“What’s that place?” I asked, pointing across the street. Part manicured garden, part ionic temple, I had seen the massive complex from the castle, but this was the first time I had been outside the palace walls; in a lucid state anyway.

“The House of the Rising Sun, biggest stable in Equestria,” the stallion next to me said.

“Okay, you’re going to have to explain what a stable is, because that word means something different in my world,” I said

“Humans don’t have stables?” Key Peg asked.

“Well, yes, but that’s what we call a barn made to keep horses in,” I said

“You call houses stables?” he asked.

“No, remember, my world only has one sapient species, humans. We live in houses, horses live in stables.”

“Sorry, still hard to imagine a world with only one intelligent race,” Key Peg said.

“So explain what a stable is, and why Canterlot has a huge fancy one,” I said, trying to get my friend back on track.

“A stable is a place where mares pay bits for time with a stallion. They keep breeding records too; some mares are really picky about their sires. And it’s big and fancy, because it’s the royal stable of Canterlot. Commissioned by the crown for the betterment of the nation.” He said, his voice slipping into the tone he used on duty, for the last part.

“It’s a national breeding farm!?”

“Not really,” He said.

“You’re killing me, Peg.”

“Yea, yea. Come on. Let’s get to the market, and see if we can get you a job you can enjoy,” Key Peg said. He had been excited about this for days. We finally had a weekend off together, and he was going to show the city, and find me a new job in the process too.

“I appreciate that you’re trying to help me get my cutie mark, but I don’t think that’s possible,” I said, and I meant that in more ways than one.

Key Peg rested a hoof on my knee. It was a little tell that meant he was trying to be serious. “You’re more than welcome to keep working with the guard, but it’s not your calling. I think you’d have a better chance of finding your talent outside the castle walls.”

He was right, I could at least find something less boring to do. Being a castle go-for was mind-numbing work. Two months ago it was a sheltered place to adjust to my new homeworld, and a job to keep me busy and feeling useful.

“Peg, are you breaking up with me?” I asked, laying a hand gently on his withers, digging my fingers between his shoulder blades just a bit.

*PUNCH*

“Ouch! Geez dude, not in the hip, okay?” I said, limping towards a lamp post so I could lean against it. “Our flanks can’t take a hit like yours can.”

“Sorry. You okay?”

“Shoulder,” I said, patting my delt. “That’s our thick spot.”

*PUNCH*

“Peg, I’m about to ride you like the pony that you are.”

The grin spreading across Peg’s face meant nothing but trouble for me. I had known him for only a few months now, but he was as close to a brother as I've ever had.

“JUNIOR STATE RODEO CHAMP!” I yelled between laughs. He was bucking as hard as any horse I had ever ridden, but his small barrell let me get my legs locked tight.

Key Peg still had that devil’s grin, even as he reared up. “Yea, just keep laughing when I put you in that tree over there!”

A few ponies stopped in the street to watch out impromptu rodeo. I feared they thought I was attacking Key Peg, but when he gave me a solid shimmy-buck combo, that nearly did launch me, my tenacity to stick to his back was rewarded with a round of cheers and stomps.

We probably would have gathered a pretty good crowed, if we had kept going, but it finally it occurred to Peg to roll on the ground. The guy has to weigh two hundred pounds, so that ended the horse play pretty fast. Our audience disappeared just as fast, though not before a few bits were placed on the ground near us.

Key Peg was helping me back on my feet when I noticed one of our onlookers was still watching us, or rather me.

“You’re new... and interesting,” she said when our eyes met.

“Uhm, hi?” I waved to the mare as she approached me. She was one of the more monochrome earth ponies, coat and mane the same color of dove’s blood red, green eye the only other color on her.

Key Peg for his part, just made a strangling sound. Even I would call the mare pretty, but I could tell by Peg’s reaction, that by pony standards, she was sex incarnate.

She circled me once before speaking again. “I’m Ruby Heart. I run the House. Why don’t you come to my office for tea.” Turning back towards the stable, she didn’t look to see if I was following.

Key Peg gave me the most intense ‘DUDE!’ stare I have ever seen. When I shrugged and shook my head, he promptly started pushing me across the street with his head. “You do not turn this down,” he hissed behind me.

I got the impression this was the equivalent to being invited to the Playboy mansion. “Ruby Heart, is it okay if my friend comes too? He’s my guide; I’m still learning how things work around here.” She answered by waving a hoof for us to follow, not breaking stride as she did so.

Following Ruby across the lawn and into the marble building, we passed through a breezeway and entered an inner courtyard. Here there were stallions from all three tribes engaging in various exercises and activities. A few mares stood in one corner of the gymnasium, watching the stallions exercise and compete in friendly games. Occasionally one mare would whisper to another and point into the herd of stallions.

I could have easily sat there and played Jane Goodall. But our trek was a short one. Soon I was in a large, but rather conventional looking office.

“Have a seat.” Ruby Heart gestured to some thick cushions on the floor. “Would you like tea or coffee?” she asked as we took our seats on the offered cushions. She watched me intently as I sat cross-legged on the cushion. I was used to that by now. Ponies had a hard time imagining that I could fold up like that.

“Coffee, black,” I answered.

“Tea with cream, please,” Key Peg said.

A moment later Ruby Heart brought our requested drinks back from another room, and sat them on the low table near us. “Forgive me, I did not ask your names,” she said, taking a seat across from me.

“Shane, and this is my friend Key Peg.”

She nodded to us and took a sip of her own coffee. “I have never seen your kind before. You look of satyr and minotaur, but are neither.”

I took her curiosity as an excuse to launch into my (well practiced) account of the human homeworld, my poor little ultralight, and how it came to be tangled in the rigging of an Equestrian airship. Key Peg took up the story of what happened after I was taken to the castle, and how he got put on foal-sitting detail.

“So, there’s no way for you to go home?” Ruby Heart asked.

“Celestia herself said as much,” Key Peg said.

Ruby’s posture slipped at Peg’s words. “I’m so sorry,” she said, stepping forward to give me a hug. This was a common reaction from ponies. It creeped me out at first, but I was used to it, now.

“It’s okay. Only child, parents died years ago, wasn’t even dating anyone.”

“Still,” Ruby said, giving me a squeeze before stepping back.

“Meh, I’m here now, may as well make a home of it.” My answer seemed to be just what she wanted to here.

“Good. I am sorry that you have been stranded so far from your homeland. But that’s a healthy attitude,” she said, refilling all our cups. “Now, I brought you here because I feel the House is in need of something exotic. And I think you-”

“Wait,” I said, putting my hands up. “I thought you were just, I don’t know... curious about me.”

Ruby Heart waved a hoof in dismissal of my protest, “Well, yes, I am. And I want to offer you a stall. If your biology matches well enough, that is.”

“My what?”

Ruby looked to Key Peg for help, something was getting lost in the culture barrier, hopefully he could translate.

“I’ve never seen him with his cloths off, but he cracked a dick joke in the locker room once, so I assumed he had one,” Key peg said with a shrug.

“Uh, yea. I’m a mammal. I'm nowhere near as long as you guys, but I think the girth is about the same...”

“That could work. Come on, let’s go out to the gym, I want to see you with your cloths off,” Ruby said, taking a last sip of her coffee before rising.

‘I’m being interviewed to be a whore.’ I thought. I’d learned not to make assumptions no matter what since I got here, but I had finally run out of plausible deniability. Looking to my friend, I’m not sure what I expected, but casual smile was not it. I looked over to Ruby as she held the door to the plaza open for us. “You’re wanting to hire me to have sex with ponies?” I asked.

“Well, yea,” Key Peg answered.

“If you look good enough with those clothes off, and our parts can line up, yes,” Ruby added

“But, I thought this was a breeding stable?”

Ruby closed the door with a sigh, and sat back next to me. “Yes, that is our commission; to provide every mare to the most desirable sire possible. But, this is also a place for mares to blow off steam. You may not have noticed, but mares outnumber stallions five to one. It’s hard for a girl to get a date: we help. And I think, you could offer a little exotic flavor that we’ve been missing.”

“Oh.”

“So, are you interested?” Ruby asked. “Do you even find us attractive enough to mate with? I understand cross-species attraction isn’t always there. I’ll take no offense if you say no. But I must tell you that I think the mares will find you interesting. I do.”

I thought Key Peg was going to punch me again, but he just rested a hoof on my arm. “Can he take a day or two to think about it?” he asked for me.

“If he’s interested at all, I’m in no hurry.”

“I think you are a cute, and frequently pretty race. I could even see getting in a relationship with one of you. But I’m not sure I like the idea of losing my pony-virginity in a... stable.”

“Virginity?” Ruby said the work like it was the first she had ever heard of it. “What’s that?” she asked, looking to Key Peg again for a translation. He only shrugged that he didn’t know either.

I’d had similar lost-in-transition situations in the past months. While, what ever magic allowed me to speak and understand their language worked wonderfully well, some word-ideas got jumbled when context was fuzzy. So story time always ensued.

“If you’ve never had sex, you’re a virgin. You know, pure” I explained, hoping the context would allow them to understand me.

“Oh, you mean inexperienced,” Ruby said. “But what do you mean by pure?”

I waved my hands as if physically trying to grasp the idea, “Pure from the taint of sex, or carnal desire,” I finally said.

“Still not following you,” Ruby said

Key Peg laughed a little, “Hay, this is better than when he had to explain what fah-lay means.” He paused just a moment, before holding a hoof up at Ruby. “Never ask him about that by the way. You don’t want to know.”

“Right...” Ruby said, then turned back to me. “So what it going to be?” she asked, getting back to the core of the matter.

“I need to think about this. But I’ll come back by tomorrow evening and tell you either way. Is that okay?” I asked.

“That will work. But I do hope you decide to let me look you over,” Ruby said, again standing to show us out.