Estrus among us

"Hurry up with that harvest! Them apples ain't gonna buck themselves!"

"Yes, Miss Applejack," I replied, as I trudged to the next tree and began shaking it, getting most of the apples to fall into the baskets neatly arranged around it. I paused to wipe the sweat off my brow. It was back-breaking work, but at least it paid the bills. It was also all I could find in this strange world in which I'd found myself a few weeks ago...

It was a beautiful, sunny day, just right for hiking. I gathered my backpack and my walking stick and headed out to one of my favorite trails. I kept an eye out for mountain lion scat or other large predators in the area, but I figured as long as I kept to the well-worn paths I should be fine. To add to my reassurance, I passed other hikers on the way. They were all in groups of two or more, but I liked to keep to myself. I enjoyed the solitude.

It was a few hours after the noon when I decided to head back. The sun was just beginning to be in its golden phase over the trees when I saw a strange glow that had nothing to do with the sunlight off to my right. Curious, I looked around to see if anyone else was around who could see it. There was no one else. So I took a few tentative steps closer. I'd seen enough horror movies to know this is how one starts, so I had no intention of getting too close. When I was about ten feet away, I stopped and picked up a rock. I tossed it underhand towards the glow to see what would happen. Nothing. I'd seen enough. I backed slowly away and began to turn when suddenly the glow started moving towards me. I stopped and looked at it, and it stopped. When I turned and walked away again, it followed me. When I stopped again, it did the same, but this time it was a bit closer. I didn't like this. So I began running!

My father has a saying for just about every situation. In this case, the one that applies would be "Never look behind you. Something might be gaining on you." Sage advice. I made it to the path and went flat out, shedding my backpack and dropping my walking stick, running as fast as I could. Despite his advice, I chanced one glimpse behind me. And I wish I hadn't. The glow caught up to me and swallowed me whole. Darkness overtook me and I knew no more.

The next thing I knew, it was nighttime. I looked up and gasped at the size of the moon overhead. It was way, WAY larger than it should be, and as a result brighter as well. I could read a newspaper from its light if I'd had one, and that's a phenomenon I'd never experienced.

And that wasn't all.

As I moved, I felt...lighter. As though I wasn't as heavy as I was before. Being a hiker, I'd kept myself in shape, even though I still had a few more pounds than I wanted. But now experimenting, I took a jump and landed far further than I should have! Something was very, very wrong here. The thought that I was no longer on Earth was starting to worm its way into my brain, and I fought down my panic. Besides the weirdness with my body and the moon, everything else looked normal. I glanced around. I found myself on a path like the one I'd been on before, but I didn't recognize it. The geography was all wrong.

There hadn't been any mountains off in the distance before, and as I drew a deep breath the air had never smelled this clean. It was almost peaceful. Then my stomach rumbled, bringing me back to reality. I needed to find out where I was, and possibly get something to eat.

I took out my cellphone and unlocked the screen. Of course, I had no bars. That would have been too easy. But then I noticed a source of light off in the distance, and now that I was concentrated in that direction I could hear music! Cool, it must be a party! Where there's a party, there's food, (and possibly booze!) so I headed off there.

As I walked a few yards, I noticed my backpack lying across the path, so I picked it up. A few more feet and there was my walking stick. The force that brought me here must have scooped up my belongings behind me as I'd thrown them down. I didn't know how much good these things would do me, but it was nice to have any sort of familiarity. Besides, I did have some granola bars and water in my pack, so if I couldn't find anything else those things would do in a pinch.

I soon found myself on the outskirts of the town and paused to take it all in. I just had to stare. These weren't...humans. They all looked like little cartoon horses, of all different colors! Some had wings, some had horns, and they all had these cute, round eyes! They were all laughing and dancing around a stage, where a DJ had set up a sound booth, and I saw tables and tables of food, as well as balloons and streamers everywhere. Whatever they were celebrating, it must be a big deal! They seemed friendly enough, aliens or no, so I brushed the dirt off my pants, straightened myself as best I could, and walked up to them. Immediately, there was a record scratch, and every eye turned to me. The silence was deafening. One lime-green horse yelled, "I knew it!" before the rest of them suddenly began screaming and running about! In the space of a few seconds, the place was deserted. Leaving all the food unattended.

Nom nom.

Through the doors of the Town Hall, a great number of ponies were clustered behind Twilight and Company as they stared out the doors at the alien.

"What's it doing?" whispered Rainbow Dash.

"I think...I think it's just...eating," whispered back Twilight.

"What is that thing?!" said Applejack. "Ah ain't never seen nuthin' like it!" Several ponies were holding back Lyra, who was struggling to break free.

She finally got her mouth clear and shouted, "It's a Human! I told you all they were real!"

"Be quiet!!" they all shouted back to her. Then they turned back to Twilight and her friends. "It's your job to see to these things, Princess!" said one. "That's right! You all go take care of this!" cried another.

Twilight swallowed, then looked to her friends. "They're right...let's do this." She squared her shoulders and led the way outside. Marching up to the alien, who appeared to not have noticed them, she cleared her throat and said, "Excuse me? Who and what are you?"

The alien didn't pause and said with mouth full, "Can't talk; eating."

Twilight's fear left her and she began to get annoyed. "I can see that! But it's important that we talk to you!"

"Mmmph...so good!" He stopped and wiped his mouth. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Twilight stomped her hoof. "I said, 'Who and what are you?!'"

The being snuck another potato chip into its mouth and crunched down before saying, "Oh! I'm Alex. Pleased to meet you!" He stuck out an appendage that was covered in various crumbs. Twilight looked at it with distaste. "Sorry!" It wiped its appendage on its clothing and stuck it out again.

"And what, exactly, am I supposed to do with...that?" asked Twilight.

"It's a handshake! You shake it!" Instead of further explanation, he bent on one knee, reached down and took her hoof, then gave it a vigorous shake. Her hoof tingled where he touched it, but she kept it to herself. "See? That wasn't so hard." He stood and turned back to the tables of treats. "Now, if you don't mind..." The sounds of him snuffling and snarfing food soon filled the air once more.

The ponies all exchanged glances with one another. Finally, Rainbow had had enough. "Look you jerk! If you'd quit stuffing your face for two seconds, we can get this whole thing sorted out!"

Alex snarfed one more cheesy burrito and belched, then turned back to the ponies with a red face. "Sorry, it's just that I feel like I haven't eaten for more than a day. Trying to catch up."

Rarity wrinkled her nose. "What an uncouth lout."

Pinkie bounced in place and smiled. "I like him!"

Alex placed a hand behind his head and shuffled his feet. "I guess I was being rude. Please go on, what did you want to ask me?"

"Well, for starters, where in Tartarus did you come from? We've never seen anything like you!" shouted Dash.

"What's 'Tartarus'?"

"It's..." she began, then looked to Twilight for help.

"It's not important. What we want to know is are there more of you, what your intentions are, and will you be staying?"

Alex shrugged. "As far as I know, I'm the only one here, wherever 'here' is. And I just want to go home, as soon as possible, if that's alright." Then his face brightened. "I have a few questions for you all if you don't mind?"

Twilight inclined her head. "Go on."

"Well for starters," and here he reached down and grabbed her horn, "Is this real?"

Twilight gasped as a wave of pleasure ran through her body at his touch. Her eyes rolled up into her head and her tongue lolled out, then her knees buckled. "Hey! Let her go!" yelled Dash as she flew forward and tried to knock him backwards. It was like hitting a brick wall. "Whuf!" huffed Dash as she fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her. She felt a strange tingle as she looked up at the human. "What are you made of?!"

"Sorry, sorry!" said Alex as he released Twilight. She got shakily to her hooves and shook her head. The others clustered around her and Rainbow.

"Are you two alright?" Fluttershy asked Twilight and Rainbow.

Rainbow shook her head to clear it. "Yeah, I'm alright..."

"I...I'll be fine," said Twilight. She'd never experienced a feeling like that before, but it had frightened her more than anything. To think a being had such power just in its touch...

She glared at the human. "Don't. Ever do that again."

Rarity joined in as she also cast a burning gaze at him. "A unicorn's horn is very private! You never touch it, you barbarian!"

Alex looked puzzled, then his face went bright red. "Oh, I get it. It's like your 'personal' area.' I'm so, so sorry!" Then he added, "But in my defense, unicorns and horses with wings are just fairy tales on my planet. I wasn't sure you guys were real."

"We ain't horses, we're ponies, ya idiot! Don't you know the difference?!" yelled Applejack.

Alex shook his head. "Not really, no."

Applejack threw up her hooves and turned away, grumbling, "Somepony else deal with this moron."

Twilight cleared her throat and said, "It's very simple. This world is called Equis. The land you're on is called 'Equestria,' ruled by the Princesses Celestia and Luna. There are three pony tribes: Earth ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns, and a fourth called Alicorns. Now then, from where do you come?"

"My planet is called Earth, which is weird if you have ponies named after it. All the ponies and horses on my world don't have wings or horns, and they don't talk! My people are called 'humans,' and we're the dominant species."

"And how did you get here?"

Alex looked around. "That's the strange part: I don't really know. All I remember is being chased by a strange glowy thing out in the forest yesterday, and the next thing I knew it was night and I was here."

While they were speaking, ponies had begun venturing out of their hiding places and whispering among themselves as they stared and pointed at the strange being. Twilight noticed the crowd forming and raised her voice.

"It's alright, everypony. This is a human named Alex, and he's safe."

Lily, one of the ever-nervous Flower Trio, timidly said, "And how d-do you know it won't gobble us up at the first opportunity, Princess?! Look at those teeth and its tiny eyes! It looks like a predator if ever I saw one!" Several other ponies voiced their agreement. Alex held up his hands.

"Hey, now, no need to be worried! I'd never hurt any of you."

"That's what you say now!" cried Rose, one of the other Trio. "But what happens when you get hungry again and begin craving for our sweet, tender, succulent pony flesh?!" She presented her rump and gave it a slap, causing it to jiggle in place. "Don't tell me the sight of that doesn't make your mouth water!" Alex was struck speechless as he stared, and despite himself, he did feel a..."craving" coming on. But then he shook himself to clear his mind of all lewd thoughts.

"Umm...no...no...I...don't want to eat any of you..." For the first time, he noticed all the naked female asses surrounding him, and how perfect they all looked, even if they weren't human. It had been a while. Sweat began to form on his brow. "Is it getting hot around here?"

Rose had been watching him closely, and with a look of triumph, she immediately turned around again and began twerking! His eyes were glued to her fat booty, that as if in slow motion was bouncing up and down...and from side to side... "Hah! Just look at his face! He can't wait to sink his teeth into my juicy butt!" Her sisters tackled her and wrestled her to the ground.

"Rose! Stop it! Don't give him any ideas!" cried Daisy.

"For Celestia's sake stop reading those 'predator/prey' romance books!!" yelled Lily.

"No! Let me go! He must take me!" screamed Rose as she struggled to free herself.

"Get him out away from us!" screamed several ponies at once. They started to form a mob and began to advance on the human when Applejack cried "Let's go!" and they ran, leading the human out and away from the Square. They soon found themselves at the relative quiet of the Golden Oaks Library. Alex had to slightly stoop to enter the building, but still had plenty of room to stand up as there was enough space above him. He looked around for a suitable chair and, finding none, just sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Well!" he finally said. "That sure was something." He was having a hard time keeping the image of firm, jiggling pony-butt off his mind. He shrugged off his backpack and placed it on his lap, then tried to look anywhere but at his hosts' asses. They were clustered around each other, deep in conversation, some facing away...and some not. The yellow one with the wings and the white one with the horn had their butts towards him and, as near as he could tell, they both had the most perfect asses of them all. So of course, they were right in front of him.

Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts...

He was startled out of his concentration by the arrival of a small dragon carrying a tea tray. Now, he'd seen everything! The dragon stopped when he saw the human and said, "Hey! Who is this?"

"Sorry, Spike! I should have warned you. This is Alex, and he's a Human," said Twilight.

Spike set down the tray on a table and said, "A Human?! You mean like those beings Lyra is always going on about? They're real?!"

Twilight smiled and nodded. "Apparently so." She turned to Alex. "The question now is: what to do with you in the meantime?"

Alex looked troubled. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, we can't have you wandering around town, as you saw the townsponies' reactions towards you." She turned to the dragon. "Spike, send a letter to Princess Celestia. Inform her about Alex and ask her for her advice."

Alex still looked troubled. "You aren't going to do any...probing, are you?"

Twilight and the others stared at him. "What do you mean, "'probing?'"

Alex clenched his buttcheeks tight. "On my world, there's stories of aliens doing...umm...anal probing of humans."

There was silence for about two seconds, then all but Twilight burst into laughter. Even Fluttershy was hiding a smile behind her mane. Dash fell over backwards laughing, and holding her stomach managed to say, "Y...yeah, buddy! We probe alien butts all the time!"

"Rainbow!" yelled Twilight. "Not helping!"

Alex watched them all. It was clear it was all a big joke, but he was still on an alien world, and there was no real way of knowing how things were done here. At least, the situation took his mind off the lewd paths it was taking before!

"Now, as I was saying, we need to figure out what to do with you, Alex. I don't think you'll be welcome at the Ponyville Inn, so we all should decide who will keep him for the time being," said Twilight.

Rainbow wiped a tear from her eyes with one last chuckle and said, "My place is out unless he can walk on clouds."

"I'd love to have him stay with me!" piped up Pinkie Pie, "but there's no room at Sugarcube Corner."

Rarity was quick to say, "He most certainly cannot stay at my boutique! I simply do not have the space!"

With each response, Alex felt was feeling more and more like an outsider. He'd never been homeless in his life before, never had to wonder where he'd spend the night, and now here he was facing both. Before another pony could reject him he said, "Look, it's clear I'm not wanted by any of you. That's fine; I have my backpack. I can camp out in the woods for a few days by myself."

At these words, everypony turned bright red. Finally, Twilight said in a subdued voice, "We apologize, Alex. We shouldn't have made you feel unwelcome like that. From what you've said, it's not your fault you're here, and we'll do everything we can to get you back home. You can stay here with me and Spike until we figure something out."

Applejack shook her head. "No, sugarcube, you ain't got the room. Ah got a spare bedroom at Sweet Apple Acres, and we could use the help for harvest time." She turned to Alex. "What do you say, big fella? Feel like doin' some farm work?"

Alex smiled. "I've never done 'farm work' before, but I'll give it a try." He stuck out his hand to seal the deal with a handshake.

Before Twilight could yell, "Applejack, NO!" he'd already gripped her hoof and shook it. Immediately, pleasure flooded through her Earth pony hoof, where her magic was concentrated, to every corner of her body, leaving her dazed and breathless. She fell to the ground with a dopey smile on her face.

Alex released her with a look of concern. "Are you alright, miss?"

Applejack shook her head. "Woo wee! That was a doozy!" She glared cross-eyed up at him. "How'd you do that?!"

Alex raised his eyebrows. "Do what?"

The others crowded around Applejack. "What just happened to her, Twilight?" asked Rarity.

Twilight blushed. "I...I don't have enough data, but it seems that Alex's mere touch has an...err...erotic...effect on ponies. I felt it earlier when he touched my hoof, but it really hit me when he grabbed my horn. I just wasn't sure."

"Gross!" yelled Rainbow.

"Quite agree!" said Rarity. "It's vulgar, causing an involuntary effect on innocent ponies!" Even Pinkie and Fluttershy looked a bit put out.

Alex looked down at his hands as if seeing them for the first time as they all stared at him. Finally, he said, "I'm really sorry. I had no idea."

Applejack struggled to her hooves and said, "Ah ain't a pony to go back on her word. But you ain't stayin' in mah house, not near mah little sister 'Mister Hands.' You can stay out in the barn!"

Twilight put herself between them and the human and said, "Please, everypony! It's not his fault!" She turned to Alex. "You promise to keep your hands to yourself, right?"

Alex nodded. "I promise."

Just then there was a knock on the door. "Great. Who could this be?" muttered Twilight as she went to it. Opening it, she saw Lyra, flanked by her friend Bon-Bon. Lyra looked excited, while her girlfriend had the air of somepony who really, really didn't want to be there.

"Umm, hello, Princess..." began Lyra. "I was just wondering...could I talk to the...Human? Please?" She stuck out her bottom lip and gave her the biggest puppy-dog eyes she could.

Twilight sighed. "Now is not a good time, Lyra. Maybe tomorrow?"

Lyra fell to her knees and clasped her front hooves together. "Oh PLEASE, Your Highness! I've always wanted to meet one, and here's my chance! Don't take it away from me!" She looked back at her marefriend, who was still standing there with a scowl on her face. "Somepony took me away the moment he showed up, so I didn't get to see anything that happened after he arrived." She groveled even further. "Pleeease, Princess!"

Twilight closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Alright, but just for a few minutes. It's late, and we all need to get to bed."

"Oh thank you, thank you!" cried Lyra, as she slowly made her way in, never taking her eyes off the big Human. "You're real..." she breathed as she took in the sight of him. For his part, Alex became very uncomfortable. He'd never in his life been the center of attention before, and he found that he didn't really care for it.

"Umm...hi."

Lyra gasped. "You can talk?! What else can you do?! Let me see your hands!"

All the ponies in the room shouted, "NO!!"

Lyra looked around. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Just...don't let him touch you," said Twilight. "You'll lose control of yourself...erotically"

"Oh. OH!" She smirked as she turned back to the Human. "I'm Lyra. What's your name?" she purred.

"Alex."

Bon-Bon had been watching her closely and frowned when she saw the wheels turning in her head. "That's enough, Lyra! We're going!"

But Lyra dug in her heels. "Just a few more minutes..."

Bon-Bon grabbed her and dragged her out without another word as Lyra called back, "Remember my name, Alex!" Then they were gone.

Once Twilight had shut the door, she said, "I do believe that's enough excitement for one night. Alex, you'll go with Applejack for the time being. Once I hear from Princess Celestia, we'll have a more permanent solution for you. It's the best we can do for now."

Alex nodded and stood. "Thanks. I'll try not to be too much trouble."

But despite their outward protestations, every mare couldn't help but glance briefly at his crotch as he stood and wonder to herself what he was packing.

Heat season wasn't that far away.