Author's Note

Jesus fucking Christ, this took too long!

Unfortunately, I was too impatient to wait for this one to be professionally edited. I apologize for that and ask that everyone let me know of any fuck ups I made in here. Just post it in the comments below. Comments make me feel special :P

Edit: This chapter has now been edited by PeerImagination

Chapter 5

Maverick examined his body, looking over the new piece of attire. His pants were the same as always, due to the circumstances, but the shirt was new. The black button up was both snug and comfortable, hugging him in all the right places while being a bit loose around the more broad parts of his structure. He had the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, flexing his arms to make sure they wouldn’t be squeezing him too tight. Satisfied with the results, he patted down the shirt to work out the folding lines and turned his attention to Sweetheart. He eyed the mare for a moment before undoing the top two buttons of his new shirt. He didn't like the constricting feeling around his neck.

Once he adjusted the collar to work with the two undone buttons, Maverick gave the mare sitting in front of him his complete and undivided attention. "Color me surprised. It fits," he simply said, rolling his shoulders as one final test to make sure nothing would pull enough to cause tearing. "How'd you manage pull this off?"

Sweetheart gave a sheepish smile, blushing lightly as she suddenly became fascinated with everything that wasn't in front of her. "You know...just...a friend of a friend..." she said coyly, doing her best to appear as calm and collected as possible despite herself. "All I really had to do was give her your measurements and she took care of the rest. I told her that it was for one of my patients and she assumed we had a small Minotaur in our care."

Maverick shrugged at that, thinking about how convenient it was for this friend to make such an assumption. Better they think there's a mythical creature lying in a hospital bed than him, the one of a kind alien, living with the nurse. Who knows what kind of crowd that would draw in? "Well, it seems to fit fine. No tugging, no strain. I like it."

"You do?" Sweetheart asked in a shy tone, softly looking at the man standing in front of her. Her eyes lit up and she grew an almost obnoxious smile as he nodded to her. She lifted her front hooves and clapped them together excitedly. "I'm so glad to hear that! I didn't know if you would like it, so you have no idea how much of a relief this is."

Maverick couldn't help but to roll his eyes at her, finding her antics to be odd. It was cute in a way, but still strange and rather foreign to him. There's quite a few things about the mares he's seen so far that make him question their behaviors. He can't put his finger on it yet, but something about them just seems off to him. Not in a bad way, just different somehow, which occasionally leads him to question some of the things they do. "Why the new shirt anyway? My other one was working just fine."

This caused Sweetheart to raise her brow at the man. "Are you kidding? There's a hole almost the size of my hoof in it," she answered plainly. "Not to mention the stain. No matter how many times I've washed it for you, it just won't come out!" Her expression softened as she looked him over yet again, taking in his whole form; his tall lean body, his strong-looking arms, the broadness of his chest, those soft supple lips just begging to-

Sweetheart shook her head to clear out that thought before it could have a chance to finish. This has been a problem for her lately. She would have to get away from Maverick for a bit before it starts to overwhelm her. "Other than that, I just thought it would look nice on you." Rising up on all fours, the mare began to casually make her way to her room, her tail pressing against her rear as she sauntered past her large, handsome guest. "If you'll excuse me for a moment..."

Maverick didn't bother to question her motive as she trotted into her room and closed the door. This wouldn't be the first time she'd run off to hide in her room with her tail tucked between her legs. He did ask about it once before, but barely got a comprehensible answer from the mare. Something has been bothering her these last few days, he can tell that much. This string of odd behavior started up less than a week ago and has only gotten worse as time went by. During this time, she had yet to leave the apartment even once for work, not to mention the mare had become distant and had developed a habit of zoning out, usually while looking directly at him. Despite all of this, he stopped bothering to try and figure it out. If she wanted to tell him what was wrong, she would have done it by now.

If today would be shaping out to be like the last few, and it looked like it so far, Maverick would be spending some time in the living room alone. He sighed, already feeling the cold embrace of boredom. If he at least had something to drink, he could probably tolerate sitting down and reading, but Sweetheart had made it clear on more than once occasion that drinking before he was fully healed was very bad and she couldn't allow it. Having nothing else to do, the man walked over to the couch and plopped himself down.

Meanwhile, Sweetheart was pacing around her room. She could feel sweat beginning to form on her forehead as she struggled to keep her body and the recent, very powerful, arousal in check. The mare's nether's were responding to this season's heat much more aggressively than she was used to. She could only assume that it was due to the man now bunking with her. His scent was everywhere and it was driving her wild. Taking deep breaths, the mare steels herself, wanting to get back to him as soon as possible.

Sweetheart had left Maverick in the dark throughout the duration of her heat and she felt guilty for having done so, as she had given him no explanation for why she was being so distant. It's not that she didn't want to tell him, but rather she didn't know how without it sounding bad. She didn't want him to think that she was just a pervert looking for an excuse to mount him. Having virtually no knowledge on pony anatomy, who knows what sort of conclusion he would come to if she tried to explain the complex, biological sex system that is the mare's heat cycle.

Letting out a grunt of annoyance, a feeling that only seems to hit her during these periods, Sweetheart reserved herself to simply letting it lie for now. However, she also made a promise to herself. Once this heat passes, she would explain everything to him. That way, he would know what to expect when it happened again in the future. For now, she would just have to be careful around him. Figuring a cold shower might help calm things down, the mare made her way out of the room. Not wanting to be rude, she does offer Maverick a glance, as he looked over at her from his spot on the couch.

Sweetheart smiled at him at she went over to the bathroom, stopping after she opened the door. "I'm gonna take a quick shower. You try to behave yourself until I'm out, alright?"

"I promise nothing," Maverick replied, not showing much of a reaction to her presence.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell Sweetheart that her behavior was bothering him. It hurt her, but this was only temporary. Just a few more days and this will all be over. Then she could tell him everything and only hope that he would understand why she was doing this. Her smile fell as she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She told herself that she would have to find a way to make this up to him.

Maverick took a breath, feeling more than a little aggravated by how she was acting. Not that he would openly admit it. It wasn't the fact that she was clearly hiding something from him that caused him such stress. Moreover, it was that she was all he had in this weird, technicolored world, and without her, he had nothing to do. Aside from the occasional visits from Amethyst, Sweetheart was all he had. He felt his ears shift as the sound of running water kicked in from the bathroom. Once again, all that was left for him to do was-

...Answer the door...

There was a knocking coming from the front door. The tapping was light and delicate, unlike Amethyst's. The way she knocked sounded like a grown man, making his presence known to all that dwell within. That could only mean that it was someone else. The man rose from the couch and quietly walked over to the source, closing in on the door with slow, cautious steps. As he drew closer, the knocking came again, this time accompanied by a voice.

"Sweetheart! Are you in there?" Maverick heard from the other side, the voice being both deep yet strangely feminine. He lowered himself once he was less than an inch away, leaning toward the peephole and peeking through to see who was out there. He could see a stallion standing in front of the door with a basket hanging around his neck; his coat was starch white, his mane a glowing yellow and almost shining green eyes. "Sweetheart, it's daddy! Open up! I brought muffins."

Maverick found himself at an impasse. He could try to get Sweetheart out of the shower to answer the door, but given how she's been acting she'd probably just snub him. There's always the option of walking away and pretending he didn't notice anyone at the door. Then again, that wouldn't make him any better than the mare hiding in the bathroom. Not to mention, he is unfathomably bored. Even with his discomfort with ponies, this one did claim to be Sweetheart's dad. And from the looks of it, he definitely isn't the fighting type. If need be, he could probably just pick the pony up and throw them out of the room, no problem.

"Fuck it..." Maverick said to himself as he took a deep breath in and opened the door.

The cold water pouring from the shower head had worked well with "cooling her off". It started off as a shock, for obvious reasons, but Sweetheart's body managed to acclimate to the temperature. She was initially very sensitive when the water first hit her, the pitter-patter on her already stimulated form was almost enough to elicit some provocative sounds from her. However, she managed to avoid making such noises as she steadily became more stable. Her arousal dropped significantly and she started to feel like her old self again. With any luck, she'd be able to return to Maverick without the threat of estrus immediately hovering over her.

Not wanting to risk it though, Sweetheart made sure to spend as much time in the shower as possible without it seeming too suspicious. She washed her fur and her mane, then allowed herself to soak for a while before finally turning off the water. Now feeling clean, cold and much less likely to catch on fire from the waist down, she reached out and grabbed a towel to dry herself off. As she began rubbing the cloth over her mane, she paused. There was something odd going on. She could hear voices out in the living room. One she immediately recognized as Maverick, but the other one, however, was throwing her off.

Pulling the towel from her head, she listened intently to the voices. Even with her pony hearing, she couldn't quite pick up on what was being said or who was saying it. For a moment, she thought it could be Amethyst making a surprise visit, but that couldn't be it. The tone was a few octaves too low to be the doctor. And if it wasn't her, then she wondered who could it possibly be.

Making quick work of drying herself off, Sweetheart rested the now-used towel on her back and opened the door. She made no attempt to be subtle as she exited the bathroom and looked around for the source. It didn't take her long to find out it was coming from the kitchen. She felt her heart sink as she followed the voices, stopping just outside of her kitchen as she spotted a rather unusual scene. Her eyes went dead as she stared at Maverick and her father, sitting at opposite ends of the table, laughing together.

The pony, who had previously introduced himself as Harmony to Maverick, was the first to settle from their giggle-fit. Catching his breath, the stallion turned his attention back to the human and picked up where he left off. "Honestly, you should have seen the look on her face," he managed to say between a few short bursts of laughter that still threatened to wear him down. "I swear to you, she didn't speak to anypony for almost two weeks."

Maverick was all but wheezing at the tale, barely able to control his breathing at this point. Once he was able to get control of himself again, he looked back at the pony with a great big grin on his face. "Oh, god. I'm never letting her live that down." The man took a breath, now having full control over his body. "To answer your question, though, no, her estrus hasn't caused too much trouble."

Sweetheart felt a lump suddenly form in her throat. And much to her own dismay, Maverick continued speaking. "In fact," as if to make matters worse, the biped swiveled his head around and was now looking straight down at her now-shaking form, that smile having not left his face, "we haven't exactly addressed that issue yet."

Harmony was visibly confused by the human's sudden change in direction. It wasn't until he followed the man's gaze did the stallion spot his daughter all but hidden behind the human's frame. "There you are, hon!" he said in excitement, hopping out of his seat and walking around the table to get to Sweetheart. The stallion wasted no time wrapping a hoof around his child, pulling her into his loving embrace. "Oh, it's so good to see you again!"

Sweetheart was too shocked to return the gesture, but her father didn't seem to notice as he broke the hug and looked into his daughter's eyes. "I'm sorry to drop in unexpectedly, but I thought now would be the perfect time to visit! What with you being on estrus leave and all."

Maverick's ears shifted at the stallions words. Having him over has been a rather enlightening experience. A few questions that he hadn't bothered to ask were suddenly being answered, and without him even initiating the conversation. This pony just started talking and hasn't stopped since. It reminded him a lot of visiting his grandmother. That woman could ramble for hours, and this stallion wasn't much different.

Sweetheart's eyes never left the human, who suddenly had a knowing look on his face. This served both to unsettle and discomfort her. She couldn't find it in her to speak no matter how hard she tried. She wanted to apologize, to say that she was sorry for keeping this from him, but she just couldn't. The mare was frozen with something not too far off from fear.

Harmony followed his daughter's gaze before looking back at her. "Is something wrong, dear?"

Sweetheart looked back at her father, occasionally glancing back at Maverick. She could see him regarding her with curiosity, as if wondering what she would say. Even she didn't know what to say. She didn't want to lie. "I uh...I'm just...surprised. You know, at how well you two are getting along," she said, which wasn't dishonest in the slightest. "Maverick is usually a bit shy around new ponies."

Harmony couldn't help but smile at this. "Oh, you have nothing to worry about. Maverick here has been an absolute delight!" The stallion stepped away from his child, working his way to his side of the table. He hopped back into his seat and opened the basket he brought over, setting out a small arrangement of muffins. "I'll admit, I was pretty shocked when I first saw him. For a moment, I thought I had wandered to the wrong apartment."

Holding a blueberry muffin out to the human, which he happily accepted from the stallion, Harmony turned his attention back to Sweetheart. "It's honestly a relief to see him here. I don't mean to be rude, but I was starting to think you were a fillyfooler." Hearing this caused the one mare in the room to blush deeply, confused and embarrassed by this whole situation. "But after meeting your um...What was it again, hon?"

"Boyfriend," Maverick finished for him.

"Yes! That!" Harmony said, clapping his hooves together happily. "After meeting your boyfriend here, I now understand that you simply have a more...exotic taste." Barely noticing his daughter's near-catatonic state, he looked back at the human while wearing an almost mischievous grin. "And he is quite the catch, if I might say."

"Coming from a stallion as wonderful as you," Maverick began, placing his free hand over his heart to play out this role he had given to himself in the stallions presence, "you flatter me, Harmony. You really do."

Harmony waved a dismissive hoof in response. "Oh, don't be such a flank kisser."

"Hey, you're the one throwing the compliments around all willy-nilly," Maverick shot back with just as much enthusiasm.

Giggling at his retort, Harmony accepted defeat. "Alright, I suppose you do have me there." The stallion let out a long breath, seeming fairly relaxed and at ease. "This has been so refreshing. It's nice to have another stallion in the family. I've missed having talks like this. I don't get to have them anymore."

"Well, I'll be around if you ever need some of that playful banter," Maverick assured him.

Harmony bounced slightly in his seat with excitement. "You are just perfect." Glancing at the clock, the stallion's eyes went wide and he quickly hopped down with his basket in tow. "Goodness me! I need to get back home. Your mothers will be back any minute now and I haven't started dinner yet."

Making his way back to Sweetheart, Harmony pulled her into a quick hug. "I approve!" he whispered into her ear before looking back at Maverick. "It's been a pleasure, dear. The muffins are all yours. Make sure to take care of my little girl here."

"For you, Harmony, consider it done." Maverick replied with that award-winning smile.

On that note, Harmony left with the largest smile on his face that Sweetheart had ever seen. However, her father's smile was the last thing on her mind as her attention quickly returned to Maverick, who's smile was completely gone, replaced by his usual, almost featureless expression. She swallowed the lump in her throat, but still could not bring herself to say anything.

Maverick eyed the mare up and down, reading her posture to get an idea of what was going through her mind. All signs pointed to stress and panic. Not looking to start an actual conflict with the only friend he had in this world, he leaned back into his seat and let his body relax. "So your dad's nice. A bit of a talker, though." He lifted his hand, still holding the muffin between his fingers. He brought the treat to his mouth and took a bite, pausing for a second as he chewed. "Not bad… Not bad at all."

Finally working up the courage to function, Sweetheart gingerly made her way over to the chair that her father had been sitting in just moments ago. She hopped up and sat down, facing the table while only occasionally glancing at Maverick, who continued to enjoy his muffin as he waited for her to get things started. It took her just under a minute to bring herself to speak, to ask the question that she was dreading to ask. "Are you mad at me?"

Maverick didn't look at her as he nodded his head in a few different directions, as if he was looking for an answer. He did this mockingly, however. "A little. Yeah."

Hearing this stung more than Sweetheart thought it would, especially coming from his cold tone. "I-I...I'm so sorry, Maverick," she said as her eyes clenched shut, her lids threatening to release tears as she hoped and prayed that he wouldn't get angry and leave her. "I just...I didn't know how to tell you." Those threats held true as a few drops leaked out of her eyelids and fell onto the table. "I didn't want you to think that I was some kind of...of pervert...I just-"

"Stop," Maverick simply said, earning the mare's full attention. She looked up at his stoic face, her eyes red and puffy. "Why are you getting so worked up over this? You're biologically programmed to have this. It's not like you're out there drugging and fucking strangers like some Jeffery Dahmer wannabe."

Obviously, the analogy was lost to Sweetheart. However, she could kind of understand his point. Although this Dahmer mare sounded awful. "I just felt like...like if...Oh Celestia, how do I explain this?"

"You don't have to explain it," Maverick answered, despite her question being entirely rhetorical. Her eyes widened slightly, caught off guard by the fact that he genuinely didn't seem bothered by her estrus. "I'm not mad that you didn't tell, Sweetheart. I'm mad because you let it get between us."

Taking another bite of his muffin, Maverick decided to do one of the many things he swore never to do. Swallowing both his muffin and his pride, he started to explain himself. "You're all I've got here, Sweetheart," he confessed, feeling disgusted for having said those words out loud. "If not for you, I would still be out there; lost and..."

Maverick's eyes began to wander before frustration started to set in. He hated this. Feeling vulnerable and exposing himself to others. It was like a small slice of Hell. He had already told her more than he dared even to hint at with others. "Look: you know what I'm trying to say. Don't make me fucking spell it out."

Sweetheart was taken aback by his sudden change in tone, but couldn't help but focus on his words prior to the change. The way he spoke was unlike anything she'd ever expect to hear from his mouth. Those were more than just words of comfort, those were the words of someone who was opening their heart, if only for a moment. This helped to warm her heart as this told her that he truly did care for her and that brought her more comfort than she could have imagined.

Feeling slightly overwhelmed by her guest, Sweetheart all but leaped out of her chair and charged at Maverick, nearly tackling him out of his chair as she dove upon his form and gave him a hug that almost made it hard to breathe. Unsure of how else to respond, the man steadies his breathing and nervously wraps his arm around her.

They remained like this for a while, in silence; one intent on fully embracing this moment, the other unsure of himself in this moment. During this rather tender time, Sweetheart found her mind beginning to wander again. Unlike the last few times, though, she wasn't being attacked by perverse thoughts. Instead, her attention was caught by a simple word. One that she wasn't very familiar with.

Sweetheart leaned her head back, looking up at the man in her grasp. Having felt the sudden motion, he responded in kind, looking back down at her. "Maverick… What was that word you said to my dad?"

"I said a lot of words to your dad," Maverick pointed out. "You're gonna have to be more specific."

Even Sweetheart of all ponies could not stop herself from rolling her eyes at him. "The one that he asked you about."

"What? Boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Sweetheart said, recognizing the word for its obscurity. "What does that mean?"

Maverick looked away from the mare, thinking of what would be the best way to break the news to her. He settled on his usual method. After all, you can never go wrong with blunt and to the point. "To keep a long story short, in your dad's eyes, you and I are an item."

For the second time that day, Sweetheart felt herself become paralyzed. Her body seized and she felt as though she had ice in her veins. At the same time though, there was an odd fluttering in her chest. For a few brief seconds, she was unable to move her jaw. This was mended rather quickly this time as she stammered out the following question. "W-what...What do you m-mean....An item?"

Without missing a beat, Maverick responded. "He thinks we're dating."

Sweetheart's face went beet-red and she pulled herself away from the human. Her mind was swimming as a mixture of confusion and some arousal began to take hold of her. "W-what? Why?"

Maverick shrugged at that. "He asked what I was doing staying here. I said 'I'm her boyfriend'. Figured it would be easier than telling him 'I'm an alien that your daughter took in after I manhandled her in the hospital because I had a hole in my side'. Not exactly what I would consider a 'good narrative' for our little meet-up. Definitely a lot less explaining to do with the former too."

"I-I...Uh..." Sweetheart had basically lost her ability to speak coherently as she became lost in thought. On one hoof, she was panicking at the prospect of being in a fake relationship and her parents being deceived. On the other, she was kind of excited at the idea of being in a relationship with Maverick. Even if it was fake. Maybe, if all worked out, he would actually consider being in a real relationship with her. Then they could do all the stuff that couples do like hugging, snuggling, kissing each other all over, touching each other in so many different places, licking at-

"Sweetheart!"

"AH!" Sweetheart yelped as he called out her name, startling her out of her drifting train of thought. "What happened? Is something-"

Maverick shushed the mare, looking directly into her eyes as he spoke. "Sweetheart, go to your room."

Sweetheart shot him a confused look. It wasn't until she felt something strange happening to her body. A certain involuntary physical reaction that is often referred to as 'winking', followed by the sound of water hitting the floor. Her face went red once more as she looked down and noticed a small puddle beginning to form between her hind legs.

Embarrassment didn't even begin to describe how Sweetheart was feeling now as she backpedaled away from her mess and bumped into a cabinet. She yelped as her rear made contact with the wooden surface before she started to cautiously move out of the kitchen. "Yeah! I'm just gonna...do as you said and...go to my room! You know, to uh...Just to...You know, I have some...I need to-"

Maverick has never been known for his patience, especially when it came to dealing with the mare's rambling. It's cute at times, but this was just painful to watch. Even for him. "Go!"

"Yes, sir!" On that note, Sweetheart was gone in the blink of an eye. The mare had charged straight into her room and slammed the door shut behind her.

"Fuckin' spaz..." Maverick muttered to himself as he nodded his head from side to side. Looking down at the muffin still in his hand, he peeled the wrapper off of the bottom before shoving the treat's lower half into his mouth to finish it off.