Quartz levitated the sponge out of the hot water and pressed it on my back. Gently rubbing it over the surface, she applied pressure around the edges of my shoulder blades. Humming softly, I bit my tongue and slowly ran my own sponge along my arm. “F-fuck!” I cursed when sparks of pain ripped through my chest. I dropped the sponge in the water and gripped the skin above my breast.

“Is everything alright?” Quartz asked me and dipped the sponge back into the water.

“M-my che—” I quickly raised my arm and gagged into the crook of my elbow. I closed my eyes and bit down harder on my tongue as I tried to suppress the pain. Crystal swam around in front of me.

“Hmm, it doesn’t look too good,” she said. “Quartz, should we take her to a doctor?”

Quartz pulled the sponge out of the water and began to work on my back again. Seconds later, she stopped and retracted it. “Chloe, turn around for me please.” Without question I did as she requested and spun around in my spot, slowly of course. “Oh my...” The unicorn held her breath. “This doesn’t look good at all, how does it feel?”

A burst of pain fired right into my skull and I clenched my teeth. “Feels like shit,” I grunted, “though it might just be tempor—” My voice stopped as an unexpected wave of coughing threw me off guard. I tried to bring my fist up to catch it before I coughed in the pony’s face, but I wasn’t fast enough. About halfway there, I gagged right in Quartz’s face and droplets of my blood splattered across her snout.

Quartz’s eyes widened with fear and she recoiled back. Hooves splashing in water, she fell backwards into the bath. Head still above water, she held her hooves up to her face and wiped the specks of blood off her snout and looked at them with a horrified expression. My cheeks burned with embarrassment and I winced as I held out both hands to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to—I wasn’t expecting that!”

“Is that blood?” Crystal asked pointing a hoof at me, I looked at her and saw that she was aiming at my chin. Raising a hand to my chin, I wiped my knuckles across it and held it up to the light.

“Wha-what the h-hell?” My heart rate picked up when I saw a smear of blood on my hand. Quickly, I dropped it into the water and washed off the blood as fast as I humanly could.

“Quartz, if she’s coughing up blood, we should really take her to the hospita—”

“No!” I coughed out. “Please, not the hospital!”

“But you’re injured, Chloe!” Quartz said as she washed off her face. “You’re coughing up blood, that’s not a good sign for anypony!”

“Yeah, you could have, like, a fractured rib or something,” Crystal added.

I shook my head. “N-no, I can't... I can’t go to another hospital.”

The ponies shared a concerned look with one another. “Chloe,” Quartz walked over to me. “You need medical attention.”

“We can go back to the vaul—”

She shook her head. “Professional, Chloe. You need to see a professional doctor to fix whatever’s wrong with you.” She smiled at me. “No first aid kit is going to fix this.”

I bit my lip and looked away. “I-I can’t... no hospitals.... please no...” I began to tremble. “I just can’t—”

“What are you doing! They aren’t infect—” I heard a man shout before being cut off by a storm of bullets.

My muscles jolted at the gunshots. Rolling onto my side, I pushed myself onto one knee. Looking over, I saw a national guardsman who was ranked sergeant by the insignia on his arm, aiming his 9mm at what used to be a doctor on the ground.

“Sergeant, what the fuck are you doing?!” another, yet much younger, soldier approached the man. “They aren’t infected!”

“Chloe?” Quartz placed her hooves on my shoulders, my body flinched at her touch and I looked her in the eyes. “Chloe, are you still with us?”

“You kind of zoned out there for the past minute.” Crystal came up right beside Quartz. “Are you sure everything’s alright?”

My chest heaved and I began to gag into my arm again. “I-I...” I suddenly felt as if I was going to cry, the memory still fresh in my mind. The sight of the bodies, the dead soldier, it was all because of me. If I had just stayed fucking put like they told me... I shook my head. “No...”

Crystal pushed through the water and wrapped her dripping wing around my back. “C’mon, let’s get you out of the water,” she said.

It took a few struggling moments and a little pain, but they finally got me out of the water. With a towel wrapped around my shoulders, I felt terrible. My chest was burning and I could feel it swelling as time went by. I knew I was being stupid, I needed to see a doctor, but the memories of years past haunted me. Ever since the incident... all those people I got killed. I couldn’t take it, it was tearing me apart inside out, and it was all because I took her to the hospital. My sister, if I had only paid more attention none of that would’ve happened!

“Chloe, I don’t care what you say.” Quartz stepped forward. “We’re going to get you help. Now let's get you dried up and in your disguise.”

“Please, no.” I whimpered.

“Nope!” Crystal shouted stubbornly.

“Cry and pout all you want, you’re going.” Quartz smiled softly at me. “I hate to treat you like a little filly, but think back to what you said earlier: ‘You’re a big girl now!’”

I bit my lower lip. “Goddammit, past me.”

‘God dammit, god-fucking-dammit, fuck-fuck-fuck, get me out. Oh God, please just get me out of this fucking place. OOOOooooh—shit almighty!’

I lay there on the hospital bed, sweating profusely. My eyes snapped left and right, even at the slightest noise that was made by the neighboring patients. Be it a cough, a groan, even laughter provoked my internal instincts. If it hadn’t been for this aching pain in my chest and the blood that kept forcing itself out of my lungs, I would have ran. Perhaps gone to the the vault and see if something there could be done, but no! Fucking Quartz dragged me here, well... she had more or less picked me up. Despite my screaming and flailing, I only cried for four minutes. Ponies across town probably thought I was some kind of psychotic alien. None of the doctors here, aside from one, would actually examine me. Which brings me to where I was now. On a bed, sweating. The sheets were soaked. I was completely naked—none of the hospital gowns were made for creatures my size—and scared shitless.

“My, my...” the white pony with the red cross on her rear said as she walked in with a few x-rays. “It’s worse than I thought.”

“Break it to us, Doc,” Crystal asked, flying over to her side. “Will she make it?”

The white mare’s head popped up and she looked at Crystal. “Oh sorry, I was referring to the images. Doctor Horse should be able to tell you,” She said looking back just in time to see a light tan pony with a dark brown mane. Unlike the rest of the ponies I’ve seen, his eyes were slightly smaller and the structure of his face was a lot more bulky.

The stallion cleared his throat. “Your friend here, despite her... unusual anatomy should be fine if she undergoes proper treatment.”

My eyes widened and I stared at the doctor. ‘Treatment... what kind of treatment?’ is what I wanted to ask, but couldn’t bring myself to do so.

“What kind of treatment, Doc?” Quartz asked not knowing that she had just taken a huge load of my shoulders.

The doctor took the x-rays from the white nurse and pinned them onto a cork board. The screenshots taken from the machine showed a rather painful looking image of my ribs. “Your friend here suffered three injuries to her rib cage. As you can see, she has one shattered rib and two fractured ones up here at the top,” he explained. My lower lip trembled and my head grew light. ‘C’mon, Chloe, don’t faint. Don’t faint on me!’ The doctor cleared his throat once more and continued. “The reason we believe she is coughing up blood is due to the shattered piece. As you can see, the large broken shards are angled in a way that they may have caused a couple lacerations.”

‘Oh my God... I’m going to die.’

“But don’t worry, this is completely fixable,” the doctor assured us. “Luckily, the shattered rib wasn’t turned to dust, and with today’s magic, we can easily realign the pieces and reform it. Same goes for the fractured pieces; we can easily reseal the cracks.”

My face lit up. “Cool, so when are you going to do that weird magic-thingy?”

“Huh?” The doctor looked at me.

“D-don’t worry about it.” Quartz smiled. “She comes from a tribe that’s not accustomed to magic.”

The doctor raised his head a bit and made an O shape with his mouth. “Okay, uh...” He smiled sheepishly. “I’m afraid, Miss...?”

“Chloe,” Crystal said.

“Yes. Miss Chloe, it’s not that simple. We’re going to have to perform surgery.”

“WHA—” I went to shout but ended up hunching over and gagging onto my lap, the fear of throwing up made me try to hold it back, but it only seemed to make it worse.

“Please, Miss Choe, you have to calm down!” the doctor exclaimed.

Quartz came up beside me. “It’s okay, Chloe, Crystal and I will be right beside you. Magic surgery isn’t like from where you’re from. It’ll be over in a matter of a half hour!”

I looked at the unicorn. “Where I’m from, there is no such thing as magic surgery!”

“Miss Chloe,” the doctor approached me, “magic surgery is a very simple process.” The doctor pursed his lips and whistled a distinct tune. Within seconds, the room was flooded with doctors and nurses. “It would also give us the wonderful chance of being able to study your anatomy!” he said with a large smile.

‘They’re going to dissect me?!’ I couldn’t move, my body was frozen, was it the magic? No, I was just that fucking terrified! A unicorn mare dressed in a lab coat approached, a terrifying smile on her face. The situation felt almost comical.

“Chloe, remember, me and Quartz will be right here.” Crystal assured me, but nothing could assure me of what was about to happen. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t assure myself of anything because the second I opened my mouth, the mare’s horn sparked and I was out like a light.

I opened my eyes, ready to scream and shield my face from the mare. However, when I sat up in my bed I noticed two things. One: my chest was no longer in pain. Two: I was in a completely different room. I sat in what looked to be in a patient’s room, the bed I was in was right along the window. It was dark outside and the moon wasn’t even high enough for it to be midnight. Turning my attention back to my bedroom, everything else looked to be barren. Obviously, this place didn’t seem to have televisions. Actually, I doubt these horses even invented T.V. yet. The walls were an ugly green color and the floor was a white linoleum.

On a good note, the bed was comfortable and I was covered with sheets. I shifted around on the bed, it was really nice! A lot better then any bed I’ve been on before. I wouldn’t have minded sleeping in it if it wasn’t for whatever them damn horses shot me up with. For some reason, I felt really good. Mentally. Not physically. I felt like at any moment I could break out into dance or song and not feel bothered, that I could hug anything the second I see it. Except for cacti, that’d just be fucking stupid.

“Are you okay?” I looked towards what I assumed to be the restroom and saw my doppelganger step out. For some reason she was completely naked, then again the ponies didn’t have a proper gown for me. “Nah, I just think you’d get a kick out of seeing yourself naked,” she chuckled. “Caroline always said you had a bit of an exhibitionist in you.”

I laughed. “Really now?” I said out loud.

“Well of course, remember that time you and her went to the restaurant? How she slid her hand down your thigh in the middle of dinner and—”

The door the room blew open and both Twilight and Rainbow Dash ran in. “Oh my gosh, Chloe, I’m so sorry!” they both said simultaneously.

“I should’ve done a better diagnostic!” Twilight sounded absolutely devastated. “For some reason, I thought it wasn’t that bad! How could I be so stupid?!”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said, “I was the one who hit her!”

“But you hit ponies by accident all the time, Dash!” Twilight threw her forelegs into the air and sat on her haunches. “And every time no has ever gotten seriously injured!”

“Well, look at her, Twi!” Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at me. “She’s all fleshy and soft!”

Okay, whatever the horses shot me up with was awesome. The whole time I just looked at the two smiling, eyes turning to whomever was speaking. “Both of you... shut up,” I said in the calmest voice ever.

‘I know I vowed never to take drugs... but I really feel like I need to get my hands on whatever the fuck this shit is.’

“I think I saw a horse downstairs loading some kinda jars into a cabinet,” my other self said.

I ignored her and focused on the two ponies. “Both of you are idiots,” I smiled softly. “But hey, idiots make mistakes... a lot. Like speeding into people or not fully checking to see if they’re okay.” I shrugged. “But hey, it happens... Just thank your sorry asses that I’m high as fuck.” I smiled wide enough so that they could see my canines. “Or you’d all be dead right now.”

The two ponies gave me blank stares. “What the hay––?”

“It’s the numbing magic,” Twilight said, “it has a tendency to make the patients mellow.” The princess sighed. “I’m really sorry, Chloe. Is there anyway you’ll forgive me?”

I looked out the window, my smile never leaving me. I tapped my chin with a finger. “Uh... yeah. Leave me alone for a bit, but also send Quartz and Crystal in here.”

“What about me?” Rainbow Dash asked, I looked at her.

“Eh.” I shrugged. “You can stay.”

Twilight looked at me, her face looking hurt. At the time, due to my drugged state, I didn’t care. “Wow, someone’s being a bitch,” Other Chloe snorted.

“Well she’s the idiot who left me,” I said.

Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash leaned away from me, their eyebrows raising. Chloe also looked at me with wide eyes, she then covered her mouth and laughed. “Whoa, cold blooded too!” She crossed her arms. “You know, Chloe, they can hear you.”

“So what if they can hear me.” I said to her. “Soon all of this is going to be over, and when I reach Reynolds, everything's going to fix itself.”

“C-chloe?” Twilight regained her thoughts. “Do you see her?”

I looked at her. “Of course I see her.” I smiled. “She’s standing right there.” I pointed at the bathroom door.

Rainbow Dash slowly got up. “Yeah... I think I’m going to go anyways.” She looked at Twilight and circled a hoof around her ear while crossing her eyes before walking out of the room.

Twilight gulped and looked at me. “Chloe... what do you mean everything's going to fix itself?”

“Well isn’t it obvious?” I told her. “The whole point of me being in that vault was to resurrect the human race. With Reynolds and his bomb we’ll be able to do that.” Twilight looked into my eyes, from there I could see the concern in them. “What, do you not like that?”

Twilight shook her head. “No—I mean yes. I like that you’re trying to save your species but... the way you’re wording everything. It doesn’t sit well with me.” She looked at me with wide pupils. “You almost make it sound like your species is going to take over.”

“Your imaginary friend has a point, Chlo,” Other Chloe said. “And she isn’t wrong; once you’re reunited with Reynolds we can finally wake up!”

“What do you mean?” I turned and asked Twilight. “Why would we do that when we can coexist?”

Other Chloe rolled her eyes. “Here we go again, just when I thought you were coming to your senses.”

Twilight nodded with a smile, noticeable weight seeming to have been pulled off her shoulders. “Of course, why would we ever resort to that?” Twilight stood up. “I’m sorry for keeping myself here, I’ll make my way out like you asked.”

I slowly nodded. “Take care, Twilight.”

“You too, Chloe––oh, and one more thing. Doctor Horse says that with a good night's rest, you should be able to leave by tomorrow afternoon,” she said.

I gave her a soft smile and a light wave. “Good night, Twilight.” The mare nodded and walked out of the room.

Resting my eyes, I lay back on my comfy bed.

“Chloe?” My eyes snapped open and I looked over to see Quartz standing beside my bed. “You asked for me?”

“Uh-yeah, yeah I did.” I propped myself up on my arms.

“Anything you need?” she asked me.

I shook my head. “N-no... I just wanted to talk. Uh, where’s Crystal?”

Quartz giggled. “She fell asleep in the waiting room.” She dragged a chair over to the side of the bed and sat in it. “So what did you want to talk about?”

My face fell and I faced forward. “I dunno... girl things?” I shrugged and lay back on my bed.

“So a friendly chat, that’s all?” she smiled down at me. “I have been curious though... where are you from? I doubt you lived in the vault thing your whole life.”

I sucked in a deep breath a let it out, the calm feeling still having not left me. “I grew up in a town called Dansville fifty miles off New York City. Tiny little place, but damn did it have a nice sky.” I said as memories came resurfacing.

“Did you work at all, like have a job or something?”

“I had many jobs,” I said, thinking back to what I’ve done. “Mainly in waitressing, but I was cashier for awhile, I even used to clean hotels once back when I moved into the city.” I looked over at Quartz. “Where are you from?”

Quartz’s face shifted as I saw her try to think back. “I don’t really know, my father and I moved around so much I can’t recall.”

“No mother?”

Quartz ran her left hoof along her right leg and looked away fast enough to fling her mane back behind her ear. “Father said she had died due to a terminal illness shortly after I was born. The doctors had to surgically remove me two months before I was due because the virus was spreading.”

My mouth dropped open. “Th-that’s terrible.”

The mare nodded. “After that, father and I began to move around. Shortly after we settled in Phillydelphia, I met Crystal in school.” She smiled and gazed up at the ceiling as if being lost in her own memories. “Her and I had a lot of fun back in the day.”

I chuckled. “Really? Because you too always seem like a bickering couple.” My chuckle then turned to laugh when Quartz glared at me with pure irritation.

“We’re not a couple!” Her cheeks turned red and she looked away. “However, at one point... I shouldn’t even be saying this. Please don’t mention this to Crystal.”

I cocked an eyebrow as sudden interest took over. Shifting in my bed, I scooted closer in case I were to accidentally miss something. “And what would that be?” I asked her.

Quartz’s ears twitched back and forth and her cheeks looked like they were going to start glowing. “Back in our school days, Crystal and I did go out for a bit,” she whispered.

My eyes widened and a stupid smile took over my face. “Wait, what? You two—you guys dated?” Without looking at me, Quartz nodded her head. “For how long?”

“Two years.”

“TWO YEARS?!” I shook my head and covered my mouth, the calm feeling had vanished. I leaned back in. “Did you guys ever... y’know....” I made a peace sign on both hands bumped the crotch end of my fingers together.“That?”

To my surprise, even ponies get it, because the crimson on the mares cheeks shone bright enough that I could see it in the dark. Her eyes widen past the size of saucers and she waved her hooves frantically in the air. “NONONONONONO! We never did that!”

“Bull crap!” I jammed a finger at her. “There’s no way you can go two years without at least doing something!”

“Okay, okay!” Quartz sighed and rolled her eyes. “We made out before...” she blushed.

“That’s it?” I rolled my own eyes. “Girl, if it takes that long for you to to kiss someone, that means you need some practice.” The two of us looked at each other for a few silent moments, but soon I couldn’t help it but crack a grin and giggle. It was then within a matter of seconds Quartz joined in on my laughter and the two of us sat there in a fit of giggles.

“What do you mean, practice?” she asked through a fit of giggles.

I huffed. “What do you think I mean? Practice kissing someone, it’s not hard.”

“What do you mean, not hard? I can’t just walk up to the nearest pony and be like, ‘I need to practice kissing, kiss me!’,” Quartz said with humorous mockery of herself.

I giggled. “C’mon, all you need is a good friend. Ask them and who knows, maybe they’ll kiss you.” I smiled.

Quartz’s face scrunched up as she thought hard about what I said, then suddenly, it lightened. As if a light bulb visibly came on above her head, she looked at me. “Don’t tell me you want me to kiss you!” Her cheeks burned.

My eyes flew open and I felt all color drain from my face. “N-no! That’s not what I meant!”

‘How the hell did she come up with that idea, all I told her was to go and ask someone to kiss her!’ I mentally kicked myself for ever bringing up such a topic.

The unicorn stumbled over her words. “W-well, I-I’m saying it’s just th-that. What y-you said made it s-seem like you were... y’know implying!”

“Implying—” I shook my head “—no I was just...” I closed my mouth before I dug myself deeper in.

The two of us took a deep breath and I laid back in my bed. “So... is human kissing any different than pony kissing?”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Well that’s pretty specific.” I turned my head to look at her. “What’s pony kissing like?”

Quartz’s face was so red, I could see sweat visibly seeping through her coat. “Well... we ponies kinda just... uh... touch lips, is that what you’d call it?”

“No tongue action?”

“Tongue—WHAT?!” Quartz just about barrel rolled away from me, her pupils shrunk to the size of pins. “Like lick each other’s lips?”

I threw both of my hands up in the air. “Okay, our kissing is a lot different from each other.” I looked away from her. “Just ignore I ever said anything.”

“No, now I’m curious!” Quartz got up on her hooves and walked back over to the bed. She propped her forelegs on the side and looked down on me. “What do you mean, tongue action?”

I was quite shocked by her sudden intrusion of my personal space. “Uh-I mean... I said it kind of as a joke. Like... uh...”

Quartz blinked and when she opened her eyes she wasn’t looking at me, her ears laid flat, and her once cream cheeks were a rosey red. It was oddly adorable. “Show me.” She muttered, and then suddenly adorableness was gone.

My mouth fell open. “What?”

Quartz looked back at me, her blue eyes nearly taking up all my vision. “Show me what a human kiss is like, please.”

I held up both hands and tried to push her away. “Okay, whoa, now what’s with this all of a sudden?” I started to scoot towards the other end of the bed.

“I’m curious, Chloe, and you said it yourself. Practice kissing.” She looked away again. “And as of now, you and Crystal are the only other ponies I’m close to.”

“Taking on odd sexual fantasies now, eh?” Other Chloe sat with her back against the main door. “Why, aren’t you a kinky little cunt.”

I tried my best to block her out and focus on Quartz. “Quartz, you’ve only known me for such a short period of time. You’ve been with Crystal almost your entire life!”

Quartz hopped on my bed, forcing me to scoot towards the edge. “Please just once, Chloe, we won’t have to talk about it ever again.” My back made contact with the wall and I was trapped. ‘Shit, she really wants me that bad? Where the hell did all this come from anyways?!’ Quartz climbed towards me, her face decreasing the distance between our faces. ‘There’s no way out of this... well I could just throw her to the ground but... I don’t want to—JESU-FUUAACCK!’

Quartz lips suddenly became locked with mine, eyes firing open, red flags popped off in my mind. Natural instincts told me to kick her off, to suplex a bitch, but nothing happened. I felt as if I couldn’t move, locked in time, I might’ve lost hearing too. Everything just seemed as if it stopped.

For a few moments that is.

Quartz and I sat there for about half a minute when my brain finally kicked itself back into gear and I noticed that nothing was happening. Our faces were locked, but the pony wasn’t actually doing anything. No pressing, no knocking for access; just our lips touching. However, the feeling wasn’t bad, not bad at all really. Her lips were amazing soft and smooth, the fragrance coming off of her smelled sweet from the bath we had earlier. The bits of mane that scraped my forehead and nose was velvety soft and her coat was so smooth that I just wanted to throw her onto my bed and snuggle the shit out of her!

‘Holy shit, she’s actually throwing herself onto me!’ My thoughts screamed as I grabbed onto the ponies coat, her soft fur bracing the gaps between my fingers. I couldn’t help but hold onto her and rub my hand against her coat. My heartbeat rocketed and I could feel it pounding against my rib cage and thump in my ears. Quartz’s body was stiff and her lips gently sat against mine.

“Uh... eh...” I tried to get her attention but she only seemed to push further into me, my head bumped the back wall. ‘Shit, she’s too into it... c’mon already!’ I glided my right hand up the back of her neck and through her mane. The pony flinched under my finger tips and she moaned lightly and giggled. Gripping her behind the ear, I was able to pull her off of me.

“Gah!” I took a quick breath and glared at her. “What the hell are you doing?!”

Quartz’s ears shot downwards and her eyes diverted my gaze. “I’m so sorry!” She hopped off me. “Idon’tknowwhatcameovermeforsomereasonIjust–ohmygoshI’msuchanidiot...”

My face fell flat and I looked at her and blinked. “What?”

Quartz curled up into a ball and plopped herself at the edge of my bed like a dog. She hid her face behind her hooves and tail. Voice muffled, “Please forgive me, I let my emotions strive ahead of me!”

“Uh...” I looked away from her and out the mirror. My eyes caught my own reflection and I noticed the deep blush on my cheeks. “Heh... so that’s how you feel about me?” I gulped. ‘What the hell, it’s only been like four days...’

“N-no! Not at all.” Quartz raised her head. “It’s just that, since you kissed my nose. I thought I’d return the gesture!”

I looked at her unconvinced. “Yeah right!” Quartz looked at me horrified and drove her face back behind her legs and tail. Seeing her act so embarrassed caused my heart to flinch and I frowned. “Oh c’mon.” I pushed myself onto my knees and crawled over to her. “You caught me off guard, that was all. I didn’t mean to yell.” Those words seemed to have no effect on the pony. “Quartz, listen to me... uh... you aren’t a bad kisser.” I smiled sheepishly, she raised her head a bit. “Just a boring one.” Her head immediately dropped.

‘I need to learn when to shut my mouth.’ I groaned a little. ‘Obviously she’s upset about my reaction... so what if I just continue to act positive?’

“Cheer up, girl.” I nudged her. “They’re plenty of mares out there who might really appreciate your style of kissing.” Somehow Quartz physically began sinking into the bed, her coat seemed to change into a darker shade of cream, almost borderline tan.

‘How the fuck?’ I shook my head and tried to ignore the physical changes of her emotions. ‘Dammit, I’m only making things worse! Uh... what do I do?’

I glanced around the room, I couldn’t think of anything. I couldn’t just leave her like this. ‘Ugh, shit!’ I looked back at the mare. “Quartz, please look at me!” I grabbed her by the sides, she raised her head and looked at me and I nearly melted at the sight. Her eyes were bleary and her cheeks were red, she looked almost like a lost puppy. ‘Oh man...’ I gulped and a light bulb lit above my head.

Taking a deep breath, I did the one thing that came to mind. Leaning in I locked my lips around hers. Quartz’s body froze and she let off a startled yelp. Taking the initiative, I did what I was best at, I pushed forward into her mouth and slipped my tongue past her lips. Startled by what was happening, Quartz gasped and opened her mouth.

'God dammit, what the hell am I doing!?’ I thought as I danced my tongue along the inside of her maw. Quartz melted like a candle, her once wide eyes glazed over and their lids began to droop. Her body relaxed and she laid there, letting me storm her mouth like a German Blitzkrieg.

“You’re really getting into this, aren’t you?” Other Chloe asked as she took a seat on the bed beside me and watched. “Making out with a horse, wow. I can already sense that you’re starting to enjoy this. Never thought you’d be into bestiality. Or would this be xenophilia now?”

I reached back and grabbed Quartz by the back of her head and pulled her into me, tangling my tongue around hers like an anaconda. She let off a gasp and moaned into my mouth, with my other hand I began to stroke along the under half of her chin. Sliding my fingers along the edges, I traced back and down her neck. I then planted my palm on her chest and gripped a tuft of her fur.

Finally catching onto what I was doing, Quartz sucked in a bit of air through her nose and giggled. Her tongue unwrapped herself from mine, my eyes widening a bit due to the sheer size of it. She wrapped hers around mine and slammed it against the roof of her muzzle. Surprised by the sheer strength of it, I let off an audible gasp when she pushed past my tongue and forced hers into my mouth.

The pony then raised her hoof and planted it on my breast and pushed me back, forcefully breaking the kiss. I laid back on the bed, eyes wide, cheeks burning. My heart thumped against my chest and I won’t lie, I had deep internal warmth flowing through my body. “Holy shit, I think I went a little too far.”

Quartz got onto her hooves, her cheeks were also burning, and the color of her coat returned to its original creamy color. “S-so that’s what a human kiss is like?” She gave me a sultry smile and began to make her move on me.

Recognizing a smile like that anywhere, I knew what was happening. I stuck a hand out to her. “Whoa, now, Quartz. I was just demonstrating, I wasn’t trying to—” Quartz climbed on top of me and locked her lips back around mine, and this time I had no moment to react and she shoved her way past my lips and teeth. I practically screamed out loud into her mouth and wrapped my arms around her.

She broke the kiss and smiled down at me. “Oh my gosh, this feels amazing.”

I hung my head back, thoughts foggy, my vision was swimming. ‘Holy shit, I never knew someone or... some horse could learn how to make out so quickly.’

My thoughts though were quickly brought back to the surface when I felt Quartz drag her tongue along the crook of my neck. Breath hitching in my throat, I placed a hand right at the base of her chest and pushed her far enough so that she couldn’t reach me. “Stop! Please...” My heart was racing faster than ever and my body was tingling with heated excitement.

Quartz shook her head, blinking rapidly she looked down at me. “Oh, I’m sorry!” She leapt back. She dropped onto her belly and practically bowed to me. “I’m so, so sorry!”

I waved my hands back and forth and shook my head. “No, no I should be the one who’s sorry!” I took a deep breath. “I was the one who got you worked up, it’s my fault.”

Quartz glared at me. “But I’m the one who started it!”

“And I’m the one who pushed it further!” I jammed a thumb at myself.

“No, I pushed it further!”

“No, I di—wait!” I made an X with my arms. “How about we agree to disagree? We both fucked up.”

Quartz sat back. “Yeah...” she muttered. “I guess we did.”

I sighed. “How about we just not talk about this... to anyone, what happened in this room, stays in this room.”

Quartz nodded. “Yeah... I agree.” She took a deep breath and stood up. “I’m going to go check on Crystal, how about you get some rest.” She hopped off the bed.

I smiled in agreement. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“Good night, Chloe...” Quartz said and began heading for the door.

“Good night, Quartz,” I said just as Quartz stepped out the door and closed it. Suddenly, I leapt out of my bed and ran to the bathroom. Closing the door behind me, I sat on the awkwardly shaped toilet bowel and gazed down at myself. The burning sensation inside me raged completely out of control. Biting my lower lip, I looked at my hands. “Better get this done and over with.”

Clutching my gut, I groaned and hunched over in my seat, the bouncing and swaying of the train car doing little to help my situation. It’d been about three hours since I was released from the hospital. Most of the morning I was alone, aside from the doctors coming to check on me. During that entire process, I hadn’t heard from either Quartz or Crystal, even Twilight seemed absent. However, the second the doctors returned my freshly washed clothes to me—turned out Spike dropped them off—and let me off the hook, I stepped out the door and there they were, just standing outside!

From there, Twilight continued to apologize to me to the point it started getting annoying and she led us to the station. The whole time Quartz and I couldn’t talk, nor look at each other. When we did however, her and my cheeks would flush. Crystal seemed confused by us not interacting with each other. On the train, Quartz sat on the opposite end away from me whereas Crystal and Twilight sat right by me. Twilight, by this point, had calmed down considerably, and she and I talked every now and again when I wasn’t on the verge of vomiting my guts out.

‘Why did we have to ride a stupid train...’ I groaned and held the paper bag a clerk gave to me up to my mouth. I breathed in and out of it as a way to help calm my aching gut. It did very little to help.

“Maybe we should just take Chloe flying,” Crystal suggested.

I glared at her. “What did I tell you about me and flying?”

The pegasus rolled her eyes. “It can’t be worse than taking a train or wagon.”

Twilight looked at the two of us. “Chloe, if the ride is really that bad, I think I have a spell that could help fix it.”

I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. Taking a deep breath I shook my head. “I’ll get used to it... just give me some time.”

The ponies nodded. Opening my eyes, I glanced around the car. It was quite impressive, most of the interior was made of wood, and the seats had nice red cushions. Nothing compared to the hospital bed I was on, but they were pretty nice. The wood and walls were engraved with images of curly lines and circles, super interesting stuff. I tore my eyes away from the decor and looked over at Quartz, her eyes were glued to the floor. Ears flat she looked to be thinking about something, I couldn’t help but think back to last night. Biting my lower lip, I never knew I’d kiss a fucking horse, the thing is though... It didn’t feel like I was kissing horse, instead it felt like I was making out with another girl.

‘Her lips were so soft...' I placed a hand over my own lips.

“So, are you excited?” Twilight asked me.

I jumped due to being forcefully ripped back into reality. “Uh, what?”

Twilight giggled. “Are you excited about seeing your old friend?”

I gulped and nodded my head, but not too fast because I didn’t want to puke. The train lurched slightly as it began to turn down the track, through the window I could see a castle built into a mountain. My stomach ached a little and I rested my hand over it. “Ye-yeah, I am...” I said and looked to the floor. “But I’m also a little scared.”

Twilight nodded her head slowly. “That’s understandable.”

I scratched the back of my neck. “Like, what if he doesn’t recognize me?”

Twilight giggled lightly. “He’s going to remember you, Chloe. If what you say is true, when you were in that pod, you probably wouldn’t look a day older than when you first laid down.”

I shrugged. “I guess that’s true.”

Twilight nodded. “The best we can do now is wait and see.”

:[-]:

The train came to screeching halt. Ponies around us, talking, laughing, arguing, all got up and began to exit in a single line. Twilight looked at me and the others. “It’s better if we wait for the line to shorten.” The three of us nodded and laid back in our seats.

“So, what are you going to ask him?” Crystal asked and Quartz glanced over.

“Why the hell didn’t you wake me up...” I muttered and smiled.

“You gonna hug him?” She asked.

I shrugged and leaned forward. “I dunno... maybe... probably not, I might shatter his bones if I do.” I laughed.

Twilight giggled with me and stood up. “Ponies are clearing out, let's go. Oh, and make sure your face is covered.” She gestured to my hood. I nodded and pulled it over my head and slipped my paws and ears on.

The four of us got up and slipped into the crowd and stumbled out into an open train platform. Keeping my arms up like a velociraptor, I tried my best not touch any of the other ponies. “Just follow me and I’ll get us out.” Twilight called over the bustling crowd.

“PRINCESS SPARKLE!”

The four of us stopped and Twilight’s head snapped over to the left, up at the top the station’s stairwell were three golden armored ponies. “Make way!” the guards ordered, and immediately the entire crowd shifted like how the Red Sea did for Moses. Within seconds, myself and the three other ponies were singled out.

“Uh... hi,” I waved.

“If you will, Princess, come with us.” The center of the trio of guards stepped forward. “Her Majesty is waiting for you in the yard.”

Twilight nodded her head. “Thank you, guard.” She motioned with her head for the three of us to follow her. Looking back, I noticed all eyes were on me or Twilight. I gulped and kicked myself into gear.

With the beautiful, bright, evening sun beaming down on us, I groaned and buried my face in the brown bag. The taxi wagon the guards shoved us in bounced and whipped around the cobblestone streets of this majestic mountain city that I was unable to soak in. “Why couldn’t we just walk?” I whined.

“Y’know how far the castle is?” Crystal asked.

“No, I’ve never been here,” I mumbled into the bag sarcastically.

Crystal rolls her eyes. “Anyhow, it’s like at the top and we’d be going uphill!”

“Better than this...” I grumbled and my stomach lurched.

Crystal went to open her mouth but got silenced by Quartz. “Just drop it,” she said flatly.

“What, I’m just sa—”

“Drop it,” Quartz snarled.

Crystal recoiled a bit and blinked. “Whoa, alright... s-sorry.” Her ears fell flat and she looked away.

Quartz eyes widened. “I-I’m sorry, Crystal. I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

Crystal slowly nodded. “No, you were right, I should’ve dropped it.”

The wagon struck a curb, my stomach somersaulted and I leaned forward into the bag and vomited. “There she goes!” Crystal suddenly beamed. “Who had ten minutes as their bet?” She looked at Quartz, then Twilight.

Twilight sighed. “Really?”

“What, I’m trying to lighten the mood.”

I groaned into the bag. “Shut up, Crystal.”

“Alright fine...” She looked at Quartz. “Looks like you won the bet.”

The wagon pulled to a stop and the side door opened, and I immediately stumbled out of the wagon. Dropping onto the ground, I ignored the flaring pain in my right thigh and hunched over my knees and gasped for air. Pleased to be out of that cramped, dark wagon, I was half tempted to kiss the cobblestone road.

“Is she alright?” Crystal asked out loud as the three ponies hopped down beside me.

“I’m... I’m alright.” I sighed as my stomach began to slowly calm itself down. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and straightened out my back. I opened my eyes, the evening sun blinding me. I held a hand up to block its rays. “Oh wow...” I said as all the air in my lungs was stripped away when my eyes laid upon the massive city stretching into the mountain’s side. “Where are we?”

“We’re at the base of the castle,” Twilight said with a smile as she walked up beside me. “Down there is all of Canterlot, and at the base of the mountain is the rest of it.”

“Whoa...” I gulped and scanned the rest of the mountain side, my eyes wandering over houses, shops, bars, parks, and ponies. Further down, I found myself following the train tracks we rode in on; zig zagging down the mountain and along a valley, I could faintly see the small village we were in just hours ago.

“It’s truly a magnificent sight,” Twilight said, a loud bang erupted behind us. Turning around, I noticed a large wooden door built into the castle’s wall slowly begin to open.

“Looks like they’re ready to see us.” Quartz walked towards the opening gate. “Guess we shouldn’t keep ’em waitin’.”

Twilight nodded and motioned for me to follow her. The two of us began to walk to the castle’s entrance, passing the large swinging doors. Inside was a complete change in scenery, almost like walking into a completely different world. The grass was greener, the flowers were more vibrant, butterflies fluttered all around us and even a squirrel or two scurried past.

Even when I took a deep breath the air felt even fresher. “Holy... w-wow...” I muttered under my breath as my eyes wandered around the environment. Ahead of us, I could hear the hushed voices of ponies. Looking forward, I saw two tall ponies, along with a few others in suits, chatting to one another. The two of them stood beside each other. The one on my right was much taller and her coat was bright enough to blind a man with sunglasses. Her ice cream colored mane magically drifted in the wind. Like Twilight, they both shared wings and a horn, unlike Crystal and Quartz who only had one or the other. Looking at the one on the left, my mouth dropped when I recognized its dark blue coat, and starry mane.

“Princess Luna!” My eyes widened at the sight of her. ‘Holy shit it’s really her, every ounce of detail, it’s her!’

The dark coated mare turned and looked at me. A sly smile on her face, she nodded in my direction and took a step towards us. “We hast been expecting thee,” Luna said. “We and our sister have been wondering what hath been taking thou so long.”

Twilight and the two other ponies took a step forward and bowed. “Our apologies, Luna.” Twilight said as she straightened herself out. “We ran into a few issues on our way here.”

The white mare beside Luna raised an eyebrow. “Issues, such as?”

“I-I got injured...” I mumbled not knowing if I should bow or not.

Both princesses looked worried. “Oh, We hope thou art alright.”

I nodded my head quickly, almost to the point of making myself dizzy. “Yes, I-I am fine!” I assured her. “Doctors in this place are amazing.” I could feel myself starting to sweat. The feeling of anticipation began to grow in my chest and I found myself looking past the mares, as if I was expecting James Reynolds to make his grand appearance or something.

The White mare looked at me. “Chloe Cooper, did I get that name correct?” I replied by nodding my head and she smiled. “You may already know my sister, so I feel as if I should also introduce myself.” She walked towards me and held out a hoof. “I am Princess Celestia.”

I gulped and took her hoof and shook it lightly. “N-nice to meet you, Princess Celestia...” I chuckled lightly. ‘Never new standing before a talking horse could be so... intimidating.’

“The same for you, Chloe.” She smiled softly at me. “You wouldn’t believe how ecstatic my sister and I were when Twilight informed us of your resurrection.” Her smile widened and she turned away from me. “Please, all of you, come with Luna and I.”

“Wa-wait!” I tried to run to the princess but the stitches in my thigh refused cooperate. I cringed and limped up beside her. “What about James? James Reynolds, how is he?”

Celestia turned her head back and looked at me with a cocked eyebrow and a smile. “Patience, my dear. Now, please, take off that cloak, you must be dying from the heat.” She faced the castle entrance and began her walk to it, Luna walking by her side.

I scoffed. “Wait a second!” Untying the cloak I threw it off and hobbled towards Celestia. “I’ve been waiting twelve thousand years to see this man!” Celestia and Luna continued their walk to the castle, not even bothering to look back at me.

“Chloe, they’re the princesses!” Twilight trotted up to my right side, Quartz and Crystal rounding up to my left.

“I don’t care!” I snapped at Twilight and glared at the Princesses. “I came here to see my friend, where is he?” The two of them finally stopped, and pivoted around to look at me. I growled. “Why are you just looking at me like tha—”

“Still holding onto those temper issues, I see...” Came the old voice of a man I wasn’t familiar with. My mouth dropped open and I blinked. The door to the castle cracked open and the silhouette of man a appeared. An old, hunched over man with a cane.

“We told thou to be patient.”

“Ha!” the old man cackled. “I told y’all my cellular transporter wasn’t workin’ right. Had to take them stairs, ya see.” The man held his cane out and slowly began to inch his way out into the light. “Ugh...” The man grunted as she slowly stepped down, Luna broke away from Celestia and went back to help the senior. “I got it, I got it!” He swatted at Luna with his cane. “Just got to get ye old blood pumpin’.”

Luna stepped back and allowed the old fellow to step out onto the cobblestone. “Chloe.” Celestia looked at me with a smile. “This is—”

“You don’t have to tell me,” I said walking towards the man. “James Reynolds...” I tapered off when he stepped into the evening light. The man was wearing a white lab coat and black pants. His arms and legs were as thin as toothpicks and he walked with a hunch, he had a beard that if not trimmed would soon be dragged across the floor. He also wore an eye patch over his left eye, and to top it off he even had his original glasses on the bridge of his nose. Behind them were his eyes. wrinkled and old, the color was slightly faded, but yet they were filled with unlimited amounts of energy. His hair was almost, if not all, gone and through his beard I could see the biggest shit eating grin a man could ever have.

“Who are you again?” he asked me joyfully.

My heart shattered. “J-James?” My eyes widened and I could already feel tears brimming around the corners of my eyes.

“HUH?!” He cupped a hand over one ear. “I can’t hear...”

My legs began to wobble and my lips trembled. “N-no, this can’t be...” Suddenly the old man was laughing.

“Ooooh, you wouldn’t believe how long I’ve been waiting to do that!” The man turned and looked at Celestia and Luna who were giving him disappointed glares.

“Wow what a jerk,” Crystal blurted.

My previous sadness was turned to anger. “You fucking asshole!” I marched straight towards him. “You’re the first person I’ve seen in twelve thousand years and this is what you greet me with?” I stopped just a few inches from him, he was about half a foot shorter than me. “Don’t you understand the shit I’ve been going thr—” Without warning, Reynolds dropped his cane and wrapped both of his arms around me. Stumbling back a bit, I caught myself before falling, my breathing had stopped and my eyes were wide open.

“Shh...” Reynolds hushed. “I’m... happy to see you, too.”

Stunned, I slowly raised my hands and wrapped them around him. To my surprise his entire body was trembling. Feeling a small bit of pain in my heart, I fully laced my arms around him and pulled him into a soft hug.

“Chloe...” James shuddered, “I’m so... so sorry for everything...”

I gulped and squeezed him. “I... I don’t know what to say...” I felt my own tears brimming. “You did everything you could...”

“No, Chloe... I’m sorry for not waking you up sooner...” He sniffed. “After Eva and John passed... I was filled with grief, and I thought that if I woke you I wouldn’t be able to handle seeing you break down as well. So I abandoned you.” His voice was drawn and filled with pain.

My heart ached for him. “N-no, James... what you did...” I gulped. “I-I probably would’ve done the same... but that’s behind us now...” James’ knees began to shake and slowly I guided us down onto our knees. I placed my hand on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “As of now, all we can do is move forward.” I smiled at him. “In your logs you said you brought one of the last P.B.s with you... are there any others?”

James closed his eyes and tore his gaze to the floor, taking in a shaky ragged breath he looked back up at me and shook his head. “No... the device failed before the first fetuses could grow...” I could hardly believe what I was hearing, it was if at that moment my heart had been impaled by a rusted knife. “They’re all gone Chloe... all that’s left is...” He licked his dry lips. “Us and her...”

With a shaky breath I shook my head. “W-who?” I asked him.

James stared at me, my eyes locked on his single eye. With one last deep breath he said the one thing I’d least expect, “Our daughter.”

Author's Notes:

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, like I said in my last one I promised plot progression, so here ya go!