"Nope. We got one other guy." The farmer answers in his typical casual tone.
"Guy?" Jessie asks, intrigued.
"Yup. Though I doubt he'd be too... interestin'. As far as fer matin' an' breedin' goes."
"Heh... well, I'm not worried about that at the moment..." Jessie blushes, rubbing the back of her head with the heel of her hoof-hand. "I don't think anybody needs little pony-people running around."
"Oh, yer kids mos' likely would either be one 'r the other. I ain't seen a halfbreed birth in my entire life, an' I been at this borderin' on a hunnert years now. That's how it works with the mammal halfbreeds like yerself. Even when breedin' with a fellow halfbreed, ya never get a halfbreed offspring. Granted, the full-animal children are more common, but every now an' again ya'll get a regular ol' human baby."
"That's... kinda weird... but... a hundred years...? Wow... that's... oh, right, magicky stuff," Jess eases up a bit, feeling far more comfortable in her own skin than she did mere hours before, "well, I guess I'd like to meet this guy anyway."
"Oh, sure. He's a character, he is. Come on this way." The farmer pushes off from the fence and begins walking towards a large enclosure in the distance. Jessie follows, finding it difficult to keep her pace as slow as his. Her pony form naturally wants to walk faster than he's capable of.
"Hey, Norbert! Come on out an' meet the new recruit!" He calls, cupping his mouth with his hands. Out of a small shack in the middle of the enclosure steps something Jessie hardly expected. From the distance, he looks like an ostrich. One hundred percent. But as he gets closer, there are noticeable sparks of humanity visible on him, namely in his face.
"Hey, buddy!" Norbert says. His voice is odd, unlike any human voice she had ever heard. It's scratchy, and almost grates on her nerves. "Sorry, one of my gals was laying some eggs, and well, you know I can't help but watch. Anyway, how do you do? I'm Norbert. Or as the costume said, Ollie the Ostrich."
"I'm Jessie. Priscilla the Pony by costume." She extends a hand for a handshake which isn't met.
"Sorry. No hands. Yeah, I can see the Priscilla in you. It was a great choice, if I do say so myself. I was an ornithologist as a human, so my choice was more or less a given."
"Thanks," Jessie answers, smiling widely. "I... well, I was unemployed when I came here. Not really sure why I picked Priscilla."
"Well, you look absolutely lovely. Why, if I were a mammal myself, I'd find you quite attractive. But well, you know how it is with us birds."
Jessie can't help but think about how well he takes it. He enjoys what he is. If an ostrich-man can learn to enjoy it, why can't she? She's certain she'll get used to it after a while.
"Well, thanks. You're... uh... not half-bad looking... erm... for an ostrich."
"Aw, you're just saying that. I'm a big old ugly bird and I know it. Well, I'm gonna go count up how many more kids I can expect to have in a few weeks. What do you say you and I meet up later and talk about things? I'm sure you could use it."
"Yeah, I could..." Jessie sighs with a deep breath. "Could I ever. That'd be great. Where should we meet?"
"There's a neat little bar in the underground section that the general public doesn't get to go to. It's the big cellar door out in the middle of Field 2. Can't miss it."
"That sounds great."
"It's a date, then. And Jessie? Chin up. I know it's overwhelming now, but... it's really great."
"Thanks. I'll seeya later." Jessie gives a short wave, and then turns around to the farmer again. "Well, I think I better get to my room, huh?"
But the farmer's not there. And when she turns back to the enclosure, Norbert's already gone back to the shack. So that leaves Mary on her own to figure out where things are.