Context

Day 15

Verde pulled up to the small house, having completed her trip to the town for art supplies with a rented wheelbarrow. Finaly, I can start painting again, Verde thought to herself. The TV that Jason had fascinated her at first, but she realized that she might be fascinated because she herself hasn't done any painting in nearly a week. I’ll will start with the reservoir and see where that leads, she thought.

She decided that, while she loved painting, she would wait 8 days to go into town so she could plan her shopping trip and get out of the house. Up until today, she had just used any pens and paper she found and doodled, Jason had even started keeping some of them on his desk, saying that 'They're pretty unique, a damn good memento of coming to Equestria'.

Lowering herself, she saw that she got home extraordinary early and still had a few hours until she would head back to town to meet her friend for dinner. Apparently Tan had to do the month's take and bills, so she would need time to finish her role before she could talk to Verde, otherwise she would go ahead and just chat with her all day.

Jason wanted her gone for the afternoon, he said he was inviting a friend from work over and didn't want her to be around. She hated being told that he didn't want her around, but she guessed that the herd thing was as much new to him as it was to her.

Moving the paint and canvas to the living room, she realized that she was really tired from the long walk from town. After moving her last canvas in, she checked the time. Still way too early. So early, she felt that a nap before she headed back into town to drop off the wheelbarrow would be good. Jason wanted her to come back late, and her friend would entertain her until it was time for her to come home. She reasoned that, if anything, the nap would make sure she could keep her wits about when it came time to come home.

Jumping onto the bed, she realized that she had begun to despise the color of the sheets and pillows. It gets so cold and lonely... when will he stop sleeping on the couch and join me?, she asked herself. This was getting depressing. If this is what it means to be in a herd, she had no clue why her friends and family kept pushing her.

Laying her head on her favorite pillow, she smelled it, and noticed that the scent was starting to fade. She liked Jason’s scent, it was a strange mix of soft spice and a primal urge that could be best described as a sentient warmness. I could move this pillow to the couch, if he sleeps on it, it might get his scent back, Verde thought as the mellow shadows consumed her and she fell asleep.

===

Verde woke up to the loud laughter of what she could only describe as a cross between giggling and cackling. Looking over to the clock, Verde’s eyes widened when she saw the time. 8pm. She overslept profusely and Jason and his guest were laughing. As her ears moved toward the direction of the laughter, she was able to make out Jason’s voice.

“So, then I finish telling the mare ‘Hooves off me, I might be a damn dirty ape, but back home, you guys are the ones who shit on the ground without a second thought as to who could step in it!’” Jason chuckled.

“Gaw, did that really happen to you?” Jason’s friend asked, coughing what seemed to be gasps of laughter in between breaths.

“No, not to me personally Naple, Jerry told me about that incident when he went to Caballo Ridge.” Jason said, dropping the giggling.

“Hey, at least she was far more well-mannered then the cretans in this town.” Naple chided.

Verde thought, What? What does he mean cretrans? He can’t mean the ponies in Trottington...

Verde carefully slid off the bed and silently walked into the hallway to get a better listen.

“My fucking god, working with the ponies here is the worst, we get a government contract, and they keep adding restrictions and laws preventing us from doing our job.” Jason spoke, frustrated.

“Well, it was already bad when we couldn't lay a cable though the Zap Apple Orchaird the local Apple family ha-”Naple tried to quip before Jason stopped him

“We already knew we couldn't lay the lines on their property, They might be dirt poor Earth Ponies, but one if their relatives has a huge amount of political sway. We asked, but we got told no, and that’s as far as we’re pushing it.” Jason coughed out.

“Feeling okay?” Naple asked.

“Yeah... but I’m getting tired of being in Equestria. We get offered the chance to come to a brand new world, and build a network that revolutionized our own civilization, and we get dropped off at Equestria’s asshole, constantly getting shit on by the locals.” Jason grunted in frustration.

“And then there is this guest that won’t leave! I’m sure she is moving herself in, see that wheelbarrow outside? See how she just dropped off everything in the living room like she owns the place?” Jason sighed.

“One of the locals?” Naple asked.

“Yes, I found her in the mud and offered her to stay here for a few days, come to find out, she has no home to go back to” Jason uttered. “Only, a few days has turned into two weeks and I haven’t even slept on my own bed.”

What? I’m the reason he won’t sleep on the bed? But how are we supposed to sleep together?, Verde thought in a panic

“Well, it is creepy to sleep besides someone you don’t know... perhaps pony hospitality customs are different then ours...” Naple trailed off.

Hospitality? No, no no no, I’m Jason’s lead mare, I’m not a guest, I’m not a gu-, Verde’s own thoughts were cut off by her own run into the bedroom. While the carpet kept her quiet, her gasping for air was loud and frightening to her.
I’m not in a herd? I’ve just been here for two weeks because he thinks I’m a guest that won’t leave, how could he not notice that I was trying to be his mate? Did he really just rationalize it as me being a bad guest? I..I.., she kept thinking to herself.

The humans still were not aware of her presence. She didn't move. She sat in the darkness, thinking about how a horrible he was for not meaning what he meant when he asked her to lay in his bed. The more and more she thought about it, the more and more she blamed him for making her feel inadequate and ignored.

“Well Naple, thanks for coming over, its been a rough few weeks, even without the mare living in my bedroom.” Jason coughed again

“Hey, you have been coughing alot recently, maybe you need to see the doc about this...” Naple spoke concerned for Jason.

“Naw, It’s just a cold, see you at work tomorrow.” Jason finished, closing the door so loud that Verde could hear it well.

“Now to get this paint stuff of hers into the bedroom, I need a place to sleep tonight...” Jason muttered out loud.

He was coming, and she wanted him to come. She was ready to put him in his place, for making her feel this bad and heartbroken. She stood up straight, looked straight at the bedroom door, and saw Jason walk in with a paint bucket, hitting the light switch.

Startled, Jason nearly dropped the bucket. Verde could see that he was surprised that she was waiting for him in the dark. Then he noticed a hateful glare emanating from her as he tried to approach her.

“Hey, what are you doing here Ver-” Jason tried to speak when Verde started.

“YOU TRICKED ME, YOU OFFERED ME YOUR BED YOU HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HUMAN.” Verde screamed, she was in tears, but she didn't care. He needed to know that she hated him for building her hopes up.

“Tricked? Offered you the bed? What are you talking abo-” Jason tried, but failed to rebuttal completely.

“YOU TOLD ME YOU WANTED ME TO SLEEP ON YOUR BED! YOUR BED, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MEANT TO ME?!” Verde moved toward Jason, with Jason pulling back.

“Okay, stop, calm down, I don-” Jason was interrupted a third time in a row.

“YOU INVITED ME TO JOIN YOUR HERD, DONT YOU REMEMBER? I ACCEPTED!! I SAID I ACCEPT! DON’T TELL ME YOU DON’T REMEMBER” Verde bellowed with her young, feminine voice.

Jason didn't say anything, he just stood there staring at her.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST GO AROUND, INVITING MARES INTO HERDS AND NOT GET AN ACCEPTANCE ONCE IN AWHILE? DO YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE? I TRIED TO HELP AROUND THE HOUSE, BUT YOU... YOU NEVER HELPED ME! I TRY TO COOK, AND YOU JUST TAKE OVER THE COOKING, I TRY TO CLEAN AND YOU TAKE OVER THE CLEANING! YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE BOOKS HERE YOU HORRIBLE HORRIBLE MONSTER. I TRUSTED YOU WITH MY HEART, I TRUSTED YOU!!!” she yelled.

“Verde...” Jason reached out with his hand to try and comfort her.

Verde didn't know why she did it. She was not even fully there in her fury. All she really remembered was a strange new taste. It was like licking a metal pole. She blinked and saw that she had bitten Jason’s hand.

Letting go, Verde backed off and saw Jason cradling the hand she bit. He winced in pain and looked at her. Leaving the bedroom, he stopped by the bathroom, only to grab a towel, and moved toward the kitchen.

“J..Jason” Verde tried to call to him.

He didn't flinch, didn't even acknowledge that she was there, wrapping the poor hand she bit, he opend the front door and walked outside.

Verde followed him out and saw that he was walking away from the house.

“JASON!!” Verde was swept with heartbreak, not at Jason now, but herself...

“Jason, I … love you...I...oh no..I love you...” Verde whispered, watching the human that she, for all her anger and anguish, had come to love, walk away.

Just, walking.

===

Day 16

Verde could not sleep that night. The human that she grew to love, walked out the door. She bit him, and without another word, without a glance, he just left her alone in his home. She stayed in the living room, hoping to be there and awake when he came back, but it was already sunrise.

Beyond that, she was grasping the fact that she, indeed, loved him. It had caught her completely by surprise. Herds don’t require that every member love every other member. With the mare population so high, and the stallion population so low, while one could find love in a herd, it wasn't the point. The point was to ensure that a stallion could service several mares when they go into heat, initially. A long while ago, some smart pony created the device that simulated the feel of a stallion, even a liquid that could proxy for a stallion’s own seed. But the herd system never changed.

What it did permit, was for stallions and Lead mares to accept more mares into herd, with such a device, the stallion alone would not be the sole dependent being required to take care of mares in heat. In addition, one could more strategically seek out mares that were strong simply for the sake of the herd. The stallion did not have to deal with mares he saw unfitting of his seed. Herd members could take care of each other, especially when the stallion was sick or injured.
It also created a class of mare who lived with just other mares or by themselves. This device permitted them the freedom from both a herd and a stallion, by essentially self medicating themselves.

So in essence, love was becoming less and less the point of a herd, and it was more and more becoming the basis of power building and foal factories. Mind you, the mothers always loved their foals, but to be a mare without a herd and pregnant would be stigmatizing, both mare and foal, for the rest of their lives would be labeled unfit to be proper ponies.

So, Verde, while waiting, hoping for Jason to come home, asked herself when did she start to love him? Was it the first time he touched her mane? Was it the fact that he provided for her, regardless of what either of them thought of their relationship at the time? Perhaps it was the bits he gave her so she could paint again or the time he carried most of her luggage back home and invited her to stay with him.

Whatever it was, she had to deal with something else. She bit him, enough to draw blood. Ponies don’t bite other ponies, more or less anything else unless they felt threatened. Bucking him would have been appropriate, but biting him? She called him a meat eating savage, and yet, here she was, casually chomping down on HIS flesh, not even giving him the courtesy to die before she did.

She laid her head on the pillow where he usually slept and there it was. His scent. The scent she had grown accustom to. Nuzzling the pillow, she imagined it was him, that they got over everything and that he was letting her kiss his nec-

Noo, no no no not now, not THIS early!, Verde thought wide eyed, but she could feel it.

It was coming.

Heat.

She rose her head and sat on her flank, realizing that she was in a very bad position. She had no one to take care of her during her heat, she attacked the one thing that might have been able to help her cope with it, and she didn't have one of those heater kits.

Getting up, she started pacing across the floor. She didn't know how to deal with this. She then decided that if anything, she needed to take her mind off of anything heat related, normally, a stallion would start servicing her now or soon, and continue every day a few times a day so that she would be able to be relatively her normal self.

Then she asked herself, What if he comes back and I’m this mess of tangled desire and can’t even talk to him properly? She could see it now, Jason coming home, her there, flank high in the air, winking at him, begging him to rut her, and him just walking away again, not even wanting to help her. She even imagined him saying “Why should I help you, so you could bite me in the -”.

No, no gotta stop thinking about this at all, I mean, he would understand right? Verde hoped.

===

Verde had fallen asleep where Jason slept. She realized that his scent actually helped her sleep, maybe it was because she felt safe around him, or maybe it was just such a particular odor. Whatever the case, she was waking up, when the front door opened.
Verde’s ears swiviled at the door, followed by her head. Jason had come home.

“JASON, I’M SO SORRY, I-” in Verde’s attempt at greeting him, she fell out of the couch and hit her chest against the floor. Getting her wits back, she got up and rushed to him, only to stop at his bellow.

“DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER” Jason uttered in a deep roar, holding his good arm at her.

Verde did exactly as she was told. She held her position. She tried to speak again

“Jason, please, I’m so sorry” Verde choked out.

Jason said nothing and just stared at her. How could she respond? She was just hoping that she could talk to him. She needed a chance to explain everything.

“You don’t get to speak, so shut the fuck up.” Jason growled.

Verde didn't move, she just stared.

Jason went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Verde scootched herself to see what he was doing. Peering around the corner, she had a package... full of meat.

Violently, Jason grabbed a pan and spatula from the cupboard and slammed it on the stove, as he threw the meat onto it and started to what seemed like stiring the meat into the pan as it started to sizzle.

“This... is Bacon. Since you have arrived here, I have refrained from cooking meat, more or less eating it.” Jason spoke, paying more attention to the pan.

“It comes from the belly muscle from a Earthen Pig. No, not any of your magic fucking talking animals were harmed in the making of this slab of fucking delicious bacon.” Jason continued.

“Have to ship it in from Earth, really expensive because any food slipped from Earth has to be examined and contained in such a condition that minimized the chance and/or spread of disease. The nation I call home, and a few others to boot, find fried bacon the paradigm of breakfast foods.” Jason talked as he stirred the now sizzling meat.

Verde noticed the smell.. it was bad, not disgusting, just icky, for lack of a better word. But even with the smell of cooking flesh and her own heat, she sat quietly.

“Now, as I recall, you accused me of inviting you to a non-existent herd. Explain to me, as plainly as you can, without changing the subject, why you assumed my invitation to lay in my bed was apparently the segway into what you consider marriage?” Jason sternly asked.

Even with the instruction not to change the subject, the mare, bombarded by so many signals, shouted “Jason, Herding and Marriage are completely different, you have to underst-”

“DID I SAY CHANGE THE SUBJECT?” Jason turned with an enraged look.

“...the invitation to lay in a stallion’s bed is a old tradition that is used to-” Verde quietly tried to answer Jason’s question before he started up again

“WELL NO FUCKING WONDER IT WASN'T IN THE HUMAN’S GUIDE TO PONY SOCIAL AND CULTURAL NORMS!” Jason screeched, while still paying attention to the bacon on the pan.

“You didn't know?” Verde softly asked.

“Of course I didn’t. Otherwise, I would have made you sleep on the couch.” Jason retorted... his voice had softened but the implication that he would have never asked her hurt.

“Jason, I over reacted... please understand, I’m sorry for-” Verde could not catch a break with full sentences.

“FOR THIS!?” Jason held. in the air, the hand she had bitten, on it, there were stiches. Verde didn't realize that she bit him so hard. She gulped when she realized she hurt this human she loved so much.

“Can...can I have a look?” she said, hoping to nuzzle the wound, in an attempt to offer a more solid apology and to try and at least comfort him.

“You think I am sticking my hands near you again? Fuck no.” Jason spoke, while he moved to grab a plate and throw paper towels on it.

“Do you want me gone?” Verde whispered, her head hung low. This is it, I really messed up this time, she thought, trying to hold back her tears. She did not want him to see her ashamed and upset.

Jason moved the bacon from the pan, into the plate with paper towels on it. Placing it to the side, he slid down on the floor, covering his face with his good hand and sighing.

“You put me in a difficult position, you assume signals I have no idea i'm sending, you then start wrecking things and asking for money because you ‘assumed’ we were a herd, and you know, I would have still given you shelter here, but...” Jason titered off as he raised his stitched hand.

“I’m going to ask you this once, and only once. Verde, if I came into your home, wrecked your crap, and then bit you, what would you have done to me?” Jason said, looking to the side.

Verde raised her head. For the first time since she came here, their heads were level with each other. The look of anger was gone, just exhausted frustration remained.

“I don’t have an answer Jason, but before you ask me to leave, I need to tell you something, will you promise to stop interrupting me?” Verde’s head instinctively held slightly lower as she said this, as to try to admit he was in charge.

“ehhh...what” he said, covering his eyes with his good hand.

“I love you...” Verde told him meekly.

“Excuse me? I think I heard you incorrectly.” Jason said, not believing what he had just heard to the point of not even changing his facial expression.

“I love you...” Verde said again.
Jason dropped two of his fingers so he could see the mare. She looked at him, hoping for something other than casual dismissal.

“Is this another one of those pony things where, by saying ‘I love you’ you mean ‘lets go sign a lease on a car with you as the one who has to make the payments’?” Jason mocked Verde, but Verde, looked at him, said it again

“I love you...” once more from Verde’s lips, no change in tone or volume or body stance.

“This is cute” Jason got up, picking up the plate and began to walk to the living room.

Verde, got up and followed him, and once more said, “I love you...”

“Do you even realize the magnitude of the words you’re saying you naive, arrogant quadruped?” Jason lashed out, but Verde, desperate to make him understand that this was not some ploy or joke or attempt at using old pony traditions to make him do something, ran to get in his way.

“I love you” she said with more dignity and boldness. Jason tried to move out of the way, only for the mare to keep getting in his way, demanding that he acknowledge her. Putting down the plate, he began to bellow.

“DO NOT SAY THOSE WORDS TO ME, THOSE WORDS ARE FOR PEOPLE WHO FIGHT AND DIE FOR EACH OTHER, FOR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO SACRIFICE TO HELP EACH OTHER, FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE EACH OTHER TO WAIT YEARS FOR THEIR LOVED ONE, AND ARE REWARDED. SUCH WORDS ARE NOT FOR LITTLE PONIES WHO FEEL GUILTY AT BITING THE HAND OF SOMEONE WHO HELPED THEM GET SHELTER AND FOOD” Jason screamed with such force that Verde was stunned for but a moment.
Seeing no choice, Verde reared up on her hind legs, and with what little grip her front legs provided, she grasped the human by the ribs, holding herself against him as she scrunched her face, waiting for him to push her off or possibly swing his hands to be free of her.

“Jason, I love you” she said one more time.

Jason didn't hit her or forced her off. He stood simply still. Looking down at the pony head forced beneath his chest. Verde would offer herself, put herself at his mercy, until her words finally rang down his ears.

“Verde...” Jason whispered.

“Jason, I know what I’m saying. I don’t know about humans, but a pony taking in another pony as a guest for two weeks without batting an eye, you can’t tell me there isn't something there, not after all the trouble I’ve caused.” Verde spoke, changing her tune.

Jason took his injured hand, and presented it to Verde.

“This is where you bit me, you asked to see it earlier, show me what you would have done.” Jason asked of Verde.
Verde relaxed, letting go of Jason, “Come to the couch, and while I can’t heal it, I’ll show you that I am sorry.”
Jason and Verde sat adjacent to each other, Verde then turned toward Jason, laid down, and softly nuzzled the bandages on the arm she bit.

“Jason, I am being sincere when I say this. But you have to make a choice. First, I want you to know, that as long as you let me stay here, I will clean where I hurt you and change the bandages every day. It’s your choice, but I am going to also give you another choice I took from you two weeks ago.” Verde spoke comfortingly, as if this was the first breath of fresh air both the pony and the human had in weeks

“Jason, please, let me join your herd. I’m not asking you to marry me, I am asking that, with your consent, that you participate in something almost every pony will experience at least once in their life.” Verde mellowly spoke.

Jason stared off, thinking, while Verde kept nuzzling the wound, being careful not to hurt him.

“Verde, why are you asking me now?” Jason finally asked, sounding worried.

“I love you. I am asking you not just to let me join your herd, but to give me another chance. You also said that you came here to experience a new world, and you have been nothing but disappointed. Give me a chance to change your opinion on the matter...” Verde almost purred out, still rubbing the bandages covering the wound.

“Verde, I don’t know about having such a relationship with a pony, I mean, don’t you have a problem with being with a human?” Jason sighed out.

“I had two weeks to answer that question Jason, trust me, I’m perfectly fine with the idea of being with you.” Verde said, stopping her nuzzling and looking up at Jason with a smile.

Jason glanced at Verde, holding his grimace.

Verde pushed up on her front legs and kissed Jason on the cheek. For the first time during her stay here, Jason’s small eyes started tearing up.

“All right, what do we need to do to make this official?” Jason asked, surprising Verde a little.

“Nothing, herds don’t do anything ‘offical’ Jason, all herds really start with two or three ponies agree to live under one roof.” Verde stated, controlling her desire to squeal ecstatically.

“Am I required to do anything?” Jason asked Verde. Verde’s lightly winced, she didn’t want to bring this part up.

“There is a major responsibility you have to me Jason.” Verde turned away, she wasn’t going to lie, he needed to know, but she didn’t know how to word it.

“Once every month, I will go into heat, and, as the stallion, you will have to give me your seed over the course over a few days to help me... cope with it.” Verde dictated, trying to pry the words out of her own mouth.

“Wait, you’re telling me I have to have sex with you!?” Jason gaged out

“Yes Jason, I will need you to rut with me every month when I go into heat.” Verde finished.