My Life with Nanaimo

Chapters

An Unusual Wakeup
Exploration
A Very Unpleasant Discovery
A Small Obstacle
Introductions
The Physical Body Healers
New Clothes and a Bite to Eat
Humble Abode
Rise and Shine!
Breakfast at Samantha's Kitchen
To See the Mayor
The Mayor Wants My Pony!
Back to Vanessa's
Welcome to Ponyville, Michael!
A Chance Encounter
Another Chance Meeting
The World is My Oyster
And I Like It Raw
Return to Sh'Koggo
Two Lovers
[AU] Where Am I?
[AU]Meeting the Parents
[AU]An Ultimatum
[AU]Milky Way
[AU]Sleepless in Seaddle
[AU]Confrontation
[AU]Towards Whinnyapolis
Things You Shouldn't Do When You're Dead
[AU]An Unusual Train Ride

An Unusual Wakeup

Living alone sucks.

I'm sure people can relate to that.

Work has kept me occupied for the most part, but sleeping alone is sometimes the worst part.

I had moved away and was now living in an apartment in the city where my worksite was located. Brenda had disapproved of the choice I had made for our new living arrangements and filed for divorce shortly after I had moved most of our stuff into the too-small apartment. Long story short, I was now forced to pay alimony, which kept me working to pay both my rent AND hers, which made my life absolutely miserable. At some point, she had met an unfortunate end in a car accident, which freed me up from the alimony payments, but forced me to cover half the funeral expenses. Somehow or other I was able to get it taken care of, and some months after that, I had found someone to make a life-size plush doll of one of my favorite non-canon ponies, a brown earth pony mare by the name of Nanaimo. Being in need of companionship, the plushie had become my night-time companion, doing her best to keep me happy, but deep down I knew I needed something more. Night after night I would wish for her to be made real for me -- and many nights had passed with no results. I was about to give up hope. My life meant nothing to me at that point. Then something really freaky happened.

"Mmmh, those sleeping pills really did a number on me," a female-sounding voice spoke.

I woke with a start to see what used to be my life-size plushie now looking at me very quizzically. She almost comedically turned her head from side to side to see what was going on.
I simply stared at her while laying next to her. My mouth opened and nothing came out. The possible prospect of what had just happened at that point had caused my mind to freeze. I was stunned to see her mouth open and completely unprepared for what happened next.

She screamed. Oh, how she screamed. It was the most unearthly thing I had ever heard. It shook me to my core.

My neighbors aren't going to like this very much I thought. I needed to do something very quickly. I chose to hug her and kiss her on her lips at that point, which completely shocked her. Her screaming stopped as she seemed to melt into my embrace, and she returned my kiss, closing her purple eyes as she did so. She reached her forelegs around my head, surprising me with their simultaneous softness yet firmness. I broke off the kiss but continued to hold her close. Her warmth felt very nice.

"So what were you saying about sleeping pills?" I asked her, flashing a grin. Her warmth is awesome, I thought. My mind started to race at that point with myriad thoughts about many memories and ungranted wishes...

"Um, I had trouble sleeping, so I took one pill after another until I finally felt too sleepy to keep taking pills," she replied. "So, where am I, exactly?"

"Well, you're in my bed in my apartment in Rockford," I replied, still grinning at her. That is SO cringe, I thought, also mentally face-palming.

"Where's that?" she asked, her tone raising as fear began to overtake her. I tightened my grip on her, holding her even more firmly around me. Her eyes began to brim with tears at this point. I worried about what would happen if she started crying for real, but I continued to hold her in an attempt to calm her.

"Um, I think you may have taken too many pills, and you might have died in your home world," I replied softly, though I continued to cradle her in my embrace. The softness of her fur seemed to be even more pleasant than the soft fabric of the plushie. I continued to be amazed that my plushie had come to life, fulfilling one of my greatest desires at that point in my life. I absentmindedly ran a hand down her backside, caressing her cutie mark which elicited a soft moan from her.

"Mmm, I don't know who or what you are, but that feels really nice," she cooed softly. "But if what you said is true, then why am I here?" she asked. There was a part of me that was mystified by her ability to shed comedic amounts of water from her eyes as she cried. I was also mystified by how quickly the tears evaporated before even getting the carpet wet. She continued to cry, bemoaning her fate. I continued to hold her close, patting her on her back as she cried into my chest.

"I'm so sorry to tell you like that," I said almost dumbly, though I continued to pat her on the back. Her body quivered at my touch as she continued to cry. "I'd probably act the same as you if I found out I had died and gone to a place I was completely unfamiliar with," I added softly, continuing to comfort her as best I could. She wrapped her forelegs around me and gripped me quite hard, surprising me with her strength. She seemed to cry even harder and hugged me even tighter, something that caused me to cry along with her. We held each other tightly for what seemed like an eternity before we eventually stopped crying. She looked up at me from her blood-shot eyes, giving me an almost hopeful look.

"Um, if this really IS an afterlife for me, can you help me?" she asked, sniffling a little. I regretted not having a box of tissues nearby to help her.

"I'll do what I can, but I'm not really sure how much I'll be able to help you," I replied, giving her a sheepish grin. We were still laying in my bed face-to-face but now we were both smiling at each other.

"Thank you so much," she responded softly, continuing to smile. She lazily ran a hoof along my side, feeling the softness of my skin. The sensation of her hoof seemed to tickle me, causing me to involuntarily giggle at her touch. My giggling must have been quite infectious, because she continued to tickle me, giggling as well. This seemed to break her fear of me, because she hugged and kissed me even more passionately than I had done to her earlier. We held each other tightly in our embrace and kissed until we ran out of breath.

"Whoa, you really know how to kiss, don't you?" I asked, chuckling lightly as I lazily ran a hand up and down the side of her body. I loved the softness of her fur, amazed that it felt even softer than the minky fabric used to build her in the first place.

"Mmmh, I love the way you kiss me too!" she chirped happily. "I don't even know who or what you are, but you sure seem to know how to make a mare feel good!"

"Thank you," I replied almost dumbly. I continued to run my right hand up and down the side of her body, almost reveling in the softness of her fur. She willingly gave herself to me, allowing me to touch her wherever I wanted to. She continued to smile at me, almost nodding her head in approval as I continued to touch her. We continued to hold each other for awhile, gazing into each other's eyes. At some point, my phone made a buzzing sound, alerting me to a text message.

"Ugh, that's probably my boss," I groaned in disgust.

"How do you know? What kind of noise was that? I've never heard anything like that before," she said. She tried to keep me from getting out of the bed by wrapping her forelegs around my body.

"I have to see who sent me a text message," I replied, kissing her lightly on her muzzle. She giggled at this but kept her forelegs around me. "Mmmh, I need to get up, Nanaimo," I added. Saying her name caused her a bit of a shock and she released me.

"How -- how -- how do you know my name?" she asked, her voice going up an octave.

"Give me a moment and I'll show you," I chuckled as I made my way to the back room where my phone was still on the charger. I picked it up and checked to see that sure enough, I had about two hours before I had to be at work. I groaned again and was rewarded by another giggle from the brown earth pony mare. I returned to the front room of my apartment and plopped my butt down in the chair in front of the computer. I turned it on, causing Nanaimo to watch with keen interest.

"So was that your boss?" she asked, grinning. I sighed heavily in response, getting yet another giggle from the mare.

"Yeah, I've got about two hours before I have to be at work," I replied. The monitor lit up and flashed my user account, to which I very swiftly typed in my password. The sight of a purple pony's face caught the mare's interest. Then the wallpaper flashed on the screen, showing the same purple pony but in a full-body pose.

"Oooh, who's that?" she asked.

"That's my OC, Amethyst Shadow," I replied. "I have a lot of artwork of her -- and I have some artwork of you, too," I added.

Exploration

I showed her quite a bit of my saved art on my computer, a process which took quite some time. She was fascinated by everything I was showing her, but also noted that she couldn't read the language at all. I was mystified that she was able to communicate with me by speaking but reading and writing was going to be another matter entirely.

"I'm going to have to get ready for work, Nanaimo," I announced as I turned off the computer. "I'm going to be gone for about ten to twelve hours."

"Um, what am I supposed to do while you're gone?" she asked, some fear evident in her voice.

"You can rest in my bed if you want -- but I would also ask you not to touch anything in here until I return," I replied, my tone a little firmer than I wanted it to sound.

"But -- there's nothing to do here," she lamented. She flashed me a sad puppy-dog eye look that made my heart melt. At this point I readied my work clothes and headed into the shower, turning on the water. The brown mare followed me in, checking out my nudity, flashing a sheepish grin when I met her gaze of curiosity with one of disapproval on mine.

"Unless you care to join me in the shower, I suggest you provide me a little privacy, please," I stated, annoyance evident in my tone. She grinned more broadly at me and sauntered over to the tub. I raised an eyebrow at her and pulled back the shower curtain. "Are you sure you want to join me in here? I don't have any pony shampoo."

"Mmh, I could use a good shower," she offered breathily. She was staring hard at my naked body, her gaze traveling down to my lower abdomen.

"Something tells me there's something more than that you want," I chuckled. "But the floor of the tub can get quite slippery, and I don't want you to lose your balance and fall, or worse yet, pull me down with you -- my bones are old and fragile, and they break a lot more easily than they did 30 years ago."

"Um, how old are you?" she asked.

"I'm 57 years old, and not exactly in the best of health, either," I replied. "I know the tub's probably big enough for both of us, but I'm not sure how good you are at standing on your hind hooves -- and the water can get unpredictably hot and cold without warning." She continued to stare at me, bracing herself against the wall with one hoof, the other one holding the shower curtain partially back (which I tried to yank out of her hoof, but she held it with a strong grip), her gaze traveling up and down my body. I felt a cold chill run down my spine at the thought of her ogling me the way a guy might ogle a naked lady. A little drool formed at the corner of her mouth and her eyes went half lidded.

I'm not sure what to think of this, this is crazy, I thought to myself, though I tried to maintain eye contact with the brown mare.

"Where's your cutie mark?" she asked, point blank.

"We humans don't have cutie marks -- but I've heard about some guy who got one tattooed on his butt," I chuckled. She giggled in response. She cast her gaze to my eyes, a hopeful expression on her face. She smiled warmly.

I relented and let her enter the tub, though the arrangement proved to be quite intimate, to say the least. The sensation the two of us enjoyed as we soaped each other up and rinsed each other off was quite intense, both of us experiencing very intense orgasms. It was astonishing that we even had enough hot water left over to do a final rinse before exiting the tub and toweling off.

"Whew, that was amazing," I offered, having developed a new level of affection for this brown earth pony mare. I was amazed to see how efficiently she used the towel to dry herself off. I watched a little too intently, gazing at certain parts of her body I didn't know even existed. Her teats were what drew my attention the most before she finally met my gaze with hers.

"Hmm, if I didn't know any better, you find me irresistibly sexy," she purred, grinning slyly at me. I blushed hard at her comment, causing her to grin even wider. "I knew it," she chuckled, giggling a little more too. I was quite taken with her voice, so soft, so gentle, yet so sultry, too. I couldn't place any human similarities, but her Canadian accent was quite euphonious. I couldn't help but smile at her, her charms so irresistible, her beauty so captivating, and the fact that she was here with me for real, the immediate memory of holding her close and kissing her in the shower...

"Um, you didn't tell me your name, y'know?" she giggled, bringing me out of my reverie. I blushed again out of embarrassment. I found it difficult to understand why I had suddenly developed a tendency to blush far more frequently than I had before, but I think it might have been something to do with the magic that emanated from this pony. I could feel a slight tingling whenever this magic manifested itself in whatever activity this pony engaged in that triggered the use of this magic.

"My name's Michael, but I prefer to be called Mike," I replied, still maintaining eye contact with her. Her beautiful purple eyes drew me into them, the size of her eyes and expressiveness of them inspired feelings of infatuation, a very strong desire to have her as my lover, my soulmate, my life-mate, my everything. My gaze again went vacant as my mind wandered in the direction of feelings I had long considered dormant. Do I dare give myself to her completely as I did to so many other ladies in my life? I silently asked myself.

I was presented with the perfect opportunity to have a female companion who would love me for who I am and not for what she could extract from me for her own personal benefit, and the prospect of having a female companion so devoted to me that she would give herself to me completely filled me with such hope that I strongly considered calling off from work for the first time in more than three decades. This mare filled me with such hope and desire that I seriously even considered quitting my job just so that I could be with her forever. She felt so right, so natural, that being without her might bring me to complete failure.

A Very Unpleasant Discovery

I got dressed in my work clothes, despite Nanaimo's repeated insistence that I stay with her. I begged her to wait for me, I told her I would try to return as swiftly as I could, but time had run out for me and I had to leave for work. I kissed her several times to let her know I loved her and that I would try to be back as soon as I could. A thousand thoughts ran through my mind as I locked my apartment door behind me and headed out to my car to head to work. Before I had even reached the door to the outside, I heard her whimpering inside my apartment. I went back in and comforted her for a few moments, holding her close, hugging her, and kissing her on her lips.

"Please don't leave me here by myself," she pleaded, tears starting to well up in the corners of her eyes. I hugged her a little tighter.

"Okay, you can come with me, but try to be quiet, my coworkers might not understand," I said softly. Her mood brightened at this and she hugged me back as tightly as I hugged her.

"Yay!" she chirped and pranced on her hooves.

"Just be careful, okay?" I asked, motioning her to follow me. I locked the door behind us and led her to my car. She was somewhat apprehensive about getting in, but I was able to gently guide her into the passenger seat. My touch seemed to calm her down as I fastened the seat belt across her body. Her tail folded under her and between her hind legs -- and I forced myself to look away from her lower section, as distracting as it was. I got into the driver's seat and started up my car, then headed off to work. Nanaimo took in the sight of everything, marveling at everything, and talking nonstop, asking questions about everything. After about ten minutes, we made it to my jobsite. I helped her out of the car and cautioned her against speaking, as my coworkers might not be able to comprehend the concept of a talking pony.

My jobsite has a secure entry system and a keyfob was issued to every employee who works there. I readied my fob and was surprised to see the little LED turn red instead of green. Out of curiosity, I knocked on the door and was greeted by my supervisor, but the expression on his face puzzled me. He held the door open long enough for me to enter, along with Nanaimo.

"Excuse me, Jim, I was wondering why my fob didn't work," I stated, my state of bewilderment evident in my tone. It appeared he didn't hear me, nor did he acknowledge my presence (or that of my pony companion, either). I turned to Nanaimo at this point. "I don't know what's going on, he usually greets me warmly when I get here," I said softly. It was when I tried to clock in that I noticed something very peculiar was going on. The timeclock was set up using biometric data, but it was not recognizing my attempt to clock in. I noticed Jim had closed the front door to our building and was heading back to his office.

"Hey, Jim, what's going on? I can't clock in," I asked as he walked right past me without even acknowledging my presence. I followed him into the office, Nanaimo trailing me fairly close. A couple of my coworkers were chatting amiably with Jim, but when the subject of my status came up, I was shocked to hear that I had been replaced with a new worker. I tried to get the attention of the other guys but no one heard what I said, nor did they even acknowledge the existence of my pony companion.

They then went out into the main area of my worksite and I followed them to try to see if I could talk to anyone else who was there -- I had about fifteen coworkers, most of whom I was on good speaking terms with, but a couple I tried to avoid. I wandered all over the place, Nanaimo trotting behind me fairly closely, but no one made eye contact with me, and none of my coworkers even noticed the pony who was with me. After about fifteen minutes of this and listening to some of the conversations they were having did it finally occur to me what had happened.

I had died in my apartment the night Nanaimo was brought to life. I was dead and I didn't even realize it. I turned to Nanaimo and picked her up, hugging her tightly to me as tears streamed down my face. It didn't matter if my coworkers saw or heard me at this point, the fact that I had just now discovered I had died made me very sad. Nanaimo hugged me back, holding her head close to mine.

"I think it's time for us to leave," I said softly as I regained my composure. "I don't know how long we'll be able to stay in my apartment, but we will have to stay together," I noted softly. She smiled at me, a few tears trickling down her cheeks as well.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to me, hugging me tightly. She gave me a quick kiss on the lips. I glanced around to see if any of my coworkers were paying attention to us. Truth be told, Nanaimo and I might just as well have been on the moon, no one paid us any mind. I took that as my cue to leave.

"Come on, Nanaimo, there's nothing more for us to do here," I announced. I noticed one of the other doors to the building was open, so I urged the pony to follow me back to the car. She followed me silently, but once out of the building she asked a lot of questions. I helped her into the car again, answering her questions as best I could. I couldn't understand why I was able to drive to work or anywhere else, but being dead made me also question whether or not the pony was also a figment of my imagination. I deduced that since none of my coworkers paid either of us any attention, the pony was most likely an artificial construct my mind had created to cope with actually being dead.

A Small Obstacle

I decided to drive around for a bit, just to see what was going on. One of the other weird things is that while I was driving, no one actually saw us, and no one paid attention to my car -- and oddly, it felt as though the car itself was also a construct of my imagination, as other vehicles would pass through us. This aspect deeply disturbed Nanaimo, who freaked out as much as I did when a large truck seemed to run right through us. It was very weird to see the inside of a trailer packed with pallets wrapped in plastic, the contents visible but also intangible. It turns out that I could drive my car anywhere I wanted, off the road, through parks, through farm fields, just about anywhere. I also noticed the fuel gauge never went down from the half-tank mark -- it appeared that I could drive the car an infinite distance without using any fuel.

I must be dead, I thought, my mood worsening again. The sound of Nanaimo's belly rumbling brought me out of my reverie.

"What, you're hungry?" I asked her.

"Um, yeah, I don't know what you have for food, but I need something to eat," she replied.

"All right, let me go back home, I've got some food in the fridge and in the cabinets," I replied. A short while later, I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex and helped my pony get out of the car again.

"Will you let me do that myself? I know how to do that now," she protested weakly, still allowing me to touch her. If nothing else, despite being dead I was able to feel the softness of her fur and the firmness of her body. I absentmindedly scratched her behind her ears then went to my building. She cooed softly as I scratched her behind her ears and let a whimper of disappointment escape her lips when I stopped scratching her. I motioned for her to follow me back to my apartment. One of the things I noticed before going into the building though was the fact that the dumpster had been filled with a lot of stuff that looked awfully familiar -- some clothes, some shoes, an old television, my bed sheets, a mattress...

I tried my key in the lock, surprised that the door even opened. Everything in the apartment was gone. I was flabbergasted, and Nanaimo couldn't believe her eyes either.

"Where's all your stuff?" she asked as she and I both went through the entire apartment, noticing that everything had been removed, all that was left was the carpeting on the floor. The closets had been emptied, the fridge had been removed, the cabinets were open -- everything was gone.

"You didn't see the dumpster outside, did you? Looks like all my stuff got thrown away," I replied in a dull monotone. I was in shock, trying to accept this grim reality. "I guess that's what happens when people die, their possessions become worthless," I added, my voice tinged with sadness. "Not sure how I'm going to get you some food now."

I opened the front door of the apartment and checked the mail, noting that the box was stuffed as full as it could be. I pulled all the mail out, noticing what looked like about two months' worth of junk mail and bills. I surmised that time passes differently when you're dead and that would explain why everything was gone. I took the accumulated mail with me and urged my pony to follow me out the back door. I locked the doors behind me and we headed back to my car, but not before I threw the mail in the dumpster and fished out a couple of items that had some sentimental value to me, as well as a change of clothes, not that I would be needing them much longer, but because I wanted those specific clothes.

"So what are we going to do now?" she asked, her tone indicating worry and fear.

"Looks like we're going to have to find somewhere else to stay, and I don't think it will be very comfortable," I replied glumly. I caught sight of a couple of my small plush ponies, one of Trixie and one of Twilight Sparkle. I was able to grab them as well, along with a pair of shoes that had never been worn and were still in the box. A small glass jar with some silver coins in it were within easy reach, so I grabbed that as well. "Looks like I might have a little money," I noted as I shook the jar and heard the coins jingle inside it.

"Why are you bringing that stuff with us?" she asked. "What good is it going to do us?"

"I wanted a few souvenirs of my time here, I hope you understand -- didn't you have some personal stuff of your own that you put some value on?"

"Yeah, but I didn't get a chance to take it with me," she answered, her tone downbeat as she hung her head and her ears drooped. Her stomach grumbled again.

"I'll try to see if I can get some food for us," I stated, lightly scratching the mare behind her ears again. This seemed to make her happy. "Come on, let's get in the car again, we're going for another ride." We made our way over to my car and she surprised me by opening the door, climbing into the passenger seat, and buckling herself in. "You're getting pretty good with that," I observed, smiling at her as I got into my seat and started up the car.

"It's easy enough if you do it enough times," she responded, returning my smile with one of hers. "Now please, let's get some food," she implored almost impatiently as her belly grumbled again.

I drove to the nearest grocery store and got out, Nanaimo following me as I turned off the car and locked the doors. We entered the store and once again received no attention from other shoppers or store clerks as we checked out the selection of foodstuffs. Nanaimo was amazed by everything, commenting on various items. I grabbed a small basket and put a few items in, asking Nanaimo what she wanted and putting it in the basket as well. Checking out was impossible, so I bagged the items and left the store without paying for them, Nanaimo following me out the door.

We were just about to my car when everything went pitch black, as though the entire world, no, the entire universe had blinked out of existence, leaving just the two of us looking at each other in bewilderment by this disorienting turn of events.

Introductions

Nanaimo had never heard the name before, but I winced upon hearing it. She gave me a puzzled look but continued to lean into the girl's hand as she continued to savor being scratched behind her ears. I took a moment to take in the scenery, noting how high the skyscrapers seemed to go, almost poking the ceiling of the place. I did a double-take upon seeing the underside of this gigantic dome, though it was hard to make out any details. The sky seemed to melt into blackness, though the brightness made me squint to try to mentally determine what it was I was looking at. I turned my attention to my mare, who was now being pampered by this slimmer girl.

"I wonder what that feels like," I mused. "Nanaimo, the name is one of the larger cities in my home world," I stated. I turned my attention to the first girl who told me the name of the city. "So, who might you be?" I asked, taking a longer look at this girl than I should have, though she maintained a soft smile. Her thickness was an irresistible attraction.

"My name's Vanessa," she replied, her smile widening a little. She wore little clothing, and her full figure made what little she wore look like nothing at all. Her companion was a little slimmer but still fairly thick and continued to pet Nanaimo, who was now purring under that magic touch. "That's Makwela," she added as I glanced at the other girl. This other girl was wearing denim shorts and a white t-shirt and a pair of sneakers on her feet. This contrasted sharply with the barely-clad Vanessa, who didn't seem to mind appearing almost naked.

"So, um, could you show us about? We've never been here before," I asked, doing my best to avoid staring at Vanessa. This thick dark-skinned girl seemed to be everything I had been looking for in a female human, so much so that it was all I could do to stop from staring at her. She didn't seem to mind, though, and continued to smile warmly at me. Makwela had chosen to sit down and Nanaimo lay in her lap, cooing softly as the girl kept petting the pony. I turned my attention to her at this point. "Um, Makwela, could you let Nanaimo come over to me?" I asked.

"Of course I can show you around!" Vanessa giggled. I hope she didn't catch me staring, she's practically NUDE! I thought as I continued to look at her with lust in my eyes.

"Aww, do I hafta?" asked Makwela, somewhat disappointed in having to release the mare from her touch. Nanaimo gave me a hurt look. She trotted somewhat sullenly over to me.

"Nanaimo, if you want to be touched like that, all you have to do is ask," I chuckled at her. "Come on, you're MY pony, y'know?" I added playfully. She looked up at me with a hopeful look in her eyes, causing me to wilt a little under that gaze of hers.

She giggled in response but also said, "Mmmh, I don't know what it is about Makwela, but her touch is like magic!"

I decided to scratch her behind her ears at this point and discovered that my touch also had a similar effect on the mare. She cooed softly under my touch as well. As she had done so with Makwela earlier, my touch worked magic on her, eliciting soft cooing and purring noises from her. This caused me to smile and giggle a little in response.

"Is there something about this world that enhances innate magic?" I asked Vanessa. The two girls giggled at this question, but Vanessa responded first. Again my gaze was stolen by this girl, her appearance too tempting not to stare, and I caught Nanaimo in the corner of my eye flashing me a somewhat disapproving glare.

"Yup! This world has LOTS of magic in it!" she giggled, and Makwela giggled as well. I took a moment to ponder the ramifications of that statement, casually wondering if I had some innate magic within me that would allow me to use it as well.

"I'm curious to know more about this place and what it has to offer," I mused as we began a journey to somewhere. The two girls led the way with my pony and I following them. We took in the scenery, marveling at the sights and sounds of the place. There didn't appear to be any streets, just wide sidewalks for people to go wherever they needed to go.

"I know who you need to talk to," Vanessa stated warmly as she turned her attention to us, still smiling somewhat cryptically.

"I hope they're as friendly as you," I opined hopefully. I was mesmerized by Vanessa's appearance, the light glistening on her dark brown skin. Makwela caught me staring at Vanessa and giggled.

"I think he likes you, Buh," she chuckled, causing Vanessa to blush ever so slightly.

"N-nonsense, Muh! Y-you shouldn't say such things!" she stammered in response, her blush deepening. I was somewhat surprised to note the two girls had pet names for each other.

"How close are the two of you?" I asked as we continued to make our way towards what looked like the center of the city. From this distance, the gleaming towers seemed to present an almost monolithic obstacle, and the ambient light inside the giant dome reflected off the glass like a kaleidoscope. The prismatic display was very impressive, even at this distance.

Both of them blushed hard at that question and giggled like little school-girls. It took a moment for the two of them to regain a little composure. Vanessa spoke first. For a moment I could have sworn I saw some magical sparks flare between the two of them, as though they had some sort of magical rapport with each other, the kind that only two individuals who have an innate connection on an almost cellular level would have. I stood in stunned silence for the very brief flickering of a moment that this occurred. I was mesmerized by this display, something I think maybe one or both of them noticed, but Nanaimo seemed unperturbed by this as it occurred in such a short time that even the wink of an eye wouldn't have caught it.

"Um, we've been together for more than 15 years," the thicker girl replied, stealing a quick kiss from her partner. Both Nanaimo and I giggled at this, as it seemed the relationship the two of us had shared in such a short time together would have made that period of time similar to the wink of an eye. I turned my eye to the brown mare and motioned her even closer to me.

"I hope Nanaimo and I can be together much longer than that," I opined warmly. I reflected upon my age and added, "I hope I can find someone who can make me young again so I can spend my best years with my mare here."

"I think I know who can help you with that," Vanessa stated almost proudly, smiling broadly at both of us. "The physical body healers can work miracles with their magic! They have potions that can make you young again, and they can do almost anything for you!"

Her pronouncement sounded almost too good to be true -- if it were possible, such people would be able to live in absolute luxury in my home world. The thought that anyone could work magic to make people young once again was astonishing. I stood in stunned silence, contemplating all the possibilities that lay before me. Nanaimo waved one of her forelegs in front of me.

"Um, Mike? Mike? Equestria to Mike, are you there?" she asked in a worried tone.

The Physical Body Healers

I don't know how long I stood in silence as my mind raced, my thoughts mainly contemplating a possibility of returning to my home world and working such wonderful magics on my fellow humans. I was snapped out of my reverie by my pony, who tapped me with a forehoof. I turned my attention to her at this point and noticed she was giggling at my reaction. The other two girls appeared quite bemused by my display.

"Mike, what were you thinking about? You were zoned out for like five minutes there," Nanaimo chuckled.

"Mmmh, back in my home world, we could only wish to have people who could work medical miracles, like making people young and skinny if they were old and fat, and curing ailments that had no cures or treatments, as there are plenty of illnesses in my home world that cannot be cured," I answered. "If the physical body healers here are as good as Vanessa says, I just ... I hope they can work a miracle on my poor old body," I added.

"You don't look very old," Vanessa opined as she took a moment to check me out. "In fact, you look no older than me, or Makwela, or your pony companion," she added. "But if you want, we can go to the physical body healers and they can check you out better than me. I'll lead the way since you're new here." Makwela stole a quick kiss from Vanessa at this point, eliciting blushing and giggles from the very thick nearly nude dark-skinned girl.

"I hope I can get a change of clothes, too, and something to eat as well, I'm feeling hungry all of a sudden," I announced in a hopeful tone.

"I can show you those places as well," Vanessa responded confidently, turning her head in my direction and smiling at me.

"Um, we don't have anywhere to stay, either," I added, my confidence flagging a little, my tone giving away my apprehension. Both girls turned to us and beamed wide smiles.

"You two can stay with us! We have plenty of room at our place for you two," Makwela chirped almost too eagerly. "Mmmh, I hope to pet you some more, pony girl," she added warmly, eliciting a soft smile from the mare. "By the way, what's your name?" she asked as she approached the mare, now showing a hopeful expression on her face. Seems she was addicted to the human touch.

"M-my name is N-n-nanaimo," she stuttered, blushing hard at the girl who had now knelt in front of her and was once again running her hand down the pony's back.

"Nanaimo, would you be upset if I started petting Vanessa the same way?" I asked rather cheekily. Might have been the wrong time to ask that, I mentally fretted. The brown mare sighed in contentment as Makwela rubbed her back, scratched her ears, and ran her fingers through her mane and tail. She heard my question but I think she was probably zoned out, but she nodded her head dumbly. Was that a yes or was that her succumbing to that girl's touch?

I moved towards Vanessa at this point, who was a little taken aback by my advance, but she noticed me smiling at her so she relaxed a little and smiled back at me. Makwela and Nanaimo seemed to be focused on each other at this point, the girl staring intently into the mare's purple eyes.

"So, Mike, was it? You like how I look?" she asked somewhat hesitantly. She continued to smile warmly despite her apparent trepidation.

"You look amazing," I replied, nodding my head and stood next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Her skin was amazingly soft and supple, yet firm with her muscle tone under it. She blushed upon my touch, her smile widening.

"Thank you," she demurred softly as her blush deepened. "I'm honored you chose me out of so many other girls around here," she added even more quietly. I was surprised by this assertion, not knowing what she meant by it. I was oblivious to the customs and cultures of this new world and had no idea that by simply touching this girl, I was choosing her to be my human mate. What she said next caused me to freeze on the spot. "Y'know, it's something really special when a guy chooses a girl to be his soulmate," she stated proudly.

Makwela stopped petting the pony immediately. "You!" she shouted at me. "You took her from me!" she practically screamed, her face contorted in rage. Nanaimo stood dumbstruck by this display, wondering what had precipitated such a hostile reaction from the girl. She worried about causing the same reaction towards herself. I readied myself, then started to move towards her. Before I knew it, I had closed the distance to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She gave me a shocked look for a moment, then grinned broadly. I silently pondered the wisdom of this move but had no time to react to her statement, nor to her subsequent actions.

"So! You've chosen me as well! Thank you so much, Mike!" she chirped as she hugged me tightly and kissed me on my lips. Not content to let Nanaimo suffer any further humiliation, I turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder as well. The look she gave me caused me to giggle and I had to catch myself for a moment as multiple emotions played across her face. At some point she began to smile very warmly at me as well.

"M-m-mike," she uttered just barely above a whisper. At this point I knelt so I could be at eye level with the mare. Her purple eyes mesmerized me, drawing me in. She gazed into my eyes as well, her smile never faltering. I put both hands on her shoulders at this point, causing the girls to gawp at me, because for this world, such a display was the strongest statement of love possible. They began cheering and clapped their hands in approval at us.

"Nanaimo, I love you," I answered her softly, still gazing into her eyes and holding her shoulders with my hands. She blushed hard as her smile widened further, threatening to split her face. She closed the distance between us and kissed me softly on my lips. We maintained this passionate display for quite some time and at some point, Vanessa cleared her throat to get our attention.

"It's really sweet and amazing for you to show her such a strong love, I can only hope you might be willing to show me the same level of affection," the thicker girl opined. "But we have to get going if we're going to visit the physical body healers!"

Her announcement broke us out of our trance, but not before I stole one more quick kiss from the mare. Vanessa motioned for us to follow her again, and she led us toward a walkway that led closer to the skyscrapers. I saw many buildings of various colors, but ones that stood out were painted either black or white. Vanessa stopped in front of one such white building, though it was little more than a few storefronts, one of which had a red plus symbol above the door. One of the things I noticed as we made the relatively short journey from the park to the shop was just how many females and how few males were present.

"Red cross, must be a medical clinic," I mused aloud. Vanessa and Makwela giggled at this mention. Nanaimo expressed curiosity -- her eyes met mine quite briefly, but I could tell she wanted further explanation. "In my home world, the red cross was a symbol worn by doctors and nurses, who did their best to help people with illnesses and ailments, or at least, this was the symbol most commonly associated with those in the medical field."

I turned my attention to Vanessa at this point. "I take it this place is where the physical body healers do their thing?"

She giggled again. "Yes, this is one of the many physical body healer shops around the city," she stated proudly, smiling broadly. "Are you going to just stand there or are you going to come in?" I grinned sheepishly in response to this question. She opened the door for me and motioned me to go inside. "Come on, we can all go in," she added mirthfully.

The first thing I noticed about the shop was that the waiting room was pretty small, only big enough for the four of us to sit down on a couple of couches. A doorbell chimed as we entered, alerting the physical body healer, who entered the waiting room from another door, which presumably led to an examination room. I was struck by the similarity of this person to several of the other girls I had noticed on our way here. She smiled warmly at me.

"So, how may I help you?" she asked, her smile widening.

"Um, I would like to be made younger and skinnier, and I would like some improvements to my hearing and vision -- um, there are a few other things I'd like to have taken care of as well," I offered somewhat hesitantly.

"You look pretty young already, how old are you?" she asked.

"Um, I'm 55 years old," I replied. This admission stunned everyone present, and even the physical body healer herself was somewhat taken aback by my confession.

"I find that hard to believe, come with me, I'm going to check you out," she said as she regained her composure quickly. "By the way, what's your name?"

"My name's Michael, but I prefer to be called Mike," I replied, noting the girl's appearance. Much like Vanessa and Makwela, this girl was also dark-skinned and fairly thick, and also looked to be in her early 20s -- a common trait among quite a few of the girls we had seen earlier. I was puzzled by the seeming lack of guys running around as well.

"My name's Sharmeequa, and it's a pleasure to meet you -- please, follow me, I need to examine you more closely," she intoned warmly, still smiling at me. Nanaimo flashed me a worried look as I rose to follow Sharmeequa into the back office or examination room or wherever it was we were going. She tried to follow me but Makwela started petting her again, causing her to stop and turn her attention to the girl, then start cooing again as the girl's touch worked its magic on her. Sharmeequa closed the door behind us as she motioned me to another small room with a low black bench as the only item in the room. The air was somewhat chilly, the light almost blinding, the whiteness of the walls adding to the reflection of the bright light. She turned the brightness down a bit when she saw me wince.

"Okay, lay on the bench and remove your clothes, I need to conduct a full examination," she stated in a dull monotone, something that almost caused me to giggle because it seemed so cliche. I was reluctant to disrobe, but because I trusted her judgment, I chose to do so and laid on the bench, which was quite cold, but the upholstery was fairly soft. The bench almost lulled me to sleep, deceiving me with its comfort. Sharmeequa waved her hands over my entire body, from my head down to my feet as she circled the bench for the initial examination. She frowned for a moment.

"You wouldn't happen to be dead, would you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, I died in my home world and was escorted here by a small group of undead druids or clerics or -- whatever they were," I replied.

"Okay, just as I thought. I can't help you, but you don't need to worry about getting older or suffering any ailments -- indeed, you don't even need to worry about dying anymore," she added.

"What do you mean?" I asked, showing a great deal of surprise at her answer. She smiled at me again.

"Apparently, this is your afterlife, this is the world you chose to spend the rest of eternity inhabiting -- I must admit, I'm surprised to see that pony with you, those are a rare sight around here," she chuckled. "Normally, the ponies would be living in Ponyville."

"Wait, you mean such a place actually exists in this world?" I asked, my shock and amazement quite obvious in my tone and my facial expression. She giggled and nodded her head. "Would it be possible for me to go there?" I asked, my tone now more hopeful than before.

"Normally, we humans don't go there except to spend a day on vacation or something like that -- but since you have that pony with you, they might let you stay longer than a day. I'm not really sure how well they'll receive you there, though. One other thing you have in your favor is that you're male -- most of us are female, there's about nine of us for every male around here -- not sure about Ponyville, but it might be about the same ratio," she admitted. "I was hoping you might stay here in Sh'Koggo a bit longer, I could use a little company myself," she offered warmly, closing the distance between us and pressing her body against mine. She was also wearing very little, much like Vanessa, even though she wasn't as tall or as thick. Since I was still laying on the bench, she had chosen to lay on top of me, preventing me from standing up.

"Depends on how long you're wanting me to stay here," I chuckled. Don't touch her shoulders, I chastised myself, reflecting on the reactions of my female companions who were still waiting in the front room for me. Sharmeequa kissed me on the lips, the sensation causing me to see stars in my eyes, the softness of her lips mesmerizing me, and then she touched my shoulders with her hands. The shock of this action left me dumbstruck. "Um, maybe you shouldn't do that, I'm already with three other girls," I opined half-heartedly. The feeling was very intense, it sent shivers of pleasure down my spine, and it felt like this girl truly loved me -- I silently wondered if this was what my girls felt when I did this for them. "Is this part of the magic of this world?" I asked as she continued to gaze into my eyes. She simply nodded in response.

"Mike, I want you to stay here in Sh'Koggo for as long as possible," she said softly as she kissed me again.

"Um, is this because there are so few other guys in this town?" I asked. I was hesitant to kiss her, as I had already chosen two girls and the pony to be my soulmates. I felt somewhat guilty about the possibility of adding yet another girl to my group, but she was very effective at breaking down my resistance, her beauty quite entrancing -- that, or maybe the magic of this world was causing me to want as many girls as possible.

"Well, yeah, that's part of it, but I really like you, too," she replied softly as she kissed me again. Her breasts rubbed against my chest and it was I could do to refrain from putting my hands on them, the softness of her skin, the way the light glistened on her skin, the soft scent of her skin, the weight of her body pressing down on me, everything just seemed to click, her innate magic calming me as she kissed me yet again. She got up off me at this point, but stood next to me and ran a hand up and down my chest. I was shocked to see I no longer had a pot belly, but the classic six-pack abs of a well-toned athlete.

"That's about all I can do for you, but please, come back soon!" she giggled. "Oh, and you can put your clothes back on," she added mirthfully. "You're quite handsome!"

"And you're very soft, thank you," I responded as I put my clothes back on. I noticed they no longer fit me and hung loosely on my body. "Mmh, I'm going to need new clothes," I observed.

"Your companions can help you with that, Mike -- I'll show you back to the lobby, but -- please -- please come back soon," she said, her tone indicating a very strong desire.

"I hope to do so, Sharmeequa, but I'm afraid I can't make any promises," I replied.

"Okay, but, um, I'll be waiting for you!" she giggled as she led me back to the waiting room. Makwela was still petting Nanaimo and Vanessa was giggling at this sight before she saw me.

"Um, Vanessa, you said something about a clothing shop?" I asked somewhat hesitantly. I turned to Sharmeequa. "How much do I owe you for your treatment?"

"Nothing, it's free, Mike! Just -- please -- um -- come back whenever you can," she offered softly. Vanessa giggled at me.

"Mmmh, looks like you've added another girl to your harem," she chuckled.

"Vanessa, I'm not trying to do that," I protested weakly. She erupted into full-blown laughter at my response. Makwela and Nanaimo flashed me a grin and the healer flashed a look of disgust on her face. Upon seeing this, I turned my attention to her. "Sorry, Sharmeequa, I didn't mean it like that -- um, I will try to come back when I can," I said, causing her to smile warmly again at me.

"Mike, you're welcome back here any time you like! I'll be waiting for you," she chirped, her happiness seeming to be quite infectious. I turned my attention back to the thick girl.

"Okay, Vanessa, the clothing shop?" I asked. "Um, I hope they have what I'm looking for," I opined hopefully.

New Clothes and a Bite to Eat

It took a bit of persuading Makwela to stop petting the pony, but eventually we left the physical body healer's shop and walked a very short distance to yet another storefront, one which seemed to have a white t-shirt on a large black square, but the front of the store was painted green. I was curious about this, but Vanessa assured me that this was indeed a clothing shop. Upon entering, we were greeted by a sales clerk, but I also noticed just how large the interior of the store was in regard to the seeming small size of the outside of the store. What sort of magic does this? I silently asked myself.

I walked around the store for a little bit, but noticed rather quickly that the selection seemed to have exactly what I wanted in exactly the right size -- everything from pants and shirts to underwear, socks, and even shoes -- I was particularly amazed to see my all-time favorite shoes on display on the shelves that had them, and also that the boxes had my exact size in a large quantity.

I had to try on several different sizes of clothes before I found the correct ones, but eventually I had exactly what I was looking for. I was stunned and amazed by the fact that not only did they have what I was looking for, but they had the perfect colors and sizes I wanted for everything. Nanaimo was staying close to me, checking out what I was choosing, and amazed by how well the clothes fit me, feeling as though they had been tailored to my new body. All of it felt silky smooth and soft, and the shoes provided amazing comfort as well. I was wondering how I was going to pay for my clothing even though I had no money. I expressed my curiosity aloud, causing Vanessa and Makwela to giggle, along with the shop clerk, who was also a dark-skinned female.

"You're new here, so I'll explain," Vanessa stated. "For every male, there are nine females. Since there are so few males, we females pay for everything for the male," she added. I expressed my surprise silently, absolutely stunned by this revelation.

"Um, how do you do payment?" I asked dumbly.

"Like this," she stated as she walked over to an odd-looking machine. Part of the machine was designed for someone to sit on it, looking like something between a scooter and a rocking horse. There were handles like a bicycle, but this was connected to a structure that looked like part of a water closet. It was the most bizarre looking contraption I had ever seen. I watched in amazement as Vanessa rode this device, seeming to expend a great deal of physical and psychic energy into it. The sight left me speechless, but also caused me to wonder what it would feel like to do that myself. Sweat poured down her body as she continued to make the payment for my clothes, a visible explanation of why she wore such little clothing. The machine stopped when payment had been completed. She smiled warmly at me. "So, looks like you approved the payment," she grinned, wiping sweat off her brow with the back of her left hand. I was stunned and left speechless at the display. I was also aroused by the sight of the girl, light glistening on her wet skin. She cast her gaze downward at me, then met my eyes again and grinned more widely.

"We can go to the sex shop later, Mike," she chuckled. "The way you stare it me, it's quite obvious you want to do some fun stuff with me -- and maybe Mawkela and Nanaimo can join in too," she added mirthfully. I was still stunned by everything I had witnessed, my seeming paralysis causing the others to express some concern. Nanaimo came over to me and tapped me on my shoulder by rising to her hind hooves. She faced me and gave me a quick kiss before returning to all fours.

"M-m-maybe so," I stuttered, shocked by the forwardness of the girl. Nanaimo's action seemed to indicate that she too was interested in the possibility. "Um, maybe we can get a bite to eat? I'm feeling kind of hungry," I added as my stomach growled audibly. "Also, I'm curious to know about this sex shop you mentioned."

The shop clerk overheard this and blushed quite hard, causing me to giggle at her reaction.

"So, you know about it too?" I asked her, grinning. Her blush deepened further still and she dashed off into another room. I turned my attention to my party at this point. "I guess that's our cue to leave, huh?" I asked, receiving a nodding of heads as a reply. We chose to leave the clothing shop at this point, an additional change of clothes in a bag I was carrying. To be honest, I felt like a new man wearing this brand new clothing. It was softer and more comfortable than anything I'd ever worn back on my home world and I wondered silently what sort of material it was made of -- it felt even softer and silkier than polyester, but had a firmness and durability stronger than denim. It felt even softer than cotton, which amazed me.

We traveled just a short distance before we came to a restaurant. I was able to determine this by the sight of a dinner plate with silverware on each side of it, but what caught my attention was the fact that the restaurant had words I could actually read. "Samantha's Kitchen" the sign read, with each word separated by the plate with silverware.

On the way there, Vanessa explained to me that the sex shop was where partners would go to have sexual intercourse or engage in similar activities that were not permitted in public. Even displays of strong physical affection were frowned upon but tolerated. Intimate physical contact of a more personal nature had to be conducted in a sex shop. These were painted black on the front and had either a red heart or a pair of red lips in a puckered kiss above the door. I also asked about what it felt like to pay for stuff, especially when it wasn't for herself. She let a few hearty laughs escape her mouth before she regained her composure.

"It's like I told you earlier, we girls have to pay for the guys, especially when he has chosen soulmates! Oh, and it's very intense, I love making payments!" she chirped.

"I'd kind of like to experience that myself," I mused aloud. Vanessa grinned at me.

"Mmmh, the physical body healers could turn you into a girl -- but I don't know if they'd be able to change you back!" she chortled.

At this point, I decided to drop the matter, though it made me wonder how many times Vanessa was going to pay for my stuff, whatever it might happen to be. We entered the restaurant and were greeted by another girl, one who seated us immediately and brought out a menu for us. Said menu was the size of a phone book.

"If it can be made, they have it on their menu," Vanessa stated proudly, smiling warmly at me again. For some reason or other, I couldn't tear my gaze away from her -- I was worried Nanaimo would be upset by this, but the mare was quite content to let Makwela pet her, and it seemed to me as though the two of them had developed a bond as strong as the one I felt for the thicker girl. Maybe the four of us are meant to be together in a polyamorous relationship, I silently mused. I decided to flip through the menu to see what might appeal to me. I was surprised a little by some of the offerings, but noticed they also had my all-time favorite foods as well. I made a mental note of them for when the waitress would return. Vanessa and Makwela didn't need to look at the menu, but Nanaimo did -- and was able to find what she wanted and put the book back down on the table. The waitress returned with glasses of water for each of us and took our orders.

"May I have my salad before the meal?" I asked as the waitress returned to the kitchen to give the cook our orders. A moment later she returned with a prepared salad in a bowl for me. Nanaimo looked at me with envy, her mouth watering at the sight of my salad.

"Mike, I wish I had ordered a salad like that," she opined in her disappointment.

"Nanaimo, you ordered a salad already, they should be bringing it out shortly," I replied. I was stunned to see the waitress already having returned with a large bowl for the pony, the greens looking even more delicious than the salad I had been brought.

"Your food looks quite tasty, too," I noted warmly. "Perhaps we can share?"

Vanessa and Mawkela gawped at us, their mouths agape with shock and surprise. I raised an eyebrow at this display.

"Sharing food is only for intimate lovers!" Vanessa exclaimed, astonishment coloring her tone. She turned to Makwela who blushed deeply.

"So you two share food with each other?" I asked, both of them blushing very hard. It looked a bit unusual on dark-skinned girls when they blush, but this was unmistakable. Their blushing was so obvious, even the legally blind could detect it. Before we could go any further with the discussion, the waitress had returned with the orders for the young ladies. Vanessa had ordered two cheeseburgers with fries and Makwela had ordered chicken tenders, fried shrimp, and fries as well. Their food looked and smelled amazing, too. My mouth watered at the sight.

"Mike, this is our food! Yours will be out soon!" Vanessa giggled. The two girls took turns sharing their food, although their sharing was on a more intimate level. Nanaimo and I had simply swapped bowls to eat from them before returning our original bowls to ourselves. The waitress had returned yet again, Nanaimo's order of a hayburger with hay fries looking much more appetizing than I had imagined. My order was for a seafood sampler platter, with shrimp scampi, shrimp creole, blackened salmon filet with a rice pilaf and steamed broccoli whetting the appetites of all three ladies. The scent of the garlic was very impressive, the food seeming to melt in my mouth.

"Aw, Mike, let me try some of that! You can have some of my hayburger," Nanaimo offered. She wilted when I shook my head to reject her offer.

"Humans can't eat hay, Nanaimo," I replied. "But maybe the waitress can bring you a little sample or something," I added in an attempt to improve the mare's mood. In fact, it seemed as though she had read my mind, as she had brought out a small dish with a sample of some shrimp scampi. She took one in her hoof and started chewing, savoring the flavor of the garlic and butter. I expressed silent surprise at this, as I had somehow remembered ponies generally didn't eat meat. I chalked it up to seafood being different from standard meat. I took another bite of the salmon, relishing the flavor of the burnt part. Presently we finished our meals, and I watched both Makwela and Vanessa pay for us, although Nanaimo felt compelled to chip in as well. She seemed to enjoy making payment -- perhaps more than she should have, because her smile when she got off the machine spoke volumes.

"Mmmh, I see why you two like paying for stuff," the mare opined, trying to catch her breath after her exertion. The other two girls chuckled and nodded their heads in agreement. I had simply observed the three, silently wondering how much more of this I could stand without succumbing to the temptation all three of them seemed to offer while paying for our dinners.

"How does that psychic energy compensate for actual material goods?" I asked, though my question wasn't specifically directed to anyone in particular.

"You have quite a bit to learn about this place," Vanessa replied quite mirthfully. "But I know who I can take you to who will answer your questions."

"Sounds great, are we going there now?" I asked, a hopeful tone causing my voice to rise. My curiosity of this place seemed to grow exponentially with each revelation of something I had never expected or experienced. My pony was also showing curiosity as she sidled to me once we had left the restaurant. We started traveling towards the gleaming skyscrapers at this point, my curiosity growing further still.

"No, we're going home, it's going to get dark soon and we need to be home before that happens," she replied. Her tone seemed to indicate the matter was quite serious, and I wondered aloud what would happen if we didn't get inside before dark. She shuddered visibly. "You don't wanna know," she replied, her voice filled with worry.

Humble Abode

We walked a fair distance, passing other people and shops on the way towards where Vanessa and Makwela lived together. The skyscrapers loomed in the distance, but despite us having traveled for what seemed like a few miles, they didn't appear to be any closer now than when we had left the restaurant. We passed a few sex shops along the way but we were warned against going in them at such a late hour.

"Um, if we go in there this late, we'll have to stay the night there," Vanessa stated almost fearfully. "I've heard stories..." she added, letting her words trail off, a fearful expression on her face to indicate that whatever fate awaited those who were out after dark was a decidedly grisly one. We hastened our pace a little, reaching the apartment building where the two young ladies lived together.

"Why were you two so far away from your place?" I asked as we entered the lobby of the building. Nanaimo trotted next to me, but her expression of curiosity matched mine.

"We like to take long walks," Vanessa replied matter-of-factly. "The entrance you two made when you showed up was quite something, so we went to investigate."

"What did it look like?" I asked, my curiosity piqued by her revelation. Nanaimo showed interest as well, but Makwela kept scratching her behind her ears, causing her to coo softly at the girl's touch. It seemed as though Makwela had been petting the mare the whole way here, and the two of them would occasionally gaze into each other's eyes. I turned my attention to the mare.

"Nanaimo, must you let her pet you like that? I thought you loved me," I opined quizzically.

"Um, I can't help myself, Mike, it feels so good," Nanaimo replied, still leaning into the girl's hand.

"Let's get to our apartment, Muh, we can continue -- whatever it is -- up there," Vanessa stated firmly. Less than a moment later, a loud klaxon sounded three times, the sound almost deafening even inside the building. "We have to hurry," she stated, her words tinged with fear.

"As loud as that is in here, I hate to think of how loud it was outside the building," I observed almost nonchalantly. Vanessa gave me a certain look to indicate our time was very short and pointed to the elevator. We walked fairly quickly to the elevator bank, noticing that there were six elevators, each with a number plate above the doors to indicate which floor each car was on. We were fortunate enough to get a car without waiting much time and Vanessa pushed the button for their floor. As soon as the doors opened for the floor, the klaxon sounded again, twice this time.

"We have no time to waste," she said and quickened her pace down the hallway to their apartment. We followed her, and she opened the apartment using her thumb against a black plate above the door handle. Biometric locks, I shouldn't wonder, I thought as we entered the apartment. Once again I was stunned by how large the apartment was on the inside with regard to the apparent closeness of the doors in the hallway. Once we were inside, she locked the doors, then the klaxon sounded again, even louder, with one long blast. Shortly after that, all the ambient light coming in through the windows seemed to dissipate quite rapidly. Vanessa had turned on the lights inside the apartment, but the windows showed an inky blackness that seemed to swallow all light that went its way. She closed the curtains at the unsettling sight.

"All right, Vanessa, I'm going to have to ask you a bunch of questions about all this stuff that's going on," I averred in a neutral tone of voice, or at least what passed for a neutral tone in my mind. I just hoped it wouldn't be too offensive to ask her like that.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, her smile returning. She involuntarily ran her hands under her breasts, running her fingers from the bottom of each breast up to the sides of each. This display caught my immediate attention, catching me off guard. There was a part of me that thought she was trying to distract me from getting any good information on the place. Her sheer sexiness was impossible to ignore and I found myself entranced by her charms.

"I want to know," I began but once again she distracted my attention by coming over to me and climbing onto my lap and kissing me on my lips. She's determined to keep secrets, I fretted. I knew something was going on but I couldn't ask her directly. I remembered we were going to meet some people who could answer my questions the following morning, so I decided to let Vanessa lead me to whatever pleasure she had in mind for the night. Makwela and Nanaimo had already gone to one of the bedrooms, so Vanessa led me to the other bedroom.

"Makwela and I usually don't sleep in separate beds, but it looks like she has her partner and I have mine!" the thick girl chortled gleefully, pulling what little clothing she was wearing completely off her body, and showing me her full nudity for the first time. The image of her on the payment machine flashed in my mind for a moment and I recalled just how erotic watching her make payments truly was -- and the thought of having sex with her was so arousing that my member reached full tumescence quite quickly. She noticed this, but also noticed how small it was. "Should have had Sharmeequa fix that little problem with you as well," she laughed. "Oh well, you can always lick my honey pot!"

She went over to her bed and laid on her back, her calves and feet dangling off the end, and she presented herself fully to me. "Come on, I don't bite!" she giggled.

"C'mon, pony girl, come with me," Makwela chided, still scratching the brown mare behind an ear. Said mare continued to coo softly at the touch.

"Mmmh, your touch is amazing," Nanaimo noted softly, almost in a purr. She allowed the girl to guide her to one of the bedrooms, then closed the door behind them. She led the mare over to the bed, which was just big enough for the two of them. The girl showed her strength by lifting the mare onto the bed, seemingly almost effortlessly. "Oooh, so strong," the mare said breathily, her tone quite sultry. Makwela grinned at the pony and pulled back the cover, inviting her to sleep under the cover with her.

"Nan, let me cuddle you from behind," Makwela cooed to the mare.

"But, but, I wanna gaze into your eyes, Muh," she replied. The girl giggled at being called her pet name.

"Mmmh, we can take turns doing stuff tonight," the girl chuckled. "But first, let me cuddle you from behind!"

The mare stretched her body out, still not reaching either end with any of her hooves. Makwela climbed in after her, behind her, and pulled the cover over them. The girl then wrapped her left arm around the mare's barrel, hugging her closely from behind. This very cozy arrangement caused both of them to fall asleep very swiftly, the only sound between them being their light, soft, and contented breathing.

Rise and Shine!

Laying with Vanessa felt amazing, but we didn't get much sleep because of our activities. The room reeked of sex, and yet somehow we managed to fall asleep for some indeterminate amount of time. What woke me was the sunlight coming in through the window, though the curtains obscured it somewhat. I found the thick girl laying next to me, one of her arms wrapped around my chest, her breasts rubbing against the side of my body. Her wide hips amazed me, along with her very ample backside. Her belly was thick and round, a roll of fat above her waist thick enough for me to grab with a whole hand. Touching her again aroused me quickly and I had to restrain myself from waking her and having sex with her again. God, how many times did we do that last night? I silently mused in amazement. The physical body healer might not have made me long, but she sure improved my stamina! I succumbed to her temptation and rubbed her shoulder, waking her immediately.

"Oooh, again, huh? I had my doubts about you, but, WOW!" she giggled.

The door opened to reveal a groggy Mawkela and Nanaimo, both of them rubbing sleep from their eyes. Judging from the look the two of them shared, I could only deduce that the two of them had engaged in similar activities last night as well.

"I hope your shower's big enough for the four of us," I chuckled. Makwela met my grin with one of her own.

"Yep, it sure is!" she giggled, leading the way. It took a moment for me to realize that she was naked as well -- I hadn't expected to see the smaller girl nude, but she too was quite nicely toned despite her thickness. She wasn't as thick as Vanessa, but had some very nice curvature to her body. I silently hoped for an opportunity to engage her in similar activities tonight as I shared with Vanessa. The shorter girl led us to the bathroom, turning on the lights and illuminating a very large room with a tub large enough for six, a double-sink vanity with an extra large mirror, and four lights lighting the entire room. There was a shower curtain that ran around the circumference of the tub and I noticed two shower-heads instead of one.

"Pretty opulent," I opined, my admiration quite evident in my tone. What was more impressive was to see Makwela nude for the first time. Her bulky clothing was hiding a particularly sexy body and I found it hard to turn my gaze away from her. Vanessa cleared her throat but also giggled.

"I see you like my roommate," she chuckled. "You'll have plenty of time to do what you want with us later on, so let's get cleaned up a little."

We took turns soaping each other up, but all three of us ganged up on the pony and lathered her until she looked like a marshmallow, then rinsed her off. She cooed and whinnied in delight at our touch, her body shivering when she experienced a particularly powerful orgasm that rocked her body. We soaped her up some more and rinsed her off again, noticing just how strongly she reacted to being petted and stroked and caressed by all three of us at the same time. We giggled at her reaction, but she didn't seem to mind, as her pleasure receptors seemed to respond positively to our touch. We lost track of time of how long we were in the shower, but we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, the hot water never seeming to run out. Eventually we tired of this and turned the water off and got out of the tub to dry off. We also took turns drying off the mare, who giggled as we toweled her off.

"We're going to see the mayor today, Mike, so we need to dress up a little," Vanessa stated warmly.

"Sounds good, I'm interested in meeting him," I replied, causing the girls to giggle.

"Our mayor is female too," Vanessa chortled. "But you need to be on your best behavior, too!"

"Okay," I responded dumbly as I went to get my spare set of clothes. A pair of black pants, a brightly colored t-shirt, a pair of black and red shoes were my main clothing for today. Nanaimo didn't have any clothes, but I figured she didn't need any since she was a pony. Vanessa chose a lavender plastic dress, but I noted the dress was translucent. Makwela was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a white t-shirt and a pair of sneakers.

"Um, Vanessa, shouldn't you be wearing something under that dress?" I asked, surprised that she would show off her body like that. Once again the girls giggled at my ignorance.

"You have quite a bit to learn about this place, so meeting the mayor is a good start -- and we can fill you in on other details, too," the thick girl chuckled. "By the way, do you want breakfast? There's a Samantha's Kitchen not far from here and on the way to the mayor's office."

As if to signal my answer, my stomach grumbled loud enough for all of them to hear quite obviously.

"I thought I had better control of that," I grumbled, eliciting laughter from the girls and the pony.

"I'll take that as a yes," Vanessa laughed heartily as she opened the front door of the apartment to lead us down the hallway to the elevator. As we left, she closed and locked the door behind her, handing the key to Makwela, who put it in one of her front pockets.

"I'm amazed at how good the food tastes here," I mused as we entered the elevator car. Vanessa pushed the button for the lobby on the ground floor.

"Yeah, it's pretty good," she replied. "There are other places where the food's better, but those are kind of far away from us, and they're much more expensive," she added.

"I saw you pay for my clothes and my food yesterday -- how does 'more expensive' work out, as far as payment goes?" I asked, my curiosity piqued by her explanation.

"Um, I've heard stories about girls wearing their bodies out paying for very expensive stuff, then needing to go to the physical body healers to recover from it," she replied, her tone quite downbeat and her expression showing some concern.

"What if a guy pays for something?" I asked. The two girls expressed deep shock at my question and took a moment to regain composure.

"Um, guys never have to pay for anything since there are so few of them," Vanessa replied. "But maybe for the really expensive stuff, a guy might have to pay for it -- because payments from guys are worth a lot of energy!"

"I suspect that's a question I'll have to ask the mayor about -- how stuff gets made but paid for with energy," I mused.

"We learned about that in school," Makwela responded, giggling softly. "But the materials to make things are recycled from older material, and the energy we pay out gets used to recycle the material used to make things with."

"But how about the food? That has to be grown somewhere -- and the shrimp I had last night, that was some of the best I've ever had," I averred, my thoughts returning to the food quality, the flavors and the aromas causing my mouth to water again.

"There's an agricultural section to the city, every city has one, the food is grown hydroponically, and the meat is synthetic," Vanessa offered.

"So the cheeseburgers you had last night, the meat is synthetic? What, texturized vegetable protein?" I asked, my curiosity aroused yet again.

"Um, does that mean, since it's synthetic, that I could eat "real" meat?" asked Nanaimo. Her tone of voice was enough to alert the girls to the air quotes around the word "real."

"You had some of his shrimp last night, remember? How did that taste to you?" Vanessa asked the mare.

"It tasted really good, like it was meant just for me to eat it," she replied, smiling warmly. "I hope we can have some more of that later on."

"I'm sure we will, but breakfast is what's being served right now," the thicker girl said, adding a slight chuckle to the end of her statement. "Of course, you can practically have anything you want any time you want, they're really cool with their customers," she added, winking at the mare.

"Um, some hay pancakes would hit the spot right now, but, um, I guess I can have shrimp later on, even if it's just fake meat," she responded. I raised an eyebrow at this and turned my attention to the mare.

"Wait, you've eaten real meat before?" I asked, almost incredulously.

"Well, it was shrimp," she replied, her ears drooping. "Please don't be mad at me," she added softly, hanging her head.

Breakfast at Samantha's Kitchen

I kneeled and held the mare's face in my hands, whispering softly to her. "Please don't worry, where I came from, I ate a lot of meat," I said softly to her. This caused her to back away from me, showing some worry.

"What kind of meat?" she asked in an almost accusatory tone. I immediately regretted my confession.

"Um, I'd have to explain my culture and customs to you, and I hope you would not judge me by your standards," I replied in an almost diplomatic tone of voice. This put her off a little bit, and the other two girls gave me a sidelong glance, as if to signify they didn't approve of my answer, either. "Okay, I confess, I ate meat from cows, pigs, and chickens -- and some other animals and fish as well," I stated, hanging my head in defeat. A pregnant pause ensued as the pony tried to digest my words. The two girls exchanged a look, glanced at the pony, then turned to me. Nanaimo maintained a neutral expression but seemed a little distant.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that now, because all the meat here is synthetic," Vanessa interjected. "What you did in the past is in the past, you just have to accept that as part of who you are. I'm not going to judge you by what you did in the past," she added warmly, smiling at me again.

"Please forgive me," I offered reverently, but scratched the pony behind her ears. She glowered at me for a moment, but the sensation of scratching her behind her ears was a magical one, one she could simply not resist. She cooed under my touch, but as soon as I stopped, she glowered at me again, a low growl escaping her lips. "Don't judge me by your standards! I don't recall wishing for something like this!" I shouted, the mare withering under my outrage.

"Calm down, you both need some food in you, come on, let's go! We're burning daylight here!" Makwela practically commanded, her tone sharper than I thought necessary. She joined her companion, but both of them beckoned us to follow them.

"Mike, we need to talk," Nanaimo said in a low tone, a menacing quality to it. Her dark expression spoke of her anger with me and I wilted under her harsh gaze. I felt my blood begin to churn inside and anger and resentment began to boil as I remembered cultural differences between humans and ponies.

"I told you not to judge me by your standards, Nanaimo -- you know I love you and I would never do anything to hurt you, at least, not intentionally," I answered softly. "I wouldn't have paid someone over nine hundred dollars to make you and ship you to me," I added firmly. "It felt so nice to hold you close to me, to hug you and kiss you and tell you I love you I don't know how many times, but I want you to know you're MY mare, and I won't have any other mares beside you," I averred even more emphatically.

We had stopped again and the girls were quite a ways ahead of us before they noticed our absence. This matter rose to my attention and I alerted the pony to my concern, so we went in the direction I figured they might have gone, though they too had turned back to try to get to us. It took a bit longer than any of us had expected to reunite, but we found ourselves in front of a Samantha's Kitchen restaurant, so we entered and were seated promptly, the four of us being offered a large circular booth with a large round table in front of it. Once again we were presented with a menu the size of a phone book. I picked it up and flipped through the pages; the images and the descriptions of the items making my mouth water. The breakfast section was comprehensive, but had exactly what I wanted. I offered the menu to Nanaimo so she could peruse it and had a similar reaction to mine. The two girls already knew what they wanted, so they did not need to look at the menu. Less than a minute after having put the menu back on the table, the waitress brought us a tray of glasses of water and took our orders, seeming to almost know exactly what each of us wanted.

Makwela had ordered a fruit salad, and it looked positively scrumptious. Vanessa had ordered French toast and eggs over easy. Nanaimo had ordered hay pancakes with syrup and a side of hay bacon, hay fries, and lightly toasted bread. I had ordered the King's Breakfast, which was three eggs, three pancakes with syrup, three slices of toasted bread, three sausage links and three slices of bacon, along with a large glass of orange juice. My female companions gave me a sidelong glance again, but I chalked it up to being quite hungry after having died in my home world. Within five minutes, the waitress had returned with our food. I asked for a bottle of Tabasco sauce, along with some salt and pepper. Our waitress had seemingly anticipated my desires, producing the items from her apron pockets and placing them on the table. I took note of the fact that our waitress was wearing only the apron and nothing else, my reaction being that of raising both eyebrows in surprise.

Vanessa giggled at my reaction. "You know, since we live in a domed city and the weather is perfect all the time, many of us don't wear much clothing," she stated mirthfully, chuckling lightly through her words. "And since I'm the one who does most of the payments for you, your pony, and my girlfriend, I don't wear much either."

"You're very sexy," I averred as I stared a bit more than I should have at the thick girl, her nudity quite obvious from the translucent lavender plastic dress she was wearing. She smiled warmly at me before she giggled again, then took a bite of her French toast. My mouth watered at the sight of her food, but I tucked into mine shortly, savoring the flavor of all of it. I was amazed by the quality of the flavors, it seemed like the food was engineered precisely to my strongest desires regarding texture, flavor, appearance, and consistency with my memories of those sensations. My mare concurred with my assessments of the food as she licked her lips in anticipation, and hummed in approval at the quality of her breakfast as well.

"Thank you," Vanessa giggled as she tucked into her breakfast with gusto, her hands wielding the knife and fork almost effortlessly as she cut up her toast and practically gobbled it up, downing her orange juice with one long gulp. This display of her seeming gluttony caused me some concern, but she giggled again at my reaction. Makwela seemed to eat her food with almost mechanical precision, perhaps borne of a streak of autism, but she too enjoyed her meal. Nanaimo and I ate our breakfast silently, occasionally exchanging glances as we ate our food. Her curiosity got the better of her.

"Let me have a piece of that sausage link, it looks like you're enjoying the flavor too much," the mare opined. She lazily played around with some of her hay fries. I cut a small piece off and offered it to her on my fork, and she removed it quite skillfully with her lips and tongue, then began chewing. "Wow, I should get some of this, it's amazing!"

"Yeah, this is the best breakfast I've had in years," I averred. That sounds so corny, I haven't eaten any breakfast at a sit-down restaurant in years, I silently mused. The waitress returned with a small plate with two sausage links on it and set it on the table in front of the pony. She gobbled them down in two quick bites and grinned at the flavor. Presently, we finished eating and Vanessa went over to the payment machine. There was a second machine, and Makwela hopped aboard that one, seemingly enjoying making the payment far more than I thought she should have.

"I want to try that some time," I mused aloud, earning a few chuckles and giggles from the girls who heard me say this.

"We don't have payment machines engineered for males," the waitress chortled. "Unless..." she added, letting her words trail off.

To See the Mayor

I wonder what she means by that, I thought as I tried to read the girl's face for any emotion other than bemusement. She giggled again.

"Don't be silly, we don't make the guys pay for anything unless they really want to," she said quite mirthfully.

I walked over to where the payment machines were and noticed that they had indeed been engineered for female use only, unless the male was interested in anal insertion. I blanched slightly at this. "Okay, maybe if I have one of the physical body healers turn me into a female, I suppose that would make more sense," I observed, my words sounding almost robotic as they left my mouth. Both girls and the pony expressed some surprise at my statement, but Vanessa was the first to respond.

"Um, you don't really wanna do that," she said, her tone almost icy. "You might think it's cool, but trust me, you're much better off being male. The mayor can tell you more about it than I can, but -- um, trust me on this one," she added. "Besides, no one would know who you are if you went and got your gender changed. We wouldn't know who you are at that point. You'd be just another girl on the street, having to fend for herself, and hoping that some guy might take an interest in you. That rarely ever happens!"

"That's why we're so happy you chose us, Michael," Makwela added. "I think we got lucky when you and your pony girl showed up when you did."

I turned my attention to said pony. "Um, Nanaimo, are you okay with this particular relationship? I don't know how well you ponies adjust to being in polyamorous relationships," I said, my tone wavering with uncertainty. I silently hoped she would agree to the living situation we had been thrust into.

"Well, I don't have anywhere else to stay, so I guess it's okay," she replied. "But I want you to sleep with me tonight," she added, a hopeful tone to her words. She smiled at me and sidled next to me.

"I'm curious to meet the mayor," I mused aloud, absentmindedly scratching the mare behind her ears. She cooed happily in response to my touch.

"Sure, follow us," Vanessa instructed, her tone having softened considerably. Makwela walked next to Vanessa and grabbed one of her hands.

"Um, you two hold each other's hands while walking?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. The two turned their heads to glance at us and giggled, nodding their heads in confirmation of my suspicions. That's very cute, I inwardly mused. Nanaimo turned her attention to me at this point.

"Um, Michael, I'd like you to hold my hoof," she stated hopefully.

"Nanaimo, I don't know how well you can walk while on your hind hooves," I replied, lightly chuckling after the words left my mouth. "Don't worry, I'm content to let you trot beside me," I added warmly, smiling at the mare. She returned my smile, content to trot beside me, occasionally glancing up at me, smiling warmly as she did so. Occasionally I would steal glances at the girls, noticing the way Vanessa almost seemed to waddle, owing to the size and width of her hips and backside. Makwela was thinner, but not by much, but her hips also sashayed somewhat as she walked. I took note of what looked like a contrast of lighter blue near the waist of her shorts, but much darker near the bottom. I could have almost sworn that the crotch area of her shorts was wet, but I kept my suspicions to myself. It also appeared that her shorts seemed to be more of a skirt, as the center flap would occasionally rest behind her thighs, the light glinting from time to time from the lowest part of it. I was unaware of this, but my observations had been noticed by the girls.

"Mmmh, am I that attractive to you?" Makwela asked as she caught me off guard, my staring having gotten the better of me. Nanaimo turned her attention to me, as did Vanessa.

"Um, how close are we to the mayor's office?" I asked, trying to change the subject. My attempt at deflection fell flat.

"Come on, Mike, I know you were looking at me," Makwela chortled, turning her back to me and lifting the rear flap of her shorts/skirt, showing off her butt. Light glistened on her wet skin. I was dumbstruck by this display. She wiggled her butt in front of me, giggling profusely. She stopped and turned around to face me. "I know you think I'm sexy, I saw it in your eyes! I know you want to do stuff with me -- and we can do that tonight when we're back at home," she added playfully.

"Um, can I feel the material?" I asked, glancing at the bottom of her shorts/skirt. She blushed a bit.

"I guess," she replied somewhat hesitantly. I approached her and grasped the lowest part of her shorts in my right hand. My fingers felt something damp, as though some liquid had wetted up her shorts. A look of surprise crossed my face, eliciting a giggle from the girl. "Yeah, that happens when I pay for stuff," she stated as an answer to an unasked question.

"How much liquid can you produce?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. She blushed a little harder in response.

"Um, I never bothered to measure it," she replied almost meekly. I glanced a little lower to notice that the skin of her thighs also glistened a little in the light.

"Muh, we're wasting time here, the mayor's office doesn't stay open for very long," Vanessa interjected. "Mike, we can talk about this stuff later on," she added, motioning us to continue our trek to the mayor's office.

We continued our trek, passing various shops and greeting various people, the sizeable gender disparity making itself quite evident to me. Nanaimo seemed unfazed by this, and the two girls ahead of us actually greeted some of the girls, who was return the greeting and wave at me and the pony. I lost track of how much distance we covered, as our pace was relatively relaxed. Ultimately, we stopped in front of a rather unassuming one story building, looking like little more than any other of the shops and restaurants we passed on our way here. The only thing to indicate its difference was the sign above the door.

"I would never have thought the mayor would reside in such a small building," I commented, eliciting laughter from the two girls. Above the small white building was a small placard, looking like the coat of arms of a family of renown. I hesitated for a moment, apprehensive of what lay behind the front door, which was also white.

"Come on, Michael, we don't have much time," Vanessa noted, a hint of urgency to her tone. As if to indicate just how short our time was, she opened the door and motioned Makwela to push me inside. The pony reluctantly followed us in, and upon our entrance I was greeted with an astonishing sight.

"Shades of the TARDIS," I uttered, just barely above a whisper. We were standing in a grand entryway, but gawking wasn't going to bring us any closer to the mayor's office.

"Come on, Michael, this way," Vanessa instructed, pushing me in the direction of the staircase. "Make a left at the top of the stairs, the office is the second door on the right," she added. Nanaimo ascended the staircase and stood beside me, a look of fear on her face.

"It's gonna be okay, Nanaimo, I'm here for you," I offered softly, scratching the mare behind her ears. The two girls stood at the top of the stairs but ventured no further toward us. I silently wondered what it was they were up to, but dismissed it as a stray thought before proceeding to the aforementioned door, the pony trotting beside me for the short distance. I pondered the lack of sound, wondering why everything had been so silent for so long. I knocked on the door to the mayor's office.

"It's open, come in," replied a female voice from the other side.

I opened the door to see what looked like another young girl, similar in appearance to Makwela, but a little thicker and heavier in her build. Her skin was a very dark brown. She also appeared to be wearing very little clothing.

"So, you're Michael, huh?" she asked, smiling warmly at me. "And your pony companion must be Nanaimo," she added.

"How -- how -- how do you -- know -- our names?" I stuttered, dumbstruck by the fact that I had never seen the mayor before.

The girl picked up a black plastic object and pointed it at the wall to her left. A holographic display lit up, then revealed in three-dimensional LEDs where we had arrived the previous day, our meeting with the two girls, and our subsequent trek to their apartment building. Everything we did and said was replayed for us, leaving me gobsmacked.

"You've been watching us the whole time?" I asked incredulously.

The Mayor Wants My Pony!

"That is correct, Michael," she stated flatly. "I've never seen anything like it before -- a portal opening up and you two passing through it," she added as she paced around us, inspecting us closely. She took a moment to pet Nanaimo, who once again cooed softly under the touch of a human. "I like you, Nanaimo, you're very cute," she said softly, smiling warmly at the mare. "I was hoping to get a cute mare in Ponyville, but the mayor of that town won't let us have any of their ponies as our companions." She continued to scratch the mare behind her ears, earning more cooing, Nanaimo seeming to lean into the mayor's touch. My gaze was starting to harden, my jealousy clouding my emotions.

"Nanaimo," I stated firmly. I glared sternly at the mayor. "Mayor, I believe you've given Nanaimo enough affection," I averred, my tone sounding a bit harder than maybe I should have, but damnit, this mare was giving herself away too freely for my liking!

"Aw, come on, Michael, why not let me have Nanaimo for awhile? You can go to Ponyville and get any mare you want!" she pleaded. She continued her ministrations on the pony, who reveled in the pleasure of her touch.

"I thought you said the mayor of that town won't let any of her ponies leave that place," I noted. I gave the mayor a quizzical look, my confusion coloring my words.

"Well, you see, the thing is this -- you're a male, and you can get or have pretty much anything you want, just by asking for it -- but we girls, even though there's ten times as many of us as you guys, we have to pay for everything! And I've never had a pony of my own! I've always wanted a pony," she said, her tone indicating a level of hope and sincerity I had seldom heard in my life. She made a very persuasive case. I was pondered her words, mulling over several possibilities. She continued her ministrations on Nanaimo, who was now moaning in pleasure as the mayor worked her way around the mare, even going so far as to tease the mare's nether regions. She mashed her face between the pony's hocks, under her dock and gave a quick lick, eliciting a particularly lascivious moan of pleasure from the mare.

"Um, mayor, would you please be so kind as to stop doing that?" I asked, my anger beginning to rise.

"Mmmh, Michael, please let her keep going, this feels soooo good!" Nanaimo begged, her words tinged with her arousal. "Besides, you can go to Ponyville and get another mare," she added as she reveled in the affection the mayor was giving her.

"Um, Nanaimo, I thought you were MY pony," I replied, my tone indicating my level of displeasure with the turn events had taken thus far. My anger continued to rise. "Mayor, I would request you stop doing that now, please," I stated diplomatically, trying my best to hide my displeasure with her.

"Aw, come on, Michael," Nanaimo pleaded. "Mmmh, keep going, mayor, that feels so nice," she added breathily. I noticed a small puddle of liquid on the floor beneath the mare's hind legs, indicating just now much she was enjoying the mayor's touch.

"Mayor, I was under the impression that you would have some answers for me regarding certain questions about this world -- um, you might have noticed that I'm not from here, and neither is Nanaimo," I opined, trying to distract the two from further displays of affection. "And if you're going to do that, shouldn't you take it to one of the sex shops I've been told about?"

Both the mayor and the pony sighed in annoyance at my successful attempt to dissuade them from further intimate activity.

"Ugh, fine, ask away," the mayor replied, her annoyance quite evident in her tone. She flashed a sultry grin at the mare, who returned her grin as well. This did not go unnoticed by me and I glared at both of them in disapproval.

"I was told that it was possible for me to be turned into a female," I said, a hint of optimism in my voice. The mayor chuckled at me and Nanaimo flashed me a hurt look.

"Of course, Michael, that's quite easy for the physical body healers, they can turn you into practically anything you want, within reason, of course!" she chuckled. "But why would you want to be female? Being male gives you so many advantages, you can have any female you want, you can have anything you want just by asking for it -- we females are required to pay for anything a male wants, even if it's a house," she added. Her tone indicated a great deal of incredulity, she had never encountered a guy who was seriously interested in becoming a female like so many of the other girls he had observed on his trek here.

"Um, it's a long story," I replied. "Have you ever heard of gender dysphoria?" I asked in an attempt to get the mayor to see things from my point of view.

"What's that?" she asked. Nanaimo's expression mirrored that of the mayor, as neither of them had ever heard such a term before.

"Let me put it this way -- I'm very curious to experience what it would be like to be a female," I replied. My mind raced with the thought of riding a payment machine to experience an extremely intense orgasm. It had been a very long time since I had experienced one of those.

"Well, Michael, I'm sure it can be made a reality for you, but I would caution you against it -- you see, life for you males is a lot easier than it is for us females," she stated. "It might look like fun, but that's because you're not from around here, nor have you been educated to our customs and culture. Being female is very hard for us," she added, her tone a bit firm. Her gaze almost seemed to have hardened somewhat, though I couldn't decipher it completely.

"Well, I understand that, but -- I feel an overwhelming desire to experience being female -- I feel as though I was supposed to be female when I was born," I averred, my words tinged with a deep desire. "But I'm also interested in visiting Ponyville as well, seeing as you mentioned it -- and you're not the only one who mentioned it as well. I would also hope Nanaimo could accompany me to Ponyville, too."

"Well, Michael, a visit to Ponyville can be arranged for tomorrow -- but you cannot take Nanaimo with you, as she would be required to stay in Ponyville. Why not let her stay with me? I'll make sure she's happy," the mayor stated, her tone indicating a softness and warmth which seemed quite inviting to the mare. Said mare smiled at the mayor, then turned her gaze towards me. I noticed she flashed me the cute puppy-dog eyes look at me, which made my heart melt.

"How long are you going to keep her for? I would like to have her sleep with me tonight, after all, I did pay over nine hundred dollars for her," I replied. The mayor expressed a degree of surprise as did the pony.

"I don't understand the concept of 'dollars' -- could you elaborate for me?" the mayor asked.

"The dollar is a unit of currency where I came from -- over the course of two weeks, my paycheck would generally be around thirteen hundred dollars or so," I replied. Nanaimo let a low whistle escape her lips. The mayor seemed somewhat surprised.

"You -- you traded -- the time you worked -- for -- money?" she asked, her tone indicating great surprise. "We have a museum of labor -- I never would have thought I'd encounter someone who actually exchanged time worked for money," she uttered softly, her level of surprise quite obvious at this point. "And -- you -- you -- exchanged money for this pony?"

"Yes, I did -- but at the time, she was just a stuffed plush doll, not alive, just something for me to cuddle with when I went to sleep at night," I replied, matter-of-factly. I turned my attention to the mare at this point, her level of surprise matching that of the mayor. "I love you, Nanaimo, I want you to be with me forever," I uttered softly to her. She blushed hard at my confession.

"Um, I didn't realize I meant that much to you, Michael," the mare responded softly, her cheeks rouge with a deep blush. She struck a bashful pose at this point, eliciting a grin from the mayor.

"I didn't know she meant that much to you, Michael -- but if you're going to visit Ponyville, I would strongly advise you to leave Nanaimo behind, because the ponies in Ponyville are very strict when it comes to letting their ponies become attached to humans. If you love her as much as you say you do, I would hate for her to be taken from you in Ponyville -- you'd only be able to be with her when you could visit her, and she would be required to stay there if you take her there."

"Is Ponyville similar to this city?" asked Nanaimo.

"Yes it is, except for everything there is run by ponies," the mayor replied.

"I'd probably get lost over there," I mused aloud.

"Well, Michael, there are guide ponies there, too -- they can show you around their city," the mayor offered brightly. "And while you're there, you can still get pretty much anything you want for free, just by asking for it -- but the mares there will have to pay for your stuff." She turned her attention to Nanaimo at this point. "Well, my dear girl, do you want to stay with me while your human tours Ponyville?"

"But you said he can go there tomorrow -- I want to spend tonight with him, if that's okay with you," the mare responded meekly.

"Of course, of course -- but when Michael returns tomorrow, I would request you join him so you can stay with me for a few days," the mayor answered warmly.

"Um, mayor -- we haven't even been here for a few days -- we just got here yesterday," I announced, exasperation coloring my words.

"That's okay, Michael, Ponyville will welcome you with open hooves," the mayor chirped. "But we've spent enough time talking as it is -- you and your mare need to go back home and get some rest -- tomorrow is another day!"

Back to Vanessa's

Nanaimo and I left the mayor's office and reconnoitered with Makwela and Vanessa, who had taken seats at a table not too far from where they had waited for us earlier. They were enjoying a light snack, though I expressed some curiosity at how food could have been brought to them inside the mayor's residence.

"So, how did it go?" asked the chubbier of the two girls, still wearing her see-through lavender dress. I had to catch myself from staring too hard at her. Her sheer beauty was quite intoxicating. I probably hadn't noticed the way the light splayed across the acrylic fabric of the dress, nor the way it highlighted certain aspects of her sexiness -- the rolls of fat above her waist while she was sitting, the thickness of her belly as the translucent plastic strained against the width of her body...

She cleared her throat as she noticed I had transcended reality and was in a daze, hyper-fixated on the sexiness of her body. I shook my head a couple of times after having been brought back to reality. Jeez, she's almost magical with that ability, I silently mused. I grinned sheepishly at her.

"Um, I think I'm going to be visiting Ponyville tomorrow, and the mayor wants my pony to stay with her while I'm gone," I replied, matter-of-factly. I flashed a worried look at the mare, her reaction still seeming to be undecipherable.

"I'm okay with that, Michael," she responded, smiling warmly at me. The two girls flashed a hurt look on their faces for a brief second or two before regaining their composure.

"That sounds like a great idea," Makwela chirped. "But I'd like your pony to stay with us instead," she added in a hopeful tone of voice.

"Seems like all of you want her," I mused wryly. The two girls giggled and nodded their heads in affirmation. I chuckled and shook my head in ironic disbelief. "She also suggested we go back to your place so we can spend the night there -- and hopefully we can get some food before it gets too late," I added as my stomach growled, causing the girls and the mare to giggle in response. I flashed a helpless look at the chubbier girl, still admiring her sexiness. Her skin was a very dark brown but the translucent dress seemed to make her skin glisten in the light. It was a rather erotic sight in my opinion, something that caused a bulge to show in my pants. This did not go unnoticed by the girls and the mare as well, who licked her lips lasciviously at the sight. I don't know if it was my imagination playing tricks on me, but I could have sworn Vanessa was sitting, and yet now she was right by my side, staring hard at the bulge in my pants. I shook my head in confusion for a moment, only to notice she was still at the table, eating the last of her snack.

"We'd better get going then. You remember how long it took us to get here, don't you? We will accompany you back here tomorrow and we will stay with the mayor and your pony," Vanessa commented as she finished her fruit salad. My mouth watered at the sight of her food. "We can stop by a Samantha's Kitchen on the way home, it sounds to me like your business here is done." She turned her attention to her partner. "C'mon, Muh, time to get going," she giggled as the other girl had taken to petting the mare again. The two of them nodded to each other before returning their attention to the apparent leader. She turned her attention to me again. "I'll be sleeping with you again tonight, Michael, there'll be plenty of time for fun later on," she giggled before leading us out of the mayor's residence and back on the way to their apartment. As we left the mansion, the door closed automatically behind us. I seemed to be the only one spooked by the nature of the automation, although Nanaimo flashed a worried look too.

"Relax, that happens all the time," Vanessa giggled. "Come, walk by my side, Michael, I'll show you the way to go," she added warmly. The sight of her sexiness was extremely tempting, and walking by her side allowed her to steal glances at me, though I too stole many glances at her, noticing the way her hips swayed from side to side, the way her thick thighs seemed to glide effortlessly under her dress, the translucent nature of which allowed her skin to shine in the light. It was a most erotic sight, one which caused me to reminisce on the previous night's activities with her. I was completely oblivious to Makwela and Nanaimo, who were likewise stealing glances of each other as we continued to make our slow but inexorable way towards their apartment. The bulge in my pants got larger, the tightness of the pants making my member strain against it, a slight pain coming to me.

I don't recall my dick getting that large, I silently mused as I continued to steal glances of the thick girl beside me. She had noticed me stealing glances at her and she chuckled at me, giggling, then put a hand on my lower abdomen and started rubbing my member. "Um, Vanessa, shouldn't we wait until we get back to your place before we do that?" I asked, almost incredulously. The warmth of her hand felt nice even though it was still pretty warm outside as we continued to make our way back to her apartment.

She giggled again. "Mike, we can do pretty much whatever we want here, y'know?" she asked playfully, rubbing my lower abdomen almost vigorously, my member straining even harder at the fabric. Nanaimo trotted in front of us to see what was going on, and giggled at the sight of the thick girl rubbing the front of my pants. The only thing stopping my pants from showing any wetness was the thick padded briefs I was wearing. I felt liquid oozing from my member, a sensation I remembered from the past when I was much younger and considerably more obsessed with sex than I had become later on in my life. The sensation seemed to jolt me back to reality, but along with Vanessa rubbing my lower abdomen was Makwela taking the opportunity to rub my butt with both her hands.

"Mmmh, the material of your pants is so silky soft and smooth," she observed as she continued to rub my butt.

"Ugh, Makwela, do you have to do that?" I asked, my exasperation quite evident in my tone. Nanaimo giggled again, but now she came over to my right side and started rubbing on one of my thighs with a forehoof. I was now receiving full attention from the two girls and the mare, and unable to move, I allowed them to touch me freely as they pleased. My stomach grumbled at some point while they were doing this, causing all three of them to giggle yet again. Vanessa felt a slight dampness on her hand and flashed a look of surprise, then brought her hand to her face and she sniffed the wetness.

"Mmmh, you came, huh?" she chuckled, then licked her hand. "Mmmh, very nice flavor -- I'm going to take it all later on," she purred in a very sultry tone.

"Unnh, save some for me," Nanaimo whined petulantly. "He told me he loves me!"

I grinned sheepishly at the situation. "Umm, I think we should get back to your place before it gets dark, don't wanna find out the hard way what happens if we don't," I opined almost weakly, the sensation of all three of them touching me sending me into a state of bliss. My observation returned all three of them to the present reality, and we made our way back towards the apartment. We stopped off at a Samantha's Snack Shop and grabbed a quick bite before continuing on our way. I didn't like the way time passed in this world, seemingly random at times -- at some points, time seemed to stand still, but at other times, it raced along even faster than it did back in my home world. I must have inadvertently commented on this, causing Vanessa and Makwela to giggle.

"You'll have to get used to that, it just happens like that sometimes," the thicker girl chirped almost mirthfully. A Stentorian blare resounded throughout the city as we reached the building they stayed in, alerting us to just how much time had passed. We entered and took the elevator to the 36th floor, making our way to Vanessa's apartment. Despite the fact that we were in the elevator, the siren sounded again, the insulation of the building and the elevator doing little to muffle that awful sound. I mused aloud as to what might happen if anyone got trapped outside after the third siren blared.

"Um, you don't wanna think about that," Vanessa said in a hushed tone. "Best not to think about that."

We entered her apartment as the third and final siren blared, the noise unnerving me even further. The hair on the back of my neck stiffened at the sound and I noticed Nanaimo also showing extreme anxiety and discomfort at the sound.

"We're home now, you don't have to worry about that, Michael," Vanessa giggled as she slipped her dress off her body, revealing her nude form. The dress seemed to accentuate her sexiness, but seeing her completely nude caused me to become aroused almost immediately. Nanaimo turned to me and glared in disapproval.

"Um, Michael, I want to do some stuff with you too," she stated in an almost hurt tone of voice.

"Maybe we can take turns?" I offered half-heartedly, grinning sheepishly as I contemplated the delicate situation.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Makwela chirped, grinning broadly. I stole a glance at her, noticing the light glistening on her wet thighs. My member seemed to stiffen even further at this sight.

"Okay, we'll all be sleeping in my room tonight," Vanessa giggled as she led us to her room. I made my way over to her bed and laid down upon it, causing her to giggle again. "Mmmh, I see you're already ready to begin!" she chuckled.

Welcome to Ponyville, Michael!

The artificial sunlight streaming in through the windows woke me up and I noticed the girls were still laying beside me. I hadn't noticed the heat from them making me sweat, but at this point, their body heat had made it rather uncomfortable for me to maintain my current position among them. I noticed Makwela and Nanaimo were hugging each other and that Vanessa had wrapped her body around mine. I pried myself free from her embrace and heard her mumble something as I made my way to the bathroom to relieve myself. While sitting on the toilet, I heard some light mumbling coming from the bedroom. Apparently, Vanessa had woken up and took that moment to knock on the bathroom door.

"A moment, please," I replied to her insistent knocking. Without waiting, she opened the door to see me sitting on the toilet.

"Umm, I gotta pee," she opined meekly. My morning constitutional made itself evident when I let loose a loud fart. The thick brown-skinned girl giggled at this, but a little urine spilled onto the floor thru her thin nylon panties. My expression showed some degree of surprise at this, but I chalked it up to being in a different world. "Please, Michael, I really need to use it!" she added almost petulantly. I inwardly grimaced at her plea.

"Ugh, okay, let me get up for a moment," I complained as she grinned sheepishly. I got up and pulled my briefs up to cover my modesty as she made her way to the toilet and sat down, letting the force of gravity pull her heft down onto the seat. She didn't even bother to pull her panties down and let loose a stream that sprayed loudly into the bowl. She didn't even care that I was staring at her the entire time she did this. A moment later, she finished and got up from the toilet, wiping her panties with a few sheets of tissue before discarding the soiled tissue into the commode, then pushing the handle down to flush. It sounded like the toilet had been equipped with an industrial-strength stream of water as the flush went very quickly and violently down the tubes.

"Thank you," she offered warmly before embracing me in a hug and kissing me on my lips, a move which surprised me a little. I sat back down on the commode, but was interrupted by Makwela, who also needed to use it. "Ugh," I groaned as I got back up and waited by the bathtub. The other girl wasted no time before sitting down on the toilet and let loose a stream of urine that seemed to take about fifteen minutes before she finished.

"Jeez, girl, how much can you pee?" I asked incredulously, a look of shock on my face as it became quite evident how long it took her to finish. She flashed a sheepish grin at me.

"Um, I can pee quite a bit," she replied almost meekly, a deep blush coloring her cheeks. It amazed me that the girls didn't care that I was watching them relieve themselves on the commode, nor did it cause them any discomfort when I watched them stand up and wipe themselves, irrespective of me staring at their nudity, with the exception of Vanessa, who had urinated through her panties. She had wiped her panties but they still seemed to shine in the light coming in through the bathroom window.

I had taken the time to shower, but Nanaimo joined me as well -- upon soaping up the mare, the other two girls joined in as well, the three of us making the mare shiver in delight again at the sensation of our touching her. Her whinnies of delight made all three of us giggle, the shuddering of her body as we helped rinse off the soap and shampoo causing us to continue lavishing affection upon her.

"Umm, uh, thank you," she mumbled as we toweled her off, drying her fur completely I knelt before her at this point. Her lavender eyes captured my attention.

"Nanaimo, I want you to know that while I'm in Ponyville, I will never love you any less than I do now," I cooed softly as I gazed into her eyes. She blushed hard at that. The other two girls knelt before her as well.

"Ooh, I know we're going to have a good time together, Nanaimo!" Vanessa chirped.

"Um, but what about the Mayor?" she asked, surprise marking her features.

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it," Makwela giggled as she began scratching the brown pony behind her ears. Nanaimo moaned involuntarily at the girl's touch, her head leaning into the girl's hand as she continued to work her magic on the pony.

"Looks like the two of you have a very deep bond," Vanessa opined matter-of-factly. She turned her attention to me. "So, Mikey, should we get going? We're burning daylight here," she chuckled. I stared at her nudity, causing me to become aroused almost instantaneously. Before I could say anything else, she knelt before me and began performing fellatio upon me, causing me to stiffen and eliciting a gasp of surprise from me.

"Uh, Vanessa," I said almost meekly as she worked her magic upon me. Her ministrations to my member were of such intensity that I reached climax very quickly, my seed spilling out of her mouth as she tried to capture all of it, loud slurping and sucking noises adding to the erotic situation adding to the pleasure of the entire scene. Makwela and Nanaimo had taken to kissing each other passionately as they watched us. I caught the two of them in this act, my right eyebrow raising as a tinge of jealousy crept into my mind. The sensation of Vanessa lavishing affection upon my member was intense, but there was a part of me that wanted the brown mare to be doing this instead of the thick dark-skinned girl who seemed to be doing a masterful job of bringing me to climax. After what seemed like ten minutes of this, she finally relinquished my unit from her mouth, though a strand of my seed linked the tip of my member to her lips. She casually wiped this off with the back of her left hand and she licked it clean with her tongue.

"Mmh, that was good, Michael, we need to do that again!" she chirped happily.

"I'd prefer Nanaimo do that for me," I replied with more than a little annoyance evident in my tone. The mare grinned sheepishly at me and Makwela giggled at this. Vanessa showed a hurt look on her face. "Sorry, Vanessa, it's just that, um, my love for Nanaimo is very strong and I kind of want her to be with me wherever I go," I added, my voice sounding very soft and weak.

"Can't we take turns with her? She's very cute," Vanessa opined, smiling softly as she gazed into the mare's purple eyes. "We don't get many visitors from Ponyville here in Sh'Koggo," she added. I gave her a sidelong glance at this, but chuckled as well.

"I suppose so, both of you are very cute, and I'm sure Nanaimo would appreciate the extra affection as well. By the way, shouldn't we be heading to the mayor's office? I don't know how much time we have before I can get to Ponyville," I stated, some degree of apprehension tinging my words. As if to signify my concern, a bell chimed nine times to indicate the hour.

"Yeah, you're right, Michael, I suppose we ought to get going," Vanessa stated somewhat glumly. She must really like Nanaimo, I mused silently as the thicker girl gave the mare a quick glance and soft smile. I couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of jealousy at seeing both of these girls ogle the mare the way they did, lust quite evident on their faces as they would steal an occasional glance at her. I chose that moment to clear my throat audibly, exaggerating the sound for extra effect. "Okay, okay, I get the hint," Vanessa groused, flashing me a look of annoyance.

"Vanessa, I suppose you and Makwela can keep Nanaimo company at the mayor's residence while I visit Ponyville," I offered warmly, eliciting smiles on the faces of the two girls and the mare. I just hope this isn't a bad idea, I silently mused as we made our way outside the building and began heading to the mayor's residence once again. My stomach growled again as we passed another restaurant and snack bar. We grabbed a quick bite from the snack bar and continued onward.

It took us an hour or so to reach the mayor's residence once again, and on more than a few occasions I allowed my exasperation at the distance to be made known to the others.

"Quit complaining, Michael, the physical body healer worked magic on you! You should be able to handle the walk as easily as me, if not more so!" Vanessa giggled.

"It's just that I'm impatient to get to Ponyville, I never even thought that such a trip would be possible," I averred warmly, absentmindedly scratching the pony behind her ears. Nanaimo giggled and nickered at my touch. I stole a glance at her facial expression and smiled warmly at her before giving her my full attention. "Mmmh, Nanaimo, I hope to return to you soon," I said softly to her. Gazing into her eyes was addictive, her eyes drew me into them.

"Of course, Michael, I hope you return soon," she replied and stole a quick kiss from me before giggling some more.

Presently, we reached the mayor's residence and entered. Another girl greeted us at the entrance and showed us inside, then escorted us to a waiting room. We were relieved to be able to sit down on some of the furniture in the anteroom and waited for what seemed like at least fifteen minutes before the mayor herself entered the room to greet us.

"Welcome back!" the mayor chirped as she greeted us. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long -- I had some last minute personal issues to attend to," she chortled, grinning broadly before turning her attention to me. "Ah, Michael, I trust you slept well? Are you ready to visit Ponyville?" she asked, her tone seeming perhaps a little too bright and cheery.

"Of course, I hope to meet up with Twilight Sparkle and Trixie, if I get that lucky," I mused aloud. The mayor motioned for me to follow her, and I dutifully complied, letting my legs carry my body forward almost mechanically. I paid little attention to the surroundings, keeping my focus squarely on the mayor's backside, her big brown buttocks swaying gently with her lilting walk. I swear she felt the weight of my eyes on her as she quickly glanced behind her, catching my sightline. I quickly flashed a "caught" expression on my face, giving away my shame.

"Of course, Michael, I'm sure the ponies there will be happy to escort you and help you find the ponies you're looking for," she stated cheerfully.

I wonder if she caught me staring at her, she hasn't said anything about that, I silently thought before we entered another room. My attention was captured by yet another girl standing behind what looked like a control panel of some sort. Turning my attention to my left, I noticed four metal circles on a slightly raised platform. About ten feet above those, there were similar metal circles directly above in the ceiling. That part of the room appeared to be smaller than the main room itself. The mayor saw herself out before saying another word -- I had not noticed this action as my attention was transfixed upon the metal circles in the floor to my left.

"Hello, I will set the teleporter to Ponyville, please step onto the nearest disc," she stated in dull monotone.

I stood dumbly there for a moment in an attempt to take all of this in. A thousand thoughts flew through my mind at that moment. It was as though my feet had been cemented into the floor itself. The girl cleared her throat audibly at me at that point.

"Oh, oh, right, yes," I replied almost glumly before stepping onto the first disc to my left. Without saying another word, the girl moved a lever on her control panel and I felt my sense of self seem to dissipate completely, my mind seemingly going blank before things started to materialize before my eyes once again. The blinding brightness of the light caused me to clench my eyes shut and I curled up into a ball in an almost instinctive reaction to the process itself.

"So, what brings a human to Ponyville?" asked a feminine-sounding voice. I was still balled up and clenching my eyes shut when I heard this voice. It was completely unfamiliar, the voice didn't even seem human, and it certainly didn't sound like any pony I had ever heard before. The tone was harsh and a thick accent colored her words -- it reminded me of a mix of Granny Smith and Rainbow Dash, but with a thick Irish brogue.

I risked opening my eyes to see who was talking to me. The sight that greeted my eyes caused my heart to drop.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Human!" she chuckled.

A Chance Encounter

The first thing that caught my attention was the fact that the buildings in "Ponyville" looked an awful lot like the buildings in Sh'Koggo, the city Nanaimo and I had been "delivered to" by the undead Druids. I noticed that almost everything I was looking at was either exactly the same or nearly identical to what I had seen in Sh'Koggo. The only difference here is that it was almost exclusively ponies trotting on the sidewalks and through the parks. I also noticed that some of the ponies were walking on their hind legs, almost as if their bodies had been designed for that purpose.

"Ahem, are you going to stand here gawking all day long? Or are you going to come with me? I've been tasked with showing you around this town," the mare stated almost grumpily. "Name's Marigold Twist," she added tersely.

"Don't like humans much, eh?" I chuckled dryly. "It's been a dream of mine to visit Ponyville for a long time, but this place doesn't look a thing like what I had imagined."

"Oh? And what had you imagined?" she asked in an almost dismissive tone. She was walking now and expected me to follow her. I maintained a healthy distance between myself and the pony ahead. I had to raise my voice to answer her.

"Don't know if you ever knew of television," I stated, testing the waters to see how much was similar or not.

"Never heard of it," she said, her tone neutral. I decided to close the distance between us a little, now walking beside her. She was a tan coated earth pony mare, a single quarter note in dark chocolate brown being her cutie mark. Her coat seemed quite a bit rougher in appearance compared to how I had envisioned these ponies would look.

"How about video screens?" I asked, somewhat mirthfully. Vanessa and Makwela had kept my pony and I up until very late as we watched all kinds of videos on their video screen -- I was impressed by the holography and how realistic it all appeared.

"Yep, we have those -- I like to watch videos," she replied, her tone much brighter. I decided to drop the line of inquiry into that subject until later -- perhaps to meet with the mayor to find out more information. "But you didn't answer my question," she added, her tone returning to its more standoffish nature.

"Where I came from, there was this ... video ... about ponies living in Ponyville," I replied, not liking where the conversation was heading.

"Oh? I'm curious to know about it," she replied almost mirthfully.

"In those videos, the ponies depicted, along with their town of Ponyville was much different from what I'm seeing here -- and in fact, Ponyville looks an awful lot like Sh'Koggo, but with ponies instead of humans," I stated, trying to keep my tone somewhat neutral.

We were walking along a path that led us past several shops reminiscent of those I had seen in Sh'Koggo, but with ponies either trotting or walking on their hind legs, most simply choosing to ignore me even though I was a human. Amazingly enough, I caught sight of another human walking alongside a yellow pegasus mare with long pink mane and tail.

"Um, Melody, can we meet up with that pair over there? I'd like to ask that human a few questions," I added, drawing an almost irate glare from the mare.

"Ugh, you humans are all alike, the first time any of you see another human in Ponyville, it's like you have to talk to them," she groused, eliciting a sheepish grin and giggle from me in response. "Ugh, fine," she grunted as she turned towards the pair. Upon seeing us, the two of them likewise turned their path towards us. We met just a few moments later.

"So, what brings another human to Ponyville?" I asked, trying to remain somewhat nonchalant. I noted the cutie mark of the yellow pegasus. "So, you must be Fluttershy, correct?" I asked as I turned my attention fully to the pegasus.

"Oh, no, no, that's not my name, even though I've been asked about that many times," she replied. Her tone indicated some degree of shyness, but not to the level of the legendary one I had mentioned. "I'm a distant descendant of hers, and it was almost sheer luck that I ended up with a very similar cutie mark. My name is Butterfly Effect," she stated proudly. Oddly enough, her voice sounded fairly close to Fluttershy's, even though there were some obvious differences between the two.

"Stop trying to flirt with my mare," the human male interjected at this point. Upon catching his facial features, an image and a name popped into my mind.

"Emerson? Is that you, Emerson? What are you doing here?" I asked incredulously.

"Waitaminit, are you -- Mike?" he asked, almost as incredulously. "I haven't seen you in at least ten years!"

"Yep, and yeah, time goes by quickly when you're dead," I replied, tacking a dark chuckle onto the end of my response. This elicited a gasp from the ponies. "Yeah, that's right, I died and came here by sheer luck." This elicited a barrage of questions from both ponies as well as Emerson himself. I couldn't make out everything they asked, they all talked over each other.

"What say we get something to eat and discuss things," I suggested. "Um, I don't have any money," I added sheepishly.

"Don't worry, we mares take care of that for our stallions," the pegasus responded.

"Sounds similar to Sh'Koggo," I remarked almost dryly. "Um, Emerson, since you seem to have been here longer than me, why don't you let me know a little more about this place?"

He chuckled at me. "Y'know, Mike, it's been such a long time since I last saw you!" he grinned, then turned his attention to his pegasus mare. "Flutterbutt, this is the human I was telling you about," he giggled as he pointed at me. "He's pretty nice, very friendly..." he began but he let his words trail off softly. His mare nudged him at his side with a forehoof. He grinned sheepishly in response to this.

"We need to get going if we're going to eat and then head home before ten," Melody interjected. "We don't have a lot of time left." She inadvertently looked up to the sky to see the sun hanging pretty low in the horizon.

"Jeez, I didn't know it was already that late," I noted, a note of surprise evident in my tone. I too looked at the sky (which was basically the underside of the geodesic dome that encapsulated the city. I also noted the skyscrapers off in the distance, silently recollecting the image I had seen when I was in Sh'Koggo).

"Time passes differently here," Melody stated tersely and turned off towards the nearest restaurant. Almost instinctively we followed her, both Emerson and his mare accompanying me. We made a little small talk before reaching the restaurant. Melody entered without any hesitation, forcing us to follow her in short order.

"Not much for small talk, is she?" I chuckled, my mirthful tone irritating said mare.

"You have much to learn, human," she stated darkly, her tone indicating the gravity of her intent.

"Jeez, sorry about that," I offered sheepishly. Even Emerson seemed to take note of her severity, giving me a quizzical glance, the pegasus likewise appearing somewhat confused.

"You don't want to know what happens after dark," Melody intoned quite gravely, the tone of her voice indicating just how horrible such a fate would await the unwary.

"I was with a couple of other humans in Sh'Koggo, and they told me similarly dark stories of what happens to those unfortunate souls who get trapped outside after dark," I said, my voice wavering as I mentally recollected their stories. I involuntarily shivered at the thought.

"So you already know," she replied firmly, her voice sounding harsh and distant. "Let's get some food, I'm hungry too," she added, her tone indicating a level of annoyance that surprised me.

"Jeez, Melody, do you have to be so serious all the time?" I asked, tacking a light chuckle to the end of my query. She hardened her gaze at me.

"It gives me no pleasure to be tasked with showing you around Ponyville," she responded tersely, her tone darkening as she grew more annoyed by my ignorance.

"Jeez, no need to bite my head off," I responded meekly. I gave her a helpless glance.

"I don't even know you, so you need to understand my reluctance to perform the task I've been assigned," she said. Her gaze remained firm as she practically stared at me. Her gaze seemed to bore through me and gave me more than a slight chill down my spine.

"Melody, I hope we can get to know each other a little better by the end of my tour here," I offered, flashing a sheepish grin at her. At this point the waitress brought us some menus to look through, but given the fact that this was yet another of the Samantha's Kitchen chains, I already knew that I could order pretty much anything I wanted, regardless of the circumstances.

"Do you need some more time to look over the menu or do you know what you want?" the waitress asked, giving me a sidelong glance. "Ah, a new human visits Ponyville," she chuckled. "So what would you like?"

"A seafood sampler platter, with a Caesar salad and orange juice," I replied. Melody and Butterfly gave me a harsh stare. The waitress marked the order down as if it didn't bother her.

"And you ladies? And you, Emerson?"

Melody ordered a hay salad with extra hay and ranch dressing, Butterfly ordered a simple salad, and Emerson ordered a hayburger without the hay, fries, and a coke.

"Y'know, Emerson, you could order a standard burger," I said mirthfully. The two mares stared hard at me, giving me a very firm glare. I returned their glare at me.

"What?" I asked almost indignantly. "I'm a human, and so's Emerson -- and Samantha's Kitchen can cook pretty much what any one regardless of species wants -- and I can speak from experience," I added in perhaps the most nonchalant manner I possibly could. This display did not impress the two mares, whose stares grew even harder. I narrowed my eyes at them.

"Mike, please, don't make them angry with you," Emerson practically pleaded. "You don't know what they can do if you make them mad at you," he added, his voice quavering with trepidation.

"Oh, for the love of Pete, stop judging me by your standards!" I practically shouted at the two mares. My outburst gave them pause, the two of them looking at each other with surprise and giving me a look of apprehension. I wasn't finished here. "The two of you need to understand that we humans are different from you ponies despite the similarities of the cities -- and anyway, this place, like Sh'Koggo, reminds me of stories I used to write more than twenty years ago about a place I created as a world of fantasies, a world where everything basically worked in my favor, a world where I could get practically anything I wanted just by asking for it," I stated, my tone indicating exasperation at the current situation. The waitress returned with our food at this point. I turned my attention to her at this point. "Ma'am, is it possible that I might be able to get my food for free here?"

She looked at me somewhat quizzically but smiled warmly at me. "Let me get my manager, I'm sure she'd be willing to entertain your request," she replied almost mirthfully. The two mares at the table gave me a very dark glare and even Emerson seemed to be a little uncomfortable at this point. I hardened my stare at the two mares.

"Melody and Butterfly, I hope the two of you would be more acquiescent with regard to my request," I stated in a querulous tone. It was akin to me asking them to be nice to me from here on out. "Okay, since the two of you seem to be a little confused by my request, here, let me ask you this -- will the two of you be a bit nicer to me, since this is essentially supposed to be a world I created for my own personal fantasies?"

The mares gave me an absolutely shocked expression on their faces as they seemed to finally realize that this was indeed a world I had created many years ago. Emerson was likewise shocked and was left speechless, his mouth open, nothing coming out of his mouth -- until he grabbed his burger and took a big bite out of it. Upon seeing this, the two mares likewise began eating the food that had been brought to them. I looked down at my plate of food, my mouth watering at the sight and smell of the food that had been brought to me.

The waitress returned with her manager, the two of them approaching the table we had been seated at.

"Now what's this about you wanting free food?" the manager asked firmly.

"Ma'am, I was hoping that maybe all of us could get our food for free," I replied warmly. "By the way, my name's Mike," I added, tacking a chuckle on the end of my statement. The waitress and her manager nearly prostrated themselves on the floor in front of us. "Um, you don't need to do that," I said, giving them a nervous glance. Melody and Butterfly gasped at the mention of my name.

"Um, we've heard stories about a human named Mike," the pegasus intoned apprehensively. "It's been said he could destroy the world with a thought."

I chuckled before erupting into a full belly laugh. "Ha, I don't know who's been writing stories about me, but they've embellished things a bit much!" I chuckled loudly. "If I created a world for my fantasies, I'd have no intention whatsoever of destroying such a place!" I added, my chuckling causing the mares to smile. "And anyway, if this really is the world I created for my pleasures, perhaps you two mares would be willing to show me your goods!"

The two of them dutifully complied with my request and flagged their tails to show me what they had. Emerson stood in stunned silence, his mouth agape at how easily I was able to influence those around me. I raised an eyebrow at him, then asked for the mares to return to their original positions, as I was satsified by their presentation.

"Thank you, ladies, and I apologize for such an uncouth request," I grinned, tacking a chuckle onto the end of my statement.

Another Chance Meeting

Emerson sat in stunned silence by what he had just witnessed. It took him a moment to comprehend things. Then a rapid-fire series of questions came hurtling out of his mouth like rounds from a minigun. The two mares were amused by this display and remained silent. The waitress and her manager left because apparently they didn't care to know much more, nor did they want to garner more attention from me. I cocked my head in their direction and raised an eyebrow, silently noting them returning to their stations. Emerson was still asking questions and I raised a finger.

"One question at a time, please," I remanded him somewhat brusquely. My tone indicated a level of annoyance.

"What do you mean, this is your world?" he asked after taking a moment to regain his composure. I noticed he appeared to be about the same age as I remembered seeing him last time back in my previous world. He was wearing a black t-shirt with Fluttershy saying "Yay!" on it, along with a pair of blue jeans. I wonder where he got that shirt from, I silently mused.

"Some time back, I used to fantasize about a world where I could have anything I wanted just by asking for it," I began. "Originally, I created this world around another character I created, the one known as Towanda," I added.

"Oooh, I have all her records!" Butterfly chirped, interjecting herself into my explanation. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"I wonder what her music sounds like," I said aloud, catching the attention of the manager, who changed the ambient music to that of Towanda's songs. I listened for a bit to see what her voice sounded like but the lyrics caused me to giggle a little bit. I thought I might have caught a hint of what sounded like a deeper-voiced Janet Jackson but with a hint of an English accent to it. The longer I listened, it sounded more of a Jamaican version of a deeper-voiced Janet Jackson, and I was quite intrigued. "I'd like to meet her sometime," I mused as I continued to listen.

"That can be arranged," some random pony announced as he opened the door to the restaurant. Along with this dark grey stallion was another dark-skinned human female, wearing nothing but a white tube-top which just barely covered her generous breasts and a shiny white skirt which did little to cover her thickness in the middle or her very thick thighs. Her eyes met mine immediately.

I stood in stunned silence for a moment before I simply breathed her name loud enough for my companions to hear.

"Towanda," I murmured, my voice just barely above a whisper. She raised an eyebrow at me, taking in my appearance.

"Mike," she chirped almost gleefully before coming over to me, a broad smile beaming across her face. She radiated as much beauty as sexiness, and when she came over, I noticed she also had a very pleasant scent to her. Without hesitation, she embraced me in a hug.

"Mike, it's been so long," she stated brightly. I noted the tone of her voice and was intrigued that she would find me so attractive as to show such a pleased expression at my appearance. It took me a moment to realize that the physical body healer in Sh'Koggo had done a really nice job of making me look handsome and perhaps a little sexier than I realized. She continued to hug me, drawing some ire from the mares who eyed me with more than a little jealousy.

"Towanda, I have a mare waiting for me in Sh'Koggo," I declared in a somewhat crestfallen tone. "She means the world to me," I added. Once again the mares gave me a shocked expression. Turning my attention to them, I added, "She came with me from my home world to this one -- her name is Nanaimo."

"Ooh, I'd like to meet her sometime," Towanda said cheerfully. It seemed to me that she was okay with me having a pony mare as a girlfriend. "I'll bet she's very cute, too!" she giggled.

"We would have to travel back to Sh'Koggo," I replied somewhat sullenly. "And I believe it's already getting close to the time when they'll sound the first klaxon letting people know they need to find shelter as soon as possible. I would hate to think we'd have to stay here in the restaurant..." I added, letting my words trail off softly as I gave the two mares and Emerson an almost helpless look.

Just as the words left my mouth, the first klaxon sounded. I heard some growling coming from the mares and Emerson harrumphed at the sound.

"You would say something like that, Mike," he groused.

Towanda just giggled at the situation. "My place is not far from here," she announced. "You're welcome to stay at my place," she offered, her tone still sounding bright and cheerful.

"It better be less than five minutes from here," Emerson said in the darkest tone I'd ever heard from him. Towanda's response was more giggling.

"I have places all over the world," she replied matter-of-factly. "And I also sensed Michael's presence here -- took some time to track him down, but I kinda figured he'd be eating, since that's what he loves to do so much," she giggled. "Anyway, my place is practically next door, so let's get going," she added, her tone turning more serious. "We can discuss things at my place before going to bed."

She beckoned us to follow her, so we did -- I noticed the ambient light dimming and the second klaxon was much louder since we were outside the restaurant. We had five minutes to get to her place before everything was to go dark -- and I didn't want to find out firsthand what would happen to those unfortunate souls who got caught outside of shelter when that happened. We all quickened our pace to catch up with her and we made it to her building with a moment to spare before the final klaxon sounded. I got a chance to peek outside a window as everything went dark outside. I exhaled a breath I didn't know I had been holding as Towanda drew down the shades.

"You're safe in here," she stated proudly, beaming a big smile. "Michael, I need for you to come with me -- for the rest of you, there are guest bedrooms available for your needs." Emerson and the two mares indicated their uncertainty at this statement. Taking note of this, she smiled warmly at them. "Follow me, then, I'll show you to the guest bedrooms -- but Michael is to come with me," she said, her tone a little more serious.

We followed her as she led us upstairs, pointing a guest room for Emerson and Butterfly, a separate room for Melody, and a little further down the hall was the master bedroom. Towanda opened the door for me and ushered me in before closing the door and locking it behind us.

"Can't have the others barging in here while we're talking about stuff," she said in a more jovial tone. "It's been so long, Michael, what have you been doing?"

"Well, for awhile, I was dead," I began, trying to judge her reaction. She allowed an audible gasp to escape her mouth. "And I think I already told you about a mare who's still waiting for me back in Sh'Koggo," I added. "Some time back in my home world, I paid someone to build a life-size plushie of her for me to act as a surrogate night-time companion -- I never thought she'd actually become real, but I think that happened shortly after I died."

"Y'know, I kinda want to meet her," Towanda mused softly before returning her attention to me. "Looks like you visited a physical body healer and a clothing store," she chuckled, running a hand up and down my chest. "Let's get these clothes off, you're not going to be needing them when you're sleeping with me!" she giggled. I took a moment to take in her beauty, but also noticed that she was in one of her bigger forms, almost 170 kilograms in heft. Her weight caused the bed to sag somewhat. She caught me ogling her and giggled again. "I can take my clothes off too, if you want!" she added, laughing loudly at my blush.

"I never thought I'd actually meet you in person, Towanda," I said, my blush deepening a little as she quickly removed what little clothing she was wearing. Her dark brown skin glistened in the light mounted in the ceiling, her body having a certain aroma which seemed pleasing to my senses. She smiled warmly at me and beckoned me to join her in the bed.

"Now, you need to take off your clothes to join me in the bed, y'know!" she giggled. I was still wearing my skivvies and gave her an uncertain look. "Yes, you have to take off your underwear too!" she laughed heartily.

The World is My Oyster

I woke up laying next to Towanda in her bed -- her warmth made me sweat a bit so I got up to walk around a little. It was still dark outside and the lights had been turned off, so I couldn't see anything at all. Even when my eyes finally adjusted to the very low light level, I still couldn't see anything. Towanda noticed my absence and called for me to come back to bed with her.

"Mmm, Mike, I need you," she said softly. I fumbled around the room until I found the bed again and lost my balance, falling onto her. She grunted in response to my feeble attempt to find something to hold onto. "Ooof, that kinda hurt," she grimaced, her words indicating a level of pain I was unaccustomed to.

"Uh, sorry about that, Towanda, I was trying to get my bearings again," I replied sheepishly as I crawled over her to find my side of the bed. Towanda's bulk was large enough to cover most of the bed, leaving only a sliver for me to sleep on.

"Mmmh, you need to be more careful," she admonished gently. "Here, let me hold you a bit longer," she giggled.

"Girl, you do too good a job at keeping me warm -- I needed a little air, that's why I got up -- I was hoping I'd be able to see something, but it's so dark in here," I complained softly, trying to keep my voice low.

Towanda giggled a little at this. "Mmmh, I love how warm you are yourself, and you know I can't help but touch you while you're laying next to me," she said softly, her voice just barely above a whisper. "Besides, I need you to make love to me too!" she giggled a little more loudly. I could see the smile on her face, a smile that melted my heart.

"I never thought I'd meet you for real," I responded. "I thought you were just merely a character I had created a long time ago, a girl who would be suited to serve my fantasies," I added, a level of astonishment having crept into my tone.

"I'm as real as you need me to be, Michael," she chortled, her bubbly personality starting to show itself. "Besides, even if you did create me, it doesn't matter because I'm here for you now," she added, giggling a little more.

"But what about Nanaimo?" I asked, almost immediately regretting having asked the question.

"Your pony girl? I would love to meet her, I think we could get along quite well together," she answered softly, her smile never wavering, perhaps even widening a little. "You know how much I love you, and I know how much you love me too -- and I think I know how much you love your pony girl too, but that's cool, we can share you!"

"Mmmh, you are too kind -- I'll have to ask her to see what she thinks about such an arrangement," I said softly as I laid beside her again. The thickness of her body was too great a temptation for me to resist, and I almost instinctively found myself rubbing her belly and breasts.

"Mmmh, I'll let you do more than that if you want," she giggled. "That feels very nice, please keep doing that," she added softly.

Urged on by her coaxing, I continued to lavish affection upon her very thick body and she reciprocated by doing special stuff for me, stuff I hadn't experienced in a very long time. We locked eyes for a moment and I could have sworn I had seen a vision of myself having been transformed into a copy of her body. Our eyes went very wide for just a brief instant, the two of us locked into a gaze of paralysis -- at that very moment, I knew that she was an integral part of me.

"Um, I need a moment," she whispered softly before turning away from me, presenting me with her back. Without saying a word, I turned my back to her, though her size kept me in close contact with her anyway, her warmth causing both of us to sweat a little from our backs.

I lost consciousness at this point as my fatigue finally overwhelmed me -- whatever happened after that was a mystery to me, as I was unable to perceive any activity on or around me.

-----Back in Sh'Koggo-------

"I can't understand why he hasn't returned," Nanaimo exclaimed indignantly. She stomped a hoof as she glowered at the mayor.

"Well, all I can suggest is that you be patient -- I'm sure he'll come back for you -- he may have lost track of time in Ponyville, but I would bet a thousand credits he'll be back soon enough for you," the mayor chortled. "I've seen this happen enough times already," she giggled.

"Ugh! I need him!" she groaned in disgust, stamping her right forehoof for added emphasis. She proceeded to trot around in a circle as her impatience manifested itself in this display. The mayor watched in mild bemusement before taking a timepiece from her pocket and checked the hour.

"I suggest we get a bite to eat," the mayor announced loudly, getting the attention of the two girls as well as the pony. A loud growling of stomachs responded to this announcement, eliciting some light chuckles from everyone. The mayor rose to her feet and led the way to the dining room.

The four of them chatted over breakfast, Nanaimo continuing to express her desire for my return, the mayor trying to console her, and Makwela scratching her behind her ears, which alleviated some of her tension. She almost involuntarily cooed at the girl's touch, noting how nice it felt to be scratched behind the ears. Presently, a girl came by to collect the empty plates, the four of them belching their approval of the food. The pony felt a little shame-faced in belching, but Makwela assured her that it was okay.

Back in Ponyville

The morning light sifted its way through the windows in the apartment we were in, waking me up. I turned to see the thick girl laying next to me and drank in the sight of her sexiness. The thickness of her body, her fat rolls, the dark brown of her skin, the size of her breasts...

"Mmmh, Mike, how long are you going to stare at me?" Towanda giggled, smiling broadly.

And I Like It Raw

"Um, sorry about that, Towanda," I grinned sheepishly. I lost track of how long I had been staring at her body, trying to burn the image into my mind indelibly. Even though I had created her as a figment of my imagination a long time ago, being able to look at her for real and feel the softness of her skin, to touch her, to gaze into her eyes, to fantasize about all the sex we might be able to have...

"Hey, Mike! Earth to Mike! Wake up!" she cooed, giggling loudly. I shook my head to clear the cobwebs and grinned sheepishly at her again, my entire face red as a beet from embarrassment. My stomach growled in disapproval as well, causing the dark-skinned girl to giggle even louder.

"Hey, we can go to a Samantha's Pancake House, I know there's one nearby," she chuckled, rising to her feet. Her swift movement surprised me, but being able to see her naked body in the light caused another peak of arousal from me. Her eyes went half-lidded for a moment as she caught sight of the tent of my briefs and she almost involuntarily licked her lips in lust. "Mmmh, perhaps that can wait for a bit," she offered in a low sultry tone, narrowing her eyes at me a bit. I stood in stunned silence at her brazenness. Her naked body invited me with its temptations, and I swiftly removed my briefs to expose my manhood in all its glory. Once again she licked her lips in desire, in approval of my manhood (which had been augmented by the physical body healers the day before). I silently relished the sight of her lust, hearts appearing in her eyes as she gazed upon me with lust. "Mmmh, I like what I see here!" she giggled, grinning from ear to ear.

"Same here," I chortled, ogling her naked body with hungry eyes. I almost involuntarily moaned from my excitement as pre-cum started to dribble from the tip of my glans.

"Are you sure we should be doing this right now?" she asked. "You know you rated this story as teen or older," she remarked, causing my state of arousal to wane. I gave her a sidelong glance at her decision to break the fourth wall.

"The world is my oyster, and I like it raw," I responded tersely. "I love how sexy you are and I can't believe I'm looking at a physical representation of a character I created a very long time ago as a vehicle to serve my prurient interest and cater to all my fantasies," I added, ogling her naked body again. The curves of her fat rolls, her breasts, her big belly, her very thick thighs, the moisture glistening in the morning light between her legs, the scent she was emitting as her arousal was quite evident, too...

"Um, Mike? Earth to Mike? You're spacing out again," she commented softly. Her eyes fixed upon my lower abdomen again, my glans almost seeming to respond instinctively at her glance.

"Um, sorry about that, Towanda," I grinned sheepishly.

"You know, you don't have to go into any details about what we do here -- the readers can assume we had some lovely sex together, both of us luxuriating in the feeling of warmth, love, and happiness," she cooed softly. "Now come to me and give me the pleasure I'm craving!" she giggled loudly, laying on the bed and spreading herself open as if to amplify her request.

"Breakfast can wait," I chuckled as I laid beside her and began lavishing my affection upon her.

What followed was a few hours of us kissing and touching each other and engaging in some very pleasurable activities, the end result being that we were sweaty and needed a shower -- we took that opportunity to shower together, engaging in some more passionate activity while washing off. I lost track of how much time we were in the shower but an insistent knocking on the door interrupted us.

"Um, Mike, save some hot water for us," the yellow pegasus intoned softly as Emerson opened the door. I turned off the water and grabbed a towel for each of us. I wrapped the towel around my waist but Towanda merely stepped out of the shower and dried herself off, ignoring the staring coming from the other two (and myself as well - my eyes were drawn to her sexiness yet again).

Emerson and Butterfly stepped into the shower at this point -- and as I stole a glance at the yellow pegasus' backside, I could have sworn I saw some white liquid dribbling down the back of her hind legs. Emerson brusquely pulled the shower curtain closed, glaring almost angrily at me -- I flashed a sheepish grin before Towanda grabbed my right hand and pulled me along, out of the bathroom.

"Eh, that can wait until later," she admonished half-heartedly, grinning a little. "Those two are something special," she added, chuckling softly. "So, we wait until they're done, then we go get breakfast."

Towanda put on some clothes to cover her modesty, and I put on a fresh set of clothes (thankfully the ladies at the clothing shop had provided me with three sets of clothes) and we waited for Emerson and Butterfly to finish their shower. I heard some low grunting and high-pitched squealing coming from behind the closed bathroom door on a few occasions. Presently, the two of them finally exited, drying off with their towels before returning to the bedroom to get dressed themselves.

By the time we finally reached Samantha's Pancake House, it was half past noon. We still chose to have breakfast even at that late hour, and we decided that a trek to Ponyville's Mayor's office was the next step.

By the time we reached the mayor's office, it was nearly two in the afternoon. The building which housed the mayor's office seemed awfully familiar, looking something like the TV show's version of Town Hall. I chuckled in mild amusement at this, garnering looks of concern and inquisitiveness from my fellow travelers.

"Mike, sometimes I don't get you," Emerson observed, flashing me a worried look. "I've been in Ponyville for quite awhile now -- I think you might like it here," he offered somewhat cheerfully.

""Well, I know I'd love to stay but there's a pony waiting for me in Sh'Koggo and I need to get back to her," I replied firmly. "Towanda, it's been a pleasure to see you," I opined softly, directing my gaze to the thick dark-skinned girl. "Perhaps you and I can meet again someday soon," I added, smiling warmly at her.

Return to Sh'Koggo

"Mike, you're welcome back anytime you like," Towanda offered softly, flashing a warm smile. "Or, maybe I can come with you? I always love visiting Sh'Koggo," she mused before tacking a soft chuckle to the end of her declaration. "I can travel anywhere anytime I like -- and I can invite you to one of my concerts as well..." she grinned.

I took a moment to mull this over, but held up my right index finger to indicate that she should consider what I had to say for a moment. She was a little taken aback by this, but held her ground and awaited my response.

"I would love for you to accompany me back to Sh'Koggo, but I have a mare waiting for me back there -- in a way, she kind of reminds me of you, as if you were transformed into a sexy earth pony," I grinned, eliciting some giggling from the thick brown-skinned girl in front of me. "I hope you understand, I would love to have you come along -- and maybe she might be open to the idea of having two humans to give her love and affection, I'm sure she'd appreciate it," I added, giving the girl a hopeful glance.

"Well, I think it would be a good idea to see what she might think," Towanda noted in response. "Sh'Koggo is where I was born, and I consider it my hometown," she added, her smile widening. "Oh, and we have to go to my favorite pizzaria, I'm already thinking about it," she concluded. There was a part of me that wondered how much of this girl's personality matched mine. She shared the same love for pizza that I did -- and since she would probably know the town better than me, I decided to let her take the lead.

"Um, Mike, can I come along with you? And can Flutterbutt come along too?" Emerson asked, flashing a sheepish grin. The mare seemed to mimic his expression as well, causing me to wonder how much the two of them were alike.

"Okay, I guess, but you should be on your best behavior," I stated in response. There was a part of me that wondered how well the two of them knew the town -- because I sure didn't know it well, either. I was relying upon the knowledge and experience of others, hoping they wouldn't lead me astray, even if the world was essentially mine to do with as I pleased. I might be the master of this world, but it held many surprises in store for me. We went to the mayor's office, and I was slightly amused by the fact that Ponyville's mayor looked almost the same as Mayor Mare from the TV series. I let a small chuckle escape my lips.

"Something funny there, mister?" she asked quite brusquely, annoyance quite evident in her tone.

"My apologies, Mayor, but you reminded me of a mare I remember seeing a long time ago -- in fact, you look exactly like her -- her name was Mayor Mare, and I was actually quite fond of her, her beauty was quite captivating," I replied, my gaze turning softly at her features. Her attitude changed quite abruptly, a light blush coloring her cheeks.

"Y-you should be careful when you say such things," she admonished softly, a smile gracing her lips. "Y-you might get more than you b-bargained for," she added, shifting on her legs slightly.

"Perhaps the next time I visit Ponyville, I will take you up on that offer," I grinned. "But I have a mare waiting for me in Sh'Koggo, I mustn't keep her waiting," I added, smiling warmly at the mayor.

"Well, um, if you do decide to return to Ponyville, and meet me in private, who knows what I might be willing to do for you?" she giggled, losing her composure for a brief moment. A smile graced my lips as I witnessed this.

"Of course, my dear mayor, I would be delighted to," I responded. I tried to make my response as bright and cheery as possible, though I already noticed her expression warm even further and her blush deepen a little. "I'm also a pretty skilled cunnilinguist as well," I added, chuckling softly. Her blush deepened further, but she caught herself and harrumphed lightly.

"Um, yes, well, I'm sure we can arrange something special for your next visit," she stated with as much dignity as she could muster given her current state of arousal. I stole a glance at the floor behind her and noticed light glistening on a wet spot on the floor behind her.

"Of course, Mayor, I'd be delighted to," I responded gracefully. "But my friends and I now need to venture back to Sh'Koggo, we have more business to attend to over there," I added. "But I would love to return to meet you again soon -- perhaps even tomorrow, if possible," I mused softly, giving the mayor a soft smile.

"You're welcome back here any time you like," she returned, her smile never wavering. "I'm glad I could have met you -- please, stay longer next time, I would like to get to know you better," she added warmly. I nodded my head in approval and we ventured to the transport area, each of us almost instinctively moving onto the silver discs on the floor and standing in place. I took a quick moment to see that some of the discs were larger than others to accommodate the ponies for their larger stances.

Meanwhile, back in Sh'Koggo

We materialized little more than nanoseconds after our departure from Ponyville, though the trip jarred me and Emerson a little. The ponies seemed to adjust to the discomfort a little more easily than us humans -- then I noticed that Towanda had suffered little to no discomfort. I commented on this observation.

"Um, I've traveled many times this way, I'm used to it," she giggled.

We were greeted by Makwela, Vanessa, Nanaimo, and the mayor of Sh'Koggo.

"Took you long enough," Nanaimo groused with more than a little anger in her voice. "And who is this dark-skinned girl you have with you? Is she a new lover for you?"

Two Lovers

"Um, I don't know if you're familiar with Towanda," I replied, grinning sheepishly at the brown mare. "But, um, I created her a long time ago -- way before I ever became aware of the existence of you ponies," I said. The mare glowered at me further. "Um, I'm very old -- and I created Towanda more than 34 years ago," I added, gauging the mare for her reaction.

"How old are you?" she asked in exasperation.

"Um, I'm almost sixty years old," I replied. "But the physical body healers fixed me up so I'm only 25 again," I replied. "I haven't felt this good in a very long time!"

The mare took a moment to reflect upon the previous day's activities, nearly forgetting what I looked like when I first met her. She shook the cobwebs loose for a moment before returning her attention to me. "Ugh, how could I have forgotten about how we went to several places yesterday -- you made the Physical Body Healer's shop your first stop -- was it because you wanted to be young again?"

"Yep, that's correct -- it's like several wishes have been granted me, and I hope the trend continues!" I chortled almost gleefully. Feeling young was amazing again -- I had completely forgotten how good it felt to be young and silently cursed myself for having squandered so much time during my lifetime. The mare gave me another quizzical glance before Towanda spoke up.

"Um, Nanaimo, if that's your name, I'm Towanda -- and I would like for you to accompany us to one of my favorite pizza places," she offered warmly, flashing a gentle smile towards the brown pony.

"I suppose I can tag along, I like a good pizza every now and then, and I haven't had one in awhile," she replied warmly.

"Ooh, can we come along too?" asked Butterfly, tugging gently on Emerson's sleeve. "Ooh, and can Emmy come along too? I'm sure he'd like some pizza too," she added, grinning sheepishly. Towanda grinned in response.

"Of course, you're welcome, this place makes the best in Sh'Koggo! And that's saying something!" Towanda stated proudly.

The prospect of having what could quite possibly be the best pizza I've ever eaten in my entire lifetime had me salivating, drool visibly spilling from the corners of my mouth. This did not go unnoticed by both Towanda and Nanaimo, the mare giving me a quizzical glance before asking me about it.

"Nanaimo, my favorite food of all is pizza -- I've been to so many pizzerias that I've lost track of the count, but I know what great pizza is -- and if this place Towanda is crowing about is to be believed, I think it might be the best pizza I've ever eaten in my entire lifetime," I responded, some pride showing in my voice.

"Ooh, Mikey, you're in for a treat then, this place is the best!" Towanda giggled. "I always make it a point to stop here every time I'm in Sh'Koggo!"

Her giggling was quite infectious, giving all of us a glimmer of hope that things were going to get better for all of us. Towanda seemed to know so much about everything as she pointed out different buildings and shops we passed as we headed to her chosen pizzeria. We were amazed by her knowledge of the town, even greeting a great many people we passed along the way. I thought I had created this world to meet my desires, but Towanda showed me so much I hadn't even considered. At one point, I stopped her to comment on her knowledge of so many things.

"Um, Mike, I know you created this world for me or maybe about me, or maybe you wanted me to be so real for you that you wanted to create a world you knew, or something similar to it that you might understand, but when you made this world about me more than anything else, you gave the me the absolute knowledge about this world! Believe it or not, I am here for you, I am everything you need from me, and I am everything you need me to be for you!"

Hearing these words coming from her mouth left me utterly dumbstruck. I found myself paralyzed; my feet seemingly glued to the ground. It took me so long to digest this information that my companions thought I had actually died while standing in that one spot, my mouth hanging open, slack-jawed and gob smacked by this information. I tried to form words but couldn't. At one point, Nanaimo waved one of her front legs in front of my face to see if I was still responsive. Towanda put a hand on my shoulder at this point.

"Y'know, Mike, I didn't realize it was like that," she offered warmly, smiling gently at me. "But, if you need anything, I'm here to help you," she added. I took a moment to drink in her sheer sexiness and beauty, but also smiled warmly in return.

"It makes me very happy to hear you say that," I stated, just barely above a whisper. Her hearing was keen enough to pick this up, which caused her to smile more broadly at me. Without warning, she embraced me in a tight hug and kissed me very quickly on my lips before releasing me and stepping away momentarily to giggle at her actions, which left me blushing deeply and giggling along with her in return.

"Um, Mike, I was hoping you might do that with me," Nanaimo stated somewhat dejectedly, frowning a little in consternation and giving me a baleful puppy-dog eyed look -- I could have sworn she assumed a begging position as tears started welling up in the corners of her eyes.

I gave Towanda a helpless look, trying to gauge a reaction of some sort. Without hesitation, she scooped the pony up in her arms and gave her a big hug and kissed her on her lips, giggling a little more loudly as the mare was caught off-guard by such a reaction.

"Y'know, Nanaimo, we can share him, eh what?" Towanda chuckled. The brown mare blushed and giggled, then nodded her head dumbly in response. She turned to me and giggled again.

"Um, are we going to the pizzeria or what?" asked a somewhat impatient Butterfly, trying to return us to the task at hand. Emerson's belly grumbled loudly as well, causing him to blush and chuckle softly.

"Um, I don't think that's happened before," he said, flashing a sheepish grin for a second before regaining his seemingly stoic demeanor. He glanced at his pegasus companion, locking eyes with her. She returned to his side and draped a wing around him.

"How long have you two known each other?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the display of control Emerson seemed to have over his female companion.

"We've been together for about five years," he replied with more than a hint of pride in his voice. She wrapped both of her wings around him and gave him a quick kiss on his lips.

"That sounds awesome," I replied, giving the pair a slight look of envy before returning my attention to the brown mare, her almost baleful look letting me know how much she cared for me. I gave her a soft smile and wrapped my arms around her, giving her a quick kiss on her lips. "You know I've loved you for more than four years now, Nanaimo, and I want you to know that I love you every bit as much as Emerson loves Fluttershy or her equivalent here -- oh, you two are so bold!" I chuckled as I watched the two of them give each other a very passionate kiss.

"Um, haven't you loved me even longer?" asked Towanda as she turned her gaze to me. A soft smile graced her lips, but again I was drawn to her thickness, her heftiness, the width of her hips, the fat rolls, her perfect complexion, her bigness...

The sound of two ponies and two humans laughing almost as loudly as they could finally captured my attention as I realized I had totally spaced out upon putting my full attention on the dark brown girl I had created so long ago, her physical presence completely captivating all of my senses simultaneously. I blushed furiously, knowing that they had all watched me focus all of my attention on this extremely sexy dark brown girl, her thickness being such an all encompassing image that I could not focus on anything else -- time itself had lost all meaning to me as my visions turned to all sorts of indecent and licentious thoughts and deeds to be performed upon this vision of loveliness I couldn't turn my eyes away from.

Without warning, the brown mare had crept upon me and wrapped her forehooves around me, seeming to lift me up into a standing position, my arms around her withers -- and she kissed me passionately on my lips. My eyes widened somewhat in response to this sudden display of affection Nanaimo engaged in. There was a part of me that wondered if she was feeling the need to assert her dominance over me, given the fact that Towanda had shown me the same level of affection.

"Um, Nanaimo, if that's your name, I want to let you know that I will show YOU the same level of affection you're showing Michael," Towanda said, her tone somewhat downbeat. "Rest assured, everything that he wants will be given to him -- and if he wants you to receive the same treatment, it will be given YOU as well!" she added, her tone brightening at the concept.

I think I probably could have died of true happiness at that moment.

[AU] Where Am I?

I remember laying down to sleep last night, hugging my brown plushie mare tightly, feeling a sense of dread and deep fear. The sensation of holding my plushie tightly to my body and kissing her on her muzzle seemed to comfort me somewhat, but my mind continued to race as my fear continued to mount.

So this is what it's like to die, I thought as my heart continued to pound as loud and as hard as I had ever heard it before. Even the sound of the fan running on high couldn't drown out the sound of my heart beat. I felt my chest tightening and my breathing became quite labored. I had drunk way too much, and I had taken sleeping pills to help me fall asleep, as I had such a difficult time falling asleep and staying asleep that I had resorted to taking several pills followed by several shots of whiskey to wash them down. I had done this many times before, knowing that it was very effective at knocking me out for about twelve hours or so.

This time I had gone too far, taking too many pills and drinking too much whiskey. It was too much for my old body to take, and as I continued to shake in fear and hold my plushie even more tightly to me, essentially crushing her with my strength and mashing her face against mine that death finally claimed me. I blacked out completely.

I felt a hard knock to the back of my head, and that's what woke me from what seemed like an eternity of sleeping. Instinctively I opened my eyes to see what had hit me. I turned over and felt something soft and warm against me, and noticed that it seemed to look an awful lot like my plushie, but with a more pronounced mane. Her purple eyes seemed to draw me into them, but her expression seemed to be one of anger.

"Who or what are you, and what are you doing in my bed?" she asked, poking my chest with a hoof. It felt hard and soft at the same time, but it also tickled me. I reflexively giggled at her touch, which seemed to soften her demeanor towards me. Her bed felt pretty soft too, but also seemed to be a bit small. The bed I was familiar with was practically twice the size of the one I was now sitting up in. This brown earth pony mare was standing on her hind hooves on the floor, one of her forehooves supporting her weight on the edge of the bed, and her other forehoof was now rubbing my chest, feeling the softness of my chest hair. I continued to giggle because it tickled so much. This caused her to giggle as well, and she climbed onto the bed and on top of me and started tickling me with both of her forehooves. I was reduced to full belly laughs as it tickled so much. I reached my hands to her sides and started tickling her in return, her giggles so high pitched and infectious that I couldn't help but try to tickle her as much as she was tickling me. She collapsed on top of me, resting all of her weight on my belly and chest, but we were also face to face. She smiled at me.

"That was fun!" she giggled. "So, who are you? Answer my questions, please," she intoned softly, still smiling at me.

"Um, my name's Mike, and I'm a human, and I'm from a different world," I replied, returning her smile. I lazily ran a hand along the back of her neck, down her back almost to her tail, then back up to her neck. She reflexively moaned at my touch, melting into me, resting all her weight on me, her muzzle almost touching my nose. Instinctively I pulled her head to me and kissed her on her lips. The softness of her lips was amazing, but the hair around her lips tickled my nose as well. I giggled at this, but was amazed by her response. She blushed quite hard at my kiss, but then grabbed my head in her forehooves and kissed me quite passionately on the mouth, pushing her tongue into my mouth which took me quite by surprise. Her tongue was quite long and very strong and pushed mine down as she probed the back of my throat with her tongue. I panicked because I was unable to breathe at that point and pushed her off me with all my strength.

"What'd you do that for?" she asked, a hurt expression marring her features. Her tone implied I had chosen to reject her.

"Mmmh, I couldn't breathe, Nanaimo," I replied, trying to calm her with my soft tone and gentle smile. Her expression changed to one of great surprise.

"How -- how -- how do you -- know -- my -- name?" she stuttered, backing away from me and almost falling backwards onto the floor. I grabbed hold of her and pulled her to me, holding her against my body and running my right hand up and down her back. I traced her cutie mark with a finger. "Mmmh, that feels good, but -- please, answer my question!"

"Where I came from -- I had an artist craft a life-size plush doll of you," I replied. "Where I came from -- another artist had created you as a sister to another mare, one named Cookie Dough," I added. At the mention of this name, the bedroom door opened and I was amazed to see the sight of a tan pegasus mare with a large cutie mark on her generous flanks. Maybe I stared a little too hard at her because she approached me, almost scowling at me.

"Who are you and what are you doing with my sister?!" she barked.

"Name's Mike, and if you want, I can do this with you too," I chuckled, grinning sheepishly at the pegasus. Said pegasus blushed hard and left the room.

[AU]Meeting the Parents

It wasn't much later that the tan pegasus mare brought her parents into the room. One was a brown earth pony mare who was a bit thicker in the belly and hips than Nanaimo, a few shades lighter brown, and with a caramel-brown colored mane and tail, shaped similarly to Nanaimo's. The other was an off-white stallion who wore a red knitted stocking cap on his head. Cookie Dough spoke, saying, "Mom, Dad, do something about him!" she shouted, pointing a forehoof at me. Nanaimo froze, still laying on top of me, a look of shock on her face. I raised an eyebrow at the two.

"You are Maple?" I asked, pointing at the stallion. He retreated a step or two, bunching up against the mare I presumed was his wife. He was shocked I knew his name.

"Um, uh -- I -- uh, don't know who or what you are, but -- I -- uh, I -- uh, want you to leave! Now!" he intoned stridently, his voice coming out weak despite his anger. I tilted my head at him and gave him a look of disapproval. He withered under my glare.

"I'm with your daughter Nanaimo, she is my one true love," I stated firmly. I was stunned by the mare's strength as she squee'd as loudly as she could and hugged me more tightly than I had ever been hugged by anyone in my past. She was actually crushing me with her strength. "Um, Nanaimo, can you, uh, loosen your grip on me? You're hurting me," I groaned. She released me and apologized profusely, then kissed me on my lips again.

Her mother mimed her daughter's reaction, grinning from ear to ear, practically prancing on her hooves, occasionally clapping her forehooves together and exulting jubilantly at her daughter's happiness. I smiled at her, and nodded, affirming my desire for the dark brown earth pony mare I held in my arms. Her warmth was amazing, the softness of her fur seeming to be even softer than the minky fabric her plushie had been made of. Her father righted himself and grinned at me.

"Nanaimo's been looking for a stallion for a long time," her mother said almost proudly. "I know you're not a pony, but I can tell your love for her is true, because I know about true love!" she chuckled, nudging her stallion Maple with her left wither and bumping her flank against his. He blushed quite hard, knowing exactly what she wanted and grinned sheepishly at me.

"You two try not to make too much noise, okay?" he practically giggled. "Um, Cocoa and I are going to um, y'know, uhhhh..." he added, his words trailing off as the mare dragged him with her teeth by his mane. Her muffled giggles told me all I needed to know about what was going to happen between the two of them. Cookie Dough gave me a hurt look.

"Don't you have a stallion of your own by the name of Brann Flakes?" I asked her, almost point-blank. The look of shock on her face was priceless, making me wish I had a camera to take a photo of her expression.

"How -- how -- do you know about HIM?" she asked. "I met him in Trottingham! We're roommates!"

"If so, is he here? Why isn't he with you?" I asked.

"Um, he's sleeping in my bed right now," she said softly, blushing slightly at this mention. I flashed her a wicked grin.

"You go, girl!" I chuckled, my grin widening.

"No! It's not like that!" she protested stridently, her voice rising an octave. The guilty always tell on themselves, I thought, maintaining my wicked grin.

"Mmmh, you're such a naughty girl, maybe I should have my way with you as well," I chortled, my words tinged with a dark humor that let her know I was somewhat serious about my desire for her. I was staring at her thickness, noticing just how chubby she was. There was a part of me that hoped to make Nanaimo just as thick if not thicker than her sister.

"Uh, I, uh, think, uh, I'll be going now, bye!" she shouted as she retreated, slamming the door behind her. This left Nanaimo and me to ourselves at this point.

"Whew, dodged a bullet there," I chuckled, grinning at the brown mare I was still holding in my arms. She smiled at me, but this smile held more behind it than just the superficial smile one would expect from a friend or some acquaintance one had had an interstitial meeting with. This smile of hers was one that let me know she had deep feelings for me, even though we had only just met a few hours ago. Somehow or other I knew on an instinctive level that she was meant for me and that I was meant for her, because even just holding her felt so right, so natural, that even just the thought of not being with her would cause a deep ache on an almost cellular level, one that could practically shatter either of us.

She gazed into my eyes for a long time, the both of us just looking at each other, holding each other, her body pressed against mine, her muzzle against my nose, our lips mere millimeters apart from each other. We stayed like that for a very long time, simply content to be so close to each other, the two of us simply breathing and taking in the sight of each other, the feelings and emotions simply remaining unspoken and unmentioned, the two of us simply clinging to each other as though all life itself would be meaningless if we were apart from each other. I could feel tears welling up at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill over, but I also noticed that she too was on the verge of letting all her tears loose at the sound of anything I dare let slip past my lips.

"I love you, Nanaimo," I whispered, the tears streaming down my cheeks freely.

[AU]An Ultimatum

We continued to hold each other, both of us crying and letting the tears flow freely. Nanaimo smiled at me the whole time, even though tears flowed down her cheeks and onto my face. My tears streamed freely as well, but I was bawling like a little baby because I knew I was never going to be able to go home and enjoy my favorite pastimes, even though they held little meaning for me anymore, and at that point in my life, they were all I had to keep me going on with my life, as pathetic as it had become. The feeling of her warmth was beginning to make me sweat at this point, but neither of us seemed to care as we kissed each other passionately.

"Mmmh, Nanaimo, I love you so much," I breathed softly, smiling at the mare again. Her smile widened.

"You said your name was Mike, right? I love you too, even though we just barely met -- but there's something really special about you, I can sense it -- somehow I just know you were meant for me -- and I've been wanting a stallion for such a long time, so much so that I had even considered going back to school and joining my sister and her roommate so I could maybe find a good stallion in Trottingham," she said softly. "But it looks like I don't have to, because now you're here with me!"

We both chuckled at her statement, but I chose that moment to hold her even more tightly to me, hugging her with an intense passion borne of a very strong desire to be made whole again. So much time had passed since I had experienced true love that I had seriously doubted I would ever regain the confidence and happiness such love could bring and inspire within me. She kissed me again and wrapped her forehooves tightly around me, the two of us locking our lips together. This time she didn't force her tongue into my mouth, content simply to kiss and let the passion flow between us. A knocking at the door interrupted our reverie.

"Breakfast is ready, if you two lovebirds are hungry," a female voice sounded from behind the closed door. She chuckled and turned, this I was able to discern as her hoof-falls became softer until they were no longer audible. I grinned at Nanaimo.

"I'm hungry, what about you?" I asked her, tacking a slight chuckle onto the end of my question.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, Mom knows how to make a good breakfast," she replied and climbed down off me, landing on all fours as she trotted to the door. I followed her, rising to my feet and lost my balance. Apparently I had spent more time dead than I had thought, as it felt like my feet were made of lead and the rest of my body felt like it was made of tungsten. I crumpled to the floor, making a rather loud thud. This caused both Nanaimo and her mother to investigate.

"Oooh, sorry about that, are you all right?" asked Nanaimo. I grimaced in pain and rose to my knees. As far as being dead goes, this sure was painful. She came over to me and comforted me by putting a hoof around my back. Her mother came into the room to inspect me more closely herself.

"I'm so sorry, I should have been here for you," Nanaimo uttered softly, patting me on my back. There seemed to be something almost perfect about this, yet I couldn't understand why. I sat down on the floor for a moment to try to regain some more balance. Nanaimo tried to massage my back, but ended up tickling me again. I reflexively giggled. "Mmmh, I thought I could help you feel better," she added softly, cooing into my right ear.

"What happened?" asked her mother. Her facial expression was one of concern, as though I had automatically become one of her children despite being old enough to be her father. I appreciated her concern, flashing a smile in her direction.

"Um, I guess I died in my home world and was dead for a long time -- it feels like my whole body is made of lead," I replied. Nanaimo hugged me from behind, her strength continuing to amaze me. "Um, baby girl, could you ease up on the hug? You're crushing me again," I said softly to her as I glanced in her direction. She released me and apologized softly.

"Well, dear, I think you might need some food," her mother chortled. "If you've been dead that long, you really do need some food!" she added mirthfully, laughing playfully at me and if I didn't know any better, I could have sworn she winked at me too.

I hope she isn't wanting something extra for me, what would Nanaimo think? I thought as I tried to rise to my feet again. Ultimately I had to crawl, which was quite embarrassing for me.

Both Nanaimo and her mother giggled at my pathetic attempt to follow them, but after crawling for a bit then moving on hands and knees, at some point I was bracing myself against the walls in order to help regain my balance so I could walk again. This might take more time than I thought, I thought to myself as I managed to make it to the kitchen, where five ponies sat at the table. I saw a tall lavender unicorn stallion looking at me in shock. Must be Brann Flakes, I thought as I made eye contact with him. On the table before each of them was a plate with three or four pancakes. My mouth drooled at the sight and smell of the food, but I noticed there wasn't enough room for me to join them at the table. The matriarch noticed this and offered me her place at the table.

"Um, thank you so much," I said to her quite reverently. She giggled at me.

"No problem, dear, I can eat later!" she chuckled. "By the way, you can eat what I prepared for myself, I can cook some more for myself later."

"Thank you for your generosity, I really appreciate it," I responded, smiling warmly at the mare. Her husband wasn't quite so happy, though.

"I'm only tolerating you being here because you're with my daughter -- but you need to go get a job before too much longer, my generosity has its limits, y'know?" he stated firmly. The question was a rhetorical one and he made it quite obvious that that was the case.

"Um, being a human might make it hard for me to find a job," I replied timidly. I wasn't sure how long Maple was willing to let me stay with them, but I hoped it would be long enough for me to find employment and get a regular paycheck, if that was the way pony finances worked. I hope it's not the barter system, I thought, fretting about working for nothing but compliments.

"Well, that can't be helped now, can it? But in any case, once you can get back on your hooves, you need to go out and get a job," he responded firmly. "That, or you'll have to join both of my daughters and this guy here," he said, pointing at Brann, "and head on back to Trottingham."

[AU]Milky Way

"I think you should charge a hundred bits for five minutes," the milkmare offered as she wistfully recalled my touch. "There's nothing for me that has ever felt like that!"

"Mike, you'd better be careful," Nanaimo cautioned. "Your touch is very addictive, like, it feels like, ummmm, uhh, it feels sooooo gooooood!" she moaned, losing control of herself for a moment or two. I took mental notes of their statements, coming to the conclusion that the touch of a human to the ear of a pony is the most addictive of narcotics, moreso than even caffeine or nicotine. I was torn between wanting to make lots of money but also not wanting to upset my love.

"I think it would be a good idea to think about this before making any further decisions," I announced, taking a seat on one of the benches. The hard wood of the bench seemed to implant the very physical nature of this afterlife I was in, letting me know that this place was every bit as real as the world I had previously inhabited. Myriad more thoughts raced very quickly through my mind, my previous life seeming to flash before my eyes. My gaze seemed to go completely vacant, which spooked the other ponies, one of whom neighed, which focused my attention on that sound. I met the gaze of that particular pony, but the fact I had no idea who he was caused me to look away from him. He snorted in derision but I paid it no mind. I turned my attention to Nanaimo, who also seemed spooked by my introspection.

"Sorry about that, my mind got lost in a cloud," I chuckled softly, just barely grazing a finger behind her left ear. She involuntarily squee'd as I did this, causing me to remove my hand from behind her head and mentally chastising myself for having succumbed to the temptation to scratch her behind her ears again. You'd better be careful about doing that, I thought to myself. Nanaimo flashed me a hurt look.

"Maybe when we get some alone time we can do that," I chuckled. "Right now is probably not a good time for that." Brann cleared his throat, catching my attention.

"Um, how about doing that for me?" he asked, blushing hard and grinning broadly at me. Cookie chimed in as well, also expressing a curiosity about how good the sensation was. I simply shook my head at them. They both expressed disappointment at that, then they sauntered off towards another passenger car on the train.

"How long is this ride supposed to last?" I asked, my question not directly addressed to any particular pony.

"I don't remember, it's been awhile since I left town for school," Nanaimo replied.

"The trip from Trottingham to Vanhoover took about three days," Milky Way stated matter-of-factly. "We'll be making stops along the way and taking occasional breaks during the trip. So, Mike, have you made a decision about what you plan on doing?" she asked, flashing me a hopeful look.

"When we get to Trottingham, it looks like I'm going to have to find employment there -- and if previous experience holds true to form, I'll have to start my own business -- and hopefully that won't entail scratching ponies behind their ears, but if I can't make money any other way, I guess I'll have no choice," I replied glumly, taking note of Nanaimo's expression. "What about you, Nanaimo? What do you plan on doing when we get to Trottingham?"

She sighed in exasperation. "I think I'll be joining you on your job search, the last thing I want to do is go back to school," she answered, frowning at the possibility of having to resume her studies from her previous stay in Trottingham. I silently wondered what the university there would be like, and considered the prospect of working for that university in some capacity or other.

"What about you, Milky Way?" I asked, noticing how the milkmare was laying on her belly on one of the benches. It looked like that position was the most comfortable one for ponies, as I had remembered seeing quite a few ponies laying like that, relaxing as the train gently rocked on the rails. She glanced up at me before resting her head.

"I have a shop I run in town, I sell milk," she replied.

"Could I work for you in your shop? I tried looking all over Vanhoover trying to find a job," I averred. Her beauty was entrancing and I forced myself to look away from her, only to see Nanaimo frowning at me in disapproval.

"Not unless you hire me, too, Milky Way -- and Mike, don't even think of trying anything funny with her!"

"You want me to scratch you behind your ears again?" I asked the brown mare facetiously. Her anger melted away swiftly and she smiled broadly at me again. She nodded her head vigorously, her grin becoming even wider. "I could probably make a lot of money doing that for other ponies," I mused.

"Duh, that's what I told you, silly!" she chided mirthfully, but paying close attention to one of my hands, the touching it with one of her hooves. I grasped it with my fingers which shocked her, but as I squeezed it lightly, she cooed softly.

"You're my love, I'll never do anything to intentionally hurt you," I said softly, now gazing into her eyes.

"Nice qualifier there," the milkmare chortled, her eyes twinkling at me before she returned to resting her head on her forehooves.

"Hey, I'm only human," I protested, causing the milkmare to giggle. "We all make mistakes, you know that," I added almost petulantly. I don't know why my voice sounded like I was whining, nor did I understand why my register seemed an octave higher than normal. Nanaimo grinned at me before losing control of herself and erupted into full belly laughs. "What's so funny?" I asked, my confidence shaken by my weak voice. I groaned in disgust. "I'll scratch you behind your ears, too," I noted stridently, directing my attention to the milkmare. "And I'll scratch you behind your ears, too, Nanaimo," I added a bit mirthfully, playfully dancing my fingers on the back of her neck.

"Ooooh, Mike," the brown pony cooed softly. I removed my hand from behind her. "What'd ya stop for?" she asked in a hurt tone.

"Girl, I had no idea you ponies were that sensitive to my touch," I replied. I gently put my hand on her back to gauge her reaction to this. She was laying on a bench across from the milkmare so I was kneeling on the floor of the carriage we were riding in. I slowly guided my hand down her back, then returned to the back of her neck and brushed her down her back with my hand. She fell asleep quickly as a result of this. Milky Way had paid attention to this, as she was now smiling at me.

"So, you put her to sleep, huh? Hmmm!" she observed brightly, grinning broadly at me. "So that means you can scratch me behind my ears!" she giggled playfully.

[AU]Sleepless in Seaddle

My magic touch had put Nanaimo into a deep slumber, much to my surprise -- and even moreso was the reaction of the milkmare, who decided that that particular moment was a good opportunity to receive some more pleasure from me.

"Um, we can't just leave her sleeping here," I uttered softly, trying to avoid waking her with my voice. The milkmare hovered close to me, her body warmth surprising me.

"Now's our chance," she chuckled softly. I glanced nervously at the brown mare, now snoring somewhat loudly. The sound made me stifle giggles, my expression quite mirthful -- and matching the milkmare's as well. She nodded her head to the left, indicating I should follow her into the next carriage. A part of me worried about my love, still sleeping soundly on the bench. I hope I don't get into to too much trouble about this, I grimaced inwardly.

We hurried into the next carriage, this one appearing to be a sleeper car. We got lucky to find an unoccupied compartment and clambered up into it, the milkmare needing my assistance to push her up into the top part of the bunk. Her flanks were quite soft to my touch and she giggled as I pushed her the rest of the way into the bed. I followed her up, easily hoisting myself next to her. She flashed me the sultriest look I had ever seen from any female, human or pony, in my entire life. I marveled at just how sexy she looked.

"You've been eyeing my teats since you first saw me," she accused. My mouth opened and no sound came out, save for her giggling at the sight of me showing a "caught" reaction. "Don't be so concerned, I get that look from just about every stallion, except for the colt cuddlers," she added, her body visibly shivering at the mere mention. "But since we're together now, you can play with them if you like," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I've never seen another pony with teats that large," I dumbly observed before sliding my right hand down her belly to cup one of the cantaloupe-sized appendages. It was soft yet firm, had a fair amount of give to it, and quite a bit of heft. Each one of them might have weighed about five pounds. I gauged her reaction as I began to fondle her teats, lightly rubbing the nipples and getting my fingers wet with her milk.

"So you sell your own milk?" I asked, still gazing into her eyes. Her eyes had gone half-lidded, soft cooing noises coming from her mouth as I continued my ministrations to her teats. The scent of her milk was being overwhelmed by her muskiness. I took a taste of her milk and found it to be quite sweet with a hint of butter. My query caused her to focus on me.

"Mmmh, yes, it sells very well," she replied breathily. "Mmmh, that feels so good," she purred, her voice quite sultry.

I decided to test my luck by running my fingers between her teats, then just a bit lower to her marehood, which was also quite wet with a different kind of liquid. She gasped in surprise at this touch but did nothing to stop me. I took a taste of this liquid which was a bit more acrid than her milk but still had a pleasant taste to it.

"Mmmh, be careful, you might get more than you bargained for," she giggled softly. The feeling of laying next to her was intense, our body heat causing us to sweat lightly. She climbed on top of me, her teats resting between my thighs but they were large enough to put some weight on my lower abdomen, causing me to become aroused by the sensation. She kissed me on the mouth and ran one of her forehooves over my chest hair, noting the softness. She smiled warmly, but also flashed me a sultry grin, too.

"You've been wanting this for awhile now, haven't you?" she giggled, her voice sounding like she had a British accent. She snuggled her body against mine, grinding her teats against my lower body, her hind legs laying on top of my knees. Her weight was pretty impressive, but she wasn't so heavy as to be uncomfortably so. I gazed directly into her eyes and kissed her lightly on her mouth. I nodded my head as a response to her question. Pretty much the whole time I had been in Equestria, the only piece of clothing I was wearing was my briefs -- Nanaimo's family didn't have any human clothes and certainly didn't have the money to buy me any. Apparently when I died, I was allowed to retain the only piece of clothing I was wearing when that most unfortunate event happened. Feeling her weight pushing on me felt nice, but she was also pretty heavy, too. Considering how nice having her on top of me felt, I wasn't about to push her off until she got what she wanted of me -- and the look on her face told me all I needed to know about that.

The conductor would occasionally sound the whistle, something that caused me concern, as I was still laying with the milkmare, at this point with me spooning her from behind owing to my being quite a bit larger than her. Her softness felt very nice, lulling me to sleep. Every time the whistle blew, I would wake with a start and look around. The carriage remained quiet, except for the snoring of other ponies trying to sleep. At some point, the conductor blew the whistle for a very long time, and the train slowed down to a halt.

"Attention all passengers, we have arrived at Seaddle!" came the voice over the intercom. The screeching of the train's wheels on the rails was loud enough to wake the dead, so I got out of the cabin to check on my brown mare.

"Mike, come back please," the milkmare called after me.

"I'll be back," I averred before leaving the carriage. Sure enough, Nanaimo was up and trotting around, trying to find me. I cursed my luck as I entered the carriage to meet up with her.

"So, you skipped out on me while I was asleep, eh? Where were you? With that milky bitch?" she asked, her gaze hardening at me. I reached for her ear but she slapped my hand away with a hoof. She surprised me with her swiftness. "Don't you dare try that on me, I don't care how good it feels! Now answer me!"

I hung my head dumbly in response. I had been caught.

"I knew it! Why did you do that? Didn't you call me your one true love?" she shouted at me.

"You are my one true love," I replied, knowing that it was the wrong answer. She charged at me, smoke coming from her ears and her eyes red with rage.

[AU]Confrontation

I was able to sidestep her charge as she barreled into the wall of the carriage ahead of us. I noticed the back door of the carriage open to reveal the milkmare, still groggy from her rest and rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Mmmh, Mike, I was hoping I could hold you a little bit longer," she mused, though the sleepiness in her voice was a tell. Upon seeing the creamy yellow mare, Nanaimo screamed and charged at her.

"How dare you take my stallion from me!" she shouted as she barreled into the milkmare. Before she could impact the drowsy mare, I grabbed hold of my pony, pulling her to me. She grimaced and tried to strike me, but I was swift enough to grab her hoof with my hand and squeeze it softly. I was somewhat surprised by the amount of give in it. She winced at me, tears welling up in her eyes. "Why, Mike? I thought I was your one true love! Why did you do this to me?"

I held her close, patting her on her back and cooed softly into her ears. "Nanaimo, you are my one true love and don't you forget that. What I might do with other mares has nothing to do with my love for you, I will always love you and cherish you above all others." I continued to pat her on her back while saying this, though she wept as she held her head against my shoulder. "I want you to know that I know about herds and I want you as my alpha -- I only hope you will be willing to accept being part of a herd," I said softly to her. At this point I released her from my hold and she backed away slowly, tears still trickling down her cheeks.

"Bravo!" a stallion cheered heartily, and several other ponies who had entered the carriage stomped their hooves in approval, all of them practically cheering us. Nanaimo shook her head, but her bashful expression betrayed what might have seemed a negative reaction. She chuckled softly and smiled at me.

"I'm sorry, Mike, I wanted to have you all to myself," she demurred softly. "But please don't do that to me again." She flashed me an accusatory glance.

"I lost my self-control there, Nanaimo, please forgive me -- but please also be willing to accept Milky Way into our herd? When we get to Trottingham, she's probably going to spend more time away from us, which means more time for me and you," I chuckled softly at her. "Besides, you're my alpha anyway, you'll always get plenty of loving from me!"

She took a moment to reflect on the short period of time we spent at her parents' house, remembering the nights we slept together, the warmth we shared between us, the passion that connected us together, the...

"Okay, you talked me into it. I don't like it, but I guess I'll have to accept it," she stated sullenly. She still glowered at me a little. "I hope you don't want to add a third mare to the herd," she intoned sharply.

"Aw, come on, Nanaimo, don't you have a thing for mares yourself?" I grinned. She blushed hard at that question and gave me a sheepish grin, which told me all I needed to know about how she felt about that. "I knew it! Don't worry, you'll be able to have fun and I can watch," I added mirthfully, causing her to giggle before she caught herself.

"I didn't know you had that in you," she said as she calmed herself down. "Mmmmaybe I could let you watch," she added somewhat coyly.

"Maybe I could put on a show for you two," I responded, winking slyly at the brown mare. The milkmare perked her ears at this mention.

"Does that mean we could, umm, y'know..." said milkmare offered hopefully, smiling warmly at me. I turned my attention to the brown mare who gave me a quizzical glance. I simply nodded in response, a dumb grin plastered on my face. I was hoping to see some serious action from these two, as were a few other ponies who were still in the carriage with us.

"Twenty-five bits apiece if you're going to watch as well," I said firmly as I cast my gaze upon the other ponies. Two of them trotted forward and dumped some gold coins into my outstretched palm, causing me to raise an eyebrow at them. The others left the carriage, seeing as they either didn't want to pay or couldn't afford to pay. I heard the carriage doors lock from both sides as I watched both my mares begin their passionate kissing and hugging. I watched as they explored each other's body, licking and kissing and hugging and cooing softly to each other before they plunged wholeheartedly into the special numerical position, causing the other ponies to stomp their hooves in approval. This elicited a chuckle from me as I was unaccustomed to witnessing pony approval of special activities. It made me want to join in the fun myself, but I restrained myself, just barely. The other two ponies smiled at me, though I could have sworn I saw the both of them also engaging in similar activities to my two mares. I was torn between staring at both pairs of ponies engaging each other in providing each other with such intimate physical passion. Ultimately, I sauntered over to Milky Way and Nanaimo, as I considered them to be of more importance than the other two. One of them caught me from the corner of her eye and she flashed me a look of disappointment.

"Maybe some other time, sorry," I offered half-heartedly, knowing I'd probably never see her again after we reached our destination. My two mares looked at me quizzically before I began petting both of them while they continued to provide each other some very intimate physical pleasure. The display caused me to become quite aroused and I found it difficult to keep from hugging them closely when I could to show them my affection as well. At this point they separated momentarily and both of them gave me the sultriest look I had ever seen from ANY female and led me into the sleeper carriage.

[AU]Towards Whinnyapolis

The conductor blew the whistle again, letting everypony know that the time to board or leave the train was immediate. Almost everypony who was to board or depart the train had already done so, but as the train was starting to leave the station, a stray pony galloped to meet up with the trailing carriage at the end of the train. This was a sight that would become routine for us as we watched with mild bemusement when we began to depart Seaddle. The train began to pick up steam at this point, the sound of the wheels grinding against the rails causing us to wince with its sharpness. Presently we returned to a cabin in the sleeper carriage, noting the lack of other ponies. We chose a cabin close to the front entry door of that carriage.

"Next stop, Whinnyapolis," the conductor announced over the loudspeakers. "Relax, this will be a long ride," he added. I turned my attention to the two mares with me. The arrangement was quite cozy, making me a little too warm. It felt very nice to have them with me, but the warmth became stifling, causing me to sweat profusely and become claustrophobic.

"Um, ladies, it's getting really warm in here," I said in a somewhat worried tone. They both grinned at me. "Um, I need some air," I added as my panic began to intensify. I was already dead, but I didn't want to die again! My claustrophobia was really getting to me at this point, and I was close to hyperventilating. The two mares seemed oblivious to my terror.

They chuckled again and both of them tried to wrap their forehooves around me. I pushed them off and clambered to the floor so I could get some air. Both of them flashed me a hurt look, as if I had chosen to reject them during their attempt to show me their passionate love.

"Sorry ladies, but I have a very low tolerance for intense body heat," I explained. "So please, if we could get a larger compartment or something, that would be helpful," I offered. "That, or maybe we could take turns or something," I chuckled in an attempt to reassure them everything was okay.

We left the very cramped cabin and made our way further back in the carriage to find a much larger cabin, one that would accommodate us nicely. We secured the cabin just as the train began to enter a tunnel. The milkmare found me first, the pitch blackness of the cabin quite disorienting for me. A certain chill crept through the cabin as the temperature inside the tunnel dropped almost precipitously. It was so dark I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face and the coldness made me shiver. My pony companions were able to see in the darkness owing to their much larger eyes, and both of them saw how frightened I was of the darkness. Both of them sidled against me, warming me with their bodies. Each one kissed me on a cheek and whispered softly to me.

"It's gonna be okay, Mike, the tunnel isn't very long," Nanaimo stated softly, rubbing my left thigh with a forehoof. Her warmth felt comforting, as did that of the milkmare who likewise tried to comfort me by staying very close to me and rubbing my other thigh with one of her forehooves. The sensation was unusual but felt nice, the combination of hard outer hoof with the soft frogs of the hooves rubbing on my skin. I had been worried about the ponies' reaction to my near nudity, but they all seemed to take it in stride, as though it were the most natural thing to see a human only wearing a pair of skivvies. The two mares hugged me and kept me warm for what seemed like hours before the darkness was interrupted by a flashlight and the sound of the cabin opening to reveal a pony who was checking tickets.

"I hope the three of you have first class sleeper cabin tickets," the mare declared firmly, a scowl marring her features. The light from the flashlight blinded me and I was unable to make out anything other than a yellow earth pony mare, the flashlight wedged between her right foreleg and her body. All three of us grinned sheepishly.

"Um, Milky, do you have any way of dealing with this?" I asked, turning my attention to her. She shook her head. "Um, Nanaimo?" I asked, turning my attention to her. She likewise shook her head. The ticket mare was unimpressed. Thinking quickly, I went over to her and began scratching her behind her ears, eliciting some cooing from her.

"Um, you shouldn't be doing that," she declared, her tone wavering to indicate my touch was having the desired effect upon the mare. I continued to scratch her behind her ears, moving my fingers from one ear to the other, then sliding my other hand up and down her back. She began to moan a little louder at my touch. After a few more minutes of this, she relented.

"Don't tell anypony this happened," she announced flatly before leaving the compartment and making her way back towards the front of the train.

"Whew, that was close," I said softly as I exhaled a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding in. The two mares also exhaled but smiled warmly at me as well.

"I hope you're willing to do for us what you did for her," Milky Way responded warmly. Since the ticket collector was no longer present, the darkness had returned, but a faint light could be seen through the windows of the carriage. The door at the far end opened as a couple more ponies made their way into this particular cabin.

"Um, what are you three doing in our private carriage?" asked a voice belonging to what sounded like a stallion, and a rich one at that. "We paid for a first class sleeper cabin, and we certainly didn't expect to see commoners like you despoiling it with your filth," he added in an almost menacing tone.

Things You Shouldn't Do When You're Dead

I still had the bag of food with me, so I gave Nanaimo one of the items she wanted, in this case, a bag of salad mix, which she tore into and started eating with gusto. I took out a small snack cake and began eating it. Our impromptu lunch was interrupted by several cloaked figures, they walked upright and the only thing visible were yellow eyes inside the hoods with no other discernible features. One of them called us by our names. The sound of the voice sent a shiver through my spine, and Nanaimo must have been likewise affected, as her tail went straight out, losing its curl completely.

"Uhhh, what do you want?" I asked hesitantly. One of them handed each of us with a paper, the hand a mere skeleton hand, but a wicked one nonetheless. I wasn't sure how it was possible to read anything in the darkness, but there seemed to be an odd luminescence about the void we were in. We noticed the wording at the top read, "Things You Shouldn't Do When You're Dead." Under this title were a list of bullet-pointed items, but it led to more questions, which the cloaked figures refused to answer. After reading this paper, another one pointed a bony finger at both of us, motioning us to follow them. Nanaimo stuffed the paper into her mane, which puzzled me. I folded mine up and put it in my pocket. I was surprised that I was wearing my normal civilian clothes even though I had changed into my work uniform. I was a little taken aback by the clothing change.

"Follow us," one of them said sternly, a tone dripping with malice. "You must follow us!" another bellowed, forcing us to move towards them. We were shaken by the unearthly tones of the druids, both of us wondering what would happen if we refused to follow their directions. We both raised to our collective feet and trudged forward, following the undead druids but also curious to our surroundings. We appeared to be moving through an empty void, though our footing was secure and sound.

"Where are you taking us?" I asked. Nanaimo shivered a bit, unnerved by odd sensation of traveling through seeming nothingness. I tried to block that discomfort myself, feeling somewhat nauseous. "Nanaimo, walk with me," I said to her softly. She sidled next to me, smiling at me warmly, secure in the knowledge that I was there for her.

"You will find out when you get there," one replied almost mirthfully. Another of the druids turned his head towards us and shot us a look to let us know we shouldn't ask any more questions.

At that point I decided not to break the silence any further, but urged my pony to walk upright on her hind legs if she could. She was able to do this for very short periods of time and it was rather uncomfortable for her to do this. I hugged her and told her she could walk normally as a pony and gave her a quick kiss on her muzzle, causing her to giggle. One of the cloaked figures turned to look at us and cleared his throat to let us know we needed to keep going and stop wasting their time. We returned to following this group of undead druids to wherever it was they were taking us, the trip seeming to last for hours, though we never seemed to get tired enough to stop, nor did we get hungry or thirsty.

We traveled for what seemed like an eternity before a light became evident in the distance. Seeing this brought both Nanaimo and I some hope that maybe our next passage would be into a welcoming world, one which would accept both of us without prejudice, one which would provide us comfort and safety for the foreseeable future. Slowly but inexorably, we approached this light as it grew brighter and larger. Both of us wore hopeful expressions on our faces, both of us holding back on trying to express some degree of happiness as the light continued to grow brighter, enveloping the darkness, illuminating the undead druids further still. At some point we stopped, the light having become uncomfortably bright.

"Behold, your new world," one of them stated.

We stood aghast at what seemed like some futuristic landscape, gleaming towers of crystal and white metal stretching up into the sky, and as we looked up, we saw what looked like dark glass very high up. Myriad thoughts filled our minds with what possibilities lie ahead of us and whether or not we would be welcomed in such a futuristic world.

"Payment is your jar of silver coin," another one stated. I was surprised to see that I had held onto this jar, and I jingled it lightly, hearing the silver coins jangling inside it. I had great reluctance to give it up, but with great reluctance (and a stern look from on of the undead druids) I handed over my jar of silver coins.

"Do the same rules apply, or does another, new set of rules apply to us?" I asked. Seeing the new world before us sent a shiver down Nanaimo's spine, it looked completely alien to her. Almost instinctively, she rose to her hind hooves and wrapped her forelegs around me to hug me.

"You are expected to comply with the new laws in this new world," another one answered firmly. "Be careful you do not die in this new world, we do not wish to have to deal with you two again," said another. With that admonishment, they disappeared, leaving the two of us in what appeared to be a green space, a park of sorts, but gleaming towering buildings all around us.

At this point, the two of us were still hugging each other, but felt far more solid now than when we were in the empty void. The ground felt hard beneath our feet, but the grass made it feel soft. We caught sight of a couple of people and began walking towards them. One odd feature about these two was that they were both dark-skinned female humans, ones who looked an awful lot like people I remember seeing in my home world. They were both fairly young ladies, both of them quite beautiful, and both of them smiling at us as we approached them. Nanaimo had returned to walking on all fours at this point.

"Um, could you tell us where we are?" I asked hesitantly at one of the two young ladies. Despite our appearance, they continued to smile warmly, as though we had known each other for a long time. Nanaimo was a little surprised by this, but one of the two ladies scratched the pony behind her ears, eliciting a soft cooing noise from her. I was a little surprised by this and turned my attention to her. "Um, Nanaimo is my mare, could you please stop that?" I asked of her. She flashed me a hurt look as she stopped petting the mare. "Sorry, you can keep petting her if you like," I added quickly, causing her to smile again and pet Nanaimo, who seemed to wilt under her touch.

"This city is called Sh'Koggo," the other girl replied, taking a quick appraisal of my appearance.

[AU]An Unusual Train Ride

A few days passed and I was eventually able to walk as normally as could be expected, which seemed to be enough to satisfy Maple that I could go out and find gainful employment. Vanhoover was a fairly large town, one which should have been cosmopolitan enough to accommodate the needs of any race or species, even one as unusual as humans. But every place I went to that had a "help wanted" sign refused to even acknowledge my presence, let alone allow me to work for them. Three days had come and gone, and I had exhausted just about every location within easy walking distance. All this walking each day had improved my stamina, endurance, and strength that I now felt capable enough to expand my territory. Despite that, though, Maple was adamant about my finding employment. After the sixth day of looking and coming up empty, Maple told me I had to leave -- and he also told Brann, Cookie, and Nanaimo that they all had to go too.

The following morning had us all going to the train station, though the walk was pretty long. We met up with a good friend of Brann's, a yellow earth pony mare by the name of Milky Way. This mare was something special because she had sizeable crotch boobs, something that set her apart from every other mare I had seen up until that point. Cookie had purchased the tickets for us, but we had to wait a fair amount of time before the train would arrive to take us all to Trottingham.

"So, Cookie, who or what is this -- whatever he is?" asked the yellow earth pony mare. She flashed me a look of annoyance when she caught me staring at her teats. "I dunno who you are, but would you mind not staring at me? It makes me feel uncomfortable," she stated firmly, her gaze hardening at me.

"Sorry, Milky Way, but I can't help it, I've never seen anything like you before, at least, not in person," I replied softly. "Um, my name's Mike, in case you were wondering," I added sheepishly. The mare gasped in astonishment upon hearing me call her by name, but Cookie had already told me about her. I was tempted to tell her about the internet in my home world, but I decided to keep my mouth shut about that for fear of causing even more trouble.

"How do you know my name? Cookie, where did he come from?"

"Um, uhh, I'd like to tell you, but..." I offered sheepishly, my cheeks turning red from embarrassment. Her gaze hardened further still.

"Milky, he was staying with us since he showed up with Nanaimo last week," the tan pegasus replied, smiling softly. "He's pretty nice, so give him a chance please."

I absentmindedly scratched the milkmare behind her ears, catching her off guard, and shocking just about everypony who was watching this spectacle unfold. We were still on the platform waiting for the train to arrive and quite a few ponies had gathered to watch, given that they'd never seen a human before. All of these ponies when on all fours barely came eye-level to my waist, let alone my eyes. I didn't recognize any of them, despite every one of them possessing a cutie mark of some kind or other, and the myriad colors of their coats rivaled that of a professional paint store. Said milkmare cooed softly and her eyes lidded at my touch.

"Mike, stop that," Nanaimo chided sharply. "You told me I'm your one true love, you shouldn't touch other ponies like that, that's what lovers do!"

I grinned sheepishly, reluctantly removing my hand from behind the milkmare's ear. She flashed a hurt look, then smiled at me.

"So, Mike, was it? How are you so talented at that? You could make some real money doing that," she stated, flashing me a smile. "Mmmh, you can do that any time you like!"

Nanaimo growled at me, surprising me with her jealousy. "You'd better not, Mike!" she added menacingly. I had never seen her angry, but the look she gave me sent shivers down my spine. Her look of fury was quite disconcerting, to say the least. I've heard about ponies having herds, but right now's not a good time to bring that up, I thought to myself, noticing just how angry she was with me.

"Jeez, I'm sorry, I didn't know!" I mewled, my voice much weaker than I'd ever heard it before. Almost out of desperation I reached behind Nanaimo's left ear and started scratching with my fingers. She whinnied in surprise, glaring daggers at me, but I continued to scratch her behind her ears. Her resolve melted quickly as she started cooing softly, relishing my touch, and smiling at me. This must be something really special -- I wonder what if would feel like if our roles were reversed, I thought to myself as I continued my ministrations upon the mare I professed my deep and abiding love for.

"I wonder if I could have persuaded your dad to let us stay with him a bit longer if I had done this for him," I mused facetiously, tacking a light chuckle to the end of my hypothesis. I continued to scratch Nanaimo behind her ears and watched in amazement as she crumpled to the train platform, her legs giving out on supporting her any further. "Sorry about that, Nanaimo," I offered softly and stopped my attention to her.

"It's too late to worry about that now, we have a train to catch!" Cookie shouted as the train approached the station. The train engineer sounded the whistle, rousting the awaiting ponies to full attention, Nanaimo included. She rose to her hooves quickly, meeting my eyes with hers. Her expression seemed neutral, so whether or not I was in trouble with her would be determined later. I silently hoped she wouldn't be too angry with me. At that point, the train reached a full stop, allowing for departures and embarkments aboard the train, the conductor ushering everypony quickly. He caught sight of me, gave me a twice-over, and let me board.

I was amazed by how quickly this process of ponies leaving and boarding the train went and I had to hurry just to make it aboard the train before the engineer blew the whistle again in two short bursts to announce the departure of the train from the station. I was also amazed by the response of the ponies to seeing me -- I was just another passenger to them, no different from any other pony despite my ungainly appearance. They paid little mind to me, moving aside politely when I excused myself to squeeze past them. It took a little bit to find my group, but seeing Nanaimo made me hasten my pace to meet them. I was shocked by just how crowded the train was -- it reminded me of rush-hour subway traffic ridership. Nanaimo smiled at me as I met up with her.

"Took you long enough, y'know?" she chuckled. "And thanks for what you did, it helped a lot -- and one other thing, please don't do that for other ponies -- unless they're paying you," she added a bit more sternly. For a second, I thought her eyes looked like dollar symbols and heard what sounded like a cash register sounding its bell chiming. I narrowed my gaze ever so slightly at this, frowning a little at my marefriend.

"Okay, smartass, how much should I charge for my services?" I asked, causing Nanaimo to giggle uncontrollably.