The cart was surprisingly lighter without the twelve badgers. The things were only tiny and would take three of them to make up one person, and yet they must have weighted a lot more than they looked. In any case, the horse made remarkable time to the next village. This one was filled with pigs. The squeals of fright from them was both funny and sad.

They were also the only Humanus species that were too fat to walk on their hind legs alone. They still stood up to do things; but, to go anywhere, they dropped to all fours and waddled to where they needed to go. It was really weird to ride through the village and pass through a street, have everyone on the street squeal bloody murder and drop to all fours, then very slowly try to run away.

The funniest part was that they had an inn. An actual inn. We had to stop for the night and the place was immediately and very slowly deserted. Luckily, they left notes everywhere for how much rooms were, the food if we wanted it was in troughs in the back, and checkout time was noon the next day. I left the money on the counter, positive that when we left the main room, someone would be back to collect it.

We all settled in the same room, one of the largest, and actually slept. None of us had done that in quite some time, so it was a relief to relax in the knowledge that the locals were too scared to bother us. In fact, we had such a great time that I promised to come back and stay for a while. It was just too relaxing of a spot to not take advantage of it.

It actually took us two more weeks of travelling to get to the wall, even with the faster horse. The downside to that was there was a reason most of the area was called 'countryside'. There were no other towns or villages on the road we were using. I had thought it was main road, since it looked to be used a lot, then we arrived at the massive half city that had grown out of the infection research station and I saw what a main road really was.

They were huge and went all over the place. The road we were on was more like an old country road in comparison. It made me realize why some of the inhabitants were afraid of newcomers, because they were so rare. That wasn't the biggest revelation I had, though. No, it was the wall.

The West Wall was huge. We had seen it from miles away and as we approached, the scale was massive. Absolutely massive. When they wanted to cut off a country with magic, they did it with style. It was a thousand feet high and went on for as far as the eye could see. It didn't vary in height at all, no matter what terrain was in front of it, which was none.

Everything within a mile of the thing had been completely stripped. Hills, valleys, forests, and even part of a mountain were just... gone... as if nothing had been there before. It was both scary because of the scale, and impressive because of what amount of magic it would take to accomplish such a thing.

Fortunately, they didn't let that mile of emptiness go to waste. What farmer wouldn't want perfectly flat ground to grow crops in?

As we approached the outer edge of the city, which also had a short wall a hundred feet tall around it, I saw all different kinds of beast people working in the fields and none of them had their faces covered, which was a surprise. Apparently, the taboo of keeping the beast strain you had a secret wasn't in effect here.

My first glimpse of an Equidae Humanus was a strong horse man walking half bent over as he pulled a huge plow tied behind him and a human sat on it. The ten foot tall horse man noticed us as well, because his head jerked up and he let out a neighing shout.

I was shocked when our horse returned it and saw the tail flick back and forth and the head nod. “Uh oh.”

“What is it?” The Freemartin asked.

“Pull over, quick!” I said and she did so. I hopped down and quickly unhooked the horse from the cart.

“STEVE! What are you DOING?!?” The man on the plow yelled as the horse man tore his harness into pieces and took off running across the field towards us. Steve didn't answer because he was drooling too much.

I just barely managed to get the horse turned in time as the horse man leapt over the six foot high fence and landed with skidding hooves right behind the mare. His pants had proven inadequate because his three foot erection had already escaped, so he tore his pants open and his huge penis angled down to the perfect position. We all watched in fascination as he neighed softly to our horse and caressed her hips. She lifted her tail for him and he eased himself into her. All of himself.

“Jesus.” I whispered and held the horse steady as the horse man had his way with her. They both made pleasure noises and they both enjoyed it as it went on for quite some time. The man on the plow had plenty of time to walk all the way across the field to us.

“Steve, what are you doing to that poor mare?” The man asked.

“Steve's not home right now. Please try again later.” I joked and the man looked at me. “I doubt he can speak his own name right now.”

The man climbed over the fence and walked around Steve and the mare to stand beside me. “Huh. Look at that.” He said and shook his head at the blank expression on Steve's face. “I haven't seen him act like this before.”

“Me, either.” I said and the man looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Yeah, no time for jokes.”

He nodded and we all stood there and waited for their mating to end. It took a while.

Steve the horse man, finally let out a neighing yell and started shaking, then the mare did, too. It took him several minutes to finish, which also shocked me, then he extracted himself from the mare. He caressed her hips again and then walked around to the front of the horse. He spoke to her in a whisper and even though I was standing right there, I couldn't make out what he said.

“Steve, you can't.” The man said and Steve didn't stop talking, or whatever it was he was doing. Steve lifted the mare's head and they played their lips over each other, flicked their tongues, and nipped at each other playfully.

“By the Son's Grace, you can't!” The man exclaimed.

Steve finally stopped and turned his head to look at the man, anger clear in his eyes. “Don't you DARE tell me that I can't love my life mate!”

“Steve! She not even an approved mare!” The man said.

“I. Don't. Care.” Steve said and pet the mare's head. “She will have my colts and she will be loved and taken care of for the rest of her life.” He said as he turned to her, his voice soft and full of love. “You'll be brushed every day, fed whenever you want to be fed, and our colts will be the prize of all Equidae.”

The mare let out a happy neigh and rubbed her muzzle on his.

“I'm so sorry.” The man said to me. “Steve here doesn't understand all of the things he's doing wrong right now.”

“Love can never be wrong.” Steve said.

For some reason, I immediately thought of my sister. If it's not the right kind of love, then yes, it can.

“Strange armored man.” Steve said and looked at me. “What do I need to do for you to allow me to be with my life mate?”

“Steve, you can't just offer yourself up like that.” The man said with a sigh.

I looked at the very happy horse and then at Steve's face. I reached a hand out. “Shake my hand.”

Steve gave me an odd look and put his partially hoofed hand in mine. It only had two large fingers and a thumb, which was a first for me, so it was an odd feeling shaking it.

“It was nice doing business with you.” I said and let his hand go to pat the mare's head. “You did a great job bringing us all the way here.” I said to her, then looked at the cart. “I guess we need to buy another horse.”

“And supplies.” The Freemartin said.

“And a nice bed!” The young wolf woman said. “Doing it with you on just a blanket isn't as fun anymore.”

The man stared at me and Steve let out a neighing laugh.

“You need to come to The Stable with me. I will pull my mate's burden for her until then.” Steve said.

“We have to finish the field.” The man said.

“I will work tonight to make it up.”

The man knew when he was defeated and shook his head. “No, that's all right. I'll let you off of work for the rest of today.” He said and then smiled. “You owe me a jug of brew.”

Steve neighed agreement and nodded. We hooked up the cart to Steve's hips and he took the mare's reins to walk her beside us. Both the man and I climbed onto the cart and Steve took us into town.

Needless to say, we gained a lot of attention because of it. Even I had to admit that a ten foot tall horse man, pulling a cart and walking his mate, that he constantly talked to and muttered sweet nothings to, was definitely a sight to see.

We came to a stop near the very outer edge of the city and we discovered that The Stable was actually a mansion that was made into a stable. Horse people were everywhere, as were horses. Both males and females of people and horses roamed freely. Young horses and children, or I guess they would all be called colts, be they Humanus or horse, ran around and played, too. It was both weird and nice to see.

“This is as far as I go.” The man said and Steve came to a stop. “See you tomorrow, Steve.”

Steve nodded and continued on into the main part of the stable. “You can leave your cart here. We have storage areas for things like them. No one will steal it.”

“I would store it if I thought someone would steal it.” I said and helped unhook him. “In fact, maybe I'll do just that.” I said as the others climbed out of the cart. I stored it and Steve just stared at me. “Who do I talk to about buying a horse?”

“The manager, of course.” Steve said and unhooked the straps around the mare's waist. He passed them to me and I stored them. He left the face harness and reins on her and started walking. “She will want to meet my life mate and to make our pairing official.”

“Do you need her approval?” I asked.

“No, it is just a formality. She strives for the best parings and helps when she can.” Steve said. “She has helped many of my people breed strong colts.”

“Well, you didn't need her help today.” I said and he let out a neighing laugh.

“She assigned me to that field by the road a week ago, because I can break the fresh ground better than the others.”

I had to laugh at his reasoning, because she actually did help him find a mate. We followed him through the stable to a large office and he knocked on the door. It opened and a horse woman was there. Like most of the females of the other species, she had an almost human face and humanoid shaped body, except that her legs were strong and muscular. She only had on a thin top and shorts, so it showed off a lot of her body.

“Hello, Marie. Is Paula in?” Steve asked.

Marie looked at the mare he held the reins of and I could tell that she didn't recognize her. “You didn't!”

Steve nodded. “I met my life mate on the road by my field.”

Marie looked at my armored form and frowned. “I don't recognize the armor.”

“It's not from here.” I said. “I'm visiting from very far away.”

The cat women hissed a laugh and the Freemartin let out a single bleat of amusement. The young wolf woman stood there and didn't react.

“Wait here and I'll see if she's free.” Marie said and shut the door.

“She didn't even invite us in to sit down to wait.” I said and everyone looked at me. “She could be gone for a while and I would rather sit down.”

“Then we will sit.” The Freemartin said and waved at the floor.

I shrugged and sat down next to the wall across from the door and the cats piled around me. I wasn't sure how the wolf woman managed to get herself mixed in there, too.

“I don't like this armor.” The young wolf woman said as she leaned against my crotch. “I can't feel you through it.”

“You know I get excited when you do.” I said and she let out a playful growl and her tail wagged.

The Freemartin stood beside us with her hand on the hilt of her sword. None of us removed our face coverings as we waited for however long the Stable Manager named Paula was going to make us wait. I knew she was going to make us stay there for a while, because that was always something that a person in power always does.

They want to prove that they have the power and they make you wait until they are ready to see you, or so they say. They usually just waste time as they waited for us to wait. I held in my chuckle at that, because I had taken my old foreman's business meetings to heart. When someone requested a meeting, it happened right away, and not later or when it was more convenient and less busy.

I think that was why the business went so well. I thought, then I started thinking about what other businesses I could start when I went back. I let my mind drift over all of the possibilities and absently stroked the cat women in my arms.