Opening the front door, Bucky was surprised by five mares and one little griffoness. He stood in the doorway, feeling somewhat befuddled and confused. He shut the door behind him and looked at his wives.

“Surprise,” they all said in soft subdued voices.

“What are all of you doing up at this hour?” Bucky asked.

Stepping forward, Derpy snoot-bumped Bucky. “Oh we took naps, got rested, and then we decided to have a nice little surprise party for you. There is cake in the kitchen. Berry baked it and we covered it with whipped cream… we made it ourselves.”

“I don’t understand,” Bucky said as he stood there blinking.

“You came home in better condition than you left.” Berry Punch gestured at the kitchen.

“No more Taint.” Bon Bon smiled.

“I still miss your creepy eye,” Lyra said as she ducked away from Bon Bon’s hoof.

“We wanted to tell you that we love you and we’re very happy that you’re better.” Thistle gave Bucky a seductive smile. “Hey Mister, want to buy some filly scout cookies?”

“It is my fondest wish that Bandua has grey eyes like yours.” Belisama sat up on her haunches and looked up at Bucky.

Sniffing, Bucky smelled something delicious. There was more than cake. There was also mare musk. He closed his eyes. There was also tea, smelled like a red blend, something strong and full of citrus. His mouth watered. A pair of lips pressed up against his and he almost opened his eyes, but instead, he savoured the surprise. Much to his shock, it was Bon Bon that was about to cause his tail to be sucked into his backside.

Bon Bon pulled away with a wet smacking of her lips. She stood with her own eyes closed for a moment, breathing deep, and then she opened her eyes. “Get in that kitchen and go have some cake.”

Feeling himself pulled forward, Bucky opened his eyes. He was surrounded on all sides and being shoved into the kitchen. Belisama pulled out a chair for him and he sat down. There was the creak of wood and the squeak of chairs being pulled out as Bucky’s wives also sat down.

“The tea is a special blend from Violet. Red tea, with rose hips and orange peels. The cake is lemon and poppy seed. We were going to crack open a bottle of wine, but most of us shouldn’t be drinking wine, so we left it in the bar,” Berry Punch said as Lyra began cutting the cake into slices.

The first slice, a thin one, went to Belisama.

“So we thought we’d throw you a little party,” Lyra said.

“I baked the cake,” Berry said, grinning with pride.

“I fixed the tea,” Lyra said.

“All I did to prepare for your party is cut the cheese,” Derpy said as she leaned over in her chair and let rip.

“Ugh, pegasi!” Bon Bon fanned the air with her hoof. “And this one has the most suspicious of all cutie marks, considering what she just did. Phew!”

“Feel like living dangerously, Thistle?” Lyra asked as she held the knife over the cake.

“Sure, cut me off a tiny slice. Nothing bigger than what you gave Belisama,” Thistle replied. The kelpie looked at Bucky. “Don’t you go doing anything stupid where you end up with the Taint again!”

“Thistle, keep your voice down unless you want foals eating our delicious cake.” Berry Punch poked Thistle in the ribs.

Reaching out her hoof, Derpy swiped a dollop of frosting from the cake and then smeared it over Bucky’s snoot. She then gave Bucky a coy grin. “I just don’t know what went wrong,” she said as she leaned forward. She threw her legs around Bucky’s neck and began to lick the frosting from his snoot. Her wings fluttered at her side as she let out a happy squeal.

“Well, at least she cleans up after herself.” Bon Bon grinned.

Thistle picked up a fork in her hoof and looked down at her slice of cake. “Bell Heather kept saying ‘daddoo’ the entire time you were gone. She was adorable.” Thistle stabbed her cake and broke off a bite, which she ate.

Derpy pulled away from Bucky, slid a slice of cake close to her, and began to devour it in such a way that only pregnant mares can devour cake.

Smiling, feeling calm and happy, Bucky poured some tea, claimed a slice of cake, and then looked around the table. As he was watching, Bon Bon daubed Lyra’s snoot with frosting, licked it off, and then the two mares almost fell out of their chairs as they groped one another in one very steamy kiss.

Slumping down in his chair, Bucky felt very relaxed. He took a sip of tea, tried a bite of cake, and then took another bite of cake. He swallowed, savouring the pleasing flavour of lemons and the soft texture of the whipped cream on his tongue.

“Bucky, we love you… we love you a great deal. And we understand that you have responsibilities… I talked with Sunset Shimmer and I made her tell me everything that happened,” Berry Punch said in a low voice. Her eyes narrowed. “Bucky, as your wife, I am asking you to please, never do anything that stupid ever again.”

“Yes Bucky, please, no more walking into obvious traps,” Belisama said, looking up at Bucky with pleading eyes. “We all know that we are going to lose you someday, but please, don’t take away what little time we have together because of a foolish act.”

“What you did was stupid,” Derpy said as she turned her good eye upon her husband.

“I’m sorry.” Bucky’s ears dropped and he apologised again. “Really, I am sorry. I knew was going to be a trap of some kind. I tried to have my contingencies in place. I thought… well, never mind what I thought. I didn’t think it was going to be as bad as it was. I thought I’d be roughed up a bit and then I’d come home and recover.”

“It kills us, all of us, when you come home all busted up.” Lyra waved her frosting covered fork at Bucky. “Each one of us lives in dread when you go out that door. We comfort one another and we hope for the best while each one of prepares for the worst. Each one of us has a terrible fear that some pegasus with silver armor is going to come to our door and politely inform us that you’re not coming home!”

“I’m sorry!” Bucky felt a growing lump in his throat.

“That’s enough… this was supposed to be a happy time. So everypony and everybirdy, eat cake and try and be happy. He’s home and we have him,” Derpy said.

“I have the best wives in the world.” Bucky reached up and wiped his eyes with his right foreleg. “I love you all… you give me something I want to come home to.”

“You’re damn right we’re the best wives… and don’t you forget it!” Berry stuffed the rest of her cake in her mouth. She lifted her hoof and waved it in Bucky’s direction. Aftering chewing, she swallowed. “I have issues because of what happened to you… I probably have post traumatic stress disorder and I am eaten alive by guilt… so you need to come home so I can slavishly attend your needs so I can feel better about my own shortcomings, you prickish arsehole.”

Bon Bon cleared her throat. “Berry Punch… language please.”

“At least I was honest.” Berry Punch set down her fork and looked at the remainder of the cake. Licking her lips, Berry Punch picked up her teacup and took a sip, her eyes never leaving the cake.

“I love you Berry Pu—”

“You’d damn well better! I started a war for you… I did something so monumentally stupid that now I am bloody feckin’ hyprocrite for chewing you out when you do stupid stunts, so feck both of us! I’m a thriced damned plaster saint and the cracks are showing.” Berry set down her teacup a little too hard and it sloshed out over the table.

“Ooh… hormones,” Lyra said in soft voice.

Berry Punch blinked her red teary eyes, picked her teacup back up, and held it between trembling hooves. She took a sip, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

Reaching out a foreleg, Derpy patted Berry Punch on the withers and tried to comfort her friend. Derpy kissed Berry on the cheek and gave her a squeeze, and was rewarded with a soggy smile from Berry.

“Berry may have done something stupid, but it brought us together. Bucky might have been chewed up, but we’re together. Bell Heather has a good daddy. Loch Skimmer and Ripple have a family that loves them. Sentinel… could any of you imagine life without Sentinel?” Thistle leaned over the table and looked at Berry Punch. “You have to find the good in things… you keep telling me that Berry… and now I’m telling you.”

“Thanks Thistle.” Berry wiped her eyes and sniffled.

“Have some more cake,” Lyra said, cutting off an enormous slice and dropped it onto Berry’s plate.

“I am going to burn the words ‘don’t do anything stupid’ over our front door.” Bucky set down his teacup and took a bite of cake. He chewed, thinking to himself, and glancing over at Berry. He swallowed. “Berry Punch said that should be our family motto.”

“I think we’ve all done something stupid,” Lyra said. “Bon Bon and I took off on an adventure to be with you, Berry Punch started a war, Thistle ran off and got herself knocked up, Derpy dove into the freezing waters of the lake just recently—”

“And what have I done?” Belisama asked.

“You gave yourself to Bucky and got involved… that’ll learn ya,” Berry Punch replied.

“I regret nothing,” Belisama said, lifting her head and looking defiant as a little griffon who just managed to peer over the edge of the table could look.

“Neither does Bucky apparently.” Derpy looked at her husband.

“I had my regrets this time. I didn’t think I was coming home. I never got to see Bandua’s eyes. I never got to meet the twins, all four of them. Trust me, I had regrets.” Bucky blinked away tears and ate more cake.

“This was supposed to be a happy time.” Bon Bon shook her head and ate a bite of cake.

“I am happy.” Bucky looked at Bon Bon. “But I am also having a solemn moment to be thankful of what I have.”

For a time, there was silence around the kitchen table. There was no dialogue, only the sounds of six ponies and one griffoness eating and sipping tea. They looked at one another, eyes met, made connections, and there were exchanges that said more than any words could.

After a few tearful glances at one another, smiles, real happy smiles appeared, except for Belisama, whose crest rose. Bon Bon was the first to grin, her smile splitting open and revealing teeth. Bon Bon waggled her eyes at Berry Punch and Berry Punch giggled. Berry Punch’s giggling caused Derpy to let slip a little laugh. Derpy laughing caused Thistle to titter.

Hearing his wives laughing made Bucky feel better.

“We’ve all done something stupid… and look at us. We have assured our own destruction. Derpy and I are going to unleash an army come spring. Bon Bon might be pregnant. Loch Skimmer is pregnant. How are we going to survive?” Berry Punch asked.

“We present a united front,” Bon Bon replied.

“How do we teach our foals not to be as stupid as us?” Derpy asked.

“I think that’s a lost cause,” Lyra replied. “We’re going to release a flood of stupidity upon Equestria… I mean, come on, let’s be realistic. Sentinel is already following in his father’s hoofsteps. We all saw how chewed up he was after the rat invasion. And he kept fighting even after a rat chomped his balls.”

“Our foals will be the really stupid ones that run towards danger… and they will likely scare us to death,” Bon Bon said.

“Oh… no… I don’t like thinking about this,” Thistle said.

Lyra lifted her head high. “When Harper was confronted by rats… she zapped them. Most foals would be crying for their mama or their daddy… but Harper’s behaviour was shocking.”

“Lyra.” Derpy shook her head.

Berry blinked her eyes and sniffled a few times. “I know that I’m feeling better, but can I still get a pity screw from somepony?” Berry Punch stuck out her lip and tried to look as sad as possible. “Pwease?”

Author's Notes:

Sorry... you shouldn't stand on the tracks when the feels train is coming.