The blackness encapsulated you from everywhere. It filled every corner of your mind. You had no sense of direction, and your sense of up and down was even worse off. You felt as if your body was suspended in the dark depths of an ocean, slowly suffocating and not knowing what to do or where to go. Time, or time as you experienced it, passed by quickly. The only things that that could be attributed to this were the random memories that drifted by in your head.

Memories of home were abundant. You watched yourself in third person as you walked back and forth from classes and avoided conversations with potential friends in crowded hallways. Now you were at home as a child with your parents celebrating Christmas. Only you weren't celebrating, you were hiding behind the Christmas tree as your parents yelled at each other. If this was your life flashing before your eyes, you had to admit (with what little consciousness you had) that this was certainly a shitty way of dying. You had no sense of feeling, save for the occasional tingle in your right arm that came and went with a slight burning sensation. The feeling was short and far between, so you brushed it aside. The only tangible sounds you could hear were deep droning sounds and an occasional beeping that sounded like a microwave finishing its cooking cycle.

Suddenly you felt very sleepy and your eyelids (which you thought were already closed) began to get heavy. Right before you felt like falling asleep, you felt the air around you lift you up and carry you across the dense blackness of the world you were trapped in. Even though you could not see any defining features of the space, you definitely felt like your body was in motion. The feeling faded as quick as it came and you remained in the still state that you were in before. After a while, the numb feeling faded and your consciousness began to surface. It was just then that you heard a voice calling out to you. After the sense of deja vu wore off, you began to focus on it and try to make sense of it.

It was gentle and sweet like a girl's singing, but it had no tune. It sounded like the epitome of a caring mother calming a fussy baby in the middle of the night, and the sound sank into your ears. It not only calmed you, but it also shook you to your core and led you to come towards a dim indistinct light in the distance. As you floated closer to it involuntarily, the voice began to sound similar to a particular pony that you felt love towards. It was Vinyl's voice, but it was a softer and more angelic version of it. There was no certainty as to what was beyond the light that you gradually drifted towards, but you did not struggle. Anything was more preferable to the infinite blackness that lay behind you. The light was nearly blinding now and no matter how hard you shut your eyes, it still hurt them. Just before everything went white, you saw a face of Vinyl looking down at you smiling and holding her hoof out. In desperation, you held out your hand and reached for it.

Your pupils constricted dramatically as the first bits of light seeped between your nearly closed eyelids. Even though your vision was blurry, you could faintly recognize a blue butterfly flutter just above your head before escaping out of an open window. The next sense that came back to you was smell as you picked up the scent of fresh morning dew and foliage as well as the scent of many flowers. Your head bobbed to your right and you found a large assortment of lilies, roses and other colorful flowers. The bliss soon died away , and was replaced by a dull, throbbing pain in your chest that restricted you from even tilting your head down to look at it. You winced and let out a pained grunt as all the details began to come back to you. You went over everything that happened and mentally cursed yourself for being so stupid as to trust someone's appearance so easily during a changeling attack.

"Um... hi?"

The voice sounded like a whisper, but it didn't have the tone of one. After your vision sharpened a bit, you realized that the pink-maned mare had been sitting by the bed the entire time. Your brain strained and took a few extra moments to process who it was because of all the blood that you had lost.

"F-Fluttershy?"

Her eyes widened a bit and her brows curled in distress as she continued in her gentle and shy voice. "How... How do you know my name?"

You would've been tempted to entertain her cuteness for several moments, but more important matters pressed you.

"Never mind... What happened to me?"

She looked down at the ground as if trying to remember but then you realized she probably wasn't there. "Well... they told me that a changeling... stabbed..." Her facial expression became fearful as if she was seeing a changeling right there in the room with her at that moment. However, she changed the subject by picking her head up and smiling gently. "But they were able to heal you really well and the doctors say you'll be okay after a couple days of rest, so it’s okay!" You could feel that she was genuinely glad that you were okay so you acknowledged her with a smile and a thank you for taking care of you.

After chatting with her for a few more moments you learned that you had been out cold for two days and that the doctors had worked for an entire night trying to fix your gaping wound. Thankfully, your anatomy wasn't too different from that of a pony; otherwise you would've caused a lot of heartache. It didn't seem real to be able to heal a hole through your chest in just a day or so, but since doctors here used magic instead of machinery, you tried not to rule anything out. As long as you were okay and still breathing, that's all that mattered.

That reminded you of Vinyl. You sat up again, albeit too quickly, and asked Fluttershy where Vinyl was as the dull pain began to come back. She held you down gently with a hoof on your shoulder and smiled down at you.

"She's downstairs sleeping on the couch. She’s basically lived here ever since you came back from the hospital."

Your instant reflex was to get up and go after her, but your body simply said no. Fluttershy, with the cutest motherly demeanor about her, nudged you back into bed and went to go fetch her.

You took a deep sigh and stared back at the ceiling. After you knew that Vinyl was okay, half of your concerns subsided. After a short time of humorously imagining Fluttershy's gentle sweet voice waking up a heavy sleeper like Vinyl, your vision began to blur as your body slowly slipped back into repair mode. Your last thoughts were of reassurance. You figured since Vinyl was okay, then surely Twilight and the others would be also-

The door burst open with a slam and Vinyl came galloping in. Your body didn't have enough energy to enter fight or flight mode. Your heavy eyes lifted, as well as your spirits, to see her. Your consciousness was instantly relieved the second you saw that silky white fur and blue mane that you loved so much.

"Alex! Oh my god are you okay? Are you in pain?" She propped her front legs up onto the bed and looked over your face frantically. You smiled and lifted a weak and drained arm to caress her cheek.

"I'm fine, Vinyl, don't worry."

A tear rolled down her cheek and onto your thumb. You wiped it away as she closed her eyes and held on to your hand tightly. A smile of relief developed onto her face after a short while as she just stayed there holding your hand to her face for several minutes. After her tears of mixed emotions were all dried up she placed your hand back on the bed gently and then looked into your eyes sternly; it was the look that your mom gave you whenever she was worried sick about you.

"Please...just...be more careful next time, okay?"

"Promise." A tear nearly rolled down your face as well. The amount of love that Vinyl had developed for you over just a matter of days was so thick that it nearly radiated from her fur, and you could feel its full weight with every word of concern she spoke to you.

"Did you really stay here the entire time?"

Her eyes drifted to her left. "Y-yeah... I was just worried..." Your heart nearly melted. You could tell that she was holding something back, but you let it go for the moment. You looked over your body to make sure you were still in good shape apart from the gash in your chest. Your fingers twiddled and your toes squirmed from underneath the covers and you were relieved that you still had feeling in them. However, as you looked down at your hand, you noticed that one of your fingers (specifically, your ring finger) was out of focus. You blinked your eyes a few times to try and correct it, but it still remained blurry even though your other fingers looked perfectly fine.

Vinyl looked at you with concerned eyes, worrying that you might still be woozy from being knocked out. "Hey... are you okay?"

"O-oh, yeah I'm fine..." You tucked your hand underneath the sheets. "What about you? Are you alright? What about everyone else? What happened after I..."

"Relax, cowboy." She replied with a lighthearted giggle. "Everything's fine, including me. By the way, its everypony-"

For some reason your thankfulness that Vinyl was still alive hit you all at once at that very moment as you pulled her hoof towards you, forcing her lips into a passionate kiss. Her eyes remained open for a few moments from the shock but soon closed as she felt the lips of her lover once again. The kiss lasted several minutes and judging by how intensely she returned the gesture, you knew that she was dying to kiss you the entire time. She was just afraid to do so because of your injury.

Fluttershy, who was nearly invisible during the entire encounter, coughed almost as if it were on purpose. You both pulled back with faces red as roses and with wide smiles. You took the open opportunity to look around the house and notice that even though it had the same feel as Twilight's hollowed-out tree, the design was somewhat different.

"Fluttershy, are we in your house?" She nodded her head with a slight smile.

You looked to your right and outside of the open window where a gentle breeze floated through and rustled the window curtains before kissing your face with cool breaths of fresh air.

"Its nice..." You gently smiled, taking in the atmosphere before digressing.

"Thanks again for taking care of me you two... it really means a lot." You felt a bit lightheaded after the sudden intimate moment with Vinyl so you decided to lay back down and shut your eyes for a bit.

"It's no problem at all, Alex, I'm just glad I could help." Fluttershy said cheerfully with a slight *squee*.

The three of you sat there in a slightly awkward silence, but you didn't mind. The sound of the trees rustling in the wind through the open window and the birds singing nearby nearly lulled you back to sleep.

"Oh, I almost forgot! I was supposed to go tell Twilight when you woke up." Fluttershy gently flew into the air and gathered a few things. She glided over to you and looked you over one last time to check you over. "Be sure to drink plenty of water and stay in bed, okay? I mean... if that's okay with you and all..."

You smiled and laughed a little. "Sure thing."

She said goodbye to Angel and gave him a quick pat on the head before heading out, leaving you alone with Vinyl. You gently closed your eyes again and took her hoof in your hand.

"Can I... get up there with you?"

"Of course." You kept your eyes closed but scooted over a few inches to make room for her. The bed squeaked a bit to accompany her weight and your side was instantly warmed by her. Her head rested below your chest and her gentle breaths tickled your waist. You opened your eyes halfway to see that she had been looking at you the entire time.

"By the way, you snore." A teasing smile grew on her face.

"Oh, and you don't?"

Not bothering to act the least bit embarrassed, she leaned up and embraced you in another kiss, being careful not to touch your wound. Her lips were as soft as ever and you could feel her breathing getting heavier. It was when she teased you with her tongue that you noticed that you were perhaps more aroused as you should be. Your pants had been replaced a lighter pair that felt like pajamas and you could feel your member poke straight upwards toward Vinyl. You did a good enough job of hiding it until her hind leg coincidentally brushed up against it, making her break the kiss and look at you oddly.

"Are you... uh... alright down there?" She said with a slight giggle. You were too ashamed to answer. She lifted herself off of you and looked down between your legs to see a rather large bulge poking up from the bed sheets before looking back at you semi-seductively. "Should I take care of that for you?"

Many thoughts raced through your head. Your body was still in recovery, but you had to admit that Vinyl's kisses were a natural aphrodisiac and just one of could get you in the mood. The itch was already there and if left unscratched, your bulge would still be there when Twilight and the others arrived.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle." It wasn't so convincing coming from somepony like Vinyl, but you trusted her nonetheless.

"O-okay..." The idea of a secret sexual encounter in somepony else's house gave you a thrilling feeling of secrecy and naughtiness that flowed through you as Vinyl peeled off the bed sheets to expose you. There was a rather large bandage over your chest that irked you somewhat and made you want to peel it off to inspect the wound, but there would be time for that later.

She tortured you a bit by licking your waist just above your pants line before slowly rolling your pants down and revealing your member. As you suspected, it was stiff as a rock. Much to your surprise, she decided to go right for the prize and began kissing and licking your shaft downwards and occasionally brushing over your balls. It didn't take long to notice that she needed release as well. She looked up at you with bedroom eyes and took your dick in her hoof before slowly stroking it up and down whilst licking your head with the tip of her tongue. After a bit of teasing, she lifted her head up but kept stroking you.

"Are you okay? It doesn't hurt, does it?"

You could feel your heart rate increase, but you didn't feel anything in your chest that was cause for alarm. You let out a slight moan and shook your head as she continued. As she positioned her head on top of your dick to take it into her mouth, you began to realize just how backed up you were. She slowly began to take it all in and your throbbing increased, but you managed to hold yourself back as you ran you fingers through her mane and gently pushed her head down into your crotch. Her warm and wet mouth widened to accommodate you, and you could feel trickles of her saliva drip down your shaft. Before too long, her cute stubby nose pushed against your waist and your length completely disappeared into her mouth and throat. You bit your lip hard to contain your moans, but they still escaped as you could feel her tongue swivel around you.

Before long, she was already at full pace, taking every inch of you into her mouth and coming back up to your head over and over until your entire body was numb. The pleasure multiplied when her moaning vibrated against you. You looked around and saw that she had begun hoofing herself. You felt a bit guilty not being able to please her fully because of your condition, and you set a mental note to make up for it next time. However, she improvised and pushed her slit against your shin, thrusting her hips back and forth as you could feel her warm juices leak down your leg.

There was no point in taking things slow, as you two only had a limited time before the others showed up, so Vinyl quickened her pace at both ends. Her clit was so swollen that you could feel it pushing against your leg with every lustful rock of her hips and her tongue drug itself smoothly against the underside of your cock while the rest of her mouth sucked it into a vacuum effect. Wet sloppy sloshing sounds came from her mouth as she gave all her effort into servicing your throbbing member. Her swollen soaked pussy began to pulsate against your leg and her moans turned into slight gargling sounds as she took you deeper into her throat.

Her hips pushed harder and harder against your shin and the two of you soon reached the point of no return. You closed your eyes shut and moaned loudly and Vinyl, sensing that you were close, took you out and stroked you quickly with a strong grip while she dropped all her weight onto your leg. Your entire lower body convulsed and your hips thrusted upwards as you felt your insides pump out stream after stream of hot gooey semen. At the same time, Vinyls marehood convulsed violently. Since she no longer had a large shaft in her mouth, her orgasmic moans freely filled the open air. While her juices drenched your leg from her orgasm, she kept stroking you fast until every drop was drained and you opened your eyes slowly to see her face covered in your seed. She went back down and slowly gave you one or two more sucks to clean you off before swallowing what was in her mouth. Her head lifted off of your cock and it popped out of her mouth. It slapped down flat against your waist, still throbbing from cumming. She cleaned her face with her magic and levitated it into her mouth to swallow. After watching her do all this, she looked back up at you and giggled out of embarrassment.

"Better?"

"Much..."

It took a few moments for you to snap out of her hypnotic bedroom eye gaze. Your breathing slowly returned to normal as she pulled your pants back up and snuggled back up to your side. It was nearly five seconds after you two finished that the door opened without the slightest warning that the others had returned. It made Vinyl jump; it would've made you jump as well if you didn't still have pain killers in your body. Vinyl pulled the covers back over you with her magic before hopping down off of the bed.

A lot more ponies came to see you than you expected. Fluttershy not only fetched Twilight, but she also brought in the rest of the mane six (as you liked to call them) as well as Luna and Celestia. You looked back down at Vinyl and you gestured towards Vinyl by scratching part of your face to try to indicate that she had missed a bit of your cum that was on her lip. She cleaned it off discreetly and chuckled underneath her breath with crimson cheeks.

Luna was the first to show motherly concern. The second she saw that you were awake, she nearly galloped to you and held your hand in her hoof. She stared into her eyes for several seconds as water began to collect in her lower eyelids. Behind her dark angelic mane, you could barely see Twilight talk with just her lips, as if trying to give you a message. The only thing you could read from her lips was "Thinks it was her fault."

You looked back at Luna who was having trouble forming words. You squeezed her hoof tight and gave her a reassuring smile.

"It's alright Princess Luna, I'm okay-"

"No! It is most certainly not alright! Our entire kingdom, including our human subject, could have been completely wiped out!" You wanted to interrupt her and give her a hug to try and make her feel better, but your wound kept you from it. You sat and listened, powerless to intervene, as Luna emptied her heart and tears.

"And I was at fault... If I had been on my nightly watch instead of..." She stopped herself from spilling the beans about what you two were doing now that everypony was watching her. "I...I..."

"Luna!" It took some courage to raise your voice at royalty. "Nopony could've predicted that a rogue clan of changelings could've attacked back then. Besides, everything turned out okay in the end didn't it? I'm still alive and Equestria is safe." You looked deep into her eyes as you held on to her hoof. "So please... don't be sad... okay?"

After looking at you for a long while, she gave out a long sigh and wiped her tears while she thought over what you said. Celestia didn't give her the time to self-pity any longer and placed her wing over her shoulder as she looked over your body.

"I am glad to see that your wounds are healing, Alex. Your response to the changeling attack, although a little reckless, has earned you great respect amongst us all. I fear that Luna and I, along with many others, would not be here today if it weren't for your courage. I believe I speak for everypony in Equestria when I say, thank you." Your mouth nearly dropped when Celestia, Luna, and everypony else in the room bowed before you in recognition.

"Y-your highness, there's no need for all that, I was just doing what I could to protect you..."

"Are you kidding?" Rainbowdash's voice echoed from behind the group as she flew up enthusiastically.

"You were so cool out there! I thought you were a goner and then you picked up that big sword and you were like-" She let out a loud roar and swung a pretend sword in the air. "Boom! Swish! Bam Bam!" She froze in mid-air when she realized that she had interrupted a very sober moment. Applejack grabbed her by the tail and yanked her back down to the ground with a stern look on her face. She sunk back to the floor scratching her head. "Sorry... heheh."

Celestia cleared her throat. "I've tasked Fluttershy to look after you during your recovery, but if there is anything else that you need, please do not hesitate to let us know."

As Celestia made her way back out, you gave one last cheerful smile towards Luna.

"Thank you, Alex. I am in your debt." You were relieved to see a small smile creep onto Luna's face before she exited.

"Applejack! Can't you see that he's still hurt?"

"Oh calm down, Twi. Ahm just sayin’ we could use somepony with muscles like his down at the farm." She directed her attention to you with a wink. If you didn't know any better, you'd say that there was a hint of sexual suggestion behind her tone. " Let me know if you're interested after ya heal yerself up."

"Sure thing AJ." You chuckled at AJ's forwardness. You weren't sure if you'd want to work out in the hot sun all day long doing manual labor, but if it was an opportunity to hang out with one of your favorite ponies, you couldn't refuse. The bits didn't hurt either. You felt bad for being on a royal paycheck and a good solid job would help you feel less guilty.

"Still, I didn't think your human strength would be that powerful." Twilight contemplated as if debating whether or not to run tests on your body. "How many did you say you took out?"

"I can't really remember... Everything that happened after I started fighting is just a blur to me."

"I counted nineteen." Vinyl had managed to keep awake despite it being early morning. Her concern for you apparently mattered more to her than her inverted sleep cycle. "And that was before he charged in to save Luna and Celestia."

The girls all looked at you and "ooooh"ed comically. You couldn't help but to blush a bit from all the attention.

"Hey! I got a few too!" Applejack interjected out of comedic effect and jealousy. Apparently, she was there fighting too.

Rainbow butted in, eager to showcase her ego. "I bet I coulda’ got more of 'em if I got there in time! I'd be like whoosh!" She flew around the room quickly, knocking some things off of a nearby desk and nearly ripping off the window curtains just from the wind created by her wings.

"You probably could have." You said with a smile.

Rarity leaned in towards you, speaking so that Rainbow wouldn't hear. "I wholly admire your humbleness, dear, but sometimes it's best not to... encourage Rainbow Dash too much."

You laughed at Rarity's comment only for a moment before it made your chest ache with a dull and powerful pain. You clenched your teeth, but a yelp still managed to escape your lips. Fluttershy quickly tended to you; she floated gently above you and settled your shoulders to the bed before getting out some bandages to replace the old ones with.

"Sorry Alex, we should probably let you rest." Twilight came up to your bed and covertly tucked a tiny note underneath your hand before grasping it tightly. The other girls joined in and put their hoof over yours and Twilights.

"We all hope you feel better soon, Alex. We're sorry for everything that's happened... We didn't expect to-" Their cheery faces saddened a bit, as if overcome by guilt.

"Girls, it’s okay, really. All of you've shown me a great time here and none of you are at fault for what happened. More than anything, I'm just glad all of you made it out okay and that I was able to protect you."

Your words obviously had an effect on them. You could see their eyes grow large and their smiles even larger as they held back the urge to tear up emotionally."

"But... why?" Twilight's face changed to confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Twilight thought long and hard before she spoke her heart. "When Princess Celestia told me about the kind of world you live in, when she told me how horrible some of the people were... I was afraid that you'd be the same. But... you risked your life for ponies you didn't even know. Why?"

You tried to think of a complex answer, but your heart only had a simple one. "Because that's what friends do, silly. You of all ponies should know that." You gave them a warm smile.

Their mouths contorted and pursed to try and keep from crying. Twilight brought your hand up and hugged it against her cheek while closing her eyes; a single tear managed to leak from her lashes.

"Thank you, Alex."

After a few heartfelt emotional moments, Fluttershy gently suggested that they should leave and let you rest (if it was okay with them). They all said their obligatory but sincere best wishes before parting. As the door behind them closed, you took a long sigh and sunk back into the bed sheets. Not having heard anything from Vinyl in a while, you turned your head to see if she was still there. You relaxed a bit once you saw that she had fallen asleep again on the small couch next to the bed. Judging by how long she was silent, you figured she had fallen asleep long before the six left.

You noticed that she was shivering slightly by the draft coming in from the window. "Hey Fluttershy?"

She jumped slightly. "Y-yes?"

"Could you do me a huge favor and bring Vinyl up here with me? She looks cold."

She smiled and nodded, fluttering over to Vinyl's resting body and carrying her over to your side. She was warm and you tucked her close to your side as she, sensing the safety of your embrace, curled up into your side while still in her sleep. You sighed amorously and ran your fingers through her mane as you always liked to do. You could feel the lack of energy caused by your wound and your eyes became heavy, but just before you dozed off, you decided to read the note that Twilight left. You waited for Fluttershy to finish with your bandages and then thanked her as she left. Once you made sure Vinyl was asleep and Fluttershy was gone, you unraveled the tiny scroll in your hand.

However, it wasn't how you expected it to be. Instead of having tiny scribblings, it had no writing at all. You turned it around and upside down, but not a drop of ink stained the parchment. Puzzled, you fiddled with it in your hands until out of nowhere, tiny blue luminescent lines crawled onto the page from thin air and orbited around your thumb which was touching the paper. You took your thumb off to see that the lines had fit into the contours of your fingerprint. This was surely Celestia's or Luna's magic. All at once, the lines lept from the page and expanded in the air between the small piece of paper and your eyes as they began to form words.

Just then, a blue vial literally flew from between the lines of the letter, landing with a *thwump!* on the pillow next to you. It had a royal crest with the letters "C&L" inscribed in gold on the side. You placed it on the nightstand carefully and kept reading.

Author's Notes:

If there are any grammatical or spelling errors, please PM me and let me know so that I can fix them asap. Thanks for reading! <3
~Canadianbrony91