February 21st, 993 Domina Solaria

Doug wakes to the sound of rustling leaves and the occasional warbling twitter of some kind of songbird. Dawn’s light filters through the trees to their shady rest, and for a few moments he just lays there, staring up at the ever-shifting pattern of gold streaming through green. A flicker of movement catches his eye, and a faint smile crosses his lips at the orange mare laying on her side next to him. Her green eyes peek out from underneath her battered Stetson as her head rests on his arm, legs tucked against her body.

The smile on the orange muzzle spreads a little wider as his fades. “Mornin’, Sugarcube,” she says softly, not yet willing to get up for the morning chores. One hoof stretches across Doug’s chest, gently coaxing him towards her. “Sleep well?”

Doug grins to hide his discomfort, the roots and hard dirt a poor substitute for pillow and mattress. That, and the thoughts that keep reminding him of what might never be. I’m so lucky to have her with me. I… I don’t want to imagine what might have happened without her to help me through it. “Well enough,” he says, though he can’t quite get the cheer to spread to his eyes. He reaches over, a firm pull rolling his mare towards him.

Applejack reluctantly complies, gingerly stepping a foreleg over his body, though she glances to the branches above. “Ah don’t mind,” she says, spreading her hind legs across his hips, “but Ah should let you know, Dash’ll be gettin’ a free show.”

Doug follows her gaze, spotting the chromatic tail teasing back and forth among the treetops. “So,” he chuckles as he finds Rainbow Dash’s face. The pegasus looks more than a little disappointed that her disguise was discovered, and isn’t afraid at all of showing it. “You’re saying we should charge her?”

“In your dreams,” Rainbow Dash snorts dismissively. She can’t help but smirk, her leer drifting lower, “Buuut, I think you beat me there already.”

Doug glances down at his rock-hard member, which hasn’t changed much since he woke up, then at the mare straddling him. She doesn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about where this is heading. And, honestly, I shouldn’t be, either. It would just be a cheap way of not addressing the underlying problem. “It does that,” he says apologetically, a hand coming up to stroke her flanks. Not to try to get her in the mood, though if he’s honest he wouldn’t object if it happens, even with Rainbow Dash watching. Never knew I’d be such an exhibitionist. Must be all the walking around naked.

“Ah figured, after it’s done that every mornin’,” Applejack quips, her head dropping down to nuzzle his face. After a soft kiss she whispers, “Ah should let you know, Ah prefer you wearing me out at night.”

Doug can’t help but grin and take the reminder that he does wear the earth pony out as more encouragement to keep going.

“Yeah, well,” Rainbow Dash says from above, interrupting wherever Doug might have thought to take it, “Pinkie Pie’s waiting for you. Something about a party? She woke me up, wanted me to make sure you didn’t miss it.”

“Wouldn’t want that to happen,” Applejack says as she hops up, far more eagerly than Doug would have liked. Or at least parts of him would have liked, the other half relieved. “‘Sides, we’ll have missed breakfast by the time we’re back, and Ah don’t want to run late again.” She winks at Doug, “And Ah know you don’t want me to, either.”

“And I was hoping,” Rainbow Dash says, landing next to Doug as he stands. She nuzzles his side, not trying terribly hard to avoid staring at his still erect member, “That after our run you might help me out?”

“Help you out with what?” Doug asks, wary to agreeing to help Rainbow Dash with anything without knowing exactly what he’s getting into. The three start walking towards Ponyville, quickly getting to the road.

“You know,” Rainbow Dash says, her head bobbing in time to her steps. “With a cooler? My heat definitely started; I’ve been getting a couple of those proestrus dreams the last few days, but I wanted to make sure.” She briefly grimaces as she uncomfortably wriggles back and forth.

Doug glances to Applejack, the mare giving a confirming nod. “Just don’t take too long,” the mare replies with a wink to Rainbow Dash, “but Ah doubt that’ll be a problem for ya.”

“You know it,” Rainbow Dash says proudly, though it turns into a smirk and salacious wink as she takes to the air. “You sure you don’t want any help this year? I doubt Doug can stay out of you the whole two weeks.”

“Ah’ll be fine,” Applejack says crossly, her head turning up slightly.

“Jeez,” Rainbow Dash says with a roll of her eyes. “You sure your heat hasn’t started yet?”

Applejack merely grunts as a single tent comes into view between Sweet Apple Acres and the schoolhouse. Rainbow Dash flies ahead, holding the canvas door open for the other two before slipping inside herself.

It’s somewhat crowded inside the tent with Rarity and Pinkie Pie already inside and standing at a plain folding table with half a dozen large cupcakes, each of which probably constitutes a day’s worth of sugar. A single three legged stool waits on the close side, looking like it was assembled just for him. “Good morning,” the unicorn greets with a pleasant smile for each of them, though she lingers on Doug the longest. “I trust you are doing well?”

“Morning,” returns Doug melancholy, slowly nodding. He goes to the stool, Applejack and Rainbow Dash taking positions next to him. He sighs, scratching the back of his neck and trying to avoid eye contact. “Doing all right, I guess.”

“Well!” Pinkie Pie exclaims, bouncing in place and looking ready to burst to the top of their tent and bring it all crashing down with wayward pronks. She looks like she’s already eaten two dozen of those cupcakes and is trying to burn off the sugar rush without actually moving. “We’re here to turn that frown upside down!”

“Pinkie,” Doug starts exasperatedly, though she immediately cuts back in.

“We know you’ve been given some bad news,” Pinkie Pie says, motioning to the other three ponies around her. They all nod encouragingly while Applejack gives Doug a slight nudge to the seat. He reluctantly sits down, only for Pinkie Pie to slam her hooves on the opposite side of the table and practically leap on top while keeping her hind legs on the ground. She leans forward, smiling broadly. “So we got something for you!” Pinkie Pie pulls a present wrapped in shiny paper with a pretty pink bow out of her mane, cheerfully plunking it down in front of Doug.

He eyes it suspiciously. “What is it?” he asks, cautiously taking the present. It’s about the size of a medium sized book and very light, almost like nothing is inside.

“Oh, silly,” Pinkie Pie says with a merry roll of her eyes, “you have to open it to find out!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash echoes impatiently. “What, have you never gotten a present before?”

“I’ve gotten presents before,” Doug retorts, ripping the paper apart. Inside is a plain box, made of thick cardboard. His eyes light up, happily exclaiming, “It’s just what I always wanted!”

“Doug,” Pinkie Pie forcefully states, dispelling his mocking mirth, “Presents are serious business.” She stretches even further across the table to tap the box. “You have to let us know what you really think.” Her smile returns as she happily shouts, “Now, no more foaling around! Open it up!”

“Fine,” Doug says with a smile and roll of his eyes. These ponies - no, just that pony is crazy. The box easily opens up, a single piece of paper inside. His lips purse as he reads through the legalese and different boxes, a few of which have already been filled in. “This is an application,” he says neutrally, eyebrows furrowing as he goes further, “for Equestrian citizenship.” He reaches an impressive seal at the end, two looping signatures already on the page. “And it’s already been signed and approved by Mayor Mare, with a witness.”

“She said she counted at least four new gray hairs in her mane from me making her go through this so late at night,” Pinkie Pie asserts cheerfully. “I mean, she was kind of happy about that, because her gray is very distinguishing, but at the same time she wants to keep her natural pink as long as she can.”

Doug ignores Pinkie Pie’s nonsequitur. “You want me to become an Equestrian citizen.” He glances back down at the paper. “I have to renounce any prior obligations and allegiances, give up any other citizenships.” He takes a deep breath. “That’s… that’s a lot.”

“It’s not compulsory,” Rarity explains in the ensuing quiet, a hoof gently pressing against Doug’s shoulder. “You don’t have to, if it’s important to you.”

“If you asked me a day ago,” Doug says to himself, yet loud enough for them to hear, as he reads through the paper again, “I wouldn’t have agreed. It would have represented never going back, of giving up on that possibility.”

Applejack pushes against his side, her wet muzzle getting his arm away from his body. The rest of her head follows soon after, quickly skimming through the document before she tilts up to watch him, trying to read what’s going on through those tiny eyes of his.

“I know you want me to stay,” Doug says absentmindedly, his hand reaching around to rub on the opposite side of Applejack’s neck. He mutters, “I have no idea why, sometimes.” He tugs her close with a squeeze of his arm, her grin growing wider. “It feels good to be wanted.” His short lived mirth fades as he sighs, his arm now hanging at her side. His other hand presses against his forehead, massaging his temples. He glances around the room.

Rainbow Dash stands, bouncing from one leg to another and looking quite bored. Her wings occasionally spread a few inches from her sides, like she wants to hover but can’t in the confined quarters. Rarity keeps her smile, though it looks more strained with every passing moment.

“You still don’t want to give up on them?” asks Applejack, her voice quivering.

“If humans have one trait,” Doug says, his mouth pursing, “more so than ingenuity, it would be tenacity. What might kill anything else, or get it to give up, doesn’t stop us. We beat our heads against problems until they give in. Bad things happen, and anything we don’t heal from we suffer through. We keep going, never stopping, until the bitter end.” He stares at the application one last time, then closes his eyes, placing it back in the box.

Pinkie Pie smiles at the assertion, even though it goes contrary to her present. “Even though things look bleak, you never let it get you down!”

“Oh, it gets me down,” Doug says darkly. “It hurts, that I might never go home.” Doug’s voice catches as he glances at Applejack. “That I might never have kids.” He shudders, looking away, avoiding the mare’s reassuring smile. “But I’ll get over it. I’ll make it through.”

“Wait,” Pinkie Pie says, sniffling slightly. “Are you saying you don’t want our help?”

“No,” Doug says, tears welling in his eyes. He smiles, spreading his arms and motioning with his hands. The three mares next to him eagerly press against him while Pinkie Pie leaps over the table to tackle the other four in a hearty group hug. Doug, and the mares, laugh while they roll to the ground, knocking into one of the tent’s supports. “You all have helped so much, and I can’t think of a better way for you to keep helping.” His arms squeeze each of them tight, getting four nuzzles in return. “Thank you, all of you.” He looks up at the table. “Now, where are those cupcakes?”

Only for the tent to collapse onto them.

Next Chapter: Ch. 38 - Reverberation Rod Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 6 Minutes