I’m not sure if it was the morning sun or the sound of coffee being made that woke us up. Either way, Sky and I found ourselves waking up at the same time.

“Sorry... I fell asleep,” she said, sitting up. “That was really soothing.”

“As long as I didn’t come off as a tease,” I said, sliding out of bed and standing up.

“A little, but I’m not complaining. You're comfortable to sleep on,” she said smiling, with a little shrug. “Besides.” Her hoof reached forward and caressed the hard bulge in my pants, causing me to stammer back a step. “Looks like you're a morning pony too,” she said.

My mind spooled up an explanation of morning wood, but it never made it to my lips. She had unbuttoned and pantsed me with her mouth before I could speak. It was rather impressive.

So was the look on Key Pegs face when he opened my door. “Breakfast is-” He blinked, looking from me to Sky. I waved. Sky ignored him, still trying to figure out how my underwear was tied on. Slowly, without a sound, he pulled his head back through the door and closed it.

A sudden draft told me my underwear had been undone. The curious “Hmm...” Sky gave me at that point, was less than ego boosting.

“This going to work?” I asked.

“It comes out at a funny angle ... Oh! I want to try something!” she said pushing me towards the bed. “Lay down, face up.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the surreal bizarreness. I had been ready to hook up with her last night, and nothing had really changed. While the fuzzy alcohol logic had faded, my penis was still hogging more than its fair share of blood. I’m a fairly sexual guy, that didn’t change just because I slipped into pony-OZ. Yesterday’s encounter with the stable only reinforced the fact that I was going to have to continue adapting to, and accepting, my new world.

I’ve always appreciated eager girls, and Sky was definitely hitting that button as she playfully pushed me to the bed. I traced my fingers over the contours of her body, as she climbed onto the bed, and over me. “I’ve never been with a pony,”

Sky paused. Flashing a grin, she lowered her muzzle inches from my face. Her hot breath and impish smile made me want to pull her into a kiss. “Well, guess I’ll have to leave a good impression,” she said.

Grabbing a handful of mane, I pulled her to me. Lips and tongues tangled, both of us exploiting our alien lover. Last night had been booze-fueled lust and loneliness. Now curiosity and desire to please took control. Sky’s tongue seemed fascinated with my teeth, while I explored her nimble lips. I’ve seen Ponies write with their mouth with better penmanship than I have with my hand.

Being quite pinned to the bed was all well and good, but I was starting to feel like I was a dead fish. I could only move my arms so much, so I used what little mobility I had to caress her neck and thigh.

Pulling away from the kiss, Sky stood straight legged over me. “Guide it in,” she said before proceeding to lower her hips. I was a little startled by her declaration, but reflexively I grabbed myself and pointed it where it needed to go.

And that’s when I learned a little more about pony anatomy; mares feel pretty much the same as humans down there. I’m not sure if I was relieved or disappointed about that.

“You okay there?” Sky asked me. I jolted a bit at the question.

Sitting on my lap, with her forelegs locked straight and planted on either side of me, Sky worked her hips around me. It pretty nice, though I still felt like I should be doing more. “Anything you want me to do?” I asked. My hands listlessly petting where I could reach.

“Just enjoy the-” Her voice hitched when my fingers found her clitoral nub. “-ride,” she finished the sentence. “Doing that is also good.”

Normally I have a pretty short fuse if I haven’t gotten any in a month or two, but watching her made for a wonderful distraction. I left the one hand to toy with her clit, while my other hand wandered wherever it could reach.

Sky’s grinding and thrusts became more frantic as her back started to arch, and with it her wings slowly stretched out. The azure canopy was almost too distracting, but her hot sex working against against my groin eventually began to reach its conclusion.

The pulsing clutching of her walls made it hard to hold back. Fortunately, an enraptured grimace on her face told me she was close as well. Switching from gentle circles around her nub, to a frantic waggle, I shoved her over her plateau, into full orgasm. She made a little squeaking sound as her body shook and shuddered. Her unconscious thrusting sent me over the edge as well, my free hand pulled her hips tight to mine, as I orgasmed into her.

I wrapped my arms around her as she collapsed to my chest. Both panting, we laid there in post-coital bliss. It was good sex, little strange, but good. I’m not quite sure why, but the encounter reminded me of my college days. I think... it was the under-furnished and overly-warm room, and knowing my roomie could hear me.

“That... was fun,” Sky said, flopping over beside me on the bed. “I’m hungry.”

Standing up, I opened the closet door for a towel. “Want one?” I asked, holding one towards her.

She had a contemplative look before looking between her own legs. “No actually,” she said standing up. “That’s kinda nice, you don’t produce much.”

“Really? Back home my girlfriends all said I was messy,” I said, giving myself a quick toweling down; I could take a shower later. My encounter with the stable came to mind while I was getting my clothing back on. Sky seemed fascinated with the process, so I took the opportunity to ask her about it. “I got offered a job as a stud at the stable. Think I should take it?”

“Yes.”

Well that was less of a conversation than I had hoped for. Opening my door the sounds and smells of cooking reminded me that my dinner last night had been bar food. Delicious though they were, fried onions only went so far. “Hay Peg, what ya cook-” Key Peg wasn’t cooking anything at all, he was giving me a smirk from over top of a newspaper.

My date beat me to looking in to the kitchen. Sky’s head cocked to one side in a expression of curiosity, before she sat on the floor in a slump. “Butter Cream, I have to eat your cooking for the next three months. Don’t tell me it’s going to be my last meal before getting on the boat too.”

“Be nice, or I’ll break your yolks,” a voice in the kitchen answered.

“I knew it! You do that to me on purpose!” Sky said, pointing through the doorway.

Key Peg and I shared an uneasy glance, not sure what to make of the situation. A silence hung for just a moment, then laughter shattered it.

“You know each other?” I asked, following Sky into the kitchen, after the two mares had pressed necks.

Breakfast ended up being a strange sort of double date. Turns out our dates worked on the same ship. Key Peg’s being the cook, and mine a rigger. Their ship left at noon that day, so they didn’t have any time to spare. After eating, we walked them to the docks. They invited us on board for a quick tour, before they had to get to work. We hung around the dock till they set sail, so we could wave them off.

It was really cool. Watching the airships under sail was fascinating. Sky said she wanted to see me again when she got back. I got to eat at the griffon place again, had the gumbo this time. The only thing I wasn't looking forward to was swinging by to tell Ruby Heart I had gotten another job, but I owed it to her.

We took the long way round from the docks to the House. Key Peg was determined to show me as much of the city as possible before he went back on shift the next morning. It was in the commercial district that I found fate again.

While they have plenty of main-street style shops, they have a lot of open-air market booths, too. It was in one of these little stalls that I found a collection of glass figures that looked to be from the shop I’d interviewed at, so I had to stop and look. There were a few ponies browsing the stall when I approached; they gave me only a moments notice before deciding I was civil enough to ignore.

Or so I had thought. Apparently a unicorn foal hadn’t noticed me join the crowd, as she was purchasing something. What it was, was a blue and rainbow-colored pegasus figurine. And I got to watch it fall to the ground when the filly jumped at seeing me.

Well, I felt like a heel, to say the least. The poor thing was on the edge of tears looking down at the shattered glass; I’d already been forgotten. Bending down, I scooped up the shards, in hopes of buying a new one for her, but something in her eyes stopped me from standing. She was looking the the broken figure in my hand, with an expression I can not put into words.

I held very still when her horn lit up, more so when the glass in my hands began to sparkle. Even when a yellow-hot bit of glass brushed my thumb, I held still in fascination. Parts lined up, melted together, then smoothed out. The idea of magic had lost a lot of meaning to me recently, but this took my breath away.

When the repaired figure floated away from me, I got to see a second treat. Everyone nearby winced when a white flash came from the filly. But none seemed surprised, except the filly herself; rather they gave a round of cheering and stomping. It took me a second to notice the cutie mark that had not been there just a moment ago.

She noticed it about the same time that I did, promptly dropping the figurine again as she jumped for joy, fortunately I caught it this time. After an impromptu little celebration, I got a hug from the filly, and gave her the figure back. Everyone went their separate ways after a few minutes, her to share the news with her family, and me to figure out what to do now that I had lost the opportunity at the job.

Was I disappointed? A little, but you can’t be too sad after seeing something like that.

“You okay?” Key Peg asked.

“Yea. That’s a big deal to you ponies, isn’t it?”

“Getting our mark? Yea, that’s when know your purpose, it’s the rest of your life..”

“Must be nice, having your destiny printed on your sleeve like that.”

Key Peg just nodded.

I found myself back in Ruby Heart’s office before I had even realized we had left the market.

“So what’s your decision, Shane?” she asked me.

I opened my mouth to recite my practiced lines, but realized they no longer applied. I could still just say no, but I didn’t want to. I kinda liked the idea of being a stud, actually, but it scared me, too.

Why did it scare me?

Key Peg was about to explode next to me. I half expected him to shuck my clothes off me and start chasing me around the courtyard like he did his recruits. His excitement was palpable, and a bit contagious. Closing my eyes, I thought out my situation. If this was home, I’d probably jump at the chance, if only to do it for a year. My biggest hang up was they looked like ponies. Except that hadn’t phased me with Sky. Even before that, I had known that the similarities between ponies, and Ponies, ended with the vague cosmetic likeness.

So what else was holding me back? Well, brothels didn’t have the best reputation for treating their workers well. But Sgt. Key Peg of the Equestrian Royal Guard was sitting next to me and seemed to think I had hit the lottery.

“Pay, living space, and contract rules?” I asked.

“Studs get paid pretty well, from what I’ve seen.” Key peg said.

“Your pay is based on a bidding system. You only have one session a day, four days a week. Some weeks, you may have a sleepover. Those sessions end at noon the next day, and you'll be free for the day after they go home. Mares bid for the slots, so the more popular you are, the more expensive you become and the more you make. Our lowest-demand studs make about the same bits as a unranked guard does.

“As for housing, you’re given a stall. I’ll show you an empty one, if you like. Our employment contract is the standard one that every employer uses.”

“Okay, I’ll bite,” I said

“Please don’t,” Ruby said, pulling away from me a bit.

Key Peg laughed. “He means that he’ll give it a try.”

“Oh,” Ruby said, a smile spreading across her face. “Excellent!”