March 9th, 993 Domina Solaria

Waking up with Applejack’s hoof possessively spread across him, head nestled against his shoulder, and her breath ticking the hair on his chest isn’t unfamiliar for Doug. Nor is the fact that it’s still dark outside, and not from the leftover storm clouds blocking the sky. Or the missing sheet, though the mare’s soft fur is a good substitute, and his arm around her back is certainly toasty warm.

He yawns, still a bit sore, stretching both arms as best he can. Applejack barely stirs, muttering something about ‘we already did that’, and Doug’s hand returns to her thick mane, worming its way through that particular Apple.

His other hand, though, comes down on a decidedly more feathery appendage.

Taking his eyes from the slightly different ceiling reveals a dark lump, facing away from him, but the distinctive hues of the chromatic mane make it easy to tell who it is. Doug smiles, memories of last night rushing back to him as he fondly caresses the lean mare. His grin gets a little wider as he gets to her flank, her leg kicking out at nothing.

He carefully extracts his arm from underneath Applejack, leaving the farmmare smacking her lips as she lays against the pillow. He rolls his chest against Rainbow’s back, her wings fluttering at the contact, his hand dipping down to fondle her teats. He loves the feeling of the soft mounds; he lightly squeezes one side, then finds the other just as firm.

“Ready for round two already?” Rainbow Dash huskily asks, magenta eyes opening to stare lustily into her stallion’s. His hand stays on her teats as she rolls to her back, her hind legs inviting him as they spread wide.

“Save some for the rest of us,” Applejack quips with a steady grin, content to lay on her side and watch as Doug pushes himself up. Inwardly she’s a little relieved, never particularly caring for Doug’s seemingly endless libido, especially at this hour. She’s always been a morning pony, hoppin’ to no matter how early, but it’s always harder getting him to stay awake once they’ve had their roll in the hay.

“Yeah, like I’m giving this up!” Rainbow Dash grins as her body accepts him, loving the raw passion coursing through her. Her hind legs kick at nothing, her forelegs gently stroking the chest laying against her. Her hips move in time with him, and she’s quickly bringing him to his limit. “You expect me to not get a pre-dawn workout in?”

“Heh, Ah suppose not,” Applejack says, keeping her voice quiet. “Maybe Ah’ll take the evenin’ shift, if’n you’re catchin’ mah drift.”

“Works for me.” Rainbow Dash glances to the side, but can’t see past Applejack. She can’t help but sigh at the earth pony surroundings. “Too bad you can’t come up to my Cloudominium, or sleep on a cloud.” She smirks at Doug, throwing him a wink. “Once you go rain, you’ll never complain!”

“Or ya end up soakin’ wet,” Applejack says with a snort.

“Hey, it’s like a bed and a bath!” Rainbow Dash nods sagely, a feat she’s able to accomplish while being rutted only because she’s so awesome. That and he’s pulsing inside her already, her belly doing little flips at the wonderful feeling. “Saves ya time!”

“Speaking of time,” Doug says between hard breaths, glancing at the pile of sheets and quilts that hopefully contains a marshmallowy unicorn inside. “How do we balance between the three of you?”

“Ah’ll leave that to Rares,” Applejack says, pulling her stallion to her for a quick kiss as he flops off Rainbow Dash. “Ah know we’ll be busy enough on the farm.”

“Aww,” Rainbow Dash pouts, rolling to her belly. She nuzzles Doug’s chin with the back of her mane. “I kinda thought you’d help me study some of my old weather books. You know, kind of like you helped me with the practices?”

“He can do that on his breaks,” Applejack says firmly, backpedaling to get out of the bed. She walks around to reclaim her hat, twisting it to make sure it’s on nice and tight. “‘Sides, Celestia knows you’ll be busy enough just runnin’ the show, miss Head Weathermare.”

Rainbow Dash puffs her chest up at the reminder, hopping out of bed. “Heh! That, um, I am!” She grins, but it’s forced, and from Applejack’s smile it’s obvious she knows. “...Which is why it’s all the more important that Doug work with me, so I can get up to speed quicker!”

“No,” Applejack says stubbornly, “we need him on the farm! We got cider season startin’ soon, and we’ll need to get as much outta the way as we can!”

Applejack butts heads with Rainbow Dash, both trying to glare the otherpony down, or at least force them back a step.

“He can help you with that when my brain’s full!”

“He can help ya when his legs are tired!”

“He can help you when my wings are tired!”

“He can-”

“-Both of you can help yourself to some peace and quiet!”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash sheepishly look at the pile of sheets as it stirs, an irate Rarity glaring down both of them. “You two are ruining my beauty sleep, as difficult as it is - no offense to your parents, Applejack, but this bed is only slightly more comfortable than sleeping in a cave - to get it in this bed!” She slaps a hoof at the hard mattress, and it barely gives. She haughtily sticks her nose in the air, saying not very apologetically, “I’m sorry, I’m just telling you as it is!” before she flops back down, pointedly covering her head with Applejack’s pillow.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchange glares and frustrated grunts.

“Well, if you weren’t so-”

“And Ah suppose that-”

Doug gets up, a hand tweaking cerulean and orange ears. His voice carries even without shouting. “Enough.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash don’t stop glaring, but their mouths stay shut.

“Applejack, I know you have chores to get to.” Doug nods for the farmpony, even as she stays locked on Rainbow Dash. “Yes, you do.”

“Fine,” Applejack spits out. She’s not going to let her junior mare get away with backtalk this early, both in the morning and in their herding, though she hates how her stallion had to step in. She needs to talk with him about letting them sort things out their way, unless it’s coming to blows - and maybe even then.

“Rainbow Dash,” Doug continues, his voice still hard, “I’m sure you have something productive to do. Maybe get those books?”

“Fine,” Rainbow Dash spits out in the exact same tone as Applejack. She bristles at being commanded by her stallion; it’s one thing to do what he wants in bed, and quite another to be told what to do outside of that. She flicks his hand away from her ear with a quick jolt of her head. “I need to go check on the mid crew anyway, make sure nothing went wrong.”

She sighs to herself even as she keeps her gruff exterior. She’ll need to practically ransack the weather office to figure out what shifts to assign everypony for the morning, since Fluffy Clouds wasn’t exactly known for being organized. And then the evening shift. Oh, and check to see what changes need to be made to the forecast. Actually, she should do that first. Ugh, this is going to be an awful first day. When is she going to fit in a nap, or getting this study stuff started? Or fit in time for her exercises? If she starts slipping on those, it’s going to be Tartarus to get back in shape!

Rainbow Dash gives a quick nuzzle to her lead to show no hard feelings, though she keeps it as light as possible, and heads outside. A quick flap of her wings gets her soaring into the air, easily breaking through the spent clouds. A quick check shows everything looks normal, and she navigates through the light of Luna’s moon to the weather office.

Applejack peeks out the window, noting by the faint light of the clouds the early hour. “Rares, ya got about an hour ‘fore Ah’m headin’ to town. Wanna walk with me?”

A muffled, “Sure,” comes from the pile of quilts. It’s quickly followed by a tangled lock of purple mane and a white snout. “Doug,” Rarity asks plaintively, “I was hoping we would be able to sort through those gems we got yesterday.”

“Yeah,” Doug says, lips pursing. “And I was thinking about building you some new shelves. Give you some more storage space, and make it easier to access.”

“I would appreciate that quite a lot,” Rarity says as she smooths out her mane, being quite seductive without really trying. She doesn’t bat her eyes; no, she’s just getting the sleepiness out, of course.

“I was afraid of this happening,” Doug remarks to nopony in particular, taking a deep breath. “I’m going to get stretched real thin trying to keep up with three of you.”

“I’m sure we can make it worth your while, darling,” Rarity entices, a sheet barely concealing her body as she stretches her legs. Somehow it’s even more alluring than when Rainbow Dash was openly displaying herself.

Doug rolls his eyes at the display. “Well, as long as I’m doing stuff with you.” He goes back, making the bed with the help of Rarity’s horn, and rewards her with a scratch of her muzzle. She reaches up, a chaste peck on his cheek before she skips off to the bathroom. Applejack gives her stallion a nuzzle before heading out to check on the cows, leaving Doug to his own devices.

He heads to the kitchen. From the looks of it, Granny Smith got up early and did the day’s baking already, and he’s grateful for the break. Even if it’s just the one day.

It’s not long before sizzling batters turns into tall stacks of pancakes, bits of fresh fruit and carrots joining plates. The front door opens, Rainbow Dash entering with a happy sniff at the smell.

“Fresh breakfast?” she exclaims happily. It’s evident this is a bit of a luxury for the pegasus used to haybars and dried oats. She snuggles up to Doug as a wing deposits two thick textbooks on the table. “You’re the best, dude.”

“You know it,” Doug says with a toss of her mane, and she happily snatches a plate from behind his back. Doug chuckles to himself as he grabs more flour and another plate. “Those for you?”

“For you,” Rainbow Dash corrects, opening one to the first of several hundred pages. “Background material.”

“Jeez,” Doug says, opening the other. It looks to be on the level of a freshman science book, the words not terribly small and with plenty of pictures. It looks fairly interesting, especially the sections on how their water cycle works and the role of the pegasus.

It isn’t long before the smell of burning pancakes reminds him that he can’t get lost in the pages, Rainbow Dash helpfully pointing a hoof at him and laughing.

Next Chapter: Ch. 79 - Bloodboil Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 6 Minutes