Living in Equestria

The day of the Summer Sun festival had finally arrived. It had dawned hot and muggy, already insects were buzzing away in the tall grass along the road beside our party of six that traveled into Ponyville. Applejack, Big Mac and Apple Bloom each had a cart hooked to their yokes filled with Apple Pies, Apple Jam, Corn, Cider, Carrots and a wide variety of other farm goods they intend to sell on the festival grounds today. Even myself and Scootaloo riding her Mark V had heavy packs filled with items and only Granny Smith walked unencumbered.

Scootaloo had been throwing up in the morning for a few days now although she'd tried to hide it from me and Apple Bloom. I didn't know if the red head could tell as easily as I could, perhaps it was the bond between Scoots and I that allowed me to feel her anxiety about it after each quiet session she had in the bathroom. She knew something was happening and her emotion about it rang out in my head like a bell each time she woke up. Even her eyes when she looked at me were guarded and filled with apprehension if I caught her unaware.

I had my own suspicions about what was going on. It didn't take a genius to know what morning sickness was assuming it worked the same way for ponies and a cold grip of fear seized my stomach whenever I thought about it too long. It wasn't the thought of her being pregnant that scared me, although that idea brought along a whole host of it's own frightening scenarios... it was the thought of what kind of child would be made from our combined genes and a vision of a tiny centaur kept popping into mind, calling me daddy. I didn't say anything to her and she didn't talk about it either. With all the activity going on, I figured we'd have to sit down and have a serious conversation just as soon as this was all over.

The festival grounds could be seen from a long way off. The ponies had erected a massive tent in the center of town directly over the gazebo that had to be held up by some kind of magic given is size. It provided shade to the large number of stalls and displays set up in the area that already had large groups milling around them even at this early hour. We found our stall already set up, ready to go for us and began unpacking under the careful instruction of Applejack. She was an incredibly good business pony, knowing exactly what to put where to create a really neat looking display that was also appetizing.

I turned out to be quite the attention getting object as well. Even though enough time had passed and I'd been into town plenty of times, my appearance still caught the eyes of several ponies, causing them to wander over to the stand and get sucked into both Applejack's and her sister's sales pitch. We hadn't even finished the display setup before they had made a few sales and the older Apple sister gave me a wink of approval at how she thought this was all going to work out.

"Hey guys!" came a familiar, squeaky voice and Sweetie Belle came trotting out of the crowd towards us, giving me a nuzzle before greeting Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

"Well hey there, Sweetie Belle!" Applejack said. "Where's yer guy's stall at this year?"

"It's just right across, over there!" she pointed through the river of ponies moving up and down the isle now. I could barely make out the top of an intricately decorated stall matching the colors of Rarity's boutique over the backs of all the bodies.

"Yeehaw! We're gonna have the busiest row ever this year!" the farm pony gave a resounding cheer.

"I gotta get back to help her finish setting things up, I'll be back soon though, we're almost done. You guys wanna wander around then?" she asked me and the other two younger ponies.

"Yeah! I wanna get the deep fried frosting from Sugarcube corner again this year!" Scootaloo licked her lips.

"An I wanna see Zecora's tent! I hear she's gotta fortune telling potion an I wanna try it!" Apple Bloom looked to her sister. "Can we, sis?"

"Not yet! Heck, tha day's just startin and it's gonna be doozey if this crowd is any indication. I'm gonna need ya'lls help here till things slow down." she gestured to the line starting to form in front of her, each pony with something in their hooves to buy.

"Aww..." the three said together in unison.

"Alright... I'll see you guys later then." Sweetie Belle said dejectedly.

Applejack's instincts were right. As the day went on, a steady stream of customers had all of us busy. Apple Bloom, myself and Scootaloo were constantly restocking and refacing the display while Applejack and Big Mac tended to the lines of customers. Granny helped where she could but mostly nodded off in the back corner while standing on all fours.

About midway through the day, Twilight Sparkle stopped by with a friendly greeting for everypony.

"How's business, Applejack? Your stall looks great!"

"Twilight, we ain't never sold outta Granny's jam this early and the way the pies r goin...we're gonna be outta them in a quick hot minute!"

"That's wonderful!"

"Yep, and it's all cuz a yer folk's help we were able to make this much ta sell in the first place. Thank ya again for that."

"Of course Applejack! What are friends for!" Twilight's eyes fixed on me and grew quietly urgent. "Mason... can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure, Twilight. Gimme a second." I said, setting the last of the pies in my hand down where they belonged in the empty spaces on the display rack.

She lead me off into the crowd, me following behind her dark colored tail as I pushed through cross traffic that had become thick and slow with the number of ponies. We ended up leaving the town square and she stopped in a narrow street that had just light hoof traffic on it, turning to face me with an apprehensive look.

She gave a reluctant sigh. "I was wondering if you can do something for me..." she asked, not quite able to hold her eyes on mine.

"Sure, anything for you, Twilight. You know that!" I said eagerly.

"Something's happened these last few days that I knew would come up sooner or later... but I can't bring myself to be the one to do anything about it..."

"What kinda something...?"

She opened her mouth and then quickly shut it again, her eyes falling down to the cobblestones under her hooves. Her purple wings gave a couple of nervous flutters before she brought her gaze back up to me, determined to say it this time.

"We're mature ponies... and humans, right?"

"Yeah..." I said, not sure where this was going.

"And we can talk openly about stuff even if it's embarrassing and personal?" she continued.

"Suure?" I was positive Twilight was about to pop the ol 'can ya help me with my heat' question.

"It's Spike... He's been doing that thing that I know all colts, stallions and apparently dragons do... you know... pleasuring themselves?" she looked at me hopefully for signs of recognition that she didn't need to elaborate on. I nodded to show her I was following.

"He's been doing it an awful lot... and he's leaving messes everywhere! I mean... this morning I found his stuff stuck to the ceiling for Celestia's sake!" her hoof came up and smacked against her forehead in disgust.

"Mason... you're the only guy I trust other than my brother to talk with him about something like this. I know it's kinda awkward, and maybe a little unfair to ask this of you... but do you think you can have a talk with him about it? Maybe help him not be so...gross?"

I had to laugh inside at Twilight's request, knowing exactly what must have happened over the course of the last several days. Spike must have figured it out finally... and the little guy was making up for lost time.

"Sure Twilight... if you think that's alright. I mean... it's going to be pretty embarrassing for him, don't you think?" I really was trying to look out for the dude. I couldn't imagine getting a random visit from another guy telling me to cool my jets with the one handed shuffle and getting shown how to clean up after myself. But then again... he'd whipped his junk out in front of me like he was showing me his big toe, so who knew how he'd react.

"If he's embarrassed then good! I've had to wash his bed like twice a day lately! Anything to get him to calm down... I just..." her eyes fell again and her ears flattened. "I'm no good at that kind of stuff."

"Bullshit! You grill me all the time about things like that! What about your sketches of me? The herding magic book you're writing?!"

"That's different!" she protested. "Documenting something is a study of science and magic! This is... well... you know..." she shrugged and gave me a meaningful gesture, shaking her head. "...real mating stuff... and I don't know anything about that. I've read the books...but that doesn't make it feel any less weird for me. I'm afraid I'll screw it up if I try talking to him."

"Wait... are you saying you've never been with anypony before?" the question fell out of my mouth before I could stop it.

Twilight's eyes looked up at me open and unguarded. There was a deep emotion in them that I'd never seen from her... a naked and afraid look that told me I'd hit on something incredibly personal for her that she had no intellectual defense for. She opened her mouth to speak but she was cut off by another voice that I recognized instantly.

"Well! If it isn't Mason the Human! How'd that Mark V work out for ya, my friend?" Wilson Cage's voice greeted me from behind every bit as warmly and welcoming as I'd remembered.

"Hey Wilson!" I turned to greet the land pony who managed the sporting goods store. His pale blue coat shimmered in the sunlight offset by his snow white mane. His eyes matched his coat perfectly in a pleasing symmetry that if I was a mare...I'd probably find attractive, even the mark on his flank of a round yellow ball with white laces contrasted nicely.

"She loved it! I can't thank you enough for steering me in the right direction!"

"Mason... I need to get going." Twilight said, excusing herself from the conversation. "I'll see you later, kay?" she looked at me with big eyes that spoke of a talk not yet finished between us.

"Yeah... Alight, Twilight!" I tried to sound normal about it in front of Wilson.

She gave a polite nod to Wilson and then left us quickly. We both were heading in the same direction so we walked together back into the bustling square. The smells and sounds of the fair were heavy now. Hay, food, the smell of ponies pressed together... they all mixed to create a familiar odor that I'd not ran into since the last time I was at the state fair back home many years ago. It gave me a nostalgic feeling and for the first time in a long while, I briefly thought of my old world.

"Twilight Sparkle, eh? That explains where all those Canterlot's came from..." he gave me a knowing smile and wink.

"Yeah, she's a friend of mine... it's true. I'd never seen a bit in my life until I opened that pouch in your store." I shrugged.

"Well, no harm in that. Twilight's been a great addition to Ponyville. Why, her and all her friends have saved us from more bad scrapes that you can imagine!"

We pushed through the mass of ponies together and I quickly lost track of where I was going. Both Wilson and I really lost our sense of direction when a familiar strong scent hit our noses at the same time, causing both our heads to snap up. It was the wild and thunderous musk of a mare in heat and I found it had an equal effect on me as it did my blue friend.

We never saw the source, but the trail of young stallions in a row all walking with a dazed look on their face in the opposite direction that we were going said that she'd just passed by us. One of them even had his junk hanging out, pink and swollen in a pendulous rod that swung under his belly. When they'd passed and the smell was gone, I asked Wilson a serious question.

"Is that normal around here?"

He gave his friendly laugh. "My friend, some mares love the attention her heat brings... and some young stallions and colts are just plain powerless over it's spell. It's only a matter of time before they wise up and stop following the attention seekers around with their goods on display like that."

"And everypony's alright with it? I mean... what about the little fillies and colts?"

"Oh, they're fine." he waved dismissively. "It's the way we all learned the basics. Generations have grown up the same way without any ill effects on the youngin's, if that's what you mean." he pointed at two very small fillies who looked after the marching line of stallions with shrugging indifference.

"And there's always a young mare or two in every crowd that likes to cause a fuss by not doing the polite thing and using a plug." he shook his head. "Some of em say it's about being natural... but if you ask me, they just want attention. As long as there's older colts and young stallions around... they'll get it."

Wilson's explanation sounded a lot like the flirty tease girls back home, the ones who used boys for stuff and then drop kicked them after they got what they want from them. I gave my own laugh at the similarities before I realized I had become completely disoriented now. I knew that the Sweet Apple Acres stall was around here somewhere...

"Mason!" Sweetie Belle's voice called out just over the din of conversation around me. I whirled towards it and saw the white unicorn's face just above the crowd waving. At least being tall in this world had it's advantages.

Wilson and I made a beeline for her and soon found ourselves in front of Rarity's stall. It was immaculately styled with vivid colors of pony gowns, capes and hats that boggled my fashion challenged mind at how they worked.

"Who 'r you?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking at Wilson curiously.

"Why, hello Sweetie Belle! My name is Wilson. It's a pleasure to finally meet you!" he rumbled in his friendly voice.

"How do ya know my name?!" she said, laughing and already comfortable with him.

"Oh... I've seen you and your two friends running round town for years. Everypony knows the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or should I say... Gabby Gums?" he smiled with a mischievous glint in his eye. "I run the Sports Corral, don't you remember writing an article about how lonely my store was?" his head cocked playfully.

"Oh..." Sweetie Belle's ears flattened on her head and she shrunk up slightly. Scootaloo had mentioned this escapade from their past to me before, their attempt to work for their school's newspaper had ended up with the whole town mad at the three girls for a while.

"Don't get all sad about it now, you girls did a wonderful thing by admitting to everypony what was really going on. Why, if you were my little sister I would have been proud of you for having the guts to do that!" Wilson's kind and gentle voice was reassuring.

"Sweetie Belle, do you know where those green gloves are that go with-" Rarity pushed her way through the curtains behind Sweetie Belle on the other side of the counter from us and stopped when she saw the two of us there. Her eyes first saw me and then flicked to Wilson and stopped. Her pupils grew large and her mouth sagged for just a moment before she caught herself and shook her head slightly.

"Mason! Well, I- I didn't see you there. Ehh.. who's your gentlecolt freind?" she smiled, clearly caught of guard.

"Rarity, this is Wilson Cage, he runs the Sports Corral near the edge of town. Wilson, this is my friend Rarity."

"Ma'am, I am well aware of your work. It is an honor to meet you after all this time." Wilson lowered his head in a dignified greeting.

Rarity struggled to get her mouth to work for a moment. "I... Thank you Wilson. It's nice to... meet you too. Tell me, how does a stallion who owns a simple sports store know of my work?" she almost sounded incredulous... or guarded, one of the two.

He gave a friendly, disarming laugh. "Come now! Just because I know how to sell a quality hoofball glove doesn't mean I don't know about fashion. Your work should be shown along side Gallup Armani and Pierre Cardinal as far as I'm concerned! Who would have though of integrating the triple half stitch to create pleats that don't add to the volume of the fabric like that? Why.. certainly not them!"

Not only Rarity's jaw dropped this time, but Sweetie Belle's did as well. I had no clue what he'd just said but apparently ol' Wilson knew his shit when it came to fashion.

"You... you know what a triple half stitch is?" Rarity asked after she made her mouth start working again.

"Oh I know plenty, you'd be surprised! In fact, I'm going to Canterlot this fall for the Fashion Annual... A place where I've seen your work several times already, if I recall right. I've got front row seats already reserved!" he gave her a smile that caused her cheeks to turn red.

"Y-yes... I have a runway show there this ye... year too." Rarity's voice had become distant, her eyes fixed on Wilson dazedly for a moment and then she caught herself again, this time shaking her head even harder.

"Well, perhaps I will see you there then! Now If you'll excuse me, I have some work to attend to in the back... good day!" she said pertly and then vanished fast behind the dark blue curtains concealing her room behind the counter.

"Rarity!!" Sweetie Belle hollered and followed after her big sister, leaving Wilson and I alone at the counter.

"Oh she is wonderful, isn't she? Truly a sight to behold both in her work and in her presence." he wistfully sighed once they were gone.

"You know... If I didn't know any better, Wilson... it sounds like you have a thing for her!" I gave my new friend a small thump on the shoulder.

"Rarity?" he looked mildly surprised. "Who wouldn't? One of the fastest rising stars of the fashion world wrapped up in a stunning package of grace and refinement. I must thank you, actually... I've been wanting to introduce myself to her for ages now but never could quite work up the nerve."

For the first time since I'd met him, Wilson looked a bit flustered... just like Rarity had been.