> Horseback Learnin' > by kransi > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the sun starting to set, Twilight gently pulled on Light's reins. "Whoa there..." she said quietly. At this point she barely had to say it, given she could feel him, and evidently, he could feel her. At first she was amazed that she could strike a friendship with a stallion in the human world, given what she'd read about them, but it was an exercise in friendship to have discovered that she could - and in many ways, Light provided a far calmer companionship than her friends, as much as she loved them too. Yet out of all the horses at the stables, it seemed only Lighthoof would quiet when she approached, and stare at her, licking his lips whenever she'd come, and whinny whenever she'd go. He certainly wasn't the star of the bunch, with various wealthier humans having their own horses, rather than the one Twilight was merely paying to use to learn how to ride, though that was mainly due to his relative lack of agility. If anything, he was big. Bigger than any other in the stable, and bulkier too. It was like had all those muscles in his thighs and barrel that he couldn't really put to good use, other than to gallop with a learner on his back. This had all started back when her friends had told her to finally get a hobby that didn't involve sitting in the college lab until the late hours of the night. Try something 'sporty' they said, something to get some fresh air, away from the stuffy lab. And as an act of friendship, she obliged, not that she wouldn't sometimes lie. Yet over the past two months, she'd come back to the stables every other day after her last class, and only two weeks ago she got her first certificate, permitting her to ride alone, so long as she kept to the stables, racecourse, and small meadow. Her slender fingers ran through his mane from the base right to the top of his head, feeling along his sturdy skull, the horse was still quite anxious to get moving, kicking his hooves even as they both basked in the orange sun, Twilight shifted herself on the saddle so her feet pulled back, and she could lie on his neck, and slinging her arms around him. "I'm glad I started doing this. I didn't know I could feel so... alive." she said quietly, earning another nicker from the horse. With a small kick to his side and a bit of imagination, Twilight and the horse were headed back to the stables. Though... just for kicks. Just because she wouldn't be seeing him tomorrow... she leaned right in to bury her whole face in his mane, with a drawn out smell of the hair she'd washed herself by hand, and the softest kiss right over his ear. "I don't know what I'd do without you." she said, receiving merely a long, drawn out rumbling neigh in response. She didn't care her glasses were half way down her face, or that she'd smell, well, like the stables. She just cared she could share their hours together when they could. Every gallop, every time those hooves hit the ground, she felt a little bit closer to home. "Ya!" she shouted, her voice sputtering for a moment as she smiled, realizing she had one of his long, chestnut mane hairs stuck in her mouth, with the stallion accelerating under her, she felt far safer hugging him like this than in the saddle with proper form as she'd been taught. Looking up for a moment, she saw a pair of headlights on the road by the barn. Was that... Dash's car? Complete in blue with a cloud and rainbow on the bonnet. The purple science student immediately straightened herself up, and Light understood to slow down a little as she thought out a game plan. Why the heck was she here! She'd never come to the stable before, aside from when all six of them had gone on a ride around town to find her a hobby so long ago now. "Celestia, why did she have to come here... and now... I.. grh." she paused, closing her eyes for a second. "Calm down, Twilight." she said to herself, as her steed trotted closer to the stable, she waited until he came to a complete halt as she saw Rainbow practically sliding down the hill with her sneakers and a backpack slung over her shoulder, complete with her soccer uniform. Carefully placing her foot back into a stirrup, Twilight lifted herself over, thankfully her jeans not catching on the saddle this time, until she managed to completely lower herself. She couldn't help but give Light a couple of solid pats on the side. 'Act natural' she thought, something he seemed to understand, given that he took a couple of steps back with a quiet nicker. "Where ya been, Twi?!" Dash called over, as she jogged the rest of the way over. "I thought we were going to get burgers. Or, like that plant burger you're always raving about. For you. Not for me." Dash said, getting a little stuck in the details too, before shaking her head, as her rainbow hair blew about her face in the light breeze. "Oh... Erm..." Twilight said, only just realizing her glasses were out of whack too, she corrected them and smoothed her hair back and quickly into a scrunchie, though it was clear it was a rough job, as even then she still looked dishevelled after her little ride. "Sorry, I guess I forgot. Y'know how I am, f-forgetful!" she shrugged, laughing nervously. Dash was the last person she wanted to know about the fact that she'd been coming here almost every other day just to see Light and to spend time working on her hobby. Though the rational part of her mind told her that Dash wouldn't exactly suspect that she had feelings for a horse. 'These humans are so closed-minded.' she thought to herself, which resulted in a small, seemingly unrelated kick of Light's hoof into the dusty clay and hay of the stables. "Well, it's not too late... I just thought I'd meet ya at the fountain. The girls are headed over now, so you can still come.... I mean, like if you still wanna." Dash pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow, with a hand on her side, she looked between Twilight and the stallion for a few long seconds. "Oh right. Yeah. Sure. Donezo. Burger. Burger for me and burger foooor you." Twilight replied, taking a couple of steps back, keeping one eye on Dash, she guided her horse into the stable and gave the briefest of strokes along his muzzle, making sure it was locked up, she turned out the light and headed out of the barnyard door to accompany her friend, with one smirk back to Light. > The diner > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the car, Twilight huddled herself a little to keep her warm, enough for Dash to notice to turn on the AC. With some sweat on her back after her riding session, and because of that tender moment she shared with Lighthoof before Dash arrived, she her back and sides were already getting cold. Dash rummaged around in the back seat of the Fiat, trying to find a jacket or something for Twilight, enough for Twilight to get ansty. "Ten and two! Ten and two! Steering wheel!" Twilight urged, until she felt the jacket fall right into her lap. "Yeah, yeah... Put that on, ya dork. I dunno why you didn't go home to change or anything, I saw you wearing that same shirt at lunch. And why are you out riding in February anyway?" Dash glanced over to see Twilight was using the jacket more like a blanket, in her usual fashion of safety first, she'd rather not undo her seatbelt in the car, epsecially with Dash at the wheel. "You can't really ask me then when it was you and Pinkie who were insisting I go 'out' and do something. Plus, the horses are nice. It's not like they don't get lonely just because it's February." she replied, pushing her glasses up her nose and laying her head back on the headrest to close her eyes and spend a few more precious moments thinking about Light. Out of all the stress of being in this world, with her friends being apparently far more amorous with boys than their equivalents back home, and the constant terror of failing a class (something she hadn't felt since her early days before Ponyville), her horse offered her a peace of mind that even Fluttershy's cocoa couldn't beat. The pair arrived at the diner about ten minutes later, as they drove up they saw Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack in the window sitting at a booth talking amongst themselves as a waiter poured coffee. Twilight figured Pinkie was either in the bathroom or at the afterschool comedy club. She'd rather Pinkie be there, even if just so she could feel a little cheer after having to leave her stallion. "Yeah, she was at the horse stables, horsin' around. Like, really horsin' around." was all Twilight heard in Dash's chipper voice, starting quiet and becoming louder until she perked her head up out of the trance using the wooden stirrer in her latte. "Huh?" the student quickly replied, looking rather shifty too, as the other four glanced at her, with Rarity looking rather bemused. "We were wonderin' how much we could talk without cha' snappin' outta yer coffee." Applejack said, folding her arms on the small table and leaning in. "Oh, no, right, I was just practicing. Horsin' around, hah..." Twilight trailed off, though there was clearly something up with her, and Rarity could see it too by the way she reached out an arm to trail a thumb on Dash's jacket that Twilight was wearing. "I didn't know you were keeping up with that Twilight, it's nice that you found something you like. But it was getting dark. What if you fell off, or, or, or...!" Fluttershy interjected with some panic. "That wouldn't happen, Lighthoof is a gentle stallion. I'd only fall off if I wasn't paying attention." Twilight said, taking the first sip off her coffee and holding it in her mouth. "How much have you been going there? I sorta thought you'd be at home reading or whatever you do after class. But you were riding fast, like, a pro." Dash said, though her mouth was stuffed with about half of her burger. "About every other day. I have it all in a calendar so I make sure I can buy hay and carrots and top up his salt lick, not to mention he needs to be kept clean." Twilight replied nonchalantly, but she'd already pulled out the last page of her diary with a timetable showing small hearts and smiley faces drawn in pink gel pen for the days when she was going. The four girls were shocked, not really sure what to say. Is this why they were seeing so little of her? Even Rarity withdrew her hand. "You've been going... so much. I didn't know." Rarity said cooly. Twilight, in her temporary enthusiasm, had clearly gotten a little carried away. The girl withdrew her calendar and stuffed it back into her pocket, looking back down. "Not because I don't like you girls! It's just nice to take a break." Twilight replied in a low voice. At some point in the past two months she'd brushed all of them off at least twice, making up some excuse, even pretending to stay in the lab or at the library at college as they left, before darting off to continue her lessons and then her solo training. "We understand darlin', but we'd appreciate it if ya hadn't lied about it or kept it a secret. If yer just needin' a break from things, why not hang out with us?" Applejack replied, which only resulted in a small shrug from Twilight. "You were galloping about with that clumsy horse, when we just wanted to make you feel at home! Is it really so bad to spend time with us? You could've been hurt!" Rarity asked, expressing the discontent of the group against her. Even Fluttershy looked a little offended that Twilight had lied about what she'd been doing for so long, in an apparently silly obsession with a hobby none of them could really understand to an extent more than to poke fun at. "You're all being unreasonable!" Twilight said, standing up in a swift motion and slamming her palms down on the table, breathing heavily as she looked between each of them. "Light may not be the fastest stallion, or the fittest, but he knows how to listen, and he knows when I'm just... homesick." she explained, her voice was already starting to waver at the end, slumping right back down into her booth and taking her glasses off to rub her eyes some. > Frustration > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although the conversation had turned elsewhere that evening, mainly to matters of Rarity's new fashion portfolio she was going to submit for her class, Twilight hadn't rejoined other than to smile and nod with a comment here and there. Things were still testy, since Twilight hadn't apologized for her outburst, nor had the girls apologized for their comments - not that anyone thought they were in the wrong, of course, but by the end of dinner everyone had plans for the week except Twilight herself. Applejack was especially sure the girl would have occupied evenings with 'that horse', so there was no need to invite her anywhere, and she'd said it so matter-of-factly as though it were an unquestionable fact that Twilight would have the rest of her week booked up with Lighthoof. The diner being close to campus, Twilight decided to go home alone, as she splintered from the group after some brief goodbyes, but she could feel all four of them glancing over their shoulder to see her go, though Dash said she could keep the jacket. Half of Twilight's face was stuffed inside it in embarrassment as she walked away down the high walls and hedges while the girls were going to their shared off-campus accomodation. Her legs were a little sore given that she hadn't done her stretches after the ride, being whisked away so quickly, causing her to pause now and then and squat slightly, rubbing up and down the inside muscles, until she paused on a bench to look at the stars. "Am I in the wrong? What if I never started any of this. What if I never agreed to come to this world." she moaned to herself, her frustration finally boiling up to land with a fist against the wood... or the metal dedication plaque of the bench, causing her to yelp and shake it off. She couldn't make out the whole sky, especially with the streetlights around her; this was never a problem in Ponyville, as 'backward' as even she had to admit it was, at least she could get a good view of the night sky. At least the constellations gave her some sense of continuitiy between the worlds. Back in her apartment, she pulled out a vegetarian microwavable dinner from her fridge, practically slamming the contents into her dirty microwave, leaning against the fridge. "Huh. Potassium sorbate." she mumbled as the paper packaging crinkled in her hands. With how things went at the diner, everyone had a bite to eat except her. Those eggs looked delicious, but it wasn't as though she could stand being watched eating by the others after snapping at them. However, her eyes soon trailed to the side of the fridge. A fridge magnet she had custom made showing herself, her tall instructor, and Light together. She held a Level 1 certificate in one hand and was fist-pumping in the other. That was the first time she felt genuinely happy since coming to the world. And she hadn't even thanked her friends for the opportunity. One dinner later, she was lying on her bed, browsing this 'TikTok' thing, apparently an app dedicated to humans showing off how foolish they can be. With a drawn out sigh she wanted to lean back, only to hit her head on the headboard of her bed, drawing out a hiss. But when she opened her eyes, for whatever reason the first thing she spotted was that box in the corner of the room. The box was longer than it was wide or deep, and upon it was a heavily stylized horse who seemed to be winking at the viewer. She'd shoved it into a corner after feeling guilty for having it, for even having the idea of buying it and dealing with the risk of it arriving, but it was right there, in her room, right at that time. She'd maxed out on the size of the thing in a hot flash during one of her horny sessions, but she wasn't prepared for the sheer size of the box itself which only gave more indication as to how big the dildo inside was. She was annoyed that she couldn't really get something that looked exactly like what she wanted. All of them she saw were rather thin, even if they did widen near the base, and the flares looked rather small compared to what she'd seen in the magazines in the royal library back home. She pulled her legs up to her chest while staring the box down. Human physiology was different, and it had taken her a good month or so to warm up to to the idea of touching herself in this form, never mind being able to bring herself to orgasm which had taken yet another month. Crawling to the side of the bed, each motion made her reconsider her decision. She knew this wasn't right, in the human world at least. It was frowned upon, weird, but... not illegal. If she couldn't be with Light, then who could blame a long lost pony from afar for enjoying some creature comforts closer to home? Reaching over and digging her fingers into the packaging, she had to properly grasp around until she got ahold of the silicone shaft, giving it the occasional squeeze to test its firmness before even seeing it, until she yanked it out in one swoop, letting the box fall to the floor. It stood there, jiggling in her hand, as though she had just caught a snake in the grass. "Oooh..." the purple mare cooed as she sat it down on her bed. There was a suction cup at the base, below those plump balls, which were each about the size of a tangerine. Orienting herself so she could compare it, she lay on her back, holding it above her and bringing it close to her face, with a few gentle slaps to her cheek, she breathed in. Far from the rubbery smell she was expecting, it was perfumed with a scent similar to what she used on Light after giving him a wash. It lacked his musky potency, but it'd have to do. She nestled the dildo between her legs so it lay on her tummy, squeezing her legs so she could feel its girth, and even squeeing to herself when she felt it warm on her belly. Apparently it did come with some interesting effects like that from the factory. Shimmying out of her panties, she sat the dildo back down and stared at it seriously. 'How am I going to do this?' The thing was at least three times as long as any human's dick, as far as she could gather from the Internet and Pinkie's incessant jokes. First she tried lying on her back, holding the phallus just between her legs, but tried as she could, her arms weren't long enough to hold it securely and actually get it in. With an annoyed grunt, she shifted back off the bed and walked over to where the wooden floor wasn't carpeted. 'Maybe I can squat...' She affixed the suction cup to the floor, catching sight of herself in the mirror as she got down, trailing her hand along its length until her finger circled the tip. Even watching those balls jiggle was getting her hot around her neck. Positioning herself with her legs spread just a few inches more than shoulder width apart, she began to squat, going further just until she felt the tip kiss her vulva, even her slightest movements caused the object to sway with its weight before returning to its upright position. With how little control she had with it on the floor, she knew this was going to be tough. Squatting lower, the wide, circular tip prodded into her, but the more she tried, the more her lips wouldn't spread around it. She was being pushed inward by the cock rather than her vulva easing around it, in a way only a stallion back home would know how to. 'This isn't bucking working...' she mumbled to herself, lifting off gently, the experience had left her rather sore. 'Buying lube might have been a better idea, Twilight.' With a sweaty forehead and aching legs, she stood up and stared the dildo down, yanking it from the floor and glaring at it disapprovingly. She peeked at the clock on her nightstand. 1a.m. 'Has it really been so long?'. She checked her calendar, the one she'd shown to the girls at the diner. As horny as she was, her rational mind was telling her to hit the hay. She'd built up to this moment over the past week only to face the annoying reality of the human body versus horsecock. Snuggling into bed, she didn't let go of the dildo, its slight sponginess wouldn't do too bad to sleep with. Maybe Light would appear in her dreams again.