Happenstance

"Good morning, lover."

My eyes had only just opened, but I was already smiling. Before me lay the mare that had taken me to bed last night. Her mane fell along her shoulders, damp but not dripping. A white cotton robe obscured her beautiful gray coat, though it hugged her curves quite nicely.

I wouldn't mind waking up to that sight more often.

"Morning," I answered when I was through ogling.

"Did you sleep well?"

I'll say. Even without considering Octavia's lovely presence, I'd never been quite this content to see the light of the morning.

"Mhm," I hummed, propping myself up against the headboard. "And you?"

She responded with a breathy giggle, shuffling closer to nuzzle my neck.

She was still radiating heat- probably from her shower. Then it dawned on me that I was probably a mess from last night. I brought a hand to my stomach, expecting to find it as bloated as Octavia had left it. However, it was as flat as ever.

"Huh," I mumbled.

"Hmm?"

It had to have gone somewhere. And, as much as I'd enjoyed it at the time, imagining it soiling her bed was slightly disgusting.

Yet, I found nothing when I felt around the sheets. It was the same clean bedclothes I'd expect in any half-decent hotel.

"What's wrong, Anon?"

Well, my stomach hadn't burst open and Octavia's mattress wouldn't grow mold. That was two things that weren't wrong.

"I don't know," I mumbled, probably looking confused as I glanced around the room. "This- this might sound strange but, I am remembering last night correctly, right?"

Her eyes narrowed inquisitively. "That would depend on what you are remembering," she said, her voice slow.

"I remember you giving me the greatest sex of my life."

Octavia sighed with relief, bringing a hand to her chest. "Goodness, Anon. Don't scare me like that."

"Like what?"

"Well, I'd rather my partner be lucid for that sort of thing. For a number of reasons."

"Alright. Yes. I was very much aware of everything-"

"Good," she interrupted, drawing me closer. "I'd hate for you to have forgotten," she whispered in her sultry voice.

I wanted to melt into her embrace, but my curiosity won out over how hot she was right there.

"So then, uh, where did all of it go?"

"'It', Anon?"

I gave her a flat look. "You came enough to stretch out my stomach, Octavia. What happened to it?"

Her confusion seemed only to grow. "Wouldn't you be the better one to answer that? Surely you'd know what you've done with it better than I would."

"How would I know? I fell asleep under you and only just now woke up."

"So," she began, brow furrowed. "You didn't get up and clean yourself off during the night?"

"No?"

"Then where did it go?"

Great. Full circle.

Whatever. Cum laden or not, I still felt sweaty and gross. I had better things to do like-

"Ah, shit."

"Anon?" Octavia asked, still without answers.

Right. Other people and ponies can't hear my internal monologue.

"It wouldn't happen to be before ten would it?"

She craned her neck over to her night table to see her clock. "It's five of ten now. Why?"

Shit. It'd take at least ten minutes to get my stuff and hail a cab.

"I missed my train," I answered, rubbing my eyes. So much for the pleasant morning.

Octavia grimaced. "I'm so sorry, Anon. I didn't know-"

"Hey, don't go apologizing for me being an idiot," I interjected. "I willingly came up here with you, remember?"

She didn't seem convinced, avoiding my eyes.

"Anyway, mind if I use your shower?" I asked.

"By all means, go ahead."

I hopped off the bed and walked toward the bathroom. I was still naked, but sex has a way of relieving shame. In addition, I was relieved to find out my legs still worked without any of the "walking funny" sex was also known for.

Her bathroom was the same as mine with beige floor and walls and white everything else. Oddly enough, things seemed suited to my size rather than hers. She could still use everything, of course, but she'd have to duck to get under the bar holding the curtain or the spout in the shower.

Well, I guess most ponies were taller than me. She was just a bit more.

I couldn't afford to get caught in another tangent. I had to figure out what to do here.

I had a couple hours until I had to check out. No problem there. No way I could switch my train again. The lady didn't seem too happy about my request last time. Could I really just buy another? They're usually pretty booked and with this short notice I'd have to pay a fortune.

Who was I kidding? They give me enough money that I can afford a last minute train ticket and still eat tonight. Hell, even if I couldn't, I didn't have work tomorrow. None of that was the issue. She was the issue.

I wanted to see her again. Definitely. That wasn't a problem, was it? She liked me enough to take me up here last night, for whatever that was worth. Then she called me "lover".

Man, this was the first time I regretted not sleeping around in college. I had no idea how to deal with this.

"So, wanna hang out later? I mean, not now since I need to go home and what are the chances we live nearby. But maybe we'll both schlep out here for a coffee date one day. Do you even want that? Would that even be a healthy relationship?"

I didn't bother saying those things to the shower head. It probably heard enough of that from upset hotel guests. In any case, I'd have a bit more time to talk to her.

I emerged from the bathroom devoid of filth and filled with uncertainty. Octavia had shed her robe in favor of sweat pants and a t-shirt. It was kind of nice to see that even someone as perfect as her opted to play mortal every now and then. She was still lying on the bed, now fiddling with a tablet.

I made to start collecting my clothes until I found them already folded and placed atop my bag.

Wait.

"What's my stuff doing here?" I asked, confused.

"Hm?" She looked up from her tablet and blinked. "Oh! That. Sorry if I've overstepped any boundaries , but I had the ponies downstairs bring your belongings here from your room."

"You can do that?"

She gave me a sheepish smile. "I, uh, have a bit of influence here what with my work for them. Plus, they know I'm not the type to steal somepony's luggage or anything. I just told them you were here and you'd probably need them."

Huh. So she really is a big deal.

"Well, thanks I guess. That saves me the trouble of putting on my suit just to walk to my room."

"There's a couple more things. I was going to call the train station until I realized I had no clue where you were going."

"You don't have to worry about that. I'll take care of it."

"I know. I just feel a bit guilty for causing you trouble."

"It's no trouble!" I laughed. This was a strange side of her. It'd be overbearing if it wasn't so cute.

"You said there was something else?" I continued.

"Oh! Yes! Come see this," she said, patting the vacant spot on the bed.

Still in my towel, I sat down next to her and craned my head to see what she was talking about. In this position, I could really see the difference in our sizes. My head was about level with hers and yet my feet barely reached her knees.

She pulled me closer with one hand and offered her tablet with the other. It was a lot like the ones back home, though I didn't recognize the brand. It displayed what looked like some scientific publication. I say that because it had a couple charts and the first few words made my eyes glaze over. Luckily, it seemed Octavia would give me an abridged version.

"So I was a little curious about some things you said. Both last night and this morning. You are about average for humans, correct?" she asked gesturing to my concealed lower half.

"Approximately."

"And my size would be-"

"Completely unheard of," I interrupted. "Not one of us comes close."

"Right," she said with a mixture of concern and slight satisfaction. "Moreover, you all were never meant to, er, take something like mine?"

I snorted. "I'm honestly surprised I'm alive right now."

"Then why didn't you say something last night?! What if I hurt you?"

"I did, but then I figured you had some magic lube or something."

"No! It's not! It's normal lubricant and I could have killed you last night!"

It was funny to see her so worried from this angle, and kind of touching. She was huge, hung, and terrified of hurting me.

"Well first of all, I'm fine now so there's no point in worrying anymore."

She huffed and turned away, but her hand never released its grip on my hip.

"It was still irresponsible of you."

I grinned and laid my head on her shoulder. "And it's sweet that you care."

She tried to fight it, but a smile grew on her face.

"Anyway, what exactly did you want to show me?"

"Right. That. So, I don't completely understand the article, but the fact is humans and ponies have been having relations ever since we first met."

Figures. I'd probably want to celebrate too if I found an alternate dimension of creatures who happen to speak my language, share my body structure, and look cute.

"And, in doing so, we've been sharing magic with you as well."

"So there was magic!" I mumbled.

"Since you humans seem to lack any inate magic, your bodies can draw in magic from us. Only slightly upon physical contact but much more upon more intimate activities."

"Like inflating my stomach, which also should have killed me by the way."

"Well here's why it didn't," she said, pointing to a spot on the tablet. "You see, ponies utilize magic depending on race. Earth ponies use it to practice agriculture as well as to augment our strength and durability. Pegasus ponies use it to fly and to augment their agility and reflexes. And, as I'm sure you've noticed, unicorns can manipulate it rather freely to cast spells."

Well, that was a bit more in depth than the pamphlet I got before I came here. All they bothered telling me was "wings, horn, both, or neither". Friggin bureaucrats.

"So in some of these studies, they found humans gained some benefits from magic as well. Elasticity, flexibility, vigor. It seems almost random."

I was already pulling at my skin in various places by the time she finished speaking. I didn't appear to be Mr. Fantastic, though my joints did feel a little looser than usual.

"This all seems-"

"Strange?" Octavia interrupted.

"I was going to say convenient, but that too. I guess that's more or less par for the course in this world, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Things keep working out here, regardless of the circumstances. Magic just so happens to let me survive last night, you worry about somebody being afraid of you only to find me-"

"To be fair, I have had ponies run once they found out about me."

"I dunno. I just can't help but think a lot more things ended in disappointment or lawsuits back in my world."

She didn't seem to understand my point. I guess that makes sense since, as far as I knew, she'd never been to the human world. She didn't push further.

"Anyway, I should probably find another train," I said, getting up to find my phone among my clothes.

I set about the arduous task of navigating the automated receptionist's many options. Last time I needed a real pony to switch my ticket, but I didn't feel like bothering anyone to just buy another ticket. I got through a couple harmless menus with minimal mandatory low-quality music blasting through the speaker. However, I soon found myself ear to ear with the world's greatest evil.

"Please state the name of your origin and press the pound key."

Oh goddammit.

"Manehatten," I said in my best robot-ese.

"I'm sorry, I didn't understand that. Please state-"

"Manehatten!"

"You have selected Manehatten. If this is correct, press one. If not press two."

"I hate these things," I mumbled, lying back down next to Octavia.

"Don't we all."

"Please wait while I gather your station's info."

"Seriously. I know the routes. I could just tell them the route I need and we could be done."

"Please state the name of your destination and then press the pound key."

"Horsesham," I said, careful to pronounce the "horse" portion of the otherwise human-like town.

"I'm sorry, I didn't understand that. Please state the name of your destination and then press the pound key."

Octavia started poking my arm, probably about to tell me to just press zero and get a real pony. No way. I invested enough time that I had to keep going.

"Horsesham!"

"I'm sorry, I-"

I was about to scream the name a third time into my phone before Octavia snatched it from my hand. First I was confused, but rage welled up in my heart as I watched her end the call, erasing all of my hard work. I nearly redirected my anger for voice recognition software toward her until I noticed her surprised and elated expression.

"Anon," she began, grinning. "You didn't tell me you were from Horsesham!"

"Why did you do that," I said through gritted teeth.

"I'm from Horsesham. I can just drive you there tomorrow."

Remember what I said about convenience?

"No way," I said in disbelief.

"I'm telling you. When do you need to be back?"

Come on. Surely there's no way our schedules line up that well. She'll probably need to stay longer than I can.

"By tomorrow night, ideally."

Her smile never left. "Perfect! My last show is tonight. We can leave tomorrow as early as you want."

Alright. At this point I was determined to prove to her that the world would never bend so readily in my favor. Although, I realized I was nearly out of misfortune to exploit.

"But where would I stay? I have to check out of my room soon."

Her expression reminded me of how she looked at me across the bar the previous night. Not contempt, but almost affectionate pity for my clumsiness. I already knew I had a bed tonight.

"Tell you what, Anon," she began, rolling onto me and resting her head on my chest. "I'll let you stay here until we leave if you help me pass the time before my show."

I swallowed, timid and intimidated all over again.

"Well?" she purred.

I let out a nervous laugh. "When you put it like that-"

Her lips interrupted me, sealing the doom of all of my current problems.

How could I say no?

...