Author's Notes:

If there are any grammatical or spelling errors, please send me a PRIVATE MESSAGE and let me know so that I can fix them asap. Thanks for reading! <3

"S- So you're sure you won't get pregnant? As much as I love gifts, I'd rather not have that sort of gift just yet..." You said and tucked Vinyl Scratch's head under your chin.

"Chill, babe..." Vinyl sounded extremely exhausted. "The spell worked, trust me. I used it last time you came inside, remember?"

Even though it was hard for you to "chill" about such an important risk, you decided to put it on the back burner for the time being even though you failed to remember her mentioning using that spell before at any time.

"How'd it feel? I know I've done it before but... I just wanna make sure I did okay..."

"You were great, babe..." Vinyl smiled.

"Good..."

That certainly was a relief.

"I know this might be the wrong time, but... Has anypony else...?" Your eyes shifted nervously.

"Pfft, nah. I've only let one other dude down there before and he was terrible..." Vinyl chuckled.

You were tempted to pry about it since it made you a bit jealous that you weren't her first but it wasn't worth it. Besides, you weren't exactly sinless yourself. Vinyl was with you now and it seemed as if you were able to satisfy her adequately. That's really all you cared about.

"How was he terrible?" You asked. It was more out of curiosity than anything else.

"Well for one, I could've fit his dick up my nose."

You laughed out loud and she did as well as she snuggled close to your chest.

"Geez... For real?"

"Eh... Yeah. Pretty much. I wonder how good a nose job would be..."

"Ew..." You giggled some more. "What else was wrong with him?"

"Luna... You name it. His cum tasted like shit, he came in like five seconds..."

"Yeah... I kinda did that too a couple of times, though..." You said apologetically.

"Mhmm, but you're better because you can keep going after that... Just means more juicy cum for me. Hehe." Vinyl giggled some more and kissed your chest flirtatiously. "Don't worry babe, you're everything I could possibly need and more."

Something about how she said that last bit made you think that she meant it in several other ways as well. Your heart felt warm and fuzzy and you gave her a kiss on her forehead right next to her horn.

"Love y-"

Several loud knocks came at the door and made the two of you jump in surprise.

"You've gotta be kidding..." Vinyl laid back down, her smile gone.

You groaned with frustration and got up, checking yourself to make sure you didn't have any visible cum on you. You had to wipe off some parts with a towel that was hanging at the end of the dresser but other than that, you were reasonably presentable.

The knocking started up again; it was louder this time. You quickly walked out of the bedroom and into the living room.

Getting a bit angry about being interrupted, you set a spell lock on the door knob and pulled back hard. The door nearly came off its hinges and it made a *bang!* when it hit the wall behind it.

"What?" You grumbled. It didn't matter who it was, nopony was worth interrupting a night of warm fuzzy snuggles with Vinyl.

"Where is she?!" Twilight galloped in with Spike on her back.

You repeated yourself. "What? Where's who?"

"Vinyl! Where is she?!"

You stepped back a few feet as Twilight had a panic attack. "Back there... In the bedroom. Why?"

Without wasting a single breath, she dashed past you and ran down the hall, nearly ramming the bedroom door down once she got there.

"Hey!" You went after her. Although you knew Twilight would never hurt Vinyl, there was a sort of protective instinct that swelled inside you that told you to go in and stop whatever she was doing. It didn't take you but two seconds to catch up to her. Vinyl was covering herself with the bed sheets, her face flushed with embarrassment since she still had cum leaking out of her marehood.

"Where's your bruise? Let me see it, quick!"

She responded in much the same way you did when Twilight first came in.

"W- What? Why?"

" just let me see it! " She demanded. Spike laid low on her back in shame. Unlike Twilight, he seemed guilty for interrupting the two of you.

"Okay, okay, fine... Geez..." Vinyl kept the sheets over her crotch, but stuck out the leg with the bruise on it.

Your heart skipped a beat and you felt chills on the skin beneath your fur when you saw what Twilight suspected. The "bruise" had expanded threefold since you last saw it at the party.

"What the fuck..." You tried to form sentences but you were too shocked to do so.

"Oh no..." Twilight bit her lip and looked around the room as she tried to work past her panicking and figure out what to do.

"Vinyl, what the hell is that? You said it was a bruise!"

"B- But it is... I think..." She pulled more sheets on top of her as if she were scared of you.

"Bruises don't do that!" You pointed a hoof at her leg where the bruise was. Now that you got a closer look at it, you noticed that it had gotten darker as well. "How did you get that? And tell me the truth this time."

You felt guilty every time you argued or raised your voice to her, but in that particular instance you felt as if it was warranted.

Twilight put her hoof to her chest while the two of you were "chatting" and then let out a smooth exhale.

"Vinyl?" Her voice calmed down. "Have you gone to the Everfree Forest recently? Please be honest, this is very important."

Vinyl bit her lip this time and her eyes shifted to her left to avoid you and Twilight.

"Um... Yeah..." She answered nervously and quietly.

"Wait what?! Why would you do that?"

You hoped that you weren't sounding angry. You were more concerned for her than anything. Before she could answer though, Twilight interrupted.

"I'm sorry you two, but there's no time to explain. I have to take Vinyl to the hospital right away." Twilight's horn was already glowing bright by the time she finished her sentence.

"Meet us there as fast as you can, Alex." Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated.

"Wait, no!" You reached out a hoof in a futile attempt to stop her.

You locked with Vinyl’s deep red eyes for a fraction of a moment and her mouth began to move as if to say something before she vanished. However, she was gone before a single syllable came out.

After a bright flash of light and a sound like a firecracker, the room was empty.

"God Damnit Twilight, couldn't you at least say something before taking my marefriend away?!" You scolded the absent princess and galloped as fast as you could towards the hospital.

There were several splits in the road leading through the center of town and you knew most of them by the back of your hoof already. However, you were beginning to reach the outskirts and the only one place you were familiar with around there was Applejack's farm. Unfortunately, you saw no apple trees and no ranches or farms. Worse, the scant amount of signs on the roads pointing towards the hospital were getting fewer and farther between.

Luckily, you saw the faded outline of a pony with the aid of the moonlight and slowed down.

"Hey, sorry." You caught your breath via several pants. "I'm lookin' for the... Hah... Hospital... Do you know where it is?"

The young colt rubbed his chin and looked off into the distance as he tried to recall. He almost looked familiar, but you didn't have time to stop and chat.

"Uh, yeah. Follow that road there until you get to a big pond. After that, just keep left and look for the lights."

"Awesome. Thanks!" You took off again with zero hesitation and the earth pony behind you scratched his head, wondering what your hurry was.

Your chest was starting to ache from all the cardio you were getting but the nervous adrenaline pushed you through to gallop farther than you would've otherwise. Countless trees past by you and were beginning to block the overhead view of the moon. The dirt road was just barely visible enough to guide you through until you reached a clearing with the pond the stranger mentioned.

"Damn... Hah... You'd think the hospital would be closer to town..." You said to yourself again and followed the left road, panting all the way.

Your hooves were getting sore and after a minute or two of running and not seeing any lights, you feared that the directions you were given were incorrect. This fear was multiplied when the dirt road began to end and give way to a thin grassy opening through the trees. It was looking more natural than pony-made.

"Ugh... Shit."

Just when you were contemplating turning back around and looking for another path, you saw something that took a metaphorical two hundred pounds off of your shoulders. It was a tiny yet noticeable red twinkle past the branches and leaves that began to resemble a big red plus sign as the forest started to clear again.

Knowing Vinyl was somewhere in that area, your body summoned more adrenaline and pushed you to the front doors. There was a pony standing near the front door that was visible only by the faint light radiating from the big red cross and the few tiny windows that had yellow lights glowing within. She looked familiar at a distance, but once you got closer and saw her red cross cutie mark, you knew exactly who it was. It was Nurse Redheart. Although, you weren't entirely certain as to why she was outside the building and not inside treating patients.

"Alex?!" She called out as you got closer. It surprised you that she knew you by name even though the two of you never met. Although, being the special interdimensional-human-turned-pony certainly seemed to cause some unintentional popularity from time to time.

"Yeah!" You yelled out even though you were a mere twenty feet from her when you did so.

"Come with me. Vinyl Scratch is this way."

Apparently, she had been instructed to escort you in once you got there which was considerate considering the fact that your marefriend was technically kidnapped from you against her will.

"Can you tell me what's going on? Please?" You pleaded after catching your breath. Your mind was racing so fast that you were halfway down the main hall in what seemed like seconds.

"We think Vinyl Scratch contracted a rare illness from a fungus in the Everfree Forest called 'mors moss'. She's stable now, but the nature of the poison of the fungus seems to take effect without warning. We're keeping a close eye on her just in case." She explained as she led you through several sets of double doors.

"Then what are you doing out here, then?" You thought to yourself.

"Stable? Just how serious is this plant?"

"Mr. Alex, I'm not going to be dishonest with you. The survival rate of ponies affected by it is very low. Although, I've never seen a case of it in my lifetime to know first-hoof."

"Just how slim are we talking?!" Your heart was beating like a drum and nervous energy oozed from your body.

"It's difficult to say for sure. But, I'd estimate about thirty percent."

Thirty percent. It took you a few moments to come to grips with the fact that your dream mare's life depended on a roll of the die especially since it came about so suddenly. To you, the entire ordeal felt like a bad dream that you would've gotten if you got too hot in bed at night. None of it felt real but you still tried your best to focus regardless of how hard that might've been.

"She's right through here. She's awake but-"

You burst through the last set of double doors on your right that Nurse Redheart led you through and came into a room clustered with ponies. The first ones that caught your eye were all four Princesses standing next to each other and looking at something that you couldn't see since they were standing in the way of it. There were also a few doctors as well. You paid no attention to them since they were the least of your worries and finally saw Vinyl once you slid past them. She was lying down in a hospital bed with several I.V.'s hooked up to her. Her eyes were a bit droopy, probably from whatever they were pumping into her, but they rose to meet yours when you walked up to the bed.

"Babe?! Are you okay?!" You went right up to the side of the bed and looked her over quickly.

"Yeah... I mean, my leg hurts a little but..." She gritted her teeth in what seemed to be a sudden jolt of pain. The series of monitors flickered and then turned a yellow color and the doctors surrounding her quickly came to her.

"Shit what's-"

"Alex, we understand that Vinyl Scratch is very important to you, but it is imperative that you calm down and let the doctors work." Celestia's voice spoke up from behind you.

If it were anypony else, you would've turned around and scolded them for daring to tell you to "calm down" over such an event. Before you could respond, Luna took your hoof and, rather forcefully, led you outside the room.

"Hey! Let me go!" You were desperate to be with Vinyl even though seeing her in pain made you want to cry.

Luna didn't listen. Or, if she did, she ignored you. She led you to the hallway outside and made you sit on one of the chairs placed there. None of the other ponies, or princesses for that matter, followed her out and you were left with just you and the Princess of The Night.

"You must wait here while the rest of us decide what actions should be taken. Little is known about the poison that is inside of Vinyl Scratch and until we change that, we cannot take any risks."

"But..."

You were about to plead with her to let you see her just for a moment, but she did have a solid point. For all you knew, you could've been doing something that was making it worse.

"Fine... Just- Please let her know I love her, okay?"

"I will." Luna's stern demeanor diminished a bit. "Try not to worry yourself, Sir Alex, as difficult as that may seem. I assure you that Vinyl Scratch is in good care."

Your head drooped and nodded at the same time. Luna's hoof rested on your shoulder for a moment in an attempt to reassure you, but it didn't help much.

She turned and went back inside, leaving you by yourself. You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, trying to make sense of everything that was happening.

There were only two things you knew for certain. First, the "bruise" on Vinyl's leg was dangerous enough to have all four princesses present for it at the same time. That fact didn't sit well with you whatsoever. Secondly, whatever the bruise was, it definitely came from the Everfree Forest. You didn't know much about the place but you could imagine that any kind of poison plant that grew there was bad news.

Everything else was uncertain, though. You didn't know why she would try to hide the fact that it wasn't a bruise until just now even though she apparently had some knowledge of what it might be. You didn't know why it didn't bother her until now. If it really was some sort of poison, it puzzled you as to why there was no pain or even slight discomfort. You didn't know whether or not everypony was just overreacting about it since it was so rare. Your mind was muddled with unknowns.

You had a terrible case of butterflies in your stomach as you tried to listen to the faint murmurings coming from behind the door. None of it was understandable, though.

"Fuck..." You cursed yourself for not forcing Vinyl to get her injury checked out sooner.

Your nervousness made you flinch when the doors at the end of the hall burst open and Scribble Scratch came galloping in. You stood up from your chair.

"Alex! What's going on?! Princess Twilight sent me a letter telling me to come right away!"

"I don't know. All they said was that the bruise on her leg was from some sort of plant that she ran into in the Everfree Forest. I really have no clue-"

"Everfree Forest? What in Celestia's name was that mare doing out there?" Scribble seemed just as panicked as you were when you first arrived and rightly so.

"Like I said, I don't know. Twilight just came in and took off with her before I could ask anything and now they won’t even let me in to see her. They probably won't let you in, either."

"Oh the hell they won’t... That's my daughter in there!" Scribble declared strongly as he pushed the door open and went inside. You couldn't help but admire his determination.

Some commotion came from inside, but it became hard to hear again once the door closed.

Several minutes went by and you came to the conclusion that Scribble was somehow able to convince them to let him stay. It aggravated you since you had every right to be in there as he did.

You did your best to fight off the tiredness that came from working up such a sweat with Vinyl no more than an hour ago, but it was starting to take its toll despite the intensity of the situation. Your eyelids became heavy and you found your head wavering back and forth.

The door opened and your eyes snapped up at full attention. It wasn't anypony you recognized, but you could tell that it was some sort of doctor.

"Mister Alex, I'm sorry for the confusion earlier. Allow me to clear up a few things." He sounded as if he were in a hurry or he was just as nervous as you were.

"Yeah, please do."

"As Princess Twilight Sparkle predicted, Vinyl Scratch somehow managed to come in contact with the fungus called 'mors moss' that only grows in certain sections of the Everfree Forest. She probably didn't say anything about it since ponies affected with it hardly have any noticeable symptoms."

"So, what's it do? Is it fatal?"

The doctor paused as if thinking of what not to say.

"I'm afraid so, yes. Very few ponies who are afflicted with its poison survive. However, it's good that she was brought here when she was. A majority of the ponies who fall victim to the fungus die not even knowing what it was doing to them all along. Now that Vinyl Scratch is here, we can do what we can to slow down the poison until we find a solution."

"Okay... Is there anything you can do to stop it?"

"That's what we have been discussing. On the few occasions that the ailment is cured, it's usually done so by a very potent potion that reverses the spread of the poison in the body. However..." He paused.

"However what?" You didn't like how he said it one bit.

"This hospital isn't as... Equipped as most others are. Even if we had the ingredients, which we don't, it would take hours to make the potion. One of our fastest couriers has already been dispatched to retrieve a bottle of it from the Canterlot hospital, but I'm uncertain how long it'll take. We can only hope that we can slow down the poison enough before then. Right now, the poison in her body is spreading closer and closer to her heart. If it manages to reach it, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do."

"Shit..." Your body was physically shaking from how nervous and scared you were.

"We are, however, discussing alternate ways in which to extract the poison. You may come in with me now, Mr. Alex. I apologize for not letting you do so earlier."

You rose and followed him in. Everypony was still talking and through them, you could see Vinyl's delicate body lying on the bed with her eyes closed.

"Welcome back, Alex." Princess Cadence turned her face away from everypony else and scanned you over.

Vinyl's eyes opened and her ears perked up once she heard your name and she looked all around the room for you.

"Hey... I'm here, babe. Sorry for leaving..." You approached her and held her hoof in yours. "How are you feeling now?"

"Fine, I guess..." She looked up at you and squeezed your hoof. "But the doctors said-"

"I know, I know... Don't worry, Vinyl. I promise I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Even though it was a tall order considering the circumstances, she smiled and appeared slightly more reassured.

"I assume the doctor filled you in?" Cadence said again.

"Yeah, I- I mean yes ma'am..." You accidentally used your formal language due to your nervousness.

"The other princesses and I have been trying to come up with a solution to stop the flow of the poison but so far, we haven't conjured any decent ideas." She continued.

"Isn't there some sort of spell...?"

"That's the problem." Twilight stepped forward. "I know several spells that might work, but I have no clue whether or not trying them will make the poison flow faster..."

"What about the Elements of Harmony? Couldn't they-"

Cadence stepped forward and glanced over at Vinyl. "We've considered using that method as well, but it would simply take too long to summon all of Twilight's friends. Even if we could get them here in time... I'm just not sure..."

"Zecora?" You looked back at Twilight.

"We would have to send somepony else over to her all the way in the middle of the Everfree Forest and then come all the way back... The courier we sent would be back twice over by then. I could send her a letter through Spike, but he's had to send about a dozen letters in the past hour..."

Spike wheezed and coughed up some black smoke. "Please... No more..."

"Nopony can just teleport to Canterlot and back?" You were starting to get a little angry.

"I used up a lot of my magic getting here... I dunno if I can make it that far..." Twilight looked down at her hooves.

"The same goes for us as well. We arrived here by teleportation since it was a dire emergency. We may be alicorns, but even we have our limits, Sir Alex." Luna explained.

"Well shit, is there anything we can do?!"

"For now, no. The doctors have all the available methods to slow the poison until our courier returns from Canterlot. The potion is our only safe bet." Celestia's motherly tone halfway calmed you down, but not entirely.

"So we're basically just waiting?"

"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry, Alex. I know how difficult this must be for you." Cadence put a hoof on your shoulder.

Some *beep*s sounded from the machines behind you and the three doctors in the room rushed forward to check them. You took a few steps back to give them space.

"The poison's reached her chest." One of the nurses said after reading the paper that ejected out of one of the machines.

"We've got not choice then. We have to use a stronger medicine to slow her blood flow."

Your heart was about to burst out of your chest as you were forced to watch.

"Mr. Scratch, we need to give her some-" The head doctor babbled off some weird medicinal name that sounded like gibberish to you. "It'll slow down the poison even more, but it'll make her fall asleep."

You looked over at Vinyl's dad who looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Mr. Scratch, we need your permission!" One of the nurses filled a syringe with a clear fluid.

"Okay, okay! Fine! Sweetie, you're gonna fall asleep for a little while, okay?" Scribble took Vinyl's hoof with both of his. "You're going to be okay. I'll be here when you wake up. I love you."

You joined him by his side and put your hoof on her shoulder since he had already taken up her hoof.

"I love you too, dad... Alex?" Vinyl looked up at you with worry in her eyes as the nurse put the syringe into the I.V.

"I'll be here too, babe. Like I said, I promise I won't let anything happen to you." You tried your best to give her a comforting smile despite you being scared shitless. "Love you."

The two of you stayed at her side like you were until her eyes began to close. She tried to say something else, but the drug was making her speech slurred. You somehow knew that she was trying to tell you that she loved you too. It would've been cute if not for the fact that her life hung in the balance. Several seconds of silence passed and the nurse finally pulled the syringe out.

"Good. It's slowed by a good amount." The doctor said before writing a few things down on his clip board.

You and Vinyl's father removed the hold on Vinyl and stepped back.

"Did she say why she went into the Everfree Forest?" You asked once everything had calmed down.

"We asked her several times, but she never gave a definite answer." One of the nurses said.

"It almost sounded like she was trying to hide something..." Shining Armor finally spoke up. His presence surprised you since he was somewhat hidden in the background and silent the entire time. "Do you know why?"

"No, sir..." You hadn't met Shining Armor before so you decided to play it safe and be polite. "I didn't even know that she went there until an hour ago..."

Everypony sat in silence and thought.

Thirty minutes later...

The silence was killing you and you decided to break it with some small talk to pass the time.

"By the way, is it all right for both of you to be here? Shouldn't somepony stay in the Crystal Empire?" You directed the question towards Cadence and Shining armor even though the same could've been said for Princess Celestia and Luna.

"We've got our best military officers taking charge while we're gone. There's nothing that'll come up that they can't handle." Shining answered.

"The same goes for us." Celestia added.

"Wait a minute..." Cadence stared down at the ground, obviously in deep thought. "Shining, remember the time the crystal heart cured that colt of his sickness so that he could see his true love again?"

He thought for a moment or two and stared down at the polished helmet in his lap. "Yeah, I remember that... He had some sort of pneumonia and it was keeping him from traveling to meet his fiancée in time for his wedding. Why do you ask?"

"What if we took Vinyl to the crystal heart? Could it do the same thing to her?" Cadence suddenly looked excited even though she had no smile on her face.

Everypony's spirits were temporarily lifted and Shining Armor contemplated.

"It might be able to absorb the poison somehow... But the Crystal Empire is even farther away than Canterlot. We wouldn't be able to get her there in time for-"

He cut his sentence off halfway through and looked directly at you.

"Wait..."

Before you could put the pieces together, a bright yellow cage formed around where you were sitting. You looked up to see that it was coming from Celestia.

"Hey! What the heck?!"

"I'm sorry, Alex. We cannot allow you to do that." She stared you down as if she were afraid of something.

It took you a moment or two but you finally understood.

"My horn... It has a shard of the crystal heart in it!"

"Yes, but-" Cadence tried to explain.

"So... I can use it to draw out the poison!"

"Absolutely not! Even if it did work, it would infect you with the poison as well!"

You gritted your teeth and looked over at Vinyl's sleeping body on the table.

"Where's that damned courier?!" Vinyl's dad growled.

"Silence!!!" Luna let out her booming authoritative yell and everypony immediately stopped talking. "Twilight Sparkle, what news of the courier?"

Twilight shook her head. "I tried contacting him via telepathy but he didn't respond..."

"Princess Luna, please... Let me do it. If the courier doesn't make it in time it's the only way to-"

"I will not have two deaths on my account today, Alex-" Celestia sounded angry now which scared you more than you thought it would. "Especially the death of our Earth informant!"

"What?!" You wanted to be reasonable with her but the need to save Vinyl's life drove you to be more assertive. "You're telling me you're picking her life over mine just so you can learn more about Earth?! Vinyl's going to die if we don't do something!"

"What if it doesn't work and you die too?" Cadence interjected. "And what if the courier comes back in time?"

The thought of dying wasn't entirely a foreign concept since your encounter with that sneaky changeling back at the Castle. Even if it wasn't, you were confident that you would sacrifice yourself for her if it meant any chance of her surviving.

"I'd rather die trying to save her than just sit here and watch the poison kill her! I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to her and I intend to keep that. The poison could kill her any second!" You knew you were way out of line. However, you had gone this far already so it was pointless to back down. "Cadence, what if it was Shining Armor on the bed there? Would you do it? Twilight, what if it was your brother? Celestia, what if it was your sister?"

It was obvious that your words held some weight to them because everypony you referred to lowered their eyes. You knew that they knew that they would do the same and that they just wouldn't admit to it.

Celestia, however, didn't falter whatsoever.

"Alex, you will not risk your life to save her." The golden prison around you seemed to brighten, suggesting that she was strengthening it. "That is a direct order from your Princess!"

You looked at Vinyl’s father. The look on his face was tough to read, but you knew what he was thinking when he gave you a discreet nod.

You turned back to Celestia, the desire to save your one true love burning deep in your eyes and heart.

"I'm sorry, Princess Celestia." You charged up your horn and imagined a zipper on her mouth.

"That's one order I can't follow."

The following five seconds seemed like an eternity. The second you imagined closing the zipper on Celestia's mouth, the room flashed white and the cage disappeared. Your legs felt like rocks as you tried to get them moving towards the hospital bed. You didn't think about it before but you were afraid that somepony else would trap you again. However, the blinding flash from your horn managed to stun everypony long enough for you to close the distance between you and your lover.

"Alex, no!!!" Twilight's voice rose above the rest but you ignored it.

"Crystal heart... Whatever you are, if you can hear me... Please, help..." You thought to yourself and pulled the sheets away to expose her wound.

Your eyes squinted and prepared for something painful and you lowered your head before touching the tip of your horn against the bruise.

Instant excruciating pain filled your entire body. It was so bad that you couldn’t even scream.

After a loud *crack!*, you lost consciousness and everything went black. You were out before you felt yourself hit the floor.