone to some… well, bad might still be the best word to use."

"How do you know?"

"Water intake's a good indicator, specially when ah can compare it ta other heats."

Dash furrowed her brow. "What?"

"Well, he pushes out a cooler of water when he runs out, and ah get some water in it. Stick out a few other buckets of ice water so that he doesn't just dump the tank. Anyway, he's on track to beating a record." She nodded a few times to confirm, grinning a little at her own brilliant plan.

"How do you deal with it?" Dash asked. "I mean, what's it like having Mac around when this kind of thing happens?"

Applejack sat down, leaning against a tree in thought. "The funny thing is, it's just so normal by now." She let out a dry chuckle, staring downwards. "Ah mean, he's been around since before ah was born, so it's not like Ah knew any different from him. But if ya told me ta pick a stallion that qualifies as normal, Ah'd pick him out of a crowd even if he wasn't mah brother. With all the stuff he has going on, he's always been the same Mac, and he's never let it affect him. Made the guy one hell of a role model after Granny gave me a talk about the whole thing."

"Explains a bit of the stubbornness." Dash interjected. Applejack nodded.

"Ya can expect a call, if it comes. But Ah wouldn't count on much of a change for the better right after heat. Hormones don't exactly make those days easier."

"Wait, he has that too?" Dash asked, somewhat shocked. Man, he had an odd mix of things that worked. The week after heat sucked.

"He gets all the crappy parts of bein' a mare. Can't have a foal, so that gets rid of the best." Applejack shook her head. "Ah'd never want ta be him, ah know that much."

Days went by. Two, then three. Dash watched the barn, but it became obvious almost immediately that Mac was trying to diligently keep away. She couldn't blame him. If she was the one in heat and he came by, well… she supposed that came more down to whether or not she could persuade him to do anything. She definitely couldn't overpower him at all, not that she went that heat crazy. Judging by what Applejack had said, Mac must've had some sort of tendency towards such a thing. Or maybe just an assumed one, like something that they wanted to protect against even if it never came about as a problem.

The fact that Mac's absence made sense didn't lighten her burden, however. She missed their contact. The weather had cooled despite the spring months, and if there was ever a time she wanted a body next to her it was now. It felt almost like the draw that heat had, without the purely sexual lust. She wanted Mac next to her to hold onto and love, not for crazed intercourse. Love. Huh, there went those thoughts again.

Dash leaned back in her swivel chair, yawning and making her way for the door. Maybe today. Her rib was feeling better, and after another day or so she could probably get to her house without using a cloud. Either way, the grounding was somewhat nice. She liked seeing things from Mac's point of view, and it'd given her ample time to find a couple of niches of Ponyville that she'd missed. She was becoming a regular at The Hole in the Map as well. Every time she walked inside she berated herself for not caring enough to find it earlier. It was a magical little place.

She passed a group of ponies that were giggling about something or other. She felt kinda like laughing. Not that she really knew why. Of course she didn't, her feelings hadn't been predictable for days, why start now?

What would happen if Mac let her in anyway? What would he look like after most of his heat had passed? She usually looked alright, but that was because she spent most of her time in her cloud shower staying cool and taking advantage of the lack of a water bill. It almost seemed like the colder she could stay, the more stability of thought she held on to. For some stupid reason, she tested that a few years ago for a day. It had not ended well.

If this relationship got somewhere, a cloud walking spell and the use of her shower could help Mac a whole lot. But then again, if they were still together months or a year from now, however long it took, she doubted that she'd want to suppress his heat. She felt a little warmer just thinking about it.

Apple trees went by. Dash realized that she got caught in thought way too much. One of these times she was going to hurt herself running into something. It'd probably end up re-breaking her rib with her luck. She looked up at the barn, realizing that she had gotten too close to see any oranges in the window. A wind blew, and she narrowly stepped out of the way of a falling fruit.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, hopping around on her hooves. Her excitement was short-lived, however, as she pushed against the door with a hoof and found it firmly locked. "Fuck."

Maybe Applejack had a ladder nearby. Her rib was healing, but she didn't want to tempt another break or added soreness. Climbing a ladder would still be risky, but it wouldn't be anything she couldn't handle. She found a step stool, which was totally useless to her. Wait, was that- ooh, it was. Dash pulled out a folding ladder, awkwardly pushing it alongside the barn. She set it up under the window, making sure that the rusty cross braces of the triangular structure weren't about to come apart.

Getting in was easy, aside from a jump that had needed a bit of help from her wings. Aiding a hop wasn't hard. Staying up in the air was the problem.

Dash stepped across the boards on the loft, watching her step and carefully testing each one. There was a nice little stair step of hay descending towards the ground, which she could-

"Dash!" She looked up, finding Mac across the barn. She was surprised that it hadn't been her first action, as soon as she had entered, but she really didn't trust these boards. "Ooooh." Mac sighed, clearly concentrating on something else. Dash could see exactly how much he was concentrating, considering his central position in the barn. He was rubbing at himself and breathing heavily, and as much as it wasn't right to watch… She really wanted to. Well, parts of her did, anyway. Obviously her saintly mind didn't, because that would be ridiculous.

Mac pushed his head backwards into the hay on the floor, his mouth open in soundless pleasure. A bead of sweat slid over his forehead, but he paid it no heed. He shifted, giving Dash a full view of everything that wasn't directly blocked by his hooves. Her eyes widened, and her wings slowly spread open. Her eyes watched his length as he stroked it madly, trying to push out an orgasm like it was some sort of cleansing process. She knew how it felt.

The stallion grunted, rolling slightly to one side as he arched his back. He let out a series of staccato gasps, his eyes so tightly shut it looked as if he might turn his eyelids inside out. His hoof got in the way of his member as he came, his muscles taught. Dash crouched a little lower. She didn't really want to embarrass him by letting him know she'd been here for any amount of time. Maybe he'd give it a rest and she could make a racket and act like she'd just arrived.

But he didn't stop. He just went back to his genitals that she struggled not to stare at. It was so- oh man, he was- he didn't have to wait between orgasms even. Maybe that was the heat, but it was so hot… Was his musk always this strong? Was this room always so warm? She felt her backside pulsate, trying to keep a hopeless damper on her arousal.

Mac opted for a slightly slower route this time around, murmuring her name occasionally as his small thrusts met his hoof. He dug his other hoof hard into his va- she'd have to get used to that. His vagina. She wondered how that felt, what kind of pleasure she could make him feel if she- no, sex was off the table. Even if it would be awesome. Even if she was realizing that she really wouldn't object to it.

Mac moaned out some mangled word, his rushed huffs of breath their own clues to another orgasm. Dash bit at her hoof, looking down at him. It had been so short a time, and he was- she hadn't been this aroused since- maybe never, even. Don't rub yourself, Dash… You're not here for a show.

Mercifully, Mac came. What she could see wasn't a spectacular ending, as a little rivulet of semen slid down his completely rigid length. Such a performance wasn't really surprising, considering the number of times he'd surely emptied himself already. She felt herself wink at the thought, nearly throwing a hoof between her legs to get a little release of her own. It'd probably help if she stopped thinking like this.

The stallion rose, turning around from his audience of one. Dash hurriedly wiped a dribble of juices from one of her hind legs, trying to make herself look like she hadn't just been watching and liking his performance. If she'd been told a week ago that her coltfriend would go into heat and have his own set of female genitalia, she would have probably laughed and been a little disturbed. But when she looked at Mac, it just wasn't that simple. He was what he was, and she accepted that. Liked it, even. There was always that one drawback to every guy, and if this was Mac's then she'd really drawn a winner.

Mac moved behind a couple of bales of hay, and Dash punched a board with her hoof to act as if she had just landed inside. Mac's head popped out from behind one of the bales again, and Dash had to keep from laughing at how cartoonish it looked. Her arousal had cleared up a little, at least, although the strength of his musk hardly helped. She walked down the stair steps of hay, meeting him behind his bales.

To say that he was looking tired would be an understatement. So would words like unkempt and bothered. "I saw the oranges." She said. Yeah, obviously brain. "Why today?"

"Well-"

"What's this?" Dash asked, picking up a cupcake from a bale. Her eyes focused on a candle behind it, and the hole it had left in the frosting when it had been removed. "Oh no."

"It's mah birthday." He confirmed, smiling a little.

Dash sighed, setting the treat aside. She sat down. "Gosh, that sucks."

"It's not that bad, 'specially since ya got here." He said. Dash wondered how it was possible that she had gone from a state of high arousal to near depression in fifteen seconds. It made her feel a little queasy.

"Applebloom brought it by this morning before school, even though she wasn't supposed to." He grinned with an expression that Dash had only ever seen on her parents' faces. "Love that little filly." He twitched, scratching at his inner thigh. Mac left his legs a little spread, though a fair amount of him remained out of sight. "And evidently ya didn't come to yer senses 'bout me, so that's a nice end to today." He leaned to one side. "What happened to yer-" He gestured to the bandages around her chest.

"I just hurt myself. No big deal."

"But-"

"Look, I'll tell you everything when you're totally sane up there, alright? It's really nothing to worry about." She leaned forwards before he could respond, pushing her lips to his as she sat down in front of him.

Mac pushed her away after a moment, the fuzz of one of her fore hooves slipping by his member as she put it back to the ground in front of her. The stallion stiffened and his length pulsed. Keep your wings to your sides, Dash. Just like her to try to do something that was impossible.

"Don't." He said simply, remorse in his voice. "It'll just get worse." Dash mentally slapped herself. As if he wasn't having a bad enough heat. Especially over his birthday. Wait, birthday…

"Hey, we're marefriend and coltfriend." She said, putting on a warm smile. "And it's your birthday." She kissed him before he could stop her, pulling back a second later. "You deserve a little birthday gift before I can get you something real."

Dash poked a hoof to his chest, rolling the stallion onto his back without much trouble. She wasn't going to go far, but she could at least give him a little relief. Heat was always better when somepony else helped.

"Dash, don't. I- we shouldn't do this." He said, sweat breaking across his forehead as he tried to fight the urges she knew he was having.

"Mac," she began, crouching so that her muzzle was right next to his shoulder. "We're not going there, alright?" She let herself lay on her side, resting her head on his shoulder. "But I can't let you just sit around like this when I know I can help."

"But-" Dash pushed a hoof against his length, giving it a small rub. Mac seemed to melt, putting a hoof around her back as she began. Apparently he was done trying to stop her, and she was somewhat glad that he hadn't tried too hard. She knew she could help like this, and give him a nice bit of relief. It was the least she could do. Her hoof wrapped around, sliding up to his flared head and back. Dash felt her backside pulse, her wings trying to remove themselves from her sides. He was thicker than he looked, but she wasn't sure how he compared to other stallions. It'd been far too long since she'd done anything like this. She leaned over and kissed him.

Mac groaned into her mouth, and she stroked back down, running over his medial ridge and meeting the edge of his sheath. Dash pulled away from the kiss for a moment, taking a look at what she was working on. He was so stiff, so unbelievably hard… Her eyes slipped down, past his testicles, pulled tight against his body with need, towards the bit that ashamed him so much. Dash had never really had much more than a glance, and what she'd said before had been about correct.

It looked mismatched onto his body, but it looked normal if not of slightly larger proportions. It stuck out just a bit, the ridge of muscle or erectile tissue that ran towards his penis keeping it pushed out. Why she wasn't turned off in the slightest, she would never know. Dash knew she was completely straight, and yet here she was, ogling a vagina. Maybe it was because it was attached to Mac, and because that was his arousal dripping onto the floor. It winked at her, and Dash felt an eyelid twitch. A bead of precum slid onto her hoof, and Dash's wings flew out from her sides, her internal battle lost.

"Dash…" Mac complained, and she realized she'd stopped. She shook her head, putting on a smile as she returned to his lips. She stroked faster, another drip of precum sliding over her hoof. "Oooooh Goooosh." He said, and Dash giggled.

"Not gonna swear, huh?" She asked, and he peaked through an eyelid on his happy face at her.

"Gotta act mature around the ladies." He replied with a dry chuckle, which ended in a gasp. "It feels so much better when ya do it."

"I know." Dash replied, nuzzling against his cheek. "Now shhh. Just enjoy it." That smile though… if she died now, she'd be happy. Mac sucked in a quick breath, his free hoof shifting and prodding at the ground as it tried to find something to do. She extended a wing, lowering the feathers until they came into contact with the tip of his member. Mac nearly had a heart attack, his member pulsing in her hoof. Man, he had a cute face when he was getting pleasured.

She knew her wings were soft, but she could only imagine what they felt like to him. Dash worked her feathers gently over his tip, continuing to stroke his length. She felt him expand, kissed him on the cheek and caressed his side with her free hoof as he came against her, shaking in silent release. Dash held him for what felt like forever, her arousal, though still growing, refused to become needy. She could laugh at how she felt, so ready and yet unwilling. She could wait, even if it took years. So long as she could stay around Mac like this in the meantime, it'd hardly feel like waiting at all.

"That was- it- Ah-" Mac stared at the ceiling, panting with that same smile. That expression was probably more arousing than everything else she'd done today. "Ah love you Dash."

Dash merely smiled, as if she had been expecting it. She hadn't in the least, and she nearly did a backflip right then and there. Maybe it was just his heat talking, or the fact that he'd just gotten off by her hoof. But- no, she knew those feelings were real, that he knew them to be true. Dash's response response was as heartfelt as any words she'd ever uttered before.

"I love you too."

Author's Notes:

I like how editing this story doesn't turn my mature filter on.

Also, I didn't win that contest I entered this for. Ah well. The judge said they liked it, somewhat. I can't really tell if it was a bad review or a good one. I was aiming for originality points, and I don't think I got them.