Humbling and Healing

Chapters

Day 1
Day 2
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
And the Stars Smiled Back

Day 1

Waking up with the stripes of his Master adorning his body, Butterscotch smiled with his heart fluttering as he didn’t have to worry about the previously rigid connotations of his stripes or Blitz’ stripes. With Zecora’s foreleg behind his shoulders and the lovingly musky scent of the zebra stud luring him into steady relaxation, Butterscotch couldn’t have been happier with the relationship. Zecora remained true to his word, allowing the yellow pegasus to take the reins even if it wasn’t always with the zebra stud. Rainbow Blitz, a member of the throuple proven by the stripes all over his body as well, was consistently submissive and his monogamous coltfriend for the longest time. It only made sense for the blue pegasus to take up the role as the bottom and designated ponut for the both of them, and it strengthened the shaky bond that Butterscotch and Rainbow Blitz had going into their initial sessions with Zecora. Their relationship was no longer sidelined for Zecora’s desires, but a honest-to-goodness part of the throuple they had been in almost half a year now. Several weeks had passed since the Butterbat incident that transformed the lives of everypony from the throuple to the rest of the Mane 6, even the alicorns and Eris were deeply worried about him.

And Butterscotch was mind-blown at how deeply they all cared, and how he could be so oblivious to it. Then again, with how deep his head was into constant submission above all else, Butterscotch’s biggest mental hurdle was with forgiving himself for being so careless to his own well-being, as well as another stallion outside of the throuple. Applejack, who was more personally affected then everypony else outside of the relationship. Butterbat had devoured all of his apples once again and made a brutal dent in the farm’s finances and stability. If it weren’t for the fact that the orange stallion was an Element of Harmony, Sweet Apple Acres likely would go under without the throuple’s help. How badly he cut into the orange stallion and his family’s livelihood and hard work wasn’t something for Butterscotch to undermine. And now with his Master and fellow femcolt having to put their time off work, Zecora easily doing so for being self-employed and Rainbow Blitz putting time off Wonderbolt performances, Butterscotch felt even more guilty about them essentially picking up after him. At least at first, now the yellow pegasus was far more concerned about Applejack and how he felt. Zecora had planned a week for all three of them to be at Sweet Apple Acres and helping Applejack and his older sister around the barn. Although with his older sister going to be with her coltfriend a lot of the time, it would mostly be the four of them doing the work. Which was why Applejack had intentionally planned this week, needing their help the most.

It was the first day that they were to go to the barn, and since the day after the Butterbat incident, Prince Artemis and Eris had kept regular tabs on the yellow pegasus. They’ve kept conversations regularly, especially with the latter as he visited the cottage he once lived in far more often. At least if everything went to Tartarus in a basket, Prince Artemis would be there to cover for his nightmares. Shuddering against Zecora’s shoulder, the zebra stallion’s eyes fluttered open as he shook Butterscotch a little with the foreleg underneath the yellow pegasus.

“Good morning my little pony,” Zecora nuzzled Butterscotch’s pink mane with his muzzle, kissing him on the head before pulling back and looking down at the yellow femcolt. “What brings you to be the first to wake up of us three?”

“Well, I’m quite nervous about meeting up with Applejack,” Butterscotch gulped, knowing better now to avoid the serious questions from his Master. It was quite ironic how involved they would be with the farmpony over the course of the week, considering it was dishonesty that led Butterscotch’s incident to unfold the way it did. Now he would have to face the music, especially to somepony who didn’t even know the full reason as to why he had turned into Butterbat. Zecora smiled deeply as he pressed his lips against Butterscotch’s forehead before looking right into his femcolt lover’s cyan eyes. Before, Zecora would be mostly about the practicality of making sure his partners were fed and “bred.” It was after the Butterbat incident that the zebra stallion properly showed romantic affection in spades to both his pegasus coltfriends.

“Well think about it from this point of view, would he really cut ties after all that you’ve been through?” Zecora explained, tucking his forehoof underneath Butterscotch’s chin and holding his face gently. “The six of you have gone through thick and thin, surely that friendship wouldn’t break at the drop of a pin?”

“Drop of a pin is a huge understatement,” Butterscotch groaned, having not quite witnessed Applejack’s reaction since by the time the others had showed up to the hut, the yellow pegasus had already transformed back to his normal self and had passed out. The last time they met up face to face was a few days before he even ate all the apples! With it being the first time that he’s seen Applejack since the incident, Butterscotch’s heart only slowed down in its aggressive pounding because of Zecora’s warm gaze and forehoof underneath his chin. In that moment with his Master and his best friend snoring on the other side of the bed, Butterscotch feared nothing as he smiled at the zebra stallion.

“You’re right,” Butterscotch nodded, crawling out of bed. “Quick shower? Though it’d probably be kinda silly…we’re really going to break a sweat today.”

“Hmm, I’d bet you’d like that,” Zecora smirked as he also slipped out of the bed and walked up to Butterscotch, the yellow femcolt placing his wing over the striped stallion’s back as he continued. “You and Blitz would gawk at my sweaty muscles at the drop of a hat!”

“We would not!” Butterscotch blushed brightly as his flickering tail gave away the truth of how he felt, turning around and walking over to the other side of the bed as the yellow stallion prodded at Rainbow Blitz’ long rainbow mane. “Hey, hey Blitz? Time to get up, we’re going to shower.”

“Urgh,” Blitz shook his head as his eyes cracked up, slowly getting up and jumping off the bed as he and Butterscotch walked towards the shower with Zecora ahead of them. “Thank fuck I got to sleep in. It’s been a while.”

“Mmmhm,” Butterscotch giggled, ogling the blue pegasus’ body and his still fat blue and striped cheeks. It humored the yellow stallion to no end that the athletic and outwardly cocky stallion ended up being the main sub of the throuple, with Butterscotch joining him frequently, but he still clapped Rainbow Blitz’ rippling ass cheek with a sharp smack. Getting a moan from Blitz as he bit his lip, Butterscotch laughed at his best friend’s reaction. While Rainbow Blitz didn’t really have problems with the relationship like Butterscotch did, the rainbow-maned stallion’s smile was brighter ever since Butterscotch became a dom to him as well. Zecora further realized how wrong he was, assuming that Rainbow Blitz would become miserable from the lewd competition the zebra and Butterbat had. But with Rainbow Blitz being just as fulfilled as Butterscotch from the changes, Zecora knew he had a lot to learn about these two. They weren’t just sub slaves that fit perfectly in the boxes he pictured for them, they were romantic partners. Individuals with desires of their own, and Zecora knew that getting out and doing work as a team would do them a lot of good. A lot of understanding of each other and their compatibility as a throuple.

With it taking less than ten minutes, Zecora and his femcolts washed each other’s manes with shampoo and conditioner, thoroughly soaping themselves, and trotting out of the shower stall. They’d save the longer showers for the barn after they had helped Applejack each day, knowing that their cleanliness would be short-lived and that the shower was more for waking up than anything else. Walking into the living room with the cauldron, the three of them took three small vials of potion that the zebra stallion concocted himself for the occasion. They didn’t have time to stop by one of the many coffee stands, and the caffeine vials would last for several days at least. Zecora didn’t want either of his partners having heat stroke from their inexperience farming and bucking apples, and neither did he. The particular potions would give them accelerated strength, energy, and stamina reasonable for two pegasi. And the chemicals would wear off before Rainbow Blitz would have to return to his performances that explicitly prohibited such potions. Placing the empty vials on the bottom shelf, Zecora and his pegasi lovers exited the hut and trotted together towards Sweet Apple Acres.

“At least we don’t have to worry about competition between you and Applejack anymore,” Butterscotch smiled a little at Rainbow Blitz, who blushed as he swatted his own bigger ass with his rainbow tail.

“I can still do a lot of work you know, I’m p-part of the Wonderbolts still,” Rainbow Blitz stammered, yelping as he felt Zecora’s muscular and toned ass cheek nudge against his blue blubbery butt cheek.

“We’re not talking about that silly,” Zecora smiled down at Rainbow Blitz. “We’re talking about how you now have the aggression and competitiveness of a shy filly~”

Rainbow Blitz huffed and bit his lip as he looked away, starting to get harder from the stallions’ teasing. He had spent a lot of time trying to prove himself to be the bigger stallion through his attempts with Applejack, causing strife for their friends and Butterscotch before they properly met Zecora. Now with his more feminine body and stripes, Rainbow Blitz’ submissive nature couldn’t have been more clearly displayed. Applejack was left to his own devices, not to have to worry about competing anymore.

And self-admittedly, Rainbow Blitz always knew that Applejack was the stronger stallion of the two anyways.

The three of them walked throughout Ponyville, many of the ponies used to their status as a throuple by this point to really care beyond the winks of Zecora’s past conquests. Zecora didn’t really think twice about them, his heart swelling as he looked down at his two coltfriends. Each day since the Butterbat incident left him appreciating their unique qualities beyond sex more and more, and with their six month anniversary coming up in less than a week, Zecora had plans for the three of them after their work at the barn.

Eventually reaching the familiar hillsides of Sweet Apple Acres, all three of them admiring the view of the sun high up in the sky above the red barn, Zecora trotted ahead with his pegasi lovers following him. He was grateful for the vials that they all had taken, with their bodies feeling relatively cool in the harsh heat. In front of the barn that they were nearing, was Applejack. While being no Zecora, the orange earth pony was still as muscular and built as an earth pony could be. And while he smiled at Zecora and gave a short nod, Applejack’s smile faltered as he saw Butterscotch. With a cold jolt throughout his body, Butterscotch made eye contact with the farmpony. Butterscotch had no idea what the orange stallion was going to say, and felt another harsher cold jolt hitting him as Applejack tore his eyes off the yellow stallion and looked towards Zecora and Rainbow Blitz.

“Well, ah’m glad to have some helping hooves,” Applejack began. “Know that the ‘help’ part is in there. Obviously ah’m not going to just send you off and expect to know everything on yer own. Today will be a lot of showing of course, so y’all have an idea of what needs to get done. As you can see, ah managed to plant a lot of the apple trees again. Ah brought ya here because they’ve become fully grown, and ah’d like some help bucking them and planting new ones.”

Butterscotch winced at the remark, and calmed himself down despite Applejack’s refusal still to even look at him. As much as they were normally friends, Butterscotch knew he was ultimately there to work and make it up to the farmpony in a more practical way. Walking out of the barn was a lovely face, a mare that smiled warmly at Butterscotch right off the bat. The big red mare was none other than Applejack’s older sister Big Mae, and strangely enough, she trotted up to Butterscotch and used a beckoning gesture for him to trot towards her.

“Hey hun,” Big Mae nodded her head as she glanced at her brother before looking at Butterscotch again. “Ah’m going to need you with me to help take care of the pigs. You’ve got that touch with animals, it’ll go a long way with them.”

Feeling a twinge of suspicion at being the only one pulled aside, Butterscotch nodded as he followed the big yet muscular mare. He had no problem with her as a pony, but expected to be working alongside his partners the whole time. Sighing, Butterscotch saw the pigs in the muddy pig pen and got ready to help Big Mae.

Meanwhile, Zecora staring off at them with deep confusion that Applejack’s sister pulled aside Butterscotch specifically, he didn’t get to contemplate it for long as the orange farmpony got their attention. Rainbow Blitz leaned against Zecora as Applejack spoke up.

“Alright now, ah’m going to need you two for bucking apples and planting new trees,” Applejack explained. “Come along with me, Rainbow Blitz has somewhat of an idea but you are new to this. Hopefully you can put those strong muscles of yours to good use.”

“That won’t be a problem at all,” Zecora reassured Applejack as the three of them began to make their way towards the area of apple trees. “You can be certain that all of those apples will fall.”

“Well we’ll start here then,” Applejack told the zebra stallion, walking up to the closest and one of the biggest apple trees as he pressed his big forehoof against the tree trunk. “Ah’m going to ask you both to watch carefully and follow my technique as best ya can.”

Walking in front of the tree with his tail facing the big apple tree, Applejack lifted his hindlegs off the ground and delivered a powerful kick to the tree. Watching as the tree trembled and shook, dozens of apples fell to the ground with some of them landing in a nearby basket that Applejack must’ve had ready for them. Rainbow Blitz took the initiative of rushing forward and placing apples in the basket, and Zecora followed by doing the same thing until all the fallen apples were picked off the ground. Then, Applejack looked to Zecora as he gestured his head towards another tree nearby.

“Think you can give that one a test kick and see how you do?” Applejack asked.

“Sure,” Zecora gave Rainbow Blitz a kiss on the cheek before walking to the tree across the one they had just bucked. Making sure his tail was turned to face the tree, Zecora lifted his hindlegs and delivered a kick that made Applejack and Rainbow Blitz’ eyes become as wide as saucers. They were happy to be on Zecora’s good side, only imagining how brutal that kick would be towards an enemy. The tree had a sizable crack and with several more kicks from Zecora, Applejack was sure the whole tree would fall over. Almost all the apples had fallen from the tree, and Rainbow Blitz flew in the air to collect as many falling apples as possible before placing them in the basket. Applejack glanced at his friend and then Zecora before chuckling with a growing smile.

“You two make quite the team,” Applejack remarked. “Well, with that kind of strength, we’d probably be able to finish bucking the trees before the afternoon is over! C’mon y’all, there’s much to do.”

With the pigs all fed and checked to be sure they’re in good condition, Butterscotch joined Zecora and Rainbow Blitz once more. Being the physically weakest out of the three of them, Butterscotch was tasked with picking up the apples and making sure they were all presentable and not spoiled.

Glancing at the apple trees and not noticing Applejack anywhere, Butterscotch tilted his head.

“Say, where’s Applejack? I thought he was with you guys when I took care of the pigs,” Butterscotch frowned.

“Oh, well the afternoon is almost over and Applejack wanted to make sure we had a good dinner ready,” Rainbow Blitz smiled. “So nice of him, I’m looking forward to eating several apple pies~!”

“Well not too many,” Zecora chuckled as he walked behind Rainbow Blitz, groping the blue pegasus’ ass by the rainbow cutie mark. Jiggling Rainbow Blitz’ butt cheek up and down, Zecora smirked. “The only fat I want you to have is in your ass a plenty~”

“You act like I don’t workout with the Wonderbolts on most days,” Rainbow Blitz snickered as he twerked his butt against Zecora’s forehoof. And Butterscotch, likely from the time apart from his lovers, felt a twinge of jealousy from the zebra stud fondling his best friend’s ass. Snorting as he walked to stand next to Rainbow Blitz, Butterscotch had his even fatter ass facing Zecora as he parted his long pink tail to the side. Glancing over his shoulder at Zecora clearly ogling his butterfly-marked ass, Butterscotch began twerking his ass and clapping it louder than Rainbow Blitz ever could.

“What about me, Zecora?” Butterscotch whined, shaking his ass from side to side as he blushed. “Wouldn’t you say that I have the biggest ass?”

“That I cannot deny, no need to be so sly,” Zecora then took his forehoof off Rainbow Blitz’ ass cheek to place it on Butterscotch’s ass cheek instead. “You may be a lot more behaved since your phase, but no need to reach for my praise. You know how much I care, beyond that of just a lustful stare~”

“Oh,” Butterscotch’s heart skipped a beat from Zecora’s words, still feeling something missing from them. As touched as the yellow pegasus was from Zecora validating him, of making sure he got just as much attention, the zebra stallion still hadn’t told them I love you. It was something that with Rainbow Blitz, and then Zecora, came easy. Of course Butterscotch loved both of them deeply and felt it essential to tell them that everyday, with Rainbow Blitz saying it back. But then again, Butterscotch knew that Zecora had a very casual lifestyle before the two of them, and couldn’t entirely blame him. Turning around to properly face Zecora, the yellow pegasus walked towards his Master and pressed his face against the zebra’s firm chest. “Well, that’s very sweet of you to say Zecora.”

“It’s the least I can do, to be more expressive and welcoming to you,” Zecora explained to Butterscotch, placing his forehoof against the back of the yellow pegasus’ head to gently hold him there. Rainbow Blitz turned around, walking up to Zecora and being side by side with the yellow pegasus. Blitz then kissed Butterscotch’s cheek and pressed his head against Zecora’s chest as well. Zecora then saw Applejack in the distance, walking out of the barn as he looked in their direction. Waving and shouting at them, Zecora was able to figure out what the farmpony wanted when he looked down at his femcolts. “Hey you two, I’m pretty sure Applejack is saying that he’s finished a meal for us to chew. Let’s get these baskets inside, and get ourselves all showered and dried.”

The throuple dumped all the baskets of apples into a wheelbarrow that Zecora pulled back to the barn with Butterscotch and Rainbow Blitz on each side of him. They both blushed and stared at his glistening and sweaty striped fur, as Zecora expected. He in turn looked down at the sweat on their wings and their muzzles, admiring that they also put in the effort with him. Pulling the heavy wheelbarrow inside of the barn, Applejack glanced over the oven he was staring at as he nodded at Zecora.

“You could just leave it near the door, thanks,” Applejack glanced away before Butterscotch could try and make eye contact with him. The yellow pegasus felt a little better knowing that he’d be able to talk to Applejack at dinner, and followed Zecora and Rainbow Blitz into the bathroom. The shower stall, likely because of Big Mae, was more than enough to accommodate all three of them with ease.

With Rainbow Blitz opening the handle to the shower stall with one wing, the three of them stepped inside and turned on the hot water that rolled over all their bodies. Even though the shower stall was very spacious, the two pegasi pressed up against Zecora as he grabbed the shampoo bottle and began lathering up their manes with his forehooves. Placing his forehooves into Rainbow Blitz’ bright and wet rainbow mane, looking into the femcolt’s bright pink eyes, warmed his heart as he readied to do the same to Butterscotch. Turning over and moving his forehooves into Butterscotch’s long pink mane, he could see the yellow pegasus’ expression was a little scrunched up. No doubt Applejack was still on his mind, and Zecora leaned forward as he pressed his lips against Butterscotch’s lips. It started off as a gentle kiss, before his tongue slipped in and rolled against the yellow femcolt’s tongue. Zecora inevitably felt Rainbow Blitz kissing and worshiping his muscular body and the sweat that was currently being washed away by the shower water. And while he intended on rutting the both of them during their stay at Sweet Apple Acres, he didn’t want to waste too much of the shower water or to let Applejack’s generously offered food get cold. Pulling away from the kiss, Zecora looked at his pink-maned lover.

“How was it with the pigs?” Zecora asked Butterscotch as he gave the yellow pegasus the bar of soap. Butterscotch frowned a little as he took the soap bar with his wing and began to make quick work of scrubbing his entire body.

“It was very pleasant, especially with Big Mae to show me how to do the chores with them,” Butterscotch shrugged. “I’m just surprised that Applejack wouldn’t have shown me the apple bucking along with you two. You don’t think he’s…?”

“No, don’t even fret about that,” Zecora waved a hoof off as he rubbed the back of Butterscotch’s mane. “That’s nothing you can’t fix with a brief chat. The six of you ponies have been Elements for years, so don’t shed any tears.”

“Yeah, I’m sure Applejack is just waiting for us to sit down and eat,” Rainbow Blitz smiled brightly at Butterscotch, draping his long blue wing over Butterscotch’s back as he gave the soap bar to the blue pegasus with a small smile.

“That’s what I was assuming too,” Butterscotch whispered. “You two make great points, I’m sure seeing all the work done will help lift his spirits too.”

“There you go, just allow yourself to move with the flow,” Zecora smiled. “And of course, you will have both of us everyday. Now let’s go dine on some apples and hay.”

Zecora was the last to soap himself off before the three of them rinsed off and left the bathroom, the throuple walking into the kitchen where the wheelbarrow was gone. Likely Big Mae having unloaded everything and leaving to spend time with her coltfriend, leaving Applejack to present an array of sweets and treats with four chairs.

“Oh, Apple Buck and Grandpa Smith won’t be joining us today?” Butterscotch gave himself a mental high five for the seemingly casual way of initiating conversation with the muscular farmpony. Applejack looked up at his food at Butterscotch, as if he was staring at a ghost with the way his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. That only lasted for a fraction of a second before Applejack’s expression went completely blank.

“No, Apple Buck’s with his friends and Grandpa Smith went to bed,” Applejack explained, pulling out his own chair and having a seat, pulling his already prepared plate of various apple delicacies towards him and diving in. He looked so intently at his own food, that Butterscotch didn’t even feel comfortable sitting next to the orange stallion as he took the seat diagonally across from him. Zecora took the seat right next to Applejack and Rainbow Blitz took the seat right next to Butterscotch as the throuple set up their own plates of food. Butterscotch almost forgot about his previous woes, considering he hadn’t eaten all day and had the most sweet and savory smells hit his nostrils all at once. With apple pies, apple bread pudding, apple cider donuts, apple salads and cookies, and apple tarts…Butterscotch salivated from all the flavors that he restrained from eating since his thestral craze. Having eaten dozens upon dozens of apples that day, Butterscotch felt so bad about it. And if he had eaten recently, Butterscotch probably wouldn’t have touched much of it to try and respect Applejack. But he dove in as soon as he finished setting up his plate, using his wings to scoop food into his mouth and gobble it down. Savoring the sweet flavor without guilt, he would work tirelessly tomorrow just as he did today. Not noticing Applejack giving the yellow pegasus a pointed look, the farmpony sighed as he looked over to Zecora.

“Thanks again, for coming through,” Applejack explained. “You and Rainbow Blitz had no obligation to do so.”

“It’s no problem to us, not anything that would give us a big fuss,” Zecora shrugged. “Thank Big Mae again for letting us use her bed, and thank you for keeping us well-fed.”

“It’s the least ah can do for the help,” Applejack patted Zecora’s shoulder before tucking into his food.

“I will let you know on the fifth day we won’t be needing food here, the three of us we’ll be celebrating our half-year anniversary and having a good cheer,” Zecora winked at Applejack, keeping his plans for his femcolts a surprise. Applejack brightened up a little bit for the first time since they started working with him, his eyes lighting up as he wiped the crumbs off his lips.

“Well ain’t that something!” Applejack beamed. “Congratulations Zecora, ah know that you were used to the bachelor life for such a long time. Happy ya found love.”

“Heh,” Zecora coughed at the last word the fellow stud said, his ears flattening as he forced a big grin at Applejack. Turning and staring intently at his plate so that he didn’t have to look at either of his femcolts, Zecora devoured the rest of his food and savored the different variations of apple before getting up and looking at his partners. Rainbow Blitz was also finishing up his food and Butterscotch looked to have finished it a while ago, staring at Applejack intently even though the orange farmpony was getting up as well. Then Zecora picked up his plate and his partners’ plates as he nodded at them. “You two have worked excellently and tirelessly today, you both go and enjoy our bed for the first night of our stay. I’ll be helping Applejack with dishes before joining the both of you, so go relax and enjoy the view~”

“Yes Master,” Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch said almost in unison, profusely blushing as they realized that Applejack was still in the room, facing away from them and taking care of dishes. Applejack barely looked over his shoulder before washing the silverware in the sink. With Zecora clearly taking it upon himself to do the cleanup, and Applejack already starting on it, Butterscotch felt too awkward to say a single word to the farmpony. At least he wouldn’t be going to bed alone to overthink everything, with Rainbow Blitz sticking his tongue out at the yellow femcolt as they made their way to Big Mae’s bed. With her spending the nights with her coltfriend Sugar Beau, the bedroom was all theirs for the next week.

Walking into the bedroom, Butterscotch and Rainbow Blitz galloped towards and flew onto the ginormous bed. It was meant to accommodate the large and powerful red mare, so the bed would have ample room for all three of them. It was even bigger than Zecora’s bed, and Butterscotch slid under the covers before Rainbow Blitz did as well. Even with the fluffy pillows and generous amount of blankets, and the blue pegasus looking into Butterscotch’s eyes, the yellow pegasus still felt a twinge of disappointment that Applejack barely acknowledged him at all. Rainbow Blitz’ smile fell as he placed his forehoof against Butterscotch’s cheek.

“Hey, maybe Applejack is still processing everything,” Rainbow Blitz assured Butterscotch, moving his forehoof in circles as he continued. “Losing all your crops suddenly, well, we can’t even imagine what that must feel like. This isn’t something that just affected him either, it was his whole family that he had to worry about. And without food for his whole family-”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Butterscotch threw his forehooves up in the air with a clear wince, and Rainbow Blitz pulled him into a warm hug as he sighed.

“Sorry, definitely got carried away,” Blitz chuckled. “It was just a long way of saying to give it time, I’m sure Applejack would loosen up the more work gets done. That’s just how he is.”

“Yeah,” Butterscotch breathed in the soapy fresh smell of Rainbow Blitz’ fur, letting go of his worries for the night. After all, they all needed to stay energized for the next day…

Day 2

Author's Note

Contains ball-sucking, blowjobs, ruttings, exhibitionism/getting caught, and brief rimming scene.

Day 2

Waking up the next morning with Zecora holding Butterscotch and Rainbow Blitz with his forelegs, the yellow pegasus walked out with his partners to plates that had several apple cider donuts on them each. Cups of coffee for all three of them, but no Applejack to be seen.

“He must’ve gotten an early head start on the work, " Zecora shrugged as he took a seat and began eating his donut. Butterscotch sat on his right and Rainbow Blitz pulled up a chair on the zebra stud’s left as he brought his plate close to Zecora’s plate so that the three of them could all sit next to each other. Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch both opened up their wings and rested them on Zecora’s back, both leaning in and kissing the zebra stud’s cheeks before tucking into their food. “Glad he gave us food as a nice morning perk.”

“Seems like he made a lot of food to cover at least a few days of us being here,” Rainbow Blitz, speedy in everything he does, was already wiping the leftover crumbs off his muzzle as he then picked up his warm cup of coffee with one wing and downed it in one go. “That’s awfully nice of him.”

“I think he left a note on the table for us,” Butterscotch’s ears perked up at the paper with writing, reaching out a clean forehoof to pull the letter in as he read it aloud. “Hey Zecora, Rainbow Blitz, Butterscotch. Big Mae is still with Sugar Beau, so I’ll be taking care of the pigs and the toolshed while you three plant some new apple trees. You’ll see the area because I left several packets of apple seeds over it. There’s a lake nearby where you can fetch the water. Just get started on that and I’ll check in an hour or two to see how y’all are doing. Thanks again, Applejack.”

“Let’s get right on that then, while he is taking care of the pig pen,” Zecora announced, taking his cup of coffee and drinking it slower than Rainbow Blitz. Still, he made quick work of the cup as he took all the empty dishes. “Wash this all up first, and have some water to quench our thirst.”

The throuple washed the dishes and drank several glasses of water in less than five minutes before they all left the barn. Butterscotch could see Applejack feeding the pigs in the distance, and was tempted to wave at him when he realized with a stinging pain the letter. Was it just the farmpony wanted an early start on the work, or did he avoid making interaction with Butterscotch all over again?

Walking towards the area where there were several dug up patches already, as well as packets of apple seeds resting on the patches, it was easy to figure out what they were supposed to do. Butterscotch was relieved that he didn’t have to dig and out himself for having a lack of physical strength, flying over to the closest patch and tearing open the packet of apple seeds before dispersing them over different dug up patches. Since there were way more seeds than patches, Zecora took the initiative to use his powerful forelegs to start digging up patches for Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch to place seeds in. During the work, both the pegasi’s eyes and jaws were dropped as they stared at Zecora. With each time he brought his forehooves to the ground and dug as if it was his work this whole time, Zecora’s muscles turned and strained with each digging motion he made into the ground. And with the sweat gleaming from his rippling body, Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch found themselves working less and less, considering they already took care of a lot of seeds. Noticing a pail for the water, Rainbow Blitz tore his eyes off Zecora with a heavy blush as he looked to Butterscotch.

“Want to go get the water together?” Rainbow Blitz whispered, and Butterscotch wordlessly nodded as the two walked down the hillside and to the lake. Noticing that Butterscotch was blushing just as much as he was, Rainbow Blitz continued as they knew they were out of earshot. “I don’t know how much I can hold off from him, do you know what I mean? With work leading up to this, and then not having sex at all yesterday, you understand how I feel right?”

“You can just look underneath,” Butterscotch mumbled, also looking underneath Rainbow Blitz’ body to see his full dark blue erection pressing against his underside. Rainbow Blitz did the same and looked underneath Butterscotch’s body, wincing as he looked up. “So what? We just go a whole week without sex because Applejack needs our help? Can’t we have both?”

“Have both what?” Butterscotch tilted his head.

“Help Applejack and get our freak on!” Rainbow Blitz’ eyes flashed with excitement as he gave a wide grin. “And you really shouldn’t spend the whole time overthinking, not when you could get underneath Zecora instead~”

The lewd and devious thought was planted in Butterscotch’s head, growing before he could even stop it. Imagining Zecora’s bulky and sweaty body mounting him, his enormous length plunging back and forth inside the yellow femcolt’s ponut…Butterscotch bit his lip as he watched Rainbow Blitz gallop ahead of him and towards the lake. His newfound predicament was certainly not helped by the fact that Rainbow Blitz moved his rainbow tail to the side and revealed his dark blue ponut. Having felt what his ponut was like with his dick now, Butterscotch felt said dick twitching against his stomach. By the time Rainbow Blitz returned with the filled water pail, with the Styrofoam part of the handle held by his mouth, the blue pegasus slightly gestured his head towards where they came from. Butterscotch didn’t even have to ask what the blue pegasus meant by that gesture.

“Yes, let’s go and see what happens,” Butterscotch chuckled, feeling his own ponut clench at the anticipation of it all. Rainbow Blitz giggled as he rushed ahead while making sure the water pail didn’t spill. Butterscotch rushed after him as much as his fat butt could manage, until they reached Zecora taking a breather. The zebra stud looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening briefly before taking the water pail from Rainbow Blitz.

“You two look awfully happy, or perhaps sappy. Why the blush, was it over me that you two gush?” Zecora asked before standing on his hindlegs, holding the water pail with his forelegs as he splashed water over the seeds buried into the ground. Rainbow Blitz looked at Butterscotch expectedly, the two sharing a knowing glance as the yellow femcolt’s heart was racing with renewed energy. He was grateful to Rainbow Blitz for giving him a reason to let loose and enjoy both his partners, and had no intention of being subtle. The two watched as Zecora dropped back on all fours and rested the half-empty pail on the ground. Walking up to Zecora and draping his face over the beefy zebra stallion’s neck, Butterscotch looked up and fluttered his eyelashes at him.

“I’ve been so worried about where I stood with Applejack,” Butterscotch gave an exaggerated pout of his lips. “And I was wondering if you could help me take my mind off it, maybe a massage perhaps?”

“Oh! Oh! I’d like a massage too!” Rainbow Blitz galloped forward and nearly headbutted Zecora as he pressed his head against the zebra’s chest. Zecora looked down at the both of them with a smirk, bringing his dirty forehooves to his pegasi’s necks as he rubbed up and down on them.

“Well why stop at a massage, when perhaps you two are pulling a sexual barrage?” Zecora snickered. “I’m a grown stallion and can tell that your lengths are erect, I had already checked.”

Zecora then pressed his lips to Butterscotch’s lips, slipping his tongue in. And unlike the day before, Butterscotch could savor the excitement knowing that it wouldn’t just stop at a kiss. Rainbow Blitz trailed his tongue up Zecora’s neck and whispered dirty words into the zebra’s ear, before walking off to the side and resting on his back. Splaying his hindlegs out and exposing his dark blue length and ponut, Rainbow Blitz waited for Zecora and Butterscotch to finish their makeout session before the zebra stallion walked over to his blue pegasus.

“No foreplay for me? I’m the only one not completely hard out of us three!” Zecora laughed, and watched as Butterscotch quickly went to work. Moving his head to between the tall adonis’ powerful striped legs, Butterscotch rushed in and gave a deep inhale of the musky zebra musk before proceeding to suck on one of Zecora’s balls. There was a deep rush throughout his entire body as he serviced his Zebrican Master, one that was pursued by many mares and stallions alike. And he had fully given himself to two pegasi, determining them worthy of his love that was for nopony else. Butterscotch’s heart fluttered as he switched to the other ball, sucking on it for a few moments before running his tongue up from Zecora’s base to his tip. The sweaty and overly powerful musk that came with Zecora working so much became too much to bear, and Butterscotch grew to appreciate the smell of him. Opening his mouth and enveloping the tangy yet very earthy thick length that wasn’t completely hard, Butterscotch hilted the entire length with ease as he bobbed his head back and forth. Making sure to swirl his tongue around Zecora’s length thoroughly, it progressively became harder as the zebra stud got harder himself. Eventually, Butterscotch was bobbing on most of Zecora’s length instead of all of it, doing so for a few minutes before pulling back. He didn’t want to make the zebra stud cum before he at least blew his load inside of Rainbow Blitz’ ponut, so Butterscotch stepped to the side as he smirked down at his best friend staring at Zecora longingly. Zecora crouched down and pressed his muzzle against Rainbow Blitz’ ponut, slathering the rim and inside with his saliva as he gave the blue pegasus a proper rimjob.

“Gah, nngh, yes~” Rainbow Blitz moaned as he threw his head back, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Zecora hummed into the blue pegasus’ backdoor, teasing him for a few moments before bringing his dick to Rainbow Blitz’ ponut. Sinking his thick length inside, Zecora sighed as he felt the familiar sensation of Rainbow Blitz and knew the whole affair wouldn’t last for long. If there was anything Rainbow Blitz was well-known for, it was being a quick shot. So the muscular zebra stud proceeded to thrust hard into his blue femcolt’s fat blue cheeks, watching as his rainbow cutie marks rippled with each thrust. He remembered months ago when Rainbow Blitz was far too afraid to let out moans at all, let alone overly feminine ones that would put most mares to shame. Zecora felt a swell of pride in his body, almost as powerful as the swelling of his erection as he hit the blue femcolt’s p-spot over and over again. Rainbow Blitz howled and moaned like a seasoned whore, and Zecora jackhammered faster into the blue pegasus in order to keep them from getting caught. If it weren’t for the open space that Applejack and his grandfather were currently occupying, Zecora would’ve taken his sweet time. But nervous excitement coursed throughout his body as he felt Rainbow Blitz’ ponut clenching on his dick like a vice, doing his damndest best to milk the superior zebra cum into his backdoor as deeply as possible.

Butterscotch had sat on his fat flanks and proceeded to toy with his below average length, biting his lip as he suspected the both of them were moments from bursting. Or at least, that was likely his wishful thinking taking precedent in his mind as he was intentionally edging himself to the whole show. After a few more minutes of Zecora savagely railing Rainbow Blitz’ fat ass, the blue pegasus convulsed with deep pleasure as he squirted all over his own face and chest. Zecora grunted several times from the sight of getting his femcolt to cum without any contact, eventually burying his thick dark length inside Rainbow Blitz and unloading rope after rope of his cum inside the blue pegasus for several moments before slipping his dick out and looking to Butterscotch.

“Suppose you could help me get hard for the second round, and not make too much sound?” Zecora remarked, side-eyeing the cum-drunk and nearly passed out Rainbow Blitz before giving a small chuckle. Butterscotch scrambled up onto all four hooves as he sucked off Zecora again for a few minutes before the zebra stud was hard once more, his twitching erection pointed towards Butterscotch’s roughed up face as he was ready to take his stud inside. Opting for a different position by removing his head from underneath Zecora and walking in front of him, having his fat butterfly-marked cheeks facing the zebra stud, Butterscotch proceeded to loudly clap his fat cheeks as a lewd symphony to attract his mate. Zecora trotted towards him, mounting Butterscotch and nibbling his fluffy yellow ear while hotly breathing down on him. Butterscotch whined and moaned, unable to do the same nibbling to either of his partners. Unbeknownst to the both of them, Butterscotch kept another fang from turning into Butterbat a second time, and the yellow pegasus didn’t want to know what it’d mean if all his teeth eventually turned into fangs. Let off with a second fang-shaped warning, Butterscotch was happy to embrace being a switch if it meant not suppressing himself again.

Zecora pressed the tip of his length to Butterscotch’s ponut before sinking his saliva-slickened length inside, more than enough lube for the overwhelmed yellow pegasus. Butterscotch panted and gasped, knowing he would last shorter than even Rainbow Blitz as he had already taken the pleasure of edging himself to near finish. And with a cold shock rushing throughout his body, as Zecora hilted him and made the yellow pegasus nearly cum his lights out, Applejack trotted up the hill and witnessed as Butterscotch cried in ecstasy with Zecora pounding him a few more times until the zebra stud noticed Applejack staring open-mouthed at the two of them.

“AHN!” Butterscotch yelped before he slipped off the zebra’s dick, landing in a grassy patch of his own cum as he blushed with deep shame and arousal, not even looking at Applejack as he stammered. “A…Applejack, oh fuck…”

“Forgive us for our idea of a break, they had tempted me by giving their big butts a shake,” Zecora giggled, hoping that his humor would relax the farmpony. Sure enough, Applejack’s shoulders dropped as he gave a small smile and shook his head.

“It’s okay, ah heard you three from the distance so ah wanted to see if any progress was done,” Applejack shrugged, looking at the additional dirt patches and half-used water pail. “Huh, looks like quite a bit was done. Great job. Say, ah could use your strength moving stuff around in the toolshed. Perhaps your…coltfriends could finish up here while ya come with me.”

“Sure can do, we are here to help you!” Zecora nodded before stepping away from Butterscotch, glancing down at his femcolts during their post-orgasm haze. “Don’t pass out or rest too long, even though you both got railed by my thick dong~!”

Zecora snickered as he galloped off with Applejack, leaving his femcolts to finish the task like they were asked to do. Though taller and physically stronger than Applejack, Zecora could appreciate how strong the orange farmpony was simply by looking at him. Though certainly not his type by any means, the zebra stud liked how hard-working Applejack was for his family. Zecora had a similar desire to take care of his femcolts by making sure he was selling a lot of his potions to feed them and helping them acclimate to living in the Everfree Forest.

“Again I jest, but hopefully you didn’t mind me being such a lewd guest,” Zecora chuckled with a slight blush at getting caught in the act, though Applejack briefly joined in the laugh and shook his head.

“Ah’ve seen weirder shit happen with the farm animals,” Applejack waved him off. “So long as y’all aren’t loud enough for the ponies out in town to hear, and y’all are getting your work done…ah really couldn’t care less. Ah’m sure ah don’t have to tell you to keep your hooves to yourselves when my little brother is here.”

“Of course not, that’s common decency that I was taught,” Zecora shrugged as they approached the toolshed.

“If you can help me pull out all these hay bales so I can sweep the floors, that’d be a mighty help to start with,” Applejack explained, and Zecora galloped into the barn area that also doubled as a toolshed, using his brute strength to push the hay bales out with each only taking less than a minute to push out into the open. The orange stallion’s eyes blinked rapidly as he took in how effortlessly Zecora put in the work without complaining or needing to catch a breath, the muscular zebra stallion working like a machine as he pushed out the last hay bale before finally taking a deep breath and rolling his shoulders back and forth.

“Nice work,” Applejack grinned as he galloped inside the mostly empty room, save for all the tools against the wall and the wheelbarrow. Taking a broom from the wall, Applejack stood on his hindlegs as he swept and maneuvered around the barn room. Getting a big clump’s worth of the stray pieces of hay as well as other elements of the outdoors, Applejack swept it all outside before resting the broom against the barn wall. “Now before we put all these hay bales back inside, ah want to properly wash off and clean all the tools and the wheelbarrow best we can.”

“Yessir,” Zecora nodded as they both walked into the barn, taking off various tools and grabbing the hose. Washing various objects clean of the dirt and muck that had grown on them over the months, Zecora held the hose as he looked up at Applejack. “Whatever is your little brother up to all the time? I’m merely expressing his constant absence with another rhyme.”

Smiling and refraining from laughing at Zecora’s rhyming with the word rhyme, Applejack pointed in the direction to where Ponyville was.

“Well those three colts you see all the time, the ones that were trying to get their cutie marks for years?” Applejack waited until Zecora gave an affirmative nod for him to continue. “Apple Buck is one of them, they’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“Oh right, sorry my memory had a bit of a slight,” Zecora chuckled, with years having passed since Apple Buck’s last attempt to get a cutie mark through potion making. Given that the young colt had moved on to the next best thing, Zecora moved on with his life. But realizing that he finally had his cutie mark was warm and great news to hear. “But that makes me more delighted than you could ever know, that he has exceeded in his talents and learned to grow.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Applejack agreed before walking back into the barn to pull out the dirty wheelbarrow for Zecora to hose down. “Ah’ll say again that ah’m especially happy for ya! We all knew how lonely that hut must’ve been before a third of us became your partners…”

“That is technically true,” Zecora grinned as he began hosing the wheelbarrow. “Don’t worry about me trying to bag the rest of y’all out of the blue!”

“Oh ah wasn’t, ah can definitely tell you got a particular type,” Applejack’s ears flickered as he smirked. “But Rainbow Blitz becoming yours was frankly a surprise. Ah thought he’d either stay in a struggling relationship with Butterscotch for the rest of their lives, or he’d seek out sating his poorly hidden desires with the Wonderbolts or something…”

“Do you mean-”

“Oh not like cheatin’ or any of that!” Applejack raced his forehooves up as his eyes widened. “We both know he’s the last pony to even entertain such a thought. Ah just meant that there are some really athletic pegasi on the time that ah swore would’ve grinded his gears…”

“And then there’s that joke you made when you first knew, that you thought he might end up with you,” Zecora admitted as he finished hosing down the wheelbarrow. Although instead of a glaring look that might’ve come from a more jealous stallion, Zecora looked to be humored by the joke Applejack made all those months ago. “Though you didn’t actually want him to date, do you think that he would’ve tried to make you his mate?”

“Oh sure, it’s why ah thought he was trying to puff his chest out all the time when ah’ve clearly got more body strength,” Applejack explained, watching as Zecora pushed the cleaned wheelbarrow back into the barn. Taking some of the toolshed supplies and following the zebra stallion back inside, Applejack continued. “Then he started dating Butterscotch and completely threw me for a loop!”

“Looks like everything worked out the way it was supposed to then,” Zecora assumed as the two muscular stallions left the barn and together, they pushed the hay bales back in the spots they were before. With Zecora pushing the last hay bale inside, the zebra stallion stood up straight and looked at Applejack. “Glad we could clean out this den.”

“Yeah, thank you!” Applejack beamed, and Zecora felt a deep satisfaction from how happy the orange stallion looked in comparison to yesterday. His blonde tail flickering from side to side, his green eyes smiling with his lips, and voice sounding more clear and awake…it was very rewarding, especially to do such hard work for one of his femcolts’ dearest friends. “Ah’m really impressed with what you’re able to do. You might be stronger than Big Mae!”

“Well that’s very kind, that you consider one of my strength hard to find,” Zecora smiled, looking up at the beautiful orange and pink watercolor-looking sky that surrounded them. “Looks like the sun is coming down, shall we go check and make sure those two didn’t drown?”

Fortunately, Zecora and Applejack found Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch in the kitchen already showered off from finishing their tasks early, and not floating in a lake like Zecora had joked about. Sitting at the table in their same spots, the throuple waited as Applejack brought out the leftovers from the day before.

“So why didn’t you two eat as soon as you had a clean, trying to keep your bodies extra lean?” Zecora tilted his head at the two femcolts across from him.

“Well, we uh, kind of wanted to wait till we could all eat together,” Butterscotch blushed, placing his forehoof over Zecora’s forehoof as he smiled.

“Well aren’t you cute as a button, though it's okay to sometimes be a glutton,” Zecora reassured his pink-maned femcolt just as Applejack started passing the plates of apple pie and salad around, Butterscotch looking up at the orange pony. Applejack moved too fast, placing Butterscotch’s plate in front of him, before the pegasus could try and make eye contact with him. Then settling into his seat, Applejack grinned at Zecora without looking in Butterscotch’s direction.

“Well we’re practically ahead of schedule with how great everything is moving along!” Applejack clopped his forehooves against the table as he was vibrating with the eager prospect of more work. “Why, we could dust and clean all the rooms and the kitchen! Grandpa Smith would absolutely love that, he’s been complaining about the rooms for months now. Mow the grass, make sure all the fences are tightly fixed…continue to water the new trees…”

“Glad the three of us could be of use, giving Sweet Apple Acres a spruce,” Zecora nodded his head. “And if you are interested to hear, I’ve got some productive potions that just might give your farm a most productive year~”

“Oh really?” Applejack tilted his head, his smile fading away as he wasn’t sure what Zecora was going to offer.

“Now these potions will speed up the process of each tree, keeping away every bug and flea. Also depending on which ingredients you choose, you can make them taste like anything from chocolate to booze! Anything you feel like your apples are lacking, you know that my potions are packing. They are all natural ingredients that are nullified of any side effect, so there is no need for them to be listed as warning labels customers have checked.”

“Natural ingredients…and ah don’t even have to legally disclose the recipe to customers?” Applejack brought a forehoof to his lips as he contemplated such news for a few moments, pulling his forehoof back from his muzzle and holding it high up in the air. “Why Zecora, ah’d love to see what you’ve got to try with these trees. Uh, provided you pay for any failed ones that is.”

“That would only make sense, therefore you’d have no need to be tense,” Zecora nodded as he high-fived Applejack’s hoof before they started eating. Rainbow Blitz had already finished his food, taking his own dish to wash at the sink while Butterscotch witnessed the warm vulnerability Applejack had allowed Zecora to feel. The feeling that Butterscotch and Applejack had for many, many years before they grew apart from the yellow femcolt dating Rainbow Blitz, and even further fractured by the return of Butterbat. It was already disappointing enough to not spend enough time with the rest of the Mane 6, he barely had made enough time to spend with his own animals…but to have to make it up to Applejack for a mistake Butterscotch made? At least with Zecora as a genuine friend, Butterscotch was a lot less worried about Applejack being angry. The farmpony seemed more focused on this grand apple tree idea more than anything else.

As the four finished up the food and Applejack insisted on taking care of the rest of the dishes, Butterscotch pressed against Zecora’s side as they walked to their bedroom where Rainbow Blitz was already in bed passed out and snoring away.

“Hey um, you and Applejack really seem to be getting along,” Butterscotch whispered beyond what Applejack could reasonably hear in the kitchen. “Which is really great because I thought he was going to be a sour apple the whole time we were here.”

“I assumed the same, though I’ve given him a new goal to claim,” Zecora smiled brightly. “And perhaps he isn’t even mad, giving him some time to come around isn’t bad.”

“That’s true, everypony processes feelings differently,” Butterscotch shrugged as he looked up at Zecora, his bright cyan eyes causing the zebra stallion to clear his throat as he looked away from his pink-maned femcolt and trot into the bedroom with a small blush. Whatever did he mean by that? Was there more that Butterscotch was trying to get out of their one-on-one conversation? Of course opening up was something the zebra stallion fully intended on doing more often…

But processing feelings? Zecora felt like a sky-high pegasus in a thunderstorm, wanting the words to come to him but feeling his mind clam up with cold jolts throughout his body.

Day 5

It was already the fifth day of them being at Sweet Apple Acres, and almost everything that Applejack had listed, they had already done. On top of that, Zecora returned to his hut briefly to bring a bag full of potions that he had made over the course of a few hours, and ones he already had ready. With the help stretched a bit more thin even with Big Mae returning on certain days, Butterscotch oftentimes worked by himself and felt his heart twisting and longing for Zecora’s company as Rainbow Blitz and Big Mae were the only ponies talking to him, very sparingly considering all the work they had to do.

And Applejack? Barely a word out of him before he would gallop over to the next chore as if he couldn’t take a minute or two to open up to Butterscotch, so much as asking him how he was doing. Perhaps he’s just more friendly with Zecora, and Rainbow Blitz has barely talked to him as well.

They had the anniversary celebration of their throuple status of six months to celebrate that evening, and Zecora had returned the night before with the potions that were supposed to improve Applejack’s trees exponentially. If not for those two events, Butterscotch was pretty sure he would’ve burst into flames from the nagging and merciless anxiety that fought his brain. The idea of turning into Butterbat all over again with each day of keeping his feelings in only made matters worse for Butterscotch, to the point of several near panic attacks. But Butterscotch reeled it in each time and drowned himself further into the efforts of his contribution to fixing Sweet Apple Acres to not only the way it was before Butterbat, but something even better with Zecora’s potions.

Getting out of the shower with Rainbow Blitz, Zecora having gotten up early to start on the trees with Applejack, Butterscotch looked to the blue pegasus.

“Heh, wonder what flavors of apple they’ll be making,” Butterscotch forced the best smile he could as he only imagined all the words he and Applejack wouldn’t be exchanging even as he and Rainbow Blitz would meet up with the two strong stallions. “Shame we haven’t really had a chance to keep up with what’s going on in Applejack’s life. I’ve got to hear how Big Mae is doing with her coltfriend, but we haven’t really gotten to talk to our friend. He’s one of the Elements of Harmony, just like us!”

“What’re you talking about?” Rainbow Blitz frowned as they reached the dining table, the two pegasi sitting across from each other as they drank their coffee and ate their apple cider donuts. “I’ve been talking to Applejack all the time! He’s even considering stopping by and watching some of my upcoming Wonderbolt shows.”

“Wait…what?” Butterscotch, who was holding his cup of coffee with one wing, slowly lowered it back onto the table as his face wilted. His muzzle scrunched up as he felt his heart drop in his chest like a rock floating to the bottom of a lake. His entire body feeling cold from his wings to his chest, Butterscotch was doing his damndest best to be in denial of what was happening right before his eyes. But with Rainbow Blitz bursting the bubble viciously without even realizing it, Butterscotch stared at the blue pegasus as he frowned.

“Hey uh, you okay?” Rainbow Blitz asked before he sighed, his shoulders slouching. “Oh fuck, he still hasn’t talked to you, has he? Solaris, I’m sorry I came off as so insensitive about that. I wasn’t even thinking about what you said about him when we first came here. I swore that you two would’ve said something by now…”

“No, we haven’t,” Butterscotch stared at the coffee and apple cider donut, the drink and food appearing more pitiful and pathetic with each moment the yellow pegasus stared at it before he shook his head and walked away. “Forget it, I’m not that hungry.”

“What about the coffee?” Blitz asked, his ears flickered as he turned to his own breakfast, drinking and eating everything within a matter of seconds before he jumped out of his chair and rushed towards Butterscotch. “Hey, hey, please don’t run off like that. You know Applejack doesn’t actually hate you or anything…”

“Do I know that?” Butterscotch turned his head around to stare down Rainbow Blitz, nearly getting whiplash at how fast he moved. “Because the dude has barely said a lick of anything towards me for the past four days, and nothing indicates that he’ll say anything at all by the end of the week. He would’ve been better off not inviting me at all, unless…”

Butterscotch’s eyes widened as he gritted his teeth.

“Applejack wanted to invite me and say nothing!” Butterscotch shouted as he stomped his hoof, knowing that no one else was in the house part of the barn besides Grandpa Smith, who was asleep. “This is his punishment for me. It would be a lot easier if he just got mad or didn't invite me to help you two, but he’d rather have me here all the time to see his disappointment. I’m staying here, you can tell him if he wants my help to come talk to me himself.”

“You mean you don’t want to see Zecora create amazing apple trees?” Rainbow Blitz asked, and Butterscotch felt a pang of guilt as he completely forgot about their zebra stud. Thinking it over back and forth, Butterscotch put a forehoof against his forehead as he groaned.

“Whatever, fuck, let’s go then,” Butterscotch muttered, walking over to the dining table and drinking his coffee before trotting back to Rainbow Blitz’ side. “As long as you stay next to me.”

“Of course, what are best friends for?” Blitz smiled as he extended his striped blue wing and placed it over Butterscotch’s back, using his other wing to open the door and close it behind them as they took in the steadily warming weather of the late morning. “Come on, let me talk about my flight tricks for the upcoming show. Or you can talk about your animals, Applejack’s sour attitude isn’t worth focusing on…”

For the next few minutes as they trotted down the paths and hillsides to look for Zecora and Applejack, Rainbow Blitz talked Butterscotch’s ear off about his upcoming Wonderbolt show while the yellow pegasus’ brain festered on what he was going to say. Giving Applejack a couple of days to figure out what to say, or to even forgive Butterscotch at all, was fine for the yellow femcolt. Ignoring him for the better part of the week to make a point however, was not. And Butterscotch was too angry to have another panic attack, no, he’d rather go out of his way to make Applejack as uncomfortable as possible. He just had to figure out how to do that without affecting Zecora in the process.

Finally the two pegasi saw Zecora and Applejack standing around a dirt pile that presumably contained watered apple seeds, with the zebra stallion looking to the orange farmpony while holding a dark red potion, talking away at likely what was in it. Butterscotch and Rainbow Blitz flew towards them as opposed to galloping uphill, listening at what their Master was saying as they landed beside him.

“So it is a mix of many berries to be a fruity flavor, something your customer would very much savor,” Zecora finished before looking at his femcolts on each side of him. “Why hello you two, ready for some unique apples to chew?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Butterscotch grumbled underneath his breath as he tried to force eye contact with Applejack again. Nothing. The orange stallion stared at the dirt pile like he hadn’t even showed up. Feeling a strong heat flushing in his face, Butterscotch gritted his teeth as he willed himself to also stare at the dirt pile, watching as Zecora poured a fraction of the dark red potion into the dirt.

“So how this works is that the tree will rapidly grow to full size and bearing fruit within several seconds give or take, just needs that time to properly bake,” Zecora explained as he looked at Applejack, who gave the zebra stallion eye contact. Even if it might’ve come off as a little creepy, Butterscotch stared intently at the Element of Honesty to will him to make eye contact. He was certain Applejack would cave and say something, or even look at the yellow pegasus, but it seemed like the orange stallion went out of his way to keep his eyes on Zecora. The zebra stallion smiled at Applejack before all four of them stared at the dirt pile. One, two, three, four, five, six…Butterscotch yelped and jumped backwards as the earth underneath them shook and vibrated, before a tree sprung out from the ground and grew several feet tall before them. Within a few more seconds, deep red apples with dark blue spots developed on the branches and some of the heavier ones even fell from the tree. Butterscotch reached out and opened his forehoof, watching as a nice thick apple landed right on his forehoof. Then, just when he thought that Applejack would be staring at him given that he was about to eat the apple…Butterscotch saw that the orange stallion was intently staring at the spotted apple with his jaw dropped.

Of course, I should’ve known that even if he wasn’t ignoring me on purpose, this stupid dumb apple would’ve had his attention more.

Staring down at the apple that indeed was eye-catching, the scent was even more alluring as it smelled like a fruit buffet. With the strong tang of raspberries hitting his nose as well as the deeper smell of blueberries, there were even a few fainter smells that he couldn’t put his hoof on. Shrugging before bringing the surface of the apple to his mouth and taking a bite, Butterscotch’s eyes widened as he savored the overwhelming taste of the apple. All those flavors he could smell, he could taste in the apple in spades. The flavor echoed somehow in his mouth, being vibrant and bright with lively sensation as opposed to dull and faded out like apples could be at times. Practically like drinking a fruit smoothie, Butterscotch proceeded to devour all the apple save for the core of it before the others took the apples that were barely on the ground and removed the dirt from them. Applejack and Zecora ate their apples with glints in their eyes before the two strong stallions looked at each other.

“Well ah’ll be damned, Zecora! Your Zebrican magic plus the grounds of Sweet Apple Acres created the most beautiful fruit ah’ve ever tasted,” Applejack rejoiced. “And you said you brought two other potions with you today?”

“That is correct, a spicy jalapeno one and a chocolate one that I’ve checked,” Zecora explained. “As we’ve agreed, I’ll be taking only 40% and no more than I need. You said that the three of us could leave early for our date, since the help you appreciate?”

“Not just that, ah honestly got years worth of help with these potions!” Applejack grinned as he placed his forehoof against the trunk of the brand new tree. “Y’all could even leave now and not come back tomorrow with how much help ah got!”

“Bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“What was what?”

“Nothing,” Butterscotch smiled from ear to ear as he finally got Applejack’s attention with that impulsive slip of his tongue. Sure he didn’t plan on saying anything that bold, but it certainly got the ball rolling as he looked up at Zecora. “Hey Master, could me and Rainbow Blitz have a moment with our friend here?”

“Um, sure?” Zecora glanced at Applejack, who was scowling with a flushed face as he looked away from the three of them. The zebra stallion shrugged as he turned his back to the three of them and began trotting away. “Just please try and act mature…”

Butterscotch’s wings sprung up as a flash of hot blood coursed through his body at the unexpected remark that got his eye twitching as he looked away from his Master and back at Applejack. Who wasn’t at the tree anymore, but taking the bag of potions that Zecora left behind and flinging it over his shoulder as he trotted down the hillside.

“Ah don’t got time for none of this, listen to your dude’s advice,” Applejack muttered.

“Hey!” Butterscotch felt a swell of pride as he saw Rainbow Blitz’ wings sprung out from his sides as he galloped after Applejack. “The least you could do is give Butterscotch some kind of explanation!”

“No, the least ah can do is literally nothing at all,” Applejack huffed, not turning to look at Rainbow Blitz only a few steps behind him. “If you’re going to bother me, ah’m not talking to you either…”

“So you’re admitting you’re refusing to talk to him on purpose!” Rainbow Blitz shouted, closing the distance and checking Applejack’s shoulder as he caused the orange stallion to nearly drop and break the potions in his bag. Applejack whirled around and stared daggers at Rainbow Blitz before shoving his muzzle in the blue pegasus’ face.

“Touch me again and see what happens,” Applejack growled, and Butterscotch snapped out of his spectator role as he galloped towards the other stallions.

“Rainbow Blitz, that’s enough,” Butterscotch sighed. “We’ve got a date to be on, and we’re not going to l-let him ruin the mood…”

“Fuck’s sake,” Rainbow Blitz spat, walking away from Applejack as he glared at the orange stallion for several drawn out moments. “Glad you got your business deal out of this, you fucking prick.”

Butterscotch tore his eyes off Applejack’s stoic and unreadable face as he walked up the hill with Rainbow Blitz resting his long wing on the yellow pegasus’ shoulders. Butterscotch felt a wave of emotions rising to the surface, the pain of getting the unspoken confirmation that he wasn’t making anything up hitting him all at once. But it was like he said, they couldn’t ruin the surprise plans Zecora had to celebrate their six month anniversary. Turning to Rainbow Blitz, Butterscotch thought over the words that would be best.

“Please just…I know we have to talk about what happened to Zecora,” Butterscotch sighed. “But just not right away, I’d like to at least drink a little and unwind first…”

“Whatever, fine,” Rainbow Blitz shook his head as he pressed his muzzle briefly against Butterscotch’s ear before they kept walking together out of Sweet Apple Acres. The walk while being like tiny needles pricking away at Butterscotch’s hooves, with growing discomfort that came with each step they left, Butterscotch simultaneously felt the waves of relief for the brief lapse of time that they shared of not having to tackle the problem that just blew up. Of course they would need to address it before the day was over, but for now, they were just two striped pegasi returning to the hut of their Master. Seeing the hut within their sights, Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch picked up the pace as they galloped to their home and opened the door.

Stopping as they sat Zecora in front of the cauldron, centered in the room and staring right at them with a gentle smile, the big zebra stallion wore a black and white tux that complemented his white and black-furred body. On a coathanger near the wall of the front room were two dresses, frilly and pastel-colored with one being a mint green and the other being a light lavender.

“I forgot which favorite color belongs to who,” Zecora pressed a forehoof to his lips as he continued. “But I definitely remembered the favorites mentioned by you two. Dress up and display yourselves for me, so we can leave and be carefree.”

“Awesome,” Rainbow Blitz’ face brightened up as he seemed to have forgotten the argument for at least a moment, galloping over and taking the mint green dress and wearing it as he poked his rainbow tail out through the tail-hole of the dress. Butterscotch walked up to the coathanger more slowly as he grabbed the lavender dress and put it on, also having his clothed ass facing Zecora but for different reasons. Butterscotch felt his lips twitching and his eyes restraining from letting the floodgates open in front of Zecora. His Master was well aware of there being a problem between him and Applejack, but seemed to think that the yellow pegasus was exasperating it by having feelings. Why was he trying to keep up appearances for Zecora? Butterscotch couldn’t figure out a proper answer as he took a quiet deep breath before turning around and forcing a smile at the zebra stallion. Rainbow Blitz did the same, and gave Butterscotch a little boost of comfort by pressing himself against the yellow pegasus. Placing his wing back over Butterscotch’s shoulders, Rainbow Blitz grinned at Zecora as he walked up to the both of them.

“Aren’t you two really cute, and looking stunning in your dresses to boot,” Zecora pressed his forehoof against the fabric of Butterscotch’s dress, right over the yellow pegasus’ thundering heartbeat as he pulled back and chuckled. “Excited we are to start the night? Did I get that right?”

That’s one word to use.

“Yeah, there’s a lot to talk about,” Butterscotch laughed a little, either he would’ve done that or he would’ve started crying on the spot. Rainbow Blitz’ warmth and knowing understanding kept him from doing the second one. Zecora’s expression didn’t seem to change as he walked past them and opened the front door. The two pegasi trotted out the door and followed Zecora out of the hut as they stared at the afternoon sun. Starting the night, in Zecora’s words, was a bit of a stretch considering that the morning had just passed. But they would have the rest of the day to spend with each other, and it seemed like whatever restaurant Zecora had planned in the evening could be enjoyed earlier. Rainbow Blitz fell on one side of the zebra stud while Butterscotch fell on the other side. Staring at the sights of Ponyville, Butterscotch wondered if Elusive or Dusk Shine would’ve stepped in already knowing what transpired. Not Bubble Berry, with the chubby pink stallion probably throwing a party, but Butterscotch’s brain laid out various scenarios of what Applejack did after the confrontation. Definitely didn’t speak to Zecora despite their growing friendship. Butterscotch leaned against Zecora’s side as they walked up to a restaurant bigger than most of the buildings in Ponyville with lots of outdoor seating within a gated area. A stallion in uniform stood beside a table of menus that were barely disturbed by the subtle wind in the outside air.

“Booth indoors for three, with the finest bottle of wine from thee,” Zecora asked, watching as the stallion grabbed the three menus with one foreleg and started walking towards the sapphire blue door of the entrance, barely speaking up loud enough for them to here the “right this way” that escaped his lips. Zecora and his femcolts followed into the establishment, lively with all sorts of creatures with predominantly ponies within the bright blue walls and golden and red tables and booths. With all his research, this was the closest place to authentic Zebrican cuisine. And even still, it was a hybrid cuisine establishment that showcased the “best” of other cultures in a pony-fied way that was mainstream enough to be popular. Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch stared at the vibrant colors of the establishment until the waiter led them to an end booth where they had a wide view of all of the tables. The waiter gave them all menus and Zecora barely looked at his, already knowing what he was planning on getting as he watched Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch sit next to each other on the other side of the booth, their muzzles pressed into the menus at they were immersed in what they were reading.

“Don’t think you expect us to pick out anything from the Griffonian or Draconian sections, do you?” Rainbow Blitz’ muzzle twitched with a brief smile as he glanced up at Zecora. The zebra stallion gave a deep chuckle before glancing at Butterscotch. The yellow pegasus wasn’t smiling, didn’t even seem to notice the small interaction at the table, blushing deeply as his ears flickered. Zecora frowned, recalling that they had talked to Applejack and he had no idea how it went. But the prospect of going deep into their emotions in a dinner that was supposed to be high lively fun created a mental block inside of the zebra stallion as he gulped.

“Has anything caught your eye? Perhaps a new dish that you’d like to give a try?” Zecora pressed his forehoof against the back of Butterscotch’s menu, seeing the yellow femcolt’s cyan eyes peek from above it. “Perhaps you’d like to look at the Zebrican food? Something that would best suit your mood.”

“Huh, my mood,” Butterscotch grumbled before looking back at the menu. “I shouldn’t do that, what if my mood is too immature?”

“What?” Zecora frowned.

“I was saying the Savannah Grass Soup sounds really good,” Butterscotch’s ears flickered with his second statement. “Or the Zebrican Fried Vegetables…”

“I think I might get that,” Rainbow Blitz agreed, stretching out his wing and resting it on Butterscotch’s back. Zecora tilted his head as his eyes glued to the blue wing.

I’ve seen them do that a lot lately…

The waiter came around, bringing refreshments and taking their orders before walking away with everything written out. Now with a good fifteen minutes at least to figure everything out, Zecora took a deep breath and sat up straight in his seat.

“Let’s cut to the chase, why the sour look on your face?” Zecora stared at Butterscotch as the yellow pegasus looked like a deer in headlights. “I didn’t want to ruin the tone of the day, but I could tell your soul is gray. What happened with Applejack, that made it take longer for you two to come back?”

“I’d rather…just…eat,” Butterscotch shrugged, and Rainbow Blitz scowled at his best friend’s statement. And for the first time since they all entered the restaurant, Zecora saw as Rainbow Blitz’ lip twitched and revealed his gritted teeth.

“There is much more going on, and I need to know how far it has gone,” Zecora switched his gaze to Rainbow Blitz, and the blue pegasus’ eyes widened as if he was caught with his forehoof in the cookie jar. “You’re mad towards your long-time rival, and you felt this way since our arrival. What did he say, if I may?”

“Let’s just…” Butterscotch flinched as he felt Rainbow Blitz’ wing leave his shoulders, the blue pegasus giving a firm stare in Zecora’s direction as he didn’t seem to want to wait any longer.

“That asshole admitted he was ignoring Butterscotch on purpose,” Rainbow Blitz spat, the deep fire in his red eyes as his ears flattened against his rainbow mane. His gritted teeth were on full display as everything else around the blue pegasus faded away in the boiling blood of his energy coming out in spades. “I almost kicked his ass, but Butterscotch stopped me. Didn’t say sorry to Butterscotch or give him any kind of explanation…”

“It’s…fi-”

“Mother of Solaris, if you say ‘it’s fine’ one more time,” Rainbow Blitz snapped without even looking at Butterscotch. “A stranger can choose not to like you and that’s whatever, Tartarus, even a close acquaintance. But Applejack isn’t either of those, we’re all the Elements of Harmony. How can we do anything of the sort if we remain at a distance, or each other’s throats?”

“I’m not at his throat!” Butterscotch hissed, baring his teeth as his wings unfurled from his sides. Noticing that for some reason, Zecora and Rainbow Blitz completely shut up as their eyes widened, Butterscotch continued. “Okay! We get it! I fucked up and ate all his apples. Whoop de doo! But that’s not my fault if he still wants to have a log up his ass about it. I’m busting my ass to make it up to him, it’s all on him to forgive me at this point.”

“Um, Butterscotch?” Rainbow Blitz’ eyes were still as wide as pinpricks as he pointed a forehoof towards the yellow pegasus’ open mouth. “When were you planning on telling us about those fangs in your mouth?”

“What? Those have…always been…” Butterscotch’s lips flapped like a fish out of water as Zecora shook his head.

“If you’re wanting to get along with Applejack soon, maybe you should start having a more honest tune?” Zecora huffed, likely feeling a deep sense of betrayal for not knowing something as important as the changes to Butterscotch’s body. He knew that Butterscotch had to have been extra careful to hold back his fangs during blowjobs, or when they were kissing with tongue…and the zebra stallion shook his head before burying his face in his forehooves. “Why can’t you be bothered to tell the truth? Even for something as simple as a tooth?”

Butterscotch’s own head started pounding as the restaurant around him felt like it was closing in on the yellow pegasus. Perhaps there was ultimately a reason why he ended up in Sweet Apple Acres in the first place? If he had told the truth in the first place, they wouldn’t be there with Applejack ignoring him. That was ultimately the Elements of Harmony at work…

And he could only imagine how mad Applejack would truly be if he knew why he turned into Butterbat a second time.

Feeling his eyes tearing up, finally closing his mouth and hiding the fangs that contained the sharp taste of his dishonesty, Butterscotch got up and bolted out of the restaurant. Even Rainbow Blitz, who was by his side the whole time with a loving wing, had looked at Butterscotch as if the yellow pegasus had slapped him. He didn’t hear either of them following him, and Butterscotch didn’t know whether to feel even more hurt or relieved. Bolting out of the restaurant and taking to the sky before he could be bothered by random townsfolk, Butterscotch flew towards his cottage.

Sleeping on the roof of the building and snoring soundly was Eris, several animals flying and jumping over her as she was in a deep sleep. He tried to contain his sobs so he could walk into his old home without waking her, but Butterscotch realized he should’ve known her to be better than that. Her wide amber eyes flickered open as she exposed her sharp fangs, standing up on her two chaotic and mismatched legs before jumping off the cottage and looking at her surroundings.

“Who did this?” Eris snarled, snapping her jaws. Butterscotch felt his heart pulling him into more sorrow, keeping him from stopping his tears. They just flowed as weeks of frustration and fear was bursting like a broken dam. Pawing at Eris, barely enough to get the Goddess of Chaos to glance down at him, Butterscotch rapidly shook his head.

“No, please,” Butterscotch cried. “It’s not…anypony…but myself-”

“Oh again?” Eris softened as she frowned at Butterscotch, placing her lion paw on his head and sighing deeply. “You didn’t share with them the truth, but what?”

Butterscotch sighed as he opened his mouth and revealed the two bat pony fangs in his mouth, watching as Eris leaned forward and used her lion paw to gently touch the tips of said sharp teeth before she pulled back with a wide smile.

“Well that’s not so bad, gives us something in common,” Eris brought her lion paw to her own sharp teeth.

“But we don’t know what that means,” Butterscotch frowned. “Like what happens if I keep turning into Butterbat and all my teeth become fangs? Will I just permanently turn into a bat pony?”

“Well, why don’t you start asking yourself the simple questions and the simple answers?” Eris shrugged. “Why does everything have to be complex? What is wrong with being a bat pony? And if that’s not what you want, then what’s wrong with just telling the truth more often? Don’t you think it's your body and mind trying to tell you something?”

Butterscotch paused to Eris’ onslaught of questions, pressing a forehoof to his muzzle as he wondered just that. The agony that wracked his mind all week to the point of tears, to the point of flying out of the anniversary dinner, could’ve been figured out within a matter of minutes if he bothered to have the self-reflection. At least, figured out for himself what he ultimately wanted to do. He couldn’t change Applejack ignoring him, the orange stallion was going to do what he wanted to do. And Zecora and Rainbow Blitz may have way more forgiveness for him, but he ultimately needed to look out for and take care of the one who would always be there for him no matter what happened to everypony else…

“I guess for the first question, everything felt complex because I wanted to make everypony happy,” Butterscotch sighed, shaking his head. “And I thought because of the reasons of turning into a bat pony, everypony around me would just have crippling disappointment. Butterscotch couldn’t live up to the expectations of others, so he just turned into a shadow of himself…”

“Well, you mentioned to me that you had pretty cool superpowers, so I don’t know if I’d agree with that…” Eris rolled her eyes.

“And there’s nothing wrong with telling the truth more often, in fact, I think that’s going to be my saving grace here,” Butterscotch smiled, the tears on his face starting to dry into his fur as he took a deep breath. “I suppose my mind and body were trying to tell me something, and you know what they’re both telling me?”

“What’s that?”

“That I really need to sleep in my bed tonight,” Butterscotch laughed, even though his laugh was dry from the sheer exhaustion that had taken over his body. Walking towards his cottage door, Butterscotch looked over his shoulder as he made eye contact with Eris. “Feel free to let my coltfriends know that I’m safe and just need some alone time…”

It was only the early evening, yet from all the work, panic attacks, and overall stress of the past few days, Butterscotch was ready to sleep for at least half a day. As he opened the door while Eris took off into the dimming sky, several of the critters including Angel followed him into the cottage and chittered left and right to try and ask questions. Angel chittered over the rest of them, causing them all to go silent as Butterscotch opened the door to his old room. He felt both a twinge of sadness from how the week went, and a crashing relief to see the bed like meeting up with an old friend.

Trotting over to the bed, Butterscotch opened his wings and jumped onto the bed as he got into the covers with the animals sleeping on different spots on the bed as well. He could both be alone and not alone at the same time with them, and his cutie mark shined brightly for a few moments before it returned to normal as the yellow pegasus started sleeping soundly…

“I thought he would’ve returned by now, but to this turn of events I say wow,” Zecora groaned, having given his payment and generous tip to the waiter as he walked out of earshot. With the soup Butterscotch had ordered in a to-go container so he didn’t miss out, Zecora sighed as he shook his head. “And if something bad had happened to him, the chances that I wouldn’t know by now are quite slim.”

“I’m sure he’s at the cottage,” Rainbow Blitz shrugged, his brain still spinning with the abrupt discovery of Butterscotch’s remaining fangs. “Solaris knows that Applejack would’ve been screaming up a storm if he turned to Butterbat again and ate all his apples…”

“Now that our meals are out of the way, we should go check before we call it a day,” Zecora decided, getting out of his seat.

“Don’t tell me that we’re going back to Sweet Apple Acres,” Rainbow Blitz rolled his eyes as he gritted his teeth at the idea of seeing Applejack so soon after their near-fight. Also getting out of his seat and holding the warm to-go container with his wing, Rainbow Blitz walked by Zecora as he side-eyed the zebra stallion. “Butterscotch may have not been fully truthful, but that doesn’t mean Applejack is suddenly off the hook.”

“Well, we are going back there to finish the help we said we’d do,” Zecora raised a forehoof at Rainbow Blitz briefly before the blue pegasus could fly off the rails again, waiting a moment before speaking again. “But Applejack acting quite odd is something I already knew. Now though he has crossed the line, to continuously hurt and ignore somepony that is mine. Please forgive me for not being more proactive about all this, I didn’t realize how much was amiss.”

“I think the apology shouldn’t be for me, and maybe we both owe him some kind of apology,” Rainbow Blitz admitted, watching as Zecora trotted a little faster to open the door for the blue pegasus. “Thanks Zecora.”

The early evening sky stretched out before the zebra and his blue femcolt lover, adorned in his stripes of ownership as well as his mint green dress. If it weren’t for the hurt that Butterscotch was currently going through, the zebra stud would’ve been happy to take Rainbow Blitz right then and there. And even before he could lean in and press his lips against the blue pegasus’ lips, try to salvage some of the evening, he paused as he saw Eris fly from the sky and land before them with a blank expression.

“Is he alright? Did he turn in for the night?” the words spilled out of Zecora’s mouth before he could stop himself, and Eris’ face relaxed as she nodded.

“Yes, the poor thing turned in for the night,” Eris admitted. “He just needs to be left alone, but he’s perfectly safe and alright. You two take care of him when he returns, alright? The young stallion’s had a run of it for sure.”

“That will not be a problem at all, I won’t treat a matter like this as small,” Zecora assured the Goddess of Chaos. “Thank you for helping him sleep, even though his pain was running quite deep. There are problems that all three of us could work on, but let us both get back before I interrupt with a loud yawn…”

“Thank you again, Eris,” Rainbow Blitz blushed at his own previously hurt reaction from finding out what Butterscotch was hiding from them. He wished the hidden fangs didn’t hurt him as much as they did, thinking that him and Butterscotch had become closer than ever. And maybe they still were…

But Zecora and Rainbow Blitz shrugged off the issues for the next day, trotting back to Sweet Apple Acres where nopony was around. Applejack likely was conveniently hiding away in his room, Big Mae was still with her coltfriend, and Apple Buck was with his best friends while Grandpa Smith was snoring away as usual. Entering the room that was still their guest room after putting the soup in the fridge, Zecora and Rainbow Blitz got in the covers and properly held each other in a way that was more one-on-one. Still, even with the unique experience of being held and holding another pony…Zecora felt the glaring absence of Butterscotch in the bed. The love was still very much there with the pegasus he was currently holding, but it just wasn’t the same.

Closing his eyes, Zecora was determined to face Applejack the next day…

Day 6

Waking up with his strong forelegs wrapped around Rainbow Blitz’ lighter pegasus body, feeling the warm breath of the rainbow-maned femcolt tickling his own nostrils, Zecora felt his heart warming up a little from the initial cold anger he felt from the night before. They were all grown stallions, so to realize that Applejack was doubling down on his perceived pettiness got Zecora’s blood boiling before he was comforted by the sight of his sleeping blue femcolt. There was no time like the present, and Zecora prodded Rainbow Blitz awake as he saw the blue pegasus’ red eyes flutter open.

“Huh? Oh…morning,” Rainbow Blitz sighed, pressing his muzzle against Zecora’s firm chest as he inhaled the zebra’s natural hint of masculine scent with a deep inhale before looking up at him. “Um, I don’t have to go out there and-”

“Shhh,” Zecora smiled as he gently pressed his forehoof against Rainbow Blitz’ lips before kissing his forehead. “You and Butterscotch have dealt with more in a few weeks than most do in a lifetime, and that is simply a crime. Go and take a nice and long shower, and don’t feel the need to cower. I’d even suggest you enjoy your food this time, and I wouldn’t even say that needs another rhyme.”

“Huh, how ironic,” Rainbow Blitz giggled as Zecora removed his forehoof from the young blue stallion’s lips, replacing it with his own lips as they kissed for a few seconds. “Well, that sounds like a plan to me. I trust that you’ve gotten this taken care of…”

Watching as Rainbow Blitz slipped out of the bed, still wearing the mint green dress since he was too exhausted to take it off the night before, his holes were completely covered from Zecora’s viewing pleasure. Admittedly, due to the hard work and stress of the past few days, Zecora scarcely had a chance to play with his femcolts. The predicament left him worked up more than he would’ve expected, but shrugged it off as he watched Rainbow Blitz leave the room to shower. His physical needs could wait for a while, and so Zecora jumped off the bed and made a beeline for the kitchen. No food set out, but Zecora already knew that he was free to use the fridge for the week’s time they were staying. Getting an apple cider donut and preparing a big cup of coffee for the day, Zecora took a page from the blue pegasus’ book and wolfed it all down for his proper confrontation. Putting the cup in the sink, Zecora walked out of the barn and looked around him till he saw Applejack near the trees using the potions that the zebra stallion had given him. Bright orange apples that were the spicy ones, as well as dark brown apples that had the sweeter taste of chocolate, decorated several of the trees that Applejack must’ve grown only minutes ago. Knowing what an impact he had already made on the orange stallion, Zecora puffed his chest as he began his steady trot down the path and up the hill towards Applejack. The orange stallion, who was staring intently at the trees around him, flinched as he looked at Zecora approaching him.

“Ah hey, Zecora!” Applejack smiled widely as he took a step backwards from the zebra stallion’s blank expression. “Ain’t it, uh, mighty fine to see ya this morning! Have you tried the apples yet? Ah was just about to try-”

“Can we please cut the bullshit and get to the conversation we need to discuss?” Zecora huffed, not taking his eyes off Applejack as he continued. “I would personally like to get to the bottom of all this unnecessary fuss.”

“What fuss?” Applejack took his eyes off Zecora as he swung his hindlegs against the nearest tree, causing the spicy jalapeno apples to fall around them, the orange stallion picking one up and smiling at it like his life depended on it. “All ah see is some nice juicy apples the both of us need to try-”

“Rainbow Blitz told me you two almost got into a big fight, because their assumption that you’re ignoring Butterscotch turned out to be right,” Zecora explained, watching as Applejack’s eyes widened with each of the zebra stallion’s words. He dropped the orange apple as his shoulders slouched with a deep and more honest frown. Zecora then looked into his deep green eyes. “For somepony who believes in honesty and not telling a lie, you seem to have a tough time looking me in the eye.”

“Okay, okay,” Applejack groaned. “You’ve got me, ah haven’t been able to talk to Butterscotch at all. Felt too awful to even try, Solaris-dammit.”

“Well if you hate Butterscotch that much, why did you-”

“Hate him?” Applejack’s jaw dropped. “Is that what you think all my silent treatment is about? No, this isn’t about me being mad at him. At least…not just about me being a bit pissed off. But all this happening? How it affected your relationship, and the first time he turned into Butterbat…is because of me. Ah felt like a pile of pig slop even accepting your offer to help me in the first place!”

“What do you mean Butterbat existed in the first place because of you? Forgive me if I don’t know the extent of all that you went through,” Zecora shrugged.

“Well you see, he turned into Butterbat because ah had made him use the stare on bats to get them away from my trees,” Applejack explained. “And ah didn’t know the specifics of how Butterscotch turned into a bat pony again, but ah could put two and two together. You even told me to save my attitude for another day, and with Butterscotch being looked over by Artemis and Eris on top of his partners…it was obvious to me that your hoof was forced. None of y’all wanted to help me, ya just felt obligated to and all that crap. And watching him help while feeling like a kicked puppy? Why do ya think ah had Big Mae pull him aside several times? Ah didn’t even want to look him in the eye! It felt all kinds of fucked up, and ah’ve felt like such an asshole. So when Rainbow Blitz came at me, ah thought it was because of all the time he came at me before. Because he hated my guts…”

“He’s drastically changed more than either of us could’ve expected, now stop acting all wounded and rejected,” Zecora snapped, before staring at Applejack’s stricken expression for a few moments as he sighed. “You’ve clearly got this all mixed, so let me get this confusion fixed. Butterscotch turned into his bat pony self because he wanted more out of the relationship than he got, and so month after month it filled him with distraught. Eventually he had turned into Butterbat and his first instinct must’ve been to eat your food, and that was what has led to this whole feud. Me telling you to save your attitude was merely because you were yelling and nothing more, and I certainly didn’t expect that stray comment to start this whole emotional war.”

“Well ah wouldn’t say it was entirely because of that comment,” Applejack muttered as he looked down at the apples on the ground for a few moments, before his head snapped up as he stared at Zecora. “Wait a Solaris-darn second, you’re telling me that Butterscotch turned into Butterbat again because of your relationship with him?”

“Uh, ouch,” Zecora winced as he felt a pang in his heart, but still nodded all the same as he continued. “But I suppose that is somewhat true, even if finding out about this was quite out of the blue. Finding out that your supposedly happy femcolt turned into a bat at the same time as everypony else is quite the blow, and forced me into a position where I had no choice but to grow. And as you can see, so much of the blame I put on me. So I hope you understand that I know how you feel, and perhaps with that in common we can both heal.”

“Yeah, guess we could both learn by better accommodating his boundaries,” Applejack shrugged.

“And he can learn to better assert them, but of course that’s not an excuse for me acting dumb,” Zecora sighed. “But perhaps you’re aware now that speaking to Butterscotch would go a long way, so there’s much less on his heart to weigh.”

“Yes, and Rainbow Blitz too, where are they by chance?” Applejack looked around the hill, before settling his eyes on the barn. “Are they waiting for us to finish talking?”

“Rainbow Blitz is eating breakfast and Butterscotch is back at his old home, he had a lot of thoughts that caused him to roam. Not just you, but lying to us two. Hopefully his lack of honesty doesn’t give you ire, but rather gives you thought to inspire.”

“Yes, ah’d hardly have room to judge considering everything ah’ve been hiding mahself,” Applejack agreed as he picked up the dark orange apple that he dropped on the ground, holding it out to Zecora. “Now, ah wasn’t just mentioning the apples just to distract you. Ah actually do want the both of us to try them…”

“Alright, suppose I could take a bite,” Zecora nodded as he took the apple from Applejack’s forehoof and took a big bite from it. As expected, the explosion of spicy hot flared up in his mouth and nearly sent him into a coughing fit. The surge of spicy sensation on his tongue proceeded to shift into a tangy and sweet flavor that exceeded his expectations. He didn’t realize how good sweet and spicy could go together, especially with the apples as he watched Applejack, having taken his own bite of a spicy apple, galloping towards the lake. Laughing briefly before he broke into a coughing fit, Zecora looked over his shoulder and saw Rainbow Blitz flying towards and landing next to the tall strong zebra stallion.

“Didn’t go so well, did it, he ran off?” Rainbow Blitz frowned as he watched Applejack dunk his head into the lake. “What in the…”

“Oh he tried the spicy apple and needed to cool off, I only really needed to let out a bit of cough,” Zecora explained. “But the conversation went very well, even though that might’ve been hard to tell. Applejack thought that Butterscotch turned into a bat pony again because of him and not me, and knowing his elemental truth ended up setting him free. He actually was wanting to talk to you, definitely not fight again and perhaps enjoy the view?”

“You don’t seem entirely convinced,” Rainbow Blitz looked up at Zecora, his muzzle scrunched up from Zecora’s tone as well as the glaring sunlight. Though, he still rested one of his wings on Zecora’s back briefly as he smiled. “But yeah, I can talk to him.”

“And if you could, let him know that I’ll be spending the rest of the day with Butterscotch as I should,” Zecora continued. “Just because we brought him leftovers doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give him a proper date, he is after all my other mate…”

“You don’t need to further explain, I get it,” Rainbow Blitz was happy enough to have cuddle time and the date despite the unfortunate circumstances for Butterscotch leaving, and needed some time to think over the yellow femcolt’s hidden fangs. “Perhaps me and Applejack need time to bury the hatchet properly. I’ll see you around, Zecora~”

Flying up to Zecora’s eye level and pressing his lips against the zebra stallion’s lips for a couple of seconds, Rainbow Blitz flew off towards the lake as Zecora left Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack was laid out on the grass, panting and gasping as his tongue flopped out of his mouth, barely noticing as his longtime rival landed next to him.

“Hey, Applejack,” Rainbow Blitz looked down at the orange stallion, almost grateful that he was too winded to be tense. “So Zecora said you wanted to talk?”

“Y-Ya,” Applejack nodded, scrambling back up on all fours as he dunked his muzzle back into the lake. Taking several more gulps, Applejack pulled back and shook his face of the water droplets before looking at Rainbow Blitz. “Fuck, ah’m not half as eloquent as your stud is, but ah’m really sorry for taking off instead of trying to hear you both out. Guess if ah did, ah would’ve possibly realized that ah wasn’t the one to turn Butterscotch into a bat pony again. And, um, of course…ah’m sorry for nearly kicking your ass.”

“Dude, I think I would’ve kicked your ass,” Rainbow Blitz huffed, puffing his chest even though he knew damn well that Applejack’s body was far more muscular. Certainly no Zecora, but he was sure Applejack would’ve handed his rainbow-marked flanks to him if heated enough. Applejack snickered a little as he shook his head.

“Sorry, ah swore ah heard you actually think you were going to kick mah ass,” Applejack laughed. “Maybe you convinced Butterscotch that you could yesterday…”

“I totally can!” Rainbow Blitz pouted. “Hey, what if we have a contest to the barn? First one to get there-”

“Blitz, that’s a content of speed not strength,” Applejack groaned as he hoof-palmed his own forehead. “Plus, last time ah checked, ah’m not the one that is wearing painted stripes from a zebra dom right now.”

Rainbow Blitz blushed as Applejack broke into hysterical laughter, though he felt a lot more confident that the day would go smoother while Zecora smoothed everything out with Butterscotch back at his cottage…

With Eris nowhere in sight, the animals chittering at Zecora peacefully without throwing themselves at him or biting him, the zebra stallion assumed it to be safe to walk into the cottage. Walking up to the door and giving it a few knocks, he heard nothing from the other end. Sleeping perhaps, and Zecora wouldn’t have blamed the yellow femcolt. Pushing the door open and slowly closing it behind him, the creatures that were inside the home itself gave long glances at the stallion with their beady eyes before going about what they were doing. He walked quietly with his hooves barely making a sound as he approached Butterscotch’s old bedroom. How many nights Zecora imagined the femcolt spending alone in the bedroom, or even with Rainbow Blitz as he wondered if their bedroom adventures would ever take off with the rest of their relationship. Now with him not only in the middle of their relationship, but part of it, Zecora knew that it was important to fill the gaps of what Butterscotch needed. Whether it was being dominated by the zebra stud, letting the yellow pegasus release his own energy, or something else entirely…Zecora needed to be that for him. Pushing the door open and seeing Butterscotch’s long pink mane flowing over the blankets, his striped figure rising and falling with each breath, Zecora felt his heart skip a beat.

“Butterscotch?” Zecora walked towards the sleeping stallion, watching as the white rabbit that he was vaguely familiar with jumped up and glared at him. “Calm down you little fool, I need him to keep his cool.”

Angel rolled his eyes and crossed his forelegs as he watched Zecora prodded Butterscotch’s face with his forehoof. Butterscotch stirred for a few moments before his eyes flickered open and widened at the sight of Zecora.

“Oh, u-um,” Butterscotch blushed as he covered his face with the blankets. “Are you here to b-break it off?”

“What?” Zecora blurted out the word louder than he meant to, before rushing forward and removing the blanket from Butterscotch’s face. “For the love of the sun and moon, why would I wake up to tell you such a horrible confession especially before noon? And why even assume such in the first place? Was it because I didn’t give you chase?”

“I mean,” Butterscotch shrugged as he looked down at the animals. “I guess it didn’t help, if I’ll be honest. But I also wanted to be left with my thoughts, it's just that not all of them were helpful thoughts. Is Rainbow Blitz okay, where is he at?”

“He and Applejack are making up back at the hill, after I had gotten Applejack to open up and spill,” Zecora explained. “You needn’t worry about his anger anymore, especially since I learned information that I didn’t know before. Apparently he was the ‘reason’ that you turned into Butterbat the first time, and he assumed such for your second transformation and felt like slime. I had cleared up what he got wrong, and talking it through made both of our hearts strong. Everything will resolve itself when you return, even though all of us still have a lot to learn.”

“So we’re going back to Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Not quite, I still have to make this all right,” Zecora took a few steps back, beckoning Butterscotch to slip out of his old bed despite the excited chitters of his critters. Butterscotch stood in front of Zecora, the zebra stallion tall and bulkier than the yellow femcolt. Even though he was very much a grown stallion that was capable, Butterscotch felt a deep fire inside of him during the times he submitted to Zecora. The fact that there was more variety in their sex life only made his own submissiveness all the hotter, and Butterscotch felt his romantic heart as well as the rest of his body carry his hooves forward as he pressed his muzzle against the bigger stallion’s chest. Inhaling Zecora’s deeply masculine and earthy musk, with a hint stronger of a smell thanks to his morning in the heat of Sweet Apple Acres, Butterscotch felt all of him relaxing to the smell. There was a shattered sense to his old reality, first chipped away when he started being honest about his lacking sex life with Rainbow Blitz, and then nearly broken entirely with the second arrival of Butterbat. And now with being faced with the Element of Honesty himself, paired with the reveal of his hidden fangs, Butterscotch was realizing just how much everything needed to be in the open. Why fate had brought him to Sweet Apple Acres of all places. And now? Fate was going to carry him somewhere else, but-

“Where?” Butterscotch tilted his head, and Zecora smiled widely before walking out the door and flickering his tail for his femcolt lover to follow. Butterscotch trotted after him, feeling the soothing sensation of hearing his own animals around him. No matter what happened, they were always a source of comfort to him. And Zecora looked over his shoulder at Butterscotch, his normally firm face broken out into that smile. Only this time, his eyes were smiling with his lips in a way that Butterscotch hadn’t seen before. It was almost as if the zebra stallion was being more open with himself, freeing from the constraints of his mind. They left the cottage, the zebra stallion’s normal walk getting a bit faster as his tail flickered back and forth. Butterscotch skipped alongside him, feeling lighter than air as his heart thundered in his chest. He felt like a colt sneaking off with their first love into the night, even though it was still only morning. His heart carried him in that moment more than his hooves did. And even though various ponies of Ponyville walked around gawking at them, even if many of them did have their griffon and dragon lovers now, Butterscotch couldn’t be bothered. Zecora skipped for brief moments along with Butterscotch as he made a beeline for a small green building with a yellow coffee cup and the bold letters Ponera Bread on the building.

“Oh! I saw that this location opened up recently, but I hadn’t had the chance to go there yet,” Butterscotch’s eyes lit up as he pressed his pelt against Zecora’s, looking up at him. “How did you know I wanted to go here?”

“Only because you mentioned it every other day,” Zecora chuckled, inhaling the sweet scent of Butterscotch’s body. Even without perfume, the femcolt had a naturally alluring smell, and Zecora and Butterscotch walked inside the restaurant as they walked up to the pony at the counter, placing their orders before sitting at a big corner table that was open for them. The walls and their familiar green shade from the times Butterscotch had gone to Ponera Bread in other towns and cities, made Butterscotch feel at ease as he leaned against Zecora. The zebra stallion glanced down at his femcolt, the three words rising to the surface of his mind with a vengeance as he took in the pure unfiltered joy on the femcolt’s face watching the strangers conversing and walking around the restaurant. At first, Butterscotch’s complexies seemed like something that Zecora needed to crush into the dust, an intentional challenge into making the yellow femcolt his perfect lover. But uncovering Butterscotch’s true nature over the past several weeks, everything that made him tick and his desires in full bloom, somehow made him more desirable in Zecora’s eyes…

But a lump in his throat stopped him from saying the words, he couldn’t do it without Rainbow Blitz there anyways. But when was he going to do it, if ever? Butterscotch hummed a soft tune to himself, staring at the windows on the side of the building as he watched ponies pass by. Families, couples, groups of friends…all of them in Butterscotch’s eyes shared something in common that bonded them together. The feeling, either overpowering or sparing, was still enough for Butterscotch’s heart to stir in longing. Then, his stomach started growling aggressively as his nostrils twitched from the aroma of the plates one of the employees brought to their table. Tomato soup, two different salads, and small chunks of bread for the both of them. And best of all, one of Butterscotch’s favorites: a nice plump chocolate brownie with white powder to be drank with the fittingly pink lemonade he got with it. As they tucked into their salads, Zecora glanced at Butterscotch on and off before he broke the silence.

“I made sure to save you the soup from last night, this is just to further make everything right,” Zecora explained.

“Hey now,” Butterscotch snickered, chewing on his bite of salad before flickering his pink tail against Zecora’s firm toned ass. “So you’re telling me you’re not doing this to spend more time with a really cute femcolt that you’re dating~?”

“I guess I thought that sort of thing was implied, but I wanted to make sure you knew that I tried,” Zecora stopped eating to wrap his foreleg around Butterscotch’s shoulders, pulling him in closer as he looked down at the femcolt. “Truly such a tragedy that I could do all this, give you bliss. But for somepony as sweet and spicy as you, there’s never enough that’ll do.”

“Aww,” Butterscotch picked up the fork with the folded tip of his wing, leaning forward and taking bites out of Zecora’s salad a few times before returning to his own salad. “That’s very nice of you, Zecora. You don’t suppose Bubble Berry will be upset that I’m cheating on his desserts with another, do you?”

“With his Bubble sense, I have a feeling he would notice what you’re doing over a fence!” Zecora pointed out. “His abilities are stranger than mine even with all my potions put together, hence how he figured out we’re a zebra and pegasi of a feather~”

“I’ll have to take Artemis and Eris here too,” Butterscotch wolfed down his salad almost half as fast as Rainbow Blitz would, turning to his brownie. "What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Have any friends you would like to take here?"

Zecora frowned as he watched Butterscotch scarf down his brownie, initially stumped for any options. Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch had dozens of friends they could take out to eat, drink, or whatever the fuck they felt like doing. Zecora? He hadn't had any meaningful interaction since leaving Zebrica, until the two lovely pegasi came into his life. Then, an image as clear as day. Somepony to spend time with as a friend, somepony to turn to. A yearning for friendship beyond his throuple, and he had it right in front of him.

Tomorrow, he would go and visit his new friend…

Day 7

Author's Note

Contains slightly lewd Rainbow Blitz at the beginning...
Prepare for the last chapter coming out! The big ol lewd, and yes I said lewd, finale!

Day 7

It was the last day of working and making sure loose ends were completely taken care of. And with Butterscotch and Rainbow Blitz on each side of him sleeping soundly, Zecora felt a small warmth in his chest expand and intensity into a burning flame. With the both of them in the bed, he felt the darkness providing a level of comfort instead of loneliness like it used to for so many years before they had both showed up on his doorstep. With most couples normally not even entertaining the thought of having a third, Zecora knew with each passing day just how lucky he was to have them let him in as personally as they did. And for so long, he assumed it to be the other way around.

He heard the rooster crowing loudly, and Rainbow Blitz groaning as he wiped his eyes awake. Butterscotch squirmed on Zecora’s other side as he gave a big yawn, stretching his cute little tongue that the zebra stallion had seen in far lewder purposes. And tomorrow, when they were no longer worn from the strenuous physical efforts of Sweet Apple Acres, Zecora would make sure that he properly had sex with the both of them until he had fucked the cum out of his pegasi. Just when they felt like they could catch another five minutes of sleep, the three of them all heard banging and clattering of pots and pans.

"Shh! You're going to wake them up!"

Ironically Applejack’s attempts at shushing were louder than the other sounds, and Rainbow Blitz jumped out of bed and trotted to the door. Flickering his Rainbow tail back and forth, inadvertently revealing his dark blue ponut and balls to the ogling Zecora, the blue pegasus grinned as he looked at Zecora and Butterscotch over his shoulder.

"I bet he's trying to surprise us, let's freak them out a little!" Rainbow Blitz cackled before he turned around and bumped his ass against the door. Sure enough, there was more clattering as whoever else was out there cursed loudly. "See? Now they can't tell if we're all awake or not."

"That’s not very nice," Butterscotch rolled his eyes as he climbed out of bed and stood beside his best friend, who smirked down at the yellow pegasus.

“You love when I’m a little bratty, plus, that’s nothing in comparison to how bratty you’ve been in the past~” Rainbow Blitz leaned forward, sticking his tongue out a little as he closed his eyes. With a sudden flash of irritation rising to the surface, his dominating thoughts kicking in, Butterscotch lunged forward and smashed his lips against the blue pegasus’ lips. Rainbow Blitz moaned into the kiss loudly, almost like a part of him expected Butterscotch to take control of the situation. They made out in front of Zecora for a few more seconds before Butterscotch pulled away, his ears flickering as he saw Rainbow Blitz panting with a heavy blush as he spoke again. “Fuck, yes, it’s been too long since you’ve taken the reins…”

“It’s only been two weeks since I last did that,” Butterscotch deadpanned.

“Fuck! Two weeks is practically a death sentence for my needy ass,” Rainbow Blitz panted. “Dammit, I almost don’t want to go out there now. Perhaps we s-should…fuck…give them more time and let one of you jerk m-me off and the other-”

“We don’t want to wait, it seems like an important group date,” Zecora jumped out of the bed and rushed to the door before his two femcolts could grow suspicious. If they fucked now, the throuple wouldn’t be half as worked up for what he had planned the next day. So Zecora shimmied past them and opened the door, walking down the short hallway from the bedroom they were in to the kitchen. He expected at least Big Mae to be with Applejack, but Zecora’s eyes widened as he saw Apple Buck, Grandpa Smith, Sugar Beau, and even Artemis and Eris moving around in the kitchen and outside the front door. Walking towards the front door and opening it, Zecora saw a long table full of different plates stacked high with various foods, some of which not even apple-based, likely thanks to the Moon Prince and Chaos Goddess in the kitchen. Turning back into the kitchen where Applejack rushed over to him, the zebra stallion smiled at the orange farmpony. “Well isn’t this quite the surprise, to have such a potluck almost done by sunrise!”

“We were hoping to have it completely done before ya woke up,” Applejack sighed as everyone else in the room continued their respective tasks around them. “And no, despite Eris’ insistence, ah wasn’t going to have her snap her fingers and have everythin’ done just like that. Ah may like getting everythin’ done faster with your potions, but finger-snapping? That’s just plain cheating.”

“Nice to know where you draw the line, and it looks like today you’re feeling more than fine,” Zecora nodded as he placed a forehoof on Applejack’s shoulder. Applejack shook the zebra’s hoof off his shoulder, and before Zecora could even feel hurt from the sudden movement, the orange stallion rushed forward and embraced the bigger stallion with his forelegs tightly around his striped shoulders in a surprise hug. Zecora’s eyes widened as he stood still for a few moments before returning the hug to Applejack.

“Ah think we all really got some important help because of you, thank you,” Applejack said into Zecora’s ear. “Now, ya got some of my family to meet and some to get reacquainted with. Please don’t be afraid to pile up your plate now! And…”

Applejack pulled out of the hug as he looked over his shoulder at Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch still standing there in the hallway. Rainbow Blitz, for whatever reason that Applejack wasn’t aware of, was heavily blushing and looking at the ground while Butterscotch was staring at the orange farmpony like a deer in headlights. Applejack smiled as he used a beckoning gesture with his forehoof right at Butterscotch.

“Don’t be shy now, Butters,” Applejack insisted. “You and ah got a lot of catching up to do outside, it’s almost as if we’re Elements of Harmony…”

Butterscotch’s shoulders relaxed as he stifled a laugh, galloping over to Applejack as Zecora nodded at them before walking outside to pile up his plate with whatever was already done. Applejack and Butterscotch walked outside moments after, with the yellow pegasus at a loss for words as he stared at the hills around him.

“Ah owe it to you to speak first,” Applejack admitted as they walked past the table, walking towards the abundance of new apple trees as he sighed. “Ah feel so fucking embarrassed that ah was ignoring you like a teenage colt, we’re grown up and better than that. Of course ah hated that ya ate all mah apples, but as far as ah knew, ah was somehow the cause for you turning into Butterbat again? And ya know what? Even though that turned out to not be true, ah’m still the reason that Butterbat exists at all. If ah hadn’t forced you to use The Stare all those years ago, we wouldn’t be havin’ this problem now. Ah’m the one that made you share your DNA with bats, and Rainbow Blitz told me that even now you’ve got fangs!”

Butterscotch winced as Applejack pointed towards his muzzle, knowing what was there even without having to see the yellow pegasus’ teeth. And with that extra point, Butterscotch realized where it made sense that Applejack would see it as his fault regardless. Thinking it over, Butterscotch leaned forward and rested his wing on the orange stallion’s shoulders.

“Applejack, that’s the problem though. You didn’t make me do anything, I can make my own decisions!” Butterscotch insisted. “And if I already had a tough time of asserting boundaries, how were you supposed to know what was best for me? Also, Eris did say she thinks my fangs look pretty cool…”

“Ya mean ya aren’t upset about them?”

“Not since this morning,” Butterscotch shrugged. “Sure, I could probably get some fancy uppity unicorn dentist in Canterlot to have them turned back into pony teeth, but they’re reminders of experiences I need to keep with me. The fangs mean I shouldn’t hold back my bite when it comes to asserting myself.”

“And the stripes?” Applejack giggled.

“The stripes are the marks of my love for Zecora,” Butterscotch blushed as his smile naturally widened close to his ears, then, his smile faltered before he frowned. “I guess I just wish I heard it from him…”

“Whatcha mean?” Applejack asked.

“Well, me and Rainbow Blitz tell Zecora we love him all the time but he doesn’t say it back,” Butterscotch admitted. “We get the hesitancy, he spent so many years being a bachelor and just playing around with couples and singles of both sexes. I’m amazed that he’s even in a relationship with just us now, but I just want to know if this is his ‘for now’ or ‘for our lifetimes’ when it comes to how serious he is…”

“Do you really think a zebra stud messing around would stay after the whole Butterbat situation?” Applejack pointed out before wincing at his own words. “Sorry sugarcube, but this is all in the name of more honesty…”

“That’s a good point, and it's why I haven’t been panicked about it or anything,” Butterscotch nodded. “Me and Rainbow Blitz tell each other that we love the other all the time, and if Zecora started saying those words, our relationship would feel more like all three of us connected wholly instead of in bits and pieces like we’ve been the past week.”

“Well, perhaps he will with everythin’ resolved,” Applejack stated vaguely, the gears turning in his head as he laid out a plan. “Say, why don’t we head back and eat? We can go pick out a date in the calendar later, so all six of us can hang out together. Solaris knows it's been too long since that has happened.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Butterscotch’s heart fluttered with the deep excitement at the thought of seeing all his friends again at once, restraining from suggesting Ponera Bread right away as they galloped down the hill. Not only was he relieved to not have to do a lot of heavy-lifting and more work in the Sweet Apple Acres, but the yellow pegasus had barrels worth of food to splurge from. Seeing the table complete with all the dishes done, and Artemis and Eris piling their plates, Butterscotch flew up to them and wrapped his wings around them both.

Meanwhile, Applejack trotted inside the kitchen to see that Zecora was the only one at the table with his untouched food. Knowing that his family could reenter the kitchen at any moment, Applejack cleared his throat as he walked up right next to Zecora.

“So ah heard from one of your femcolts that ya haven’t told them you love them yet, and for their sake, ah won’t be saying who,” Applejack clarified, even though Zecora likely could figure it out. To the zebra stallion, it mattered little which of them said it, since he was confident that both of them were aware of the unspoken words in different ways. The fact that they already told each other they loved each other with ease made the situation all the worse, and Zecora took a deep breath as he felt his heart thrashing in its cage.

“Those feelings are there you know, I don’t do everything I do for them only for show,” Zecora explained, his eyes wide and a blush creeping up on his cheeks. Applejack paused, seeing Zecora’s face in a way he never saw before. In which Zecora’s expression was normally blank, Applejack saw…

“Yer afraid to tell them, ya don’t want to hurt them,” Applejack realized. “And just like ya realized that ah wasn’t malicious in mah actions, ah’m not gonna assure that of you either. But if ya can’t say it, why even bother datin’ them? They’d essentially not be that different from your earlier conquests…”

“They are so much more than that, I would never throw them away at the drop of a hat,” Zecora scowled briefly before shaking his head. “But I’m surprised to find myself agreeing with you, because I should be telling them what is true.”

“You’ll find that it goes a long way,” Applejack nodded. “Also, ya don’t need to wait up on everypony else to start eatin-”

“Thank Solaris,” Zecora interrupted before he started stuffing his mouth with hooffuls of food from his plate. Applejack chuckled, walking out of the barn just as everyone started filing in with their plates. Looking at the sky, trying to sense any movement in the clouds, he jolted as he noticed a particular cloud trembling in the sky.

“Rainbow Blitz, ah know its you,” Applejack called out. “Ya gotta come eat with everypony else, y’know. No waitin’ till everypony is done to sneak off with your own plate…”

“Oh fine,” Rainbow Blitz flew towards the table in a flash from the cloud he was hiding in, gathering everything on his plate before zooming inside and sitting next to Zecora. “I actually didn’t mind sitting with everypony else, I just wanted to get on his nerves a little.”

“Been a while since you did that,” Zecora chuckled, watching as Butterscotch slowly trotted in with his own plate. Candy apples, apple pie, some hay sliders with lots of dressings…Zecora smiled as Butterscotch took a chair to sit on the zebra stallion’s other side. “Hello my sweet little former bat~”

If it were days before, Butterscotch would’ve full-on recoiled from such a term, even if it was merely for the sake of a rhyme. Instead, Butterscotch leaned forward and pressed his lips against Zecora’s lips for a few seconds as everypony else got seated. Sitting on Butterscotch’s other side was the towering Eris with a plate half as tall as she was, and next to her was Artemis. Around them was Applejack, Big Mae, Sugar Beau, and Grandpa Smith…

“Where’s Apple Buck?” Zecora asked.

“Oh, ah tried to wrangle him in mahself, but he’s spending time with his friends,” Applejack explained with a wave of his hoof. “They're out playing in the fields, so long as they don’t run off too far…”

“Feeling better today?” Eris leaned in and whispered to Butterscotch.

“Your dreams seem to be fine,” Artemis chimed in, and Butterscotch nodded at the both of them before the blue stallion continued. “Good, Solaris was asking about you too and I wanted to keep him updated.”

Butterscotch smiled, knowing that while Solaris had Dusk Shine as a close friend and former student, somehow he had become close friends with Artemis of all ponies. Of course with Eris being pawned off on him by Solaris, their close friendship was hardly a surprise. But Artemis and him hung out at least once a week since the whole Butterbat incident, and it wasn’t until that moment that Butterscotch realized the usefulness of having the Prince of the Moon as a friend. Blinking rapidly with realization, Butterscotch leaned forward a little more as he caught the blue alicorn’s attention.

“Hey Artemis?” Butterscotch spoke up. “Didn’t you mention that you had bat ponies as night guards?”

“Yes, I did, why do you ask?” Artemis tilted his head.

“Well, I was thinking if I could spend time with them in case something like this happens again?” Butterscotch suggested. “Maybe if I familiarize myself with the life of bat ponies, it’ll make me feel…less paranoid about this transformation happening again…”

“That sounds like quite the lovely idea,” Artemis grinned from ear to ear. “After all, you’re already dating a zebra. Why not get familiar with another culture of ponies?”

Butterscotch’s tail flickered from side to side, the excitement of possibilities laid out before him. While he didn’t expect to get acquainted with more species besides that of Zecora, the yellow pegasus also remembered his friendship mission coincidentally with the stallion he just made up with. And the Kirin that they met on that mission, perhaps he could see them again and check on how they were doing? Smelling the familiar zebra stud musk of Zecora, while looking at Rainbow Blitz’ glimmering rainbow mane…sent his heart on fire. Having the long pink mane flowing from his head as well as the stripes on his fur made him feel like a young zebra mare in love. And undoubtedly did Rainbow Blitz feel the same. Butterscotch could see Big Mae and Sugar Beau next to Rainbow Blitz as they nuzzled one another, the towering and big red mare leaning over and pressing her muzzle against her much smaller pink coltfriend. Grandpa Smith stared at Zecora and his pegasi for a few seconds longer than Butterscotch expected, before the skinny old green stallion grumbled and started eating his food.

Is he bothered by the fact that we’re all gay, a throuple, or that we’re dating a zebra?

Butterscotch knew that the kind of relationship they shared was far from the norm, and yet that was exactly why he loved the throuple he was in so deeply. The old stallion could be grumbling into his food for all he cared, especially when he took a bite of the hay slider and leaned against Zecora’s strong shoulder. Rainbow Blitz grinned before leaning against Zecora’s other shoulder, and with a dizzyingly sweet race of their hearts, the three stallions caved into the love they shared…

“And so I got my cutie mark in helping others!” Apple Buck grinned as he showed off his mark to the zebra stallion, who smiled as he gave the young colt a rub on his red mane. Meanwhile, his friends were also showing off their cutie marks before rushing up and greeting Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch. All the loose ends were tied up, and the throuple was on their way to leaving and heading back to their hut with Sweet Apple Acres being surrounded by Artemis’ night after such a long day of socializing, catching up, and getting the last bits of work done.

“That is quite great news, even if potion-making didn’t end up being your muse,” Zecora grinned. “To figure out your purpose in life is no easy task, so if you three need any help going forward just ask.”

“Thanks Zecora!” Apple Buck nodded before running towards Big Mae and Sugar Beau, white Applejack approached the zebra stallion and gave a pointed glance at him.

“Remember those pegasi of yours are just as much of mah best friends as they are yours, probably even moreso,” Applejack told Zecora. “So ah better not hear that you broke their hearts by not saying anything…”

“I’m aware of that, I owe them a very honest and long chat,” Zecora agreed. “Means so much to me that you’re my friend, and I really hope to see you again.”

“Well, we do have a lot of new apple trees to try out,” Applejack bumped the zebra stallion’s shoulder playfully as he pointed his head towards the apple trees. “Say, why don’t you come over again next week and show me some new potions? Ah’ll make sure we got the bits for the potions of course.”

“Sounds like a plan to me, since I know then I’ll be free,” Zecora wrapped his foreleg around Applejack’s shoulders in a half-hug, pulling him close for a brief moment before pulling away. Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch took the zebra’s place, smothering Applejack in a big-winged group hug before they began talking to each other about making plans to spend time with the other half of the Mane 6. Zecora stood at the side of the pathway for a few minutes before Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch looked at him at the same time, their eyes bright as they galloped towards him. Sending his heart aflutter, Zecora allowed the feeling to show on his face as they crashed into him and sent the normally strong stallion tumbling onto the ground laughing.

With Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch rubbing Zecora’s neck with their sweet muzzles and light kisses, the zebra stallion felt silly for not saying the words any sooner. But tomorrow, Zecora would change that injustice. He had a bunch of stops to make, this day needed to be everything they needed and more…

And the Stars Smiled Back

Author's Note

Contains spiritual lovemaking, spitroasting, blowjobs, anal, rimming, lower body modification potions, love confessions, romantic gestures, making out, and becoming one with the universe.

I'd like to thank the downvoters. Normally I'm too nervous to get poetic with the smut scenes but this story already has been ratio'd atm, so I don't give a fuck. Also would like to thank the commissioner and the people at the writing conference I was at recently, for giving me motivation and the resources to let go and write what I wrote. Hope those that stuck around enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for the next story!

And the Stars Smiled Back

“Oh you’re actually getting flowers this time?” the unicorn mare, one who Zecora vaguely recognized as a previous conquest, snickered as she felt her own mane for a few seconds longer than needed. “And chocolates too? Wow, normally I just see you walk in the sex shop every few weeks or so.”

“How do you know I’m walking there, do you follow me everywhere?” Zecora tilted his head, watching as the mare’s cheeks exploded into a furious red.

“That’s absurd, why would I do something like that when I have a s-super cute earth pony back at home?” the unicorn stammered, proceeding to scan the items faster as she practically threw them in a bag. “Sure he’s no griffon…or dragon…or ya-”

“Let me stop you, nearly all you ponies are the same when it comes to your idea of a good screw,” Zecora chuckled as he took the filled grocery bags onto his foreleg. “You’ve stuck to your kind only for generations to come, so of course when exotic creatures come to Ponyville you want to get some. Perhaps talk to this partner of yours, the conversation might open new and unexpected doors…”

“Oh, y-yeah, maybe,” the unicorn mare giggled. “You do have two partners of your own…beats spending the afternoons watching for you…”

“What was that?” Zecora nearly choked.

“Oh, I said have a great day!” The unicorn mare grinned really wide as she pushed the remaining grocery bags towards Zecora. The zebra stallion took the remaining bags and tore his eyes off the trembling mare, choosing not to give a perturbed stare. After all, even half a year after the fact, Zecora could understand that many of the ponies in Ponyville either still hadn’t made their own peace with it, or simply fantasized about the experience if their openness was anything to go by. Boy Bon and Guyra even gave him a couple of gifts for his pegasi, two of the more accepting and even downright excited ponies when they heard Zecora found partners of his own. So he didn’t really need anymore lewd gifts, even if a lot of lovin’ would happen that night. Zecora walked out of the store with his bags, glancing at his surroundings including the sky itself. Even if his pegasi would assume that it was normal groceries, the zebra stallion didn’t want to take the risk. Trotting swiftly out of Ponyville and into the Everfree Forest, Zecora only had a couple of hours before they would get back. Rainbow Blitz was practicing for a very soon Wonderbolts show and Butterscotch had properly taken Artemis and Eris out to Ponera Bread. With the yellow pegasus likely to get back anytime, and Rainbow Blitz shortly after, Zecora took the grocery bags and held them around his neck and with his mouth as he galloped to his hut. Entering his home, Zecora gently dropped all the bags on the ground as he began sorting different items and placing them on the bed. Next to his bubbling cauldron was a book open on the page of transformation spells by coincidence. While it certainly wasn’t something out of the question for him personally, Zecora doubted that they were looking for anything beyond the three special words that would bring rainbows into their relationship. Zecora looked over everything on his bed with a deep smile, and took a deep breath as he had everything sorted out where he wanted to.

For the first time in his life, Zecora felt a numbing and overwhelming excitement in his chest that made his tongue feel like putty. His hooves trembled with the nervousness that took over his body. He had already surrendered his once “forever untouched” backdoor to Butterscotch, something he never thought he’d do in his lifetime, and now he was going to give them himself in a way that no carnal partner had ever seen him. Vulnerability in a way that he was never able to display in Zebrica, and the fear nearly took his mind right then and there. He wanted to change his mind and go back to what they were used to, stay in the zone of comfort. But he knew that would be depriving them both. Fear of fully giving himself, of them not liking him acting in such a soft manner. He was supposed to be tough, unwavering, the Master of his own sea and everyone around him.

And the cold fear mixing with his own longing excitement nearly sent him into a panic attack, taking deep breaths. He was almost afraid that he wouldn’t be able to rhyme, and perhaps he wouldn’t be able to. Was he any less of a zebra if he didn’t rhyme? Or would it mean more to his partners?

“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Zecora grumbled, his eyes bug-eyed as he walked around the bedroom several times. “How do I…how do I…”

I can’t rhyme! Fuck!

“Oh Solaris help me,” Zecora gasped. “I can’t fuck this up, please let them still want me…”

There was no denying that the fetish of being under a zebra’s spell was what initially brought Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch to Zecora’s hut, something they shared in common with all the past stallions and mares that the zebra stud had hooked up with. And thinking back to the mare, who despite having a sweet partner, wanted the lustful touch of an exotic creature, Zecora winced as he wondered which quality his pegasi would want more. They loved each other, and seemed to have developed a deep sexual connection only after they started dating him…

“I’ve loved being wanted for my stripes for so long, I just h-hope they love me for who I am beyond that,” Zecora whispered, taking deep breaths to steady himself from mentally going over the edge. “Why haven’t I gotten in touch with my feelings sooner? Why does it take two femcolts’ hearts on the line for me to even try?”

The world not ending because he didn’t rhyme, plus the fact that he was actually allowing himself to feel his emotions, made him feel more free in his body than he expected. Most zebras back in his homeland didn’t actually rhyme, the tradition stemming back from ancient religion that had mostly died out. Mostly, his family being one of the exceptions to the rule. They were of a dying group of zebras that were even more strict about appeasing their ancestors then the average Zebrican. Their gender roles were as unwavering as mountains, even if within the past decade, some of them had reluctantly accepted zebras of their own being gay or bisexual.

Hearing the doorhandle jiggle caused all of Zecora’s raging thoughts to dissipate in a cold rush of being yanked back to the present. Galloping out of the room and towards the door, Zecora took a few seconds more to gain his bearings before opening it. Before him, as expected, was Butterscotch. Though he didn’t want the yellow pegasus to see everything before Rainbow Blitz did, feeling a deep sense within his gut that his equally beautiful two lovers needed to experience everything at the same time. Slowly trotting out the door and watching as Butterscotch inevitably walked backwards to make room for the zebra stud to exit their hut, Zecora smiled as he used his tail to close the door behind him.

“H-Hello,” Zecora gasped out the greeting, feeling sweat rolling down his fur as his regular smile expanded into an exaggerated grin.

“Are you okay, Zecora?” Butterscotch frowned, tilting his head. Zecora kept the expression, even though he knew that the yellow pegasus got better at reading him each day.

“Of course I am doing well, just spent time working on a spell,” Zecora nearly hoof-palmed himself from the blatant lie. “I wanted to wait till Blitz got back to show it to you both, so let’s walk through the Everfree and look at the plants and their growth.”

“Okay then!” Butterscotch beamed, watching as Zecora locked the front door just in case Rainbow Blitz got back before them. Then the zebra stallion and his yellow femcolt set to walking beside each other. Butterscotch reflected on his relationship as they walked with each step, initially afraid to bring Zecora into his relationship with Rainbow Blitz. Was it even possible, he wondered long ago, to love two ponies at once? Would it make the love any less real or meaningful? But as he felt his heart racing at the prospect of seeing the blue pegasus very soon, while also feeling his heart fulfilled with the zebra stud beside him…Butterscotch didn’t realize such a feeling was real. Growing up, he was a social recluse even with Rainbow Blitz as a foalhood friend that spent time with him on occasion. The yellow pegasus didn’t feel like anything could get better after becoming one of the Elements of Harmony, and then his life grew over the years. Dating Rainbow Blitz, making his best friend his own lover at the same time…and bringing Zecora into what was now their throuple. And then becoming closer friends with Eris and Artemis after that. After so many years of just talking to the animals, fearing the other ponies around him, such a long and painful past was but a mere echo now in comparison to the overflowing love in his heart and from everypony around him.

“Thank you, Zecora,” Butterscotch’s eyes teared up as he pressed his soft pegasus fur against Zecora’s fur. Smelling a strong scent of earthy perfume, Butterscotch looked up at his Master. “Oh? You smell extra nice today, that from testing out the spell?”

“Sure,” Zecora chuckled, staring up at the trees and at the different flowers as he tried to keep his best poker face on. Even with it still being the afternoon back in Ponyville, the Everfree was always submerged in darkness as if it were nighttime. Not too dark to the point where they could only see pitch black, but to where the life around them was very dim to see. Butterscotch squinted his eyes as he saw a stray toad jump out of the way, the critters of the night scurrying around. Anything overly big like a timberwolf wasn’t heard or seen anywhere, and Butterscotch glanced at the different vividly bright and colorful flowers around them that shone bright even in the darkness.

“So what plants did you use for your spell this time?” Butterscotch asked.

“Oh! Um…um, wow, look at that flower?” Zecora coughed out the words as he pointed to a bush of rainbow flowers in the distance. “That’s such a pretty one, too bad you can see them more vividly in the sun…”

Flying through the beautiful orange and pink sunset around him, feeling his heart as high as the clouds both literally and figuratively, Rainbow Blitz felt the wind rushing against his entire body as he flew towards the Everfree Forest. He never tired of flying, even if his coltfriend didn’t really fly every day or even every week. Rainbow Blitz was more than happy to fly enough for the both of them. He was on an emotional high that he hoped to chase all day till the next morning, having a Wonderbolts show to perform in the following week and going back home to his two lovers. Knowing that Applejack and Butterscotch were good, as well as forgiving the yellow pegasus for hiding the fangs due to him reaching out to Artemis, released a whole lot of weight off the nimble pegasus’ shoulders. Now he could fly with no restraint, his body alive with the wind moving through his feathers and his entire body high up in the air as he grinned. Flying towards the dense forest that was the Everfree, Rainbow Blitz made sure that to not have as much speed as his dive. With as many trees as there were in the Everfree, Rainbow Blitz didn’t want to risk clipping his wing on a branch going down. Performing a slow and smooth dive into the Everfree towards the hut, Rainbow Blitz gently landed only a few feet from the hut itself. He tried to make it a habit to continuously eyeball where the hut was, and was getting closer everytime. Trotting up to the door, he felt it locked and looked from side to side.

“Perhaps he’s out looking for plants?” Rainbow Blitz muttered, looking down at the many hoofprints that lead off in a direction from the hut. Galloping through the path of steps, Rainbow Blitz lifted his head up. “Zecora? Butterscotch?”

“We are over here, assuming that is Blitz and not a random deer,” that masculine and sonorous voice with the obvious rhymes was a voice Rainbow Blitz would know from anywhere, galloping even faster till he saw Zecora and Butterscotch sitting by a bush of rainbow flowers. “Butterscotch just caught me and realized that there was no spell, shortly I’ll reveal everything and tell.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Rainbow Blitz tilted his head as Butterscotch looked just as perplexed as he did. “Are you rewarding us for all the work at Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Don’t be silly, you ate more ‘rewards’ over there yesterday than a starving filly,” Zecora laughed. “No, this is about something else for the both of you. Something about speaking to what has long since been true…”

“So not only are you speaking in rhymes, but now you’re speaking in riddles!” Rainbow Blitz guffawed as he rushed over to Zecora’s side and pressed his head against the zebra stallion’s tough shoulder. “What the ever-loving buck are we doing here then?! Let’s head back and see what the surprise is!”

“You know we can’t run there as fast as you, turning into a blur of blue,” Zecora shook his head with a glint in his eye, trotting back with his two striped pegasi on each side of him. “But yes, let us get back before you have to guess.”

“Well it's obviously to celebrate just how awesome I am~” Rainbow Blitz puffed his chest and smiled wide, emphasizing each hoofstep each made and going slower for a few moments before breaking back into a regular paced trot. “Did I get it right? Is that what this surprise is for?”

“Yes?” Zecora’s brain was stumped because he was technically correct, feeling his heart warm up too much for his own good as Rainbow Blitz jumped in the air and screamed in excitement. “But this isn’t just for you, but for all of us too. Now come along, the walk there won’t be long.”

Zecora trotted a little faster, no longer wanting to draw it out. He had two honest-to-goodness lovers that thought the world of him, but the zebra stallion wanted to be sure that it wasn’t just for his stripes and prowess. Seeing the hut in his sights, Zecora full-on galloped to the door and Rainbow Blitz rushed to his side almost at the same time. Butterscotch, not being a zebra or the incredibly speedy pegasus, took a few more seconds to reach them as he took a deep breath to relax and stare at the door. Even though he had the conversation with Applejack the day before, Butterscotch barely had it cross his mind as he waited for Zecora to reveal the surprise. With how long Zecora hadn’t said those words, it almost felt like fantasy out of his reach at that point. Surely, this wasn’t some sort of big-

Zecora pressed his forehoof against the door, pushing it open and revealing the dozen candles lighting up what would’ve been a pitch black room besides the glowing cauldron in the middle. Realizing that the book of spells and potions was still next to it, open on the same pages as before, Zecora rushed inside and closed the book before kicking it to the corner. His femcolts were still too mesmerized by the candles and their bright purple flames as they slowly stepped inside.

“Zebrican candle spells,” Zecora elaborated as he walked up to his lovers, leaning his muzzle close to their muzzles. “Warm and scented to get you two further out of your shells. And with special ingredients that keep them from bursting the hut into flames, that is so that I can no longer play anymore games.”

“What do you mean by that?” Butterscotch asked, feeling his words with the slight darkness of the room, with Rainbow Blitz of all ponies not saying anything as his eyes were bright and his blush was decorating his face. His smile, normally cocky and wide, was gentle with his lips pursed as he stepped towards Zecora like a moth to a flame. The yellow pegasus, with emotions running high because of his recent Butterbat incident and everything only recently resolved with Applejack, was at a pivotal turning point. There was no intent of ever leaving his best friend and their beloved Master, not at the point where their hearts were bound together. But Zecora’s only direction to go was closer, further into them lest his risk fracturing everything. Zecora took a deep breath, pulling his muzzle back from the two as he began walking to their room.

“Follow me, and allow our hearts to be filled with glee,” Zecora stated, and the two pegasi rushed forward. Their excitement was bordering on impatience, and they rushed past Zecora and entered the room. Flower petals of various kinds decorated the bed, and a heart container open with chocolates in it was in the middle. More of the candles were on two sides of the walls, far away enough to not be hit by any stray wings fully opened, as Zecora intended for what they were going to do. Watching as Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch looked over their shoulders and at Zecora, the zebra stallion stepped towards them.

“Sorry for such slow burn, especially knowing how much your hearts yearn,” Zecora whispered, watching as the candle flames flickered. “You both have completely given yourselves to me in body, spirit, and mind. In more ways than I can count, you two have excelled in being loyal and kind.”

Rainbow Blitz smiled wider and stood up straight, Butterscotch doing the same as Zecora named their signature qualities while turning to look at the both of them. His head was lowered, almost as a sign of emotional submission. Everytime the both of them had seen him, walked with him, the zebra stud was standing tall in his dominant and authoritative glory. Being the pillar of mastery to a fault, the pegasi’s jaws had dropped upon him having his head lowered before them. Looking up demurely at the both of them, Zecora’s eyes had fluttered as he grinned up at them.

“Rainbow Blitz, Butterscotch,” Zecora spoke, his deep voice but a whisper in the room barely loud enough for the pegasi to hear. Yet, it was almost clearer that way as he continued. “Fuck the rhymes right now, they’ll only hinder what you two need to hear. My heart is with both of you, but I’ve feared that your presence is mostly because of my strength, my stripes, my dominance. I just…wanted to hear that, even in the absence of those parts of me…that you still…want…”

“Hey, hey!” Rainbow Blitz’ eyes shot wide as he saw Zecora’s eyes watering before he lunged forward, cupping the big zebra stallion’s chin with his forehoof. Butterscotch followed, moving forward almost at the same time as he looked into Zecora’s deep blue eyes. “Zecora, we are not with you just for that, not even mostly!”

“And if that’s how I really felt, why would I even want to dom?” Butterscotch stated plainly, and Zecora nodded into Rainbow Blitz’ hoof as he continued. “Zecora, you are so much more than that. We see that in your readiness to help others and simply bond with them, or your intelligence in creating spells and potions. But that vulnerability that you are talking about? The only obstacle that has stopped us from seeing that is you.”

Thinking back to every moment where Zecora mentally faltered, questioning if he could keep going holding everything much longer…he never remembered a time where Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch said anything that inferred that he couldn’t relax. Maybe even the opposite, as their warm gazes rested on him. With the purple hue in the room, glancing up at Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch as his normally heavy body began to feel lighter…his lips wobbled.

“Fuck, I’m not supposed to cry,” Zecora grunted.

“You’re fucking two femcolts in the ass, that you striped, but crying is too weird for you?” Rainbow Blitz shook his head. “Please, Zecora, let go of whoever told you it wasn’t okay to cry. Please.”

Feeling years of memories flashing in his head, one more damaging than the other, Zecora’s body trembled and shook as he closed his eyes and let the tears spill out. Love in pureness, anger in hotness, sadness in waves, fear in loss, and epiphanies in eternity flowed throughout him. There was the big, muscular dominant zebra stud that fucked for power and for thrills…and then there was who he was behind that. Soul searching, and having the same desire that everyone else had in different ways.

He looked up, they looked back.

“I love you”

Their eyes flickered with the realization of what he said, like a raindrop landing in a still pond somewhere in the Everfree…the trees’ leaves wavering with the slightly bigger wind, birds flew from tree to tree as they felt the heart of the forest opening for a flicker in in span of the universe. For a split moment, light beamed into the Everfree before the forest shifted back to its normal state, but not exactly the same as before. Never to be the exact same again. And in the small hut in a tiny forest in the span of dimensions, a stallion and his two partners all stared at one another as their souls shifted with the touch of three words.

“You just said…” Butterscotch gawked as he moved back and stood up, not having expected to hear it from Zecora himself and still floundering through the flashes of disbelief and giddy excitement that he inevitably felt. Rainbow Blitz was frozen to the spot, clearly more floored than his best friend as his blush reddened tenfold as he never took his eyes off Zecora.

“Yes, I absolutely said it,” Zecora spoke louder than before, slowly standing up as moving too fast would’ve broken the sacred stillness of the universe. “And I will say it a second time, a third even, and however many times time allows us. How can my family, their friends, believe in the stretch of the universe and our ancestors without allowing us to truly be free to explore it all?”

Rainbow Blitz pulled back and stood up alongside Butterscotch, the two pegasi looking at each other and speaking through their expressions for a few seconds before looking at Zecora.

“Zecora, this is all beautiful…” Butterscotch whispered. “But um, I suppose I’m saying this for me too. I think we need therapy.”

Zecora laughed, standing upright as he smiled with way less effort than any expression he had made earlier.

“Oh you couldn’t be more spot on,” Zecora agreed. “But I hope this doesn’t turn you two off…Rainbow Blitz?”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Rainbow Blitz gasped, realizing he hadn’t spoken since Zecora had told them he loved them. “I didn’t want to take away from your moment, Zecora. Or yours, Butterscotch.”

“Well, you’re part of this throuple too~” Butterscotch smirked as he swatted the blue pegasus’ ass with his long tail. “This is your moment as much as it is ours.”

“Well, I was more than happy having you two use me as you please,” Rainbow Blitz laughed, his rainbow tail shaking from side to side. Even with how casual the blue femcolt appeared, Zecora could see that the colors of his tail were shining brighter than ever before. Or perhaps that was merely the glow of the Zebrican candles reflecting off his tail and mane, Zecora shook his head. He wasn’t there to focus on his femcolts’ manes, and to keep listening to Rainbow Blitz. “But of course, this is just a bonus. And a big one too, for me to also say I love you~”

“Did you just…” Zecora giggled in his deep tone, feeling like a young colt all over again as Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch rushed forward and pressed their muzzles against his neck.

“Yes, I did rhyme,” Rainbow Blitz smirked, glancing at Butterscotch and winking at him before looking up at Zecora. “Well, big boy, how much love do you have to share with us?”

“Or whatever you want to do tonight is fine,” Butterscotch added swiftly with a slight blush on his own. Zecora glanced down at them. Even though they were romantics just as much as he was, maybe even moreso, the zebra stallion knew they were still hungry femcolts that initially met up with him for lewd reasons at the end of the day. Smirking back at them, Zecora then leaned forward and pressed his lips against Rainbow Blitz’ lips. Almost right away did he feel the bouncy blue pegasus’ tongue slip into his mouth, and knew where Rainbow Blitz’ mind was at. The poor stallion was awfully worked up the day before, and Zecora pulled back as he glanced at the two of them.

“Something tells me one of you was looking forward to those three words more than the other,” Zecora spoke the quiet part out loud, and the color drained from Rainbow Blitz’ face as he was about to stammer a defense for himself. “Which is quite fine as long as we still love one another. It's okay for some of us to be hornier than others…”

“D-Don’t call me out,” Rainbow Blitz pouted, though his fat blue butt twerked a little as his glittering rainbow tail flagged up for the both of them. “Um…”

“Perhaps we need a repeat session of those weeks ago, give Rainbow Blitz here a good show,” Zecora grinned as he looked at the two pegasi. “Butterscotch, get your growth potion. Rainbow Blitz, put away the chocolates and bend over the bed for us to set our plan in motion…”

“Yes Master~” Rainbow Blitz responded as Butterscotch left the room briefly while Zecora watched the blue pegasus toss the chocolate container of hearts underneath the bed. Then, Rainbow Blitz approached the bed as he rested his forelegs onto the bed while his hindlegs were against the bed. With his upper body resting on the bed and his big fat bubbly butt presented to Zecora, the zebra stallion was in awe. He was almost as big as Butterscotch now, even despite the Wonderbolts training and the week of helping at Sweet Apple Acres. If he kept growing at the rate he did, Zecora wondered if the blue pegasus would be able to keep doing shows, or if that was even what Rainbow Blitz wanted. Deciding to save that conversation for the next day, Zecora brought his muzzle towards the rainbow-maned pegasus’ dark blue ponut as his hot breath tickled the sensitive body part. Rainbow Blitz whined with the neediness the zebra stud had heard many times before, and Zecora snickered as he pressed his forehoof against Rainbow Blitz’ rainbow cutie mark on his ass cheek.

“Such a bright and talented zebra mare, is licking her hole something I dare?” Zecora purred, not allowing Rainbow Blitz time to figure out the answer as his wet tongue glided over the rim of his ponut. “Yes I dare~”

“Oh fuck…” Rainbow Blitz felt his thoughts slipping much easier than they normally would. Without a single doubt, the blue pegasus was over Artemis’ moon to hear the zebra stud tell them he was in love with them. But with being in Butterscotch’s corner during his stress, and dealing with Applejack, the blue pegasus had put his mounting sexual needs to the side for the better part of a week. With a skip of his heartbeat, Rainbow Blitz saw Butterscotch walk in slightly changed. With his ass as toned and slim as when he transformed into Butterbat, and his dick at the same larger length, Butterscotch smirked as he trotted into the room and walked towards the side of the bed as he looked down at Rainbow Blitz. Even though they were the best of friends and lovers through and through, Butterscotch looked down at Rainbow Blitz in that moment as if the rainbow-maned pegasus was beneath him. And that was about to be literal as he climbed onto the bed and stood over Rainbow Blitz, his long ten-inch length pressing against Rainbow Blitz’ lips as he gyrated his hips back and forth.

“You should already know what to do by now~” Butterscotch insisted, and Rainbow Blitz’ eyes fluttered from the extra musk that came from that beautiful potion that his best friend took. The smell flooded his nostrils in a way that played in his head like a symphony, rushing forward and sucking on Butterscotch’s dark yellow balls with vigor. With the way Butterscotch was directly over Rainbow Blitz’s body, the blue pegasus’ head between his legs, he was directly facing Zecora as the zebra stallion finished rimming Rainbow Blitz, standing back up straight and smiling at Butterscotch.

“Huh, you’ve got a point there about still being a dom,” Zecora chuckled. “Maybe we all made wacky assumptions instead of going with the flow and keeping calm.”

“Just come here and kiss me,” Butterscotch insisted, lunging forward and pressing his lips against Zecora’s lips. The universe’s resistance and its pleasure collided into each other, melding to everything they were supposed to be no matter what. That what the zebra stallion pushed back on the most, was what he wanted most. It was the same feeling he sensed on the poor mare’s face from earlier, restraint and prudishness plaguing her from opening to the universal desires that every sexual being experienced. And he was hardly better, as with all of his carnal conquests and kisses in the name of love, he hadn’t fully opened up until that night. Being a shaman and being one who was supposed to be in touch with the universe, he had spent too much time asleep at the wheel. Pain was expected, not supposed to be in the depths of pleasure along with his femcolts. Why further punish himself? He didn’t know. But being in the depths of pleasure again after that night would be easier said than done, since he could see himself talking his own mind out of it. But that was what practice was for, immersing himself in the universe.

“Mmmph~” Butterscotch gently moaned into Zecora’s lips, feeling Rainbow Blitz’ properly sucking off the yellow pegasus with his needy deepthroating as if it was the last night they would all be together. Zecora pulled back from the kiss and noticed Rainbow Blitz’ quick motions from the loud and deviously lewd “GLK GLK GLK” as his fully erect dark blue dick bobbed back and forth with profound need. Zecora didn’t make him wait any longer, already in the potion to fuck him as he pressed his fat cock tip against the blue pegasus’ lubed up backdoor. Taking a deep breath, looking down at Rainbow Blitz and then back up at Butterscotch, the zebra pushed inside the blue pegasus. Rainbow Blitz cried out against Butterscotch’s transformed cock, nearly cumming on the spot from how long he waited for this moment. Zecora’s cock slid further into Rainbow Blitz’ ass till it was hilted inside, the quickest that the zebra ever fully filled his blue femcolt. Clearly the needy performance wasn’t just for show, and Zecora moved in action. Pulling back until only the tip was inside, Zecora lunged for Butterscotch’s lips again as he thrusted his entire length inside.

Rainbow Blitz’ eyes rolled to the back of his head as he was bouncing his mouth up and down his best friend’s dick while also taking all of their Master’s dick. It was the juggling act that kept giving, and like the fateful night weeks ago, he gave into the overwhelming yet euphoric sea of lust that turned him inside out.

I exist to be at their pleasure, their mercy, their desires.

A message that may disturb and repulse others, it felt like the stars of his destiny. For so long, Rainbow Blitz restrained himself from giving into such urges. Even if he saw Butterscotch being submissive, acting “marish” and enjoying himself in a way that a “typical” stallion wouldn’t…Rainbow Blitz felt like he couldn’t up until they met Zecora. Like Zecora, Rainbow Blitz felt like he had to be the dominant and strong stallion regardless of his sexuality. But the truth was such a far cry from that, with him not even wanting to be a dom in any sort of way. The universe spoke to him, granted his wish. The thoughts he resisted the most were the desires he wanted the most badly, and the universe spoke it into his reality…

And with a realization deeper and more real in his body, mind, and spirit…the blue pegasus brayed against his best friend’s length as his reality exploded into pleasurable fireworks. Feeling Zecora, his Master, pistoning in and out of his backdoor only exasperated the feeling tenfold. Pathetic spurts of his femcolt seed spilled onto the blankets and onto the floor, his tail flickering about as Zecora and Butterscotch made out faster noticing the blue “mare” cumming underneath them. Their tongues danced like flames against each other, ones that would burn out if they ever let go. No matter what happened after that night, their souls were burned into each other now. Even without any magic, dark or normal, they were bound for life. And even though they weren’t half as worked up as Rainbow Blitz was, Zecora and Butterscotch unexpectedly found themselves getting really close only moments after their blue-furred submissive had came his lights out. Barely clinging onto consciousness, Rainbow Blitz groggily moaned against Butterscotch’s dick and clenched his backdoor around Zecora’s fat cock as they both groaned into each other’s mouths.

“Oh mother of Solaris, I love you,” Zecora gasped as he briefly stopped making out with Butterscotch, staring into the panting and blushing femcolt’s cyan eyes. Butterscotch stared back at Zecora, his deep gaze speaking wonders to what he needed the whole time. Especially since he also embraced being dominant with Rainbow Blitz and sometimes Zecora. His deepest resistance unfolded into his greatest desire, and Butterscotch caved and never let go after the turn of Butterbat.

“I love you too,” Butterscotch gasped back, feeling the archaic way of his thoughts as they once were aligning into what felt right, what felt needed. And their deepest desires no longer began curtains, hidden from one another, they merged into one another to create a bond deeper than anything they would ever know. They could tell friends, family, how great their relationship was. But with how the universe changed all of them, the only pain they felt was for how many ponies would never get to feel what they felt. Hopefully someday, some of them will.

Zecora and Butterscotch clashed against one another, barely keeping themselves from having their teeth clack against each other’s with their current kiss, as they came in unison. Zecora gave a deep grunt as he spilled rope after rope of his pent up zebra balls into Rainbow Blitz’ backdoor while Butterscotch unloaded down Rainbow Blitz’ throat. Even teetering on the brink of awareness and the darkness of passing out, Rainbow Blitz’ heart warmed up as he kept his teeth from grazing Butterscotch’s length. Then after a few more seconds of the two experiencing their orgasms, Zecora slipped his length out of Rainbow Blitz’ backdoor, and Butterscotch slipped his own length out of his best friend’s mouth as he jumped off the bed. Like a light switch turning off, Rainbow Blitz’ eyes fluttered closed as he began taking deep breaths.

“I…I love you both so much~” Rainbow Blitz moaned with a heavy blush before body slumped off the bed. Before he could flop onto the floor, Zecora caught the lighter pegasus as he looked up at Butterscotch.

“I think we broke him again, but at least now we can all sleep in zen,” Zecora smiled as he held Rainbow Blitz’ in his strong forelegs. Butterscotch placed his forehoof on Rainbow Blitz’ shoulder and gently rubbed circles into it before helping Zecora get the passed out blue pegasus onto the bed. With the blue pegasus in the middle this time, Zecora and Butterscotch both held him as Rainbow Blitz would wake up first thing in the morning held by his doms. At least, that’s what they were at that moment. With a deep and intentional exhale, Zecora blew all the candles till the purple flames were no more. There was only purple glitter that danced in the air until even that disappeared in the darkness. Zecora and Butterscotch nuzzled and smooched the blue pegasus as well as each other, until even the both of them passed out asleep the same as Rainbow Blitz…

“Wakey, wakey.”

Zecora gently swatted away whatever was prodding at his face, feeling grumpy at being pulled away from the sweet flow of images that made up his dreams until whoever was trying to wake him up. Feeling the unknown pony prodding at his face harder, Zecora’s eyes slowly opened to see Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch grinning at him like they were in on some inside joke. Little bits of food clinging to the corners of their lips, they giggled at each other before looking at Zecora.

“Slept well?” they asked almost at the same time, and Zecora felt the ache of his brain having to be pulled out of his dreams and into the waking world. Though, if he had to wake up right then and there, it would be to his two favorite souls in the universe.

“Maybe a little too well,” Zecora groaned. “I need some kind of waking spell…”

“Do you mean coffee?” Rainbow Blitz laughed, bringing his wing upfront with a big mug of coffee with creamer and sugar as he gently prodded the zebra with it. “We got that ready for you as a little apology gift…”

“Apology?” Zecora tilted his head as he took the mug with his forehooves, taking a big sip as he noticed the coloration of the crumbs on the pegasi’s lips with a deepening frown. “What did you two eat all the-”

“Wow, look at the time!” Rainbow Blitz brought his forehoof to his face, even though there was no watch on him whatsoever. Turning around and galloping out of the room, his big blue cheeks clapped with each step as he took off. Butterscotch followed him with his no longer transformed butt cheeks also clapping, the yellow pegasus cackled as they ran out of the room. Zecora chugged the mug of coffee and placed it on the nightstand, jumping out of the bed in spite of his spinning brain from getting up so quickly. Galloping after them and seeing that they didn’t make it very far, smiling at him in the main room, Zecora leaped onto the both of them. His chest landing against their faces, Rainbow Blitz and Butterscotch laughed and kissed his body from his forelegs to his cheeks. Zecora processed the energy of his playfulness, almost feeling like one of them in the sense that could enjoy their rambunctious without being “weak” like he heard from the zebras back at home over and over again.

Stepping back so he wasn’t crushing his femcolts, Zecora let them jump him as they pressed up against him and looked into his eyes as they were glowing from the sparkles in their eyes to the pink energy glowing from their…cutie marks? Zecora was about to point it out when he glanced at his own cutie marks, seeing them glow as well. The pink energy glowed around the three of them, spinning rapidly until it disappeared in a sprinkle of black, yellow, and blue sparkles.

“What…do you think that means?” Zecora whispered. “Something good in our genes?”

“Perhaps we should ask Dusk Shine? Or one of the Princes?” Butterscotch pointed out as he looked from Zecora’s wide eyes to Rainbow Blitz’ shrug. “Though I feel like it has something to do with what we just experienced last night.”

“I don’t even know how to describe what happened last night, or if anyone will ever understand,” Rainbow Blitz admitted.

“Maybe it's not for them to understand, let it just be what the universe always had planned,” Zecora decided, wrapping his forelegs around his femcolts as he kissed the both of them on the cheek. “Let’s go walk into town, enjoy what is around.”

“Sounds great to us,” Rainbow Blitz decided, seeing Butterscotch’s smile as the three of them walked out of the hut. After a bit of walking through the Everfree, the throuple walked into the busy square of Ponyville. Zecora stopped in his tracks as he saw the unicorn mare pressed up against an earth pony stallion with glasses as he blushed. He saw a familiar glimmer in the stallion’s eyes, as well as the cashier mare’s eyes, as they blushed…both wearing collars. The unicorn mare glanced at Zecora out of the corner of her eye, and with no more profuse blushing or hidden desire for him, she smiled earnestly at him and his pegasi.

And with the stars lovingly pulling at the corners of his lips, Zecora beamed back.