Disentangling themselves from the collapsed canvas gets easier once Rarity’s horn lights, a mass of hooves and hands forcing away the fallen fabric. Yet what might have been a merry moment stays somber as Doug assists Applejack, leaving only Rainbow Dash still stuck inside.

“The cupcakes!” Pinkie Pie shouts, diving towards the table shaped lump. She emerges with three of the tasty treats, licking her muzzle clean of any remaining icing. She tosses one to Applejack, who deftly catches it with her mouth, another to Doug, who snags it out of midair, and the last to Rainbow Dash as she emerges, a wing freeing itself just in time.

Doug’s smile never gets past the half-forced grimace as he inspects his icing covered hand. Even a bite of the delicious sugary confection fails to draw more than a quiet sigh, stolidly licking off his fingers. His cold eyes find Applejack’s, and her muzzle purses as her face falls.

“Well,” Doug says as he picks up his present, his voice flat, “I guess I’ll see you in the fields.”

“Orchards,” Applejack corrects, but her heart isn’t into it.

Doug nods, a bit of his grimace breaking through. He starts jogging back to Sweet Apple Acres, leaving three grim mares looking at each other. Rainbow Dash matches his pace, staring at him, the two quiet until they cross the fence.

“Why are you doing that to Applejack?” Rainbow Dash demands, staring at the human who has refused to meet her eyes the whole way. “You have to know how she’s feeling!”

“I do,” Doug says, turning his head even further away from the pegasus and tucking it on his shoulder. “And I hate every second of it.”

“Then why do you keep doing it!?” Rainbow Dash’s wings briefly spread from her body before she catches herself. If I fly up in his face like I want to, and he deserves, he’s just going to get on my case about that.

Doug grimaces before glancing over, though he looks at her flanks, still avoiding her piercing gaze. “You’re awfully talkative for our runs; normally, you’d barely be able to keep breathing.”

“Yeah, well,” Rainbow Dash retorts, “you’re even slower than usual.” She slows down even more, trying to look him in the eye, but he just turns his head back to the path ahead.

“I hurt my leg,” Doug says weakly, a trace of lingering pain occasionally flaring up.

“Doing what?” Rainbow Dash demands, putting on a little extra speed, even if takes her a little longer to catch her breath.

“Running,” comes the curt response.

“...away from your problems?” Rainbow Dash finishes for him, glaring.

Her reply is a grimace and closing of Doug’s eyes, which is all the answer she needs.

“You never answered my question,” Rainbow Dash continues, her voice hard. “Why do you keep stringing Applejack along?”

Doug takes a deep breath, picking up his pace, the burning in his leg nothing to what he feels inside.

“Is it for the sex?” Rainbow Dash demands harshly. She isn’t satisfied with the short shake of his head. “Because you can buck me every day ‘till you leave, if that’s what it takes to rescue her from you.” She spits just behind Doug, menacingly grinding her teeth.

“I don’t want that,” Doug grits out as he sprints away, feet pounding against the dirt.

Rainbow Dash squints against the tiny particles bombarding her face without a wing cone to shield her. She grits her teeth as she picks up her pace again, quickly catching up to the human. “Oh, yeah?” she snorts out between hard breaths. “Then what was, that about me, being beautiful?”

“I don’t want it to be like that between us,” Doug ekes out, his endurance fading fast.

“Then what, do you want?” Rainbow Dash pleads, strides away from whipping out her wings to keep up.

His reserves spent, seconds from collapsing, and Doug slows to a walk, his hand pressing against his chest as he tries to not throw up. Rainbow Dash matches his pace, not showing her relief in the slightest. It takes a few moments for him to recover, and he finally asks, “You want to join the Wonderbolts, right?”

Rainbow Dash snorts derisively. “Duh,” she spits out, glancing up to her Cloudominium and recalling the dozens of posters and other memorabilia she has stashed there.

“What would you do,” Doug says, his breathing more under control, “if they said you couldn’t join?”

“Yeah, right,” Rainbow Dash scoffs. “I’m one of the fastest pegasi alive.” She huffs as she looks up at the orchards. “I just needed to work on my endurance and my control, or I would’ve gotten in with the rest of my class. The class I skipped ahead to.” She glares at Doug, especially as he doesn’t look that impressed. “That’s what I’ve been doing the last two years, and I’m going to ace their entrance exams.”

“Well,” Doug says defensively, “what if you got hurt? Broke a wing or something?”

“Please.” Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes. “Wings heal, and pretty quick, too. That wouldn’t stop me.”

“What if it was bad,” Doug continues. “Doc says that you’ll never make it in.”

“Buck her.” Rainbow Dash flexes her wings, showing off her impressive plumage. “I prove her wrong.”

“So you wouldn’t give up,” Doug says, carefully controlled.

“Never,” Rainbow Dash agrees. Her eyebrows narrow as she looks up at Doug.

Doug meets her gaze, nodding once.

“You’re saying getting home,” Rainbow Dash slowly continues, her hostility gradually dissipating, “is as important to you as joining the Wonderbolts is to me.”

“Family,” Doug corrects. “And getting home just seems like the surest way of making that happen.”

“But why not stay here and, like, adopt? Start a foster home?” Rainbow Dash leads him to one of the barns, trying to shake the soreness from her legs. “Celestia knows there are plenty of foals who need a loving home.”

“I don’t know if it would be the same.” Doug sighs, lips pursing. “And I would at least like my family to know I’m okay.”

“I get that,” Rainbow Dash says with a frown. She opens the door, Doug following her inside. She grabs a saddlebag with her cutie mark inscribed on the side. “I still don’t like what you’re doing with Applejack.” She glances over at him. “You should tell her, what you just told me.”

“I have,” Doug says, sitting next to Rainbow Dash. He motions and she rolls to her back, gratefully extending one of her legs. He starts at her flank, working his way through the tense muscles. “She knows; she wasn’t happy about it, but agreed.”

“But it’s obvious she feels differently!” Rainbow Dash moans as the tension leaves her legs, a part of her wishing the human could do the same for the heat rushing through her. She glances down her exposed belly, gulping at how vulnerable she feels. I’m not this open about this kind of stuff. Is it because it’s my first time being around a stallion during heat week? Or, first time that I’m really bonding with a stallion? But Doug doesn’t seem like a normal stallion.

“I know,” Doug says with another heavy sigh. He finishes his rush job on her second leg, trying to avoid staring at the spot between her split legs. Granted, hair still covers the area, and he’ll be delving into it soon enough, if the bag by the mare is any indication. He drags the mare until her rump rests against his knees. Fingers brush over the barely raised mounds of her teats as he scratches up her belly, her forelegs getting the same quick treatment.

“So, um,” Rainbow Dash says hesitantly as she rolls to her hooves, her gaze flicking to his rapidly expanding stallionhood before returning to his eyes, “there’s a reason mares don’t ask stallions to help them with this.” Her voice becomes hard as steel as she turns, facing away from him. “We get really suggestible when we’re getting cooled off. If anything happens, it’s the stallion’s fault. One hundred percent. It’s why most stallions steer clear entirely, avoid anything happening at all.” Her eyes narrow even as her tail alluringly flicks to the side. “Can I trust you?”

“I thought I couldn’t get you pregnant,” Doug says, even as a part of him really, really, wants to try, and unconscious gyrations of the lithe mare in front of him is making it really hard to resist.

“Yeah, don’t care,” Rainbow Dash says flatly. “Even the medicine the hornheads make isn’t a hundred percent. Piminy decided to get hitched with Hondo after it failed a couple years back.” She clears her throat before asking again, “Can I trust you?”

“Yes,” Doug says, mentally shouting down the loudest objections. “So, what am I doing?”

Rainbow Dash seems satisfied with his answer. “This,” she says, balancing a two hoof long white cylinder, “is the part of the cooler that sees the most action. Slides in and out, gets me riled up but not cooled off.” She holds it in her hoof, half sticking out. “You’ll want to have a good grip, I’m going to be pretty grabby.”

Doug takes the eight inch long cylinder, about an inch and a half wide. On closer inspection there is a straw sized hole drilled all the way through. He flinches back as Rainbow Dash inserts a three foot long plastic tube into one end.

“This,” Rainbow Dash says, screwing the other end into some sort of foot pedal (hoof pedal?) crossed with a balloon, “holds the most important part. This.” She pulls out a canteen and water bottle, passing both over. “Try not to spill, this stuff is expensive. One cap full goes in first, then water to keep a seal and make sure it all gets in.”

“How does this work?” Doug asks, opening the canteen and carefully pouring out a capful, then adding that to the tubing. It drains until it gets to the valve on the cylinder. He pours the water in until the balloon is completely filled, .

“Um, it tricks the body into thinking it’s pregnant.” Rainbow Dash’s legs flex, her tail flicking up and resting to the side. “Don’t ask me how. You’ll want to press that,” she points at the hoof pedal, “as soon as you see me go off. Um, orgasm. It’s, uh, not as effective if you do it early. And I’ll probably yell at you if you do it too late.” A sheepish grin covers Rainbow’s muzzle. “And, um, I’ll definitely yell at you if you go too slow.”

“I’ll try to not take it too personally,” Doug says with a bit of false cheer. He gets to his knees, debating both the best way to hold the cooler and how to position his body. Besides, of course, hands on flanks and thrusting in. He decides on an overhand grip, thumb liable to jam inside the mare if he’s not careful, and rests his other hand on her dock while he slips to her side.

Rainbow raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything, her tail swishing back and forth.

“Ready?” Doug asks, free hand parting the long hairs and exposing the pink tunnel. She quivers at the touch, the tiniest gulp as she watches him carefully. He can feel the eponymous heat radiating from the mare, far more than whenever Applejack has been excited for him to enter her. He touches the head of the cooler to her entrance. I wonder if she’s lubricated. Or is that what she meant by ‘grabby’?

“Ready,” Rainbow Dash replies, grunting as Doug pushes the cooler into her.

There’s quite a bit more resistance than he expects, and Doug finds himself having to forcibly tug the cooler back and forth to get any kind of action going. Except, judging by the pants from the mare he has to struggle to hold in place, it’s getting her off far faster than when he beds Applejack. Even so, her grunts and tiny squelches are music to his ears, her breathing getting faster and harder.

After what feels like ten seconds (and is probably less than that) he recognizes that sharp intake of breath he loves hearing so much from Applejack. His foot presses down on the hoof pedal as he jams the cooler as far as he dares. The mare gives the happiest moan he has ever heard - from her, at least - as bits of liquid dribble out of her marehood.

“That was good,” Rainbow Dash breathlessly exclaims, spinning around to nuzzle Doug, the cooler easily slipping out. She seems to be recovering quite quickly. “First time’s always the easiest, though,” she says, almost apologetically. “Body catches on as it gets later and later. Anyway, I gotta head out, help set up tonight’s storm.” Her nuzzle turns to a soft kiss. And then she’s gone, leaving Doug with a collection of equipment to clean.

Next Chapter: Ch. 39 - Carcass Jack Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 58 Minutes