Perchance to Dream

by David Silver

42 - Home of Horses

The first thing I noticed as we entered the stalls was the smell. I was of two minds of it. On one end, it reeked of... animal. It wasn't overwhelming. They kept their place tidy, but it was the home of their horses and it would smell of them, like it or not.

On the other hand, I was a horse too, sort of. I could smell stallions, mares, and geldings that didn't quite smell like either. I couldn't tell much more than they existed in that space, but they were there. I glanced to Kevin, but he seemed ignorant of such things, as most humans should be. Was I still human? I decided I was, just with a tiny little extra added on. It wasn't time to have identity crises over being able to sniff out a horse.

Starlight was looking around with wide eyes until she locked onto a horse in a stall and hurried towards them. "Is this all the space they have?" She was checking out the ten by ten'sh space and the large animal that occupied it. She was a mare and nickered at Starlight with mild suspicion.

Our host came up beside Starlight. "They don't need much more than that, missy. Alright, confession time. You were raised with a little pony in your backyard, weren't you? That's literally the only way this comes together."

"Well, yes," said Starlight in a confessing tone. "I was raised with ponies. Why... I feel a certain... identity with them. These horses are far from ponies, but the kinship is there."

"Uh huh." He gestured at the mare. "This here's Abby. Come here, Abby, say hello." He lightly tapped the fence of the stall and made a little clicking noise of his own. Slowly, the mare did approach and he gently patted her on the bridge of her nose. "She's a shy one, but once she warms up, she loves company."

Something teased at me. Something spicy but so very subtle. Something that made me warm inside. Something about Abby, specifically, though I had no way to pin it down.

Starlight, on the other hand, had no such problem, and no restraint about it. "Well hello there, Abby." She reached and stroked the mare gently, only to yank it back when a nip was incoming. "Poor thing, horses don't handle their estrus very well."

The man stood straight. "What? She isn't scheduled for another week." He cocked a brow. "Wait, you bred ponies? How could you tell?"

Alarms went off in my head, and I decided to play the hippy card. "It's a talent of hers," I said, stepping in. "It freaked her parents out just as much, but it was a useful one, for the ponies."

Starlight nodded. "Of course." She didn't argue, good.

The man shook his head. "That's a hell of a talent. We'll have her checked out later to be sure. It'll save us some money if she's already receptive."

Starlight glanced around. "Where's her coltfriend?"

"Coltfriend? Her last colt's already big enough to be separate."

"Not her foal, the one you, um..." She rolled a hand helplessly.

Kevin spoke up, "The stallion."

"Oh, right!" He pivoted in place. "Just this way. As you can see, we take pride in a clean and friendly environment for our horses. We love them, each and every one, and we want them to be happy and healthy. But they aren't here just for fun either." He waved at the horses we went past, females and geldings. "Draft, racing, or riding, they each have a purpose. They do their job well, but they're part of our family. Now the stallion here," He gestured at a white and brown specimen. "He's not part of the family. We're renting him. He'll be helping Abby make stronger racers."

Stallion, for sure. I knew it even if I hadn't just been told. Somehow, the horse seemed to appraise me much the same way. The way he stood, the noise he made. He wasn't that happy to have me there, little odd stallion that I sort of was. I kept my distance, hoping the others could visit without incident.

Starlight looked over the massive horse with an appreciative nod. "He is quite the, uh, horse. What's his name?"

"Ace," replied our host. "I'd let you meet him, but he wasn't that well trained for personality, and that isn't why we have him, so we'll stay on this side of the fence."

The stallion went and displayed that he had all the attributes that a stallion should have. His attention was on Starlight, ignoring me once I stopped trying to come closer.

Starlight's expression was a mix of wonder and disgust. I figured it was about the same as seeing a well-hung ape of some sort leering at me. I wouldn't be all that thrilled either.

The host stepped to block the view somewhat, laughing. "And horses will do what horses do. Let's hope he keeps up that spirit when it's time to do his job." He gently shooed our group away from the amorous stallion. "Now I'm going to lead some of the mares out to the pasture we just came from. Would you, Miss Pony Princess, like to lead one? I wager you'll handle it just fine."

Starlight recovered nicely, smiling. "May I?" Soon she was holding the reigns of one of the heavy draft mares. "She's huge!" breathed out Starlight as she pet the immense beast along the side.

"She's a gentle giant. Don't startle her and she'll follow you anywhere." He was leading a slender mare and I ended up with a spotted gelding. "Just follow me and we'll let them stretch their legs."

We walked in an orderly line out of the stalls and on towards the pasture. We could see other ranch-hands were already gathering up the horses there and were leading them back towards the stalls. As the two trains of horses passed, the naughty gelding that had nipped at Black before went for a taste of me. He nosed and nipped at my shoulder. With the clothing in the way, it was more surprising than anything else. He hadn't bit nearly as hard as he could have if he wanted. It was a teasing motion, not an attack. Perhaps he wanted to show how dominant he was, but there was little chance for that as he was led away.

We led our own horses to the pasture and our host was quick to free them to graze and wander. "Good job all around. It's not a glamorous job, but letting them get some space helps keep them healthy. Their stalls are also part of that. Horses are shy creatures." I saw Starlight's brow raise. "They like being snug and safe sometimes."

Kevin flipped his phone towards himself. "Thank you for the tour, but if we want to stay on schedule, we should probably head on."

The host tipped his hat. "If you ever find yourself this way again, do stop by." His eyes went to Starlight. "You have a genuine talent there, Miss Starlight. If you're ever looking for a job, consider ranching."

"I'll keep it in mind," lied Starlight. "Thank you for the tour."

Soon enough we were piled back into the moving van and back on the road. Kevin was in the passenger seat, and it was my turn to drive, so I guided the van onward towards our destination. "So, Starlight, what'd you think?"

"I think it's uncanny..." She frowned a little. "You can see it in their eyes, so close, yet immeasurably distant. Horses are not ponies. They're built wrong, but that's only because they fall right into that curious place where you can only focus on how wrong it is. Thank you, for taking me." She crossed her arms. "I'm glad I got to see it. Kevin, you captured it all on your device?"

"Got it," he assured. "I'll share it with Twilight when we're not on the move."

"She'll be glad to see it, and have a thousand questions, I bet."

A question came to my mind. "So, Starlight? Do ponies have an estrus?"

She went red even as she laughed. "Do humans?"

Kevin answered before I did, "Nope."

"Really? So a human mare can become with foal at any time then?"

I tapped at the steering wheel lightly. "Not so much. They have to have an egg at the right place, and the lining... It's complicated, but no, not any time."

She lifted her shoulders. "So you become fertile at a certain time. Is it seasonal, yearly, monthly? Whatever it is, how is it not an estrus?"

The car went quiet. We had no good answers for that. But we did have... The Internet! Kevin was busily looking it up. "Huh... The main reason they're called 'menstrual cycles' instead of 'estrus cycles' was that people thought women gave no signs that could be seen when they were receptive, but studies are showing otherwise..." He swiped his finger across the phone, then started laughing. "Oh god..."

"What?" Starlight was reaching for the phone, but Kevin was keeping it away. "What did you find? Do humans have estrus or not?"

Kevin saw that silence was not an option. "Women who worked as exotic dancers received considerably higher tips while they were fertile."

Starlight got an expression of cocky vindication. "There you have it. We are all mammals. Now can we stop acting like foals about it? We all do it, it isn't that big of a deal. We're thinking creatures and can make decisions. It's not like we're... base animals, ruled by our needs."

As amusing as that conversation had gotten on some levels, I decided to veer off in more ways than one. "So who's hungry? You feeling adventurous still, Starlight? I see a steakhouse up ahead."

"What kind of steak?" asked Starlight innocently before it hit her. "You're testing me, aren't you?"

Kevin nudged her from the other side. "You can't go wandering through the heart of America and not try it."

"I don't know what your country has to do with it.." She sighed loudly. "But I won't refuse your local traditions, this once, just to try it, I suppose."

I couldn't help but turn a smirk as I drove. "And that has nothing to do with your human tastebuds telling you that meat can be really tasty."

She went red and didn't argue the fact more than a petulant grumbling as she shrank on herself.

"Don't be like that." Kevin nudged her again. "We're not making fun of you. Look forward to my expressions when you take me out to taste test flowers."

She rose up, blinking. "You don't eat flowers normally?"

Author's Note:

Humans, Ponies, Horses. They all have their similarities, and their differences, hmm?

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Comments

[Emtu]

Don't startle here and she'll follow you anywhere.

her

[StormDancer]

Many smirks were had. There might have even been a few chuckles.

And it looks like Linda's learning to notice a few things she didn't even know to look for previously. Wonder how many other little things are changing in her head without her knowing?

Anyway, nice chapter.

[badninja]

Well the next chapter should be interesting as we cover the different foods both sides consume. Why don't more stories involving humans and ponies cover this more in depth? Starlight is about to get on beach of a crash course I see.

[Booster Spice]

Got a bit close at the ranch there but at least they got away intact. Next stop though could be something totally different. Given a choice between something hyped up for social bullying and attempting to kill you off through biological warfare, and something thats been thermally treated until its gurenteed not only stone dead, but also mostly predigested, Id take the option that tastes best and ps off the most hipsters.

[David Silver]

7986865 Fixed!

[Warrior Kitten]

7986908
Most stories don't do it because it's considered filler. It's hard to do right because it's easy for the readers to lose interest while reading it.

[SRY]

A very well put together chapter there, especially liked how the discussion on estrus went.

[David Silver]

7988042 Because science?

[Daremo]

gently pat her - gently patted her

---

Just the one typo today, but lots of interesting storytelling!

[SRY]

7988066
Well yes. We all have our mistresses we must obey.

[tsaukpaetra]

That was great, she really is acquiring stallion mannerisms, huh? We were half expecting her to take a big whiff and maybe a nice grin !
That makes us wonder, can he get an erection while stone? The science must happen!
Keep going! ;)

[Sylica telca]

42!!!!!!!!!!!!!