Author's Note

Sex Scene Participants: Zecora/Elusive
Contains exhibitionism (fucking on stage in a club), sexually repressed racists in a Zebrican nightclub, full nelson, doggy style, missionary, making out, being striped by a stranger during sex, loud and masturbating audience, tipsy sex, and lots of romantic moments!

Letting Go and Letting his Stripes Show

Elusive stared down at the hot coffee beneath his muzzle, halfway empty as the marks of the coffee stains sat where his lips once were. It had been a few minutes since he, Zecora, and Butterscotch had placed their orders with the lovely waitress that worked at the breakfast diner they chose, but each minute of Rainbow Blitz’ absence stretched on. The slender blue pegasus was very resilient, more than capable of taking care of himself, but he was just as much of a partner as any of the four. Butterscotch’s wing rested on Elusive’s backside, all smooth and sweet in its feathery touch, but the svelte unicorn couldn’t ignore the intrusive thought that the yellow pegasus probably wished for Blitz in his embrace instead.

Though, that lingering and mostly quiet worry only exasperated by Elusive overwhelmed by his own burnout was broken by the diner door nearly slamming open with a blue blur bursting into the building. The bell affixed to the door rang aggressively for a few passing seconds before stopping before Rainbow Blitz appeared in his signature speed before his lovers. Stopping right at the table, panting and grinning in a lopsided fashion, a couple of stray feathers fell to the ground as he regained his bearings.

“S-Sorry,” Rainbow Blitz whispered, taking one prolonged deep breath before standing up straight and smiling without another pant. “Fell asleep and passed out before I could think of returning to the hotel room, then before I knew it, it was bright out.”

“It didn’t take you too long to find us, did it?” Butterscotch asked.

“Oh no, I can fly around the entirety of Canterlot in less than five minutes!” Rainbow Blitz reminded his best friend, puffing his chest as Zecora scooted out of his side of the booth to allow his blue boo to join in. Before Blitz could do so, the striped adonis flung his slender partner against his chest with a strong foreleg and looked down at him.

“Don’t give your Master reason to worry like that, even if I know you weren’t doing it to be a little brat,” Zecora breathed, running his big forehoof up and down his striped sub’s rainbow mane. “I cherish each of you three, even if I spent the night before pounding the others with glee~”

“Oh~!” Blitz grinned from ear to ear as Zecora let go of the embrace, the blue pegasus smirking at his zebra stud over his shoulder as he sat down on his side next to the window. “Well, at least I didn’t worry the three of you too much.”

“Not until the morning, anyways,” Elusive remarked, trying and failing to give a smile fitting of the mood. Rainbow Blitz dropped his gaze from Zecora to look at Elusive, his ears flattening against his rainbow mane as he frowned at the unicorn.

“I really hope I didn’t upset you,” Blitz blushed.

“Oh no darling, I have more on my mind that I um…talked to Zecora and Butterscotch about last night,” Elusive sighed. “It’s hard to keep up with work when it's literally just me and Sassy, and when I’m thinking about the jerks in Canterlot potentially judging me for becoming a zebra’s slut…”

“It’s only you and Sassy?!” Blitz’ eyes bulged out of his head as he continued. “Well why didn’t you say anything before we got here?! You know while I can’t exactly make clothes, I can help with organizing or trying anything out-”

“You’d be a model for me?” Elusive’s jaw dropped before he could stop himself. “No offense darling, but I thought you’d be more of a fan of trying out athlete wear…”

“Well, you do realize that I’m a femcolt like you two, right~?” Blitz smirked, causing Elusive to blush at the obviousness of the blue pegasus’ statement. “Though my day off isn’t till tomorrow, I have one more day of training today and then I’ll be free all day then!”

“And you know how popular of a model I was when you had me~” Butterscotch used his wing to pull the unicorn femcolt further against his side, the two reminiscing as the yellow pegasus continued. “I still get offers from some of your competitors in the mail from time to time, though I usually ignore them. I certainly wouldn’t mind trying out some of your clothes, provided the bottom wear fits around my big bottom~”

“How cute to see you three get along so well, though Elusive’s answer is the one that he should tell,” Zecora’s ears flickered as his gentle smile remained, his cool gaze resting on his newest slave of desires. Elusive hadn’t quickly forgotten about Zecora’s offer to show him to a new place after he got off work, and even though the unicorn was fully aware that his loving Master would take him home if he didn’t like the place, the white-furred femcolt felt his nerves alight with the idea of letting go in front of others. He couldn’t know for sure if that’s what Zecora had in mind for him, but the implication was definitely there, surely Elusive could- “Elusive, are you alright my submissive?”

“Oh!” Elusive squeaked, moving a royal purple lock behind his ear as he grinned wider than he had originally intended. “Yes, I’m more than alright, especially hearing the generous offers that you lovely pegasi have given me. If you don’t have any other plans, Butterscotch, you can certainly come over and help me with errands here and there. And if I’ve made clothes that fit you, that’s all the better~”

“Well, you can count on us then,” Butterscotch smiled warmly before taking his wing off the unicorn’s back to pick up his own coffee mug.

“Well, thank you so much for helping me Butterscotch~” Elusive knocked his small butt against Butterscotch’s rippling fat ass as they walked out of the locked boutique late at night. Butterscotch blushed and smiled as he looked at the pink and white panties that his fellow sub generously gave him as a gift for the help. Thanks to the additional pair of hooves that wasn’t expected, all three of them were able to go on separate half hour breaks that helped the three stallions recuperate and handle all the tasks effectively. And on top of taking pictures in the dresses that were plenty flattering to his fat butterfly butt, Butterscotch wore some of the outfits much to the delight of the femcolts and their studs. Elusive knew that Zecora, the striped adonis that was quietly waiting outside of the boutique, had nothing to worry about with the lingering eyes of the studs with his unspoken confidence and his plans for the silky shopkeeper.

“You have a fun time with him for us, okay~?” Butterscotch smirked, gently knocking Elusive’s butt back and nearly knocking the unicorn over with how big his dumptruck was. “I’m going to check up on Rainbow Blitz, see how he is faring with the Wonderbolts.”

“Thank you Butters, you’ve been so thoughtful,” Elusive left the parting words before trotting towards Zecora with a wink towards his much bulkier stud. “Didn’t have any problems hanging out here by your handsome self?”

“Well, nothing that ruined the night,” Zecora sighed as they walked down the sidewalk, the crickets keeping the noise alive in between bouts of silence before the striped stud elaborated on his previous statement. “Just an officer asking what I’m doing after light. Saying that I was standing around and making ponies uneasy, nice implications about me being sleazy.”

“Of course,” Elusive grumbled, rolling his eyes as the bitterness of the situation that he forgot once again set in. But if this place was as great as Zecora implied it, then perhaps the night would end such behavior having an effect on the two of them. Leaning his dainty unicorn figure against his big lover, Elusive peered at Zecora’s expression in the dark that was barely illuminated by the night lamps. “I’m really sorry about that, sweetheart. I know the salivating citizens of Ponyville were nothing like…this crowd.”

“Oh it's quite alright,” Zecora laughed. “This is just them hiding their hidden depraved delight. Repression makes these Canterlonians ‘worse’ than Ponyville sluts, willing to go to deeper lows to get proper ruts!”

“What?!” Elusive nearly choked, even without a dick in his mouth, as he gawked at Zecora’s sudden admittance of knowledge.

“I didn’t stay cooped up in the hotel room all day you know!” Zecora’s eyes lit up with an eagerness that was rare, like a colt moments away from spilling the beans on a secret. “I was out looking for a good show. Once it became closer to the evening for the city, husbands and wives left each other for a source of depraved pity. Young adults living underneath the roofs of the bigoted braying one word and committing lust in the name of another, hiding double lives of sex with the other~!”

Zecora grinned wide, a deeply mischievous smile exposing a side that Elusive hadn’t ever seen before. The fact that this was their first time one-on-one wasn’t lost on the shopkeeper either, his heart pounding with the mysterious excitement also dancing in his brain. Though, because his cyan eyes weren’t on his unicorn lover, Elusive was naturally compelled to look in the direction that his striped stud was looking. It seemed to be just the run-of-the-mill pizza restaurant, so why did Zecora look at it like a cat that swallowed the canary?

“Come along my sweet femcolt,” Zecora winked down at his unicorn.

Zecora slowly trotted along, his expression not changing in the slightest as Elusive skipped alongside him inside the restaurant. The pony in a tuxedo had his eyes widen and a blush adorn his face, and Elusive feared being kicked out right then and there. Before he could turn around or try to divert the situation, the stallion stepped out from behind the table full of menus and beckoned the two.

“Right this way, please,” the stallion croaked, his tail flagging and exposed a black butt plug with a bright pink gemstone in the center, the sight very brief before his tail fell back down and concealed the plug as if it had never existed. Elusive was the one blushing furiously now, feeling all the more sensitive of his big coltfriend’s presence as they reached a door that was near the bathrooms. With the waiter opening the door, it revealed a set of stairs that lead down to somewhere with bright neon lights. The stallion was quick to close the door behind Elusive and Zecora as they lumbered down the stairs, the unicorn’s gears turning in his head while Zecora’s smirk only grew. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Elusive’s jaw dropped as he saw a sight that he never expected in the underground of Canterlot in his entire lifetime.

Before the svelte unicorn, was a bar where a big zebra stallion was behind the counter making various alcoholic beverages with a pep in his big-hooved step, with a lot of various Canterlonians that Elusive recognized hanging around and ogling the bartender. There was a big stage that was unattended, though Elusive could guess what the use of it was for, and several couches where different ponies were with their respective zebras. Elusive realized the literacy of Zecora’s statements, recognizing various married ponies he knew in the city blatantly being stallion-handled by bigger zebras. Including Fleur De Lis, a long and elegant effeminate stallion with a graceful pink mane, one of the most pivotal social figures of the city and renowned as the loyal trophy husband of Fancy Pants. From time to time on the trip, Elusive obsessed brutally over how the social stallion would put him down, and with Fleur’s wide eyes moving from his zebra stud to Elusive, it seemed that the stallion somehow would still do so.

Fleur was fondling a zebra’s large cock with his dainty hooves, toying with it and blushing brighter than a cherry as if he was delaying the inevitable, before the fellow unicorn decided to slip off the couch he was on and trot over to Elusive with a sharp scowl.

“What in Equestria are you doing here?” Fleur pouted.

“I could ask you the same question,” Elusive looked to the abandoned zebra on the couch pointedly before returning his eyes to Fleur’s narrowed ones. “Why isn’t your wife here, is she not into zebras?”

“Well I-”

“Or is it that you both talk about how terrible they are, and then sneak off to contradict yourself at a bar?” Zecora stepped forward, practically in between the two femcolts as he glared down at Fleur. “I’m sure telling yourself that our kind is some forbidden fruit really gets your gears going down there? Sick freak, at least my femcolts care.”

Fleur’s jaw dropped as Elusive felt a fire shaking throughout his body, feeling stronger by Zecora’s presence alone. Even though there were several Canterlonians that were giving Elusive sharp glares and heavy blushes for being so clearly outed in their true desires, the purple-maned unicorn didn’t back down or apologize. It was like having the glass shattered, revealing the true nature of the ponies that he was so desperately trying to appease and be validated by. Elusive didn’t even wish to engage with such a spineless pony anymore, trotting off to the bar seat farthest away from Fleur and ironically enough, the seat closest to the vacant stage. Zecora slowly lumbered towards his newest lover, his expression blank as he took the seat next to Elusive and nodded to the bartender before looking at his unicorn.

“I’ll be honest and say I didn’t expect your fellow ponies to be pissed off at your presence so much,” Zecora sighed, a small smile on his face as he slightly blushed with his ears flattened against his thick mohawk. “Though with how carefully they’ve probably kept their secrets and such, having a new pony to shut up might be a bit much.”

“It wasn’t like I was planning on telling Fancy Pants about what her boy-toy is doing behind her back,” Elusive groaned. “Though maybe I should? I wasn’t trying to blow up a marriage, I’m just trying to have a good time.”

“Well, what do you think of this place?” Zecora asked, moving a menu full of drinks towards Elusive and letting his unicorn read it as he continued. “I ask because it’s definitely more of an erotic space. If the complicated web is too much for you, we can always figure out something else to do.”

“Oh no, I definitely would like to stay here,” Elusive blurted out the words instinctively, feeling way more at ease with the knowledge he now had than when he assumed that he was the odd one out in Canterlot. He certainly was still, but not for the reasons he once thought. His heart was comforted as he decided what drink he wanted when he looked away from the menu and placed his hoof on Zecora’s hoof and looked into his eyes. “Such a shame these ponies only like zebras for their fetishy charm, you know that I like you far more than just that, right?”

“Of course I do,” Zecora beamed, moving his hoof away to throw his foreleg around Elusive’s shoulders as he stared down at him. “Though it wouldn’t hurt to hear the different ways from you~”

“Well,” Elusive’s heart fluttered, feeling like a colt falling in love for the first time (maybe more like a young mare) as he leaned into Zecora’s comforting masculine smell and continued. “You’ve got a peaceful patience about you, an intuition of which ponies have their hearts in the right place despite their actions, and which ones don’t.”

“Having dealt with a lot of well-meaning ponies treating me far from the best a long time ago, helps me have a better sense of how to know,” Zecora shrugged, resting his foreleg around Elusive’s shoulders as the bartender started walking towards them. With the big striped adonis and his dainty partner ordering drinks that were merely only to get tipsy and not get drunk, Zecora continued after the bartender walked away to get started. “I’ll be quite blunt but don’t take it as a demand or a must, but there is a reason that stage is used and it’s for lust~”

Elusive blushed as he looked to his right at the stage, noticing that a slender earth pony stallion was putting on a chastity cage while the zebra stallion triple his size patiently waited. A crowd was forming in front of the stage, even Fleur who was hiding next to his zebra of the night couldn’t help but be part of the crowd watching. The lights for the stage switched on and the crowd started applauding with their forehooves as the zebra stallion stood on his forelegs and allowed his femcolt to service him while wearing a frilly skirt over his cage. Hot blood rushed to Elusive’s face as he vividly remembered watching Zecora rail Rainbow Blitz only a couple months ago, knowing from such an experience that his Master had a curiosity for exhibitionism, even if such a kink didn’t delve into a full-on penchant for the striped stud. Taking sips of his drink that he barely noticed the bartender giving him, Elusive felt the warm tipsiness of alcohol encouraging him along as his cock steadily began to harden. Feeling Zecora’s firm forehoof tracing circles around the silky fur of his hindleg, the zebra was pounding his fat balls against the earth pony’s cage as he was then taking him doggy style to the uproar of the crowd when Elusive turned to his Master’s expectant gaze.

“Seeing as you’re captivated and beckoned by such a debaucherous sight, may I ask if something to this effect would bring you great delight?” Zecora’s hot breath tickled Elusive’s muzzle in all the right ways, and the svelte femcolt knew with a sharp sense of confidence that he was dying to be put in the same spot as Rainbow Blitz that fateful day. And despite being more than okay with being part of a zebra stud’s herd, Elusive honest-to-goodness loved the idea of being the only object of love and lust for his beloved Master for the night. Their relationship was the newest one out of the poly group of relationships after all, and Elusive finished the rest of his fruity drink before trotting to the stage. The zebra and his pony had left the stage a couple of minutes before Elusive left his seat, and excitement danced in each hoofstep that Elusive made towards that magical stage that made sinful promises into his floofy ears. His heart danced in his chest, fast and wanting, as he felt Zecora galloping right behind him from the feeling of his rough chest here and there against the unicorn’s flickering purple tail. The crowd roared in renewed excitement and gasps as they saw an Element of Harmony, a stallion that they likely assumed would never grace such an establishment. After all, the Elements up until Butters and Blitz started dating Zecora were very closed off about their sex lives and left the perverts of Equestria in the dark about who and what they were into. The sudden presence of Elusive kept a roaring scream of excitement and disbelief for a good several minutes as Zecora and his unicorn slut looked into each other’s eyes with sappy smiles and warm bodies tingling with the need of what was going to happen next.

Zecora was already completely bricked from the teasing throughout the course of the night, and chose a different course of action in regards to foreplay. Trotting up to Elusive and firmly placing his forehooves right behind the dainty unicorn’s shoulders, the striped adonis swiftly threw his unicorn onto his back while keeping his hooves on him the whole time. The maneuver got Elusive’s heart thundering from the excitement of the moment, though the landing on the stage floor was surprisingly gentle as Zecora hadn’t actually thrown him too hard. Zecora let go of Elusive, even though this was a brief moment to get to the position that the big stud needed to be. With his muzzle pressed up against Elusive’s ponut, Zecora stuck out his tongue and gave a long lick around the rim. Elusive instinctually placed his forehooves lightly on Zecora’s mohawk, letting out a soft moan as his cock steadily grew to be as hard as his Master’s. His deep blue eyes fluttered in their unfocused and needy state and his mouth remained panting and open as Zecora darted his fat tongue inside the unicorn.

“That bitch ain’t wearing any stripes!”

“Knock up that slutty little mare!”

“Look at him, bet he’s been fantasizing about letting go of his prudish image for years!”

“Oh fuck~” Elusive whined louder, enough to catch the horny ears of the front of the crowd right before Zecora stopped rimming him. With his backdoor plenty lubed up, Elusive heard Zecora grunt as he stood up on his forelegs and scooped the unicorn up, adjusting him until the unicorn was in a full nelson position to give the crowd the best possible view. Sure enough, the growing crowd of zebras and ponies alike roared with excitement at the favorable view as the tip of Zecora’s fat cock pressed against Elusive’s wet backdoor.

“Are you ready to be taken, and have your life forever shaken?” Zecora smirked, pressing his muzzle against Elusive’s neck as he ran his tongue up the soft fur. Elusive shuddered and melted into the touch, his eyes rolling into the back of his head with the readiness to be taken in front of everypony that could watch. Nodding his head, Elusive brayed to the heavens as he felt the familiar girth of Zecora’s cock penetrate his ponut wide and set both his loins and heart ablaze. He could only hope that the crowd both felt the love and the hotness between the two of them as inch after inch of Zecora’s zebra glory penetrated his hole. As he hilted Elusive successfully to the roar of the crowd, and the unicorn briefly spotting Fleur’s profuse and stubborn blush, Zecora pulled out and slammed his length back in as his slave saw stars. It was truly unreal how good he felt in every part of himself, the judging eyes losing all the more power as he bore witness to just how little their words actually held up. None of them, especially not Elusive, could truly deny the masculine magnitude of a zebra stud. They all wanted to be in Elusive’s position, and that damning reality lingered in the unicorn’s mind as he watched the bartender leave his spot with a bucket held by his muzzle. That bucket, with the midnight black pool of liquid inside, caught Elusive slightly out of the rut lust of currently being fucked senseless as he felt an emotional high soaring inside of him.

“Mind if I do the honors?” the bartender chuckled after he placed the bucket down on stage. “We’d have your Master do it, but he’s a bit occupied at the moment~”

“Please, oh FUCK YES, mark me so that everypony sees who I am~!” Elusive bellowed, only imagining that with half of the Elements striped, the rumors would go rampant throughout Equestria. Of a lone zebra stallion with the sole intentions of claiming all of the Mane 6 for himself, no doubt that the mean remarks about zebras would spike from such insecure ponies terrified of such a reality. Zecora grunted in agreement right before biting the fur over Elusive’s neck and earning a feminine yelp from his slut. He would’ve happily dolled up Elusive for the occasion, but selfishly, Zecora wanted the unicorn completely devoid of any clothes so he could get his newest slave striped up as quickly as possible. Elusive watched as the bartender zebra took out a paintbrush and dipped it in the black liquid for a couple of seconds before trotting up to the unicorn and swiping his dainty limbs with the stripes that would forever mark him thanks to the Zebrican magic that was laced within the paint. Only another zebra could remove those stripes if Elusive really wanted to get rid of them, but such a possibility seemed incredibly absurd with just how right it felt to have them on him. Like being reunited with an old friend, or returning to home after a long journey, the sensation of being marked with the same stripes as his long-wished-for Prince brought a surge of happy tears to Elusive’s eyes.

“Ahn! Hnng! Yes, yes, yes!” Elusive cried out as he felt the zebra’s paintbrush create a loose copy of Zecora’s cutie mark on his stomach, the exact spot where the striped adonis’ tip was creating a visible imprint on the dainty unicorn’s figure. It was a huge plus to fucking the slim shopkeeper that Zecora had over fucking Butterscotch or even Rainbow Blitz, to be able to see his imprint while fucking the dainty femcolt. And the sun pattern that the zebra put on Elusive’s stomach forever served as a reminder to a fact, breaking the unicorn’s mind as his tongue lolled out of his mouth and the most feminine wail escaped his mouth. A sound that pierced everyone in the underground club, pulsing shivers and causing several others jerking off to the show to cum themselves, as Elusive reached his own peak of fulfillment and satiated lust. Watery and pathetic seed spurted out from his pitiful length, never to be used for the same purpose as the superior stud using him. The zebra set to work on Elusive’s face, ensuring that his muzzle was painted and his cheeks bore the clear stripes of his Master.

All the while, Zecora set to rutting his newest prize like a beast possessed, drawing kisses and giving an air of romance in an otherwise debaucherous scenario. As Elusive brayed profanities and refused to restrain his lewd desires from the crowd, Zecora was drawing to a close as his fat balls slapped against his unicorn’s much smaller ones. The thunderous PLAP PLAP PLAP that echoed from the stage was barely louder than Elusive’s whorish sounds, and the depraved symphony of the audience. Even Fleur couldn’t refrain from magically jerking himself off as his zebra mounted him and took him in front of the crowd, the pompous unicorn not giving a fuck if he got outed for cheating the next morning. Elusive’s cock quickly got fully erect again only a couple minutes after his first orgasm of the night, when Zecora spontaneously flipped him down into a doggy style position while still standing on his hindlegs. The bartender zebra was allowed to paint the stripes flawlessly on Elusive’s back and stopped warily at the Element’s cutie marks, looking expectedly to his fellow zebra.

“He will obviously want his cutie marks still able to see, though for the rest your creativity is absolutely free,” Zecora managed to spit out the rhymes before shutting his eyes and working up a true sweat as he jackhammered harder than before. The performance of the powerful striped adonis was not only crucial for his partner going through the deeply spiritual practice of being bound to his lover through striping, but also for showing the crowd just how damn lucky the Element of Generosity was in his current predicament. With the bartender’s sensitive brush dancing on the silky slut’s ass cheeks, and Zecora fucking him harder than ever before with thrusts that blacked out his mind and put Rainbow Blitz’ speed to shame, Elusive had skyrocketed into a second orgasm as he brayed like a mare getting gangbanged. He delighted in such a lewd admittance, and his balls getting abused by the slaps of Zecora’s bigger balls only degraded him in all the best ways.

“Alright, the striping is complete,” the zebra stepped away, setting the brush into the bucket and nodding with a smile and a fully erect cock from the hot noises flooding his ears. Picking up the handle of the bucket back into his muzzle, the bartender trotted off back to his station to resume making drinks for the patient customers who had been happily jerking off to the show.

“I’m completely marked?!” Elusive moaned with glee, his purple tail dancing from side to side and nearly swatting his Master in the face. “Oh dear Solaris, please flip me onto my back and let’s make this finale memorable darling~!”

Fortunately with the magical paint being able to dry instantly, Zecora had no qualms with following Elusive’s request and easily flipping the eager unicorn onto his back. With the two in sync now more than ever, Zecora didn’t have to ask why the change in position. On top of seeing Elusive’s bobbing cock and newly striped body from the front, Zecora was able to look into the unicorn’s priceless eyes and lunge at his sub’s lips. Connecting in a deep kiss, an exchange of tongues, Zecora was pushed past the point of return. Jackhammering harder from the surge of romance even more so than the appeal of the crowd, Zecora felt his heart melt and his pleasure hit a peak as he hilted his monstrous bitchbreaker into his freshly striped bitch, moaning like a whore as Zecora grunted with his orgasm. Rope after rope of his seed entered the depths of Elusive’s backdoor, throwing the unicorn into his third and final orgasm as he felt the pinnacle of fulfillment from such a finale. Many of the audience also came from such a hot sight, even though a lot of the perverts could take or leave the romantic element. Though it wasn’t for them to understand, but purely for Zecora and Elusive to at that very moment.

Slipping his cock out of Elusive’s backdoor, Zecora sighed as he collapsed onto the much lighter unicorn and held him as they both passed out on stage. The audience didn’t bother with still using the stage, the night pretty much over as the staff began escorting them out and the bartender left to the back to retrieve a blanket for the two of them. It was far from the first time a zebra and his bitch had fucked so spectacularly as to pass out, and another zebra walked up to the bartender and tilted his head at him as he placed the blanket on the two.

“We’re letting them stay here the night?” the other zebra asked. “What if they wake up soon and want to leave? We obviously wouldn’t lock them in.”

“Oh no, I’ll sleep behind the counter and hold onto the keys if they want to leave early,” the bartender explained. “After all, I want to treat them to lunch upstairs tomorrow. A zebra stud withan Element of Harmony? Do you know just how much business they gave us for the next several months at least? We’ll be rich!”