It would have been poetic to march out of the negotiations, head held high, a listless Twilight carried over Doug’s shoulder like a sack of apples. However, there is still more to discuss: legal issues regarding the laws of Equestria the new trainees would follow, such as what they may or may not stomp, chew, or challenge to duels. The logistics of bringing those trainees to Equestria. What trade deals the other countries would accept before any effects of this training would go into effect.

Rather than sit through any more tedious negotiations he wouldn’t affect Doug hoists Twilight to his shoulder and slinks out. Rarity also excuses herself, a few errands to run before they high-tail it out of Klugetown. It’s certainly tiring, carrying the weighty alicorn up several flights of stairs, though ameliorated by working at the farm and training with Applejack.

Twilight stirs from her stupor as sunlight hits her face, squinting and raising a hoof. It takes her a second to realize what is going on, glancing around and ending up staring at the side of Doug’s face. He notices when she tenses, a slight smirk as he simply adjusts the alicorn and continues plodding along. She settles down, relaxing, content to be carried to her room on the airship, only waving to Lunaris as he stands watch and lighting her horn to open doors.

“You doing okay?” Doug asks as he enters the captain’s room. It’s obvious she wants to go to the desk from the way she waves her wing, yet he flops Twilight onto the bed and sits down next to her. The bed creaks under their weight, a light nudge getting her to roll to her back. She looks down her chest as he slips around her hindlegs, squeezing his thighs against her barrel before he goes to work.

Twilight grins as his fingers glide down her belly, the soothing ministrations flooding the question out of her mind with waves of pleasure. She groans, her muscles clenching before he finds those bundles of tense energy. Both hands dig into her barrel, rubbing down ribs as she writhes against his massage. It feels amazing, especially as he gets to the soft area around her teats. Her breath catches as he pauses.

“I guess that answers that question,” Doug says, partly in awe. He grins, one hand leaving to caress her muzzle as he gazes into her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” He presses into her belly, feeling for that lump hidden deep inside her. “I’m so glad they’re safe.”

“Yeah,” Twilight moans, slumping back to rest against the bed. Her legs flex, spreading wider, readying herself for the hard length she can feel throbbing against her belly. She loves when they can share that special bond, between a stallion and his mare, forging it ever stronger. It strengthens even when it is her stallion and one of her Friends, linking together in Harmony and all working toward a bright and beautiful future, just like the one they’ll be building together with all creatures.

Except all her worries come rushing back: what will she do about the new students, building or overhauling a school to suit their needs, and developing a curriculum for something that Equestria has never attempted before. Her anxiety flares, welling inside her, and she can’t help but try to curl into a defensive ball. Her hooves shield her head against imagined fears, head twisting away from the fears made all too real.

What if she isn’t good enough? What if she fails to properly convey all the nuances of the Tenets of Harmony? Or even the broad picture! Who is she, what qualifies her to be the Princess of Friendship? Divine providence, gifting her a set of wings and a decree from on high? While that might suffice as diktat, how will she convey those lessons she has learned? And has she even learned enough lessons!?

“Shh,” Doug whispers, cupping her cheek and stroking. He applies a bit of pressure, steadily increasing, until Twilight releases her tensed position to gaze into his eyes. Bright and small contrast to wide-eyed and wet containing a fleeting fear that things will not work out. He smiles, pulling her as he leans down to plant a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose. “You know why I think everything is going to be just fine?”

“Why?” Twilight asks, an idea in her mind and yet she wants to hear her stallion explain anyway.

Doug hums to himself for a brief second before responding. “Because I believe in you?”

The way he phrases it as a question makes Twilight think he has something more to add. She shakes her head, grinning like she is the chump Trixie is testing a new trick on and she keeps drawing cards that aren’t the card she picked.

“More? Hmm.” Doug scratches at his chin, breaking away to stare at the ceiling. “Because you’re Twilight Sparkle and you’re going to do great?”

“Mm,” Twilight says, shaking her head again.

“That wasn’t enough?” Doug huffs. He looks down, his exasperated expression morphing to a fond smile. “Because, even if this experiment doesn’t go perfectly?” He taps a finger against Twilight’s fluffy chest, nodding confidently. “There isn’t a better pony to take the spot. I know you’ll do an amazing job, even when it feels like you aren’t prepared. You’ll be surrounded by your Friends and family, who can show how true friends know not just how to give Friendship but how to accept it when they need help. You’ll show those other creatures the true value of Friendship, not just in your words but in your actions.”

“Thank you,” Twilight whispers as she pulls her stallion to her lips. She kisses, no longer chaste but long, needful and primal. Her hind legs maneuver to outside his hips, welcoming his length into her moist depths with one smooth motion. She moans as he bottoms out in her, hugging tighter, not letting her prize withdraw so easily.

“Ugh,” Doug groans as her inner walls constrict around him, waves of pleasure pulsing through his body. He inhales deeply, relishing the musk that would soon permeate the room and mark her as his and he as hers once again. He takes another kiss from the stunned mare, withdrawing as her instincts tell her to kiss back.

Obviously not satisfied with missing her mark Twilight tugs him against her, ravishing him with wet and sloppy kisses as she grins. Only once he starts thrusting, forcing his way through her tight tunnel does she relent, loosening her grip and enjoying the steady motions.

“Did I,” Twilight starts before a wave of pleasure threatens to rob her of her senses. She moans, arching her back as her wings spread against the bed beneath. It takes a few blissful seconds, and after recovering she continues, “Look like I needed reassurance?”

“You tell me,” Doug gets out between hard breaths. The warmth, the tight confines, the needful moans emitting from her supple body? They all conspire to make it difficult to hold back, but they are nothing to the future growing inside her. “But if this is what you need? Whatever it is, I’m happy to help.”

Twilight groans at his cheeky grin, and how he speeds up. It leaves her in poor condition to reply, tongue lolling out as she pants. She can feel it building, that rush of blessed blankness. It overcomes her the same time that he clamps down and presses as far as he can inside her and releases. She can feel the pulses inside her, the spurts painting her tunnel with his seed.

“Mm,” Twilight purrs as he withdraws, rolling to ponyloaf. She happily cleans him off with a quick lick, making sure to snag the extra bit leaking out. She smirks as he cuddles next to her, liable to conk out if she lets him. “So. Anything I want, hmm?”

Doug chuckles as he wraps an arm around his mare. “I don’t know if I’ll be the best teacher. What would I even teach, anyway?”

“Oh, I don’t think I’ll need you to do that. You’re busy enough with weather and the fillies. Though, if you don’t mind substituting?” Twilight offers Doug a wide grin, and it grows even wider when he reluctantly nods along. “Perfect! Now I just need to get started planning.” Her eyes go wide as saucers. “Planning!”

“You should talk to Starlight,” Doug mentions, sitting up as Twilight threatens to spiral out of control.

“Really?” Twilight says, perplexed, even as the question keeps her from getting too engrossed into what little she could do on the ride back.

“Yup.” Doug runs a hand along Twilight’s back, smoothing the wings slightly out of position. “She started a school when she founded Our Town, so she knows a bit about the process. EEA accreditation and such.”

“Huh.” Twilight nods along. “I guess. Hey, um.” She nervously scratches at the bed. “Do you think the other mares will mind being teachers?”

“I…” Doug starts, considering with a frown. They are all busy, and more often overwhelmed. He notes as Twilight’s face falls, turning the corners of his mouth up in a manner he hopes is reassuring. “You want me to try to get a feel for them?”

“Please?” Twilight nuzzles Doug as he nods. “Perfect. Now I just need to figure out what we’re going to do for a building, housing, transportation, meals, any sort of special accommodations.” She hops off the bed, going to the desk and writing down anything she can think of. She gasps at one of soon to be many realizations. “Toilets! We need to know what size category Smolder and Yona are!” She glances around the room, but the only sign of her stallion is the closing door. “Doug?”

After a quick hustle Doug stands on the bow of the Lunaris Priestess, watching Rarity approach from the roof of the embassy. She levitates two boxes filled with desert barding. She sets them next to the box of Storm King action figures, nudging them into perfect alignment. Satisfied, she breathes a sigh of relief as her horn winks out, and trots the short distance with a happy grin.

“And here I thought that I would be the one ecstatic to leave,” Rarity quips as she joins her stallion. Their elevated position lets them gaze over the sand-blasted city, every building a towering warren of shops and small apartments.

A regretful huff escapes her lips as she imagines traipsing through those crowded lanes, finding additions and accents to add to her dresses and make each and every one unique. Maybe a dreamcatcher made from the bright feathers of the local fauna, or a band woven with each of their colors, or an ornament carved from a horned skull. She grimaces at that last one. Alas, but it is not meant to be.

Doug snorts as his hand raises, accepting the unicorn to his side with a practiced ease. “And here I thought you’d be the one chomping at the bit.” He rubs behind her ear, drawing an appreciative coo and gentle butt against his side that generally means he is a bit too close for comfort and should stop, or he needs to keep going. Or both. His fingers snake into her mane, careful not to disturb the sublime curls. “I’m sure we could leave you here. Just for a week or two.”

“No no no, no no, no,” Rarity quickly counters, shaking her head just enough to not dislodge his hand and instead enhance the scratching. “Pah-lease. Maybe I could spend a few hours digging for diamonds in the rough. But days?”

“No more trips to the Badlands, then?” Doug laughs to himself as he gazes north, trying to spot the mountains ringing the blasted wastelands through the haze. “Not that I regret the time we spent together. But…” He waves a hand, frowning.

“But we’re just too busy these days,” Rarity commiserates. She sighs as she leans against him. “I’m not complaining. I love my work.” She playfully nudges into him, loving the light grunt he emits. “Is that why you can’t wait to return?” She swoons with melodramatic flair, a hoof at her forehead as she pretends to faint in the heat. “You just want to get back to work!”

“You got me,” Doug quips, rubbing at his marked shoulder. He sighs, slumping forward against the railing, his hand resting against her neck.

Rarity pauses, glancing up with a surprised frown at the glum shift in Doug’s demeanor. “Is that why you got that tattoo?” She smiles, injecting a bit of levity into her voice. “Afraid you’ll forget about us?”

“That’s an option?” Doug smirks as Rarity butts into him again. “Okay, okay. What do you, um, think of it?”

“It’s…” Rarity starts, backing up a step to properly consider the cloud and lightning bolt. “It’s certainly avante-garde. I can’t say I’ve seen its likeness before.” Her smile turns to a bit of a grimace, though she does her best to hide it. “And you intend to take on each of our marks?”

“Something like that.” Doug backs up so his left hand rests on Rarity’s flank. She twists to watch as he presses his wrist into one of the diamonds of her mark. “It was kind of a spur of the moment decision. If you don’t like it...”

A coy smile spreads on her muzzle as he starts off light, then presses harder and harder into the supple muscles. The way his wrist rolls against her, meandering from one diamond from another, is quickly getting her in the mood.

“Oh, darling,” Rarity moans, a hoof touching her chest as she tries to contain her excitement. “I certainly wouldn’t complain about you wearing me. I mean, my mark.” She winks, her tail flicking up to brush against his nose. It gets him to back up a fraction, face scrunching, and bat her tail away before sneezing from the tickling. “But here? You incorrigible rapscallion, you.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Doug lightly grips the base of her tail, gently dragging her back until they are again withers-to-shoulder. He sighs, sitting down and resting his head against hers. It’s reassuring, wrapping an arm around her and holding on. “It’s, just, there’s been a lot of changes. I hope I can keep up.” He squeezes her tight with a faint edge of sadness. “How are you holding up?”

“A fashionista such as myself must keep ahead of the herd,” Rarity states, content to lay next to her stallion. If Doug had pressed she would have gladly given of herself, but finds the hazy atmosphere and surrounding buildings to be a bit off-putting, much like a dingy cave or the library’s basement. “Not ours, of course, but in general. And my intuition is telling me that this is going to be the next big thing. Clashing colors, juxtaposed against each other in the same jarring outfit? Hoity Toity might fault me for not including the kitchen sink.”

Rarity narrates the process of creating a whole line of outfits, starting out by sketching a few ideas based on their cutie marks, themes that might have previously encapsulated the entirety of a dress or suit. Then she separates them into sections, taking elements of each and mashing them together. They contrast, often horribly, and it takes a good amount of mixing and matching before she comes to a set of combinations with which she is at least moderately satisfied. Then she pulls out the fabrics she recently acquired, going through the same process.

It’s not that she means to ignore him, but her creative pursuits are much more of a solo art than a group collaboration. Doug finds his attention wandering to the other mares of the herd as they embark in pairs and trios. Each gives him a wide berth, not wishing to interrupt the time the two are spending together, and soon enough the airship takes off.

Next Chapter: Ch. 52 - Volley Fire, Part Two Estimated time remaining: 23 Hours, 33 Minutes