Chapter 3: Awkward Silences

"Hello again goddess." Applejack stared at the thing on her sofa. A human, she had heard it say, by the name of Lewis had just called her a goddess. Of course, stallions in the past had tried to sweet talk Applejack. They had all kinds of cheesy, half-baked pick-up lines that invariably failed to impress her. She doubted they impressed anypony. Even if she weren't the living manifestation of the element of Honesty, she was raised slightly old fashioned, and responded to sincerity more than anything else. Besides that, her family, her friends, and her work were far more important to let some dumb male get in the way.

She'd heard every compliment under the sun, suffered every graceless innuendo, and bucked her fair share of stallions in the face for touching her without permission. She was used to the come-ons. But that human, Lewis, he looked her straight in the eye and called her 'goddess.' That was new.

There was a long silence. Lewis seemed blissfully unaware that he had said anything wrong. The ponies stared at him still, slack-jawed in the face of such an outlandish greeting. At last, the silence was broken when Applebloom had the temerity to giggle at somepony . . . well, something calling her sister a goddess.

Within moments, the whole room except for Lewis and Applejack broke into hopeless laughter. They didn't notice that Lewis and Applejack had locked eyes, and for a long moment, neither desired or was able to turn away. After some immeasurable period of time, the shared gaze was broken, although which of them looked away first, neither was sure.

"Err, mah name's Applejack. Nice tah meet ya . . . erm . . . Lewis, right?" Lewis nodded his head, as well as his bonds would permit. Applejack felt a surge of sympathy for him. She shouldn't have let Big Macintosh tie the unfortunate newcomer up like that. She stepped forward and with a quick jerk, released the knot holding the ropes on.

Lewis sat up, rubbing his wrists to ensure comfortable circulation. "That's correct miss, and the pleasure's all mine. Thanks for lettin' me up by the by," he responded, "And . . . ahm sorry ifn I said anythin' offensive er embarrassin' to ya. Didn't mean no 'arm."

Applejack, taken aback by his manners and the familiarity of his mode of speech, found herself blushing furiously. Lewis, thinking she was angry with him, took up his hat and held it over his heart. "I really am sorry, Miss Applejack, it's just that I still don't know where I am or how I got here, and this is all so strange it kinda went and threw me fer a loop."

Applejack didn't trust her voice enough to reply. Twilight stepped in. "You are in the farmhouse of Sweet Apple Acres, on the outskirts of Ponyville, which is in the land of Equestria," she explained in formal tones. Lewis favored her with a blank, uncomprehending look. Twilight cleared her throat and continued. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, as I mentioned. I am the pupil of Princess Celestia, our ruler, raiser of the sun and elder of the ruling sisters. I was told in a missive sent by the princess that something strange was coming. I believe that something was you. I found you shortly after your arrival, and brought you here. I would have taken you all the way back to my home, but it's quite a long walk while trying to levitate something your size."

Lewis remained mute. He was trying to absorb what Twilight was saying, but it just wasn't clicking in his brain. A nation that was completely unknown to him, with a name derived from the scientific name for the species that inhabited it, which were apparently talking ponies, all of it ruled by two princesses. Oh, and there was a dragon. And had Twilight just said "levitate?" It was at this point that his gaze was drawn to the small but clearly present horn on her forehead.

He didn't know how it had escaped his notice until then. He couldn't summon a proper response to this new information. His eyes widened like saucers, and he pointed at Twilight's forehead. "Unicorn," he said lamely.

Twilight's eyebrow rose slightly. "Um, yes, I am a unicorn. Is that surprising to you?"

"You're talking," said Lewis, as though somehow pointing out the fact would create a logical explanation, and present it to him so he could stop being confused.

Twilight, meanwhile, was becoming impatient. "Yes, I am talking, and you aren't being very helpful. We've established that, yes, we can talk, and yes, we are ponies. I realize that a pony talking is an unfamiliar concept to you, but you don't need to be insulting."

Lewis shook himself. "You're right, ah'm sorry Twilight, I'll try to do better. It’s just, did you say you were levitating me a minute ago?"

"Yes."

"How?"

Twilight sighed. "Magic is one of the benefits of being born a unicorn. Of course, magic is not unique to us, it also exists within the earth ponies and pegasi-"

"Pega-what now?"

"One of the three types of pony, given the gift of flight and weather manipulation," Twilight explained.

"They can do what?"

Twilight face-hoofed. "Applebloom, could you go get us some tea? I have a feeling this might take us awhile."

Princess Celestia peered over a small mountain of paperwork perched atop her desk in haphazard stacks. She felt utterly beleaguered by the sheer weight of it. Between her duties as a ruler and the Princess of the sun, she barely had time to rest any longer. The only real respite she ever got anymore was reading Twilight's friendship reports. It gave her great pleasure to know that her star pupil was doing so well and learning so much.

On this occasion, however, thinking of Twilight Sparkle only made her worry. The paperwork would have to wait, as she was scrambling to learn about the strange creature her pupil's last letter had described. No matter how she looked, however, she could find no record of such a thing's existence. It simply wasn't heard of in Equestrian history, and she had no personal experience with the species, which was shocking given her age and the time she had spent traveling across the world, meeting new and strange beings. At last, there was only one conclusion to come to.

Celestia checked her schedule. She was packed for the next two weeks, and there was no getting out of it. Luna, on the other hand, would be free in about three days . . . .

With the only solution she could think of in mind, she quickly wrote out instructions for Twilight, and sent the parchment scroll on its way. She hoped that all would be well, but there was little she could do about it given the looming crisis she was dealing with.

The tired alicorn turned to the stacks of reports, already knowing what they would say. Crops dying, rivers inexplicably polluted, unfamiliar diseases cropping up in the most unusual ways, and entire forests simply dying off, the trees rotted by some contagion. All accompanied by pleas for help. She sighed and picked up the next report. It was from Manehatten. An entire city block was under quarantine, after an outbreak of some horrifying infection that had swept through the area. "What could be causing this?" she hissed to herself in frustration.

Lewis sat very still. Twilight had spent the last hour trying to explain where he was, and who she and her kind were. Talking ponies, magic, dragons, all of it was laid bare before him and he still somehow couldn't grasp it all. Why was this happening? Was it all just a dream? Was he still lying on the ground on the ranch, blood and brain leaking out of his busted head? It just made no sense whatsoever.

His reverie was interrupted by a loud belch from Spike. He now understood that this was how letters were sent and received between Twilight and her mentor Princess Celestia. He was still astounded when a scroll burst unharmed from the fire, and was promptly enveloped in a purple glow that carried it to Twilight, whose horn glowed to match.

Twilight read the letter aloud, for all to hear.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

It is not often that I am forced to admit to ignorance. I have no idea what the creature you have found could be. I have never heard of any such being in Equestria. I am forced to conclude that he is NOT OF THIS WORLD. I am occupied at Canterlot with affairs of state, but Luna will be available in three days. At that juncture, I will send her to assess the creature, and ensure that its presence is not a threat. Until then: do not allow anypony else to see it. Keep it at Sweet Apple Acres until Luna arrives. Tell nopony about it. Do it no harm so long as it remains peaceful. I will reimburse the Apple family for any time, trouble, or resources needed for its upkeep.

-Princess Celestia

"Not of this world," Lewis muttered, "Now that makes a little more sense."

Applejack looked at him like he was insane. "How does that make more sense?" she demanded.

"Well," he said, "Since the advent of orbital space flight technology, the last blank spaces on the globe have been filled in. There are no unknown landmasses remaining. The only way this place can possibly exist, is that I am not on earth."

Applejack looked at Lewis strangely. "What happened to your accent?" she asked suspiciously.

"Ah," said Lewis, noticing he had slipped into his old habit again, "Well, when ah was attendin' college, I learnt tah speak more proper-like. When ah talk about things like math, science, and writing, I tend to slip into a more grammatically correct mode of speech, like this."

His sudden change in mannerisms made Applejack laugh. "You sure can speak good 'n proper, ah'll give ya that."

Twilight cleared her throat, getting the room's attention. "Alright, for now we will proceed assuming that Celestia is correct. Applejack, I'm sorry that it is asked of you, but is it alright if Lewis stays with you for now? I can't very well walk him into the middle of Ponyville."

Applejack looked at Lewis speculatively. "Well, as long as he continues to behave like a gentlecolt, I don't suppose we have a choice. It is a request from Celestia after all. You alright if he shares yer room Big Macintosh?"

"Eeyup," her older brother said, nodding in the affirmative.

"Excellent," said Twilight, "Well then, I think we all need some sleep. It's been a busy day." There was a general murmur of assent. Lewis couldn't see how he could object, and kept his peace. Strange as his circumstances were, he didn't fancy sleeping outside in the cold.

Twilight departed with a snoozing Spike on her back, and the Apple family prepared for bed. At some point, a venerable mare that Lewis took to be Granny Smith had come in and promptly fell asleep in an equally venerable lime-green armchair. She was apparently oblivious to the events of the evening. Evidently, this was not a surprise.

As it happened, Big Macintosh had a spare mattress handy, and laid it out on the floor for Lewis. "Thanks Mr. Macintosh," said Lewis as he lay down. It was surprisingly comfortable, but then Lewis was more than accustomed to sleeping in bedrolls over hard ground.

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh as he climbed into his own bed.

"You sure do say that a lot," Lewis couldn't help observing.

"Eeyup."

"Well Mr. Macintosh, I'll bid ya good night."

"Big Mac," responded his bunk mate. Lewis sat up to see the large red stallion looking at him.

"Beg pardon?" Lewis inquired.

"You can call me Big Mac," he said, "You were right nice to mah sister today. She don't get the right kinda compliments from the stallions 'round 'ere, they mostly treat 'er like a bumpkin, and they're always lookin' fer an easy lay. You called 'er a goddess, and that seemed to make 'er pretty happy. So, long as yer decent to me 'n mine, y’all call me Big Mac."

Lewis smiled. "Thanks Big Mac. Goodnight."

"That's what friends do Lewis. G'night."

Applejack slept fitfully. Dreams, half-formed and strange, drifted through her head. She woke at some unholy hour of the morning, drenched in sweat. She tried to remember the dream she had awoken from. It hadn't been a nightmare. It had actually been somewhat . . . pleasant. She could recall only that it had to do with Lewis. She sat up in bed, and noticed a dampness that a little sweat could not explain. Then she realized that one of her fore-hooves was between her legs, rubbing at her marehood furiously, producing a preposterous amount of juice from her nether regions. It took her several seconds to connect the dots, and realize that she had been masturbating while thinking about Lewis.

She buried her face in her pillow, ashamed. She was thinking such raunchy things about a stallion that wasn't even a member of her own species! What would Granny Smith think? Or Big Macintosh! Strangely, this shame did nothing to stop her hoof from going on doing just what it wanted to. In a way, it heightened her pleasure, the rush she got from the risk of discovery pushing her over the edge. As she pushed down hard on her clitoris, she felt a climax building. She had to suppress a squeal as her body took her mind away on a wave of pleasure.

As the orgasm subsided, leaving her drained yet completely relaxed, she looked down at herself, and the soaked sheets on her bed. She knew that it was this intense because of Lewis. She had masturbated before, but never with results like this. "But he called me a goddess," she murmured to herself, as though she needed to excuse her passionate self-pleasuring, "He called me a goddess . . . ." Applejack closed her eyes as sleep took her, and she had no more dreams that night.

Author's Note

Okay, so this was the first bit of the naughtiness I mentioned in the description. I will make this point clearly: any and all clop involved will remain unnecessary to the story itself. If you have no desire to read those parts, feel free to skip them. If you want to read them, then by all means, enjoy yourself. Within reason, of course.