Context

Walking down the narrow hallway, Jason was curious as to why the doctor wanted to see him at all.

“You wanted to see me doc?” Jason asked as he entered the examination room door. It was the same room that he was examined in on his first day in Equestria, a final check by the company itself to make sure he made the transition to Equestria just fine.

“How’s the lungs?” Wayworth responded to Jason with a question of her own. She was bent over, filling out paperwork, and had only acknowledged Jason’s presence verbally.

“Much better, as you already know, I can breath without wanting to die every time I inhale.” Jason jested, taking a seat on the corner chair, while Wayworth continued to fill out papers. A long period of silence filled the air as the doctor seemed to ignore Jason.

“Sooo... anything else?” Jason questioned, he had expected there to be more than just a quick check up on his lungs.

“Oh, I am not signing off on Verde’s travel visa.” Wayworth offhandedly said, as if ordering a drink at a restaurant.

“What the fuck?” Jason exclaimed, getting up. His jaw dropped as he flew upwards, sincerely startled at the sudden quiet quality of the doctor’s verbal sadism.

“Verde will need to find new a housing situation, she is unfit to come to earth.” Wayworth dictated again, not changing her tone.

“Why? Is she sick? Is she carrying anything?” Jason nearly yelled at the doctor. Jason was worried, he had grown attached to Verde, and while the free sex was nice, just bonding with her over the weekend had made him more at ease about the entire idea of being with Verde. He liked her, he wanted to spend more time with her.

“Drop the outrage two notches and I’ll tell you why.” she spoke, shuffling some papers, and promptly began filling the documents again.

“Why... is... Verde... not... permitted... to... come... to... earth?” Jason spoke, lowing his volume and trying to remain calm. He was legitimately enraged by the whole thing.

“She is showing common signs of stress. Imagine her just, popping into Earth, the culture shock alone would eventually cause her to undergo a break down. No family or friends to let her confined in and -” Wayworth said before Jason interrupted her.

“What about me?” he demanded, feeling that he was just as important as any friend or family.

“What ABOUT you?” she answered furiously.

“Well... we are ‘herd mates’ right?” he replied, not realizing the wrath of the doctor would overwhelm his own anger.

“You sure? She isn’t acting like she is in a herd, and where were you during her examination?” she answered, turning back to her papers.

“I was giving her space, I mean, what her health is, IS her own personal business right?” Jason countered, trying to show that he was merely respecting Verde’s privacy.

“No, you two are herd mates, it might not be marriage, but if that gives you family status under an Earth travel visa, how do you think ponies feel about it?” Wayworth answered.

“So you’re saying that my desire to give her privacy is the reason you’re not going to sign off on her visa?” Jason asked, crooking his head slightly, while frowning.

“Well, its not the only reason, first of all, it took 10 minutes to stick her for blood and she couldn’t stay still, then there's the part where she walked in all by herself, apprehensive about the entire examination. Then there was the fact that you were not here to support her, oh and she is showing classic signs of human herding syndrome.” Wayworth stated.

“Human Herding what?” Jason inquired, sincerely not knowing what she was talking about.

“Human Herding Syndrome is when a pony or a human, who decide to mate on a long term basis, usually in a herding or courtship situation, start becoming stressed because traditional gender roles in both parties are clashing.” the doctor spoke, snorting the entire definition out.

“What does that have to do with her?” Jason asked.

“You know how some humans define themselves by what relationships they’re in? It’s even more so with mares. Ignoring some of the royalty and blue bloods, the perception of a community on a mare is usually dictated by what relationships and her position in them. Being lead mare is seen as a prestigious sign of maturity and giftedness at her age, regardless of having no ‘in herd competition’.” Wayworth explained. “The mare I saw weeks ago who was a take charge leader came in today as a muttering, reluctant filly. I’m not signing off on anything putting anymore unnecessary stress on her.”

“Won't separating us possibly put more stress then NOT letting her come to Earth with me?” Jason questioned, finding a hole in her logic.

“Better she stay here and get support from other ponies in a culture she grew up in then throwing her to our home and hoping she won’t drown in a sea of stress.” Wayworth offhandedly replied.

“Fucking Jesus doc, how am I going to explain this to her?” Jason muttered, realizing that he got to drop a wonderful bomb on Verde the next time he saw her.

“Figure somthing out, not my problem.” she finished, seemingly not caring anymore.

“Look, is there something I can do? Something to abate this ‘human herding syndrome’?” Jason asked, trying to find some way out of this entire fiasco.

“Well, there is one thing you can do.” Wayworth stopped filling out papers and looked at Jason. “Try involving her in decisions.”

“Well she never expressed any desire to-” Jason started speaking, only for Wayworth to stop him.

“Thats because she EXPECTS to be involved numbnuts. Infact she is expecting to be making the decisions herself and, by not letting her at least be involved, she feels less of what her culture states a lead mare should be.” Wayworth explained. Jason just sat, rubbing his face, taking it all in.

“Every employee that crosses the neo equinox is required to have a psych profile, and, while you were obviously cleared, when I found out about you herding with a mare, I opened up your file. Do you want to know what it says?” she spoke, staring at Jason. “‘Must be in control’, ‘problems adapting to sudden change’, ‘possible violent tendencies in high stress environments’, ‘problems reciprocating emotions’.”

“So? She chose to herd with me.” Jason replied, not enjoying being called a control freak.

“No, she was desperate, she felt her choices were limited and you offered her your bed, a huge thing for the much more conservative ponies here.” Wayworth stated.

“She seems happy, I mean, she was giggling all of yesterday and the day before...” Jason offhandedly spoke, remembering how happy she was when they play wrestled a few days ago.

“She is enjoying the attention you can give her on the weekends. Mares rarely get the full attention of a single male to themselves. It doesn't mean that it will last in the long run. Listen, Jason, you NEED to forfeit some control to her, and you NEED to let her participate in the major decisions that you can’t just let her handle alone. I need her to come back in a week, and if she is still acting like she was earlier, I won’t sign shit.” Wayworth said, leaning to Jason.

“Alright I get you... so what am I supposed to do in a herd anyways?” Jason asked, realizing that the way he was raised to act in a committed relationship would not work with Verde at all.

“Well... depends on the mare... most modern mares in the core of Equestria have no issue with a stallion that has his own profession and helping make major decisions. Here, in Trottington, stallions are still seen as brute labor and sperm factories, while the Mares do most of the work in regards to bringing the bacon home.” the doctor answered.

“Well what if I don’t want to do manual labor and be a living fuck toy?” Jason inquired on instinct, reacting more against the idea of being manual labor then being a fuck toy.

“Try TALKING to her for fucks sake Jason, she is more intelligent than you realize. She adapted well to realizing no nearby pony would be able to help you to the point she walked up to alien strangers and begged for help. She might have the values and morals of a classic country mare, but she is willing to work around them for the ponies, and in your case, people she loves. Now get out, she is probably waiting uncomfortably in that lonesome waiting room you left her in. If she doesn't show signs of improvement in a week, you will be the one to tell her why she can’t join you on Earth.” Wayworth finished, slightly slamming the file closed.

“All right.” Jason said, realizing what he needed to do, picking himself off the chair and opening the door.

“One more thing, if you find you’re unable to sexually provide for her proper... in a decade or so, hit up the doctors again, we have medication that can help you keep pace with her. There is no shame in asking for help in trying to help her cope with her heat...” The Doctor shot at Jason. Nodding, Jason shut the door.

Moving towards the waiting room door, Jason remembered that Verde did say that the lead mare is the one who chooses where everyone lives. Guess I’ll need to get her involved, though I'm not sure how she could really help, Jason sighed to himself internally.

Opening the door, he was greeted with an empty waiting room. She left, she left the fucking waiting room.