Two weeks. Two long, monsoon filled, too-cold-to-do-anything-but-sleep, weeks. That's how long it had been since the night Daybreak and Rainbow had shared together. Two weeks since Daybreak had the word "Exile" scarred into his back. Two weeks since he'd set foot inside Ponyville University, and two weeks since Rainbow Dash had confessed her love to him. Two weeks...It felt like two years.

The days seemed to drag on without end. The sun would rise and be visible for only a few moments each morning, before being swallowed up in a daily monsoon that always seemed to die down just shy of becoming a massive flood by the days end. Then nights, they were even worse. They had become like a treacherous winter, for when the rain ceased just before dusk, the hail would start. This was arguably worse than the rain, because at least the water droplets caused no real damage...but the hail was a totally different story. If ones house barrier wasn't strong enough, windows were often heard being broken amidst the night.

What was even more odd than the sudden extreme weather changes...was that despite all the rain, nothing in the fields seemed to be growing like it used to. Daybreak had noticed a severe decrease in the amount of goods Ponyvilles stores were selling on his brief trips out for groceries. During the near nonexistent moments of each day where the weather was semi-normal, he'd go out and do a small field survey of Ponyvilles markets to pick up news and see how things were proceeding since Famines announcement. Food as a whole seemed more scarce as of late, even in the towns restaurants. It was pretty much exactly what he'd predicted would occur.

At first, the few days directly after Famines declaration were filled with mild amounts of panic induced citizens, too busy making fall-out bunkers in their homes to notice a character like Daybreak floating through their midst. It wasn't a full blown scramble for supplies yet, but it could have easily escalated if Princess Twilight and her friends hadn't come down to the markets themselves to keep the peace. It was utterly amazing (and predictable) how quickly a place so openly friendly could turn hostile when things started to go to hell. Yet he found himself willing to bet Ponyville still held it together better than anywhere else in Equestria.

Before Twilight had fully restored peace to the area, Daybreak had watched a fight nearly break out between customers over simple fruits and vegetables. No real harm had been done and both had simply walked away afterwards, but words had been exchanged that he often didn't hear used outside of bars in Ponyville...unless he was with Rainbow Dash of course. Speaking of Rainbow, he had spotted her amongst the crowds as well when Twilights gang had shown up, attempting to settle one of many disputes between customers that was only moments away from escalating.

Were it just him there, he might have gone out and assisted her. But it only took one glance off to the side to spot Twilight closing in on the scene, and he made his quick exit. He and Rainbow had agreed that it was best he remain out of sight for awhile after the incident at school, so he'd had barely any contact with anyone since he'd stopping showing up, outside of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo...and that was the way he wanted to keep it. One good friend and Scootaloo were more than enough for him, especially after having his eyes reopened to how hostile people still were towards his true identity. So he'd quit the school (or rather he just stopped showing up) and focused most of his time and effort on coming up with a solution to the Famine situation.

Of course, when he'd first told Rainbow that he wasn't going to go back, the night that they'd come back to his house and she'd patched him up...she had not been a fan. That is to say, there was a small yelling match after they'd showered and cleaned up together. It hadn't been so much a fight, but more of an attempt to make one understand the other...loudly. Scootaloo had to cover her ears to make any attempt at sleep. Neither one had been truly angry while they yelled, it had just been emotional. Rainbow wanted him to come back and try to make friends, give the place another chance and have fun. But he'd point blank refused, stating he'd already tried her way and that had gotten him his new scars. He was unwilling to even leave the house at first, but after some arguing between the two, they'd come to a small compromise. Although he still refused to go back, if Rainbow wanted to meet at places other than his house to hang out, possibly even with her friends when the weather was better...he might give that a try. It wasn't much, but at least she'd gotten that out of him.

After that, he told her they needed to make sure he also spent enough time researching on how to deal with Famine, which at first, wasn't going well. For the first week after the day when the monsoons started, Daybreak spent all the time Rainbow was at school, researching anything he could find on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and found...nothing. Nothing he didn't already know at least. The giant ass book that he'd swiped from Celestia way back when, was helpful, but not in the way he needed. He needed to know how to fight and defeat them...not the order that they would appear in. Luckily, or unluckily depending on who you ask, Sunset Shimmer came to the rescue. The first week she'd pestered him, coming over daily to check on how he was healing, had been utterly annoying and he'd simply turned her away at the door. But after some thought, and motivation from Rainbow, he'd eventually agreed to continue on with the original plan of meeting with Sunset during the week to discuss and research the situation.

They had agreed to meet twice a week starting the second week, and since their two meetings, Daybreak felt that they had made at least some progress on the problem. Not necessarily on how to fix it (sadly), but more like what to expect next in the chain of events leading to the end of the world. Through a full day of compared research notes, Daybreak and Sunset had determined that after Famine would come Pestilence, then War, and then finally, Death, and possibly what each one would bring (if their names didn't state enough already). After which, all four would be present on earth, and the Apocalypse would truly begin. At that point there would be no stopping it. Based on what Famine had told him herself and a bit of hypothetical thinking on Shimmers part, both her and him had determined that the key to ending the whole thing now was to stop Famine here, before she could start the process. And since she had openly admitted she needed Daybreaks soul to start it, as long as he stayed alive and unwilling...they should be fine. At this point, Daybreak didn't even see the point in trying to understand why Famine needed him, and just wanted to focus on keeping her from getting him.

After two separate days of them speculating together that week, Daybreak felt much more comfortable spending time around Sunset than before, but that didn't make him her friend. As for Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, they mostly just sat in silence or entertained each other while Daybreak and Sunset worked. Sometimes Rainbow would offer an idea or two, but mostly they kept to themselves. Sunsets reaction towards Scoots living with him had been predictably over the top at first, but due to her promise to Daybreak to keep everything that happened in his home confidential, she wouldn't be telling any of her friends about it. Which was good for him, he didn't need any more attention drawn to him than he already had.

Now they were at the beginning of the third week since that day, and Daybreak found himself facing another potential argument with Dash, but this time he found he could muster no real desire to put any effort into it. Perhaps because it was so early in the morning.

"Daaaaaaaybreak!"

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"You promised."

"I lied."

"Seriously? Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"

"Dammit Dash I said no!"

"Pleeeeeeasae? Please please please please please pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF EQUESTRIA WOULD YOU PLEEEEEEASE STOP ASKING?!"

"............Please?"

Were there not a storm outside that could've drowned out the sounds of the loudest bass canon, the yell of frustration that emitted from Daybreak could have startled the entire town into panic.

"FINE! SWEET LUNA ON THE MOON! I'LL GO!"

"Aw Yeah!" He felt a pair of arms wrap around his chest and crush the life from his lungs behind him. Rainbows early morning bedroom hug came with extra emphasis today, seeing as she'd just worn down his will to resist her powers of persuasion. It probably helped that she'd made the request to him after just coming from the shower, and still mostly wet. Or maybe she'd just picked up Pinkie Pie's ability to annoy a person into doing anything she wanted. The world may never know.

Daybreak sighed from his spot on the bed

"Why are you being so persistent about this...it's a soccer field Rainbow Dash. It'll take like, five minutes tops to fix, if I use magic..."

He heard a hint of poutiness enter her voice as she pressed her chest directly against the scars on his back. Her cold skin sent comfortable shivers up his spine. "Which is exactly why I want you there, besides, it's mainly your fault anyways that it's got a giant crater in the middle now."

His head spun around fast enough to make the Exorcist jealous. Straining uncomfortably to look at her over his shoulder, he scoffed "Excuse me? My fault?! Umm hello, what was in that dinner I made you last night, delusion? You're just as responsible as me...if not more! You're the one who decided to crank the speed up to sonic boom pace. And, it's your fault we both tripped and ended up making that crater in the first place! So again I ask you, why do I gotta go?"

Her hands tightened around his chest, squeezing away his air as she nuzzled her head into his neck.

"Becaaaaaaaaaaause I'm asking you too and you'd do that for your awesome girlfriend, ya know, cause you're oh so awesome yourself...riiiiiight?" Even without looking, he could practically feel her trying to flutter her eyelashes at him from behind. It was laughable to picture, seeing as Rainbow rarely acted what people would call "girly". The few times she did was something he treasured seeing, both for the humor aspect of it, and for the sentiment of being the only one she allowed to see that side of her. However, this was not one of the times where his sentiment would be getting the better of him. He chuckled aloud and turned his head back to the doorway of his bedroom.

"Yeah, sorry Dashie. You're gonna have to do alot better than that if you want me to go back there on the first day of cloudless skies in two weeks, even for something this quick and simple."

He heard a small sigh of resignation escape from her lips next to his ear, mingled with a bit a of a chuckle.

"Should've figured...well...how 'bout thiiiiiiis?"

"How about whaaaaa~ahhh!..."

The words died in his throat as a group of cold fingers made their way down from his chest into the sheets just above his pelvis. Her palm wrapped around his shaft like a constrictor snake, forcing a loving moan from his chest that only served to encourage her more. He felt her hot breath against his neck as the smoothness of her palm sent sparks of pleasurable electricity through his body with a single stroke. As if just one wasn't enough to prove her point, Rainbow Dash slowly began to stroke her hand along his shaft while crushing her chest tighter against his back.

"How's this big guy? Is this a good enough reason to come help me?"

"Ah...You're very rowdy this morning Dashie...Not even up ten minutes and you're already trying to seduce me. What, did ya wake up horny or something?"

Her strokes momentarily picked up their pace. "Why don't you find out for yourself? Hm? Or are my expert fingers too much for you to handle?"

His left eye gave a slight twitch "Too much for me to handle? Oh hell no! I'll show you too much to handle you rainbow haired vixen!"

Rainbow barely saw him move before he was out of her grip! He lurched himself forward onto the sheets to escape the viper-like hold of her fingers, then swiftly turned around and gave her a deep throated growl. It was like a tiger, just before it pounces upon its prey. Oddly fitting considering that's exactly what he did next. Rainbow let out a quick shriek of surprise as she found her back suddenly being pressed firmly into Daybreaks colorless mattress. He pinned and gripped both her hands above her head with a single beam of magic. It formed a small shimmering ring around her arms that attached itself atop the bed, giving him free range of his own hands while hers were held still.

He flashed her his signature smile of evil intent, before laying himself on top of her and silencing any thoughts her lips might have had of protesting, with his own crushing against them. His right hand immediately dove down between her closed legs, forcing them apart just enough to run two fingers along her sex. He was surprised to find she was already soaked in her own juices, and the touch of his two fingers to her sensitive skin only made it worse. Without pause he sent his hand to work, fingering her mercilessly as he brought his lips to her ear. He gently licked across her earlobe before allowing his own hot breath to slither across her neck.

"Wow, you're already soaked...guess I was right about you waking up wanting . Allow me to satisfy that endless pool of lust you've got down there."

His free hand grasped ahold of her left breast and started to gently pinch at her perky blue nipple. Her squeals of delight sent waves of happiness swimming through him. He dropped his lips to the nape of her neck, and gently sunk his canines into her skin. A long, throaty moan broke free from her jaws as he bit her. Her hips bucked up ever so slightly into his fingers, trying to force him deeper inside. He snickered, gently dragging his sharpened teeth along her neck just slightly enough to raise goose bumps along her skin.

"So being bitten is a turn on for you huh? Who knew?"

Her face, although he couldn't see, was scrunched up along with her lips. "You're an ass...Why do you take so much joy in teasing me..."

His snicker morphed into a throaty chuckle halfway out. "This from the girl who did nothing but tease me the first week we met? I'd love to hear you justify that."

"Well duuuuuh, it's cause I'm an annoying pain in the ass, obviously. Seriously, what planet do you live on where that much isn't obvious? It's not like you can even complain, you're the one dating me after all."

"True enough...So does my lady wish for me to satisfy her then?"

"Lady? who you calling a lady? I'm sure we've been over this, I ain't no lady. I may be a girl, and I may love riding that dick of yours, but I'm not some uptight prissy pants like Rairty."

He rolled his eyes. "You're my girlfriend, that makes you my lady. Now do you want me or not?"

She snorted, but nodded nevertheless, faking a snooty accent that sounded too much like a higher pitched Rarity.

"Why yes, she does, and do be quick about it darling. I've only got twenty minute to remove the stick up my ass before I'm late for tea with the rest of the Crazy Cat Women of Equestria."

He stared at her, her expression perfectly blank as a poker face. She stared back, watching him struggle to keep his lips from quivering. For a full ten seconds neither ones gaze left the other. Then, both their faces grew red, and they burst into laughter! Daybreak clenched at his gut, releasing the magic field around Rainbows arms and quickly wiping a small tear from his eyes before planting a peck on her cheek.

"You're such a dork Dash. Maybe I should record you and let Rarity hear what you think of her."

She narrowed her eyes coyly. "That would require you to actually talk to her. Ya know, people, talking, social interaction as Twilight would say. Is that really worth it, I mean reeeeeeeeally?"

Placing a finger on his chin, he pretended to think it over for a minute. "Hmm guess you're right. Not worth it."

"Didn't think so...now are you gonna fuck me, or are we just gonna lay here like this until I miss my morning routine?"

Daybreak shot a quick glance over to his alarm. It was already half past five. He chuckled, placing his hand around Rainbows flushed cheeks, and turning her to see for herself.

"Ahh! What the shit! It's already five thirty!?"

"Yep."

"B-but...that means I've only got an hour and a half 'till school..."

"Yep."

"And I still gotta workout, and shower, and eat breakfast."

"Yep."

Her eyes and ears drooped with sadness. "No fair...I was gonna do the thing with the thing...then I was gonna tie you to the bed...and stuff...aww so not cool. Where does the time go?"

"Clockwise. In a circle."

Her arm extended with the speed of a steel spring and socked him in the shoulder without looking. When he looked at her with a quivery lip, she just narrowed her eyes. "Just no dude. No. That was terrible. All around worst joke I've ever heard, and that's saying something considering I hang around Pinkie Pie for a good portion of my day."

He stuck his tongue out at her "Screw you, that was golden comedy material, you're just too uncouth to understand my genius."

"Uncouth? Really? Now whose acting like Rarity asshat?"

"Just go do your workout ya sex crazed jerk."

"Dick."

"Whore."

"Only for you."

"Only when I let you."

"Excuse me? Who was on top last night?"

"You hit me on the head with my frying pan like a kitchen woman Dash, then threw me on the bed before I could say anything. That hardly counts."

"But I was, nevertheless, on top."

"...Yeah well...go fuck yourself..."

"I just might, and I'll be thinking of you while I do."

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Stop...being sweet...stop fighting my insults with sweetness, that's not fair."

"Ha! Says you. You're just mad cause you can't beat it. Guess that's where I have the advantage in hanging with the girls. Being sweet on you always gets me what I want."

"...Asshole."

"Asshat."

"Succubus."

"Love you."

"................................What?"

"You heard me." She just sat there, with that stupidly cute grin on her face, waiting for him to respond...but he could think of nothing to say back to that. So he hung his head in shame.

"Ok...you win. Just go do your workout."

She hopped off the bed with her tongue out and strutted to the door, making extra sure to wiggle her butt at him while she did. "Oh fyi, I'll be lifting and stretching just like this. Feel free to come watch the show." She ran her hands the length of her body, taking extra care to dance her fingers along her, still perky, breasts.

He smiled "Maybe I will. After I put this place back together of course."

"You mean after you go fap out that huge boner you've still got from me."

He blew her a raspberry and dismounted the bed, allowing her to take a good look at the boner in question. He saw her lick her lips.

"Maybe if we both hurry up we can get a quick round in before we go?"

His smirk was impossible to hide "You asking or telling?"

"You decide." She winked at him, then shut the door behind her.

His smile did not fade as he went to work making the bed and returning the room to a normal smell, which was a little more difficult courtesy of his and Rainbows late night antics the day prior. He couldn't help but chuckle at the significant difference in his mindset over the past weeks. From not caring about friends, to having one friend, to having one friend and a little sis, to having a girlfriend and a little sis.

"In the span of three weeks I've gone from worrying about what town I'd end up in next, to how long I'd have to wait before I can pull Rainbow back into bed with me...life's funny like that. And all it took was the end of the world for me to make a friend. Hmm...when I think about it, that's not exactly a good thing...oh well. No use dwelling on it now. Today'll be the first time I set foot back on Ponyville University's grounds since the incident. It'll only be for a few hours, so it's unlikely...but I'd love to run into that little shit who carved up my back while I'm there. Can't be expelled from a school I quit, so there's no harm in taking a little revenge. Hehehehe."

His scars gave him a twinge of pain in response to his thoughts. As though he needed a reminder of what his curiosity and lowered guard had cost him.

Hearing the sound of metal striking metal broke him from his thoughts, and reminded him he should be in the living room supervising Dashes workout. He considered throwing on some pants before he left, but seeing as how Rainbow decided to walk around naked, he saw no reason why he couldn't too. After all, there was no way in Tartarus that Scoots was getting her lazy ass up this early in the morning. Unless there was the promise of physical training from Rainbow or Daybreak, she would probably sleep until noon.

"Besides, it is my house. If anyone's gonna be walking around naked in it, it's gonna be me!"

Ignoring how that would actually sound if he said it aloud, he finished cleaning and made his way to the living room. Having been half converted into Rainbows personal gym over the span of the last two weeks, he was unsurprised to see her lying on her workout bench just behind the couch, bench pressing what looked to be a hundred pounds easy. Her arms were moving the bar up and down at a ridiculous pace that he'd been sure would burn her out quick the first time he'd seen it. But just like back then, he was wrong. One hundred pounds was her starting point. Which in all truth, made him feel like a total wimp. Without his magic, he'd struggle with the weight that she was now making her bitch.

Of course, he'd never admit that aloud.

He walked in front of Rainbow and examined the bar a little closer, only just now being noticed by her. She didn't regard him with any expression, but he did catch her eyes dart over her chest to him, once. He strained his eyes to get a look at the weights on either side, while she continued moving the bar like it was made of plastic. Two weights on either side, each weighting twenty-five pounds.

"Combined with the forty pounds the bar itself already weights, she's actually benching one-forty right now...yikes...and I take punches from this girl...geesh."

He'd never understand where she hid all the muscle, she wasn't much more built looking than him, and although he was in plenty good shape and could outrun just about anyone on the track...he was no body builder. Which again begged the question...

"Where is all her muscle hidden? She's not using any magic to do that, or I'd sense her aura fluctuating, but it's perfectly calm. Maybe she's just got a really powerful core?...Oh why do I even care...she does look really sexy like that though...all sweaty and stuff...practically lowing in the light...wait a sec..."

He leaned a bit closer to her legs, not enough to be in any danger of a random kick, but enough to see the area of the bench in between her legs growing a little wetter than the rest. A quick glance up caught her eyes looking at him instead of the bar. She quickly looked away when he saw, fast enough that she probably thought he didn't see her. Though the bar had never changed speed, he knew what he saw, and was seeing.

"Holy shit! She's totally getting turned on by me watching her. You are such a kinky freak Dash...gods you're awesome..."

The realization gave him a sinister idea. One that he simply couldn't resist acting on while she was like this. His lips curved up into a Grinch-like smile as he cast a subtle charm on the bar. Then, with delicate precision, he dropped his head in between her spread legs. Her eyes were closed now, so she was probably using all her focus to keep pumping the bar. After enjoying the sight of her wetness up close a few moments more, he extended his tongue and moved until he was less than an inch away from her sex. So close he could smell the arousal and sweat dripping off her.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, there's a serious problem with your workout going on. Allow me to fix it for you."

"Problem? What probleeeee-Eeeeeyp!"

He drug his tongue roughly in between her soaked lips so quickly she dropped the bar. For a moment, she freaked and tensed up, afraid one hundred and forty pounds was about to coming crashing down on her chest. But as she opened her eyes, she found the bar was still right where she had released it, floating in the air above her head. For a moment it just hovered there, suspended in the air by some invisible field. Then, it disappeared. Vanished right in front of her eyes with a pop and a quick flash of green light, leaving her very confused.

The moment it was gone, Daybreak attacked her with his tongue again, this time earning an even louder moan from her.

"The problem is, you're clearly too horny to be working out like this. Who knows what horrible accident could occur...you might slip off the bench and hurt yourself from all the liquid pooling from your legs. But don't worry...I'm here to fix that."

He didn't wait for a response, he just grasped hold of her legs, and yanked her down to the edge of the bench. He dragged his tongue along her soaked skin once more, and she responded with a symphony of moans. After another quick flick from his tongue, he brought his face up to her ear.

"You feeling all hot and sweaty yet Dashie?"

All he received as an answer was a strained "Mmhmm..."

He chuckled, her eyes were clamped shut, so she was unable to see what he was about to do. Raising his hand high above their heads, he quietly snapped his fingers. The indistinguishable pop of something appearing above them was heard, and Daybreak let loose an evil chuckle.

"Don't worry Skittles, I'll cool you down."

Misinterpreting his intentions entirely, Rainbow spread her legs even more than they already were, and cooed a lustful response back to him...She never saw it coming...

"Aww nothing like going from a hot workout to some cool se-AAAHAHHAHHAHAHHHH! COOOOOOOOOOOOLD!"

Rainbows entire body shot up like a rocket covered in nitro the instant his bucket (filled to the brim) with ice water dumped its contents all over her sweaty frame. He of course, had backed away seconds before the fall, and she'd been so absorbed in what she thought was gonna happen, she hadn't even noticed it appear. So startled was she, that Rainbow actually fell clean off the bench and into the pile of ice that formed on the floor below! Daybreak was beside himself with laughter!

"Hey Rainbow Dash? I just challenged your ass to the ice bucket challenge! Pfffft!"

It was lucky for him that he never took his eyes off Rainbow, for once she fully comprehended what had occurred, the steam fuming from her ears was practically visible!

"I WILL END YOU MOTHER FUCKER!"

"Yikes! That's my que to leave!" He was up and running before he'd finished speaking, taking off towards the kitchen for safety.

"Get back here you son of a bitch!" The ice around Rainbow bounced into the air as she took off after him, screeching for vengeance!

"That's the first accurate thing you've said about me yet Dash!" He yelled back at her as he rounded the kitchen corner, spying her hot on his tail.

She had closed the distance between them in less than a second. Hardly surprising considering her talents, but Daybreak was still certain of his victory. She was considerably faster than him, and even at full power he was sure he would still have to really push it to keep up for any extended distance. However, at such a short range as this, he had the advantage. She was fast, no doubt about it, but the twists and turns of his home gave him an edge, and he knew he could round the turns much cleaner than she could.

All that, plus his own ego, had him taunting her as they ran about the house, fueling her rage even more than before.

She came considerably close at one point, and took a swipe at him that felt like an eagle had just tried to dive bomb his head, but at the last moment he'd ducked, curving around a door back into the living room. Rainbow was livid.

"When I catch you, the end of the world will be the least of your troubles!"

Daybreak made another sharp turn, narrowly avoiding Rainbow as she made a dive for his legs and slid along the floor. He quickly jumped over the counter and underneath the kitchen table, blowing a raspberry at Rainbow as he did.

"You're just mad cause for once I got your ass! You should have seen the lustful looks on your face before I dropped that water on you. And the absolute confusion afterwards, you looked like I hit your reset button, it was priceless!"

"Shut uuuuuup!" Rainbow came barreling over the counter in a half jump half dive at the bottom of the table, nearly swiping at his legs. Before she could touch him, he was gone in a poof of green light, appearing back atop the counter perched like a cat. He laughed aloud as Rainbow crashed into the table, sending it and her crashing into the wall. Daybreak pulled down on his lower right eyelid with one finger and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Teleportation beats super speed, Skittles."

Rainbow growled up at him from her awkward laying position on the ground. Her rump and legs were up in the air for display, her feet aiming in two different directions and her left knee bent awkwardly down over her. It was obvious she wasn't hurt, so Daybreak had no trouble laughing at her.

"Maybe if you put on some shoes, or clothing in general, you wouldn't slide around so much?"

She hissed back at him like snake "Maybe if you had actually screwed me like I wanted, I wouldn't be chasing you down in the first place! Seriously, what guy on earth turns down a girl this hot and willing, just to dump cold water on her?"

Daybreak extended both his thumbs and jabbed them back into his chest, keeping his tongue extended as he did so. "This guy right here. Besides, you were hot and sweaty, so I cooled you down. I did exactly what I said I would, it's your own fault for expecting me to mean something sexual."

She blew a raspberry of her own, then after a moment, sighed aloud. "Fine, you win. You gonna come help me now? This table really isn't too comfortable."

Rolling his eyes around in their sockets, Daybreak chuckled aloud "hehe fine, I'm coming, just sit tight."

"Very funny, like I'm going anywhere with this thing on top of me."

It wasn't like she'd really have needed his help if she actually felt like trying, that much was obvious. The table barely weight twenty pounds, and he'd just witnessed Rainbow benching one forty only a few minutes prior like it was paper. She was probably just feeling lazy and wanted to make him pick her up or something. Probably ask him to carry her to the tub too, seeing as how she and Scoots seemed to love his over sized bath tub. They had to, seeing as they'd come to treat it like their own personal Jacuzzi every freakin day since they discovered it. That was one advantage of them barely able to leave his home (outside of school), all they did was explore the house, or bother him...sometimes in mixed combinations.

Once he'd pulled the table from her back and flipped it back to its original position, he extended a hand down to Rainbow Dash offering to help her up. Her eyes narrowed to daggers and her lips curled into a look that he knew all to well, seeing as he made it nearly everyday. It was a look of sinister intent, and he saw his folly all too late. Rainbow reached out a grasped hold of his arm rather than his hand, and yanked him down to her.

"Gotcha now asshat."

He swallowed the newly formed lump of fear invading his throat "Uh oh..."

Forty five minutes, a shower, and two new lumps on his head later, Daybreak and Rainbow Dash were out and headed towards the Everfree. Scootaloo, having awoken during the short time Rainbow had taken to beat the snot out of Daybreak, had come to the front door to see them off in nothing but an overly large shirt. Her whole body could have easily been revealed to the world if the wind had decided to blow at any time she was outside. Once the pair were out of sight and had their backs to her though, she stopped waving and made it her goal to go back inside and sleep until it was noon. First day of clear weather in two weeks or not, no one sane got up and stayed up at five in the morning.

Rainbow and Daybreak walked hand in hand for the majority of their walk through the Everfree Forest. They often took this route in the mornings, when the storms weren't so horrid that private portals were needed to get to school without injury. It was the only way Daybreak could walk her to school like they were a normal couple, without anyone spotting them occasionally kissing, holding hands or just cuddling up to each other while they walked. Despite having thwacked him twice on the head little more than half an hour ago for being an asshole, Rainbow wasn't actually mad at him in the slightest. In fact, walking hand in hand with Daybreak was something she looked forward to each time the storms weren't life threatening. They always were deadly by the days end, but sometimes when they were just getting started, it was manageable.

Nothing like today though. The weather forecast had said for the first time in two weeks that today would bring clear skies, and so far it looked like the weather tracker would get to keep his job. The morning was beautiful, if one ignored the toppled trees and debris consistently lying about from the previous days storms.

The dew that clung to the mossy trees of the forest, or the aurora of colors that shimmered down from the canopy above, catching the moisture in the air and creating rainbows all over the place. It was definitely a sight one could get romantic to, although Daybreak had literally no idea how to get romantic other than small references from books (that he'd never admit he had) and his gut reactions to Rainbows advances.

Luckily she wasn't picky about romance, not a big check mark on her list of important things in a relationship. Being who she was, it hardly mattered to her at all really. Plus it was cute just to see him try and be romantic, especially when he failed miserably. He could be seductive, lustful, alluring, enchanting, enticing, all of these things that usually would lead to heated moments of passion (and sex). Because it came from his instincts and his gut, both of which were trained to their peak. But when it came to romantic things like flowers, or candy, that required insight into what girls (even Rainbow Dash) liked at a simple level...he sucked.

Take this morning for example. Rainbow Dash wasn't the kind of girl who got uptight if she was given flowers that weren't her favorite. In fact, she didn't usually care for something so girly, but she knew Daybreaks limited knowledge on actual romantic involvement meant that flowers were inevitable at some point. So when she watched him run ahead for a few steps on the trail and start picking at a bush, she knew what to expect. Sadly, what she thought was gonna happen...isn't what happened.

Daybreak returned to her side with, what at first appeared to be, a beautiful looking large purple flower with a single yellow stripe through its center. The petals were arranged in a unique manner and lined all around the entirety of the outside, giving it the impression that it could fold inward and still look just as good as it did now. The center had three yellow blotches that, upon closer examination, looked to be the spot were insects would pollinate upon it. At first, Rainbow was actually impressed, the flower was gorgeous, and Daybreak had managed to pull outs all the roots with it. This meant with a bit of magic on his part, she could still preserve the plant and keep it alive at home if she wished. It gave off a pleasant aroma and it was soft to the touch, so she was seriously considering keeping it.

Then she discovered its true nature, the hard way. The moment Rainbows finger caressed the inside of the flower, near the three yellow spots, everything changed. The yellow blotches blinked open, becoming little widened eyes and the petals lining the outside instantly became razor sharp, like teeth. The plants roots shot upwards, wrapping around both Dash and Daybreak, then the little devil plant gave an angry hiss and jumped on Rainbows face, seemingly sucking on it in the process. Rainbow didn't freak out or overreact, she just calmly waited while she felt Daybreak teleport out of its grip, then pry the little sucker off her with a force field. Yet despite her calmness, and the overall humor of it all, she couldn't help feeling, the tiniest bit annoyed.

Daybreak was a genius when it came to anything magical, whether it be plants, animals or spells. She knew that he knew without a doubt nearly every magical plant and animal that lived in Everfree. Yet he'd mistaken a carnivorous Purple Devil, for a flower. It was obvious that she should have no idea what the difference was between the two, because she didn't specialize in that stuff, but Daybreak did. There was no reason for him to make a blunder like that. But whenever he tried to do something "romantic" or out of character for him in general to impress her, he screwed it up.

She was determined to let it go for now though, confident that the blunders would cease with time. He rarely messed anything up for long, so she just enjoyed the rest of their walk to school, and made a mental note of which plant to give Twilight as a gift the next time she pissed her off.

The rest of the walk passed without incident. The duo reached the exit of the Everfree almost directly in front of the campus' main gate. Immediately they released each others hands, and continued forward at a casual pace. They'd both agreed that anyone knowing about their relationship other than Sunset and Scootaloo, both of whom it would have been nearly impossible to hide if from, was still too dangerous. Scoots lived with Daybreak and could be found by his side nearly every second he spent at home, in addition she loved Rainbow Dash like a sister. So there was no danger in letting someone like her, who was devoted to them both, know their secret. She'd never tell.

As for Sunset, it had been Daybreak who had decided to let her in on it. She was gonna be around alot more often now, so hiding their closeness would become difficult. Knowing Sunset, she'd probably figure it out on her own anyways if she noticed that Rainbow was always around and constantly hanging on him every time she showed up. Daybreak still didn't fully trust her, but he was willing to take the chance since he was certain that Sunset wouldn't break her promise of silence. Anything she discovered in his home, stayed there, between them.

Except those two, Daybreak was relatively certain no one else but his father even suspected that he and Dash might be more than friends. There was no reason to. Especially when he had someone like Twilight blabbing to anyone who would listen about what kind of person he was, no one would think that he would be in any kind of relationship. Then again from what Rainbow had described to him, Twilights reaction to finding out that he was even friends with Rainbow, had been something to behold. Still, he doubted she could ever see past their prior history together, so his secret should be safe for the time being.

They reached the gate and were through into the courtyard in no time at all. Daybreak bid Rainbow farewell and good luck in the days classes, then made his way towards the soccer field. The plan for the day was simple. Rainbow would go to school like she normally did, while Daybreak stayed outside fixing the field. There should be no chance of him being discovered since, according to Dash, the headmistress had all P.E sessions being held inside now due to the field being blown up and the inclement weather situation. Once the school day was over, Rainbow was supposed to meet with him and help finish up. Though he suspected she was hoping he'd be done before she ever had to get involved.

Upon reaching the field, Daybreaks initial thoughts about the length of time that the repairs would take, were shattered to dust. The damage was far worse than he initially remembered it being. The storms of hellish wind and rain of the past few days had done him no favors either. The crater that had been created with their crash was now filled with random bits of debris and water from the storms. This meant that before he could even get started on repairs, he had to clear the crater of its obstacles.

"This is gonna be a nightmare" He thought looking down at the scattered pieces of a large oak within the waterlogged crater.

"Whelp, might as well get started."

Somehow, the world always seemed to find a way to screw over Daybreaks day. Turns out the weather forecaster had been spot on, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Which, under any other given circumstance, would have been a welcome sight. Not for Daybreak however, not right now. The heat. That's what was making his day miserable, the heat. It had rained so much the last few weeks, that with all the condensation in the air, and it being a cloudless sunny day today, the humidity was near unbearable. He'd spent most of the morning at the bottom of this crater, levitating out debris and clearing it of water. He hadn't even begun the repairs and it was already nearing the schools lunch hour. He had no idea how he was supposed to finish this before classes ended, let alone even before the day itself ended.

Originally he thought he'd show up, snap his fingers, and make everything poof just the way it had been before they'd obliterated it. It was well within the limits of his power to accomplish something like that, seeing as he'd redecorated his entire house with a single snap of his fingers before. That however, had not been a magical issue that he'd been trying to repair, as this was. He'd simply been changing the features of one object, into something else. This was a totally different problem that he'd forgotten to plan ahead for.

When he and Rainbow had smashed into the field at speeds capable of shattering the sound barrier on both their bodies, they'd been leaving a blazing trail of their own physical aura behind them, hence the green and rainbow flames that had been scattered about the field before the monsoons had finally doused them. The aura is normally harmless and fades on its own after some time. Daybreak and Rainbows case however, was an exception. They had crashed into the field while still releasing all that magic, after just having made two separate sonic booms. The overlapping layers of magical energy that had been left simply trailing behind them, had the suddenly and very violently, been smashed into a barely shielded soccer field. All that magical residue had to go somewhere, Daybreak had just assumed it had rebounded onto them and that's where their injuries had come from, but it looks like that the energy had embedded itself in the rubber turf of the soccer field itself.

"That would certainly explain why the flames didn't go out for days after the event" He thought grumpily to himself as he hoisted some of the final pieces of a large oak from the crater and catapulted it towards the Everfree without care.

Despite having figured all this info out on his own, it was no comfort to him. For all it really came down to meaning was, he now had to deal with hours of work instead of a few minutes. He couldn't just poof all that energy away, it had to go somewhere, that was a basic law of nature. So since it was embedded deep in the turf field and the surrounding debris...it all had to been moved manually. This meant that he had to actually lay new rubber turf in the crater and all surrounding little holes one by one, rather than with a single snap of his fingers.

He had arrived in night black long pants and an equally dark t-shirt with the picture of a rising sun displayed on the front. Now however, after three hours in the merciless heat and humidity, he had soaked through and disposed of his shirt outside of the crater. His pants and been magically changed from long and black to grey and short. Bright colors reflected more light and therefore heat, but he'd never be caught dead in something that was bleach white, it just didn't feel right on him. Regardless of stripping down, he still felt like he was becoming more and more dehydrated by the minute. He'd pulled a few bottles of water from the small pack he'd brought with him, and still had plenty to spare, but this heat made it feel like he was losing liquid faster than he could replace it.

Wiping a stream of sweat from his forehead, he bent down and gripped another piece of the previously mentioned oak tree. With a strained grunt and a surge of magic, he tossed the final piece free from the crater and listened as it crashed somewhere in the distance. He was sure he might have heard the sound of breaking glass as well, but he could have just as easily imagined it.

"Hopefully it's on top of something expensive". Thoughts of a random tree trunk flying through the air and landing on one of the teachers carriages (without them in it of course) brought a small smile to his face.

Looking back up from his task, the top of the crater suddenly felt miles away instead of several yards. It was certainly deep enough that he could have stood on top of himself three times over and still not reached the top, so his concern wasn't unwarranted. Just maybe a little over exaggerated. With a sigh, he bent his aching knees, and jumped. Smacking into the inclined side of the loose turf, he dug his magically enhanced hands into the fake dirt and began climbing out of his rubber sink hole. With his hands covered in aura it was easy enough to grip the shifty rubber and climb, provided he didn't loose his footing that is.

Upon reaching the top of the crater, he crawled over to where he'd deposited his pack and shirt, removed another bottle of life giving water, and collapsed. He sat with his back resting against the backpack for support while he looked up at the cloudless sky, attempting to regain his heart rate. Taking small sips of the cold water to avoid sending his overheating body into shock, he sat and simply took in the breeze around him. Down in the crater, he couldn't feel the air flow, which made the humidity twice as bad. But up here, where he could lay back and relax for a moment, the air was almost enough to cool him down.

He had no idea how long he laid there, just staring at the blank sky, but it must have been a decent length of time. Before long he heard the bell ring for the Universities lunch hour, and soon after that, he found himself on his back in the rubber dirt, not caring if the small rubber pieces stuck to his sweaty skin. At some point he must have drifted off, because when next he opened his eyes, he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching in the turf behind him.

Too exhausted to care, he simply lay there and waited to be discovered by whomever it might be.

"If it's anyone that could be a problem, a simple memory charm should be enough to avoid a situation. If it's Stormchaser...well then I might just find some use for this giant hole after all. Hmmmm...if it's the headmistress...well then I guess I'm all kinds of screwed."

Luckily for him, the approaching footsteps fell into none of those areas. For as the stomping ceased and the one approaching spoke, Daybreak felt himself release a sigh of relief.

"Laying down on the job I see, at least I finish my chores before napping all day."

There was no point in looking back to see who it was, Daybreak could recognize that larger-than-life raspy tone anywhere. Rainbow Dash stood over him seconds later, confirming his excellent hearing and giving him a reproachful smirk as she stared down at him. He returned her smirk with one of his own, and patted the rubbery dirt next to him, inviting her to join him. With a small chuckle and a roll of her eyes, she obliged.

She seated herself and laid next to him without any thoughts of closeness or how this might look from a distance. He knew he should say something about their proximity, but was too tired to care. He'd rather hear about her day anyways, anything to get his mind off the exhausting task still ahead of him. He darted his drooping eyes over to her and noticed she was not wearing the same clothes from this morning. Instead she wore her gym attire, a plain white t-shirt which she had spray painted her Cutie Mark onto, and extremely short sky blue shorts meant for running exercises. The shorts barely went past her hips, but for a completely different purpose than seduction. Shorts like that allowed much more freedom of movement in a track or cross country race, it also allowed for more airflow around the body, keeping the runner as cooled as possible. Yet even knowing this, he couldn't help but stare as the wind lifted the shorts just enough for him to spy her tight athletic underwear. Black, skin tight under armor was the name of what she wore, and it hugged her hips so tightly he could have traced the outline of her rump if he wanted. Luckily for her, the only chance anyone normally had of seeing that was while she ran, but she moved too fast for anyone to have time to stare, so it was perfect for her.

Daybreak extended his arms back behind his head and hooked his right around Rainbows neck and shoulder, pulling her a bit tighter against him. Once again, both of them knew the dangers of anyone spotting them like this, but at the moment neither seemed to care. Rainbow plugged her nose and wafted her hand in front of her face, laughing as her head was pressed comfortably into his chest.

"Duuuuuuude, you wreck. I just went through a gym class where I had the pleasure of crushing a bunch of scrubs into the rubber matting, during a intense game of Dodge ball, and I don't smell nearly as bad as you do. What have you been doing out here?"

With a grunt he pointed his free hand towards the crater a few feet away. "What does it look like ya dork?"

With a raised eyebrow, Rainbow chuckled "Well, the field is still as demolished and crappy as I remember after our race, sooooooooo...nothing I'd guess? Maybe napping all day in the heat just makes you stink worse than me?"

Rainbow failed to realize that, being in the position she was currently, left her ribs very vulnerable to attack. A fact Daybreak was now happy to remind her of. Using the hand now currently around her shoulder, Daybreaks free hand launched over his chest and attacked Rainbow with rapid jabs to the ribs. The resulting squeals were both unbelievably girly to be coming from Rainbow Dash, and undeniably cute. He poked and pinched at her sides, forcing her to try and roll away for safety, but he just put her in a headlock and continued the torture, laughing until she squealed for mercy.

"C-come on dude....Pleeeeeeasseeeeeeppp! Stop! Mercy! Ahhh! Mercy!"

"No mercy for you ya ass! I've been working my butt off out here clearing that crater of trees and water and shit since I got here! How daaaaaaaare you imply I've been slacking off! You shall pay for your insolence!"

He changed his attacks from her left to her right side and continued his assault. She squirmed and cringed under his relentless barrage of pokes, squealing and gasping for breath as he tickled her. He was surprisingly effective for being seemingly devoid of energy moments ago.

"Dude pleeeease stooo-aaaaaahhpp! I'm sorry ok?"

"How sorry are you?"

"W-what?"

He smirked over her as she quickly gasped for breath, her momentary respite from is assault was like a miniature taste of heaven for her.

"How. Sorry. Are. You?"

Her eyes darted about, fearful that she might say the wrong thing and be subjected to more of his torture. Of course Daybreak was only toying with her, he had no intention of stopping yet. This was the first couple minutes of fun he'd had since he got there today, no way was he done yet. So while Rainbow thought of her answer, Daybreak grabbed her by the legs and flipped her over onto her belly. Before she could react or realize what was happening, he was sitting atop her back with both her legs pinned and her feet within his grasp. With a flick of his wrist, her shoes and socks removed themselves from her feet, immediately revealing his intentions. Daybreak however, did not fully understand just how sensitive Rainbows feet were.

Rainbow Dash immediately flew into a panic! Frantically blabbering out words in an attempt to stop him from even thinking about touching her bare feet. It caught him completely off guard. Even more so was the surge of strength he felt build underneath him. Had he not been placing his full weight down upon her back, she may very well have thrown him off with the flail of panic she'd just had.

"Dude no! Dude I'm dead serious, don't touch my feet! I mean seriously don't touch my feet I really don't like people touching my feet! Ok jokes over time to let me go! No seriously time to let me go, don't you fucking dare even think about it!"

He was generally surprised. "Wow Dash...what's with this all the sudden. I've never seen you lose your cool like this. Now I'm actually curious."

She attempted to kick out with her feet, bucking out like an angry mule. He however, had them pinned in his grip, and was on guard now. She wasn't going anywhere.

"NO DUDE I'M FUCKING SEROUS! DON'T YOU FUCKING DO IT! I'LL END YOUR SORRY ASS! I'll - AHHHHHHH! AHAHA HAAHHH AHHHHH!"

His fingers had barely made contact with her skin, and she was already squealing! But this wasn't the same kind of squealing as before, it didn't feel like laughter. Well it did, but it also felt like something else too. He danced his fingers across her feet and toes, lingering on each one individually before moving on and sending Rainbow into a flurry of squeaks and squeals that were totally different from what he'd been hearing before. She was pounding her fists into the rubber dirt and drool was dripping from her mouth as he touched her. Her eyes looked like they had gone derpy.

All that combined with her abnormal squeals didn't make sense...until he looked in between her legs. It took him a minute to understand what was happening and why. His surprise was evident from his burst of laughter.

"Wooah! Holy crap Dash! I had no idea your feet were that kind of sensitive!"

Before she could inquire what he meant, Rainbow felt her shorts disappear down her knees. The cool air greeted her thighs with a high squeal from her lips, but that squeal was nothing compared to the sound she made as his fingers traced their way along her skin tight underwear. From her butt all the way down to her lips, Daybreak felt her arousal literally soaking through her fabric. For the first time, Rainbow was truly embarrassed.

"Ahh~please...pull them back up. This isn't funny anymore dude..."

"I dunno Dash, this is pretty golden to me. I mean who knew your feet were your secret weakness all along. This would have saved me alot of trouble a few times back."

"Mmmmmm..."

She quietly grunted in fear as his fingers traced along her skin. One hand barely tickling the soft skin of her cyan feet, the other gently rubbing along the damp parts of her underwear and around her shivering rump. She could feel it, a simple bit of wet fabric was all that separated his fingers from giving her a world of bliss. Part of her wanted him to do it. To have him just pull down her underwear right here in the middle of this broken, beat up field and make him satisfy the volcano of lust building between her legs. Sadly though, her common sense was to active on this occasion. She knew the extreme dangers that it would pose of they were caught in such a compromising position together. There'd be no denying what was occurring.

That was why; when she felt the fabric of her underwear being lifted, and two fingers sliding ever so gently inside it down her cheeks...she couldn't hold back a gasp of surprise. She figured he, more so than her, would realize the importance of not risking being seen like this. Or maybe he did know and just didn't care right now. Either way, there was no mistaking the feeling of his two fingers working their way inside her tight under armor and towards her sex. The tiny gasp she made the mistake of letting loose, which Daybreak mistook for pleasure, was all the confirmation he would've needed to start playing with her.

It seemed luck still favored her today however, or perhaps time was on her side. The bell signaling the end of lunch hour sounded across the campus, and broke Daybreak out of the lustful haze he seemed to have been developing as he'd begun to toy with Rainbows undergarments.

Ring Riiiiiiiing! Ring Riiiiiiiing! Ring Riiiiiiiiing!

Realizing their time together was up for now, Daybreak dismounted Rainbows back with a sigh of disappointment and helped her to her feet. After returning Rainbows shorts, shoes and socks to their proper place, Daybreak embraced her in his arms. It was just a casual, everyday hug to her. He held her affectionately and tight against his (still sweaty) chest, wrapping his arms around her waist. It was normal, to her. To him it was something else. More and more lately he found himself not wanting to be away from Rainbow. He'd noticed it whenever she left for any reasonable length of time, all he really seemed to think about was when she would return. Today was a perfect example. Ever since they had parted ways that morning, all he'd really looked forward to was seeing her again. This hug was him telling her to hurry back, him saying he would miss her and he hoped she'd think about him. He tried to convey feelings he'd never say aloud through this simple hug.

Sadly he failed...and all Rainbow felt was the affection and warmth of a casual hug. Not that there was anything lacking in that, but he could tell by the warm smile, the passionate kiss, and the joyful wave she gave as she walked back towards the school, that she did not understand the mixture of feelings currently bottled up inside of him. He wanted to say something to her, but had no idea how to convey it.

All he could do was sigh his disappointment away.

"Well....back to work I guess..."

Author's Notes:

This chapter is actually alot more important than it may first appear.