Applejack Needs a Cock and Butterscotch Has One, but She Goes About Getting It in the Wrong Way

Rainbow Dash napped in a cloud over Butterscotch's cottage. She'd been chilling since luring Applejack to her heart's desire, but succumbed to the cumulus' comfort soon after her friends hid away in the cottage. She had been proud of herself; she won a race and was able to help a friend out at the same time. Dang, she's good.

Sweet dreams of finding the fountain of eternal cider hidden away in Applejack's orchard evaporated before the first drop could reach her tongue thanks to a loud thump. Dash stretched and rolled over with a grin, looking down to see how good of a job she did.

She saw Applejack roll through the dirt and break into a dead sprint. Her grin fell. That didn't seem right.

With a flap of her wings, she descended from her cloud and tailed Applejack. Closing the distance let her see what a mess Applejack was. Covered hindquarters, glistening with sweat, tears beading in the wind she tore through. This wasn't right at all.

Dash dipped down, long grass parting in her wake alongside the dirt path Applejack hurtled down. She yelled at the farmer, "What happened?"

Applejack lowered her head and sped up, something Rainbow Dash hardly thought possible. Keeping pace, she tried again, "Why are you crying, AJ? Was he that bad a lay?"

"Shut up an' go away!"

"Not until you tell me what the hay is going on!"

"No!"

"Then I'll have to make you!" Rainbow Dash pushed herself up at an angle with a powerful beat of her wings, bringing her over Applejack. She strained a hoof and nabbed the mare's signature stetson, whooping in victory as she held it high.

But Applejack kept running. She didn't even slow down. Now Dash knew it was bad. She donned the hat and gave chase.

Dash's needling was fruitless. Applejack said nothing for the remainder of her marathon home.

Rainbow Dash peeled away, watching from a low altitude above the farm. Applejack ran up to her home and slammed the front door behind her. Flummoxed, Dash brought a small cloud with her and camped above Applejack's bedroom window, ears perked. She heard faint shouting, Applejack's door being bucked shut, and the metallic crunch of springs followed by whole-body sobbing.

Rainbow Dash wilted. She expected Applejack to spend the night, or at least walk out of Butterscotch's cottage jelly-legged and dizzy. Not... this. She waited and listened.

Somepony knocked. Applejack threw her nightstand lamp at the door, the bulb breaking with a loud pop and the brass base denting the wood, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The door pony's reply was too muffled to hear. Applejack screamed at the door, and that was that. Her sobbing soon resumed.

Rainbow Dash bit her hoof. What was she supposed to do? What could she do? She was alone, here, and Applejack needed her right now. Turning around to get somepony wasn't an option. She poked her head through the cloud, looking through the window.

Applejack was lying belly-down on her bed, buried in a mess of pillows and blankets. She wouldn't notice if Rainbow Dash opened the window and flew inside.

That's what Dash decided to do. She entered, careful to be quiet. The smell was immense. She couldn't fly like this, her wings weren't cooperating. She lighted down and crept towards Applejack's bed. By Solaris, the stench. Thick enough to taste. Tasted good. Soarin was going to be busy tonight.

She held her breath and reached a hoof out to stroke Applejack on the withers, but paused. Was this the right approach? Would Applejack buck her out the window?

A shuddering heave knocked doubt from her mind. She spoke softly, stroking Applejack, "Buddy?"

Applejack swung her head up to yell at whoever invaded her sanctuary. Dash retreated when she saw Applejack's face. Ugly crying and pure disgust. Dash didn't feel that the disgust was directed at her.

Applejack's yell died when she saw Rainbow Dash. She looked away, "I ain't nopony's buddy. Get out." Her voice was raw.

It was hard to look at Applejack. Rainbow Dash looked around the room, working up the courage to face her. She couldn't. She took off Applejack's hat, setting on the cleared nightstand, "AJ, what the hay happened? I've never seen you like this."

"What... I'll tell you what the hay happened. Butterscotch said no."

Dash sighed in relief. That could have been so much worse. It's just heartbreak. Applejack was hit hard by it, but Rainbow Dash was sure she'd be able to bring her friend out of her funk. Maybe not before her estrous was over, but in due time, "It happens, AJ. Everypony—"

"No, it don't happen. It don't happen to everypony." Applejack buried her face in her bed.

Dash rubbed the back of her neck, putting on a smile, "Rejection isn't the end of the world, AJ."

Applejack's reply was too muffled to hear.

"Say that again? I couldn't hear—"

Applejack pulled her head out and stared down Rainbow Dash, "I said, rejection ain't, but what I did is."

"What you did?" When Applejack didn't reply, Rainbow Dash looked her friend over. Applejack swung her hindquarters around. It was slick with more than her. Semen matted the fur on her rump, dried from the run.

Dash cocked her head, "But I thought you said he said—"

"I did."

Dash pointed a hoof, "So how did that get..." She froze.

Applejack rammed herself beneath the pile on her bed.

Rainbow Dash's stomach lurched into her throat, "AJ, you didn't."

The pile didn't respond.

"Please, please tell me you didn't."

No response.

Her voice cracked, "What in Equestria were you thinking!? Don't you know that's a crime?! This is some sick joke, right? You wouldn't actually—"

"Go away."

Dash hopped onto the bed, shaking the pile, "AJ, you need to tell me this is a—"

A pair of hooves thumped her in the chest. Her arc ended at the window, the back of her head cracking against the sill. "GO AWAY!"

Dash doubled up in pain. When she was able to see again, it was Applejack stomping towards her. Dash grunted, getting to her hooves. She opened and climbed out the window, pulling herself through her pain onto the cloud. She heard Applejack slam the window shut, breaking the glass. Dash didn't stick around to see the damage.

She held her head in her hooves and blinked away tears, using the cloud to support herself as she flew away from Sweet Apple Acres. She pulled a hoof away. No blood. Good. Nothing else was good but that.

This was so beyond Applejack that Dash refused to accept it. That wasn't her. She'd never hurt a friend, not like that. Not ever. Something else was going on. Had to be. Needed to be. Her mind raced with possibilities. Magic? She didn't seem enchanted. Was it changelings? Some sort of artifact? She shook her head and regretted it. No, neither of those.

Eris? Zecora?

It was Eris or Zecora.

Zecora first. Then Eris. She'd need the rest of her friends for Eris. Zecora, she could handle on her own, and handle fast. She angled her cloud for the Everfree Forest and flew.

* * *

Zecora's hut was difficult to distinguish from the air. It never seemed to stay in one place, either. Thankfully, Zecora was always brewing something, drifting gray smoke against the afternoon sky singling her home out in the canopy.

Rainbow Dash parked her cloud upwind and flew down, the canopy casting her in darkness once she emerged on the underside. She touched down in front of Zecora's door and knocked. The zebra took her time answering, "Rainbow Dash, welcome to my home. Strange for you, though, to come alone."

Dash walked into Zecora with a huff, forcing the zebra back inside, "Yeah, well, I wouldn't be here if I didn't need to be. I need to know what the heck you gave Applejack."

Zecora glanced away, ears twitching, "I-I gave her what I always do. Privacy makes it a secret to you."

"No, no! Your stuff always works. It's worked for Applejack for years! So you must be doing something different and it's screwing her up!"

"I offered alternatives that she could use, but her misplaced pride made her refuse!"

Rainbow Dash got muzzle-to-muzzle with the zebra, pushing her closer to the hot cauldron, "You're avoiding me! What. Did. You. Give. Her!?"

"As I have said, that is a private matter. My reputation will not tolerate blabber!"

"Your reputation won't tolerate makin' Applejack so friggin' crazy that she forced herself onto a stallion!" She glared at Zecora.

Zecora opened her mouth in shock. Her gaze flitted away from Rainbow Dash's glare.

"So you did do it!" Rainbow Dash backed away, scrunching and scowling.

Zecora hung her head, ears folding, "What I gave her did make it worse. But, if I did not, my fortunes would reverse!"

Rainbow Dash looked Zecora up and down. The much taller zebra made herself seem small, shrinking before the pegasus. She didn't seem like she was lying... "Somepony forced you to do it? But who would even want to do that to Applejack!? Was it Strawberry Sunrise? WAS IT ERIS?!" She flew up and shook Zecora by the withers.

Zecora's voice rattled with the shaking "It was a mare dear to her heart. Granny Smith made the troubles start!" Rainbow Dash blinked, then cocked her head, trying to make sense of it. Her shaking came to a stop.

Zecora continued, "She demanded I make Applejack bear foals, or else she would roast me over hot coals. Despite being an age far beyond old, her language and tone made my blood run cold. And to hear what I have helped to occur..." She blinked away tears, "It makes my skin crawl under my fur."

Rainbow Dash backed away to a comfortable distance, "We'll worry about that later! Right now, Applejack's a mess. We need to get her real medicine! Then, then we can explain what happened to Butterscotch and Applejack, kick Granny Smith's butt, then everything will be back to normal!" Applejack was going to be so relieved. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault.

Zecora frowned, "I'm afraid she's too far gone. Applejack had the dosage wrong. She told me earlier she took enough for three days. It will take more than medicine for that to go away."

"Then we'll just... argh, we'll do something! Grab any medicine you can, get your saddlebags. We're going to Ponyville!"

"I cannot leave this close to night. The Everfree Forest is dangerous without light. I will make you some medicine, so you may go ahead; I will visit tomorrow instead."

Zecora walked to a hanging bushel of drying black leaves, biting down and tearing them from their rope. At her work station, she dumped them into a large mortar and began to grind the leaves down with a pestle in her mouth, mixing in colorful dusts and grains from marble and iron jars on the shelf, "Grab that pot and scoop me some brew; this sleeping potion will see Applejack through."

Rainbow Dash bit the pot's handle and craned her neck over the boiling water-filled cauldron, her bangs sticking to her forehead with the moisture. She passed the pot off to Zecora. Zecora tilted the pot enough for a small stream of steaming water to pour out. She tapped the counter thrice with her hoof and stopped pouring, resting the pot on a cork cozy, "All that's left is to bottle my concoction. I shall wrap it and lend you my bags as precaution. In a minute you'll be on your way. And tell Applejack... I’ll apologize some day."

Rainbow Dash nods, "You got it. Still, it's hard to believe that Granny Smith would do something like this to her own grandfilly..."

Zecora falls silent. Dash is left impatiently hopping from hoof to hoof. "You wouldn't happen to have any estrous medicine lying around, would you? Applejack's was super strong and..."

"On the counter, by the door. Two bits for one vial and take not a drop more."

"Thanks."

* * *

"Drink this."

Rainbow Dash's voice was muffled by a cloud she was using to block her muzzle. She had Zecora's saddlebag opened, a cloth-wrapped vial poking out. Applejack continued to stare at the wall. A loud buzzing came from beneath her covers.

"If it ain't poison, I don't want it."

"Don't say that!" Rainbow Dash braced against the bed's edge, a hoof outstretched to pat Applejack's barrel, "Look, we're gonna fix everything tomorrow, okay? But you need to get some sleep. I got some medicine from, uh, Nurse Redheart! It's supposed to help you get to sleep." She smiled.

Applejack kept staring at the wall. "Is it gonna put me to sleep for good?"

Dash shook her, "Stop talking like that! Just... take your medicine! Here, I'll even help you drink it. Okay?" She dipped her head into the saddlebag, pulling the vial out. Some deft tonguework popped the cork, "Please? For me?"

Applejack snorted. She rolled onto her back and opened her mouth. Rainbow Dash was glad that it was dark. She didn't want to see how much worse Applejack was. Rainbow Dash tilted her head and poured the draught into Applejack's mouth. Applejack smacked her lips and gagged, "Holy cow, that stuff's more bitter’n turnips gone to seed!"

"Yeah, uh... Redheart said something about sugar? I flew over here fast as I could, haha. I should've picked something up for you, sorry."

"Nah... z'fine..." Applejack was already nodding off. She fumbled her hooves underneath her covers. The buzzing noise stopped.

Rainbow Dash sighed with relief, "That stuff works fast. Thank Solaris I don't have to 'tuck you in'." The implication sent a shiver through her.

With Applejack sawing logs, Rainbow Dash flew through the broken window, sneezing out the clouds. Time for a well-deserved rest.