Sunday, April 10th, Too Early, Under Pinkie? Dash’s Spare Room

Dusk was sure his eyes were open, but he couldn't see anything that could verify that fact. As if a great, squishy weight lay upon his chest and head, he was unable to move any part of his body, or see past the warm void before his face. Reaching into his soul's hearth for the spark of his magic, Dusk only found tiny embers around a banked fire, where his normally roaring inferno waited.

Floating alone in the inchoate void, Dusk had begun to wonder whether any sensation traveled in the comfortable, lethe-inducing darkness. Was this filled void, this repleted mislocalization, completely locked fast from all save a sort of toasty, plush pressure against his full frame? No-- not entirely, he realized. There was a scent, comforting and familiar, that he couldn't name, sweet in its aspect...

"Snuggf, margh, mehhh... No, no more pancakes." The words echoed in his ears, whispering in from all around him. He abruptly knew under what enchantment he lay and what-- no, whose-- pressure was surrounding him with luxurious imprisonment.

Those words gave the dark and moistly warm isolation in which Dusk lived sudden definition. The welcome pressure on his chest was Pinkie, her large, tender breasts resting against his bare chest. The oddly Pinkie and candy-scented darkness? Her wild and poofy hair. Taking an educated guess, Dusk shifted his head through the exhilarative miasma, attempting to tenderly kiss her lips. It took several attempts before he finally aligned the kiss properly, and he whispered softly to the dozing mare. “Pinkie?”

In cozy silence Dusk waited, too weary to push the sleeping mare from his chest, too amused that she'd stripped both him and her in order to cuddle closer in her sleep. Moving slowly due to his exhaustion, Dusk slipped his hands out just enough to find the curve of Pinkie’s gorgeously generous ass, giving both cheeks the strongest squeeze he could manage. “Pinkie? I need to wake up. I can hardly breathe.”

Dusk already knew a riskier strategy might be required than his current plan, but for a brief moment, his heart-- and perhaps other organs-- soared with hope as Pinkie stirred, giggling as she kissed his cheek, mumbling coyly. “Mrmmm, such playful hands… don't tease a mare if you don't mean it!”

But after speaking, Pinkie shifted her body and nuzzled her cheek against his jaw, playfully nibbling a few small bites before slowing down, drifting off again as her arms tightened around his shoulders. Soon he was sure of it, she had drifted off to sleep. The drool, frankly, was disheartening.

Realizing he was losing this battle, Dusk used the sparse freedom she'd granted him to glance towards the window. That one design choice absolutely guaranteed that Dash’s home had been built by an earth pony. No other aspect of unaligned architecture was quite so signatory of design philosophy. Nearly eight feet wide, and set high off the floor, the window stretched from wall to wall, the view giving an uninterrupted glimpse of the small town outside. Relaxing back against the plush pillow’s weight, Dusk lazily attempted to follow the way that the rising sun drew lines across nearby homes, outlining a distinctive separation between the advancing dawn and the retreating night.

Eventually Dusk accepted that Pinkie showed no signs of waking up, leaving him with only one recourse. Sliding into dangerous territory, Dusk released Pinkie’s comfortable rump, and slipped both hands up to take a firm grip on the mare’s fluffy tail. Bracing himself for unexpected consequences, he tugged her tail as gently as he could.

Pinkie bolted up, face flushed and mouth gasping, while her hips locked down upon his, pinning him to the bed. The instinctive motion pinned her bare cleft into a grind against his pants, her voice an excited mewl of surprise and pleasure. “Ohhhh!!!~~ Duskie! I didn't know you wanted me up so badly!”

Unable to help himself, nor truly wanting to try, Dusk slipped his wandering hands back from Pinkie’s quivering tail to hold her curvaceous hips. He enjoyed a long, comfortable moment to relax and catch his breath, the warm pulse in her powerful thighs rousing him in more ways than one. Eventually he sat up against her, and nuzzled his cheek against her throat before cooing up into her ear. “I've been trying to gently wake you for an hour or two, Pinkie~ You really are a deep sleeper!”

Calming down into his arms from the jolt of energy that had woken her up, Pinkie started to curve her lip into a pout before giggling playfully, tapping the tip of his nose with a single digit. “I'm a practiced, professional sleeper! Second only to Maud! She's the real expert. She can sleep like a rock!” A further curve tilted her smile into salacious territory. "Besides, somepony was an extra fun playmate last night…"

Slowly sliding his open palms back and forth in adoring admiration across the surprisingly powerful muscles of Pinkie’s hips, Dusk massaged her muscles as she spoke. When she finished, Dusk gently laughed, leaning against her, kissing along the ridge of her neck until he found her ear. “Maud? Your older sister, right? I'm sure it runs in the family. But, Pinkie?" He sighed regretfully and moved to kissed her chin. "As much as I would like to continue-- Sadly none of this is getting me to the hospital… and I don't want to think what Redheart will do to me if I don’t check in before tomorrow's trip, if Scootaloo is still coming with us.”

Pinkie’s comfortable, soft and pliant body was nearly enough to tempt Dusk into lingering in bed a few hours longer just on its own, and she clearly knew it. She angled her waist, slipping her weight against his hip, then back to his loins, rubbing her inner thighs across his arousal. “You’re not arguing that hard, Dusk. We could always tell Nurse Redheart I made you breakfast in bed.” Her light, giggling tone emphasized that playful distraction might well grow into distracting play.

Glancing far more reluctantly than he'd like to admit out the window, Dusk mentally juggled and re-juggled his schedule, finding the results never balanced in his favor, and his muscles slumped slightly beneath her. Looking back into those inviting eyes and dreading seeing disappointment take hold, inspiration struck, and he grinned in abrupt innovation, whispering soft notes of contra-temptation into the mare’s ear. “Would you settle for a shared shower?”

Bursting with mirth, Pinkie threw herself off Dusk’s lap in a liquid, almost feline series of curling arches, grinning from ear to ear. “Deal! But you'd better make it up to me later!”

8:22am, Ponyville Hospital.

Redheart couldn't help herself. Lowering her clipboard, she turned to the doctor, shaking her head tensely. “By the Light! Why do we even bother with a physical? I've given him so many since he came to town, I could have told you the results before he walked in the door! Blood pressure high, but stable. Pulse steady as a rock, vitality above average, and all stress tests we could try on his magic are so woefully inadequate for the task, it's pointless to even bother!”

Writing out his own notes with care before lifting his head to acknowledge Redheart’s frustrations, Dr. Horse scratched a hand thoughtfully through his unshaven stubble, staring distantly at Dusk through the glass wall that separated their viewing room from the magistrate. Watching as the unicorn balanced a medicine ball on the tip of his horn, the thin wisp of magic that held the ball in place was so faint, the doctor had to focus to make it out. “I was about to suggest something similar... but look at him again, Redheart. And not just as a parent concerned about the stallion who's taking her filly on vacation tomorrow. He usually uses much more power than this when casting spells, and he doesn't need to be showy about how little effort magic like this requires from him. That makes me wonder. There are only two reasons a proud unicorn like Dusk would be conserving magic…”

Unable to help herself, Redheart rushed to blurt out the answer that had been nagging at her mind. Her lip quivering subconsciously, the words escaped from her lips before her professional detachment could choke them back. “Because he hurt himself yesterday, in some way he’s too proud to admit? And now he’s trying to hide it, afraid to admit he can't keep up?"

The doctor made another brief note on his sheet, then ticked off three more boxes on the form before passing her the clipboard, using his free hand to remove his glasses, rubbing his thumb and index finger against the bridge of his nose. “Or what happened yesterday reminded him that just because he is on a path no other living unicorn has managed and despite his involvement with the Elements of Harmony, he is still just a pony. Perhaps with a little luck, he has now learned his limits, and is conserving his magic. Maybe he's figured he needs to be ready when Princess Celestia asks him to do the impossible again. So he will be ready to answer her call with everything he has, having wasted none of his power on petty matters.”

Turning away from her, Dr. Horse picked up his cane, walking casually to the observation room door, pausing in the doorway to smile back at her. “Regardless, Red, you're the one in charge of his case. My professional opinion? Do you think he is smart enough to know when to admit his limits? Does he think there's a reason to leave Scootaloo behind? Because you know he’ll watch out for her. She’d be as safe as a foal in her sire’s arms.”

Left alone, Redheart picked up Dr. Horse’s clipboard, reading over his notes. Just like hers, he had noted Dusk easily passed physical and magical assessments, yet in his written comments at the bottom, the sarcastic old stallion had scribbled: “While the patient easily surpassed all physical requirements, and shows no signs of fatigue, our inability to properly measure his magical ability prevents any informed decision. I default to Redheart’s frustration, and agree Dusk is virtually impossible to assess.”

Gently lowering his clipboard to a hook for later collection, Red scooped hers back up, straightened the small white nurse’s hat on her brow, and tried to put back on her professional face. Watching Dusk one last time through the window, she was amazed at how thin the spell he used to control the medicine ball really was, even as she wondered if Dr. Horse was right to trust her judgement.

The moment she opened the door and stepped into Dusk’s room, he turned to face her, but continued to balance the eight pound ball on his horn, his bare back shining with a faint sheen of sweat. Redheart didn’t let her gaze linger on that sculpted back for more than a second, though she did have to admit that Applejack and Dash had been good for him. Redheart could easily judge that he was probably ten pounds heavier than last summer, but all of that was visible muscle that rippled as it spread over his svelte figure. Smiling up at her, Dusk offered a shrug, spinning the ball in place very gently with his hands, without affecting its tenuous balance. “So? Do I pass? Anything new in the blood tests?”

Redheart couldn't help herself. After all these months of blood tests, physical exams, and any number of experimental trials she could hardly name anymore, she was fed up with never getting any answers. Casually, she tossed the clipboard onto the exam table, grabbed the spare chair, and pulled it around so she could sit on it sideways, resting her arms on the chair back, twisting so she could stare back at him. She searched his eyes, the movement of his face, and the way his laugh lines shifted as they talked. “Why don't you tell me, Dusk? You challenged a hydra yesterday, and got away just before the Wonderbolts’ rescue party showed up. How would you assess yourself?”

A twitch (Did his eyebrow stiffen up for just a moment?), he was still smiling at her, but his eyes had gone quiet, serious. And then he tried to play it all off as calm, casually batting at the air with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I was beyond tired last night, but I feel a lot better this morning. Refreshed, after a good breakfast and shower. I admit though, I feel a little stiff, and the best way I can describe it, I suppose, is by making an analogy to the feeling of a pulled muscle in my shoulder, except it is my magic that is stiff and slow to respond.”

Redheart felt surprised by the honesty in Dusk’s answer, all the while wishing she knew just how much of what he'd said was really a concern. She knew that unicorns could strain or even bruise their horn, but Dusk has said it felt more like a pulled muscle, not an ache in his horn. Leaning her chair forward on two legs, Redheart palmed the medicine ball in one hand, and tossed it against the wall casually. Placing her palms flat on his forehead on either side of his horn, she massaged the muscles around the base of his keratin horn. She nodded to herself, finding the muscles slightly tense, but not to any serious level. Looking down into his eyes, she let her tongue wet her lips, drawing a careful breath. “Is it your horn? Straining or bruising a horn does happen, and after the injury you sustained at Gilda's hands, it is possible that any new strain could cause secondary bruising.”

Dusk kept quiet as she worked, holding his head still and doing his best to breathe as softly as he could. When she turned his chin up so she could look into his eyes, he finally spoke, his voice soft. “I've bruised my horn before, Redheart. I remember how odd that initial numbness comes on, and a pained aching feeling afterwards. This is different. It… when I woke up, I felt so tired that I couldn't move Pinkie off my chest. While I felt that way, I couldn't find my magic, like the worst of the side-effects from taking Black Lotus last fall. It was momentary, but it made me… worry. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost my magic again. A few minutes alone was frightening enough. To lose it for days or longer? I can't imagine what I'd do with myself…”

Feeling a genuine chill run down her spine at the fear in his tone, Redheart smoothed back Dusk's hair. Fitfully, she rested her thumbs on his temples and listened to his heartbeat. Like always, it was far too fast, too energetic for a stallion in his theoretically good health. Today, though, she knew why Dusk was concerned about his magic, and to stop her brain from running off on its own, she took a long and careful breath. She focused, giving herself one last chance to change her mind before she sat back into her chair. At last, her hand searched his out, and squeezed his fingers tightly.

Finally she released her breath, closed her eyes, and spoke firmly, denying all possible interruption. “First of all, you’re a bloody fool, and lucky Princess Celestia sees the value in keeping you around! After everything you've gone through in the last year, I don't know if it's worth even trying to find a known medical explanation for any of your health issues anymore! My best guess on what you just described happening this morning? You need to slow down somedays. Sleep in. Have breakfast in bed. Miss a bloody appointment on purpose sometimes!”

Realizing she had lapsed from her professional detachment to the point of yelling at him, Redheart paused for a moment. She took her time and straightened her off-kiltered hat once more before resuming at a calmer pace. “Besides Dusk, your magic isn't why Ponyville loves you. It was your actions that made the ponies in town come to believe in you. From trying to protect them from Nightmare Moon, to coming back from the dead, you've stayed true to us. I trust your intentions, it's why I am willing to let a damn fool like you use some newly-crafted spell and take Scootaloo to Cloudsdale, by The Light! Now, I'm going to sign off on your medical results, but you're going straight home, getting as much bloody sleep as you can before this trip starts, and you and Rarity are to make sure that Scootaloo doesn't get too many sweets. Because Celestia help you if your little vacation sets back her fantastic progress...”

Staring back at her, dumbfounded, Dusk was a picture of a stunned and baffled academic, frozen in shock, as if her thorough and yet emotional advice had cut off the blood to his rigidly logical method of thinking. As he sat there staring at her, his jaw slack, Redheart started to wonder if she had gone too far, and even possibly broken him. Stallions, she thought venomously. Worse, a stallion with an advanced degree. All the same!

Before she could try to get him back on track, like a new doctor finding out that his sheepskin was no match for her experience, Dusk shifted up in his seat, his eyes suddenly bright with excitement. “Your suggestion to my current woes is that I take a few days off and maybe foalsit Scootaloo on a ‘vacation’ to Cloudsdale? Why Redheart, I think your suggestion lines up marvelously with my own schedule… well, except for the relaxing and sleeping part. I had plans to catch up on rather a lot of paperwork…”

As he started wandering off the precise path she'd set up for him, Redheart began to scowl at him. She raised a hand and pointed a stern finger as she prepared to set him straight with far less subtlety. Just as the words formed on her tongue, Dusk’s train of thought wrecked before her yet again. He lifted a hand to wipe over his face, in the process resetting his appearance to a neutral state, before settling his hands on hers. “I'm sorry, Redheart. Let me try this all over again. Nurse, you couldn't be any more right. After all, medical orders are important to follow carefully. I promise I'll take a few days off and maybe even fit in a calm, peaceful trip with Scootaloo and Rarity for company. Do you think, say… Cloudsdale might be a good choice this time of year?”

Unable to keep herself from smirking just a little at Dusk’s attempted jest, Redheart scribbled a few notes on his chart before squeezing his hand in return. “Good. Now go lay down, before I have to get Bronze to brain you across the skull and Pinkie to sit on your chest for a few days to ensure you get a proper sleep.”

Watching as Dusk walked out of the room, whistling quietly and accepting Pinkie’s offered arm when she joined him outside the door, Redheart worried she'd regret her decision, but it was hard to regret much, not after Dusk had smiled at her that way.

9am, Dusk’s Library.

Sitting at Dusk’s desk, bent over the stack of paperwork that a woeful Derpy had tearfully delivered, Bronze sipped at her black tea, biting back a scowl at the hot, foul drink. Taking strength from the tea's force, she turned her head to the side so she could look at the stack of sealed packages piled up on the floor beside the desk. It gave her the strength to face the reality of it all and again wondered why simple and straightforward things like this always managed to go wrong in Ponyville. From the simplest mail delivery, to anything that had happened since she started visiting the normal-looking little farm town, it seemed like there was never a day where something didn't go wrong.

She took a different kind of strength from remembering when things went very, very right, instead.

Pulling the mail shirt from one velvet bag, Bronze took a minute to admire the fine craftsmanship on the tiny, linked metal rings, polished to a bright shine before muttering to herself. “Thank Celestia the smith packaged everything so carefully. I can't wait to see Dash’s face when she returns. This armor will serve her for years, even if she doesn't get into the Wonderbolts.” There was a tight thrill in her taut stomach, as she realized that she now had a more personal stake in Dash's safety. That she had a stake that she'd never seen, even with Shining. The thanks she gave for foresight were substantially more effusive for a brief moment.

Returning to her paperwork, Bronze scribbled her signature beside Derpy’s description of the armor and the condition she'd found it in, proud the mail mare had done such a detailed job filling things out. She hardly noticed the soft click of the front door opening as she continued her paperwork. Without bothering to look up, she greeted the visitor. “Morning there. Anyway I can help?”

From the entryway, Pinkie giggled loudly enough to identify herself before calling back in her playful voice. “I'm fine, Bronze~ But Dusk’s got orders for bedrest from Nurse Redheart. Think you got enough rope to tie him down? Or should I go borrow Rarity's fuzzy handcuffs?”

Pushing out of Pinkie’s groping hands, Dusk half-stumbled into the library. The clearly well-worn unicorn hid a yawn behind his hand. As Bronze looked up and flushed a bit behind a speculative smile, he waved gently, his tone playful but much more serious than Pinkie’s. “Now, Pinkie. That simply won't be necessary, and I only told you about Redheart's orders because her suggested punishment was funny!”

Trying to catch up with their conversation, Bronze could only stare at them as Pinkie stalked after Dusk. Before Bronze could speculate too much about the intent replacement for the usual light bounce, Pinkie latched her hands aggressively around his hips, suspending him off the floor in an aggressive bear hug. With a gentle swing, she carefully flopped him down onto the couch.

Bronze's jaw dropped as the display continued. Pinkie swiftly clawed on top of the couch so she could lay beside him, half straddling his chest while she nibbled at his ear. “Nuh, uh! I know you, Dusk! You say you'll relax, but then ten minutes from now, Rarity will show up with some new disaster, like… her shipment of dresses for Hoity Toity gets destroyed in a train crash, and before anypony can blink, you'll be up to your neck in plans to help her replace the lost shipment before we leave town tomorrow!”

Trapped under Pinkie, Dusk's laughing answer was lost in Pinkie’s smothering kisses. Bronze couldn't help but feel a flare of sharp jealousy as she watched him snort and giggle, hugging Pinkie’s plump hips. “How does she do that so easily? I wish…” Shaking off those thoughts, she sat up in her chair, cleared her throat, and returned the quill she'd been holding to Dusk’s silver inkwell. “If Dusk says he'll behave, he will, Pinkie. Besides, shouldn't you be heading to Sugarcube Corner? Don't you have to get back to work today?”

Looking back over her shoulder at Bronze, Pinkie pouted a little as she gave a melodramatic sigh. “Oh!~ But, Bronzie! I promise I'll let Dusk sleep! I just wanted to make sure he was really comfortable on the couch first!” An irritably free-wheeling part of Bronze's mind noted that Pinkie really was delectably cute when she wobbled her lower lip like that.

Standing up so she could cross the room to stand beside Pinkie on the couch, Bronze put her hands on Pinkie’s hips while releasing a heavy, and quite honestly over dramatic sigh. She held one wing over her face like a dramatic old military family member, looking at the ceiling as she struggled to suppress a foalish giggle of amusement. “Now, Pinkie. I can't have you mauling Dusk! At least, not when he's supposed to be on bed rest.”

Pulling her arms back from Dusk's neck, Pinkie shifted her weight away from his chest and towards Bronze. A hopeful smile danced on the pink-haired pony's face, her arms reaching up behind her to wrap comfortably around Bronze's neck. Her eyes dancing with a deliberate tease, she laughed, "I wasn't going to hurt Dusk!~ But if you want, we could wrestle over him!”

“No, no wrestling today, Pinkie. Just a quiet nap for Dusk while you go to work.” Bronze decided this was a time to show no humor to Pinkie’s unsubtle comments. She suppressed a thin smile and hefted the heavier mare into the air with a grunt. The maneuver suspended Pinkie by the hips and all Bronze needed to do was twist sideways to return her captive friend to the free seat on the other empty chair.

Crying out in delight with a giggling ‘Whee!!!’, Pinkie plopped on her wiggly butt and scooted forward on the chair Bronze had plopped her down on, turning it to face the serious guard in the process. Panting hot air against the skin of Bronze's neck, she slouched against Bronze’s chest, extending her arms around Bronze’s neck. “That was nearly as much fun as wrestling! Again! Again!”

Bronze was astonished as Pinkie’s lips found a comfortable ridge on her throat, and kissed with tormenting pleasure down the line of a training scar from her youth that ran along her jugular. A long gasp escaped Bronze's lips as the sensation sent jolts of joy bolting through her spine. In a second, the playful pony had the Vicarius frozen in shock and totally ruining her intended seriousness. At least, until Dusk suddenly spoke up.

“Pinkie, I could really use one last favor if you can squeeze it in before work. I had intended to go ask Cherry Berry to come over tonight with Rarity and Applejack so she could reassure them about any worries or concerns they might have about the balloon trip to Cloudsdale tomorrow. But I don't think Redheart would appreciate me wandering around town so soon after she told me to go rest. You've worked with Cherry before, at the ‘Running of the Leaves’ last fall, right?”

Distracted from her intended assault on Bronze's muscular throat, Pinkie half-turned to get a better look at him lying casually on the couch. As she shifted, she cocked her head to one side, her face turning into a quizzical expression. “Well of course, me and Cherry Berry are the best of friends! But Dusk, you're sure that you feel up to a long balloon flight? Most earth ponies and unicorns struggle after an hour or two off the ground…”

Scooping up one of the books on the coffee table beside his adopted couch/bed, Dusk read over the cover. He flicked through a few pages at random before lowering it back against his chest, offering Pinkie a content grin. “I'll take today to rest, per doctor's orders. I'm sure that by tomorrow I'll be as bright and lively as ever before. Besides, I promised Scootaloo she'd get to see Dash perform, and by The Light, I refuse to break that little filly’s heart.”

Bronze was surprised when Pinkie simply accepted Dusk’s words. Releasing Bronze’s amazonian body, Pinkie took a second to be serious, and straightened her shirt. Not too serious, however; she puffed up her thick mess of hair before standing back up and tightly hugging Bronze close. Once more, Bronze was left in the party pony's wake, passively accepting a fevered assault of light kisses over her cheeks. Bronze's heart thrummed in her chest and Pinkie gave a wink. Then, just as swiftly as she stopped arguing, she suddenly bolted to the door, stopping just long enough to wave. “Bye Dusk, bye Bronze, bye Treebrary! I'll bring Cherry Berry with me tonight!”

When Bronze had brushed off Pinkie’s playful goodbye, she turned around to look at Dusk. The stallion was reclining on the couch and reading from whatever book he had picked off the coffee table. Faintly amused, Bronze gave a grunt, returning to the work desk. “Well, I suppose somepony has to finish up this paperwork.” When Dusk looked up over his book at her, she scowled back, pointing a stern finger at him. “Oh, no. Don't even offer. I don't need Redheart after me just because you couldn't follow orders!”

A few hours later.

It wasn't until Dusk awoke and saw the blurred lines of a detailed and highly technical drawing of an aqueduct and dam far too up close that he realized he must have drifted off to sleep at some point in his reading. Stealthily, he lifted the book, turning his head towards the scratching of a quill on paper. Bronze's soft muttering and cursing told him that she must still be working on the paperwork he and Pinkie interrupted. There was a tranquil sense of busy dedication in even the sharpest whispered curse that brought a smile to Dusk's face.

Unsure of just how much time had passed, or how loud his snoring might have been, Dusk tried his best to remain silent. With a library addict's practiced ease, he adjusted the book to a more comfortable distance from his face before returning to his reading. The material was fascinating, yet somehow, the story about Fillydelphia’s grand aqueduct simply wasn't capturing all of his attention. The odd distraction left his mind to wander, and wonder.

Feeling far more restless than tired, Dusk couldn't ignore the way Bronze continued to mutter and curse under her breath. The drone of her relentless, demanding voice sent a flood of energy through his exhausted body, driving away the weary haze that had hung over his head. Moving with nimble ease thanks to Dash’s training, Dusk rose. Walking casually but silently around the desk until he could lean over Bronze’s folded wing, he placed a hand on her far shoulder. Fascinated as always, he tried to peek at her paperwork.

He tried his most ‘Innocent as Cadance’ tone on Bronze, asking, “Need some help? I'm great at paperwork....” After all, it was technically his paperwork, wasn't it? Even before she could answer, though, Dusk decided to experiment again. Leaning closer, inches from her ear, he traced one devious, dexterous and adventurous finger down from her shoulder. He let it temptingly explore the soft and sensitive part of her back at the base of her wings. Hope of a different kind prodded him to add, “Unless I can convince you to take a short break?”

Bronze must have heard him coming, for she didn't jump at his touch. Instead, her lips curled into a tolerant grin as she started to unfurl her wing, spreading it for a moment. Peace and contentment reigned temporarily, and then his fingers snuck into the sensitive, strong muscle at her wingbase before it was able to expand fully. His deft touch made her pause and roll her eyes back with a deep and husky groan from the depths of her throat.

It was a beautiful moment; a warrior in repose, and a primal side of Dusk stirred to meet the call of her groan. Alas, she recovered shockingly fast, and spread her wing the rest of the way brusquely. With a dismissive flip, she pushed him back while blocking his view at her paperwork and cut off his access to her sensitive back. Turning to look back over her shoulder at him, Bronze shook her head. Even as she took duty's path, a blush shined on her cheeks, eye dancing with… eagerness? Reluctance? She pointed a stern finger at him, and gave him a reproachful look. “Oh, no no no. You promised you'd take the day off. So no tormenting me, or helping with the paperwork! I'll figure all this out, on my own! Why don’t you go back to reading, or head upstairs and go to bed. Don't make me throw you over my shoulder and haul you away.”

His disappointment at her refusal of help was checked by the confirmation of his latest theory. That is to say, that seemingly all pegasi shared that sensitive bundle of muscles built around the junction at the base of their wings and shoulder blades. Dusk backed up under the steady pressure of Bronze’s wing, and put one hand over his mouth to muffle a yawn, his eyes squeezing reflexively shut...

Bronze’s mind hardly had the time to react! It didn't need to; as Dusk got caught up in a yawn and collapsed sideways, her body responded to more primitive protectiveness and a hard-wired gallantry. In a flash, she lunged out of her chair to catch his limp body just before he collapsed to the ground. Once she caught him, Bronze took a moment to assess him. The dim sound of his breathing, and the soft hint of him... snoring? flooded her worried heart with relief. Rolling her eyes at the dozing stallion, Bronze hefted him to his feet, squeezing his shoulders and giving him a little shake. “Dusk! Wake up! If you're really so damn tired, I'll drag you upstairs!”

Rather than answer, Dusk limply leaned his weight in her supportive body. The irksomely affectionate stallion didn't make her job easier at all, his head nuzzling into her throat, rubbing his lips across sensitive skin beneath her jaw, while he left his eyes closed. The most she got out of him was incoherent mumbling right in her ear. “Fluffy pancakes with strawberries AND whipped cream? That sounds delightful!”

That rambling nonsense from the stallion sleeping on his feet was the last thing Bronze needed to hear. Shifting her grip to support Dusk’s weight across her shoulders, Bronze ignored the ache in her wings. She focused on the lovely, echoing tingle of his lips on her neck instead. She pressed a soft kiss against his temple before muttering, "You're lucky you're so damn charming, Dusk, or I'd just toss you face down on the kitchen floor and let you sleep the fatigue off.”

It was awkward for Bronze to half-walk half-carry Dusk through the small library; the slumbering stallion only just barely managing to keep his feet. She had to struggle against his listing and stumbling over himself despite her best efforts to keep him stabilized against her shoulder. A sudden sharp pang of pain flared up in her stiff back as she leaned Dusk against the staircase bannister to catch her breath. She rested her hands below her ribcage as she bent over, balancing her weight on the balls of her feet, fighting back against a sudden realization. “I must really be out of shape. There is no way I'd feel like this after a massage like the one Rarity gave me.”

Muttering aloud, she shook her head. “You're too damn awkward to drag up the stairs… I- I think you're gonna have to settle for stealing my room for the day, Dusk.” Straightening up and stretching the stiffness out of her shoulders, she braced Dusk against her shoulder. Resolute in her new plan, she changed her path, dragging the sleeping stallion down the hall to her bedroom.

The spare room Dusk had given her was narrow, with hardly any furniture. There was just enough space for her to sit at the small, but carefully organized desk without hitting the chair against the bed. She brought one hand down to grasp the blanket and fling it aside, before she shimmied Dusk onto the bed by hoisting him off his feet and rolling his sleeping body onto it. In 'thanks' he muttered sleepily and rolled on his side. Of course, when he hugged her pillow tightly and rubbed his cheek against it before drifting off to sleep again with a happy murmur, a strange, rewarding warmth rose in her heart nonetheless. Unable to help herself, Bronze pulled out her chair and sat down beside him, watching closely. “I’m... sorta jealous, she got you for the night all to herself." Bronze sighed to herself wistfully, reaching out to brush her fingers through Dusk's bangs. "I wish I had the courage to do that, to be yours like that."

For his part, Dusk simply nuzzled further into her pillow, the whole time breathing in quiet, even breaths. The sudden arrival of a wicked thought made Bronze’s lips curl with the dawning of a devious idea. "I might not be ready for that quite yet, Pinkie, but... I don't think he'd mind some company..."

Slipping out of her chair and pushing it back under the desk, she slipped onto the free space on the bed. She molded herself to fit against him tightly as she grabbed the blanket and pulled it over the two of them. Nearly holding her breath, she wrapped one arm around his waist while curling the other between the two of them. Bronze took in a deep breath when she got into place, taking in a long draw of his scent. Sighing happily, she leaned forward and kissed his nose before placing her head on the pillow next to his. This close, with her cheek beside his on the pillow, Bronze felt content. She lay like that for a time, before she drowsily noticed how warm and right she felt, and how his calm nap was so infectious, and soothing to watch...

A few hours later that afternoon.

Bronze bolted awake to the warmth of the late afternoon sun that had settled over her face as she slept with Dusk. His powerful arm lay across her shoulders, hugging her close so his chin could rest on her head. Mind still foggy from dozing, as it began to catch up to her situation, she felt herself start blushing for some reason. Pushing that feeling aside and ignoring the nagging voice in the back of her head, Bronze snuggled in closer, nuzzling at his throat, and breathing in Dusk’s wonderful, invigorating scent. Feeling a little giddy, Bronze could help but giggle softly. Feeling daring, she leaned closer, to kiss his neck, risking a soft lovebite. “You're a comfortable pillow, Dusk. I should nap with you aga-”

The realization of what she was doing finally dawned on Bronze all at once, and she froze at the embarrassing thought. “Here I got on Pinkie’s case for mauling Dusk when he needs sleep, but I forget my paperwork and end up doing the exact same thing.” Bronze began to wonder if Dusk had something like a male heat-scent, something that drew her and distracted her-- and all the other mares around him! He certainly smelled good as well as felt… There I go again!

Reluctantly and with great care, Bronze snaked herself out from Dusk's comforting grip. With ginger, nervous motions, she did her best to avoid disturbing the sleeping stallion. Settling the blanket down against the bed, she turned to leave Dusk napping there. Unable to help herself, however, she lingered when she reached the door. It was both a cruelty and kindness to her heart; she leaned against the frame so she could wistfully watch as Dusk rolled over. A content sigh made his chest rise and fall as he resettled into the free space her absence had created.

Finally, Bronze made herself turn away, leaving the bedroom door ajar just a crack. She had paperwork to finish, and knowing Rarity and Applejack, they'd be sure to show up early to help prepare for Cherry Berry’s visit.

8pm, Dusk's Library.

After waiting for what had felt like forever, Scootaloo snatched a fourth cookie from the plate the moment she was sure that all the adults were distracted. They were just milling around, introducing each other to Cherry Berry, after all. Sitting back in her chair and munching at the cherry-filled sugar cookie to finish it off quickly, she savored all the exciting flavours she discovered as she gorged on the freshly baked sweet. Watching the room wearily, she noticed as Dusk waved to and began to approach. With a smile, he introduced the balloonist at his side. “Scootaloo, there you are! This is Cherry Berry. She's an aeronautical enthusiast, and will be handling our trip to Cloudsdale tomorrow. Have you met her before?”

Urgently struggling to swallow her mouthful of cookie and wiping the back of her hand over her mouth to get rid of any stray crumbs, she disposed of the evidence. That complete, Scootaloo accepted Cherry’s hand and gave it a shake. “I did a few times. She comes to the school every couple months and takes us for a balloon ride, and it's a lot of fun, ‘cept she only flies a few feet off the ground.”

Laughing openly in her gruff but lighthearted tone, Cherry Berry shook Scootaloo’s hand in return before answering. “There are rules on my balloon regardless of who is riding with me, kid. But flying to Cloudsdale? Trust me, you'll feel real wind in your feathers when we get up there.”

Excited by the prospect of spreading her wings and leaning into the wind, Scootaloo unconsciously unfurled her little wings and gave them a small flap. Standing tall and trying not to act like a giddy foal, Scootaloo saluted Cherry Berry the way she had seen Bronze and the Royal Guard doing weeks before. “Of course, Captain Cherry Berry. Anything you say goes, just as long as I get to see Cloudsdale!”

With Cherry gently laughing at that jest, Scootaloo puffed up her chest and made her wings fold back down neatly. The added plumage and muscle in her back made this harder than she remembered it being a year ago, but that just made her all the more proud. Cherry gently laid a hand on Scootaloo’s shoulders and motioned towards the circle of seats around the coffee table. “Good to hear, but move into the circle and pay attention. Just ‘cause you're a pegasi doesn't mean you're excluded from basic Cloudsdale safety.”

That demand ended the ‘sugar cookies and hiding behind Applejack’ part of Scootaloo’s night, and put her front and center as Cherry Berry launched into her presentation. She began with the introduction of seat belts, safety ropes, before finally moving on to the only interesting part of that boring lecture, parachutes. Deeply caught up in a daydream about how much fun it would be to ‘borrow’ Cherry Berry’s training parachute to ‘test’ it by jumping off the roof of town hall or the school, she only kept half an ear on Cherry as the lesson turned to the weather. Applejack’s openly worried voice caught Scootaloo’s attention, and dragged her from her daydreaming. “So you mean a bridge we take to and from the Wonderbolts’ training field after breakfast might be gone when we go home for supper? How's anypony supposed to be able to figure out how to find their dang way home?”

Flipping to the next page on the display she'd hooked to the wall, Cherry revealed a ‘map’ of Cloudsdale, made of small puzzle pieces taped to the larger sheet. “Every major cloud and most of the medium sized ones have map stands built around the perimeter every fifty to eighty feet. These are easy to find even in a high wind because the brightly painted safety poles are built every five feet between each map. The weather team in Cloudsdale, as well as any military or Wonderbolts on patrol, regularly check the safety posts in case somepony needs help back onto the clouds, as well as to update the maps and move bridges as the city shifts. Remember, in the case of an unexpected wind storm, there are at least six or seven harnesses at every safety post, so if you're feeling uneasy about the breeze, go hook on, or step inside a house or shop. They all come with wind shielding spells these days.”

Bored by the continuing conversation, Scootaloo munched on another of the cookies. Perfection in sugar! She gave Pinkie a little grin and the excited mare gave her a happy smile in return. Still only half paying attention to the presentation, Scootaloo muttered softly to herself. “I think it'd be more fun if the safety harness had longer straps. Then I could jump off the side and test my wings out for real.”

Clearing her throat sharply, Rarity reminded Scootaloo exactly why she had been careful not to speak up until now. Sitting on the other side of her chair, the older mare had been reviewing a booklet from Cherry Berry and was now glaring down at Scootaloo. “Then you'll be happy to know, Scootaloo dear, that that's often how they train foals to fly, with many special facilities built for exactly that purpose. I'm sure if you sit up and pay proper attention to Cherry’s lecture, Dusk and Dash will be able to figure out some free time to take you to visit one of them.”

The unspoken threat of being locked in somepony's house while Dash was off doing cool things in the coolest city in Equestria without her was clear as day to Scootaloo despite Rarity’s gentle tone. It lived in her eyes behind that biting glare, and was a warning that said loud and clear that she had definitely seen Scootaloo take the last cherry cookie, and the last strawberry creme one, and that no, she'd better not think about taking the last caramel drizzled nut crunch cluster if she knew what was good for her.

Feeling her heart quiver none-too-faintly, Scootaloo sat up straight, unable to ignore the fear that Rarity's behavior inspired. “She’s as bad as Redheart. Worse in some ways. At least when Redheart's busy with paperwork, she usually misses me snatching extra cookies. I wonder how Sweetie Belle puts up with her when their mother is out of town?”

Gathering her patience and hoping she could last longer than in class, Scootaloo gave a little nod to Rarity. “Sorry. I'll try to do better, honest.” She could already picture herself lashed to a cloud while Dash glided beside her. Dusk, of course, would be somewhere overhead calling back directions from some silly book on flying. Soothed by that daydream, Scootaloo powered through the rest of Cherry Berry’s instructions.

”Tomorrow morning, I'll be in Cloudsdale. Where Rainbow Dash will teach me to fly.”

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the slow progress this month. Not sure what it was that took so long to get this finished, but at least I finally got rolling the last few days. Thanks for all of your patience and I can't wait to show you all everything I have planed for this chapter.