To Build A Life

I sat on a train, everything was arranged. Yearling would meet me on the ride to the coast, we'd take a boat over and get to work right away. The train was chugging along, towards Vanhoover, and somewhere with me Ms. Yearling was somewhere in a cabin, waiting for me to find her. I looked down at my back, stuffing my belongings inside and hurrying to zip it all up and move on. "...Hope I brought enough." I hoisted my bags over my shoulders, hurrying towards the next car.

The wind rushing past as I stepped between the cars was immense. We were booking it towards Vanhoover, like a bat out of hell, or flung free from an angry batter. I chuckled at the mental image of a bat flung into a crowd. "That's not in poor taste, right?" I asked myself, heading through the next pony filled car. I got a few strange looks, but aside from that no harm or hassle.

I carried on, wandering past the personal rooms. Yearling said she would leave a note for me, something attached to the base of the door. And as I walked down the line of doors, I spotted a small piece of paper folded up against the edge of an otherwise unassuming door. I walked up to the door, tapping it lightly with my knuckle. "Ms. Yearling?"

A loud sigh came from within. "Yes, come in."

I peaked in. "Is now a bad time?" I spotted a yellow-brown mare looking out the window. "Are you alright?"

Ms. Yearling looked over at me. "I'm fine, a bad time in Saddle Arabia." She looked towards the window again. "One of your kind stole something important...but, he's got to sort it out." She moved her hooves to her stomach. "Now I have a question...something I've never managed to ask, what is the human fascination with sex?"

I frowned hard. "Uh...we just met." I closed the door behind me, slowly finding a seat across from her in the small private room. "Are you saying you got raped?"

Yearling looked down. "No...somehow being raped would be a little less shameful than what actually happened." She rubbed her lower belly. "But, it happened, nothing left to do but move on."

I felt my eyes open wide. "Uh...wow, so, hi, I'm Leo, short for Leon." I sat back, rubbing my thighs. "I feel like I just stepped into some serious shit."

Yearling sighed loudly. "Sorry, it's been on my mind for a while."

I looked the mare up and down. "You're not wearing a coat...." I started to rummage through my bags.

Yearling looked back out the window. "I'm fine. And sorry, like I said it's--"

I cut her off, standing up and draping a thick cotton coat over her. "There, you seem like you need it more than I do."

Yearling looked down at the coat, finding herself completely covered. "Uh...I--"

"Seriously, you looked cold." I sat back, zipping my bag back up. "It's not that big a deal anyways."

Yearling looked down at my coat. "You know if you're trying to suck up to me, it's a good start." She laughed. "Glad to see you're not all vile."

I pulled back. "Uh...vile, wow. Really didn't have a good first--"

"I had sex with one of you, got drugged and hoofcuffed to a tent pole." She stated quickly. "Really I just felt like an idiot more than anything else."

I looked towards the window. "Bummer." I crossed my arms, watching the snowy woods zoom by. "That's really rough. Glad to see you're not dwelling on it too bad."

Yearling leaned back, letting my coat cover her chest and forelegs. "He wasn't a bad person, just, he's got some strange views on life. Some less than perfect reasons for doing what he did."

I rubbed my hands together. "So...Fetlock, you ever--"

Yearling turned to me with a smile. "Kid, if you can name it, I've been there."

I laughed softly. "You're probably not that much older than me."

Yearling cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Do I look that young?"

I clapped my hands together. "You do, and I'm just older than I look. Not, old, but older."

Yearling cocked her other eyebrow. "How old--"

"Nearly thirty." I stated without a second thought. "Twenty seven, but I call it near thirty."

Yearling's eyes shot open. "Oh...you're really not that much younger."

I shrugged. "I tried to stay in shape. Failed, but I tried."

Yearling laughed. "Tell me about it. You spend half your life in temples and ruins, then you have one hayburger and suddenly you feel like a tub of fatty, fat, fatflank."

I looked back to Yearling, "Uh...so, Fetlock?"

"Oh right." Yearling sat upright, my coat falling into her lap. "It's an island chain. Three major islands, one urban, one rural, and one devoted almost entirely to farming."

I scratched my head. "Sounds like England, or, the kingdom, whatever they call it over there."

Yearling looked at me with a bit of worry. "So you're really new to Equestria aren't you?"

"I am."

Yearling started to grow a sly smile. "And the first place you picked was Fetlock?"

"Yep."

She started chuckling. "You know the ponies there are about three times our size, and probably about twice yours."

I felt a hitch in my throat. "Uh...what, like a draft horse?! Holy crap."

Daring nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I know we're not that different. Just bipedal verses quadruped, but a Fetlock pony is going to tower over you."

I rubbed my throat. "Yeah, but that means they'll be bigger than you too!"

Yearling smiled wide. "Yeah, but I can fly." She flipped out her wings, stretching them wide. "Seems like you're a bit more ground based."

I took a deep breath, my stomach fluttering from the thought of giant ponies. "Oh god...this is gonna be so weird."

Yearling nodded. "Weirder than talking to a monkey? Because it's still kinda weird for me."

I scratched my head. "Wait, mon--"

Yearling started snickering. "Oh wow, you scratched your head just like one of the chimps at the zoo!" She started chuckling, snorting a raspy snorting laugh. But all that joy popped up into a sharp whinny. "I- oh...." She looked down at her hooves. "Hmm."

"So yeah, still kind of weird talking to horses too." I smiled sharply. "But you get used to it."

Yearling shot back a defiant smile. "Pushing your luck, I can take it, but you'd better watch out around Fetlock, they might accidentally step on you."

We both laughed. It slowly died out, giving way to the constant tunk tunk tunk as the train went from rail to rail. "That's- uh...that's really funny...." I rubbed my mouth, wiping away my smile. "You don't think they're actually going to step on me, right?"

Yearling shrugged. "Stay away from any mare with a hoof fetish and I think you'll be alright."

I felt my cheeks flush slightly. "Uh, to be honest I wasn't really thinking about that too much."

Yearling shook her head, chuckling softly. "Humans are all exotic right now. You know there's going to be mares out there who like to try new things."

"Like you?" I asked, honest as could be. But my honesty seemed to land hard, crumbling Yearling.

"I guess so." She slumped back, pulling my coat up her chest.

I looked out the window. "I'm really sorry."

Yearling shrugged. "It happened. Better not to dwell on it."

"I'm still sorry."