The Last of My Kind

Chapters

Chapter 1: Resurrection
Chapter 2: A Night in the Woods
Chapter 3: For I'm to Blame
Chapter 4: New Clothes and Hope
Chapter 5: Logs
Chapter 6: Alien
Chapter 7: An Embarrassing Shower and a Nice Princess
Chapter 8: Hay Flavor
Chapter 9: In Dreams
Chapter 10: Inner Demons
Chapter 11: It's About Time
Chapter 12: A Blow to the Chest
Chapter 13: Reunion
Chapter 14: Myself?
Chapter 15: Dinner
Chapter 16: Discomforting Feelings
Chapter 17: Eva
Chapter 18: Hint
Chapter 19: Directions
Chapter 20: A History Lesson
Chapter 21: Accident
Chapter 22: Apology
Chapter 23: Crossed Paths
Chapter 24: Ride
Chapter 25: Arrival

Chapter 1: Resurrection

Do not go gently into that good night.

“It’s said, John, that this is the largest evacuation known in human history—”

“Over four hundred million people across the Pacific Ocean are moving inland on their native continents—”

“Yes, Michael, I’m coming to you now from NASA’s headquarters in Washington D.C. I’m here right now with Dr. O'Neill. So, doctor... you’re saying that you and your team have the exact date when ‘Apophis’ will hit Earth?”

“That’s correct. After calculating its orbit back in 2004 we were able to pinpoint it down to April 13th, 2036—”

“Breaking News”

“At approximately 5:00 A.M. GMT, the whole world was shaken awake due to the asteroid ‘Apophis’ making contact with Earth—”

“Due to their preparations, the United States had only suffered minor casualties—”

“Weeks after the impact, Japanese fisherman have been reporting strange incidents of pulling up large amounts of dead fish—”

“Dr. Oshira, is it possible that radiation from the asteroid leaked into the Pacific Ocean?”

“It’s possible, Kevin. However, after the recent autopsies on the salmon, our biologists were coming up clean.”

“So the water is... clean?”

“We’ve yet to determine that—”

“We’ve received reports of multiple emergency calls coming from fishing vessels across the pacific, saying that sailors are dropping dead—”

“Our autopsies of the recently deceased victims have ruled out the possibilities of this being the influenza virus or any other common infections—”

“Earlier this Sunday, Australian and Japanese hospitals were being flooded with victims of an unknown disease—”

“Whatever this virus is, it’s highly contagious; I cannot say this enough. Do not make bodily contact, do not exchange any fluids with the victim; it’s highly contagious! If you know anyone who is showing the symptoms of a fever, bloodshot eyes, sneezing, and acts of sudden aggression; please report them to the authorities. Stay as far away from them as you can—”

“Avoid trains, buses, airplanes; any place that is crowded. Try to stay home as much as possible until this emergency is dealt with—”

“Governments across the globe are blaming Apophis—”

Old age should burn and rave at close of day.

“We interrupt our programming. This is a national emergency important details will follow... The following message has been transmitted at the request of the United States Government... an extraterrestrial outbreak has begun in the northeastern United States at approximately 6:30 AM eastern daylight time. Several outbreaks have been detected in these cities including, but not limited to: Boston, Providence, Trenton, New York, Albany... The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has been dispatched to deal with the situation. All residents in the Eastern United States are to avoid any contact with an infected individual. If you do encounter such an individual, do not approach and instead report them to your emergency personnel—”

“Officials around the world are referring to the disease as ‘The SOL Strain’—”

“Leaked footage on the internet shows the Chinese army executing infected individuals—”

“A fist fight erupted earlier this morning in the middle of a United Nations meeting—”

“The worldwide death toll has reached a total of two-point-three billion since the impact four months ago—”

“News of hope spreads across the United States as twenty-six year old Chloe Cooper claims to be immune to the SOL Virus. Could this lead to the start of a cure—”

“Word has spread that the Japanese has begun construction on a ‘starship’ codenamed Icarus—”

“Communications with the United Kingdom, Russia, and China have fallen quiet—”

“The United States has closed its borders and has also fallen silent earlier this evening. Though inside reports state that Congress is up to something called ‘Operation Resurrection’—”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am Alice Mercy with Sky News... and... and I come to you this morning... with... with terrible news. Prime Minister Jason Herald passed away this evening due to SOL Virus... Not only that, inside reports say that residents of Moscow woke up this morning to a wave of nuclear fire as the Russians attempt to purge their country of the virus... The Japanese rocket ‘Ikarasu’ failed its launch in a fiery explosion last night, causing the mission to end in failure... Satellite images show the streets of London are littered with the dead... and the United States still refuse to cooperate with anyone... This has been Alice Mercy of Sky News.... God help us all.”

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

:[-]:

16,000 Years Later

“What is it, Quartz?” Crystal asked the mare next to her. Her voice called back to her many times as it reverberated off the walls of the cave they were in.

A cream-colored unicorn with a chocolate mane and blue eyes leaned forward. She levitated the pickaxe up to her face and tapped the metal object in front of them. She adjusted her mining hat and looked at the shiny blue pegasus beside her. “If I had to guess, Crystal... I’d say it’s a wall of pure gold.”

“Pure gold?” The blue pony’s green eyes widened as her jaw dropped. “Quartz, we’re gonna be rich!”

The cream pony nodded slowly, then it dawned on her and she too began to hop with joy. “Ohmygosh, you’re–” The top of her mining helmet struck the low ceiling shocking her. “Ah!” Quartz landed back onto the hard surface with a clop, and she giggled. “Startled myself a little—” A deep groan echoed throughout the cave and the ground began to rumble.

“Oh no!” Crystal’s face was stricken with fear. “The cave, I think it’s going to collapse!”

Quartz took a step back and screamed, “Run!”

The two ponies turned and darted back to the direction in which they came from. The low rumble in the earth soon became a rocking earthquake. Pebbles and rocks fell from the ceiling. Deep cracks and crevices carved themselves into the walls and floor. Stalactites shook and wobbled, their bases chipping slowly away as they waited to be dropped.

The two ponies scrambled madly to the surface. They collapsed onto their bellies as soon as they cleared the cave, legs sprawled out in all directions as they tried to catch their breath.

“Horse feathers!” the blue pegasus shouted.

“Oh it’s all my fault!” Quartz groaned and covered her head with her hooves.

Crystal took a deep breath. “We were so close to being rich...”

Quartz gave her friend a guilty look. “Crystal, I’m so sorry.”

Crystal rolled onto her back and stuck her forehooves in the air. “Like, I could literally taste the bits!”

The cream miner’s ears fell flat and she rested her chin on the fresh green grass and sighed. “But hey,” Crystal rolled over to her friend, she rested a hoof on her shoulder, “at least we’re alive, right?”

A loud, menacing crack erupted out of the side of the mountain where their mine was located. The noise was so loud the nearby birds in the surrounding forest took flight and fled in in every direction away from the mountain. The ground began to shake once again, gusts of dust erupted out of the mine’s entrance, and the two ponies immediately shot to their hooves.

“Oh, Celestia, what do we do?” Crystal looked at Quartz. “What do we do?!”

“Uh...” Quartz bit her bottom lip. In front of them the ground split wide open and pulled away from them. “We run!” Crystal took flight and Quartz turned and ran away from the mine.

The two of them took cover in the nearby shrubbery by the entrance to the forest. “Are we safe?” Crystal asked, her chest heaving.

“I don’t know—”

BANG!

Both mares jolted at the sound of boulders slamming into one another. “I think we are!” Quartz smiled sheepishly at Crystal who replied with a frown. The two mares waited nearly ten minutes for the commotion to die down. When the tremors and the sound of falling boulders finally ceased, the two finally poked their heads out, and what they saw next made them gawk.

It was as if somepony had cast a megaspell. At the base of the mountain, there was no longer an entrance to a mine shaft. Instead, there was just a large crater, at the bottom of which was something even more bizarre: the solid gold wall. However, it looked more like a door to a giant safe. The two mares walked to the edge of the crater and peered down at the giant golden safe.

“Crystal,” Quartz said, her voice monotoned.

“Yeah,” She replied in the same way.

“Could you go back to camp and grab my camera and enchanted pick.”

The pegasus nodded slowly. “Uh-huh.”

:[-]:

Darkness... From all angles, no matter where I looked, there was darkness. Like a thick, cold blanket, I was wrapped in it to the point I thought I was going to suffocate. My breathing was slowed to the point that it felt like I was hardly sucking in any air, let alone breathing it out. I couldn’t tell if this was a typical dream or a nightmare. Even now in this dark void, I could still recall my final words with Dr. Eva before I laid down in this freezing cocoon.

“Eva?” I gave the woman who was sitting across from me a concerned look.

“Something on your mind, kid?” she asked, looking up from her book with a raised eyebrow. We were sitting around the table in the employee rec room.

“Will I dream?” The hand I was using to hold my water shook almost uncontrollably. Judging by the look on Eva’s face, she knew I was terrified.

Eva gave me a light smile and set her book aside. To my surprise, she reached over the table and took hold of my hand. Her fingers laced through mine and she gave me a gentle squeeze. “Of course you will, sweetie,” she cooed, “there’s nothing to be afraid of, we will all have our dreams.”

If so... Is this what she meant? This dark void that surrounded me... Was this my dream? Nothingness? A place in which I was unable to tell how much time had past, where time most likely didn’t even exist? A place where I could see nothing? Not even myself nor the clothing I was wearing? Was I even wearing clothing? I couldn’t recall if they had made me strip or not before going in.

Maybe I had died. Could this be death? Perhaps there was a failure in my cocoon’s system and I died in my sleep. There’s a possibility to dwell on. What if I didn’t pass, but the others did? Who shall wake me when the time of resurrection comes?

I don’t think it’s healthy for me to dwell on such things.

Thwack!

What the?

Thwack!

Who is banging on my cocoon–wait, is that a light? Somewhere far beyond––or was it? I couldn’t tell––I could see a small light, like a star, it shimmered in the distance.

Thwack!

The light grew brighter.

Thwack!

And brighter

Thwack!

With every smack the light expanded, slicing the darkness like a scythe through wheat! Someone must have woken up and was having trouble getting my cocoon open.

Thwack!

The light was getting closer. Soon I’d be awake and take my first deep breath. I'll then be able to eat and speak. Soon I could walk and see the others! Soon I’ll be free!

Thwack!

:[-]:

“Alert! Alert! Vault door breached! I repeat: Vault door breached, emergency depressurization initiating!”

My eyes opened wide since closing them, and my chest expanded outwards as I took my first deep breath . I groggily raised my arms and pressed my slim, boney hand against the glass as I tried to push it open. It wouldn’t budge. My throat clenched as a tinge of worry sprouted in my chest, I pushed again but a little harder this time. No movement whatsoever.

“Glenn?” My voice barely came out as a mumble. “Glenn?!” I called out in a loud raspy voice.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Cooper, but I cannot open the cocoon until the depressurization is complete,” the vault’s VI answered.

I lowered my face into my bare arm and gagged. The air inside the cocoon was stale and limited, each time I released my breath and sucked in more there was less. “Glenn, please, I can barely breathe!” I wheezed.

“I can assure you, m’lady, if you calm yourself and hold your breath you’ll be fine.”

“Screw you, asshole!”

“I’m afraid I do not know that request.”

I groaned, but took a deep breath and held it. As time went on, I could feel my face heating up as it became more and more difficult to hold my breath. Another minute past and my lungs felt as if they were going to catch fire. My eyes started to twitch, I pressed both hands against the glass above me and restrained myself from gasping out.

“Depressurization complete, unlocking cocoons.”

The cocoon hissed, followed by a metallic thump as two mechanical arms on each side of the machine detached. The glass door above that kept me concealed slid upwards in a swift, easy motion.

“Gah!” I cried out when the sudden shift of temperature reached me. I pushed myself up and gazed down at my bare naked body.

“Good morning, Ms. Cooper,” Glenn greeted me.

I felt my heart leap into my throat at the sudden feeling of being exposed and instinctively flung an arm over my bare chest as way to try and cover up. I clenched my teeth at the cold and tossed my legs over the edge of the cocoon. I pushed myself off the now empty pod and stepped onto the freezing floor. I yelped at the bone chilling touch and started to hop from foot to foot.

“If you’d wish to put some clothing on, M’lady,” Glenn said, “the closet on the far opposite end of the room has your proper attire.”

“Thanks,” I hissed and glanced over to the other side. The dim lighting in the room made it difficult to see, but beside the automatic door was a grey metal locker. “Could you at least turn up the lights or something?”

“Certainly,” the VI said happily and the lights in the room were turned up dramatically. The reflecting light off the metal walls and cocoon bounced into my eyes and I was forced to raise my other arm to shield them.

“Not that much, idiot!”

“Sorry, M’lady, did you mean like this?” Glenn lowered it to a more comfortable level.

After my retinas calmed down, I lowered my arm and grinned. I was now able to see just fine. “Perfect.” I walked over to the locker. The room I was in was basic, nothing too fancy about it. The walls were metal, the floor was metal, even the ceiling was made of metal. Everything in the room was made of metal. I think Eva told me that it was steel, once, before I went to sleep. Something about it made it last longer, unlike other metals that eroded easily. It was the prime reason why the vault was pumped with nitrogen after we laid down in the cocoons.

While it was understandable, it did make for a boring sight. Not too mention almost impossible to walk on barefoot. I swore it felt like I was going to be frostbitten with each step I took. The only bits that took up space inside the room were the cocoon and the locker, the rest of the room measuring a six-by-eight feet.

I reached the locker and put in my pin number. The locker awarded me with a happy chirp and I heard the lock release. Opening it, a deep frown crossed my face; the contents of my locker were nothing but a blue pair of jeans, socks, shoes, panties, and a single black c-cup. My brow knitted and I buzzed my lips. “Glenn?” I called out.

“Ms. Cooper?”

“Where’s my shirt and jacket?”

“I believe Dr. Osai said she was going to borrow them due to a spill on her clothes.”

“Where is she now?”

“B-24. However, right now we have a minor issue we need to take care of.”

I reached into the locker and grabbed my bra. “Like what?” I asked as I wrapped it around my chest and clipped it together. I then adjusted the straps a bit to get it to feel more comfortable.

“It appears to be that something is breaching the vault. My scanners indicate that already a small fracture has formed along the side of the door.”

A small lump formed in my throat and I reached in for the rest of my clothing. “So... how bad is it exactly?” I asked a tad concerned.

“I have not detected any contaminates coming from the outside air, and the climate outside appears to be temperate. There is no need to worry about any form of contagion, miss. However, something outside appears to be hacking away at the vault door.”

I pulled my jeans up and buttoned them. A cool draft drifted into the room and I rubbed my arms together as they formed goosebumps. “I really wish I had a shirt,” I mumbled.

“If you intend on checking the entrance, you may be able to make a quick stop off in Dr. Reynold's quarters and borrow a top off him.”

“I might just do that.” I stepped towards the door beside the closet and entered the pin to open it. The door slid open with ease and I stepped out into the dark hallway. A light came on above my head, followed by another as I continued down the hall. Every couple of feet a light came on in front of me while the other turned off behind me. Personally, I never understood why they were programmed to do that. Eva said it had something to do with conserving power as long as possible.

I got used to it though, and at times I found it rather entertaining. Before we were laid to rest in the cocoons, I’d play a game in the hall just outside my quarters. I was able to find the exact point between two lights that triggered the activation of one and the deactivation of the other, from there I’d hop between the two or dance beneath them to simulate a rave. It sounds childish, but when the world above is literally dying... the little things below is what keeps you sane.

I reached the T-junction at the end of the hall and made a left turn. I quickly walked down the hall towards a metal door with a turn wheel, like something you’d see on a submarine door. I took hold of said wheel and began to rotate it. The door seemed stiff, and for a second I thought it jammed. I gritted my teeth and pulled harder. The wheel groaned as it started to rotate. A deep, loud thump sounded from the door as the lock gave way and the door swung open. I stepped back to avoid the door and rushed past it up a small set of steep, metal stairs.

Thwack! Thwack!

I heard the same echo from my dream further up ahead of me. “What the hell?” I muttered, the second I reached the top of the steps a blast of warm air hit me like a speeding truck. My eyes widened and I could already feel the sweat forming on my brow.

'Maybe I don’t need a shirt after all.' I smirked.

Thwack! Thwack!

The sound of two objects smacking against each other brought me back to reality. I shook my head and pressed on towards the sound. The shirt could wait. I rounded another corner and found a large, black, circular door. Above it read, “Vault Exit Ahead” in white words and beside it was a large, red button that had the word “open” below it.

I slammed my sweaty palm on the button and the metal door hissed as the lock came undone. Out from the other end of the wall came a large metal arm that extended out from the side. The arm positioned itself over a hatch that opened up in the center of the door. From inside the arm came what looked like a screw that then drilled itself into the door. The arm started to retract back into the wall, bringing the door with it.

Once the process was finished, I stepped past the opening and into a room I haven’t been in since God knows how long. The room looked filthy and uncared for. The entire room, including the vault door, was built entirely out of gold, yet somehow failed to bring any sense of prestige to what should have been a grand foyer. Especially in the state was in now, and that state was being the stuffiest room I’ve ever stepped in. The air was stale and littered with virgin dust; I covered my mouth to avoid breathing it in, but it didn’t help much.

Thwack! Thwack!

My eyes shot to the vault door itself, the noise was now at its loudest, and I could see its results. Dead-center in the vault door was a small pin sized hole that fed a small stream of sunlight through.

“Glenn, I found that fracture you were mentioning.”

“Excellent, my data states that it’s safe to investigate further.”

I gulped and stepped down the two stairs that separated the rest of the vault from the exit. My shoes clicked against the old, metal floor which kicked a cloud of dust into the air with each step. In the very center of the room was a module that either opened or closed the vault, upon which was a screen that had originally held camera footage of the outside world, however, the screen was now black.

“Glenn,” I called out, “is there anyway for me to communicate with whoever’s out there?”

“Yes. You can try opening the vault. However, the module’s hardware has most likely eroded away.” Glenn explained. “Though engineer Adams does have a few replacements preserved away in his workshop.” A brief silence fell over us. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth. “Or you can try the comms device beside the vault door. My data indicates the module should still have a small amount of juice left,” Glenn said cutting me off

I clicked my tongue. “That sounds a lot easier.” I swung around the door module and walked over to the comms console hanging on the wall. “Let’s hope this works,” I muttered and pried open the small flap that hid the power switch. I took hold of the small red knob and flicked it upwards. The ancient machine greeted me with an old wheeze and a few sparks. I waved my hand in front of my face, trying to shoo away the smoke that poured out the back of it. “Dammit!” I coughed into my hand and stepped back from the smoking device.

“You overloaded the device,” Glenn stated.

“I didn’t overload shit!” I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Guess I need to get those pieces after all.”

:[-]:

Thwack! Thwack!

My eyes twitched and my hands shook as I worked on the console. Another sound came, this time a much louder. I dropped the screwdriver in my hand and turned to face the vault door.

“Would you stop freaking hitting the door?!”

Thwack!

I rolled my eyes and faced the console again. “God, you’re worse than Jehovah's Witnesses,” I muttered.

A few excruciating minutes passed and I finished replacing the system’s old wires. I slid the case over the comm’s important bits and screwed it back into place. After I placed the screwdriver back with the other tools, I pushed myself back up onto my feet. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I sighed, “Hope this works.” I flicked the power switch on and the machine greeted me with almost joyful sounding beep. A large smile came to my lips and I laughed, “Ah ha! Yes! It works, it really works!”

The whole time I had no idea what I was doing, all I did was match some newer, yet similar, pieces up with the old burnt out ones and it worked. I didn’t know exactly what I was putting into the console, Glenn tried to explain the techno-stuff to me but it completely went over my head.

Thwack!

I cringed at the noise and shook my head, I then jammed my finger on the green button labeled “talk”.

“Would you cut that out!” I practically shouted into the thing.

“Would you cut that out!” I heard my muffled voice echo on the other side.

The pounding noise ceased immediately. I stood there for a few seconds, my hand still pressed against the green button. I leaned into the console. “Thank you.”

Thwack!

“Grrr!” My hand nearly crushed the button. “Just stop it!”

Thwack–bang!

My head spun around just in time to see a large piece of the golden wall crumble to the floor. Eyes wide I could see the pinhead hole had now grown wide enough to fit a basketball through. “Oh crap…” I muttered.

‘There was no way someone just broke a hole through that,’ I thought, ‘Maybe it was a machine or something. Should I apologize?’

“N-no.” I stepped back from the console. “I need to warn the guys!” I turn and ran out of the room, forgetting to close the main door on the way out.

:[-]:

“Glenn!” I shouted while nearly stumbling down the steep steps leading deeper into the vault.

“Yes, Miss?”

“Remind me what rooms Reynolds and Osai are in?”

“B-24 and B-25.”

“Thanks!”

“Miss, if it is regarding the breach, I highly suggest you retrieve Adams as he is an engineer.”

I slid to to a stop right at the entrance to the T junction, I checked the labeled signs on the wall to find out where the B wing was. “Good idea. I’ll go wake him.”

“No need to bother, Miss, he’s already awake.”

Before I could run off, I stopped briefly. I glanced up at the ceiling and frowned. “Wait... when? Where is he then?”

“Engineer Adams woke up on the 15th of August 15049. You can find him down in the lower wing, room D-24”

I gawked. “Jesus it’s been that long? What’s the date now?”

“The date today is June 11th 18036.”

My eyes widened and my heart drop. “No...” I shook my head. “No that can’t be right, that can’t be right at all!” I began to sprint in the direction of Dr. Osai and Reynold’s rooms. “What about Eva, Glenn?” I panted out as I turned down another corridor.

“Dr. Osai woke up on January 1st, 16020. She hasn’t gone back in her cocoon since then. Right now my data tells me she’s in B-24.”

I abruptly turned my feet in mid run and slid in front of Eva’s bedroom door, nearly falling in the process. I caught myself by grabbing ahold of the panel beside her door, I quickly entered her pin and opened the door.

A wave nauseating odors and stale air penetrated my nostrils. I clutched a hand over my nose and stumbled back away from the door, I dropped to my knees. My stomach churned and groaned, and I felt like I was going to vomit. A wave of tears welled around the corner of my eyes and I pushed myself back up to my feet.

I kept my hand over my mouth and nose as I slowly crept back into the room. I paused just outside the door and took a deep breath. Stepping into the room, I could already feel the tears streaming down my cheeks along with a low cry admitting from my chest.

Rust.

The entire room was covered in rust, the cocoon that sat in the middle was in ruins, and inside these ruins, past the cracked glass, was a rotted skeleton gazing idly up at the ceiling.

“She hasn’t gone back in the cocoon since then.”

“Hasn’t gone back in... more like she never got out,” I sobbed and fell to my knees. “Oh my God, Eva!” I curled up over my knees and pounded my fist into the rusted floor. Something had gone wrong, the room must’ve not been sealed correctly after she’d lay down... Eva and the others... they’d never actually woken up. What Glenn must’ve detected were the machines shutting down due to the rust taking over, leaving Glenn with no way to inject the waking serum into them. They’d just rotted away in their sleep.

A sudden wave of anger washed over me. “Why didn’t you tell me?!” I got up and went back out in the hall glaring at the camera in the center of the ceiling.

“Tell you what, Miss?”

“About them! W-why di-didn’t you tell me if they were all d-dead?!” I choked out.

“I’m afraid I do not know the answer to that question.”

“You’re lying!” I screamed, “You knew we were all hooked up inside those things, why didn’t you tell me?!” The tears were coming like a flowing river, drenching my cheeks and dripping onto the floor.

“Before the time of their waking, Engineer Adams, Dr. Osai, and Dr. Reynold’s vitals were all stable.” Glenn Explain, “After the cocoons turned off for power conservation, there was no way for me to check their vitals. Therefore, I could not tell if they were deceased or not.”

I couldn’t believe it. I just could not believe what I was hearing, all of my friends are dead. I stood there silent, my eyes drifting away from the camera and back to Eva’s room. My best friends were dead.

“I’m alone,” I said, the realization hitting me. My lower lip began to quiver and my vision became blurry. “Oh, God, I’m alone...”

The tears came rushing back faster than they were before. I dropped onto the floor and curled up sobbing like a child. “Oh Jesus, I’m alone!” I cried out.

“No.”

I whirled around and gave the camera a black look. “Stop lying to me!”

“I cannot lie, miss. My data tells me you are not alone.”

I got onto my side and perched myself up with an elbow. “Wh-what are you t-talking about?” I ran my free arm over my eyes and wiped away the tears.

“There are two unregistered signatures heading this way.”

I shook my head. “Th-that can’t be true—” I sniffed “—no one could get past the door...”

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That wailing sound, it sounded like a hurt filly.”

“You’re joshing me right? We haven’t seen anypony down here.”

“But what about that voice we heard earlier?”

“Some sort of warding spell used to scare ponies off, that was all.”

“I’m calculating exactly thirty seconds till the intruders arrive.”

Ignoring Glenn, I stared in the direction the voices were coming from. Slowly, I pushed myself onto my knees and then my feet. I gazed back into Eva’s room, the tears were starting to return again. “I’m sorry, Eva,” I croaked, “I’ll be back soon.”

I turned away from her bedroom and faced forward, then froze. In front of me were two creatures—small creatures. A cream colored one and a blue one, both about the size of a German Shepard, if not a tad taller and thicker. Their eyes were about the size of saucer plates and brightly colored. One had green eyes, and the other blue. Both of them stared at me with wide, shocked eyes. I returned the gesture.

“Sweet Celestia!” the cream creature started, “What the hay is this thing?”

At the sound of the animal’s voice my mind stopped. I couldn’t take it anymore. Before I heard the blue one’s response I noticed my vision began to swirl as my body started to shut down. Stumbling back, I reached out with an arm and caught the wall, sliding against it as I slumped to the floor unconscious.

Author's Note

I really hope you guys enjoyed this bizarre opening! I'm really looking forward to writing this story. I apologize for the quality it's rough and I have been the only one to lay eyes on it. Editing eyes that is... I'm trying to say I don't have a pre-reader nor an editor.

If you enjoyed this please tell me what you think, I'm open for any criticism you got.

On another note.

I already know the idea of Apophis hitting Earth had been ruled out, however, for the sake of fiction I'm willing to change history :pinkiehappy:

Preliminary observations by Gold-stone radar in January 2013 effectively ruled out the possibility of an Earth impact by Apophis in 2036. By May 6, 2013 (April 15, 2013 observation arc), the probability of an impact on April 13, 2036 had been eliminated.

Chapter 2: A Night in the Woods

“Alright, I think–ah yes!” Reynolds leaned back and held his arms high above his head. His fingers clenched tightly around the freed Jenga piece. “What’cha gonna do now, Adam?” The older man brought his arms back down and rested them on his lap, a smug grin plastered on his face as he rested back in his chair.

Adam raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “I don’t know.” He flashed Reynolds a devious smile, one that obliterated the old man’s smug face. “I think I’ll do this.” Adam reached across the table and smoothly plucked a block off the rickety tower without a fuss.

Reynolds gawked. “How the—nevermind.” He sighed and leaned forward to examine the skeletal structure of the tower while grumbling under his breath.

“You two having fun?” I asked from behind the counter on the other end of the room.

Adam nodded his head. “I am, that’s for sure, but I can’t say much for the good doc—”

“Quiet,” Reynolds snipped.

Adam looked over at me and shrugged.

I giggled and turned to face the fridge to make my lunch. It was our break period for the day, every time the clock struck twelve we’d stop what we’re doing and head to the breakroom. Well it’s really three rooms, a bathroom, living room, and a kitchen; the kitchen and living room though, were really only separated by an island counter.

I reached into the fridge and pulled out a jar of jam and placed it on the counter. Next, I went to the cabinet for a loaf of bread and peanut butter. Simple PB&J, typical but damn is it delicious.

“Hey, Chlo!” Adam called me out by my nickname. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him giving me a sly smile. He gestured with his head over to Reynolds who was just reaching for a piece. Suddenly Adam’s left leg flinched and he kicked the table, causing the tower to collapse right as the doctor grasped a hold of his piece.

“God dammit!” Reynold’s pounded his fists on the table, Adam busted a gut and leaned back in his chair.

“I win!” Adam flung both arms in the air and rocked back in his chair.

I brought a hand over my mouth and tried not to laugh at the furious look Reynolds was giving the engineer. He jammed a boney finger at the man. “You cheated!”

“Like hell I did!”

“You kicked the table, I felt it!”

No longer could I hold in my laughter and I shook my head. “No I didn’t. Chlo, did I kick the table?” Adam looked at me for support.

“I-I–psh!” My own giggles overran my voice and I was unable to respond.

“So you did kick it!”

Adam rolled his eyes. “You were pulling out the bottom right piece anyways! You were destined to lose.”

“No I wasn’t,” Reynolds defended himself. “I did the calculations; there were enough support beams to keep it up!”

Adam frowned. “You’re arguing with someone who builds things for a living, and I can assure you that there was no way in hell that thing was staying up,” he explained. “I’m an engineer. Therefore I’m a master at Jenga.” He could no longer keep a straight face.

“For Christ’s sake just kiss already!” Eva said with a roll of her eyes as she stepped into the living room, the door sliding close behind her.

I ran a hand over my eyes as I recovered and looked over at her. “Hey, Eva.” I greeted her and returned to making my sandwich.

“Hey, Chlo.” She walked past me and went straight to the fridge. She opened it and reached in for a can of cola. “How was your test today with Dr. Reynolds?”

I sighed and took my knife full of jam and smeared it across my bread. “Still nothing.”

“We’ll get there some day.” She closed the door and popped the tab on her cola.

Over in the living room I heard Reynold’s get up from his seat. “Well, this is enough for me,” he yawned. “I’m going to go check on the embryos.”

“Alright, man, nice playing with ya.” Adam also rose from his seat. “I’m going to go run a few maintenance checks on the generator, see ya’ll later.” Adam turned and winked at me before waving goodbye. I blushed and waved back.

“Oh my,” Eva said right after Adam left the room.

“What?” I slapped a blob of peanut butter onto my second slice.

Eva smiled and sipped her drink, she went along the side of the counter to the other end. “Was that a sign of love I just witnessed?” She asked jokingly as she turned to face me.

The question caught me off guard and my knife dropped to the floor with a clatter. “Wh-what?!”

“Was it?” She leaned onto the counter with her drink and smiled at me from behind her can.

“N-no! Of course not.” I puffed my cheeks and went back to my sandwich.

“Then why are your cheeks burning?”

“Why do you think?”

“Love.” Her smile didn’t disappear.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “It ain’t ever happening.”

Eva gave me a fake look of disappointment. “Aw, how come?” she asked, then an even bigger smile came into view. “Is it because you have the hots for Reynolds?”

I glared at her. “It’s because I don’t swing that way,” I deadpanned.

Eva’s eyes immediately widened and her mouth took on an O shape. She pointed at herself. “So you have the hots for me?”

My cheeks flushed to an even darker shade of red and I held my open palms up. “Whoa, n-no it ain’t like that!”

Eva gave me a sultry look and leaned forward. “Y’know, I’m alright with that.”

“Dammit.” I turned away from her and my sandwich due to me losing my appetite. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Eva laughed. “I’m just kidding, Chlo, here.” I looked over my shoulder to see her handing me my sandwich. “You need to eat.”

I took it and smiled sheepishly. “Thanks.” I could no longer look her in the eyes at that moment.

The two of us went over to the table and sat down, I started to nibble on my lunch. “So did you have a girlfriend? Or a wife?”

I blushed out of embarrassment and shook my head. “No. Not during the epidemic I didn’t, though before I did have one.” I sighed sadly. “Things didn’t turn out so well.”

“What happened?”

“It turned out she was bisexual and she cheated on me with a man.” I took a large bite out of my sandwich.

Eva frowned. “Ouch. That had to hurt.”

“Yeah,” I grunted, “What made it worse was when she thought we could form some sort of ‘pack’ or something between the three of us.”

“Oh a group relationship...” Eva leaned forward and whispered, “Believe it or not during my university days I was in one of those.”

I looked at her with disbelief. “Really? What was it like?”

The girl across from me shook her head. “Not fun.”

“That’s exactly what thought it’d be like.” I pointed at her can. “Mind if I have a sip? I haven’t drunk anything since I woke up–”

:[-]:

“Sure,” I heard a female voice say.

“Thank you,” Another replied.

A draft made it’s way over my body and I shivered. ‘What the hell?’ My conscious began to wake up. ‘Where am I?’

I was lying down, I knew that for sure, though whatever I was on was rough and scratchy. I pressed my elbow into the floor and tried to push myself up, however, the second my back raised off the ground I felt every single muscle in my body begin to ache. “Gah!” I yelped when my back popped and a jolt of electricity ran through me, my elbow gave way and I flopped back onto the floor.

“Whoa now!” I heard one of the voices say.

‘Who’s that?’ I wondered. ‘Eva?’

The sound of something rising up caught my attention and I tilted my ear over towards from where the sound was coming. Then I heard something rhythmic, almost like a quiet clicking noise. It was heading towards me. I felt something wrap around the back of my head, but it wasn’t a hand, nor anything else I could recognize. Whatever it was, it gently pulled my head up just a little bit so that my lips came into contact with the rim of a... cup?

“Be careful now,” the voice whispered, “I want you to sip this.” The mysterious stranger speaking to me tilted the cup towards me just enough so that a small amount of water trickled onto my lips. Instinctively I wrapped my lips around the edge and started to gulp the water greedily. The liquid satisfying my urge for something to drink. The stranger pulled the cup back. “Careful,” she said, “sip.” She brought the cup back and I did as I was told.

Once I was finished, she pulled the cup away again. I sat there in silence, savoring the taste. Finally I sighed. “Who are you?” I muttered.

There was brief moment that passed as the stranger gently lowered my head onto the ground. “My name is Quartz, I’m a miner.”

I smirked at the name. ‘That’s pretty cute’, I thought.

“We found you down in that temple thing,” the girl, Quartz, continued, “and you were crying about something—”

Right then and there it all came rushing back, and everything that had happened earlier struck me like an oncoming tsunami. The breach, the others being dead, all of those recent memories returned. My lower lip began to quiver and I clenched my closed eyes even tighter, though that didn’t stop the stray tears from sneaking by.

“Oh no, please don’t cry!” The girl panicked.

“Quartz, what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” I felt the person beside me stand up. “I was just trying to start a conversation with it!”

I toned out the two bickering girls, rolled onto my side and curled up. I couldn’t get the image out my head, Eva’s rotted body lying in the broken cocoon gazing up at the ceiling. It was terrible and only seemed to bring more tears. I didn’t even want to think about how the others turned out, were they the same way? I couldn’t recall, did I even check?

I slowly reached up with an aching arm and wiped the few stray tears away. “Glenn,” I said, “when did Dr. Reynolds wake up?” I received no reply. “Glenn?”

Then it clicked, I wasn’t in the vault. My eyes shot open and I found myself in a dimly lit environment, and a few feet away from me was a tipped over log with a small hole in it. On the ground in front of me were piles of dead leaves and twigs, even a small path with fresh footprints in it was marked in front of me. Despite my body’s protest I propped myself up with an arm and took another glance around. I was in a forest.

“What the hell,” I forced out, “where the hell am I?” My eyes darted around, there were trees everywhere. Another breeze blew past me and I shivered again. Gazing down, I gasped out loud at the sight of my bare breasts and torn jeans. “What happened to my clothes?!”

“Oh look, it’s up!” a voice chirped behind me.

I pushed myself over into a sitting position and looked over in the direction of the voice. “What the?!” I freaked out at the sight of two small horses looking at me, I quickly used my legs to push myself away from them. My back made contact with the log I noticed earlier, glancing back at it I bit my lower lip. The height of the log was far beyond anything I could climb over.

“Don’t be afraid!” I looked back and saw a cream colored horse approaching me. “It’s me, Quartz, I gave you water not too long ago, remember?”

I pointed a finger at it. “You’re a talking horse!” I freaked.

“What?” The horse stopped and looked at me confused. “No, I’m a pony.” It tried to clarify as it took a step towards me.

I shook my head. “Horses aren’t supposed to talk!”

The animal’s head recoiled back, its face now taking on more of a concerned look. “Of course I can talk!” it said and fired a quick glance over its shoulder toward its companion. “All ponies can talk.” It took a step back.

I checked both sides just in case I needed to make a quick escape. “No, they can’t.” I reached back and grabbed the side of the log. “This has to be a dream,” I mumbled as I started to pull myself up. “O-or I’m going insane—” I stopped at the sudden sensation of something wrapping around me.

“Please calm down,” it said in a quiet tone. “We aren’t going to hurt you.” My arm was forced back to my side and I fell back on the ground.

“Why can’t I move?!” My heart began to race as I struggled against the invisible grip.

“For Celestia’s sake, Quartz!” The second horse, which was blue, got up and trotted towards the cream one. “It’s not going to calm down if you grab ahold of it like that!”

“I’m not holding it as a way to calm it, I’m afraid it’s going to hurt us.”

I gritted my teeth and glared at it. “I’ll ram my foot so up your ass you’ll be flossing with my shoelaces if you don’t stop whatever you're doing!” I yelled and squirmed beneath my invisible bounds, my legs sprawled outwards as I tried to find a way to push myself up. “Let me go, dammit!”

The blue one looked at the cream horse named Quartz, its eyes narrowed. “Quartz, let go of it.”

The cream pony looked at its friend, an uneasy frown plastered on its face. It sighed and closed its eyes in defeat. “Alright, fine.”

The gripping feeling around my body vanished, I raised both my hands to my face, astonished by what happened. However, that brief moment of awe was quickly washed away by a wave of anger. I clambered onto my feet and stared at the two horses.

“What are you?” I snarled and took a step towards them, both horses backed up.

Both creatures shared a confused look with one another, the blue one then looked back at me and nodded its head. “My name is Crystal,” It said, taking a small step towards me, “I’m a pony, a pegasus really.” Just to clarify, it extended out a pair of wings. “And this is Quartz.” It lightly kicked the cream pony in the side. “She’s a unicorn. We’re the ones who dragged you out of that temple.”

My frowned deepened, ‘They dragged me out of there against my will?’

“Why?” I took another step. This time, however, the two ponies remained still.

“You looked like you needed help,” Quartz looked up at me and explained. “You seemed exhausted and dehydrated.” I gazed down at the unicorn and was surprised at how short they were; they only stood to be slightly higher than my waist.

“And what made you think I wanted your help?”

The blue one, Crystal, took a step towards me. “You were screaming like a filly that’s why–”

“BECAUSE ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD!”

Both ponies stumbled back, their pupils shrunken out of fear. My eyes widened and I felt as if all the air had been sucked out my lungs. ‘Why did I just scream like that?’ I thought, ‘Where did this anger come from?’ I took a few steps back from them and turned away. Out of everything that has happened today just yelling out the truth hurt me the most.

“Wh-what do you mean?” I heard a quiet voice ask, I couldn’t tell which one it was. I didn’t even know why I was talking to these things, were they even real? I couldn’t tell, and to be honest, I didn’t care. This is probably just some weird emotional dream anyways.

“What does it sound like?” I practically mumbled the words. “They’re dead; every last one of them is dead!” A few tears escaped the corners of my eyes. “I don’t even know when they died or why I didn’t die with them.” I wiped a hand across my damp cheeks. To my left, I noticed something floating beside my head. I glanced over at it and saw that it was a piece of my bra. The left cup to be specific. I looked at it confused, then reached out and took it.

I turned my head towards the ponies and saw both of them smiling sheepishly. “We’re sorry about your clothes,” Quartz said, “there were a few problems we ran into back when we were trying to get you out of the temple.”

“That stuff you were wearing really likes to snag onto things.”

The two of them bowed their heads and apologized. I snorted and turned away from the ponies. I covered my mouth to avoid laughing out loud. I don’t know why I found it funny, but something about the looks they gave me and the fact they kept the left cup of my bra just struck a chord with me.

“Oh way to go, Quartz,” Crystal sighed, “You made it cry again.”

“Wha-what?! You’re the one who told me to hoof that thing over to it!”

“Th-thank you,” I choked out between giggles as I dabbed my cheeks with the ruined undergarment.

“Huh?!” Both ponies seemed surprised when they noticed me looking back at them smiling.

I held the piece of fabric in the air and shook it. “Thank you,” I said more clearly.

Both ponies bowed again. “You’re welcome.”

Quartz straightened herself out and looked at me sadly. “And I’m sorry to hear about your loss, I didn’t know.”

“Me too,” Crystal added.

I felt a slight twinge in my chest and I sighed. “Thank you, but I have no need for your pity.”

“No, really.” Quartz trotted up to me. “I can’t even begin to think about how I would feel if I lost Crystal!” I jolted back when the pony came up and nuzzled my thigh. “You poor thing!”

“What’re you doing?!” I pulled my hands up and stepped back.

The pony looked at me and tilted its head. “I’m consoling you.”

I held my palms out to it and shook my head. “Please don’t, I’m fine.”

“Really?” Crystal trotted up beside Quartz. “After what I saw, you don’t sound okay.”

I frowned and broke eye contact with the blue pony. “Well... no, I don’t feel okay. I feel horrible, really. But...” I stepped past the ponies and began walking towards the fire pit they made.

‘How the hell did they make one anyways?’

“I just need some time alone... to collect my thoughts.”

‘Maybe when I fall asleep,’ I thought to myself, ‘I’ll wake up in the real world where there aren’t any talking horses.’

“I guess I can understand that,” Quartz said as a brief silence fell over us and I sat down beside the pit of ashes. “If you’d like,” she started up again. “I could make us all something to eat.”

As if it was on cue, my stomach growled. I winced and held a hand over my gut, sighing. “I’m okay with that,” I mumbled as I lay onto my side and closed my eyes.

:[-]:

I woke to the sound of a plate falling beside my head. “What the?!” I snapped up into a sitting position, looking around, I saw that night had fallen upon us. Aside from the towering moon in the sky and the fireplace in front of me, it was nearly pitch black. I turned my head to the right just in time to see a pony an inch away from my face. “Shit!” I cursed and flinched back from the blue pony. Crystal fell back on her haunches, laughing.

I took deep breath and frowned at the pegasus. ‘I guess I wasn’t dreaming after all,’ I thought, looking back at the pegasus who was still recovering from a fit of giggles. I rolled my eyes and turned my gaze down to the plate beside me. On it was was a small pile of thin slimy objects covered in this dark brown spots that reminded me of freckles.

I grimaced at the disturbing looking food. “What’s this?” I asked grabbing a piece of the mystery food. I held it up in the nighttime sky. A small bit of yellow slime oozed down the side of it and back down to the plate, I placed it back onto the plate and examined the substance on my fingers. It was very sticky, however that didn’t stop my curiosity. I brought it up to my face and sniffed, it didn’t have a smell.

My curiosity now reached a whole new level. I pulled my hand away from my face and glanced around, but the two ponies were nowhere to be seen. I looked back down at my hand and quickly stuck my two sticky fingers in my mouth. “Whoa!” I pulled my fingers out and eyed the plate below me. Whatever that slime was it tasted great! It was like sweet but also a tad sour, but it wasn’t enough to have me spit it out either. It was the perfect mix.

“You like it huh?” Quartz asked.

I spun around in my spot and saw the pony looking at me with a smile, my eyes widened and I quickly broke eye contact. I faced the fire. “Y-yeah, thank you.”

‘I’m never going to get used to these talking ponies.’

The pony chuckled, came up beside me, and sat down. Out of habit, I crossed my arms over my chest to cover up. Quartz looked over at me. “Not many ponies like my cooking. Then again...” Quartz’s eyes traced up and down my body as if it was examining me like some drawing in a book, which made me feel very uncomfortable. “You don’t look like a pony to me.”

I glanced at the pony with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah and you don’t look like no human to me.”

It was Quartz's turn to raise an eyebrow. “Human, eh?” The pony smiled. “Is that what you are?”

I focused on the crackling flame in front of me, I brought my knees in close and wrapped my arms around them and scooched closer to the warm flame. “Yeah,” I answered quickly.

Quartz smiled. “Say, human.” I noticed the plate of slimey sticks float past me before settling down on my left side, my eyes followed it the entire way.

‘I take back what I said about talking ponies,’ I thought, ‘I’ll never get use to the floating objects.’

“You got a name?” Quartz asked as it levitated one of the slimy sticks up before biting into it.

I took my eyes off the pony who was eating my food and focused back on the flames. “Chloe,” I muttered.

“Sorry what?” The pony tilted its ear towards me. “You’re going to have to speak up.”

“My name is Chloe Cooper.”

“Chloe Cooper, that’s a cute name.”

“A cute name for a cute face,” I muttered with a light smile. I glanced over and saw Quartz grinning. My smile faltered and I quickly looked back at the fire. “That’s what my friend, Adam, always said to me.” I cringed at the memory and quickly added, “I don’t want to talk about that,” before Quartz could press any further on that subject.

Without thinking, I reached over and grabbed one of the mystery sticks and popped it in my mouth. Immediately my tastes buds were overwhelmed with pleasant sweet and sour flavors. It reminded me of that red sauce from China King I’d always pour on my chicken, yet in a solid state. It’s so weird to describe, the only thing I can say about it was: it was good.

Quartz and I sat in silence as we watched the fire wisp back and forth in the gentle breeze. “Hey, Quartz!” The two of us looked over to see Crystal, who, to my astonishment, was flying right towards us with a wooden case in its hooves. “I found that pack of cider you wanted.”

Quartz got up and somehow levitated the pack out of the other ponies hooves. ‘How does she do that?’ I thought to myself as I watched with utter disbelief. Quartz turned away from Crystal and walked back over to me. The unicorn sat down and opened the pack without touching it while Crystal took a seat on the other side of the fire.

“Crystal,” Quartz said and levitated out three metal cans. “This here is Chloe Cooper,” the pony gestured a hoof towards me while placing one the cans down beside me. “She’s a human.”

“A what?” Crystal said taking the can that Quartz floated over out of the air.

“A human,” I mumbled as I reached over and picked up the weighted can. “What’s this?” I asked quietly.

“That there is some good ol’ cider,” Quartz gestured to the can with a hoof, “it was a special delivery from Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Be careful though,” Crystal said literally punching her can open with the tip of her hoof. “This is the special kind, so don’t drink too much.”

“What? Is it alcoholic?” I asked.

‘After what’s been happening, I wouldn’t mind getting shit faced.’ I thought.

“What?” Quartz looked at me confused. “No. It’s full of artificial salt.”

“It’ll knock you out!” Quartz laughed and took huge swig.

I glanced at my can and bit my bottom lip. “Yeah, I think I’ll pass.”

Quartz shrugged and magicked the can out of my hand. “Suit yourself.”

A few minutes of silence passed, I tucked my legs in tighter and rested my chin on the top of my knees. “Okay... this is really bothering me,” I heard Crystal say.

I glanced up and saw the pony squinting at me while leaning its seat. “What?” I muttered.

“Don’t take this the wrong way but... what are you: Stallion or mare?”

I furrowed my brow. “What?”

“Your sex,” Quartz said while placing the drink aside, “She wants to know your sex.”

“Oh... uh...”

‘This is beyond weird now.’ I thought, ‘I really thought they already knew.’

“I’m female,” I whispered and hid behind my knees.

‘This day is, by far, the worst.’

“Female?” Crystal looked at Quartz, I blushed out of embarrassment.

“It’s the sciency way of saying she’s a mare,” Quartz clarified.

I hid my head between my knees and closed my eyes. ‘I really want to go home now.’

“So she’s like us!”

I tilted my head slightly so that I could kinda see Quartz out of the corner of my eye. “What does it mean?”

Quartz nearly choked on its drink. “She, Crystal. Chloe is not an it. We’re all mares here.”

“So you guys are girls too?”

“All one hundred percent,” Quartz said and took another swig of her drink. “You sure you don’t want any cider?” She asked while shaking the drink above the ground without holding it. The movement was nearly hypnotic.

I shook my head. “No, thank you.” I pulled my head back behind my knees. “I care too much about my sodium intake.”

The pony shrugged her shoulders. “Okay then.” She took another sip. “Say, Crystal, how about instead of going home tomorrow, we hit that temple one last time?”

“Wait, what?” I raised my head out from behind my knees.

“I’m cool with that.” The blue pegasus set her drink down.

“What temple?”

Both ponies looked at me as if I was stupid. “The place we found you in.”

I took a deep breath. ‘Oh that’s what they meant.’

I buzzed my lips. “Okay, let me explain something, first off: it’s not a temple, it’s an underground laboratory.” Before the ponies could say anything, I raised a finger to silence them. “Also what do you mean by: you’re gonna ‘hit it?’”

Quartz wiped her face with her hoof. “We’re spelunkers,” She said with a troubled look. “Why, is something wrong with that?”

“W-well, preferably—” Crystal burped, “—I l-like to t-think of us as treaaasure hunnnters.” With every growing second her speech was growing incredibly worse.

I frowned and tilted my head at her. “You’re planning on looting the place aren’t you?” I said, the tone of my voice taking a dark turn. I uncurled my knees and stretched them out towards the fire.

Quartz eyes widened she turned to face Crystal. “On second thought, Crys—” She started but was cut off by her intoxicated companion.

“Of course we are!” The pegasus whipped her empty can into the dirt and stood up. “And we’re gunna... we’re goin’ become rich... too!” Crystal blurted out.

“No, Crystal,” Quartz said as she looked at me. “Clearly something about this place is special to you.”

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and nodded my head. “It’s my home, and also my friends’ resting place.” I sighed and looked at the fire. “I’ll be returning there tomorrow to check on something,” I said as an idea came to mind. “If you’d like...” I drifted off.

‘I really hope this isn’t a bad idea.’

I turned back to Quartz and gave her a warm smile. “You could come with me and I could show you around.”

Quartz smiled back at me. “I think I’d like that,” she said right as Crystal fell over unconscious.

Author's Note

Okay lemme clarify something. (First off this is going under editing for now)

"Why does Chloe constantly refer to the ponies as 'its' before she learns their gender."

Simple answer, it's because she didn't know their gender despite their voices sounding like females. You don't want to accidentally be rude, just a bit of character thing.

Anyhow I really hope you're enjoying this because I sure do like writing this. It's a big breather from writing Lazarus because I only have one main character to deal with instead of like ten (that was my own mistake). Also I hope you guys are taking a liking to Chloe, I'm still hammering out her character a bit.

I will also clear up one thing, she isn't a doctor, she isn't a soldier. She's literally just your average Jane who happened to be immune. Anyhow catch ya'll later!

Chapter 3: For I'm to Blame

“Chlo?!” I heard Eva shout.

I spun around and glanced about the dark hall I was in. “Eva?!” I called back. “Eva where are you?” I began to run down the corridor towards the wall of darkness at its end.

“Chlo!” I heard her shout again. This time, however, it came from the opposite direction and she sounded scared. I slid to a stop and looked back. “Chloe, where are you?!” Her voice echoed in my direction.

“I’m here, Eva!” I cried out, the sound of Eva’s voice brought me to tears. “Just follow the sound of my voice!”

“Chloe—” I heard her gag, “—I-I can’t breathe! Please, Chloe, help me!”

I started to sprint towards the darkness her voice was coming from. “I’m coming, Eva, just hold your—” Out from the darkness a black skeletal hand reached out and slammed into the center of my face. Its bony fingers dug into the sides of my forehead and chin as it threw me back onto the steel floor.

Pain flared throughout my body and I screamed into the skeleton’s palm. My heart began to race when I saw a partially decayed corpse step out of the darkness and lean over me. “Why didn’t you wake me up, Chloe?!” Eva’s voice echoed out of the zombie.

My eyes widened in fear and I screamed into the decaying hand. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I tried to fight my way out of my dead friend’s grip. “Why didn’t you wake up and save us?!” Eva screamed. Behind her I saw two more zombies step out of the darkness. “Why did we have to die and not you?!” Her hand clenched even tighter around my face and I could feel the skin on my head begin to tear.

“It’s not fair!” Eva started to chant, “It’s not fair, it’s not fair!” The two other zombies, which I soon recognized as Adam and Reynolds, came around on either side of me and got onto their knees. They both reached down and took one of my arms for themselves, I screamed and tried to force my arms away, but their grip was inhumanly strong.

Suddenly, Eva’s grip grew tighter and her eyes seemed to flash red, she bent over me and glared. “Why did we have to die?!” she shouted and lifted my head a few feet above the ground before slamming the back of my skull into the ground with a sickening crack.

:[-]:

“WWHAAAH!” I sat up screaming in the middle of the night, the back of my head aching as if it was really smashed. My chest rose up and down from panicked breathing, and sweat dripped down the side of my head onto my shoulders. As I reached up to wipe it off, I noticed my cheeks were also soaked with tears. My heart began to ache and I brought my knees up to my chest. I folded my arms around them and started to cry silently.

During my sobbing state, I felt something smooth and soft drape itself over my shoulders. I lifted my head up and looked over to see that it was a blanket wrapping itself around me. For a moment my heart stopped when I noticed that no one was around me. I reached out to push the blanket off of me, only to be stopped by Quartz saying, “Don’t worry, Chloe, it’s just me.” My head snapped over to the unicorn mare walking up from directly behind me.

I returned my gaze forward while grasping the edges of the blanket and tightening it around me. “Th-thank you,” I mumbled and sniffed. I used the edge of the blanket to wipe away some of the tears.

“I assume you had a bad dream?” Quartz sat next to me.

I cast a glance at her. Without the fire and nothing but the moonlight, I could just barely make out the large bags under her eyes. She looked like she wasn’t getting much sleep either. “You could say something like that,” I said, breaking eye contact when her large eyes met mine.

“Would you like to talk about it?” she asked me.

I shook my head. “No, I-I’m fine.” I lowered my head into the blanket and behind my knees. It felt nice to have something covering my top half again, even if it was just a blanket.

“You sure? It isn’t every night I wake to somepony screaming bloody murder,” Quartz giggled.

My chest clenched and I looked at her with guilt. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Nah!” Quartz swiped a hoof in my direction. “It’s alright. Besides, I should apologize about falling asleep and forgetting to get you a blanket. You must’ve been freezing.”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it, I’m used to it anyways.”

Quartz shrugged and gazed up at the nighttime sky, I did the same. It was beautiful, I had to admit. I’ve never seen a clear, star-filled sky like this before in person. Except for when I visited the Hayden Planetarium, and that’s what it reminded me of, as sad as that sounds. Having grown up in a big city, I had to deal with light pollution, so I never really got to see these beautifully placed stars in the sky. Aside from the five or six that shined bright enough.

“Princess Luna really outdid herself this time,” Quartz sighed and lied back on the grass.

I raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

Quartz tilted her head at me and frowned. “You really have been living under a rock haven’t you?”

‘Was that some kind of joke?’ I asked myself.

I curled my lips back in thought. “Well...” I laid the blanket on the grass and lay down next to the pony, the cool air greeting me with a wave of goosebumps all over my body. I shivered lightly and folded my hands behind my head, I then turned my gaze to the stars. “I’ve never been here before in all my life,” I said, which was semi-true.

“Never?” Quartz turned her head towards me.

I nodded. “Never.”

I continued my gaze up at the stars, it was a peaceful experience. It was something that allowed me to take my mind off things, an escape from life you could say. At least it was until I noticed Quartz looking at me weirdly, I glanced at her and noticed that her face looked like she was trying to figure out something she couldn’t.

“I-is something wrong?” I blushed when I noticed her eyes gazing at my breasts, I quickly folded an arm over them and stood up.

“Oh–uh, um... ahem. Sorry.” Quartz sat up and scooted away. “It’s just that, I hadn’t really noticed that you were... pregnant.”

“Pregnant?!” I practically shouted.

The pony nearly jumped ten feet in the air at the sudden level change in my voice, behind me I heard a snort and a hiccup as Crystal jerked herself awake. “Oh I knew this would be bad!” Quartz lowered herself down to her stomach and hid her face between her hooves.

“What made you think I was—”

“It’s because your teats are massive!” Crystal grumbled as she got up onto her hooves. Wiped the crust off that had formed around the corners of her eyes and frowned at me. “Now can you please be quiet?”

“What do you mean my tits are massive?!” I pointed at my chest. “I only wear a C!”

Quartz let off an audible groan and buried her head in the dirt and smacked herself with a hoof. “Idiot!” She hissed to herself.

“Tits?” Crystal tilted her head. “It’s pronounced teats!” She sat back down on the blanket she’d been resting on. “Now both of you be quiet, I have a raging headache.” She rested her head on the ground and within seconds she was snoring once again.

I blinked out of confusion and looked over at Quartz who looked to be beating herself up. “What the hell was that all about?”

The unicorn groaned. “I shouldn’t have said anything...”

I glanced down at my breasts. “What does the size of my chest have to do with preg—”

Quartz dismissed me with a wave of her hoof. “Forget about it, it’s a pony thing. Clearly yours are always like that.”

I was at a loss for words. “I... I think I’m going to go lie down for a bit.”

The unicorn sighed and got up. “I think I’ll join ya.”

I raised an eyebrow and opened my mouth, then closed it. I shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”

:[-]:

“Why didn’t you save us, Chloe?!”

My eyes snapped open and I found myself with a face full of cream pony fur. I jolted back and myself colliding into something behind me. “Wah!” Both I and the blue pegasus behind me yelped.

I rolled over to see Crystal looking at me, our faces just centimeters from touching. “M-morning.” Crystal smiled.

“H-hey.” I blushed and sat up, sure enough it was morning. Through the thick canopy rays of light littered the forest floor like shards of glistening glass. I pushed myself up onto my feet and stretched my arms out wide and yawned. I scratched right above my collarbone when suddenly a pain in my lower body struck me. My legs buckled a bit and I winced.

“Chloe?” Crystal sat up and yawned.

“Eh...” My eyes darted left and right.

‘Oh no, please not now.’

“Did I say or ask anything stupid last night?” Crystal pushed herself onto her hooves and cracked her neck.

“Uh.... I dunno. “ I bit my bottom lip and turned around.

Crystal looked at me and frowned. “Is something alright? You sound a little strained.”

I gulped and glanced over at Quartz who was out like a rock. I glanced back at Crystal and sighed, ‘This is going to sound very weird.’

“I-I have to pee.” My cheeks burned with embarrassment, I hated openly saying when I needed to use the restroom. I was always one of those kids in class who just up and left without saying anything, or just went between classes and breaks.

Crystal gave me a deadpanned expression. “Just go then,’ She said.

My mouth fell open. “Right here?!”

“Why not.” Crystal stretched out her wings. “Quartz and I do it all the time, just make sure you’re not over anything when you go.” I stood there and gawked at her, Crystal rolled her eyes. “If it bothers you so much then just go behind a tree or something, I won’t judge.”

I briskly nodded and jogged over to a nearby tree, stepping behind it, I unbuckled my pants and squatted down. Crystal poked her head out from behind the tree. “Oh, Chloe!”

“AHH!” I screamed and fell backwards, my heart rammed against my chest and the blush on my face only seemed to darken when the pony looked at me with wide eyes. I quickly threw a hand over my groin and covered my breasts. “Wh-what do you want?!”

“Is everything alright?” Quartz’s head poked out from under Crystal’s. “I heard somepony scream.”

I stared at the two with wide eyes as a moment of silence fell over us.

“Are you pregnant?” Crystal finally asked.

:[-]:

“There, there, it ain’t that bad.” Quartz cooed as she pressed an ice pack gently against Crystal’s left eye.

Crystal sniffed. “She didn’t have to hit me that hard.”

“Yeah and you didn’t need to go peepin’ on pony’s privates.”

“I wasn’t peeping!” Crystal puffed her cheeks and pouted.

A couple yards away, I sat with my back against a fallen log munching on a few of the leftover mystery sticks. I’ve still yet to ask Quartz on exactly what they were, I’m afraid if I do she’s going to tell me they’re worms or something. Popping one of the sticks in my mouth, I wiped my hand on the makeshift bra I had made.

After I bopped Crystal in the eye for humiliating me, I quickly left and did my business elsewhere. When I came back, I tore up the blanket I used last night and tied it around my chest before ‘apologizing’ for what I did. Though I wasn’t really sorry, the girl deserved what she got, however, I’d be lying if I said a darker side of me didn’t get a thrill out of it.

Neither of them had explained to me the whole ‘pregnancy’ thing that had been going around between the two. I don’t know if it was some sort of running gag or if the ponies really grew tits or something when they are having kids. I should’ve paid more attention in biology.

‘I also need to start heading back to the vault,’ I thought to myself.

There were a few last things I needed to check up on. However, I’m afraid I’ll have another mental breakdown when I go back. Even now, just thinking about it, my heart begins to ache. I wish I could run away, run as far as I can and hope that I can find something else to save me from this bizarre hell.

Even with the ponies here, I still found myself doubting if they were even real or not. Aside from having punched one, nothing has yet to happen for them to prove their reality. I didn’t know if I was going insane or not... I just really wished Eva was here. She’d know what to do. She always did.

“Alright, just hold still and let me tie it.” Quartz floated a roll of bandages beside her and proceeded to bandage the ice pack to Crystal’s eye.

“Don’t you think this is a little excessive?” Crystal asked in a low, irritated voice.

Quartz smirked. “No, I think it’s perfect.” She did one last loop around her head and sliced the bandage off the roll, she stepped back and examined her work. “Good as new!” She tried not to laugh.

I picked up my plate of sweet sticks and walked over to the two. I nearly choked when I saw Crystal’s bandaged head, nearly half of her face looked mummified. I swallowed my food. “Man,” I said, “go out like that in public and you’ll have all the males gushing over you.”

Crystal shook her head. “Nah, I prefer mares,” She smiled, “does it really look that good? I heard battle scars really make some ponies attractive.”

Quartz snorted and shook her head. “No. You look like something a hydra chewed up and spat out.”

Crystal’s uncovered eye widened. “Wha-what?! Really?”

“Totally,” I mumbled.

“Oh, Chloe,” Quartz looked at me, “you got some sauce on your cheek.” She gestured to the left side of her face with a hoof.

“Oh thanks.” I wiped my hand across my face.

“It’s still there.”

I tried again.

“Nope.” Quartz looked past me. “If you’d like, I recently filled out a bath bucket, you can go wash your face off if you’d like before we head off.”

I smiled lightly. “Thanks, I-I’ll go do that.” I turned and walked over to a small wagon on the far end of their camp. I guess it’s where they stored all their stuff. I don’t know why they kept it so far away though, and hidden for that matter. If I had to guess it was to keep robbers out, but out here in the middle of nowhere? Or so it seemed, I wouldn’t expect there to be any robbers here.

I stopped just beside the wagon and made my way around to the front of it. There I found a large wooden barrel full to the brim with water. I walked up to the edge of it and grasped the rim with my hands. I bent over and looked into the water, for the first time in over sixteen thousand years, I got a good look at myself. Amazingly enough, not much had really changed. My brown hair was darker due to being away from the sun for so long, and my skin had paled drastically. My large blue eyes on the other hand, stood out far more than they usually did and I thought it was rather cute. I’ve never really been much to care about my overall appearance, I just sort of went with the flow. Funny, because whenever I would say that to the guys they wouldn’t believe me.

“No one just walks out of their room looking beautiful without first taking a look in the mirror,” Eva would say.

I reached up and ran a hand through my hair. It had grown out since I got into my cocoon. Instead of stopping shortly past the ears like it usually did, it now rested nicely on the back of my neck and shoulders. Originally I would be against having long hair, but now, I actually kinda liked it.

I dipped my hands into the water and bent over as I splashed it into my face, rinsing off all the muck and dried food in the process. When I was done I straightened myself up and brushed my damp bangs out of my face. I reached over and grabbed a towel hanging on the side of the wagon and dried myself.

Glancing back down at the water, I gazed at my reflection and smiled.

“Chloe, eh?” Adam’s voice echoed in my thoughts, through my reflection I noticed something coming up behind me.

“That’s my name.” My heart stopped when I saw the disembodied face of a man appear behind me.

“Huh, that’s cute.”

“WAHAAH!” I cried out. Whirling around, I cocked my arm back but stopped when I noticed Quartz stumbling back the look of fear in her eyes.

My eyes widened and I retracted my arm. “I-I” I stammered, my heart thumping against my chest. “Please—I thought—I’m sorry!” I turned and bolted into the woods.

:[-]:

I sprinted blindly through the foliage, hurdling over logs and ducking under trees; paying no mind to where I was going. My heart raced and tears streamed down my cheeks. I could hear them, the voices of my dead friends echoing all around me.

“You could’ve saved us, Chloe!” Over and over those words repeated in my head.

“Chloe, stop!” I heard a shout and the sound of snapping twigs that only seemed to drive my mad dash further, stealing a quick glance over my shoulder, I swore I could see them. Their mangled bodies shambling after me through the darkness.

I hurdled over another log and landed back on the ground in a full on sprint, if there was one thing I could say I was a master at, it’d be running. All the way from the sixth grade to graduation I had always done track. From Freshman all the way to the start of my Senior year, I had been the fastest kid in school. Until I was beat by some transfer student, that is.

“Chloe, please!” the voices shouted. I ducked under a branch and stepped out of the way of an oncoming tree. I slid down the side of a slope and leapt over a log, grabbing a low hanging branch I used it to swing over a wall of bushes. As I broke through the treeline in mid flight, the sun’s bright rays shone into my eyes and caressed my skin. At the moment the whole world seemed to slow down, the voices shouting became quiet. As I drifted through the air and prepared myself to hit the ground running, however, the ground didn’t come. At least not when I expected it.

My ankles slammed against the side of an uneven surface with a nasty twist and I went heels over head down the side of a slope. On my way down I slammed against rock after rock, the air in my gut being knocked out midway. When I reached the bottom, a sharp pain rippled throughout my body when I felt my right thigh impale itself into a sharp rock and I screamed.

Rolling onto my back, I clutched my thigh and clenched my teeth as I tried to bite back the pain. Squeezing my eyes shut I groaned and refused to look at the damage, I could already feel my own blood oozing out from under the piece of stone. I had always been uneasy when it came to blood, mine or not, I couldn’t look at it. Even times when I had to give blood, I felt like I was going to vomit, and that’s what I did. Tossing my head to the side I hurled onto the sediment; crying, sick, and in pain I turned my attention to the clear blue sky and sobbed.

“She’s down here!” Crystal’s voice shouted from above, I heard the sounds of clopping hooves as the flying pony landed on the nearby rocks. “Sweet Celestia, what the hay happened?”

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” I opened my eyes and screamed at the pony, I planted both hands on the ground and tried to push myself away from her.

“Chloe, please, you have to talk to me.” Crystal trotted towards me. “I’m here to help!”

“NO!” I placed my hand on her chest and shoved her back. “I don’t need your help, I don’t need anyone’s help!”

“Yes you do!” She came back at me, “I don’t know what’s wrong, or what you’ve been through. But clearly you can’t go through it alone!”

“I said go away!” I picked up a rock and sluggishly threw it at her, the pony easily dodged it.

“Why?!” Crystal straightened herself out and glared at me.

“Because...” My voice wavered, “Because you’re... n-not real...” I covered my face and sobbed. “None of this... can be real...” I fell onto my side. “It can’t!” I screamed.

The pegasus looked down at me her eyes wide with a mix of confusion and fear. Her eyes flickered upwards when she noticed Quartz making her way down the side of the slope. “Sweet Celestia, what’s happening?”

“I-I don’t know, it’s like she’s gone insane or something.”

And that’s exactly how I felt. This world, my friends, these talking horses. My mind couldn’t take it anymore, it was like I was in some sort of living nightmare and I couldn’t escape. I was trapped, I was alone.

“Oh my lord.” Quartz got down next to me. “Sweetie, talk to us, what’s wrong?”

“Get away!” I lashed out with my arm but Quartz easily caught it with her mind powers.

“Hurting others around you isn’t going to get us anywhere,” she scolded. Her eyes then drifted down to my knees and they widened at the sight of the piece of rock lodged in my leg. “Crystal, get back to the wagon and grab the first aid kit.”

“A-alright!” I Crystal extended her wings and took off into the air.

Quartz turned her attention back to me and gently lifted me up and pulled my hands away from my tear soaked face. “Shh,” she cooed, “everything’s going to be fine.”

“No.”

“Don’t say that.” Quartz’s voice was quiet and hushed. “Now just tell me what happened, dear.”

“Why bother?” I mumbled and took my eyes off her.

“Because friends help each other when they need it the most.”

I glared at her. “You aren’t my friend.”

“Perhaps not, but I see you as one of mine.”

“I’m sorry,” I muttered and grimaced when I tried to move my wounded leg. “But I grew out of having imaginary friends.”

Quartz looked at me and with a frown and blinked. “What makes you think I’m imaginary?”

“You’re a talking horse for one...” A few tears streaked down my cheeks. “And for some reason... you... you remind me a lot of Eva...” The tears started rolling out again. “Now I see why I was able to talk to you guys so casually...” My voice became a quiet whisper. “You’re nothing but a reimagining of her.”

I felt something take hold of my hand, and without control I watched it fly over to Quartz’s face, she looked me dead in the eyes. “You’re wrong,” she deadpanned and placed my hand on the side of her cheek. It was surprisingly soft. “If I or Crystal was fake, would you feel this?”

I looked at her confused. “I-I—”

“Or how about this?” She scooched closer to me, my eyes widening as she rested her head up against my side. “Chloe,” Quartz whispered, “Crystal and I are real as real can be.” She turned her head and gazed up at me with her large blue eyes. “And believe me when I say this, Chlo, we’ll be here for you when you need it.” She didn’t say anything else after that. Instead we sat there quietly against a pile of rocks, waiting for Crystal to return with the medical box.

Author's Note

A small chapter this one is but I sure hope it was sweet!

We got to learn a little bit more about Chloe's appearance, her psychological problems, and just her character herself! I hope you guys are taking a liking to Quartz and Crystal, fun fact these are the first pony OCs I ever actually put thought into!

Next up we got basic surgery and exploration!

Yeah!

(Please post comments about what you think down below!)

Chapter 4: New Clothes and Hope

Crystal landed on the ground in front of us, a small medical box lodged between her teeth. She turned around and spat the medkit on the ground and raised an eyebrow at us. “Really?” she asked, gesturing towards Quartz who was resting quietly on my side.

“What? It’s comfy.” Quartz gave her a sly smile as she levitated the kit over to us, then placed it down beside me and got up from her spot. The warmth of her body against mine left with her. “Alright, Chlo—you mind if I just call you Chlo?”

I shrugged.

“Okay then.” Quartz smiled as she stepped in front of me with the box. A sudden sensation began to run along my wounded leg as I felt her powers extend out from where I was. I gulped when my eyes caught a glimpse of the stony shard. It was only a few inches tall and thick. I could see from its surface that its color used to be a greyish white, but was now drenched in the color of my blood.

Quartz opened the box and took out a small, stubby stick, she handed it over to me. “Here, I want you to bite on this,” she said with a smiled. “It’s cherry flavored.”

I took it and looked at her, confused. “Why? What do you plan on doing?”

The unicorn frowned. “I’m going to remove the stone from your leg.”

My eyes widened and I looked back at Crystal. The pegasus was purposefully looking away from us, on the side of her face I could see a faint squeamish look. “N-no there’s got—”

My vision flashed red, an excruciating pain and the feeling of warm blood gushing down the side of my leg caused me to scream at the top of my lungs. But as quickly as the pain came, it vanished and was replaced with a slight tingling feeling in my leg.

“That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” Quartz said in a singsong voice.

I glared at the unicorn with tear filled eyes. “You sneaky... bastard,” I snarled between sniffs. Looking down at my leg I saw that the stone was now sitting off to the side, amazingly enough it had only been the tip that had breached my skin. When I focused my attention back on my leg I saw that the blood had stopped flowing, not only that, the pain had ceased.

‘How did she stop it so fast?’

Quartz noticed the utterly confused look on my face and cracked a smile. “You’re wondering why it isn’t hurting, aren’t you?” Quartz asked as she brought a white bottle that looked like disinfectant and some bandages over to us.

“H-how could you tell?”

The mare smirked and uncapped the bottle of disinfectant. “Girl, you’d be surprised at how easily your face can be read.” She poured the clear liquid on my leg and I winced at the expected sting. But there wasn’t any. I felt nothing. It was like Quartz had injected me with some sort of numbing medicine. “I guess you’ve never experienced magica,” she said calmly while rubbing the liquid over every part of exposed flesh.

“I-I’ve been to a magic show, before... d-does that count?” I asked as I watched the scene before me fold out. Quartz capped the bottle and set it aside, then brought the bandages out and unrolled them.

She looked at my legs again, rolled her eyes and frowned, she then looked at me. “I’m going to need you to take your pants off.”

My eyes widened at the words and I looked at her in utter disbelief. “Wh-what?!”

Crystal casted a confused look towards us. “Whoa now, Quartz,” She said taking a step towards us. “Remember what she did to me?” She pointed the tip of her left hoof at the bandages around her head.

“I’m sorry, but I just realized that I can’t clean and bandage all of it if she has her clothes on!” She gave me a stern look. “Strip, please.”

‘Oh for the love of God.’ I gritted my teeth and started to undo my belt and jeans. Pulling my pants down I stopped at the tip of my knees, my cheeks feeling as if they were about to catch fire.

Quartz smiled and grabbed the disinfectant. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I almost forgot that your clothes weren’t actually part of you.”

“Jeez,” I heard Crystal say I looked up at her and saw her gazing down at me. “How many clothes do you wear?” She pointed with the tip of her wing at my panties and I nearly had a heart attack.

“Crystal!” Quartz fired a look at her.

The pegasus backed away. “Sorry, it’s just weird that she’d wear clothes under clothes.”

The unicorn rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you go and make yourself productive for once?”

Crystal scowled. “Alright, fine.” She took off into the air and flew back towards camp.

“I apologize for my friend. She’s not the fluffiest cloud in the sky.” Quartz pulled a cotton ball out of the box, dampened it with the disinfect, and began to dab away the blood around the puncture.

“Mhmm.” My cheeks were still burning at how close she was to me.

‘Y’know, this all could’ve been avoided,’ I thought to myself, ‘If you would’ve explained everything earlier, we wouldn’t be here now.’

“So what were we talking about?” Quartz asked as she continued to clean up my mess. “That’s right, magic. So you been to a magic show?”

“Uh... eh...” My mind wasn’t functioning correctly. “N-nothing like this though.” I pointed at the blood stained cotton ball floating above my thigh.

Quartz giggled. “I bet it wasn’t, so what was it like?” She placed the drenched ball to the side and examined her work. My leg was nearly spotless, all that was left now was to bandage it.

“Crowded.” I diverted my gaze from the awkward situation. “People were all around me, a friend and I were there to watch some old guy named Ben Hanlin.”

“Oh, I’ve never heard of him,” Quartz said as she tightened the bandage around my leg. “Is he a talented unicorn?”

“He was talented.” I tilted my head towards her. “But he also wasn’t no unicorn, he was human, like I am and everyone else in that building was.” Quartz sliced the bandage off the roll and placed it back in the box, she then turned her full attention to me.

“What happened next?”

I chuckled and ran a hand across the back of my head. “My memory is a little hazy; but I can recall the lights. During the entire event there was an amazing light show going along with it and the man was practically dancing on stage while he did these awesome tricks.”

“What kind of tricks?”

“Uh...” My mind drew a blank. “I remember it starting off basic, like he’d change a queen of spades into a queen of diamonds.” I smiled at the memory. “Then he called me up and somehow stole everything in my pockets, he made some woman disappear on stage and come out the back closet on the other end of the theatre.”

Quartz looked at me as if she was unimpressed. “That’s like magic kindergarten tricks.”

I scoffed. “W-well it’s not like you could do better!” My features faltered and I frowned, knowing that I was about to eat my own words.

“Really now?” Quartz got up, suddenly the pain in my leg started to come back in a low draw. “Let me show you what real magic is capable of.” My eyes widened when I noticed a brief flash of green light come off her horn, behind her a similar light appeared around a boulder the size of a small car. The boulder shuddered and groaned as the ground around it began to crack. Seconds later the rock dislodged itself from the floor and levitated about ten feet off the ground, I looked at Quartz and she smiled at me with a sweaty face.

The light around the boulder dissipated and it crashed back into the earth with a heavy bang creating a small tremor that made me shake. “That’s... real magic,” she said through strained breaths, sitting back down.

My mouth fell open and I sat there for a few seconds, ‘She just lifted a boulder without looking at it... I can’t believe it...’ I thought. ‘I can’t fucking believe it.’ shaking my head I tossed my hands in the air.

“Alright you go—gah!” I flinched and grasped onto my leg.

Quartz’s eyes widened and she sat down next to me. “Oh sorry, I accidentally cancelled the suppression spell!” The unicorn’s horn flashed again and in an instant the pain in my leg began to subside.

I wiped away the sweat that had formed on my brow. I then took a deep breath and looked at her with a shaky smile. “You need to teach me how to do that.”

She smirked. “Maybe once you pass the first grade in magic school I can show you.”

I snorted. “I already done my twelve years of schooling... K through 12 that is.”

Quartz looked at me as if I was rambling in some form of foreign language. She turned her attention back to my leg. “We need to get you to a hospital,” She deadpanned.

My head twisted to face her and I looked at her with fear filled eyes. “Wait, what?”

“Chloe, you need medical attention.”

“I just got some medical attention!” My heart began to race. I never liked hospitals. Quite frankly, I avoided them as much as possible as a kid all the way up until my years as a young adult. “Can’t you use your mind powers or something and fix it?”

“N-no!” The pony shook her head. “Magic isn’t some unwieldy tool we can use, it has limits of its own.” Quartz explained. “One of those is recreating tissue; I can only hold back the blood and pain for so long. You need stitches.”

My eyes widened even more my voice began to waver, “Sti-stitches?”

“Yes! You hit your head on the way down and got stabbed by a rock!” Quartz bopped her forehead with a hoof. “And you expect to walk it off?”

My heart rammed against my rib cage. ‘First blood, and now we’re going into needles. Great, this is freaking great! All we need now is fucking clowns and it’ll be a party!'

“D-don’t you have stitches in the kit?” I asked, now nervous to high hell, my hands were shaking and the pace of my breathing rose a bit.

Quartz dropped the kit in front of her and leaned over it, moving a few things around and shook her head. “None that I can see. Look, Chloe, there’s a town that isn’t too far from here–”

“What about the vault?!” I was practically freaking out now, there was no way in hell I was going to some hospital. The white walls, sterilized floors and ceilings, coughing patients, and crying babies... Nope!

“Chloe, you can’t walk—”

“I don’t feel any pain though—”

“That’s because I’m casting a pain suppression spell. The second we start moving you’ll be on the ground crying like a filly!”

“But we have a medical room there! I’m positive Reynolds has some kinda stitching stuff we can use...” I smiled sheepishly.

Quartz lowered her head and pressed a hoof against it. She sighed with defeat. “You do realize this is going to be a living hell for you right?”

“I’ve been in Hell since the second I opened the door to Eva’s room,” I said sternly.

Quartz looked at me slightly confused; I knew she had no idea what I was talking about. By the look on her face, I could tell she didn’t want to question me on it either. The pony shook her head. “Alright,” She piped up and rose from her spot, “Let's get onto it then!”

:[-]:

“GRRAAAAAAH!” I collapsed onto one knee and bit back the tears, a small trickle of blood soaked through the bandage and dripped onto the dirt. Despite having the rock dislodged from my leg, I still felt as if I was being stabbed; like a red hot knife was being driven into my thigh. I grasped onto the edge of the massive crater that led down to the vault entrance, which now had a decent sized hole in it. I smiled lightly at the sight of it. My matted, sweaty hair covering most of my face, I reached up and swiped the hair and sweat out my field of view.

Quartz sighed and cast her spell on my wound. With the pain subsiding I pushed myself back and sat on my heels “Y’know,” Crystal said, sounding disappointed, “it’s a shame that gold was fake.”

“What?” I looked at her and frowned, fake gold? “What do you mean it’s fake?” I asked.

Crystal rolled her eyes and looked at me as if I was stupid. “What gold have you ever found had a big chunk of silverish metal in the middle of it?”

I nearly face-palmed. “That’s because it’s gold plating over steel you moron.” I blew out a heavy breath as I tried to gain my strength back.

Crystal rolled her eyes. “Well excuse me, princess!”

I tilted my head at her. “I prefer the title of ‘Queen’, princess just makes you sound like a six year old.” Crystal blew hot air out her nose and looked away from me, I took a deep breath. “Sorry,” I mumbled, “ just really aggravated right now.”

Quartz flashed a look at me. “Well I told you this was a dumb idea.”

My back popped as I turned to look back at her. “So why didn’t you let us take the wagon?” I flung my arms out.

“It’s too risky,” Crystal said, “thieves like to roam these areas.”

I frowned and faced the vault once again. ‘I guess robbers are common here then.’ I slowly pushed myself up onto my feet.

I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. “Well... let's go get patched up.”

:[-]:

Returning to the vault to get myself stitched up wasn’t the actual reason why I came back here. Sure it was part of the plan, however, a small bit of myself felt like I needed to say goodbye to my friends. As heart breaking as it was, having my unconscious body be dragged out of here practically naked didn’t sit well with me. Not only that, the main reason aside from making peace was that I needed to make sure that the whole reason why I went to sleep in the first place wasn’t for nothing.

The reason why I went back was to check the embryos.

“GAAAAHAHAA!” I pounded my arm against the side of the medical chair right when Quartz impaled me with the needle and thread. Tears streamed down the side of my face and I wailed when she began to feed the thread through my skin.

“Sweet Celestia, it can’t be that painful!” Crystal was sitting in the corner of the nursing office, her hooves draped over her ears.

“Oh believe me,” Quartz said, “with nothing to numb the pain, it hurts.” She jammed the needle through the skin on the other side of the hole and I slammed my fist into the chair again. “Alright, Chlo, one more time and we should be finished.”

“Oh please make it stop—AAAHH—SHIT!” Quartz quickly made a hole in my skin and fed the needle along with the thread through to the other side, without warning she did it again and finished up the stitching.

I hung my head back and panted like an old dog, my head matted with sweat, and cheeks streaked with tears. The pain slowly began to subside on its own time. “I can’t believe Reynolds used up all the numbing medicine.” I muttered to myself then chuckled, “That old bastard still gets me.” I sighed.

“Glenn?”

“Greetings, Ms. Cooper.”

The ponies instantly stumbled to the floor, their eyes gazing fearfully up at the ceiling. I laughed out loud at their reaction to the VI. “Calm down it’s just Glenn... he’s a... friend of mine.”

“Negative, Ms. Green, I cannot have friends.”

I glanced upwards at the camera in the center of the ceiling. I rolled my eyes and looked down at the ponies. “He’s also a bit of a smartass.”

“Negative, Ms—”

“Silence, Glenn.”

“As you wish, M’lady.”

“Wh-what is it?” Crystal stuttered.

“Better question: where is it?” Quartz asked as she and Crystal huddled up together, looking all over the room to try and find the source of the voice.

I smiled at the two scared ponies, as cruel as it sounded. They were actually pretty adorable. “There’s nothing to worry about.” I grimaced as I swung my leg over the bed. “He won’t hurt you.”

“Even then, Ms. Green, I physically cannot hurt anything.”

I pointed at the camera. “See he said it himself.”

“What is it though?” Crystal asked again.

I pushed myself off the bed and groaned when I applied weight onto my right leg. Before I answered, I stood there waiting for the pain to drift away, when it did I took a deep breath. “Ask him yourself.” I gestured upwards. “He’s always listening.”

Both Crystal and Quartz gulped, they looked to the ceiling. “Wh-what are you?” the blue pegasus mumbled.

“I am Glenn,” The VI said in an almost happy sounding voice, “Vault McKinley's personal virtual intelligence.”

I smiled at the ponies. “See, he’s harmless.” I began to limp my way to the door.

“Ms. Cooper, due to the temperature exceeding less than thirty degrees in the lower levels, I suggest you apply some warmer clothing to yourself.” I gritted my teeth and glanced down at my tattered jeans and an excuse for a bra.

I buzzed my lips. “Any idea on where I can get something nice to wear?”

“I believe Dr. Osai has some laundry leftover down in the laundromat.”

I cringed at the sound of Eva’s name but quickly recovered. “Y-yeah, uh...” I lost my train of thought.

‘What was I asking Glenn again?’

“Wait a second!” Crystal got up and shoved Quartz out of her way, the cream pony fell over with a yelp. The pegasus trotted over to me. “Is this Glenn pony like your butler?”

Crystal’s attention was brought back to the responding VI, “Negative. I am not an equine. I am a VI.”

“Whatever!” She barked and looked back at me. “So is he?”

I smiled at the pony’s wide and curious eyes. I shook my head. “No.” I looked at the camera. “He’s more of an advisor and a good friend.”

“I am unable to have friendship.”

My smile faltered. “Keep saying that pal, keep saying that.”

“Yes, madam: I am unable to have friendship, I am unable to have friendship—”

My left eye twitched. “Silence, Glenn!”

“Yes, m’lady.”

I looked back at the ponies. “Come on.” I gestured towards my clothing. “I can’t keep looking like Tarzan’s wife.”

I turned and limped out of the room. Both ponies looked at each other. “What’s a Tarzan?”

:[-]:

“This is cute,” I said to myself as I examined the new outfit I wore in the mirror. I twirled around in my white tank top and denim jacket. “I can’t believe this was down here the whole time!” I fixed the cuff at the edge of my sleeve, I then sat down and straightened out both legs and swatted the wrinkles out of my new light grey jeans. I think they belonged to Adams? They were a bit big...

‘I’m wearing Adam’s pants...’ The thought came to me again, I leaned back and looked into the mirror. I brushed my bangs out of my eyes and looked closely at myself. I pulled the denim jacket off and examined the tank top I was wearing. The tank top wasn’t mine either, I saw my eyebrows curl upwards, the room fell oddly silent save for the echo of my heart. I slowly pulled my arms through my sleeves and twisted the top around so that I was on the side with the tag, pulling the collar out I glanced down into the shirt and saw the tag.

Written on it in black sharpie: Eva Osai.

My eyes began to water.

A groan of a pony shattered the silence like a hammer through glass, “This is boring—” The pony yelped. “Hey what was that for—”

“Quiet!” Quartz snipped and retracted her hoof out of the pegasus’ side. She stepped off the bench the two ponies were sitting on and came over to me. “Hey, is everything alright?” she asked me.

I didn’t reply, nor did I acknowledge her existence. I kept my eyes trained on the name, I leaned in and rubbed a piece it of it against my cheek, it was her’s alright. I wiped my eyes before the tears could fall, flipping the top back around to how it was supposed to be, I got up and grabbed my jacket.

Finally I looked at the unicorn. “Yeah,” I sniffed, “I’m fine.”

Quartz looked back at Crystal, the pegasus shrugged and pushed herself off the bench. She trotted over and gave me an awkward smile. “If you say so,” she said quietly, pushing past the two of us and making her way over to the door.

“Where are you going?” Quartz asked.

“To look around.” Crystal stepped out of the room.

“Wait, what?” I started to limp after her.

“Crystal, get back here!” Quartz ran to the door and poked her head around. “Ah, geez she rounded the hall.”

“What the hell was that all about?” I stopped behind the mare.

Quartz shook her head. “Horse feathers,” she muttered, “Crystal isn’t good around ponies when they start getting all emotional; believe it or not she has a very soft heart. The second somepony starts crying she gets all worked up.”

“So we’re going to go after her, right?” I looked down at the pony.

“I’ll go after her,” she said, “You go do what you need to do.”

I nodded my head sadly, ‘I really don’t want to be left alone.’

I let out a small breath and hung my head, then brought it back up with a smile as a sudden idea sprung into my head. “Alright. Glenn,” I called out to the VI.

“Yes, miss?”

"Can you lock all the stairwells leading off this floor?” I asked.

“Certainly.” A distant echo of locking deadbolts could be heard bouncing off the vault’s metal walls, similar to the sound of lights shutting off one by one in a horror movie.

Quartz gave me a puzzled look. “I thought you said you never experienced magic?”

I slapped the pony on her rear causing her to flinch and yelp. “That wasn’t magic. Now quickly, go find your friend,” I said. “I have business I need to attend to.”

She looked at me with wide eyes and nodded her head before running off. I smiled to myself and looked at the hand I smacked her with. A frown fell upon my face. “Why the hell did I just do that?” I asked myself and glanced around for a bottle of hand sanitizer.

:[-]:

I stopped at an opening to a large metallic door, above the frame on the wall read a sign: Adam’s Accessories. It was designed, in a way, to look like a small town business advertisement you’d see on the side of the road when driving down the I-81. The sight alone gave me a sense of nostalgia, along with a small smile. I remember the day Adam put the sign up.

“What’s that for?” I asked the thin man who was in the middle of balancing himself on a step ladder while reaching over to pick something up.

“Oh nothing important,” Adam said as picked up a two foot by three foot metal sign and placed it above the door. “Just something to remind me of home is all.” He fished a small electric screwdriver out of his pocket and began to drill the sign into the wall.

“You think it’ll attract any customers?” I remember asking sarcastically.

Adam looked over his shoulder and flashed me a sly smile. “It brought you here didn’t it?”

‘And yes it did, Adam.’ I thought to myself while gazing up at the unaged sign. I scratched the back of my neck and breathed out sadly before stepping into his workshop.

It’s been awhile since I’ve actually walked into Adam’s place of work, aside from that time I ran in here to grab a few bits to repair the comms piece, and for an engineer what I could see is typical of what an engineer would have. There were four tables, all parallel with one another which faced vertically, each one had an array of bits of scrap, electric tools, along with hand powered ones, and pieces of unfinished projects. One project in particular that caught my interest was kept beneath a large tarp in the far end of the room.

I walked over to the tarp, slid my hand beneath one of the flaps, and pulled it off. My eyes widened when I saw a sleek, black metal man beneath. The humanoid machine stood what seemed like six feet, which was just a head taller than me, and the bottom left portion of its abdomen looked to be unfinished.

“Jesus,” I muttered and grabbed a hold of the machines left arm. “What the hell were you making, Adam? Ironman?” I smiled at the thought.

“Actually, Miss,” Glenn said, I jolted at the sound of his voice and turned away from the machine. “He was engineering me a body.”

“He was making you a body?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he was bored and said I would be more of a use if I could assist him personally.”

I glanced back at the unfinished machine. “Well now, I guess there really is no point.”

“If you would like, Miss, I still have his blueprints within my data banks.”

I snorted a laugh. “Yeah, like I could finish this.” I gestured with an open palm at the machine. “I barely fixed the comms panel without electrocuting myself.”

“With the blueprints in my system I could easily guide you through what needs to be done.”

I bit my bottom lip, the thought of having a robot buddy was really tempting me. However, I barely had knack for fixing things. Even putting furniture together after buying it had always been troublesome with their directions being on pictures instead of written out. Though I couldn’t help it, the idea was too great.

“Alright.” I shook my head. ‘This better not be a waste of time.’ “Tell me what I need to do.”

“Certainly.”

:[-]:

“Gah! Fuck!” The jolt of electricity surged into the tips of my fingers and throughout the rest of my body. I fell back on the floor, coming inches from cracking my head on the desk behind me. I jammed my index finger in my mouth and sucked on it.

“Careful, Miss, you do not want to overcharge the system.”

“Fuck the system!” I blinked away the tears around the edges of my eyes, I took hold of the desk and pulled myself up, groaning as the pain in my thigh returned. I popped my finger out of my mouth. “I had enough of this shit!”

“I can assure you, Miss, that—”

“No! I’m done! I’m tired of electrocuting myself.”

“As you wish, M’lady.” Glenn fell silent.

I took a moment to calm down, I glared at the machine and frowned, shaking my head, my expression loosened. I looked back at it with a softer appearance, I sighed. “Does it work at all?” I asked.

“Barely, I am able to enter the puppet’s systems, however, the left and right legs have not been fully integrated into the system.”

“So you can enter it but cannot move?”

“Yes.”

I leaned back against the table. “So you’re trapped here?”

“That is correct.”

I blinked. “That’s depressing.”

“I am unable to feel depression.”

I glared upwards. “I wasn’t referring to you directly.” I pushed myself off the table and glanced around. “Where exactly is Adam’s room?” I asked, looking at the many exits that outlined the workshop.

“Room D-24,” Glenn said.

I nodded and began to walk the perimeter of the room, searching for the door labeled D-24. Finally when I found it just at the farthest edge of the room away from the exit, I reached up to the panel beside the door and entered Adam’s pin number.

I heard the deadbolt on the door come loose and it snapped open by a few inches, refusing to slide the rest of the way. Already I could smell the scent of rust, similar to the smell of dried blood. Despite having a large hunch on what was behind that door, I felt my heart deflate and the tears returning. I knew the answer: Adams was dead, just like Eva, and most likely Reynolds too; but I had to check. I don’t know why I had to, but something told me that if I didn’t I’d regret it forever.

With one hand over my mouth and nose, I used the other to pry the door open, it creaked and groaned with every push. By the time I got it open the smell of rust and stale air had finally distributed itself around the workshop and began to settle. I took my hand off my mouth and wiped the stray tears away, I looked into Adam’s room.

It was practically a carbon copy of what I’ve seen of Eva’s room. I could see Adam’s decayed skeleton resting in the eroded and cracked cocoon, his sockets gazing upwards at the ceiling, the teeth around his skull looking as if they curved up into that sly smile he always had.

I stepped into the room. “A-Adam?” I muttered his name in a questioning tone. “I-I’m so sorry,” I croaked, I walked up beside his cocoon and dropped to my knees. The pain flared in my right thigh but I ignored it, I rested my forehead against the broken machine and sobbed. “I’m sorry, Adam, I didn’t know!” I reached up and held onto the edge of the cocoon to keep myself from falling over. “Please forgive me!”

“No.”

My eyes widened at the sound of a distant male voice, followed by a pop and a metallic hiss. I looked upwards to see the cocoon opening itself despite being broken. From inside a skeletal hand reached up and grasped the side. Adam’s decayed corpse lifted itself up in a sitting position, his skull quickly turning to look down at me with that sly smile of his. However, instead of the smile carrying the humorous and playful banter like it always did. This time it felt intimidating, almost horrifying.

I screamed and fell back on my rear, I pushed myself away with my legs. Slowly the skeleton swung its legs over the side of the cocoon and stepped onto the floor, it’s boney feet clicking every time it made contact with floor.

Its mouth hung open and out of it came Adam’s voice. “How can I forgive someone who had a chance to save not only me, but everyone else too?!” His voice shouted in a manner I’ve never heard. “Because of you, Chloe, the human race has no chance of surviving!”

My back made contact with one of the four tables, tears spilled down my cheeks like water out of a broken dam. I covered my head with my arms and began to cower. “Forgive me!” I cried.

“Never!” Adam’s shout echoed, for a minute I thought it was over. That Adam had finished what he needed to say but then, in a low growl something barely audible I heard, “And to think I fell in love with you.”

My heart shattered and I fell onto the ground sobbing uncontrollably.

:[-]:

“Chloe!”

“It’s Chloe, I found her!”

“It’s all your fault!”

“With these embryos we can jump-start the human race.”

“Because of you, Chloe, the human race has no chance of surviving!”

“Chlo... sweet Celestia! Chloe, what’s wrong?!”

“Eva?”

“Has anyone ever told you how beautiful your eyes are?”

“Crystal, come here and help me!”

“You could’ve saved us!”

“Will I dream?”

I sat up in my bed with my face drenched in sweat, confused, scared, and terribly hungry. I quickly scanned the room I was in. Metallic walls on all sides, a dresser on the opposite end of the room where a desk and chair sat directly across from it, along with a closet just beside the bed I was in. I was in one of the regular bedrooms.

I felt something drip off my face and onto my lap. Raising a hand, I brushed my cheeks and felt they were damp. Of course with my tears. ‘Had I been crying in my sleep this whole time?’ I asked myself when I looked over and noticed the large stain in my pillow, I turned my attention back onto the room. ‘When did come here?’ I pushed the blankets that were bundled up around my knees off to the side. With a small ache in my right leg, I flung each one over the side of the bed and stood up. I waddled a bit as I tried to keep my balance. Glancing down, I was luckily still in my new clothes, however, they were drenched in sweat. So much so that Eva’s tank top was practically see through, I quickly buttoned up my denim jacket.

I heard the door to the room slide open. “Whoa!” Crystal’s voice sounded shocked, I faced door, both Crystal and Quartz were standing by the entrance eyeing the automatic door. “It’s like it knew we were coming!”

“That’s... that’s because it did.” I flinched at a sudden ache that had formed in the back corner of my skull.

“R-really?” Crystal asked.

“Yes.” My stomach rumbled. “It’s called sensors.” Before either of them could reply I stepped past them and made my way down the hall towards the stairwell.

“Glenn,” I said, my stomach rumbled once more, “unlock all exits please.”

“Certainly.”

Once again the echo of every deadbolt on the exit doors unlocked simultaneously. “Wh-where are you going?” I heard both Quartz and Crystal ask.

My hunger seemed to overpower my urge to reply, so I ignored them and continued on. Not only that, something else was bothering me:

“Because of you, Chloe, the human race has no chance of surviving!” As repetitive as it was, Adam’s voice continued to rage on in my head.

‘That can’t be true,’ I thought to myself.

I stopped before the door leading to the small staircase and the faces of two ponies rammed into my rear which nearly sent me face first into a door of metal. I caught myself with a hand pressing against the door.

“Chloe!” Quartz called my name.

I looked at her with a twitching brow. “Not now,” I growled, Quartz’s and Crystal’s ears flattened and they backed away.

‘As of now, the food can wait. Right now, I need to check on the embryos.’

I grabbed onto the door’s wheel and twisted it open. “Glenn,” I said as the door swung open I made my way up the stairs, “what’s the status of the embryo chamber?” I reached the top of the stairs, the ponies following behind me, turning left I limped down the hall.

“Negative, I cannot get a reading on the embryo chamber.”

A stinging pain formed in my chest at the meaning of his words and I slowed to a stop. “No...” I muttered.

:[-]:

Myself and the two ponies stood at the edge of a long and tall metal door in the deepest level of the vault. “What the hay do you have in there, some kind of dragon?”

“My species’ last hope,” I whispered and reached for the console to my left. I inputted the code. The door let off a boisterous groan as it began to slide open, thus triggering an ear piercing siren that sounded every five seconds.

The door reached the end of its cycle and a small cloud of mist gently wafted its way out of the chamber. The room was chilled, but immediately I knew it wasn’t the right temperature; it wasn’t cold enough. I pushed my way into the room the ponies right behind me. It was dark, but that was soon fixed by Glenn illuminating the room.

It was bright, unlike the rest of the vault and its grey undertones. The Embryo Chamber walls and floor were white, the perfect color to use when you want to turn the lights on suddenly and blind someone. Down the middle of the room was a large inner wall, on each side of said wall along with the outer ones, were what looked to be large safes labeled A-Z. Each of these safes had a separate pin that you needed to use to open them, luckily Reynolds trusted me with the knowledge of most of these codes (some were just too complicated to remember, not to mention there were so many).

“What is this place?” Quartz asked.

“The embryo chamber,” I replied and waddled my way to the nearest safe.

“What do you have in here?”

“Bombs,” I said half mindedly. Instead, I focused more on inputting the pin into the module. When I finished I heard a click coming from the safe and I grabbed ahold of the handle. Instead of pulling it open like most safes you’d have at home, I twisted the handle, pressed it in and then pulled the entire safe out like a kitchen drawer. Inside the safe was a rack with a large cylindrical case, on said case were two lights. One was lit and one wasn’t, the color of the one that was lit was red. Next to the red light was a skull.

My heart ached and I hung my head low. The embryos had thawed out and died. I let out a shaky breath and shook my head. ‘There has to be at least one,’ I thought.

“What do you mean bombs?” Crystal asked as she followed me towards the next safe I knew the combination to.

I inputted the code and opened that one, on it was red light and skull. Which placed an even heavier weight on my shoulders. I gulped, ‘Maybe the next one will yield better results.’

I stepped past Crystal ignoring her question, the pony rolled her eyes and sighed. “You can’t keep pretending we don’t exist!” I stopped at the third, red light plus a skull. I bit my bottom lip and moved to the fourth, red light plus skull. Fifth, skull, sixth, skull.

The weight on my shoulders grew too much and I dropped to my knees in the center of the hallway, I pounded a fist into the ground and moaned. “Goddammit!” My eyes grew moist yet no tears fell. “God-fucking-dammit!”

“Chloe, what’s going on—” Crystal started but was silenced by Quartz placing a hoof on her side, looking over the unicorn shook her head. Crystal bit her tongue and nodded in understanding.

“There has to be one,” I said to myself. “They all can’t be dead... They all can’t be dead...” I repeated to myself over and over as I pushed myself back up onto my feet. “Just one, please just one.” I started my way down the hall towards the safe directly at the edge of the room, my weak limp gradually became a pathetic run.

I slammed the side of my body against the wall and caught myself with an arm, I rested my head into my arm and breathed heavily. Sweat dripped down my exhausted face and I reached up the side of the safe and began put in the pin. Once done the safe let off a joyful beep and the deadbolt came undone, grabbing the handle I twisted it, and pulled it open without any trouble. The rack slid out light and easily, to the point in which I knew it wasn’t right, looking at the rack, there was nothing on it.

My eyes widened, ‘How the hell?!’

“What?!” I stumbled back, the embryos were gone, as if someone had snatched them up and left. “How the?”

I looked over at the two confused ponies, the look on my face placing them in an uneasy mood. They both turned their heads away, Crystal rubbing her foreleg with the other nervously. I looked back at the safe. “They’re all gone,” I said pulling the rack farther out and peering inside, nope empty. “How can this be?”

Suddenly an idea came to mind. I stepped back from the vault and gazed up at the ceiling. “Glenn?”

“Yes, M’lady?”

“When did Dr. Reynolds wake up?”

“March 11th, 18001.”

My mouth dropped open, ‘That was only thirty-five years ago!’

“Wait what?” Crystal opened her mouth again. “March? 1800–what?”

Quartz nudged her in the side. “Do you ever stop asking questions?”

“Speaking of Dr. Reynolds, M’lady, there is a vidcom message waiting to be heard in the breakroom.”

I blinked. “A vidcom?”

“Yes.”

“When was it recorded?”

“October 12th, 18028.”

My heart practically stopped and I fell back, only to be caught by Quartz’s telekinetic powers. “Whoa now, girl!” She said and gently laid me on the ground, she stepped over me. “What’s gotten into you?”

My voice wavered, but not out of sadness, instead it was joy. “H-he’s still alive!” I reached up and grabbed the pony by the mane and yanked her into hug. “Jesus, he’s still alive!”

Chapter 5: Logs

Research Log #1

“Is this thing working? Ah, yes! Yes it is–ahem...

As a few of you may know, my name is Dr. James Reynolds; I’m the chief epidemiologist for the SOL Virus, not only that I even dabbled a bit into pathology. The year is October 12th, 2038. Whomever is watching this you’re probably wondering why I’m not in my cocoon like everyone else, well, there’s a simple answer to that.

There’s no point. My job, which was given to me by the President herself, is to find the cure for the SOL Virus, and God be damned I’m going to do it. Just because we lost communications with the White House doesn’t mean I’m going to huddle under my sheets and pray the monster goes away. People, that’s if I succeed there’ll be people watching this, you won’t be around if I don’t find a cure.

Already I think I’m onto something–”

“Dr. Reynolds, I advise you resort to your cocoon. I’ll be filtering out the air shortly.”

“How soon are we talking here?”

“Two minutes, sir.”

“Ugh, alright. Reynolds out–”

––

Research Log #2

“Alright, just reposition the camera.... and perfect!

Ahem!

Judging Glenn’s records the date seems to be January 1st, 10015... damn. That’s a pretty long time... I didn’t wake up till a few hours ago. Unlike the others I set my timer to only about ten thousand years or so–I forgot the exact date. So the others are still asleep and will remain that way for another eighty thousand years.

So why am I awake?

Again I vowed my entire life to solving the issue with the SOL Virus. Though judging by the fact I can’t get a bloody signal with the surface, humanity was either destroyed or they forgot about us...

That’s not something I wish to think about.

Reynolds out."

––

Research Log #3

“Date today is June 15th, 12038.

I went back down for another long nap after making no progress whatsoever with the project. No matter how many times I test it, the virus constantly seems to be evolving at a sporadic rate unlike anything I’ve seen before; it’s entirely alien. No pun intended.

Every medicine ranging from Anthrax, Adenovirus, anything I can get my hands on. Even if it’s meant for it or not, I need results! And results I did receive, they were all negative, the SOL Strain wasn’t even phased.

Quite honestly, after all this time I still don’t even know what the SOL Strain is. Yet it is a virus, or is it not? Honestly it isn’t even a virus! Reason why I say this is because, unlike all other viruses, it can reproduce itself sexually with other organisms of its breed. When you look at the books it really falls under the definition of bacteria or maybe even a protist–something that can reproduce without destroying other beings!

I’m sorry... just frustrated that’s all.

So why do people call it a virus?

Well it started off with the general public and scared politicians. From what I recall we didn’t know what it was, and we still don’t. What a lot of people think when they hear ‘virus’ is a fast spreading disease, which is surely what this falls under. The virus replicates itself and spreads at a speed unlike anything I’ve seen, so fast in fact that it’s hard to track. Not only that, viruses are genetically programmed to usually attack one or more kind of cells specifically.

Whereas with this disease... we don’t even know what it goes after.

And without any form of test subject I’m unable to run any tests.

Maybe I could wake up Chloe again? Nah, I’ll leave her be, she’s been through a lot. I’ll go check on Eva, perhaps she can help me.

Reynolds out.”

––

Research Log #4 pt. 1

“Oh fuck... oh sweet Jesus, what the hell happened? Fuck... just-just give me a minute...

...

This is Chief Epidemiologist, James Reynolds... Over the past couple years something terrible has slipped under our radar: Dr. Osai and John Adams passed away due to dehydration during their rest.

I don’t know when, and I don’t know how. Something must of malfunctioned with the cocoon or Glenn ‘forgot’–and I say that lightly–to activate the machine before pumping the serum into them.

Ah fuck... I’m sorry. My mind as you can see is out of it today...

Uh... the date... yeah. The date. Today’s the 14th of April, 12045, I haven’t slept that long... shit–I still can’t believe they’re gone. Eva, John... fuck man.

I checked on Chloe, the poor girl is still fine and sound asleep. I can’t even begin to imagine how she’s going to react to this news, her and Eva... they l-loved each other s-so–m-my apologies...

Excuse me–”

Research Log #4 pt. 2

“.........

I’m sorry about that... things should be better now. I went and shortened Chloe’s wake up time to 3991 years after I checked on everything in her room. Something seems to be wrong with the filtration system, I don’t know exactly what but small amounts of oxygen is leaking in faster than Glenn is filtering it out. Hopefully Chloe will be able to wake up before any of the corrosion takes effect and kills her too.

Speaking of which...

Chloe, if you see this recording in the future. I’m sorry. I’m so terribly sorry... I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through. Believing that I abandoned you or left the others to die when I could’ve woken them up.

And really... I can’t blame you.

Of all the times you three were asleep and I was awake, I had plenty of opportunities to figure out that something wasn’t right. But I didn’t. Instead I was too focused on finding a damned cure for a species that is practically extinct... I apologize, I shouldn’t say that.

What I’m trying to get at here is that... is that you shouldn’t blame yourself. Instead you should blame me for not realizing this sooner. I don’t blame you for getting angry or wanting to punch me in the face. I completely understand that.

.....

Reynolds out.”

––

Research Log #5

“Another thousand years have flown by and I’ve still found jack shit on the virus. To make matters worse I haven’t found out why Adam and Eva’s rooms rusted away. What’s leaking oxygen into the vault?

Not only that, look at this! I’m losing my goddamn hair!

I shouldn’t joke about that, Chloe. We have bigger problems, you’ve probably noticed it already too.

The embryos are dying.

The cooling vault is well... warming up, at a very slow rate.

I don’t know who fucking designed this place, but whoever they are, they did a piss poor job. Over the past thirty years the temperature in the embryo chamber rose up about thirty degrees. This isn’t good at all, Chloe. I need to figure out what’s causing this, but unfortunately I’m not an engineer like Adams was so it may be a while till I find something.

Reynolds out.”

––

Research Log #6

Date is August 5th 14067

(Cough! Cough!)

“Ugh, dammit... before you say anything, Chlo, yes I aged... a lot.

Matter of fact, biologically I’ve just turned 73 today, I believe my last log I was 58 years old. Heh... I’m sorry it’s been awhile, Chlo. As you can see, I did a little moving. I’m no longer in our vault. Strange I know. I had moved about three hundred kilometers north to the Kenway Emergency Vault.

It’s a lot smaller I’ll give you that, but at least the filtering system isn’t going haywire. Luckily I was able to save one of the population bombs. I transferred it here in one of the containment coolers, fucking bastard was heavy... no way an old man like myself now can carry that thing.

As of now though I have them stored away in the freezer cooler a couple hundred feet below. Right now I don’t plan on activating it until I finish my research on the cure for the SOL ‘Pathogen’. I’ll no longer be calling it a virus due to it being a false title. Heh, speaking of which look at this.

Come here buddy, come here, don’t be shy.

Ahha! Look at this baby! I found me a rat outside and captured it, the little bastard was quick but I got em alright! Now I know what you’re thinking, PETA would be very upset with what I’m going to do with him. And you’re right!

I’m sorry, Mickey, but I’m about to inject you with a disease that wiped out 99 percent of my species. Heh, that’s really fucked up. Anyhow, I’ll be injecting Mickey here and running multiple scans and MRIs on him.

I’ll be doing this because rats biologically are really close to humans, and as you can see, Chlo. Ninety nine percent of our species is gone yet the rat population seems unphased, quite honestly a vast majority of species seem to be unphased. So why was it that only we humans and the marine life were affected?

Well, that’s what I’m going to go find out now.

Reynold’s out.”

––

Research Log #7

“Holy fucking shit... I don’t even know where to begin. Two weeks have passed since my last log and the starting of my experiments and... shit. Chlo, we were wrong; this entire time you, I, everyone that lived on this goddamn planet! WE WERE WRONG!

It’s not a virus, nor is it a bacteria. It’s a goddamn parasite! But it’s no ordinary parasite.

It’s synthetic.

After further analysis I was finally able to segregate a single one of these pests from the rest and shove it under my electron-microscope. And by God what I saw was truly astounding, Chloe, take a look at this. Looks just like a protist, right? Guess what? It isn’t.

It’s a machine, or is the better word nanobot? Really it’s just a nanite that’s mainly made up of alien tissue, which is most likely a cover up and explains why we haven’t figured this out sooner. Not that discovering it would have helped us get any closer to a cure, but it would solve a lot of questions, yet raise new ones.

Clearly, Chloe, whoever made this is not human. It also doesn’t explain why such a race would develop something like this and destroy us with it, that is if it was their intention to destroy. Let alone if it was, why aren’t they here? During my trip to the Kenway vault I have not seen a single soul, even the birds and bugs were quiet. It was quite unsettling.

So the SOL Virus was never anything biological afterall. But I still can’t help but ask myself, why did it only target us humans and fish?

Reynolds Out.”

––

Research Log #8

“Three weeks later and boy, Chlo, do I have some interesting news for you. I’ve finally done it, I’ve actually figured out why the Human Race was wiped out! I know this is something I shouldn’t sound excited about, but for the past fourteen thousand years this has been eating away at me.

We were never sick to begin with.

This explains why medicine never worked, why vaccinations always failed. It’s because we weren't’ sick! I know this sounds weird and probably doesn’t make sense, but hear me out.

I finally injected Mickey with the nanites! If you don’t remember Mickey’s my rat. And boy, hoho-boy! Things got interesting.

I’m talking super interesting.

During the time of injection I had Mickey in for an MRI, I recorded the entire process. Every ounce of information at the slowest speed I could get. The results were phenomenal. The nanites don’t attack anything, Chloe, they don’t.

They’re like little construction workers is what they are. Immediately the nanites swam up Mickey’s blood stream and went directly into his brain where they began to take it apart piece by piece. I’m not a professional in neurology but I can tell you this isn’t natural, it was as if the nanites were deconstructing and then reconstructing the brain in their own image.

The process took exactly two hours, the whole time Mickey acted as if he was dying of a flu. Sneezing, puking, panting like a hot dog, the rat just couldn't take it. When it was over though, he was still alive and the nanites perished.

I was shocked, completely bewildered. An hour passed and Mickey finally got up–on two legs. The rat began to pace around like some sort of Bond villain... ugh, what the fuck am I saying. Here take a look.

See his cage is right here–what the fuck? Why is the cage open?! Did I leave it open? Where did he go... ah shit!

Sorry, Chloe, but I got to go.

Reynolds Out.”

:[-]:

The screen on the monitor went black and I sat back in my chair. My eyes were bleary and damp with fresh tears, I reached up with a hand to dry them out. After doing so I leaned forward in my seat and rested my elbows on my knees and hung my head forward with my eyes clenched shut.

“Dammit!” I groaned, I raised my head and glared at the monitor. “Why did you leave me here?!” I reached up and grasped the side of the screen and glared at myself through the reflection on the dark glass. My eyebrows were at a sharp angle and my eyes burned with rage. “Why?!”

Off of the reflection I saw Quartz make her way up beside me. “Perhaps he didn’t want you to suffer through what he’s gone through?”

“Like you’d know,” I mumbled.

“I don’t know,” Quartz replied, “matter of fact I don’t know anything about you.” She cast her eyes to the break room walls, she looked over at the kitchen. “I don’t know what any of this is to be honest.”

I sighed and slumped in my seat. “Then why do you care?” I grumbled.

“Because you look hurt,” Crystal’s voice came from behind me, I poked my head out from behind the chair and looked over at the bandaged pony. “And if there’s anything I learned from Quartz, it’s to help ponies who look to be in distress.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.” I brought my head back behind the chair and looked at the monitor. “You guys already helped me as it is, there’s nothing else you can do.”

“Now don’t say that!” Quartz got even closer to me, like uncomfortably close, she was practically climbing onto the chair like an overly social dog. “There has to be something we can help you with.”

“Yeah like keeping you company!” Crystal added. “Who else is going to stitch you up the next time you fall over?”

I lowered my head and gently closed my eyes, I released a quiet breath. Though it didn't look like it, I was touched. These creatures didn’t even know who or what I was aside from the title “human” and the name “Chloe” yet they were devoting themselves to help me. In a way it was kind of creepy, yet also kind of cute, they reminded me of a child who really wanted to help their mother cook dinner. The mom knows that the second she hands the girl the mixer, things were about to get messy, and that’s exactly how I felt.

If I let these guys stay, things might not turn out so well. However, I was afraid that if I let them go, I myself won’t last long. “Thank you,” I said quietly.

“What?” Quartz tilted her head at me.

I raised my head and smiled lightly at her. I reached out with a hand and ruffled her long mane, the pony yelped and clenched her eyes close. Her nose wrinkled back and she frowned as a red blush seeped through her coat. “What are you deaf?” I chuckled and scratched behind her ears, Quartz squeaked and bit her bottom lip. “I said thank you.” I looked back at Crystal. “I’m happy you’re both here.” I took my hand off the Quartz’s head she opened her eyes, blinked, and looked at me with a confused face.

I grinned. “What? Never been petted befo–”

“Ah, yes. This is quite fascinating.” A posh feminine voice came from the monitor in front of me. Looking back at it I saw that another video had started playing. On screen I saw a very old man with in a lab coat, he had an eye patch over one eye, and a beard at a length that’d put Rapunzel's hair to shame. His body took up much of the webcam’s footage, while his hand rested on a computer mouse clicking a few things and muttering to himself.

“It’s alright.” Reynold’s deep raspy voice replied to the unseen woman.

“How long has this been down here?” An equally posh girl yet much younger sounding asked.

“Over fourteen thousand years, maybe slightly longer than I have.” Reynolds stepped back from the webcam and sat down, allowing me a full sight of him. Compared to the last video he has aged even more since then, possibly another fifteen years, the man looked as if he was in his late eighties early nineties.

“Thou hath lived longer than our mother?!” the unseen girl exclaimed.

Reynolds looked at the camera, grinned, and winked at it with his one eye. ‘I wonder what happened to his other eye?’

The old man spun around in his chair, allowing us to only see the back side of his seat. “You’re talking about that white alicorn with the red hair right?”

“You met her?” the older woman asked.

I saw Reynolds arms raise up from behind the chair in a shrug. “We spoke a few times and had some tea together, about it.”

My eyebrows knitted and I leaned towards the screen with a frown. ‘What the hell are they talking about?’

“Is that guy in the box talking about who I think he’s talking about?” Crystal hovered in the air behind me, she leaned over my shoulder and looked at the screen.

“I think he’s talking to the princesses,” Quartz mumbled she too was getting up right next to me and leaning towards the screen. “But they sound so young.”

I took my confusion away from the screen and towards the ponies. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Really? You had spoken with our mother?”

“Of course I have; even immortal goddesses get curious when they hear there’s something older than them.” Reynolds laughed.

“Wait a second,” I said, “are you guys implying he’s talking to other ponies?”

Quartz’s head tilted slightly. “Well who else could he be talking to. I heard him mention the princess’s mother so he has to be.”

“Is there anymore of your kind?” the older voice asked.

“Yes.” I raised an eyebrow at that. “Though there aren't many of us left. Sergeant Rockwell and his men are out on a mission as of now. So it’ll be awhile till you hear from them.” My heart rammed against my chest.

‘Sergeant Rockwell? His men? There were other people who made it besides me and Reynolds?!’

“However,” Reynolds continued, “We do have a breeding center down stairs if you’d like to check out the young ones.”

“Oh, Tia, could we?” The young one asked excitedly.

A light chuckle admitted from off screen. “Of course we can, Luna.”

Reynolds clapped his hands together. “Alright then, if you two could please head out the door. I’ll be right with you in a minute.” I could hear the distinct sound of clopping hooves followed by a sliding door, when I heard it close Reynolds spun to face the camera. “Sorry about that, Chloe,” He said, “I wasn’t expecting the Queen’s daughters to come waltzing in here.” He Rolled his eyes. “Well like last week, I’ve learned nothing about how the nanites control ‘magic’–”

“Whoa, what?!” I rose up from my chair, my left shoulder nearly clocked Crystal in her chin. “Last week? I don’t have anything from–did we miss something?” I paused the video and opened up my inbox, nope this was it. The last one that was sent.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Crystal asked.

My mind raced a million miles an hour.”I-I don’t know, apparently I’m missing out on a lot more messages. When did he ever state that the SOL Strain controls ‘magic’?”

“Perhaps he forgot to send the others?” Quartz suggested.

“Or the mail pony hasn’t delivered them yet,” Crystal added.

I blew out a wave of hot air and sat back down. “Goddammit.”

“Maybe if we just wait–”

“No.” I said and turned off the monitor. I got up from my chair and went over to the kitchen, my stomach had started to rumble once again. I opened the fridge, everything was gone. ‘Reynolds must’ve dumped everything after he woke up and saw they were all bad.’ However, there were a few things that still remained, a ton of packed MREs the U.S. Government left for us, just in case.

I reached in for the nearest one and dragged it out along with a stack of others that slid out and fell onto the floor. I didn’t bother to pick them up. I tossed the bag on the counter and tore a knife out of a nearby kitchen drawer and sliced the top of the bag open. Meanwhile the two ponies by the computer gave me odd looks.

“You mean we aren’t waiting?” Crystal asked.

“Exactly,” I said tipping, the MRE belongings onto the counter. ‘Lucky me, an omelet.’

It wasn’t the first time I’ve eaten an MRE. Before being tossed up down here during the epidemic, I took refuge in a military camp on the outskirts of Philadelphia. I won’t talk much about my experience except for this: don’t ever chew the gum.

“There’s no way in hell I’m going to sit around here waiting for a damn message.” I glanced at the heat pack and tossed it aside. I felt there wasn’t enough time to eat warm food. I opened the omelet package, thankfully it wasn’t a frozen brick. “After I’m done here I’m heading to the surface and finding out where Reynolds is.”

“Hold on a second?” Quartz walked over to the counter right as I took a bite out of my cold omelet. It tasted awful but that was the least of my worries. “We don’t even know where he is.”

“I do,” I said with a mouth full of egg, I swallowed. “The Kenway vault is a couple hundred kilometers north of here. It’ll take a while, but we’ll get there.” At the sound of the last part Crysta’s ears perked up and immediately hopped on board with me.

“Even then,” The pegasus took flight and landed on top of the counter, knocking a few of the MRE’s condiment supply onto the floor, “he was talking to the Princesses, if worse comes to worse we can always ask them.”

Quartz’s jaw nearly struck the floor. “Like that’ll ever happen! Do you know how hard it is to make an audience with them?”

Crystal rolled her eyes and stuck both of her forelegs out to me. “Look at her, Quartz, she’s an alien! The second we take her into town we’ll be drawing attention from everypony!”

Quartz closed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

I took another large bite out of my omelet and chewed it. “Even then.” I swallowed. “You heard the recording, if Reynolds being fourteen thousand years old caught the attention of a Queen.” A large smile came to my face and I leaned towards the ponies. “Wait till they hear my age.”

:[-]:

“SIXTEEN THOUSAND?!”

Crystal nearly fainted at the number I had given her, she fell off the counter. I blinked, then frowned. “He-hey! I’m not that old!”

“Like tartarus you aren’t!” She clambered back onto the metal surface and jammed a hoof in my direction. “You’re older than both princesses combined!”

I rolled my eyes and bent back over. Grabbing another MRE, I straightened myself out and tossed it into a trash bag. For the record, I’m not throwing out the food, the trash bag was the first thing I could think of in terms of lugging around my belongings. Originally when I first came to the vault I did have few cases and a book bag. Unfortunately I had left those items in Eva’s room after our last night together when we slept together. If you haven’t guessed it yet, they decomposed with her.

“Here you go.” Quartz said as she placed a large bag full of clothing and food beside me. “I gathered whatever I thought of that could be useful to you.”

I smiled and gave her a small nod. “Thanks.” I grabbed the bag and hoisted it up, the bottom of it ripped open and tons of shoes, wrenches, MRE packs, and nails spilled onto the floor. “Jesus, what the?!” My eyes widened and I stared down at the mess at my feet.

“S-sorry!” Quartz blurted, Crystal fell back off the counter, this time out of laughter.

“I said anything that could be useful!” I shouted, groaning I got onto one knee and started to carefully pick out the useful bits while trying to avoid pricking myself on the nails.

“I’m sorry,” Quartz grumbled and got down beside me to help, “it’s just that I don’t know exactly what you need.”

“It’s fine,” I said, “I’ll try and be more specific next time.”

Quartz nodded her head and used her magic to levitate a few MREs over to me. I plucked them out of the air and set them aside. Looking back at her, I reached out and scratched her behind the ear.

The ponies eyes widened at the sudden touch and I noticed a deep crimson bleeding through her coat. She recoiled back. “What are you doing?” she asked.

My gut wrenched and I blushed. “Oh uhm, sorry... just some kind of side habit.” I turned back to the work at hand. “I’ll try not to do it.”

Quartz looked at me, her cheeks still flushed, it was pretty adorable. I glanced at her to which she quickly looked away. “Next time,” she said, “just give me a heads up.”

I sat there for a few seconds, then smiled. “Will do.”

“Ugh, what’s taking you guys so long?” Crystal asked, looking down on us from up on the counter.

“I dunno,” I muttered, “blame your friend, she’s the reason for the mess.”

“Wh-what?!” Quartz glared at me, her once cute features gone. “You’re the one who picked the bag up.”

“But you’re the one who treated it like Santa’s sack!” I retorted.

Both ponies looked at me confused. “What?”

I curled my lips back. “Uh...” I started working again. “It’s a human thing.”

Both ponies shared a look with one another and shrugged. “Anyhow, Crystal, why don’t you come down here and help?”

Crystal laid her barrel on the countertop and let her fore legs dangle over the edge. “Well I would and all, but... you see I have a problem. You have magic, she has those finger things, I on the other hoof have, well.... hooves.” Just to emphasize her point she raised her fore legs up.

I then added; “There’s also no way in Hell I’m letting her mouth touch any of my stuff.”

Quartz rolled her eyes then. “Okay, could you at least bring the wagon closer to the entrance so we can load this stuff up?”

Crystal pursed her lips and tilted her head. “Well you see, I don’t know my way out of–”

“Glenn,” I said.

“Yes, M’lady?”

“Could you please help guide this pony out of the vault.”

“Certainly, Pony, if you could please make your way out the nearest entrance to the hall that’d be most valuable.”

Crystal frowned and let off a deep breath. “Alright, I’ll go.”

“Thank you.” Quartz said turning her head to smile at me. “Nice thinking.”

I shrugged. “What can I say, she was kinda getting on my nerves too.”

The unicorn chuckled. “She has that effect on ponies.”

“And humans alike...” I trailed off. “Well I should really say ‘human’.”

“I bet there’s another one of your kind out there who’ll just, if not equally, be annoyed of her as we are.” Quartz giggled. “But that’s what makes her so likeable in my respect.”

I finished bagging the last MRE and stood up, I tied the bag and slung it over my shoulders. It had a decent weight to it, nothing I couldn’t handle. That is if my right leg wasn’t in a state of agony. I gritted my teeth. “You ready?” I asked the mare.

She nodded and levitated two full bags into the air. “Whenever you are.”

I smirked. “Let's get going then.”

:[-]:

Quartz and I tossed my luggage into the back of the wagon. With a small amount of help from the unicorn, I climbed into the back with my things. The ponies hopped up next to me. All three of us now sat in the back of the wagon with no one up front to pull it.

I glanced around genuinely confused. “Okay what?”

Crystal raised her one visible eyebrow to me. “What?” She asked.

“Who’s going to pull the wagon?” I gestured to the front of the wagon. “Do you guys have like horses or something?”

Crystal’s eyebrow looked as if it was raising even higher. “You mean like a pair of stallions?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

Quartz sighed. “Would you two just give me a second, I’m in the middle of preparing the spell.”

I looked over at her. “Spell? What spell is this?”

“This one.” She smiled wide and her horn flashed a bright green. Seconds later a wind picked up around us as leaves and twigs began to assemble themselves before us. Like glue, I could see tree sap coming from all angles, latching itself between and around what looked like forming joints, hardening itself so that the pieces would mend together. I watched this magical construction with utter disbelief and a small bit of horror. Seconds later all of my apprehension was turned entirely into fear as two really large wolves, that were made entirely out of wood, stood before us. Their eyes glowed an ominous green, their jowls leaked tree sap, their teeth were crooked splinters, and their fur was made of moss.

“Y-you cr-created a-a-a literal timber wolf,” I stammered, beginning to push myself towards the rear of the wagon.

“Indeed I did.” Quartz got up and placed the tip of her hoof in her mouth, she then whistled into it and both sets of ears on the wolves perked up. “Alright, boys! Next stop is Ponyville, now git moving!”

Author's Note

Is it just me, or does "Sergeant Rockwell" sound like a really cool name :trollestia:

Chapter 6: Alien

The wagon shook and rattled over the poorly maintained road as the two wooden wolves pulled us towards a town just over the hill. My stomach churned and groaned with each bump we went over, so I was forced to place a hand over my gut to try and keep down whatever was trying to come up my throat.

‘And I thought my old bus route to school was bad.’ I groaned and reached for a nearby bag just to be safe.

“Got a weak stomach?” Quartz took her eyes off the road and smiled at me.

“You could say so–” We struck a bump and my stomach lurched, placing a hand over my mouth, my head went over the side of the wagon and I hurled.

“Whoa!” Crystal exclaimed as she watched me blow a few chunks.

I moaned sadly. ‘So much for the bag,’ I thought as I reached up and wiped a bit of saliva off my chin.

After a few moments of dangling off the side of the moving wagon, I began to feel a bit better and decided it’d be safe to lay back against the pile of supplies behind me. The second my back touched the bag of barley. the timber wolves ran over another large pothole and I was once again forced to fling my head over the edge and blow chunks again.

The entire time Crystal was having a field day while she watched me suffer. “Man, if you’re this bad on a wagon, I can only imagine being with you when we’re flying.”

I spat on the ground to clear the taste of bile and brought myself back inside. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I brought a hand up to cover my face. I breathed heavily into my palm and gritted my teeth, suppressing an uncomfortable groan I replied, “Don’t even get me started with planes.”

“Planes?” both ponies said in unison.

I felt the bile in my gut start to churn again. “Y’know, big flying machines. Metal tubes with wings powered by liquefied dinosaurs.” We struck large a rock and the wagon bucked me a few centimeters into the air, I landed back onto it with a slight oof, my stomach flopping all about inside me. I moaned and rolled onto my side, I brought my knees close to my chest and hugged them. “Are we there yet?” I asked in a whiney voice.

“Just a couple more minutes.” Quartz looked at me from behind her seat. “We can stop if you’d like?”

“No need...” I cringed. “Keep going.”

The pony raised a concerned eyebrow towards her friend and Crystal simply shrugged and relaxed in her spot. “So where you from, Chloe?” she asked me out of nowhere.

A twinge of pain in my heart made itself known. The question completely threw me off balance. Immediately the queasy feeling in my gut was replaced by the oh-so not needed homesickness. It had been hard leaving the place I had lived my entire life, Manhattan; The Big Apple; or The City that Never Sleeps. At least it seemed like that before the “Plague” hit.

My eyes began to water as the memories of being walked out to a humvee that had parked itself outside my apartment emerged from the darkest part of my brain. It was the same day my test results were revealed to the public and were openly announcing my immunity in the hospital where my sister had been signed into. I knew from the first week the outbreak happened that I wasn’t being affected by the “disease”, however, my sister was. So as a way to help her I thought that if I could get some men in white suits to look at me they could create a cure.

"And look how that turned out."

“What?”

The voice snapped me out my trance, blinking, I brought a hand to wipe the dampness out from under my eyes. “Wh-what?” My voice was rasp. “Did I say that out loud?”

“You sure did, ” Quartz called back, not taking her eyes off the road.

I looked at Crystal and our eyes met. It was more like my eyes and her single one met, she still hasn’t taken the bandages off. She frowned. “Were you crying?”

My eyes widened and my heart rate kicked up. “N-no!” I turned away my face flushing. ‘I really need to find someplace to be alone for a little while.’

“Whoa, what’s with the sudden denial?” Crystal chuckled. “Don’t worry, I won’t judge if you were...” She grew quiet, I glanced over my shoulder and saw she had a more serious look. “After that movie we saw back in the temple with the old stallion, after I heard him say that sickness took out 99% of his species. He... was referring to yours, right?” she said questioningly.

I turned back towards her and pulled my knees in close. “Yes,” I said dryly. “My race; the human race, was exterminated by that ‘disease’ called the SOL Virus.” The pain in my heart began to resurface.

I felt the wagon level itself out as we pulled over the top of a hill. As that happened we waited in a brief moment of silence, one that Quartz broke. “And your friends?” she asked hesitantly, “Were they k-killed by the–”

“Not by the virus, no,” I answered quickly, tears had formed around the edges of my eyes.

‘God, I don’t want to talk about this!’

“They died of dehydration due to a malfunction in the main VIs system!” A sudden irritation rose out of me. “Weren’t you guys paying attention to the video?!”

“Chloe,” Quartz said looking back at me, “You have to realize that we have no idea about half the things you’re saying. Everything down in that whatchamacallit was like something out of a sci-fi novel,” she said then pointed at me with a hoof. “You are like something out of a sci-fi novel!” She sighed. “What I’m trying to say is that... in other words, we know absolutely nothing about you or what you are.”

My lip quivered and I broke eye contact with the pony as my head went directly onto my knees. I gently cried. “Everyone I’ve known is dead! My mom, sister, and friends they’re all gone, okay! You happy?! If what you’re trying to get at is what I think it is, I’m practically the last one of my entire species! Now leave me alone!” I barked. I rolled back over and hugged my knees against my chest.

Quartz looked at me worried. “C-chloe, I’m–”

“Let her be, Quartz,” Crystal said, “clearly she doesn’t want to talk about it.”

:[-]:

The wagon slowly came to a stop, a green light flashed, the sound of howling wolves and splintering wood reached my ears. A darkness loomed over me and I felt something like a blanket wrap itself around me.

‘Great,’ I internally moaned, ‘as if it wasn’t warm enough out as it is.’

“Chloe, we’re here.” I felt Quartz’s breath on the back of my neck as she whispered into my ear.

I was still a little frustrated over the earlier Q&A session. All I wanted was to be left alone for some time; to sit and gather my thoughts. ‘I knew I shouldn’t of let them tag along,’ I thought to myself.

“Chloooe...” Quartz slurred my name and poked me in the back with the tip of her hoof. “You awake?”

I groaned and pulled the blanket tighter around me. “Go do what you want,” I muttered, “I’ll just sleep in here.”

A moment of silence past.

“I can’t do that,” Quartz finally said.

“Why not?” I practically whined.

“If I leave you here somepony will spot you–also put these on.” I felt her drop something on my back. Popping one eye I open, I winced when the vibrant rooftops that surrounded us blinded me.

“What is it?” I grumbled and slowly reached over to grab whatever was on my back. I grabbed whatever it was and felt that it was rather soft. Bringing it around to the front of my face I saw that it was actually two items. They looked like two oddly shaped gloves that were made for someone with four thick fingers.

“It’s going to be part of your disguise,” Quartz whispered, “now wrap the cloak around you and lets go.”

I yawned, rolled onto my back and on top the cloak, I looked up at the pony. Quartz towered over me her head shining with an almost white aura due to it blocking the sun. Bangs from her mane dangled loosely off her head partially blocking one eye, our eyes locked together, I didn’t move a muscle.

“H-hi,” I muttered, shocked by how close she was.

The pony blew her bangs away from her eyes and raised an eyebrow. “You gonna put it on?”

I blinked the tiredness out of my eyes. “Put what on?”

Quartz bopped her forehead with a hoof. “The disguise, quickly before somepony sees you.” I went to push myself up into a sitting position but was quickly forced down by an invisible force. “Don’t be stupid!” The pony bent over and hissed into my ear. “Right now we’re surrounded by locals. The second they see you we’re going to be in trouble.”

I looked at Quartz with wide eyes. ‘Well someone is in a bad mood.’

“What kind of trouble?” I whispered.

Quartz gave me a dead look. “The kind that gets you locked away in some lab or petting zoo.”

I bit my bottom lip. “Okay.” I nodded and reached under myself to grab the cloak. “So I just put it on?” The pony nodded, I shrugged. “Alright, doesn’t sound too bad.”

:[-]:

“This is worst thing ever,” I said in a very poor Russian accent as Quartz and I slowly pushed our way through a small shopping district towards a crystalline castle. The castle vibrantly reflected the light from the sun which blinded me every time I tried to steal a glance at it. Luckily with the cloak that covered my entire body it didn’t affect me as badly as anyone else, that is if it bothered them. Half the time Quartz looked as if she was staring at it without a single problem.

However, what this cloak and gloves did bother me with was the damn heat! It feels like a it's over a hundred degrees out. I could already feel my clothes beneath my cloak sticking to my body. It was fucking gross, not to mention that I felt like I was going to die of heat exhaustion!

‘If I stick out here long enough I’m gonna pass out, and then I’ll really sound like a fucking Russian.”

I took a deep breath and glanced around the district. It was relatively busy out, and by God was it the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. Ponies of all kinds; winged, horned, ones with nothing special about them all pranced around us. Not only that, they all had different colors, so much so that I couldn’t even count all the different kinds. Another thing I noticed was that they all had tattoos on their asses, none that could be compared to mine, but I did find it weird. I stole a quick glance at Quartz’s ass and sure enough she had one too; one that represented her name rather well. It was a pick-axe striking a vein of crystals.

‘Speaking of Crystal,’ I thought, ‘Where is she?’

I decided to ask Quartz. “Horn pony,” I said trying to get her attention, Quartz glanced back at me. “Where is flying horse?” At first speaking in the stupid accent was slightly entertaining, but now it was just getting annoying. Apparently in Quartz’s eyes I was supposed to pretend to be some kind of ambassador for some gang called “The Diamond Dogs”, something about because I was a woman it’d be more believable.

“Crystal’s out running a few errands,” she said lowering her voice, “and keep it down will ya, you’re drawing attention.” As if I wasn’t doing that enough already, the entire time we were receiving awkward stares from every direction. In mid conversations and store transactions, they would stop what they were doing and stare. Again, I’m thankful for the cloak I was wearing, it covered up most of my features and the shadow it cast over my face made walking through the crowd even easier.

For Quartz that is. In terms of myself, I was a bit freaked out. There were horses here, there, everywhere! I was utterly surrounded by them, not only that I swore I saw a talking fucking cow that was being milked in a nearby concession stand, and the look on its face while being milked was far beyond disturbing. I take back what I said, I was terrified of this place. I’d rather have been left out in the woods, or in the vault with Glenn then be in this town. That raised another question: how the hell was this place built? It looks kind of like a small American suburb, except a lot more... colorful.

Even the doors looked as if they were made for people, just very little people. Like kids. It didn’t make a lick of sense to me, none of this felt real, none of it felt like it was actually happening. The only thing that kept me from believing that fact was the throbbing pain coming from my right thigh where I was injured. The amount of walking we were doing was finally taking its toll on it.

However, that didn’t keep my feeling of doubt from fading completely.

“What kind of errands?” I asked, my walk now becoming a pathetic limp.

“A bit of bartering and selling. We scrounged up a bit of junk you were tossing aside earlier–”

I stopped dead in my tracks while Quartz continued on a little further. A sudden rage billowed out of my chest. “What?!” I broke character.

Quartz stopped and spun around. She ran towards me with a tip of a hoof to her lips “Ah! Shhh! Shh!” she hissed. “We didn’t take anything big or import–”

“You stole from my home?!” I growled.

The pony’s ears flattened and her pupils grew wide. “Just a bit of gold and some tools... I’m sorry Chloe but we need the bits!”

“Fuck your bits!” I raised my voice again, ponies all around us stopped and turned their attention towards us. “Those are my things! You hear me?” Quartz quickly nodded her head. “And I want them back.” I leaned close enough to the pony so that she could see the rage in my eyes. “Find Crystal and have her return the items to the wagon now!”

“Wh-what about you?” Quartz whispered her eyes drifting towards the confused locals. “Any second now and you’ll blow your cover!”

“Like I give a shit about that.” I leaned back, sighed and flopped back over to my hideous accent. “I’ll go ahead, you find her.”

Quartz fumbled. “Wait... what? You can’t go the castle on your own! You don’t even know the basics of pony ethics or how to communicate properly with royalty.”

“I’ll manage.” I turned away from Quartz and faced the blinding castle. “Besides, I am foreigner, they will understand. Now go.”

:[-]:

I stood in a open field on a dirt path which lead to a golden staircase and a door that towered at least about ten feet. The castle itself was much bigger than I thought it was back when I was in that make believe town. Quite frankly, this castle takes the words make believe to whole knew level. Like my dreams I used to have back when I was in preschool kind of level.

Despite its prissy charm I’ll admit that it was rather intimidating. Standing alone at the stairway to a massive castle, it’s nothing I’d ever imagine doing–in real life that is. Quartz explained to me earlier while I was getting dressed on why we were coming here, we needed to talk to someone named “Twilight Sparkle”, who apparently was recently crowned a Princess.

‘I thought all that stuff related to blood lines and what not?’ I thought.

Originally the plan was supposed to go along with me pretending to be some ambassador like I said, who was very bad at speaking... equine-ish? I couldn’t remember what she said it was called. So therefore she’d do most of the talking for me, but it just so turned out I scared her off.

So now it was time to do things my way, and what way was that?

I had not a fucking clue. All I needed was answers and that’s what I knew I was going to get. So I proceeded up the golden stairs up to the door, when I reached the top I held out my hand and pressed it against its surface. It opened without a hitch.

“No lock?” I said to myself with a raised eyebrow. “Robbery might not be a worry around here.” I nervously stepped into a large, dim lobby. I walked onto a red rug as the door closed abruptly behind me, I jumped at the loud bang it made. I chuckled and straightened myself out, glancing around the room the walls and floor was made out grey-ish black marble. Ahead of me was a white staircase that broke off into two separate directions halfway up. On either side of the stairs were two thick pillars made of amethyst.

“Hello?” I called out in my Russian voice, I began to follow the rug towards the stairs. ‘Where is everyone?’ I thought, ‘Why aren’t there any guards here? Do horse princesses even have guards?’

I placed a foot on the first step to the stairwell and began to make my way up. “Is anyone here?” I yelled out.

“Be with you in a minute!” replied a young male voice. I stopped halfway up the steps when I heard the reply. ‘That was a boy who just spoke.’ I smiled, I never thought I’d hear the voice of a male who wasn’t a programmed robot ever again.

From my left at the top of the diverging stairwell came the sound of light steps, like bare feet on kitchen tiles. I looked in the direction and nearly choked on my spit. Hopping down the steps was a small dinosaur looking thing with purple scales and green spines, like the ponies it had a set of dinner plate sized eyes. The creature looked as if it hadn’t noticed me yet as it came bounding down the steps, upon reaching the landing where stairwell diverged it stopped.

“Hello?” the creature called out. It sounded almost like a young boy, presumably pre-teens? “Is anypony... there...?” The young creature trailed off when its eyes fell on me and the two of us were locked into a brief staring contest.

‘Yep,’ I thought, losing the staring contest. ‘I’m officially crazy.’

Like the young dinosaur in front of me, I was at a loss for words. I hadn’t expected there to be a prehistoric creature living inside this castle, and I could only assume the same for the creature. It possibly wasn’t expecting an alien to walk into the castle. After a few moments of silence I finally chalked up enough courage to say something. “H-hi,” I mumbled.

The dinosaur blinked. “Eh, hi?” He said questioningly, he then cleared his throat and began to slowly back up the stairs. “Is there... uhm... anything I can help you with?” I noticed his eyes flickering back and forth nervously.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. ‘Come on, Chloe, you’re making it nervous!’

‘Funny because I’m probably just as nervous as it is.’

‘For fuck sake, girl, grow some ovaries!’

“Ye-yeah.” I nodded my head, to make things easier on the lizard I reached up and pulled the hood of the cloak off my head. Upon seeing my face the dinosaur’s eyes widened, and I saw his body loosen a small bit. “I’m... uh–fuck what was I–” I fumbled over my words “–oh right, I’m here to see a princess!” I blurted out as the thought suddenly came to me.

The creature jolted at my outburst, then relaxed again. “Phew...” The creature wiped his forehead. “I almost thought you were a diamond dog,” he mumbled, then looked back at me with a more curious look. “Speaking of which, who are you?” He asked then quickly added, “That is if you don’t mind me asking.”

I raised an eyebrow, ‘I think this thing really is a kid.’ I smirked, ‘It’s kind of cute really.’

With that thought in mind I immediately lightened up a bit. “My name is Chloe,” I said softly, like the way I’d talk to most kids. I leaned towards the dinosaur with my hands resting on my knees. “What’s yours?”

Instantly I regretted speaking to the creature like a four year old when I saw the lizard cross its arm and raise an eyebrow at me. I could tell by just looking into his eyes that he was thinking, ‘Seriously? You’re going to talk to me like this?’ I curled my lips and straightened myself out, reaching up I tugged on the cloak's collar.

‘Is it just me or did it just get really hot in here?’

The lizard shrugged and said, “The name’s, Spike, I’m Princess Twilight’s assistant.” He smiled, “And right now Twilight’s a little busy with something.”

I looked at the lizard. ‘Spike, huh, how fitting.’

“She’s busy right now?” I clarified, “Any idea when she won’t be?”

The lizard frowned and looked at his wrist as if there was some watch there. “A couple hours,” He said and looked at me with a smug smile. “She’s been working throughout most the night anyways, so she might go to bed when she’s finished.”

I frowned. “Is there some way we can squeeze time in for me to talk to her. It’s really important.”

Spike tapped his chin with a claw. “Possibly. Let me go check.” He turned and scampered back up the stairs.

I rolled my eyes and sighed turning so that I was facing down the steps I sat down at the top the stairwell. I reached up and undid my cloak and flung it off, the cool air freezing my damp body. I gazed down at myself, I had been sweating like a pig under that thing the entire time I was outside. To make things worse my white tank top was soaked completely through and I had left my denim jacket back in the wagon.

I blew hot air out my nose and frowned. ‘Might as well just go nude now.’

“Alright!” I heard Spike call down from the stairs, I looked over and saw him skipping steps just to get to me. “I have some good news and bad news.”

“Oh boy, I can’t wait,” I muttered, slightly aggravated about my clothes.

“Good news is Twilight will be happy to talk with you.” I nodded my head, ‘Alright we’re getting places.’ “Bad news is she really needs to take a nap; it's so bad she’s speaking gibberish again.”

“Any idea how long this’ll take?” I took the cloak, wrapped it around my hand and began trying to dab the sweat out my shirt.

Spike shrugged. “A few hours at most.”

A small sire of irritation sprouted in my chest but I quickly doused the flame and nodded. “Okay...” I took my makeshift towel and began to wipe off my chest. “I can wait.”

Spike looked at me, entranced by the sight of me drying myself off. “Wait what? You mean here?”

I stopped just above my breasts and sighed. ‘This is pointless, I’m just going to need a new shirt. If I knew ahead of time that I’d be walking around in a black cloak I would’ve brought a spare.’

“Yep,” I replied to the dragon and tossed the cloak aside. I stretched my legs out and left them to dangle over a few steps. “It’s much cooler in here then it is out there anyways.”

A brief silence passed over us. My body finally adjusted to the cooler temperature, and the sweat that soaked my body evaporated off of me, leaving me with a damp, sticky see through shirt. I was less than pleased, thankfully the dim lighting made it so that you could barely notice the fact I wasn’t wearing a bra. It was just too hot to wear one.

I glanced over at Spike, he had taken position on the second flight of stairs that led to the left side of the castle. The lizard was sitting on the steps with what looked like a comic in his claws. Seeing the creature act casual around me was kind of off putting, almost unnatural. When I first came into this place I almost expected the first horse to see me would freak the fuck out, or approach me with curiosity like how Quartz and Crystal did.

But that lizard Spike!

No fucks given, none at all!

‘Like what the fuck?’ I thought and raised an eyebrow towards the lizard. ‘It’s like he’s ignoring my very existence now’. I’ll admit it, I was a little disappointed.

Spike glanced up from his comic book. “Can I help you?” He asked a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

I leaned back and blinked. “Oh um... Sorry.” I gulped. “I was just a bit curious.”

Spiked closed his comic book and set it aside. “I might be able to help you with that.”

“Why aren’t you scared of me, or curious for that matter?” I asked with slight hesitance.

The lizard replied to my question with one of his own, “Am I supposed to be scared or curious?”

Both my eyebrows raised and a frowned carved its way deep into my face. “Uh...” I shook my head. “So you aren’t even the slightest bit curious in an alien, like me, who just happens to walk in here?”

Spike cocked an eyebrow. “Well...” he started. “No.” He shook his head.

“Is there a reason for that?”

He lifted his comic book back up and turned the page. “It isn’t the first time I encountered one of your kind.”

My heart skipped a beat and the temperature of the room rocketed to what felt like a scorching 100ºF. “You mean you’ve seen the others?” I quickly asked him while I got onto my knees and crawled over to him.

Spike’s eyes widened when I towered above him, he dropped his comic and shoved his claws into my chest. “Whoa now!” His claws squished against my body, his attempt to push me off him doing little to nothing.

I glanced down and watched his feeble effort to move me. I giggled nervously as my cheeks began to burn. “Uh... sorry.” I pushed myself back out of his personal space. “I just... a spur of the moment thing....” My hand brushed against the spot the Lizard’s claws dug into, a slight sting started to make itself known. “S-sorry,” I said again.

Spike shook his head and sighed. “I don’t even want to know what just happened.”

I pushed myself back onto the landing so that my knees could fold themselves against my chest. Wrapping my arms around them I hugged them tightly. “I’m sorry,” I continued to say.

Spike looked at me and I swore I could a see a tad bit of annoyance on his face. “Don’t worry about it, I’m pretty use to getting smothered by ponies.” He breathed deeply. “You can thank Pinkie for that.”

I didn’t bother asking who this Pinkie pony was. Instead I said, “It’s just been a bit since I’ve seen anyone else.” My chin rested on the top of my knees.

“What do you mean?” Spike asked, the dragon once again placed his book aside. “You’re in Ponyville, you’re surrounded by ponies!”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not what I meant.” I stretched one leg out and kept the other against my chest. My eyes flickered towards the lizard. “I’m talking about other humans.” I said.

The dinosaur leapt up from his spot and onto his feet. “So why not just go back through the portal?” He asked me.

I looked at the lizard stupidly. “What?”

Spike’s face fell. “Well... isn’t that where you came from?”

“No not at–what do you mean portal?” For some reason I could no longer think straight.

Spike gave me a confused look. “Well it’s just that in the Crystal Empire there’s this magic mirror. When you go through it there’s a whole world full of ponies–I mean people who look like you... except... their eyes are bigger, they're a bit smaller, they also don’t have pale tan skin, and when they come through the mirror... they’re turned into... ponies... Oh my.” His eyes widened as I saw the gears finally start to turn in his head. “Oh Celestia you are an alien!” He pointed an accusing claw at me. I continued to look at him with a face of ‘Oh gee now you get it.’

The lizard began to breathe heavily and began to back his way towards the step. “Oh please don’t suck my brains!”

“WHAT?!” I straightened myself out. “A second ago you were perfectly fine and now you’re afraid of... what?!” I stood up.

“Stay back!” Spike snatched his comic book and rolled it up. “Or you’ll get a taste of my issue nine of the Power Ponies!”

I gave the smaller lizard a monotonous look. “I’m not even gonna ask.”

We stood there for at least a couple minutes before the lizard lowered his sad excuse of weapon and asked, “Aren’t you going to do anything?”

I crossed my arms. “I don’t even know why you’re freaking out.”

“Because you’re an alien, isn’t it your job to like try and take over Equestria.” His eyes widened. “Maybe that’s why you came to meet Twilight! You’re going to brainwash her the second you two are alone!”

My eyes blinked and I looked at the lizard with a frown. Suddenly I could no longer keep a straight face and I laughed out loud, stumbling back I sat on the floor and cradled my head in my hand while struggling to breath. “Wh-what the fuck... I can’t even!”

“So it is true!” Spike ran over to me.

“No it isn’t!” I laughed and rolled out of the way of his comic book swipe.

‘God he really is a child.’

“Don’t lie to me.” He swatted me in the head of the comic book, of course it didn’t hurt.

The dinosaur swung at me again and I easily caught the book in mid-air. “Let me clear something up for you.” I got up. “I’m not really an alien, I lived here my entire life.”

Spike’s face looked conflicted. “Wait... you lived here in Ponyville?”

“The planet.” I clarified and took a deep breath, my hand released the comic. “I’ve lived on this planet in a home built underground. Recently I got a message from an old friend inviting me over, however, I don’t know where he is.” Of course I was semi-telling the truth, no way I was going to tell a kid my entire species was brutally murdered by little robots. “Last I heard he spoke to the princesses.”

“Wait.. what... I don’t understand,” Spike said his voice told me his brain was having trouble processing the information. “Why did you tell me you’re an alien then.”

I looked back at him and smiled. “I just wanted to see your reaction, that’s all.” The lizards face burned red with embarrassment and I laughed. I pushed myself onto my feet when I stood up I caught a whiff of something horrid, almost rancid. I cringed. “Do you smell that?” I asked.

The lizard looked at me then sniffed deeply, his reaction was immediate. “Whoa!” I clenched his flaws over his nose and stumbled away from me.

“What?” I asked startled by his reaction.

“Uh... no offense but...”

“I stink don’t I?” I asked feeling a bit embarrassed, the lizard nodded. I curled my lips back. “Not to be rude... but do you guys have a shower I could use then?”

“Depends?” Spike said. “Do you promise not to brainwash anypony?”

“I told you I’m not an alien!”

“And that’s exactly what an alien would say!”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “I’m not even going to bother, can I use it or not?”

The lizard shrugged. “Alright, but under one condition.”

“And what’s that?”

“I have to watch you.”

Author's Note

I'll admit not much happened in this chapter aside from us learning a bit about Chloe, but only a bit. Not only that Quartz and Crystal are thieves (that's to be expected from a pair Tomb Raiders). Now like Chloe, we must wait a bit to hear her Conversation with Twilight.

I hoped you enjoyed this comedic chapter, I'm using it as a slow down before the emotional trauma returns.

Also Spike pervert now and he doesn't even know it

Chapter 7: An Embarrassing Shower and a Nice Princess

“What the fuck?!” I recoiled backwards, nearly casting myself down the staircase.

“What?” Spike tilted his head. “It’s the only way I can make sure you don’t try anything!”

“Bullshit it is,” I snapped, “I bet you just want to see me get naked, and there’s no way in hell that’s happening!”

Spike looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “What are you talking about? I see ponies naked everyday.” He then gestured at himself. “I’m naked right now!”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “That’s not my point,” I grumbled.

“Then what is it?”

“What’s under these.” I gestured with both hands at my clothes. “Is only available to those I trust and are of age.” That only seemed to confuse the lizard more.

“What?”

“Kids like you aren’t allowed to see me naked!” I shouted.

Spike leapt back at my sudden outburst, he held up both his hands. “Alright fine! I’ll stick by the door.” He crossed his arms and pouted.

I rolled my eyes. “At least we’re making progress,” I muttered.

:[-]:

Spike and I stopped at the edge of a large doorway in the center of a vast corridor. The door stretched upwards and looked to be nearly touching the ceiling fifteen feet above me. “Damn,” I whispered and glanced towards the lizard. “What do you got in there? King Kong?”

“What’s a ‘King Kong’?”

“Nevermind,” I sighed.

Spike walked up to the door and started to open it. “Well as of now,” he talked as he undid the lock on the door, “this is the best I can offer you. It's a little big so I don’t think you’ll mind.” Spike took the handle in his claws and pulled the door open, he motioned for me to step inside. “Ladies first,” he said with a wink.

‘That isn’t scary in the slightest.’ I chuckled nervously and stepped past him. When I walked into the washroom it was dark and eerie for a few moments before Spike turned a nearby nob. Above me I heard the sound of hissing gas, followed by a dim glow that sooned brightened up the whole room. I smiled at the sight of a large, empty bath surrounded by pink and purple crystal walls. The gas chandelier above casted a light that caused the crystalline walls to shimmer marvelously. The room looked to be something that would normally be a manly man's worst nightmare. However to me, I thought it was pretty cute. Most of the time my tomboy-ish side would fight against something like this, but this time... I think I can make an exception.

I casually walked over to the edge of the tub, soaking in its size. The thing was huge! Like it was made for some form of a public bath system or something; it was insanely big!

A smirked formed on my face. ‘I might as well consider it to be a swimming pool since I’m the only one who’ll be stepping into it–’ My thought quickly ended at the realization that Spike was still standing inside the washroom. I turned to face the small lizard, he was idly standing with his back pressed against the door and comic book held high in front of his face. I huffed. I’ve seen enough anime to know exactly what he was doing.

“You can go now.” I pointed at the door.

The dinosaur lowered his comic and cocked an eyebrow high in the air. “What?”

I made a shooing motion with my right hand. “Go, be free!”

The lizard shook his head and sighed. “I told you I was going to stand beside the door–”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “You’re going to stand by it... Outside!”

Spike rolled his eyes and closed his book. “Fine.” He opened the door. “I’ll stand outside; however–” he looked at me “–if I hear anything fishy I’m coming back in here, and I won’t be leaving then.” The lizard ducked through the doorway and closed it behind him.

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. Slipping my hands under my shirt, I quickly pulled it over my head and tossed it to the side. The immediate cool air struck my skin and I was overwhelmed with goosebumps. My arms wrapped themselves around me as I hugged myself to stave off the chill as best I could. I gritted my teeth and glanced back at the bundled shirt on the floor. ‘Perhaps I should get the water running before I strip.’

It took me fifteen minutes to find the damn string that triggered the tub full. Yeah, a string. That’s a bit of an over exaggeration, really it was a thin piece of rope with a black marble rock attached to the end of it. There were two hanging down from the ceiling, one for cold water the other warm water. Of course I pulled the warm one after I fucked up the first time. Unfortunately I had no way to control the temperature of the water in the massive pool, after I had gotten out of my panties I was flooded with the sudden urge to jump into this large, steaming, pool of water.

Lets just say it was a terrible idea.

The stitches in my right leg would also agree to the above statement.

“Gaaah!” I cried out when my head shot through the surface of the blistering water. Quickly I pivoted around a hoisted myself out of the bath and I stumbled onto my knees. My heart raced and my skin stung. ‘If I wasn’t awake before I sure as hell am now.’ The thought made me giggle and I got onto my feet. “God, I’m an idiot.”

“What the hay happened?” My eyes met with a wide eyed dragon, my mouth fell open and my hands immediately shot to my private areas in a feeble attempt to cover myself.

“What are you doing in here?!” I screamed.

The lizard winced and covered his ears. “Why are you screaming?”

Without thinking I dove back into the bath. Ignoring the intense heat I allowed my head to rise above the water. “I told you not to come here!”

“And I said if I hear anything out of the ordinary I’m coming in!”

‘He did say that,’ my conscience reminded me and I frowned. “God dammit,” I muttered partially into the water while kicking myself. I lightly bit my tongue and glanced around for any kind of soap or shampoo. “Alright fine,” I said as I swam over to an overhanging shelf that held bottles and jars. “Just... just don’t look at me okay!”

I looked over and saw Spike rolling his eyes. “Okay, I didn’t plan on it anyways.” He stuffed his snout back into his comic.

I glanced back at the shelf and examined the bottles of... ‘The hell is mane invigorator?’

I reached up onto the shelf and pulled down a bottle and jar of horse products. I read the names on each one out loud. “Mane cleaner well that’s obvious... I think. Uh, invigorator, stimulants... eh...”

I bit my lip. ‘This is gonna be a problem.’

“Having trouble there?” Spike called from over my shoulder.

Frowned slightly and looked over. “Uh... eh, n-no... maybe...”

I could hear Spike rolling up his comic. “Alright let me see.” I heard his claws clacking against the marble as he walked over to me. My frown deepened and my eyes widened as I heard him making his way over to me.

“Th-that won’t be necessary,” I said.

“Come on now...” The lizard trailed off, I took a quick glance over my shoulder and saw him standing a few feet away at the edge of the bath. “What was your name again?”

I looked back at the bottles of soap in my hands. “Chloe,” I mumbled with slight irritation.

“What?”

“My name is Chloe,” I said slightly louder and looked back over at him. “Now please just leave me be.”

Spike didn’t respond at first, instead he ignored my request and decided to crane his head around so that he could see my front half. He frowned when I turned my back towards him. “Yeah that isn’t going to work,” he muttered. “The soaps you’re using is only if you have a dry scalp.” Before I could react he jumped over the bath and landed on the ledge in front of me, he then turned around and reached into the shelf. I yelped at his sudden appearance and stumbled back into the water. “These here might be good for you,” he said as he pulled out a green bottle of shampoo along with a blue bottle full of conditioner. The little reptile didn’t even bother to hand them to me or set them aside, instead he tossed them out into the middle of the pool in my general direction. The bottles hit the water with a hefty splash and sank to the bottom.

“Th-thanks,” I said as I placed the other bottles aside and leaned over to grab the ones tossed to me out of the water.

“Oh wow,” Spike gasped.

I pulled the bottles back to the surface and placed them on the edge of the bath. I turned towards the awestruck lizard and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

He pointed at me with a claw. “Your cutie mark is awesome!”

I frowned. “My what?”

“Your mark!”

“What mark?” I glanced back down at myself.

The lizard sighed. “The mark on your flank.” I stopped in mid motion of turning my head to look at my rear, I could already sense the deep blush forming on my cheeks when it finally clicked in my head. “Like what was that? Two snakes attacking a cloud or something? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“N-nothing!” I backed myself literally into a corner in the bath. “It means nothing.”

‘Dammit, I can’t believe he seen the tattoo on my ass!’ I groaned and looked at my rear, it was nothing too prominent: two snakes coiled around an airliner on my right cheek. I had gotten it back when I was going out with my ex-girlfriend, which I refuse to say her name, after I had lost a bet with her in bed. Personally, I was conflicted about getting it. Before the world went to Hell and after we had broken up, I was debating on having it removed. However, before I could make the choice, shit hit the fan and now I’m stuck with it.

“Really? All cutie marks have a some kind of meaning.”

I took a deep breath. “I think I need clear something up here.” I glared at the lizard. “First off it’s not whatever you just said it was, it’s a tattoo; a decoration. Second, there is no meaning, it's just something my ex-girlfriend thought would look sex–eh, I mean cute.”

Spike looked at me with a frown and blinked. “So...” He started but trailed off, “your marefriend forced you to get a cutiemark?”

I decided not to correct him. “Yeah something like that.” I quickly nodded my head with fake enthusiasm. “That’s exactly what happened.” With that being said, I chose to change the subject before he could press further. “Thanks for the shampoo.” I shook one of the bottles in the air so that he could see it.

“That’s the invigorator,” he corrected as he turned and began to walk across the edge of the bath back towards the door. “And you’re welcome. I’ll be over here reading my comic.”

When Spike left my field of view I sighed and sank back into the water, leaving nothing but my nose and eyes above the surface. ‘Thank God that’s over...’

“Oh and one last thing!”

My eyes sprang open and a surge of anger billowed out of me. ‘FFFFFUU-’

:[-]:

“Y’know, I think we got off on the wrong foot here,” I said while wrapping my towel over my chest and tying a knot. I looked back at the soaking wet lizard. “I really didn’t mean to drag you into the bath and I’m really sorry about that.”

“You... ruined my comic book–”

“And I can get you a new one!” I said quickly. “Trust me, an.... an old friend of mine had like a hundred of them in his room.” I took a deep breath. “Like seriously, the Avengers totally beat the... what were you reading?”

Spike glared at me. ‘Yeah I don’t think this helping my situation at all.’

I pursed my lips. “Well...” I nodded my head. “Thank you for letting me use your bath uh...” My eyes stole a glance back at my clothes sitting beside the now empty pool. I started to make my way over to them. “I’m going to go get dressed–” I felt a light tug on my towel and, without any resistance, the knot keeping it together came loose and the only source of fabric keeping me covered crumpled to the floor.

Shocked, my head snapped back to see the green reptile with a smile and a tuft of fabric clenched between his claws. Deep caverns carved their way into my forehead, my cheeks burned like a nuclear reactor going into a meltdown. I went to snatch the towel back from the lizard but he pulled away before I could grasp it.

Fed up I rolled my eyes and growled. “Well now that’s just rude.” I pointed my back towards the lizard and went to grab my sweat-drenched clothes.

:[-]:

After things had finally calmed down between Spike and I, we both shared our apologies with one another. Over the past half hour we’d been waiting inside the dragon’s bedroom. I was surprised when the little dude told me what he was. I don’t think I believe it... quite honestly I don’t think I can believe any of this, but whatever gets me closer to finding Reynolds I’ll take it. Even if that means sitting across from a dragon on his bed playing a knock-off version of Battleship.

“D-8”

“Goddammit!” I growled and plucked another one of my airships off my side of the board, I tossed it to the side. “You took out my frigate.”

Spike laughed. “Awesome, your turn.”

“A-10”

“Miss.”

“Of course...” I mumbled.

None of this felt real to me. Not at all. I was sitting in a dinosaur kid’s room playing battleship, not even a day after I had learned that all my friends had died, save for one. Not only that I haven’t even buried them yet... and just the thought of that tore me apart. But just to add more onto the make believe half of things was this world's inhabitants, it was like I wasn’t even on Earth anymore. It was as if I was really going insane.

Why was it after I saw Eva’s skeletal corpse was it that I started seeing talking horses? Or that Reynolds could still be alive somehow...

‘No. Stop right there.’

“B-12.”

‘If you start thinking like that you’ll really start driving yourself nuts, girl.’

“Did I hit?”

But it’s true, back before we were stuck inside the cocoons Reynold’s was at least in his fifties. By now, biologically speaking, he’d at least be in his nineties.

‘Yes. But he also had his hands on modern medicine, not only that the man was healthy and fucking fit!’

“Chloe?”

“Huh–what?” I blinked myself awake and found myself locked in a staring contest with Spike. “Uh...”

He raised an eyebrow. “Did I hit?”

“What were your coordinates?” I smiled sheepishly at him.

“B-12.”

I glanced down at my board, it was a direct hit on my capital ship.

I smiled at him. “Miss.”

“Wha-really?” The dragon sighed. “So much for my streak.”

I giggled lightly and quickly, yet sneakily, repositioned my ship. ‘The Admiral requests we change course.’

“Spike?” an unfamiliar voice called from outside the room.

“Twilight!” The dragon beamed and immediately leapt off the bed. He scampered towards the door and opened it. “How was your nap?” he asked the mare on the other side of the door, I left my back facing them.

“Oh, it was much needed,” Twilight said, “do you mind if I come in?”

“Of course not,” Spike said happily, “it is your castle after all.”

“Well you’re not wrong,” the mare chuckled. “So you said someone was here to talk to... me...”

Already I could feel the pony’s eyes on my back, taking a deep breath I shifted in my spot and looked over at her. “H-hi,” was all I was able to force out. A couple feet away from me was a purple colored pony with a dark blue mane which had a pink and purple stripe cutting down the middle. Not only that, she also had had both wings and a horn. The mare looked at me with wide eyes, her mouth also ajar.

“H-hello...” the pony said to me then turned around. Her head leaned towards Spike and the two began to have a quiet conversation between each other. Every now and again the mare would flash her eyes in my direction. I felt a little bothered not being included in the conversation but obviously seeing that I was some kind of alien to them I didn’t let it get to me.

“Alright.” Twilight cleared her throat and turned to face me. “So you’re the creature who’d like to speak with me?” I nodded. The mare smiled, a bit of discomfort was visible on her face. “Then please, come this way.” She motioned with a hoof for me to follow.

I pushed myself off the bed and followed her out of the room. “... Don’t mind me.” I heard Spike from behind as we entered the hallway. “I’ll just stay here... and read my ruined book.”

:[-]:

“Are you thirsty?” Twilight asked me as I followed behind her down a large empty hall.

“Uh... yeah,” I said while rubbed a hand against my dry throat. ‘Can’t believe I hadn’t noticed how thirsty I was.’ “What do you have?”

“I have juice in the kitchen if you’d want some.” The mare turned and smiled at me.

“That’d be great.” I returned her smile.

‘This is the Princess? She seems more like a friendly host.’

For a few more seconds we continued down the hall before Twilight suddenly stopped. “Is something wrong–” I started but was stopped when I saw Twilight turn towards me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be rude,” she said completely out of nowhere.

“Huh?”

“We haven’t introduced ourselves.”

‘Oh shit she’s right!’

Twilight bowed her head slightly. “I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle; however, you can refer to me as just Twilight.”

Without thinking I stuck my hand out to her. “And I’m Chloe Cooper.” After realizing she didn’t have a hand to shake mine with, I was surprised when she lifted her hoof and placed it on my palm.

The pony giggled. “It may not be your typical handshake, but I think this shall suffice.”

I wrapped my fingers around the pony’s smooth and soft hoof and shook it lightly. Releasing the hoof she pulled her leg back down and giggled once more before starting our walk to the kitchen.

“It took me awhile to get use to hand shakes,” Twilight said as she tried to make conversation. “Back when I was in the human world I had a bit of trouble when it came to grasping our cultural differences. In the end though I think I got the basics.”

“What do you mean ‘human world’?” I asked her, “I heard that dragon dude mentioning it, he even thought I was from there.”

We rounded a hallway and began to make our way down a small flight of stairs. “I recall Spike relaying that to me. Princess Cadence had a mirror that allowed ponies or humans to pass through it every thirty moons. The human world is more or less a parallel universe of our world.”

“Eh... what?”

“Spike told me that you’re a human,” Twilight said side stepping my question, “yet you aren’t from that world.” We reached the bottom of the stairs and continue on forward.

“Pretty much.” I shrugged. “Now he says I’m some alien who wants to suck your brains.”

Twilight laughed at that. “Yeah, he gets those from his comic books.”

“So what do you think?” I asked. “Do you believe I’m human?”

Twilight looked over at me with a slanted frown. “I believe I have a good idea on what you are. But I’m not too sure.” We stopped before a small door that Twilight opened easily with her magic. “In here, the fridge is on the right. Feel free to take what you want.”

The two of us went into a reasonably sized kitchen, the kind that could probably run an average restaurant. Like she said, the fridge was on my right. It was an average-looking fridge, clearly built to accommodate these fairly short ponies. I opened it and inside was a carton of orange juice, a gallon of water, and other various fruits and veggies.

I took the juice and an apple.

“Do you have a glass?” I asked Twilight.

“I already set some out for the two of us,” she said. “They’re on the counter behind you.”

“Thanks.” I spun around with the apple and juice in hand. ‘Damn this horse is nice,’ I thought, ‘almost a little too nice.’

“Here let me see the juice.” Twilight said from across the table, she magicked the carton out of my hand, which startled me a bit, and began to pour the juice proportionally into the glasses.

“I’m never going to get use to that,” I said out loud, my eyes glanced down at the apple I was holding. For an apple it was pretty big, a lot larger than the ones I remember buying in the city.

“Honestly, I can’t see how you humans deal without it,” Twilight said as she closed the carton and set it off to the side. “Well...” Twilight started but trailed off, only to start back up again. “The humans in the other world I mean. I have no idea if you’re like them or not.”

“Well I can’t do magic, so there’s one thing we have in common.” I smirked and took a bite of the apple, the sweetness from it caused my eyes to widen and I chewed slowly. ‘Damn!’ My conscious exclaimed, ‘That’s almost too sweet.’ I swallowed and wiped my wrist across my lips. “From what your lizard friend said before freaking out, he mentioned something about my eyes being smaller, and that my skin was a weird color.”

Twilight levitated her glass over to her and up to her lips, while doing so I noticed her eyes checking me out from head to toe. I broke eye contact with the mare and took another bite of my apple. “Yes, he isn’t wrong.” Twilight began to walk around the table and head towards me. “Your eyes are a lot smaller whereas the overall frame of your body is much thicker.” She stopped just a few feet away and squinted her eyes a bit. “Not to mention your mammary glands out rank the biggest I’ve seen. Are you pregnant by any chance?”

I nearly choked on my fruit. I turned and glared at the pony. “No!” I practically spat my food at her, I closed my mouth and swallowed. “No, I’m not pregnant, why does everyone think that?!”

'Like seriously! My tits aren't that big! I took a deep breath.

Twilight didn’t see phased by my outburst. Instead she continued on talking, “Well in the pony anatomy it's common knowledge for the mare’s teats to grow in size during pregnancy.”

I motioned an open hand towards myself. “That may be the case, but do I look like a horse?”

“I never said you were one.” Twilight turned away from me. “But nevertheless it was my mistake to assume such a thing. By the way, that glass there is yours.” Twilight lifted the non touched glass over to me and I gingerly plucked it out of the air.

“Thank you,” I said and took small sip. Again, the sweetness from it was almost overwhelming.

“You’re very welcome.” Twilight returned to her end of the table. “Would you rather continue our discussion here, or shall we move on?”

I didn’t really put much thought into my response. “Right here is fine.”

“Alright then,” the mare said cheerfully. “What is it that you wanted to ask me?”

‘Straight to the point isn’t she?’ I thought, I liked my lips and opened my mouth. “Uh...” Is all that came out, ‘Nice start, Chloe.’

I sat my food and drink on the table. I took a deep breath. “I’m looking for a friend of mine,” I started, “I know where he’s at; however, a few ponies I met yesterday told me that in order to get to him I must confront... your princesses?” I said questioningly.

“I take it you want to meet Princess Celestia and Luna?”

I snapped my fingers and pointed at her. “Those were the names.”

Twilight nodded thoughtfully and took a sip of orange juice. “I don’t want to sound nosey or anything, but do you mind if I ask who’s this pony you want to meet?”

“He’s not a pony,” I said, “he’s another human like me who seems to be friends with... Celestia and Luna, did I get those correct?”

Twilight frowned and looked at me skeptically. “Excuse me for a second, but did you say he’s human and is friends with the princesses?”

I nodded. “I believe so.”

Twilight’s eyes squinted a bit and she pulled her head back a bit. “How come I don’t know about this?” She took a larger sip of her drink.

I shrugged. “Well he is about sixteen thousand years old–”

Without warning Twilight sprayed her juice all over the table, nearly catching me in the process. Luckily I had taken a couple steps back and pressed myself against the fridge. “Sixteen thousand?!” she blurted.

“Oh yeah.” I cast my gaze to the side. “I forgot to mention that.” I looked back the pony. “I hope you brought chairs, cause this is going to take a while to explain.”

:[-]:

Twilight sat back in her throne-like chair, before I had explained everything to her she had brought us to what she’d called “The Map Room”. The name itself wasn’t too far off either seeing that the entire room consisted of a round table with seven chairs, and a cool ass hologram map.

“So... if I’m understanding correctly.” She placed a hoof on the side of her head and looked over at me, I was sitting in the chair with three red apples to her left. “You’re saying that sixteen thousand years ago, humans, not like the ones I’ve seen, ruled over ‘Earth’?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

“And an asteroid brought a disease to your world that practically brought your race to extinction?” she asked for clarification.

“That’s correct...” I sadly confirmed.

Twilight shook her head. “But that’s crazy though, if that’s true that goes against everything that was ever written! Every text book would have to be taken down and rewritten, history itself would be changed forever!” Twilight closed her mouth for a second and looked at me. “If you know all of this so vividly... how old are you?”

I took a deep breath and gave her a light smile. “Well thinking about it now I guess I’m a little over twenty seven years old, biologically speaking. But remember those cocoons I told you about? I was locked away in one of those for over sixteen thousand years. So I guess you could say... I’m sixteen thousand and twenty seven years old...” ‘Wow... saying that out loud... I thought my seventy six year old grandma was old.’

Twilight looked at me wide eyed a feeling inside told me she was having trouble believing all of this. ‘Dammit, how can I get through to–wait a second...’ A large smile made its way to my face.

“Y’know,” I said, “if you’re still having trouble I could always show you the vault I came out of.” This immediately brought Twilight’s attention back to reality. “It’s not that far from here really.” I glanced down at the floor as I tried to recall how long it took for me to get here. “It’s about a... thirty minute wagon ride, I think.” When I raised my head back up and saw Twilight’s face, I instantly knew my plan was a success.

Author's Note

So some of you maybe disappointed in Twilight's reaction when she met Chloe, whereas a handful of you might be breathing in a fresh breath of air. Twilight reacted slightly shocked and chilled around Chloe because I decided not to go down the trope of her meeting a human, getting excited, and running potentially sexual experiments on her.

Yet. My clopfic plans are slowly coming together for a separate spin-off ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

So to avoid that trope I brought Equestria Girls to the table (I only seen the first one btw) and used it as a (cough)poor(cough) logical excuse as to why Twilight wasn't acting like it was her first time seeing a human. *takes a deep breath*.

I hope you guys agree with my decision. Also how was Twilight I don't normally write with the mane six?

Chapter 8: Hay Flavor

So my plan so far had gone great. Almost too great. After I had mentioned to Twilight that I could take her to my vault—since it’s just me I might as well claim ownership—the mare went nuts. Thankfully, it wasn’t the kind of nuts in which she would try to kill me, but more along the lines of her excitement shooting through the fucking roof. I already had a hunch that this pony was bottling up her emotions, because the way she acted around me just felt a little... forced.

“Ohmygoshreally?!” Twilight squealed as she shot up from her throne, startling the shit out of me in the process. “You mean you actually have an underground house? One with research labs, data, books, tools–you have to take me!” The mare flew right up into my face, forcing me to press my back against the chair I was in.

I gently placed a hand on her extremely soft chest and pushed her back. “Alright, alright,” I chuckled and smiled, “I’ll take you to it.”

“When?” The pony was beaming with contagious excitement.

I laughed at her adorableness. “Right now would be perfectly fine with me,” I said, then mumbled, “Just as long I don’t have to wear that damn cloak again.”

I looked back at Twilight and the mare seemed like she was about to explode. ‘Okay this is getting a little insane now,’ I thought when I noticed her literally vibrating. ‘This is a princess? She’s vibrating like a toy... Should I rephrase that? Nah...’

And then suddenly she was gone in a flash of purple light.

“What the fuck?!” I swung both my legs onto my chair and climbed up it. “Where’d she go–?!”

There was another light, and she was back again with a pair of red rimmed glasses, a saddlebag and a clipboard. “Okay I got everything settled,” she said checking, a box with a feathered quill. “Spike said he’ll man the library on the first floor and Owlowiscious will make sure he doesn’t get too distracted–okay then!” The board and quill vanished into thin air and Twilight looked at me from under her glasses with a massive smile. “You ready?”

I looked down at her from my crouched position on the chair, my left eye twitched a bit. “H-h-... I can’t even...” I took a deep breath and regained my composure. “Fuck it!” I stepped down and smiled at her. “Let’s go!”

:[-]:

“OhmygoshIcan’tbelieveit!” Twilight swept passed me and landed onto the cobblestone with a skip in her step. She turned to me and continued to walk backwards down the empty street. Evening had fallen and it looked as if all the residents had returned to the homes they resided. Because of this, there wasn’t really a need for me to wear the cloak Quartz provided me with, but what made it even better is that the temperature outside had dropped a good amount, so I wasn’t sweating like a pig!

Twilight smiled at me while she pranced backwards. “I had a feeling something wasn’t right about you!” This statement caused me to cock an eyebrow, Twilight immediately caught onto what she said. “Eh.. what I mean is that, I had a feeling that you weren’t like the humans I saw back in the other world.” Her expression fell a bit. “That you hadn’t come from some other dimension and what not.” Twilight continued to fumble with her words as she tried to fix what she said.

My expression softened and I laughed at the mare. “It’s alright,” I said, “I understand what you’re trying to say.”

Twilight lightened up again and spun around so that she was walking correctly. For a few minutes we walked down the road in silence until we reached a curving point in the road and we continued down another street. “Say...” Twilight said slowly.

I glanced down at the pony. “What is it?” She bit her lip and looked up at me.

“Could I ask you a few questions... personal questions?”

I frowned and turned my attention back forward. “If it’s about my sex life then no.” I looked back at her out of the corner of my eyes and gave her a sly smile.

Twilight’s face grew a deep crimson and her eyes widened. “Nonononono–it’s nothing like that!”

I laughed. “Well then, what do you want to know?”

“Uh... okay... hold on.” Twilight’s horn flashed, I turned my head back towards her and saw that she was levitating an entire notebook full of questions. ‘When the hell did she fill that out?’

“Aside from the stalli–uh-I mean man, you’re looking for...” Twilight cleared her throat. “Are there anymore of your kind that you know of?”

I cringed at the question. ‘Way to start things off great...’

I gulped some air. “Uh...” My voice grew quiet, I took a deep breath and let off a shaky sigh.

I looked away from Twilight and continued walking in silence. “Oh...” I heard Twilight close her journal when she noticed my pained expression. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t...”

“It’s... fine.” I looked back at her with a shaky grin. “Any other questions?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. Uh... no can’t use that one... hmm, nope.” Twilight flipped through her pages while we walked. “Ahha! Here’s something simple, male or female?”

I gave Twilight a dead look. “I think you can figure that one out yourself.”

Twilight frowned and a small blush resurfaced on her cheeks. I snarled. “No! I’m not saying check for yourself!”

Twilight giggled. “I guess it's safe to assume female?” I nodded as she checked that off her list. “Where are you from?” As we rounded another street corner, I could see the market place up ahead. Surprisingly, there were still a few scattered groups of ponies.

“Manhattan,” I answered her.

“Don’t you mean Manehattan?” she questioned.

“What?” I looked at her with a slight confused look. I shook my head. “No. I’m from Manhattan, New York.”

“Oh, where’s that?” Twilight persisted.

It was slightly irritating answering what would normally be dumb questions; however, I had to remind myself that places such as Manhattan don’t exist anymore. Or at least as far as I know. I took a deep breath as we entered the market place. “East coast of the United States.”

“Alright, alright,” Twilight mumbled as she jotted that down, “and where is that–”

“The east coast of this land mass.” I stopped in the center of the shopping square, and I began to look around the place, hoping that I could spot Quartz and Crystal. “I really hope they didn’t leave me here,” I whispered to no one in particular.

“So...” I pivoted around and saw Twilight tapping her chin with a quill. “You’re saying that Equestria used to be a place called ‘United States’?”

I looked over Twilight, checking to see if we didn’t pass them on the way in. “Yes. Though the full name is ‘The United States of America’.”

Twilight nodded and jotted that down. “Interesting. Have you ever gone to school?”

“Highschool... Damnit, where are they?” I whispered the last bit under my breath.

“Highschool?”

“It’s like elementary but at a higher level.”

“So like a university?”

“No. Lower than that.” I turned away from her again and continued deeper into the shopping district with Twilight trotting along behind me.

“I thought we were going to your home?” She asked.

“We will. However, I can’t find my ride anywhere.” I stopped by a nearby apple stand and began to look around once. Finally I got irritated and cupped my hands around my mouth. “Quartz! Crystal! Where are you guys?!”

“What in tarnation!” shouted a startled pony from my right.

“Applejack!” Twilight happily exclaimed.

I spun around and faced the concession stand beside me. Manning it was an orange colored pony with a blonde mane and a cowboy hat. The pony was looking at me with a pair of shrunken green eyes and a mouth that opened and closed like a fish.

I bit my lower lip and slowly raised a hand. I waved at the startled pony. “Hi,” I said, my eyes wandering away. I realized that every single pony that was in the market place was now looking in our direction, each and every expression they shared matched the ones of the pony behind the concession stand.

‘Perhaps I should’ve worn the cloak after all.’ I thought.

“Twi,” the orange pony whispered, “who’s yer friend?”

Twilight beamed and stuck a hoof out towards me. “This is Ms. Cooper, she’s an ambassador from Echo.”

My features faltered and I looked over at Twilight with a bewildered face, she winked at me. I blinked and then quickly proceeded to clear my throat. When I was finished I turned and stuck a hand out to the orange mare. “‘Allo there,” I said opting for a poor English accent for no particular reason.

The cowgirl eyed my hand as if it was some foreign being—which in a way, kind of was. “She wants to shake your hoof, AJ,” Twilight clarified for her, “It’s a formal way of greeting.”

The orange pony named AJ looked at my hand, her confused expression unchanging. Timidly she raised one of her legs and reached over the counter and placed her hoof in the palm of my hand. My eyes widened briefly at the gentle, soft touch. ‘Feels exactly like Twilight’s hoof, if not a tad rougher but still soft.’ I shook it briefly then let go.

AJ cleared her throat then smiled lightly. “Howdy,” she said, “sorry about mah rude reaction... ah wasn’t expectin’ somepony to go screamin’ like that.”

I stared at the pony directly in the eyes, stunned by the sound of her voice. The southern drawl in each of her words caused butterflies to form in my stomach. ‘For God’s sake,’ I thought as a wave of disappointment fell over me, ‘if only she was human, I’d take her to bed just to hear that voice a few notches higher.’

“So yeah... Ah’m sorry about that.” The pony broke eye contact with me and was immediately drawn to the apples on her cart. The look on her face appeared to be filled with discomfort.

‘No shit, she’s talking to an alien. Say something to lighten the mood.’

Before I could say something Twilight stepped up. “We’re having trouble looking for her chaperones. Have you seen them?”

“They’re about this tall.” I brought my hand up slightly below my chest. “One is a blue pegasus and the other is a white-ish cream unicorn.”

AJ bit her lip and leaned towards Twilight. “Ah take it they’re ponies?” Twilight nodded and AJ replied with one of her own, she looked back at me. “Well, ah do recall havin’ two mares who matched those colors come up to mah stand earlier. For some reason they tried sellin’ me some strange lookin’ junk.”

My lips curled back and I had to use all of my willpower to suppress a sigh. ‘Yep that has to be them.’ “Any idea on where they went?” Twilight asked.

“Last ah saw they were headin’ over to Sugarcube Corner.”

“Where’s that at?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it, Ms. Cooper.” Twilight tugged on the side of my shirt with her magic, “I’ll lead you there. Thanks for the help, AJ.”

“No problem, Twi... and, uh... nice meetin’ you, Ms. Cooper.”

I looked at AJ and winked at her. “C’ya later, love.” I turned just before I could see AJ’s reaction and followed Twilight down the road.

:[-]:

By the time we reached possibly one of the weirdest shops I’ve ever seen in my entire life, night had fallen upon us and the sky had opened up to a beautiful spiraling galaxy up above. However, despite the cosmos and all of its beauty, my eyes were drawn to the bizarrely constructed store. Despite the darkness I could still make out the gingerbread like roof and the cupcake on top, which had three lit candles sticking out the top. The shop was primarily pink, save for the roof and chimney, though there were a few exceptions when it came to the flourishes and the cream colored wood on the walls.

To sum it all up: It was a gingerbread house with a goddamn cupcake on top.

“Well this is it,” Twilight said, “Sugarcube corner.”

“Is it open?” I asked.

“I don’t see why it isn’t; Pinkie Pie usually keeps it open all day and night.” Twilight started to walk towards the front door and I followed behind her.

“You’re saying the owner works twenty four hours non stop?”

“Well it’s not just her running the shop.” Twilight and I reached the front door. “The Cakes are the ones who own the building, they usually work it during the day.”

I nodded my head as Twilight opened the door and the two of us were thrown back outside by a spazzing pink blur. Both Twilight and I landed at the bottom of the steps on our backs, each of us had a pink hoof pressed against our chests. “Twilight!” The pink horse practically screamed with excitement. “I can’t believe I found you! You won’t believe what I’ve seen to–GAAH!” The horse released a drawn out gasp when her eyes fell on me. “YOU!” She screamed and vanished back indoors.

I sat up and placed a hand on my sore chest. ‘That’s going to leave a bruise.’ “What the hell was that?”

Twilight pushed herself onto her haunches. “Well... that was Pinkie Pie.” Twilight turned her head towards me. “And I think she might’ve seen you earlier.”

The pink horse reappeared by the front door, her head hung out the open entrance while she glared daggers at us. “What are you waiting for?!” She waved a hoof at us. “Get in here!” Her hoof then pointed directly at me. “Especially you, Frowny McFly!”

“What?” I frowned.

The pink pony slammed the door and Twilight took a deep breath. “Well.” She looked at me. “We better not keep her waiting.”

:[-]:

The bell above the door chimed when it opened. The inside of the shop was rather small, warm, and smelled of sweets and pastries. Towards the back of the store was a counter top with a cash register, below it was a glass case showing all the kinds of sweets you could buy. On the far right towards the windows were a few tables, occupying one of these tables was a familiar cream colored unicorn. “Chloe!” Quartz shouted when her head turned and she saw me. Her eyes lit up and she got up from her seat. “Where have you been?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” I smiled at the sight of the cream mare. It was a strange feeling; being happy to see that pony. I couldn’t quite place why I had felt that way, however, seeing her face light up at the sight of me made me feel all the more welcome. “Where’s Crystal–” Out of the corner of my vision a black and pink blob struck me right in the mouth. My head recoiled back, my tongue and nose was overwhelmed by the taste and smell of chocolate. I stumbled backwards and bumped into Twilight, who caught me before I tumbled right over her. My eyes were wide with shock and every nerve in my body tensed, but I couldn’t move; the surprise chocolate was too overpowering.

I slowly reached a hand up to my mouth and grabbed onto the creamy end of whatever struck me. Ignoring the stickiness that enveloped my fingers I pulled whatever it was out of my mouth and held it out in front of me. My mouth fell back open when I saw that in my hand was a chocolate cupcake with pink frosting. “What the fu–” A light thump came from my left and once again my mouth was invaded by the brute force of another chocolate cupcake.

Twilight caught me for the second time with her magic and growled. “Pinkie stop it!”

I spat the chocolate dessert on the floor and wiped my lips. “Are you trying to choke me?” I growled.

“Whoopsy! I’m sorry, Frowny.” The pink pony from before popped up from behind the counter with what looked like a large potato gun in her hooves. “That last one was meant for Twilight.”

Twilight came up by my side. “Wait what?!” The pink pony hoisted the gun up and fired another cupcake which impaled itself right on Twilight’s horn, splattering her face with pink frosting in the process. The lavender mare sighed out of frustration. “Thank you, Pinkie.”

Quartz giggled at the sight of us and I flashed her an irritated look. ‘Yep my happiness from seeing her is now gone.’

“Don’t worry,” she whispered to me, “she got me right in the eye when Crystal and I walked in.”

“Do you like it?” The hyperactive mare named Pinkie hopped up onto the counter and balanced the gun on her back.

“The cupcake?” Twilight asked as she magicked the pastry off her horn along with the bits of frosting.

“Well... yeah, but I’m talking about this cool thing!” She bucked her rear in the air and tossed the gun over her head, she then reached out and caught it with a hoof and twirled it back to her side like a professional majorette.

Apparently I was the only one surprised by that. “How’d she...” I pointed at the gun, then at the pony, “but she doesn’t have hands!”

Pinkie looked at me and smiled. “You don’t need hands to do this, silly.” She kicked the gun out to the side with her left hind leg and caught it with her left fore hoof, she then proceeded to twirl it some more before slamming the barrel onto the floor in front of the counter. Pinkie smiled and rested both her front hooves on the butt of the gun and leaned forward. “See? It’s easy.”

My mind went into full meltdown. Twilight nudged my side, I looked at her and saw that she was shaking her head. “Don’t question, Pinkie,” she said. “Trust me. I’ve learned it’s a lot easier if you just go with it.”

“But how–”

“Listen to the Princess, Chloe.” Quartz grumbled and nudged me from behind. “C’mon, let’s go sit down.” Quartz motioned with her head over to the table. I looked back at Twilight like a child waiting for her mother’s approval.

“Go on ahead, Chloe, I’ll be there in a minute,” Twilight said with a smile. “Pinkie and I just need to have a little... chat.” She turned her head towards the smiling pink pony.

“Oh! Oh! What are we going to talk about!” Pinkie kicked the cupcake launcher to the side and hopped off the counter. “Wait! Don’t tell me, lemme guess, uh... my cupcakes–” Twilight walked over to the mare and wrapped a wing around her, guiding her into a back room. “Wait no–” Pinkie sat on her haunches and forced Twilight to push her while she continued to ramble “We’re gonna talk about you and your new friend and how she’s an alien!”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, “something like that.” The two entered the back room and closed the door, leaving me and Quartz alone in the dining room.

“Well... that was something.” I looked over at Quartz who was sitting alone at a table nibbling on a cupcake and reading the newspaper.

“Well that’s Ms. Pie for ya...” She lowered her paper and grinned at me. “Personally, I don’t see how the princess can put up with her. If I was her I’d have gone crazy a long time ago.”

I walked over to the mare and sat across from her. “From what I just saw, I wouldn’t blame ya.” I smiled. “So where’s Crystal?”

Quartz took a deep breath. “She left early to try and scrounge up what little money she can from any shops that may still be open. Or she’s sleeping in the back of the wagon, or getting drunk at the Nightingale Pub. I dunno... I decided to take a little break and come here.”

“So...” I giggled, “she’s probably working her ass off to get money, and you’re just here wasting it all.”

“Put it like that you make me sound like a jerk! Well... you may be right, but hey! She could be too.” The unicorn giggled and took a bite of what looked like a vanilla cupcake. The smell from it was sweet and the texture of it looked very soft, the sight of it made my stomach grumble. Quartz’s left ear twitched and she raised an eyebrow at me, the smile that appeared on her face told me she knew what was up. “You’re hungry aren’t ya?”

I bit my lower lip and looked away. “Uhmm... yeah; I am.” I rested my elbow on the table and ran a hand through my hair.

Quartz’s smile grew even more and she levitated her cupcake over to me. “Here, you can have a bite of my cupcake.”

I looked at the dangling pastry with disgust as I saw half of it was already eaten. “What?” I looked at her. “No. I’m not eating that.”

The unicorn’s smile grew devious and she chuckled. “I’m not telling you to eat it, just take a bite out of it.”

“But you’ve already bitten into it!” I gestured at the small nibbles that littered every side of the pastry.

The mare shrugged. “So. Think of it as an indirect kiss or something.”

My mouth fell open and I used a hand to cover the light blush on my cheeks. “How is that going to help me in any way?”

Quartz laughed. “Alright, alright.” She wiped a hoof across the bottom of her left eye. “Here, I have another untouched one in my bag.” The pony pulled a saddlebag out from under the table and lifted it onto the table. There she opened it and dragged out a small decorated box filled with carbon copies of the cupcake. “Reach in and take whichever one sticks out to you.” She pushed the box over to me. I smiled lightly and hesitantly reached out to grab the box. “C’mon now,” Quartz said playfully, “she doesn’t bite.”

I shot the pony a look which only seemed to make her laugh, the joyfulness on her face forcing me to chuckle along with her. I reached all the way over the table and took the box Upon opening it, I didn’t really make decision when it came to grabbing which one I wanted. Pulling back I sat against my chair and examined the treat, like I said it was no different than the one Quartz was eating. It was a plain, boring, vanilla cupcake without sprinkles or any wacky design in the frosting. Just a small round pastry with a bit of white frosting glazed over the top. Exactly how I like it.

I glanced up from the cupcake and saw Quartz looking at me with a raised eyebrow. “Are you going to eat it or just make love to it with your eyes?” she asked me. I snorted a laugh and sat the cupcake on the table. “What’s so funny? I’m being serious here.”

“S-sorry...” I giggled. “It’s just that I wasn’t expecting someone like you to say that.” What she said also reminded me of Eva back when we first met. The day I first arrived in the vault, we were in the breakroom and she had offered me a glass of wine. At first I was confused and doing nothing but staring at it, and like what Quartz said, Eva practically said the exact same thing.

I sighed happily and picked the cupcake back up. Looking across the table I smiled at Quartz and held it up like I was about to give a toast. “Bottoms up,” I said and tilted my head back before dropping it in.

What happened next was something I was not expecting.

The second I bit down on what looked to be a delicious pastry. Turned out to be an imposter, a spy perhaps. Yes it was vanilla, but it wasn’t plain vanillia, there was something else. Something... evil inside that treat. It tasted like someone had dumped a bag of dried grass into the mixing bowl when baking it, it was awful, just absolutely awful.

“Chloe?” Quartz looked at me worried. “Chloe, are you alright–”

I hunched over the side of the table and fell out of my chair. Scrambling to my knees I saw a garbage can by the door and scrambled towards it, instead of pushing the flap to open it I tore the entire roof off it and ducked my head into the container and vomited. Quartz ran over to me and placed a hand on my back as reassurance.

“Oh no, I had a feeling you wouldn’t like hay flavor,” she said.

I pulled my head out of the can and looked at her. “That was fucking hay?” The unicorn nodded I took a deep breath and shook my head. “Goddammit.” I dipped my head back into the bin.

“Here try this!” an excited voice called from over my shoulder. I raised my head out of the bin and turned to see a plate of cookies in my face. I grimaced at the sight of them, afraid that they weren’t what they looked like.

“Nah, I’ll pass–” Out from under the tray a pink hoof appeared and shoved a chocolate chip cookie into my mouth. Terrified I stumbled back and accidentally shoved Quartz over, I spat the cookie onto the floor. “Stop it!” I yelled at Pinkie Pie, the mare was standing by the trash can with the tray on her hoof. She tilted her head at me like a confused dog. “I don’t want any cookies,” I said, “As a matter of fact, I don’t want anything you guys make.”

“That’s just silly, you can’t just ignore everypony’s gifts–”

“I think I can.”

Quartz pushed herself up and rubbed a hoof on the side of her head. “What the buck?” she groaned.

I looked at her “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to shove you over.” I turned my attention back to the pink mare. “Where did you come from anyways?”

Pinkie frowned a little and shoved the tray into her mane. She sat on the floor and tapped her chin with a hoof. “Well I was originally born on a rock farm–”

I tossed my hand to the side and disregarded what I just saw. “Nevermind, I don’t need your life story. Who are you anyways?”

The mare’s face lit up. “I’m Pinkie Pie!” She bounced up onto her hooves and zipped towards me. I scrambled back and rammed myself against the wall. Pinkie’s forehooves shot out and latched around my left hand and they began shake up and down sporadically.

‘How the hell is she gripping onto it?!’ I watched with wide eyes.

“I’m really happy that I got to meet you, Frowny–speaking of which why were you always frowning? Something must be bothering you isn’t it?” The pony proceeded to fire a ton of questions at me.

“N-no!” I tried to push her away but to my surprise she was very strong. “It’s not what you think really.”

“Alright, Ms. Pie,” Quartz got onto her hooves, “I think she’s had enough.”

“Pinkie, where did you go?” Twilight’s voice called from the back room.

The pink pony stopped shaking my hand, a serious look overtook her previous joyful attitude. Pinkie raised an eyebrow and proceeded to lean real closely into my face. She then whispered in a bone chilling tone, “You’re unhappy because you lost somepony?”

My mouth fell open. “That’s enough, Ms. Pie.” Quartz wrapped the pony with her magic and dragged her off of me. “Could you please go get us some fresh cookies?” Quartz then asked politely.

“Oh I’d love to!” The pony suddenly flopped back into her enthusiastic attitude and zipped away.

“There you are!” Twilight’s voice drifted out the now open door behind the counter.

“Well I'll admit,” Quartz cleared her throat, “that was really weird of Pinkie Pie–Chloe?” I hadn’t moved from my spot since Pinkie ran off. My heart was racing and I could feel my entire body beginning to tremble. Quartz came by my side in an instant. She dropped onto her haunches and rested a hoof on my shoulder. “Chloe? Chloe, what’s wrong?”

“H-how did she know?” My breathing escalated. “H-how did she know?”

Quartz placed a hoof to my chin and turned my head so that I was looking deep into her ocean blue eyes. “Chloe, you need to calm down. Everything is fine.”

My bottom lip trembled. “B-b-but h-how does s-she know, Quartz?” I began to ramble. “Th-there’s know way sh-she can know about them–wh-what if she knows th-that it’s all my fault!”

Quartz pressed a tip of her hoof into my upper chest. “That’s impossible, even for Pinkie Pie!” she assured me. “She’s probably just guessing; not only that, but it isn’t your fault! Your friend in the screen even said so!”

My eyes began to water. “But that isn’t true–I had a chance to stop it!”

Quartz bit her bottom lip, she had no way to respond. She didn’t know what I’ve gone through, if I really had a chance or not. Her hooves were tied. “That’s besides the point, Chloe, Pinkie is just wondering.” She sighed and began gently rubbing my shoulder with her hoof. It was oddly calming. “Her whole reasoning is to make everyone happy, have it be ponies or... humans. That’s her job.” She smiled sheepishly.

I closed my eyes and turned my head towards the floor. “She didn’t do a very good job.”

“Well it’s not like Pinkie Pie is going to know what makes you happy right off the bat, Chloe.” Quartz explained. “Like most ponies she needs to get to know you.”

“Well she knew why I was depressed right off the bat despite me trying to hide it.” I retorted.

Quartz fell silent and released an irritated sigh seconds later. “Chloe, that’s besides the point. Give yourself some time, I’m positive Pinkie Pie will make things up for you. Trust me, I bet she’s already planning some kind of party for you.”

It was my turn to release a shaky breath. I sniffed and wiped a few loose tears out from under my eyes. I looked at Quartz. “It’s going to take a whole lot more than a party to make me feel happy.”

Quartz frowned and her eyebrows raised. “Now don’t go saying–”

“You have no idea what I’ve been through.”

“And you’re right I don’t, but there is no reason to give up hope, Chloe.”

I felt the tears returning and my breathing once again became sporadic. “M-my en-entire sp-species is p-practically gone!”

“But you seen the other human in the screen, there’s still hope–”

“That could’ve been thousands of years ago!” I pointed at her. “You said it yourself, Quartz, those other ponies sounded young!”

Quartz eyes widened a bit then settled, her expression became soft. Almost motherly, she rubbed my shoulder again. “I know what I said, Chloe, but you mustn't give up hope.”

“But I’m most likely the only one.”

“And that’s why you need to keep living,” Quartz said quietly. “Don’t let your race fade quietly in the dark.”

I looked at the pony with tear stricken eyes, before I could say anything Twilight’s voice came from the other room, “Is everything alright in here?” Both Quartz and I looked over to see Twilight coming out of the other room with Pinkie following shortly behind with a batch of cookies.

Quartz and I looked at each other. Without words she nodded and turned back towards Twilight. “For the most part, yeah.”

Pinkie placed the tray of cookies on the counter and walked over to us. She glanced down at me with a slightly guilty look. I sniffed. “I’m sorry if I hurt you,” she said, “I wasn’t thinking straight at the time, please forgive me.”

I took a deep breath and pushed myself up pressing my back against the wall as support. In doing so I thought back to what Quartz said to me about giving the the little pink pony a chance. I took a deep breath dabbed my eyes a bit and smiled at the pony. I reached out and placed my hand on her head. “I forgive you.”

:[-]:

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said as Pinkie waved goodbye to us from her shop door. Twilight, Quartz, and I stepped out onto the cobblestone road, the light from Pinkie’s shop vanished as she closed the door. Taking a cookie the mare had given me I popped it in my mouth and chewed it with a small smile on my face. Raisin. Not a lot of people liked raisin cookies yet the ones Pinkie had made as an apology weren’t bad. Especially since there wasn’t any hay in it.

“What are you apologizing for?” I asked Twilight.

The princess sighed and turned towards me. “Well... I was the one who brought you here in the first place. Because of that, Pinkie accidentally upset you and–”

“Hey.” I cut her off. “It’s alright, okay. I already went through this with Pinkie, and I ain’t going to go through it with you... I forgive you too.”

“So...” Quartz spoke up. “Are you two love birds done talking yet?”

“Excuse me?” Twilight glared at her.

Quartz’s eyes widened in fear. “Oh, Princess! S-sorry, I-I forgot... y’know like how it’s been only a year... and... I’ll be quiet now.” She looked away, her ears down cast.
.

I chuckled lightly and patted her on the head. “It’s alright, I don’t think she minds...” I looked at Twilight and winked. “At least I don’t.”

Twilight’s face became flustered and she blushed. ‘God that’s adorable,’ I thought when she broke eye contact. She then turned her attention to Quartz. “Ms. Quartz, I know it’s late. But I have proposition for you.”

The miner pony’s ears perked up. “Y-yes, Princess, I’ll do anything.” She smiled.

“I want you to take us back to the vault Chloe came from.”

Quartz’s smile wavered a bit and she cast her eyes towards me. I nodded. “I told her we’d take her to it, and for that I’ll let you take some more of my things to sell.” That seemed to catch her interest.

“Alright.” She looked at Twilight and nodded her head rapidly. “I’ll do it, however, Crystal needs to come along to.”

“Speaking of which.” I glanced out into the darkness that draped over the small village. “I wonder where she is now.”

Author's Note

Pinkie Pie was a pain to write due to it being awhile (used to writing OCs), I hope I got her character right. We also learned that Chloe has a thing for southern accents ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) and that she hates hay flavored food. Honestly if it's not the depression that kills her, it's going to be starvation due to everything that's edible is geared towards ponies.

Well she could survive off fruits and veggies... but hey, girl's like meat too. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Chapter 9: In Dreams

Up and down the wagon shook as it went over rocks and sticks through the forest. Breathing into a bag, I tried to keep myself from having a repeat of yesterday morning’s puking session I had when we first arrived in Ponyville. Sitting with me in the back of the rickety wagon was Princess Twilight Sparkle and Crystal, whom we found sleeping in the wagon earlier last night. She wasn’t too happy when we woke her up as a matter of fact. On our wagon ride back to the vault, that is exactly what she was complaining about.

“You said you’d be gone for only two hours!” Crystal flung her hooves up into the air out of frustration. Her eyebrows were carving deep crevices into her forehead, her teeth clenched together so hard I’d thought they were going to crack.

“I’m sorry,” Quartz apologized again for the fifth time. She kept her eyes locked on the path ahead. Every now and again she’d steer the hauling timberwolves out the way of an oncoming rock. “Something came up at Sugarcube Corner and we needed to take care of it.” Crystal rolled her eyes. “Besides, you could’ve just gone and hung out at the pub and drink your heart out.”

Crystal growled. “You had all the money, remember? That’s why you went to the shop in the first place!”

Quartz bit her lower lip. “Oh, yeah, that’s right,” she smiled. “I do have all the money.”

Twilight and I shared a mutually annoyed look with one another. “So,” Twilight said, hoping to divert the subject. “Miss Quartz, I see you’re well knowledged in the skill of conjuration?” Twilight assumed.

The look on Quartz face when she looked back at Twilight showed me that she was delighted to get off the previous topic. “Why, yes I am, Princess, thank you for noticing.”

Twilight grinned and glanced at the timberwolves. “Where did you learn how to manifest timberwolves and keep them around for so long? Last I saw, that’s a master skill.”

I leaned over with my bag held close to my chest and saw that Quartz looked to be having the time of her life as of the moment. “Well, uh... my father, Mythic Stone, had gone to Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns. Over the years he just kinda taught me these things.”

“So your surname is—” the wagon struck a rock and my stomach lurched, I cringed and stuck the bag over my mouth.

“So, what, again?” Quartz looked over her shoulder.

“Is she alright?” Twilight asked.

Crystal sighed. “She’s a bit of a light weight, that’s all.”

“Ah, fuck you...” I groaned.

Crystal’s brow furrowed. “What? I’m just being honest.”

I shot a grin at her. “Well there is such thing as being too honest.”

“She isn’t denying it, then,” Crystal said, “so I guess I was right.”

The rear end of the wagon bucked as the wheel went over another rock. Inside, my intestines felt as if they were doing somersaults; a wave of nausea came over me and I felt dizzy. Groaning softly, I closed my eyes and placed the bag over my mouth. Slowly, I started to lean over to my left, but stopped when I felt Twilight jerk back a bit when my head touched her side. Twilight settled for a moment and I allowed myself to press the rest of my head against her side. ‘Don’t you think you’re taking this a bit far?’ My conscious asked itself.

I took a deep breath and exhaled with a smile. I had no clue on why I was using the pony beside me as some kind of cushion, not only that, I didn’t have a fucking clue on whether she was enjoying it or not. To be quite frank, I didn’t care. All I cared about was how soft these damn ponies were! The softness Twilight’s coat reminded me of my sister’s body pillow she had back in her single days. Better yet, her coat felt like my hair after I poured half a bottle of conditioner into it when taking a shower. The mare’s body was smooth and a bit fluffy in certain areas that felt to have been ruffled, her coat smelled like lavenders, which made me all the more want to hug her.

‘Y’know... I won’t lie... I’d snuggle the shit out of her if she’d let me.’

“Eh... Chloe?” Crystal said with a concerned voice. “Don’t you think you’re a bit too close to the Princess?”

I chuckled. ‘No, I don’t think I’m close enough.' is what I wanted to say, but unfortunately I’d probably come off as a creep. ‘The fuck am I thinking? Already I look creepy!’

“Don’t worry,” I heard Twilight say, “she’s not bothering me.”

The smile I had on my face grew even wider and I slipped an arm behind the pony and wrapped it around her. I pulled Twilight into a hug and laid there against her. Doing that was actually not a bad idea when I thought about it; hugging Twilight actually served to be a distraction from my motion sickness during our trip back to the vault. Not only that, Twilight being okay with me snuggling against her...

Actually made me a feel a bit happy.

:[-]:

“Chloe!” my sister, Stacey, screamed when the four soldiers swarmed her.

“We’ve got an infected one here!” the doctor shouted over the four men.

“Wait!” I cried and pushed myself past the two nurses in front of me. “She’s clean!” One of the nurses recovered and grabbed hold of my arm.

The four soldiers stopped curiously and looked back at us. “Are you crazy!?” the woman yelled. “If you get near here without any gear, you’re fucked!”

I glared at the lady clasping my hand and ripped it away from her. “I”ve been with her since the fucking beginning, bitch!” I snarled. “If she’s infected why did I pass through clean?!”

Out from behind me, a large arm reached out and hooked me around the neck. Terrified, I screamed and thrashed my legs around madly. “Miss, I need you to calm down!” the man who was restraining me said. “I don’t want to silence you with force!”

“Let me go!” I cried. “Please let me go, she’s my sister, for Christ’s sake!” The man’s arm tightened around my throat as he began to drag me back towards the crowd behind the barricade. My heart slammed against my chest and my breathing escalated to the point in which I could no longer control it. “I’m immune!” I screamed out desperately as I thrashed against the man. “Let me go, I’m fucking immune!”

“For fuck’s sake!” the man holding me shouted to the soldiers. “Get that infectee out of here!” The four men nodded and grabbed Stacey by her arms.

“NO! Please,” Stacey screamed, “you can’t take me away from her! She’s telling the truth!”

The sight of Stacey being dragged away relentlessly by the four men again tore through my heart like a rabid dog. Anger, pain, and shock were the three things I experienced simultaneously at that exact moment. “Stacey!” I hollered, but it was too late. The men had dragged her through a set of double doors at the end of the hall. She was gone. Completely unable to hear me.

My teeth ground together, I could feel my eyebrows carving their way down, heated blood pumped through my veins. Without a second thought, my head jerked back and rammed against what felt like the face of a gas mask. The man holding me grunted and his grip around my throat loosened. Taking the chance, I forced myself away from him and made a mad dash towards where the men took my sister.

Within seconds, three other soldiers made themselves known by diving out of the crowd, rifles in hand. “Get on the ground now!” The three men shouldered their weapons. I didn’t listen. “Take her out!”

Three loud shots rang out inside the hospital, triggering mass hysteria from the patients and their families. Chaos erupted as panic spread like wildfire throughout the care center. I laid on the floor of the hospital, whimpering as I cupped a hand over my bleeding gut. The flesh beneath my hand was warm and wet. I rolled onto my side to get a better view. It was no question that I had gotten shot; to my surprise though, it didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would. I was left on the ground a whimpering mess, but surely I thought I would be left in nothing but pure and utter agony.

I blinked, causing a few tears to stream down my face as I gazed up at the fluorescent light above me. ‘This is it, I guess...’ I thought, ‘the end of me, the end of humanity.’ My thoughts were interrupted by a wave of sporadic gunfire and more screaming people. ‘Oh my God!’ I bit my lower lip as river of tears streamed down my face.

“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!”

The higher-up turned and placed the handgun directly between the man’s eyes. “You heard what they said, anyone who stands in our way is to receive capital punishment, private.” The sergeant positioned his finger over the trigger. “I sure as hell hope I don’t need to put down one of my own squadmates.”

“With all due respect, sir,” the private said quietly, “these are civilians—” The sergeant squeezed the trigger of his gun: a brief flash from the muzzle illuminated the room; a small spray of blood exited the new hole in the privates face. The national guardsman's head snapped back and his body slumped to the floor before the sergeant. Screams from civilians erupted into the air when their eyes fell upon the fallen soldier.

Tears rolled down my cheeks and I quickly pushed myself away from the psychotic man. “You see this!” The sergeant turned to face the crowd, his gun held proudly in the air. “This is what happens when you—”

Loud bursts of machine gun fire drowned out the man’s voice, his body jigging left and right as bullet after bullet slammed into him. After few short seconds the sergeant dropped to the floor dead, his chest resembling nothing but swiss cheese.

I tore my eyes away from the bloody sight and buried my face into my arms. ‘It’s all my fault! They're dead because it’s my fault, if I wouldn’t have ran they’d still be alive!’ I lay on the floor sobbing uncontrollably.

“Everybody calm down, it’s over!” a man with a really deep, leathery voice shouted. “Jenkins, get some of your men around the back, calm those civilians! Sherlie, check out that wounded girl by the soda machine!”

“Yes, Sir!”

The sound of boots smacking against the marble tiles struck fear into my heart. “Shhh-shh...” I heard the woman above me cooed. “It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you!”

Something inside me told me not to believe her. “Get away from me!” I lashed out with my bloodied hand, the woman above must’ve saw this coming because she caught it easily.

“Hold it there,” she said to me, “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to help.”

I glared at her with tear soaked eyes. The girl looked to be the same age as me and was in nothing but military fatigues, on her right arm was a band with the American Red Cross. “H-How can I believe y-y-you?”

The woman pursed her lips. “Sergeant Ridgewood was always a crazy hard ass... but he’s gone now. Rockwell is in control now, no one’s going to hurt you. Let me help you u–pu–uppp–upupupu–” The woman’s face suddenly began to contort and blur, like a hand through mist my arm slipped out of her grip as if she was some kind of hologram.

“What the hell?” I asked in a quiet voice. The throbbing pain in the side of my gut began to fade. Gazing down at myself, I saw that the hole was sealing itself, strands of flesh connecting together almost like a web pulled themselves together. My heart began to race, ‘This isn’t what happened!’

I bit my lower lip and pushed myself away from the hologram lady. “It isn’t supposed to end like this!”

“And indeed you’re right,” a low, female voice said.

Coming from my left, behind the double doors that led deeper into the hospital, the sound of hooves clopping against marble echoed into my ears. My eyes were locked onto the door the soldiers dragged my sister through. Instead of pushing open the door, a blue light appeared on the door and stretched itself out to form a massive glowing wall. Out from the light came a dark blue limb clad in a silver horseshoe, and following it came the rest of a tall, curvy horse with a black peytral which displayed a crescent moon. When its head came through I noticed the large black tiara on her head and blue flowing mane that seemed to drift in an unnoticeable breeze.

“Wh–who the hell are you?” I pushed myself up into a sitting position and kicked myself away from it.

“Fear not, Ancient One,” the pony creature said, “I am only here to help you.”

I cocked an eyebrow. ‘Did this bitch just call me old?’

The creature raises an eyebrow and shook its head. “I apologize,” she said softly, “I did not mean to offend you.”

‘She can read my mind?!’

‘Indeed I can,’ a calming voice echoed in my head.

I jolted in my spot and scurried farther away from the creature. “What the hell are you?!”

The winged and horned pony cleared it's throat. “I am Princess Luna, ruler of the night and the realm of dreams.” The princess glanced around the interior the hospital the walls and images of people flickering like static on a T.V. screen. Luna’s eyes fell back on mine with a smile and her wings stretch out wide. “Welcome to my domain.” The blue pony then struck some kind of pose, acting as if I was supposed to be impressed.

‘What kind of fucked up dream are you trying to show me, brain?’

The Princess tilted her head at me and softened up her pose. “Chloe,” the pony said and I immediately sprung to my feet. “I am not part of your dream.”

‘Bullshit, brain! Why are you doing this to me?!’

Princess Luna looked at me as if I was an absolute idiot and shook her head. She then gave me a patient smile. “This isn’t a form of creation your brain has created up. You’re still very well in a dream, Chloe. However, I have taken partial control of it.” She smiled and smacked a hoof on the ground.

Briefly, I was blinded by a bright flash of light. When it dissipated, I saw that the pony in front of me was gone. Instead, in her wake, was a seven foot tall, pale woman in a black and blue sparkling dress, her hair appeared ethereal and drifted to the side in an unknown wind, her breasts larger than any woman I’ve seen before. Her eyes were teal and sharp, along with the rest of her face, it was very angular. And as for the rest of her body; her frame was wide yet still skinny.

My mouth dropped open and I felt a sudden fire ignite in me. ‘Jesus Christ, she’s fucking gorgeous!’

The woman smiled. “Thank you, I’ve worked hard at trying to imagine a human body. I always found it difficult to follow James’ descriptions.” I blinked when I realized she still sounded like the Princess, I bopped my head with the palm of my hand.

‘It is her you twit.’

Luna giggled. “I never understood these.” Luna reaches up with her hands and cupped both of her tits and begins to rub them. “How can you walk with them? They look as if they’ll just get in the way.”

The fire inside me exploded into an inferno and for some reason I couldn’t divert my eyes, a deep blush formed on my cheeks and raised both hands. “STOP IT, I CAN’T DREAM ABOUT THIS!” My heart was racing, the erotic imagery forever burned into my mind.

“Oh, are you disturbed by me doing this?”

I lowered my arms and saw Luna squishing them together, I clenched my eyes up and held my hands back up. “Yes, I am, please just go back to normal!” Though my eyes were closed I noticed a similar flash of light from before. Slowly, I opened my eyes and lowered my hands. I sighed with relief when I saw the princess pony was back to her original form.

‘You see? I can control what your brain sees,’ her voices said in my head.

“Yeah, and that’s exactly what my subconscious would tell me.” I roll my eyes. “Watch I can do something a whole lot similar to what you did.” Closing my eyes I began to think of one thing I always wanted to be.

A man.

Opening my eyes again, I saw Luna looking at me with wide eyes and pursed lips. I smirked. “Did it work?” My voice came out slightly deeper yet still feminine sounding. I gazed down at myself and gawked, my tits were gone! My chest was completely flat and baggy, needing more confirmation, I pulled the waist portion of my pants out and stuck my right hand down into my panties and yelped when I felt my hand grip onto something that wasn’t originally there. I ripped my hand out of there as if I touched some kind of venomous snake. “Whoa...” Is all I said.

I pulled my pants out farther along with my panties and gazed down at myself; no words could describe how awkward yet humorous the mood was. A stupid smile appeared on my face and I chuckled. The pony ahead of me sighed. “Hast thou humored herself enough?”

I tore my eyes away from my parts and smirked. “Correction,” I said with new masculine voice. “I’m a dude now.” I let off a boisterous laugh.

The pony lowered her eyelids and gave me an irritated look. Raising a hoof, she slammed it on the ground and the entire world instantly became black. Both I and Luna were standing in a similar void in which I had found myself in back inside the cocoon. “How the—” I started but stopped when I realized my voice was back to normal, looking back at myself I saw that I was once again a woman. I looked back at the pony with an open mouth. “How did you—why did you— c’mon, man!” I threw both my arms into the air and let off a frustrated sigh.

“I hast told thee that I am the ruler of dreams, no?” Luna strolled through the darkness towards me. Stopping just a few yards away, I saw that she was much taller than a regular pony. Unlike the others who came just above my waist, her eyes stopped just below my nose.

“What is this?” I asked, growing a little nervous.

The mare grinned at me. ”’Tis a dream we’re in,” she said, turning away from me. “But it is no ordinary dream.” She walked away and turned her head back towards me. “None that thou are use to.”

I was utterly confused. “Wait a second... so I’m unable to control this dream?”

The princess tilted her head. “In a manner of speaking.” She faced her body towards me. “But I decided to step in and take control.”

I frowned a little as I tried to wrap my head around everything she’d just said. “Bu-but that doesn’t make sense... If I’m dreaming then that makes it so you aren’t real.”

Luna took a deep breath. “My Sister warned me of this. Miss Cooper, to you that may be the case...” She bit her lip and gazed at the dark void as she tried to think of how she was going to word her next response. “I am as real as thyself,” she said when she raised her head.

I opened my arms out wide and asked, “How can you prove to me that I’m not going insane, or that James is still alive?”

“Journey to Canterlot,” Luna said flatly, although with as much grace as an exasperated royal could muster. “Once you are finished with Twilight Sparkle, have her bring you to Canterlot, and I will show you this is no ordinary dream.” The princess looked at me sternly.

Obviously I didn’t want to believe that this was just some mean joke my subconscious was playing on me, yet another half of me told me this was as real as it gets. “Why are you here?” I muttered the question.

The princess smiled at me and suddenly rays of light zipped past us, creating the illusion that we were flying through space at the speed of light, and next thing I knew, we were in Times Square in New York. Thousands of people on their phones, or talking to one another, or simply walking to work and running errands strode past us. Taxis honked their horns and drivers screamed their curses at one another, in the distance a police siren could be heard.

I stood next to Luna in the middle of it all, beside a man who wore a bdsm harness and was playing a saxophone. I couldn’t recognize the song, but it sounded a lot like that old timey music my father played as a joke whenever a movie entered a sex scene. Strangely enough, Luna didn’t seemed to be phased by the man. Matter of fact, what bewildered me the most is that not the man, nor anyone, was thrown off by the fact that there was horse creature in the center of Times Square.

Dream or not, I had a feeling my subconscious would at least make this world a little realistic. “Remember, Ms. Cooper, I am the one in control here.” Luna smiled, she then took a deep breath and gazed upon the urban scenery. “It amazes me how articulate your kind was.” She began to walk away from the sax man and towards oncoming traffic.

“W-wait!” I yelled out and reached out towards her with an open hand, but stopped when I noticed a MTA bus phase right through her. Luna stopped in the middle of the road and looked at me with her coy smile. “Heh...” I chuckled lightly and gazed at the speeding traffic nervously.

“Believe me, Miss Cooper, it is not as bad as it may seem,” Luna yelled over the cursing drivers and screaming horns. “In this world nothing can hurt you!”

I swallowed a lump in my throat and stepped out into the street. The sound of a taxi cab blaring its horn startled me past my limits. Head snapping to the left, my vision was fully obscured by a yellow blob that plowed right through me. Quite literally too. I stumbled back, the air sucked right out of my lungs. Hands shooting to my chest and sides, I checked to see if I was alright. Looking back I saw the rear end of the taxi turn onto west forty-sixth street. “What the hell just happened?” I turned towards the giggling princess who was standing in the middle of the road.

“Hast thou forgot thou were still dreaming for a second?” Luna lowered a hoof away from her lips and she smiled at me. I jumped when another taxi zip right through her as if she was some sort of ghost. “Nothing can hurt thee in this realm.” She flicked her head towards the sidewalk behind her. “Come, let us go.”

I nodded my head and coughed nervously into my fist. “Y-yeah.” I followed behind her and the two of us crossed the busy street.

The two of us stepped onto the sidewalk and Luna looked over her shoulder and smiled at the obvious look of bewilderment on my face. “Surprised, are you not?” she asked me with that strange accent of hers.

My eyes were glued onto the New York skyscrapers above us. “How were you able to...” For a brief moment I tore my eyes off the buildings and saw a gorgeous tall, pale woman, with long blue hair resting on her back. I jolted and took a step back. “What the hell? Why are you back to looking like that?”

Luna’s smile widened and she shrugged her shoulders, causing her massive chest to jiggle a bit. My cheeks flushed and I found a sudden interest in the never ending line of taxi cabs on our left. “We thought thee wouldst feel more comfortable if We were able to fit in more.” Luna rested a hand on my shoulder. “We do not mind if you look.”

My cheeks only grew hotter and I shrugged her hand off of me. “You don’t need to do this,” I said turning my head to look at her. Before she could say anything I gestured out towards the imaginary city. “I know you’re just trying to make me feel comfortable by sticking me in an environment I’m familiar with...” I took a deep breath and whispered, “To be honest, being here is actually doing the opposite of making me feel good.” My eyes downcast to the pavement.

Luna frowned a little and snapped her finger and her body shifted back into its pony form. The world around us began to dissolve. “Doest thou not feel comfortable?” The princess walked over to me and reached out to me with a wing.

Instinctively I flinched and moved away. “Stop it, okay!” I glared at her. ‘Who the hell is this pony? I don’t even know her, yet she’s treating me like some old friend.’

Luna winced and took a deep breath. “Chloe, we are only trying to help thee.”

I shook my head. “I-I don’t need your sympathy,” I said, “I just want to find my friend.”

Luna’s ears perked and she smiled. “And We can help thou with that!” Luna took a step towards me, the world around her melted back into the black void. “We can guide thee to James.”

I looked at her with a slightly confused expression, a question began to linger at the edge of my mind. “B-by J-James, you mean Doctor Reynolds, right?” I asked her.

Luna’s smile widened from ear to ear. “The one and only.”

My heart skipped a beat and I took a step towards the princess. “He’s still alive?!” I stumbled out.

Luna raises her head a bit as her smile became sly. “As We said, finish thy quest with Twilight Sparkle and come to Canterlot: we have much to discuss.”

I scowled. “Why not tell me now?”

The dark pony lowered her head and winked at me. “Because that would ruin the surprise.”

“What do you me—” A blinding flash erupted from behind the mare and my world was engulfed by a white light.

:[-]:

“We’re just about there.” I shifted and groaned at the sound of Quartz’s voice. Mumbling unintelligible gibberish, I smiled and rubbed my cheek against the soft, warm pillow I’d lain against. “You awake back there, Chlo?” she asked.

“I... no... I don’t wanna...” I grumbled out the first few lines that came to mind, my thoughts still foggy. Waking up I reached an arm out and wrapped it around the pillow and yanked it towards me.

“EEEEEH!” a mare’s voice squeaked.

Spontaneous laughter caused my eyes to fly open, from my left eye all I could see was nothing but lavender fur. Out of my right, I saw Crystal with her still bandaged head pointing a hoof in my direction while laughing her ass off. Feeling my purple pillow shift, my breath hitched in my throat and I immediately pushed myself up along with shoving Twilight away from me.

“I’m so sorry!” I apologized my body snapping itself awake.

Twilight looked at me with a small smile and giggled. “It’s alright, Chloe, there’s nothing to be sorry about.” Twilight turned her head away from me. “I just wasn’t expecting to be hugged, that was all.”

I reached back and rubbed my neck. “S-sorry about that...” ‘She just told you there’s no need to apologize!’ “I’m kind of a...” I gulped. “A cuddler.”

“Yeah,” Quartz said from over her shoulder, “I know that first hoof.”

I frowned. “Since when?”

Quartz giggled. “The first night we slept in the woods, remember? The three of us slept together. The entire night you couldn’t keep those arms to yourself.”

My cheeks burned and I cast my eyes to the floor of the wagon. “Oh come on, Chlo, stop being a baby.” Crystal smiled at me. “There’s no reason to be embarrassed...” She frowned a little and tapped her chin with a hoof, her face lighting up moments later. “If it makes you feel any better, I actually enjoyed you rubbing and snuggling against me that night.”

It was nice to hear what Crystal just said, yet at the same time the way she worded it only made my cheeks burn even more. The look on Twilight’s face told me that I wasn’t the only one who picked up on what she said. “Th-thanks...” I said quietly, tucking my legs closely to my chest and leaned against the wall and rested my chin on my knees. I took a deep breath and sighed.

“Is something wrong, Chloe?” Twilight looked over and asked.

I bit my lower lip, my thoughts returning to my dream. “I... I had a weird dream...”

“We noticed—OUCH!” Crystal blurted, but was quickly silenced by a hoof knocking her in the back of the head.

“Do you ever shut up?” Quartz snarled.

“Would you like to talk about it?” Twilight scooted over to me.

My teeth dug deeper into my lower lip, any second I thought I was going to taste blood. “Uh...” I lowered my face further behind my knees, my eyes flicked towards the princess then back to my knees. I hated talking about dreams, personally I never saw a point in talking about them at all. Yeah there’s that talk about how it ties into our mental state, and though that maybe true, I just never saw any benefit to it. Usually dream conversations is something one would bring up when there’s nothing to talk about it.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.” Twilight leaned away from me and went to return to her previous position.

My heart jolted for a second and my head shot up from me knees. “N-no, you’re fine!” I said without thinking, “I mean...” My teeth went back to biting my lip and I slowly turned away from her. “I-I’ll tell you...”

:[-]:

The wagon came to a stop a hundred yards or so away from the crater that led down into my home, the forest too dense for us to go any further. The wooden wolves Quartz had conjured up, crumpled away into heaps of twigs and tree sap. Crystal, Twilight, and I sat in the back of the wagon; both of the ponies eyes were wide and focused one me.

“So... you were visited by Princess Luna?” Twilight leaned forward and asked, having been the first to shake herself from her stupor.

I blinked and looked at the purple pony. “I had a dream that I was visited by a blue horse, yeah.”

‘N-n-no, you don’t understand,” Crystal climbed onto her hooves and stepped towards me. “That wasn’t a dream, Chloe, that actually happened.”

‘What does she mean that actually happened?’ I frowned and shook my head. “Does that make me the chosen one or something?” Quartz snorted a laugh when she overheard me.

Twilight giggled and shook her head. “No, I’m afraid not.”

“Princess Luna visits everypony’s dreams at one point or another,” Crystal explained as she hopped off the wagon, I turned myself and followed behind her. “It’s just that... you’re not a pony.”

“And the fact you said she wanted to help you is strange too,” Twilight added.

My feet landed onto the grass softly. Straightening myself out, I swatted away a few wrinkles and dirt. “Don’t forget though, she did say she knew Reynolds.” I tied the sleeves of my jacket around my waist, turning to face Twilight. I then added, “Matter of fact, she spoke as if they were friends or something.”

Quartz came around from the front of the wagon levitating a few bags with her magic. She floated one over to Twilight then one to Crystal. “Well, don’t forget that movie you showed us had him talking to the Princesses. They sounded pretty friendly there.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait what?” Her eyes snapped towards me. “You have recorded documents of this other human’s interactions with the princesses?”

I raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “His name is James Reynolds, and yes, I do.”

Twilight nodded. “Duly noted.” She glanced about the forest. “So in which direction is your home?”

:[-]:

“Oh... My... Gosh...”

I walked up and stopped right beside Twilight at the edge of the crater which led down to the entrance of the vault. I giggled when I noticed the vast look of awe on her face: the mare’s eyes were as wide as saucers, and her mouth hung agape. “What’s so great about it?” I asked with an open arm pointing towards the open gold plated door. “We haven’t even seen the inside yet!”

“Oh you’re going to love it in there, Princess!” Quartz’s voice rang from behind, looking back the pegasus and unicorn were returning from hiding the wagon. “The place is stunning.”

Crystal landed next to me and frowned. “I dunno...” She tapped her chin with a hoof. “I wouldn’t go that far.” Right above her still bandaged eye a white light flashed and her head recoiled back. “Ouch! Why did you flick me?”

“Don’t be rude!”

I laughed and patted Crystal on the head, stopping for a moment when my hand made contact with her overly soft fur. “Nah, I’m going to have to agree with you on this one,” I said to the mare and lightly patted her head. “It’s nothing too fancy.”

A moment of silence fell over us. Feeling a bit awkward, I bit my lower lip and looked at Twilight. Her expression hadn’t changed at all. “So...” I said turning my attention back to the entrance. “You guys hungry? Or thirsty?”

Crystal’s face lit up. “I am!” The mare turned to me hopping from hoof to hoof, she looked like an excited child.

Quartz on the other hand, simply nodded. “I wouldn’t mind having a drink, thanks for offering.”

I looked back at Twilight, her face, though slightly settled, was still awestruck. “Hey, Twilight,” I poked the mare in the side.

“Whoa-ah!” The mare practically leapt out of her coat, she landed on her hooves and took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry!” she apologized.

My eyes widened and I held up both hands. “It’s alright—”

“I’m just so amazed!” The princess said slowly, her eyes cast towards the vault. “There’s an actual underground shelter here that’d possibly been around for thousands of years.”

I shrugged. “A little over sixteen thousand really,” I specified, then immediately kicked myself mentally.

Twilight’s eyes widen at the sound of the number, her head turned towards me slowly. However, she didn’t say a word, instead her eyes alone were able to convey exactly what she was thinking. I cleared my throat and tapped the top of my chest with a fist. “How about we go get a drink,” I offered with a sheepish smile.

:[-]:

“Glenn!” I called out when I poked my head through the hole Quartz and Crystal dug into my wall. “I’m back!”

“Greetings, Ms. Cooper,” the V.I. greeted me as I stepped into the entrance room. “How did your errands go?”

“Oh splendid,” I said, making my way to the control panel that opened the primary entrance.

“Who are you talking to?” Twilight asked me as she too made her way through the small hole in the door.

“Hello, I am Glenn. Vault McKinley's assistant V.I.” Glenn introduced himself to Twilight.

The princess pony’s eyes shot straight to the ceiling with her mouth agape. “Whoa...” She muttered, her eyes cast down towards me. “What does ‘V.I.’ stand for?” she asked while I punched in the pass-code for the vault.

I bit my lip, personally I didn’t really know too much about Glenn. For the longest time, I kept confusing him for an A.I., a misconception that drove Adams crazy. “Care to answer that, Glenn?” I glanced up at the ceiling.

“Certainly, Miss.” A moment of silence passed. “V.I. stands for: Virtual Intelligence. Which is a highly sophisticated program created in order to make space shuttle systems, and your typical home computer, easier to use. This particular software was invented in the year 2022 by NASA computer programmer, Nigel Crawford–”

“I told you to tell her what it means, Glenn,” I said and punched in the last of the code. “Not to give her a lecture.” A loud metal clang, followed by screeching metal echoed out from behind the door.

“Dang,” Quartz said, wincing at the noise emitted from the cog shaped door. “He explained that as if he read that out of a text book.”

“That is because I did get that out of a textbook which was downloaded into my hard drive.” Glenn went on to explain, “Wheeler, Sarah. “How Virtual Intelligence May Change Humanity Forever.” Columbus Ohio, February 16th, 2023. Print.”

“Oh...” Quartz whispered.

Twilight, on the other hand, was giddy like a young girl after her first kiss. Literally bouncing up and down, the princess pony galloped towards me and nearly leapt into my arms. “How much does he know?” she asked quickly.

I bit my lip and looked away as I tried to dish out an answer. “Eh...”

“My data banks are filled with exactly fifty-five thousand two hundred and eighty three exabytes of information following the development of the human race.” Glenn said coming to my rescue, however, even I was thrown off by what he said.

“Holy shit really?” My eyes widened. “Is that like bigger than a terabyte?” The large cog-like door groaned as the interior drill screwed itself in. The metal then screeched loudly as it was dragged inside before jutting loose.

“One exabyte is a million times larger than a terabyte, Miss.”

I pursed my lips. “Oh...” is all I said

Twilight and the two other mares looked at me confused, Crystal took step back and shook her head. “Are you two even speaking Equestrian?”

I blinked and looked at the pony. “What?”

“I am unable to calibrate to that language, did you mean English?” Glenn asked.

Crystal looked flabbergasted. “What–n-no! What the hay even is that?”

Twilight turned to Crystal and raised a hoof. “I think what they’re saying is that we’re speaking... English?” Twilight turns and looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “But that can’t be possible.”

I scratched the back of my neck. “You’re telling me that’s impossible? You guys are the ones speaking my language.”

“And you're the one that’s speaking mine,” Twilight said back. An awkward silence fell over us.

The metallic cog screeched loudly as it was wheeled back into the wall, allowing us entrance into the vault. I took a deep breath. “Well this is going to be fun,” I said. “Let's go get something to eat.”

:[-]:

“Alright, here you go.” I dropped three steaming MREs in front of the ponies. “All nice and heated up for you guys to ‘enjoy!’’” I said with complete sarcasm as I took a seat at the rec room table. For some reason, I had a weird feeling when I sat down in my chair before my meal and three ponies. It was almost alien in a way, like I wasn’t supposed to be here... wasting time. I knew for a fact then and there that the one sole purpose of coming back was to bury my friends. No way was I going to leave their bones in those rusted coffins.

The three ponies eyed the steaming packages before them. Reaching down, I picked mine up and tore it open with ease. I tilted the bag and a heated package of scrambled eggs slipped out along with some dried toast, bacon, and gum. I quickly took the gum and tossed it across the room, which confused the ponies even more. I gave them a small smile. “Trust me, just don’t chew it.” Gazing back at my meal I clapped my hands together and let off a sarcastic. “Yeeaaah!” Before bending over my food and eating it.

Eggs out of an MRE aren’t bad, per se. It’s just that everytime I grab one of them unmarked packages I’m always the unlucky one who ends up eating eggs. Forking a lump of egg into my mouth, I cast my gaze back towards the mares, Twilight and Quartz unpackaged their meals and sprawled the contents out on the table. Twilight had also gotten eggs, except her’s was in the shape of an omelet and Quartz had gotten spaghetti... with meatballs.

I sat my fork on the table and looked over at the mare. “Uh...” I hummed.

Quartz looked at me with a tilted head her face looking a little green. “I don’t want to sound rude and all but...” She bit her lip.

“You can’t eat meat can you?” I sighed and stood up. “I figured as much.”

“Well it’s not that we can’t eat it,” Twilight said, “Our stomachs just can’t digest it as well.” She levitated the omelette to her mouth and took a curious bite. She smiled a bit and took another bite. The mare’s eyes suddenly grew massive, her face literally turning a shade of green, she quickly levitated the MRE bag to her mouth and vomited. For some odd reason I found this funny. “Ha, I see you found the sausage!”

Quartz clicked her tongue with disgust. “Yeah... do you have anything else?”

I tapped my chin and picked up the spaghetti. “Well... I might have something in the fridge. Do you want me to get you anything, Crystal?” I asked the pegasus who hadn’t even touched her package yet.

Crystal glances at the sick alicorn then back at me. “I think I’m just not going to eat.”

I shrugged. “Suit your—oh shit, I forgot drinks!” I placed the spaghetti on the table and hopped the counter behind me. Opening the fridge, I pulled out a jug of water and began to get us some drinking glasses.

“So...” Crystal said. I heard her push the chair back and hop out of her seat. Stealing a glance over my shoulder, I saw her jump onto the counter and hop down beside me, leaving Quartz to tend to the vomiting Princess.

“Is she going to be alright?” I asked before Crystal could continue talking.

“Princess Twilight?” Crystal also looked back at them. “I think she’ll be fine, I was the same way when a gryphon dared me into eating a fish.”

“Oh I love fish,” I said turning back to filling our glasses. “What kind was it? Perch, salmon, tilapia?” I placed the jug a water aside and picked up two of the four glasses.

“A gold fish.” Crystal said blandly. “You sure know a lot of different kinds of fish.”

I snorted and placed the two glasses down on the table. Looking at Twilight, the mare was finally gaining her bearings. “I only know the kinds I’ve caught.” I turned and went to grab the other two glasses.

“You go fishing?”

I pointed at the pegasus. “I used to go fishing.” Picking up the glasses, I went back to the table. “My father and I would go out onto the harbor and fish every weekend. There were a few times when I’d go down to Florida to see my grandparents.”

“Florida?” Crystal hopped back into her seat and I sat down next to her in the other chair.

I push a glass of water towards her and grabbed my own. Quartz levitated her and Twilight’s glasses over to them. I took a sip of my water and pulled my scrambled eggs back to me so I could continue eating. “It’s a state... You see that map there?” I pointed with my fork towards a map of the United States that hung on the wall. Quartz and Twilight also raised their heads to look.

“The map of Equestria?” Crystal looked at me and tilted her head.

I shook my head. “No, that’s the United States. Right there in the bottom right corner, the bit that’s extending off of the main part of land, that’s Florida.”

The three ponies nodded their heads. “So... Equestria, hasn’t always been... Equestria?” Crystal looks at me slightly confused.

I frowned and looked at her. “You’re serious?”

“Boy she must of knocked you in the head harder than I thought,” Quartz laughed.

Crystal fired a burning glare at Quartz. “You know I never paid any attention in history!”

Quartz smacked her hind leg with a hoof and laughed. “That’s because you always had your snout in some mares crotch!”

A red blush burned through Crystal’s blue coat and her eyes cast to the floor. “At least I got laid in school,” she whispered.

Quartz smiled and leaned forward in her seat. “I don’t think that’s something that deserves bragging rights, dear.”

I shoved a couple more forkfuls of egg into my mouth and pushed the empty package away. Chugging my water, I raised an eyebrow towards a confused looking Twilight who was sipping her glass. “You alright?”

The mare shook her head and looked at me. “Oh no... I mean yeah, I’m fine, it’s just that...” She cast a glance around the vault. “I’ve just been trying to wrap my head around where we’re at.”

“Okay,” is all I said.

“I can’t really figure out a way on how to put this...”

“If it is bothering you, Miss, I could probably be of assistance.” Glenn’s voice came out of nowhere.

The princess jumped and glanced at the ceiling. “I forgot about... what’s his name?”

“Glenn.”

“Yes, Madam?”

“Nothing, Glenn.”

“Yes, M’lady.”

“He responds nearly every time you say his name.”

Twilight nods. “So... could I ask him a question?”

“Go right ahead.” I said gesturing lightly with my hand. “That’s literally what he’s here for.”

“How is this vault still here?” Twilight asked. “Chloe said that humanity spanned across the globe, yet since the formation of the pony species, no evidence of a previous forerunner has been discovered.

“Simple. Most of the vault was saved from corrosion due to depressurizing the entire interior and filling it with nitrogen. The exterior steel walls are plated with gold to also help prevent any form of contamination.” Glenn explained.

Twilight nods her head. “Interesting, now what do you mean most of the vault was saved?”

“I am unable to detect why this would be the case, but both Engineer Adams, and Dr. Eva Osai’s rooms were contaminated and destroyed by years of corrosion.” I cringed at those words, I raised a hand to cover my face and sighed.

Twilight caught wind of this and nodded. “Thank you, Glenn.” She looked at me. “I’m sorry if I went a little too far there.”

I waved a hand to the side. “No, you’re alright.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “The amount of thought that went into building this place must’ve of been massive.”

I shuddered. “Well, when the fate of your entire species rests on four people... you’re going to want to make sure they all survive.” I shook my head as an attempt to rid myself of any dark thoughts. Standing up, I pushed my chair back. “How about I take you on a tour?”

Like a flip of a switch, the entire mood changed. Twilight’s ears perked up and her lips formed a large smile. “Really?! That’d be amazing!”

The pony’s excitement was almost contagious. Smiling, I looked over at Quartz and Crystal. The two mares looked to not be as excited. “Is something wrong?” I asked them.

Crystal shrugged and Quartz raised a hoof and pointed it towards our surroundings. “Well, it’s just that you already showed us everything, so I think Crystal and I will just hang out back on the surface for now.”

I frowned a little. ‘They’re just going to leave like that? But what will I do when I stumble on...’ I quickly shook my head. “Th-that’s fine, you two go have fun then.” I gave them a fake smile.

Quartz smiled back at me. “Same goes for you two.” She looked at Twilight. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Princess Twilight.”

Twilight nodded. “It was also a pleasure meeting you two, Miss Quartz, and you too, Miss Crystal.”

“It’s Gem, Miss Gem,” Crystal corrected.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh your full name is, Crystal Gem?” The blue pegasus nodded. “My apologies, it was nice meeting you, Miss Gem.”

I clapped my hands together. “Alrighty then! You two can head on up, I’ll have Glenn open the vault for you.” I glanced over at Twilight. “As for you, just make your way down the hall and make a right. The first stop will be the science lab.”

Twilight’s eyes became saucers. “You have a science lab!?”

I smirked. “Of course we do, c’mon, let's go.”

Author's Note

I apologize for the long wait, I've been working on writing my senior paper (which I finished!) and with the holiday season work has been very busy.

Chapter 10: Inner Demons

How about I just flat out say it.

I was not prepared for Twilight’s reaction when I brought her into Dr. Reynold’s lab.

But I will say this: I very much needed it.

When the door to the lab opened and I guided Twilight into the largely constructed room, Twilight’s pupils dilated to the point that the sclera were nothing but thin halos around the edges. The highlights coming from the lights above reflected off of the large black orbs, while her mouth hung agape.

In all my life, I never knew such a face could be made. It was like something torn straight from a cartoon, even the silly faces my sister and I would make could not compare to something as bizarre as what Twilight was doing. The mare didn’t even say a word, her eyes were glued to the computers, diagrams, the white boards which were still covered in formulas and theorems. I couldn’t help but suddenly start laughing when I saw her reflection through a black monitor on a nearby computer.

“Wh-what the hell?” I pointed at the mare’s reflection.

Twilight finally snapped out of her state of awe and looked at me. “What?” She asked, a noticeable blush appearing through her lavender coat.

I felt my knees buckle as my laughter was kicked up a notch. I pointed a finger at her. “Y-your fa-face!”

“Wh-what about it?!” Twilight held the tips of her wings to her face, inspecting to see if there was anything on it.

“It’s priceless!” I blurted out as I bent over my knees to take a few deep breaths. After I had calmed down, I straightened myself out a bit and for some odd reason I felt a little better, like my self esteemed had been raised a bit. “So.” I gestured with an open hand out to the lab. “What do you think?”

Twilight turned her head and gazed out at the white boards, tables, machines, and computers. “It’s... different,” She said, “It’s nothing like my lab back home.” The princess started to make her way into the lab, stopping in front of a computer she examined it. “I have no idea what these trinkets are.”

“Oh that!” I smiled and walked over to Twilight. “This is a computer.”

“A what?”

“A computer, to be specific, it’s James' computer.” I bent down and pushed the start button on it, and within seconds the computer lit up and the monitor came to life displaying a beautiful background of the cosmos. “It’s what we used to do work and use as entertainment.”

Twilight purses her lips. “It’s like a data compiler?”

I shrugged. “Something like that...” I leaned in and typed in Reynold’s pin number, which was also his password for his computer. Loading into the desktop we were both introduced to a picture of a young version of Reynolds standing beside a beautiful women and a young child in Central Park. Like a flip of a switch the self esteem I just gained was gone in an instant.

Twilight raised an eyebrow and leaned in curiously. “Who are they?” she asked.

I gulped. “His family,” I whispered.

Twilight’s ears flattened as she got the message. “Oh my...”

I nodded my head and saw a nearby folder on the desktop labeled “Video Logs”. Opening it, I clicked on the first video and regretted it immediately.

The camera flickered to life and revealed me in a room sitting on some kind of table completely naked; my crotch, breasts and every other ounce of flesh was exposed to the camera. Twilight’s eyes widened and her mouth took on an “O” shape, I could feel my blood rushing to my cheeks as they began to burn at the sight of myself naked before the camera. Instinctively I reached down to close out the video but was stopped by Twilight’s magic taking a hold of my hand.

“Wait,” she said quietly, “I want to see this.”

"Alright, this is Dr. James Reynolds.” Reynolds said from behind the camera, we could faintly hear him moving about. “I’m just setting up the patient for her twelfth experiment this month. Uh... the year as of now is... hold on... January twenty-fifth, 2038.” James’ hand could be briefly seen on the left side of the image, a faint click is heard. “Are you ready in there, Chloe?”

I could see myself shift around nervously on the table and reach up to itch my left breast. “I still don't understand why I’m naked,” I said in the video, my voice was muffled by the speakers. “Are you like trying to trick me into doing a porno or something?” I had joked.

James chuckled and pushed the talk button on the PA. “Funny, Miss Cooper.”

Behind the glass I shrugged. “No, really, I’d do it if you were able to convince Osai to join us. It’s been like a year since I got laid.”

“You do know I’m recording right now, Chloe?” James said and my past self jolted in her spot, her cheeks flushed and her eyes widened.

“Oh, shit! You’re gonna cut that out, right?”

I took a deep breath and glanced at Twilight, the mare’s face was burning and I closed my eyes. “Goddammit, Reynolds,” I grumbled.

“Of course I will,” Reynolds lied, “no way in hell am I gonna show this to congress.”

I shook my head and turned away from the video. “I can’t believe he kept this...”

I looked back at the pony princess and noticed that she hadn’t torn her eyes away from the video at all. Looking back on screen, I saw that Reynolds had entered the room I was in, dressed in a hazmat suit. In one of his hands was a needle, and the look on my past self told me that I was deeply terrified. Recalling back to the experiment, Reynolds was going to inject me with a “different” strain of the SOL Virus.

“Alright, Chloe, I just need you to hold your arm out.”

“What is that?”

“It’s the SV-12, I just need to study the effects on your body.”

“Do you have to stab me with that thing? Uh... i-is there some form of way I could just eat it?”

“Ugh... just close your eyes, Chloe, it shouldn’t hurt.”

Reynolds had grabbed my arm and held it up, my past self closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She squeaked at the small prick in her arm as the needle entered and injected the pure virus into her bloodstream. “Alright.” Reynolds straightened himself out. “I just need you to lie back on the table and I’ll slide you into the machine for a CT scan.”

Having known what happened next, I reached up and stopped the video before it could continue. “Okay we’re done here,” I said while trying to ignore the disappointed pony beside me.

“Wh-what happened?!” Twilight tore her eyes off of the computer and looked at me. “Where did the movie go?”

“I turned it off,” I said, blushing with embarrassment.

“Why?”

I blinked as I tried to think of a response, my mind being ripped back to the day I was injected with St-whatever strain and how it caused me to convulse and writhe within the CT scan. Luckily it didn’t actually hurt me nor was I infected, but holy shit the muscle spasms were insane. My blush burned brighter and I shook my head. “I don’t think you want to see a naked version of me repeatedly throwing herself against the wall of that machine.” I turned away from the computer. “How about...” I tapped my chin and forced myself to look away from the flustered mare. “Uh... want to go check out the library?” I asked her when my eyes fell on a nearby double door.

“You have a library?” Twilight’s mood flipped back over to what it was when we arrived. The mare’s eyes grew wide and she quickly trotted behind me when I started to make my way towards the door. “How many books do you have?”

I bit my lower lip. “Care to answer that Glenn?”

“Certainly, Madam. McKinley's library holds a total of ten thousand books, along with a single computer containing over eight exabytes of human information.” The V.I. explained.

I jiggled the handle on the library door. It was locked. “Glenn, could you open the door?”

“Certainly, Ma’am.”

The door clicked and I easily pushed it open, a very faint smell of old books and paper wafted its way into my nostrils as I stepped in. Twilight walked past me and stopped a few feet in front of me. Taking a deep breath, she embraced the old smell and gazed out over the second largest room in the vault. McKinley’s Library.

The room’s architecture was based heavily off of the Library of Congress. Except instead of being made of stone and wood it was made of steel and gold. Most books were held deep within filing cabinets to help protect them from any outside contaminates that may get in. Not only that, inside each of these cabinets the books were sealed in airtight bags.

“Sweet Celestia,” Twilight gawked. “This place is even bigger than the Canterlot Library!”

I smirked, for some reason showing the vault off to this pony was oddly satisfying. “It’s the second largest room in the vault.”

Twilight looked at me with wide, dilated eyes. “What’s the biggest?”

I bit my lip, the feeling of satisfaction drained out of my system. “The Embryo Chamber...”

Twilight’s eyes returned to the their original state and her ears flattened, her thoughts probably going back to when I told her the reason for showing up at her castle. “Oh...” She gulped. “I never really... expressed how so—”

I shook my head and made an X shape with my arms. “Stop right there,” I said, “you don’t need to show me any pity.”

Twilight’s head fell. “I’m sorry... but you must feel terrible...”

My heart fell at the sight of the sad pony. I nervously scratched the back of my neck. “Well...” I bit my lip. “You’re right... I don’t feel good about it,” I practically whispered, I gently pushed my way past Twilight and began to make my way down a set of steps. “But I don’t want to dwell on it, c’mon, let’s go check out the data bank.”

:[-]:

“This thing here.” I placed my hand on a small computer tower. “Holds practically everything mankind has ever done, or created.” I smiled at Twilight, which didn’t do much to improve her mood. I swallowed a lump in my throat and looked back at the computer. “For instance: It has everything from the Mongolian Invasion to the Mars landings.” I tried to smile at the mare again but all got was a flick of her ear.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Glenn?”

“Yes, Madam?”

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“What happened to the human species?”

My heart nearly stopped. “Whoa-whoa, Twilight.” I held up both my hands towards the mare. “Why are you asking him, I told you what happened.”

The mare tilted her head. “All you told me was that a disease wiped out your race. I’m interested in the details.”

“You’ll need to be more specific, Miss,” Glenn said.

I bit my lip, my hands were starting to shake. “Ya don't need to know the details, Twilight,” I said in an almost pleading voice.

The princess took a deep breath and closed her eyes before opening them back up to look at me. “Glenn, tell me about Chloe.” My mouth fell open.

“Certainly, Madam.

Name: Chloe Michelle Cooper

Sex: Female

Age: 27

Date of Birth: July 14th, 2010

“Bio: Cooper was born in a small town of Dansville just on the outskirts of New York City. Living with both parental guardians and her younger sister, Stacey Marie Cooper, she attended the local elementary school before moving to the Big Apple during High School years. Cooper averaged a 3.8 GPA throughout her freshman and junior year but dropped shortly after she garnered a boyfriend.”

My cheeks flushed and I fell back into the nearby swivel chair, I rested my face in the palm of my hands and groaned. Looking through the cracks of my fingers Twilight gazed upwards at the ceiling her eyes wide with interest.

“However, two years later after graduating high school, Cooper left the man after he had knocked her unconscious due to an unknown dispute. From there on Cooper had began to lean more towards members of her own sex; opting to become a lesbian.”

“Oh, be blunt, won’tcha!” I tossed my hands into the air.

“With Cooper’s successful grades in school, it’s unknown why she hadn’t thought of going to a college or university. Instead, she moved back to her hometown and worked as a waitress for three more years before falling into a sexual relationship with her manager, Rose Caroline.”

Once again my cheeks were burning like a lit furnace and I looked over to see Twilight was furiously taking notes. I nearly suffered a heart attack. “Alright, we’re done!” I got up.

“Soon after the starting of their “Friends with Benefits”, Caroline and Cooper moved back into the city—”

“Glenn, I said stop!” I shouted.

“Yes, Madam.”

The V.I. fell silent, leaving Twilight and I to sit alone, gazing at each other awkwardly. I hadn’t noticed at first, but my entire body was trembling, the tips of my nails dug into the flesh of my palm, threatening to tear into the flesh.

“Glenn...” My voice wavered.

“Yes, Madam?”

“Never mention Rose Caroline ever again!” I snarled, a faint warm feeling trickled down both my palms.

“Yes, M’lady.”

Twilight blinked a bit and looked at me. “A-a I-I’m sorry.” Twilight apologized. “I-I di-didn’t mean to upset you...” Her ears fell flat again. “I-I... I just wanted to see if I could learn more about you,” She whispered.

I looked at the pony and furrowed my brow. Walking towards her, I held out my right hand. The palm slick with small droplets of blood, I reached to her, Twilight flinched and took a step back. I clamped my hand on the back of her head and pulled her towards me, the pony yelped when her snout came into contact with my gut. Wrapping both hands around her, I hugged the mare. “Ne-next time...” I blinked away a few tears. “Just ask me.”

Twilight nodded her head. “O-okay...”

I released her and took a step back. The cuts on my palms were starting to sting. “D-dammit.” I winced when I closed my fingers, small droplets of blood oozed out and began to make their way down my hand.

“Oh—hold your hands out.” Twilight stepped back and smiled, I held them out. Twilight’s horn began to glow with a purple light which soon engulfed my hands. A warm, tingling feeling encompassed them and within seconds the pain, and cuts, were gone.

“How the—”

“Intermediate magic.” Twilight interrupted me. “Learned during my fourth year of magic school.” Twilight sat back on her haunches and smiled at me.

My eyes were glued to my blood stained hands as I sat back down in my chair. “I-I don’t know what to say.” And here I thought Quartz subduing my pain and lifting a boulder was amazing, but repairing skin and flesh..."

‘This has to be some sort of dream...’ I thought as I closed both my hands.

Twilight shook her head. “You don’t need to say anything,” Twilight said and looked me in the eyes. “Your face says it all.” Her ears flattened again. “Again, I’m sorry for pushing into your personal life. That wasn’t a smart thing for me to do.”

“You’re fine, really.” I smiled at her. “I’m not angry at you.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Then why did you scream like that?”

I frowned. “That wasn’t a scream, I was just shouting at Glenn to stop talking.”

“Excuse me, Madam?”

“I wasn’t talking to you, Glenn.”

“Yes, M’lady.”

“But you were trembling, you made yourself bleed!” Twilight gestured with a hoof towards my hand.

I lowered my head and chuckled lightly. “That maybe true.” I took a deep breath and looked the mare in the eyes. “The point is, I wasn’t mad at you. None of that was directed at you.”

Twilight nodded her head in understanding. “O-okay then.” Her quill and notepad suddenly appeared beside her head along with a pair of cute, red glasses that rested on her nose. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

I gestured upwards with an open hand. “Go right ahead, ask me anything.”

“Who is Rose Caroline?”

My heart turned to ice. “Uh...” I looked away from Twilight, my cheeks started to burn .”Eh... well...” I gulped.

Twilight’s eyes widened and she lowered her notepad. “I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomf—”

I stuck a hand out towards her. ‘No-no, it’s fine...” I took a deep breath. “I can’t keep it locked up for long anyways.” I bit my lower lip. “Rose Caroline was a ‘special’ friend of mine.” I even added quotations with my fingers.

“Like your special somepony?” Twilight raised an eyebrow and scribbled a few notes on her pad.

“Sort of, we got together at least every other night.”

Twilight’s ear flicked back and forth and she tilted her head. “So you were coltfriend and marefriend?”

I gave Twilight a deadpanned look. “We were fucking each other for fun.”

Twilight nearly stumbled over her words and fell into a spiraling pit. Her lavender cheeks grew bright pink. “O-oh... oh... oh... huh... way to put it bluntly.”

“What, did you want to call us mating friends?”

Twilight gulped. “It would’ve been easier to take in... so yes, I would’ve.”

I rolled my eyes. “But yes, we were having sex with each other...” I bit my lower lip once more and nearly drew blood. “I should also mention that... that she was my boss.”

Twilight looked at me then quickly nodded her head and wrote that down. “Wait so... she was your boss, and you mated with her? Her? She’s a mare!”

I shrugged. “What’s wrong with that, all you need is some toys and these.” I performed jazz hands in front of the mare’s face. “Speaking of which she was like some kind of kung fu master with her fingers.”

Twilight shook her head and forehooves. “N-no details please!”

I smirked as a light blush made itself visible, I shifted and squeezed my thighs as my thoughts drifted back to those past nights. Shaking my head I scooted back in my seat and leaned forward. “But yeah, she was my boss, and I won’t lie... I started having sex with her as a way to get promoted faster.”

“So you used her?”

My heart lurched at those words and I glared at Twilight. “N-no I didn’t—I mean—yeah... at first... but...” I lowered my forehead into the palm of my right hand.

Twilight lowered her quill and pad. “I can assume it’s safe to say you started having feelings for her?”

I took a deep breath and nodded my head. “Y-yeah you’re okay to say that... but all those feelings were lost when she started going out with some asshole of a man.”

“What did she do?” Twilight asked me.

I shrugged a bit. “I dunno... stopped talking to me for the most part. When we did chat though, she was a bitch about it. Then there was this one time out of nowhere she invited me to her house for no reason. When I showed up, she and the boyfriend were fucking on the couch. Before I left, they offered to let me join!” My voice was gradually starting to rise over time.

“Did you accept the offer?” Twilight asked blushing lightly.

I raised to a finger to say no, but stopped halfway. “Well...” I also began to blush, and that was all the answer Twilight needed.

“So, despite being furious with her, you couldn’t help but join?” The pony nodded her head. “It seems even for your species, love can be equally as weird.” She seemed to write that down in her notes, an action that made me feel all the more embarrassed. Twilight cleared her throat and looked back at me. “How about we change the subject? How many siblings do you have?”

Again my heart ached a little. “I had one sister,” I said quietly. “Her name was Stacy, she was my younger sister and my best friend.” My vision began to grow foggy as the tears started to swell around the bottom half my eyes.

Twilight seemed to have taken notice and coughed into her hoof. She chuckled lightly. “That’s nice,” she said nervously, “any particular hobbies you girls shared?”

I shook my head. “We were polar opposites of each other. Where I did good in school, she didn’t, I liked to hang out with boys. She hung out with girls. I was into sports in high school and she wasn’t, that sort of thing.” I wiped my hand along the bottom of my eyes.

Twilight’s ears flattened. “Did you girls ever play together?”

I sniffed and nodded my head. “We really liked playing video games together.” Part of me said Twilight had no idea what I was talking about, seeing the way she tilted her head slightly and nodded confirmed that. “Though,” I continued, “during those times she mainly watched.” A few stray tears escaped out from the corner of my eye and raced down my cheek, I quickly tried to wipe them off. I took a few deep breaths and tried to keep myself from breaking down.

“What happened to her?” Twilight whispered.

I snorted at the stupid question, at least that’s what it felt like to me. “What do you think happened?” I asked her sarcastically. “The same thing that happened to her happened to everyone else on this goddamn planet.” I bit down on my tongue in order to hold back tears. “She died.” I croaked. “Slowly... and painfully. On a bed, right in front of me while being surrounded by hundreds of others who were experiencing the exact same pain as she was.” I let out a shaky breath.

Twilight didn’t say a single word, but by the look on her face I could see that she was also trying to hold back a few tears.

“Before she died...” I gulped and reached out towards Twilight, the mare stiffened when I took her by the hoof. “S-she grabbed m-my hand like this.” I looked the mare in the eyes, another tear streaked down my face. “‘It hurts,’” I whispered. “‘It hurts.’” I squeezed Twilight’s hoof. “Th-that w-was the last th-thing she said to me.” The hand holding Twilight’s hoof began to tremble.

‘C’mon, Chloe, keep it together. Stay strong,’ my conscious told me.

I sucked in a quick breath of air and held it. I released the mare’s hoof and sat back in my seat, I was at the point at which I was trembling all over. The pain in my chest was comparable to nothing but bricks weighing down my heart.

“I don’t mind if you cry.”

My body froze and I blinked. “Wh-what?” I looked over at Twilight, the mare was giving me a soft smile. A lone tear of her own was running down her cheek.

“I don’t mind if you cry, Chloe,” she said again.

I don’t know why, but her saying that was all it took, and the next thing I knew the waterworks came to life. I couldn’t tell what it was, but for some reason knowing that Twilight was okay with me breaking down like a child who lost her favorite toy lifted some unknown weight off my shoulders. My lower lip began to tremble and my eyes were fogged with fresh tears. Reaching out with a shaky hand I grasped onto Twilight’s soft coat and pulled her towards me. Wrapping my arms around the mare in a tight hug, I felt the dam break, tears poured down my cheeks and every time I opened my mouth. My words came out as nothing but pain filled moans and cries.

Twilight’s body stiffened when I pulled her into my chest, but seconds later she loosened up. Using her wings, Twilight draped them around me in some kind of pony hug. “It’s alright.” Twilight whispered, her voice sounded slightly nervous. “You’re alright now.”

“I-I-I miss herrrr...” I was a complete wreck, I could no longer think straight. My vision was backlogged with images of years past, family, friends, even horrific images of the plague appeared. It was like a goddamn slide show or one of those PTSD attacks you see in the movies that soldiers go through. I couldn’t even hear Twilight’s comforting voice anymore... but I could hear them. The voices of everyone I lost. Dozens—no hundreds of voices, I could hear them closing around me.

“It’s all your fault!” I heard a woman shout.

“You could’ve saved us, Chloe!” a man shouted.

My eyes shot towards the upper balcony of the library. “No...” I muttered. “N-n-no, that’s not tr-true!”

Along the edge of the balcony were dozens of decayed human corpses, standing like zombies and glaring down at me. One in particular grabbed ahold of the railing and dropped down onto the lower level just across from me and Twilight. The zombified being straightened itself out again and raised a decayed finger at me. “You know you can’t deny it, Chloe!” the zombie said in a woman’s voice.

Tears ran down my cheeks as I tried to hold back a new found anger. “Chloe?” I barely heard Twilight’s voice over the raging voices above us. “What are you—” I suddenly shot to my feet and nearly threw Twilight off to the side. I jammed a finger at the zombie.

“You have no fucking idea on what you’re talking about!” I screamed.

The creatures above us boo’d. “Don’t play stupid with us, Chloe,” the creature snorted. “You know exactly what... it’s because of you the human race and your friends have perished.” It opened its arms. “Many occasions you were given the chance to save us, yet you failed!” The crowd above cheered and taunted.

“What are you talking about?!” I covered my ears and fell to my knees.

“We’re talking about your selfishness!” Despite covering my ears, I could still hear them.

A sharp pain shot through me when I felt the hands of someone grabbing ahold of my hair. My head was yanked back and my eyes came into contact with a woman who looked exactly like me. Her eyes were a bright blue and dangling in front of her face were strands of black hair, she gave me a purely white smile. “You could’ve woken them up y’know?” She sneered, her voice sounding exactly mine. “The first time Reynolds woke you up, you could’ve gotten the others.”

My lower lip trembled and my cheeks were stained with tears. “I didn’t know...” I whispered and closed my eyes. “I di-didn’t know...”

“And all that shit Reynolds was saying, ‘Oh it was my bad...’ pssh... You know he’s just saying that to make you feel better.” The woman rolled her eyes. “And what about the embryos? You remember that small crack in the corner right? What if that’s why shit in there warmed up?”

“I didn’t know!” I cried a little louder.

“‘I didn’t know.’” My doppelganger mocked me in a childish voice, “You see that’s exactly why we’re fucked!” She released my hair. “Because of your stupidity, we’re fu––!”

“CHLOE!” Twilight shouted and my body was suddenly frozen by her magic.

My eyes snapped open, hands pressed against the desk my forehead was just centimeters away from making contact with the surface. Sweat dripped down my forehead and mingled with the tears on my cheeks before dripping onto the the hard steel surface. I swallowed the lump in my throat and blinked a few more times, causing a couple tears to drift out.

“Having trouble there?” I heard myself ask.

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“Chloe, please answer me,” Twilight said, her voice sounding hurt. “I didn’t mean to cause you any pain. I was trying to help.”

“Well aren’t you going to answer her?” she chuckled. “Or are you still debating if she’s real or not?”

“Of course she’s real!” I shouted still unable to lift my head from the desk.

I heard Twilight flinch back, her legs making contact with the chair behind her. “Chloe, please, you’re scaring me.”

“‘Stop it, you’re scaring me.’” The doppelganger laughed. “You hearing this shit?”

I bit my tongue. “You... aren’t.... real...”

“Huh? Say what again?”

“I said... ‘You’re not real!’”

“Ooooh ho ho! That’s the wrong answer, darling, try again.”

“Fuck you!”

“How about you shut the hell up and let me explain a few things, missy,” she snarled. “Two days ago you woke up and found all of your friends dead. Not even a minute after seeing them you come across... what? Talking horses?” The clone laughed. “You fucking serious?”

“They’re real... Quartz said they’re real!”

My other self sighed. “Because that’s what you want to hear. Face it, you’re friends are dead and there’s no way to replace them.”

“What are you—”

“For fuck’s sake am I this stupid? Open your goddamn eyes! Don’t you see that they’re your friends in a different form? You said it yourself, Quartz sounds and acts exactly like Eva Osai. Crystal Gem’s personality is very similar to Jonathan Adams except she’s a woman. You want to know why that’s the case?” The clone fell silent for a moment. “Because deep down, even though you deny it, you had a crush on Adams—”

“Fuck you!”

“Oh believe me if I could I would, have you looked at yourself recently?” She snickered. “If you weren’t forcing your head down now I’d say take a look at me. It’s been awhile since we ever got ourself off, y’know what I’m sayin’?” She clicked her tongue and laughed.

“Get out of here!”

“I will, but first you need to admit to yourself that the reasoning behind your friends death is your fault!”

“But Reynolds said—”

“He’s gone now! Like the rest of them he isn’t here to help you.”

“But Princess Lu––”

“That was a goddamn dream! Don’t you get it? None of this is real, Chloe, it’s just not possible!”

“Chloe!” I heard a new voice shout. “Oh sweet Celestia, it’s happening again!”

I felt the sudden grasp of someone taking ahold of my shoulder, my vision whirled around and suddenly my eyes were aligned with Quartz’s. “Chlo, you need to calm down.”

“I-it’s a-all m-my fault... It’s a-all my f-fault...” I grasped onto the sides of Quartz’s face and dropped to my knees.

“No-no-no, nothing’s your fault,” Quartz cooed. Her horn lit up and I felt what seemed to be a blanket she had possibly brought with her back into the vault wrap around my shoulders.

“I-I don’t know wh-what happened...” I heard Twilight stammering off to my left. “We were talking a-about he-her past... I t-told her that I wouldn’t judge if she di-didn’t hold back...”

Quartz looked away from me and glanced towards the Princess. “Now we know,” she said, “from now on we don’t talk to her about the past.”

“Trying to cut me off now I see?”

“Go away...” I sobbed.

“Y’know crying about it isn’t going to help.”

Quartz’s ear twitched and she looked down at me. “What was that, Chlo?”

“I admitted to it...” I whimpered. “Please just leave me alone...”

“Eh... I don’t think so.” I released a pain filled whine. “Well it’s just that I don’t feel right knowing our friends haven’t been buried.”

My breath hitched in my throat.

“You feel it now don’t you? How about we finally do the one thing we’ve been holding off on for the last two days. It’s time to say goodbye.”

Author's Note

So we got to learn a shit load about Chloe's past, and now the depression/insanity train is gaining speed.

Chapter 11: It's About Time

“I’m so sorry...” I muttered under my breath. “I’m so, so sorry...” A few tears streaked down my face and dripped onto the floor. I gazed up at Quartz and looked her right in the eyes, the pony seemed very confused. I turned my head towards Twilight, who was standing right beside Crystal. All of them seemed very confused, Twilight herself also looked to be shaken up.

“Chloe...” Quartz said to me in a low whisper. “What... was all that?”

I bit my lower lip and closed my eyes. “Y’know I find it funny,” I heard my doppleganger chuckle over on my right side. “That despite everything I’ve just told you... you still continue to turn to the imaginary friends for help.” She clapped her hands together. “How about you stop this procrastination and just go—”

‘I will, dammit!’ I yelled in my conscious.

The doppelganger stopped. “Oh? Yelling at me through your head now? Well... I guess if they were real, it’d be a way of freaking them out less.”

I clenched my eyes shut and took a deep breath. “That was just... me releasing twelve thousand years... w-worth of stress.”

Crystal gave me a genuine concerned look and walked over to me. She stretched a wing out towards me and wrapped it around my back. “Chloe... why didn’t you tell us?”

“Yeah... why didn’t you tell your imaginary friends?”

‘Would you just shut the fuck up already?’

The clone shrugged. “Hey, I’m just asking because everyone here is wondering the same thing.”

I bit my tongue and held it for a moment. “It’s just...” I started but then stopped. “I don’t really know...”

“Oh great you're getting us all worked up again...”

My body began to tremble once more but I was able to quell it by taking another, quick breath and hold it. “I’m not one to talk about feelings, y’know... I don’t like feeling like some bitch... that’s why whenever you guys asked, I just tried to sidestep the question.”

Quartz gulped and used her magic to re-adjust the blanket that she had wrapped around my shoulders. “Chloe, you know that’s not healthy for anypony.”

Twilight decided to add, “Bottling up your feelings can be explosive and dangerous.”

“You think I haven’t learned that?” I asked quietly.

“Well seeing as to what happened, I’d say you hadn’t learned a thing,” I saw my doppleganger position herself over by the main data bank. She leaned against the console, my mouth fell open when I finally got to see what she was wearing. She was wearing a plain old suit that would usually be meant for men, however, seeing myself in one made it seem like I could rock one rather well. “What?” My doppleganger raised an eyebrow, then smiled. “Oh this?” She gestured to her attire. “Found it in Adams’ locker.” She pulled the sleeve back on her shirt and glanced at a silver watch. “Speaking of John... when are we going to lay him down?”

I quickly turned back to the ponies at that point. “Chloe,” Crystal said, “we’re worried about you, all of us are, and you need to learn that we just want to help you.”

“But why?” I asked the one thing that had been lingering on my mind since the beginning. “Why help me? We hardly know each other...”

“Because it’s in our nature.” Twilight stepped up. “We ponies are statistically one of the nicest species in documented history.”

“Yeah.” Crystal smiled at me. “It’s practically our job to help those who are in trouble, heck, Princess Twilight here is literally the princess of friendship!”

My clone stifled a laugh. “Okay... now we’ve really stumbled into some form of insanity.”

“Princess of Friendship?” Even I couldn’t help but giggle lightly.

Twilight frowned. “Yeah... what’s so funny?”

My heart lurched and I held up both my hands, causing the blanket to slide off down my back. “S-sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you...” My face fell.

Twilight smiled. “Chloe.” She walked up and gently nudged Quartz to the side, she sat down in front of me, “If there’s anything bothering you, please tell us. I can assure you that we won’t judge, question, or even make fun of you.”

Crystal nodded her head. “And if there’s anypony who does do any of that,” she slammed both her forehooves together, “tell us so we can go teach them a lesson!”

“Crystal!” Quartz frowned at the mare.

“What?” The blue pegasus looked at her. “I never said how we’re going to do it.”

I smiled at the pegasus. ‘If only I could have them beat up my conscious.’

“Excuse me now?” My doppleganger crossed her arms. “Y’know I’m right here?”

I glared at her.

Twilight seemed to take notice of my glances towards the computer and also looked back over there. “Chloe?” She said questioningly. “What are you looking at?”

My clone and I gave each other questioning glances. “Well... this is interesting.” She smiled.

“I’m looking at myself...” I gulped, the three ponies looked at me with a variety of expressions. Crystal appeared nervous and Quartz seemed worried. Twilight, however, looked to be intrigued by my answer.

“Yourself?” She straightened herself out, I simply nodded my head. “Huh, what is your other self doing?”

I scratched my neck. “Watching us... b-but she also talks to me.”

Quartz and Crystal shared a frightened look with each other. “How long has she been watching us?” Twilight asked.

I shrugged. “Since the time I woke up I guess.”

“Longer than that, dearie.” My clone corrected.

“Would you be quiet.” I mumbled under my breath.

“Nope.” She smiled.

“Is she the one you were yelling at?” Twilight asked me.

I nodded my head and stood up from my seat. “If you guys don’t mind... I... I have something I need to do.” I started to walk towards the exit, I didn’t even bother to look back or listen to their reactions. The second I reached the steps, I bolted up them and ran out of the room. Tears streaming down my cheeks, I ran my palms against the corner of my eyes as I tried to wipe them away, but it was no use. The tears kept coming and my heart just felt crushed.

‘Why did she have to bring up all of that?’ I dropped onto my knees and laid my forehead against the steel floor of the science lab, I could hardly breathe, I was overcome with hiccups. ‘Dammit, Twilight...’ I sniffed, ‘I can’t stay mad forever though... I was right... I can’t keep putting this off.’ I clambered back onto my feet. Still a whining mess, I wiped the snot out from the bottom of my nose.

“Chloe?!” I heard the three mares call my name. Looking back, I could hear their hooves flying up the library's steps. Part of me wanted to go back to them, to look to them for guidance, but I couldn’t. This was something I had to do on my own, they didn’t know my friends like I did, and they never would.

:[-]:

Rolling onto my back, I tried to catch my breath. Sweat dripping down the side of my face, I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Whoa...” I gasped.

“What?” Eva said on my left, she shifted over in the bed to look at me, propping herself up with one arm she looked down at me and smiled. “Was I little too rough?”

I closed my eyes and shook my head, my heart was racing, the afterglow still hung high over my head. “I-I can’t even describe how amazing that felt,” I said looking over at her topless body. Every nerve within me was saying it was time to strike, to pounce on that gorgeous body of her’s and take it for a free ride. Pushing the blanket off, I climbed onto all fours and started to prowl over to her like a hungry cat.

Eva stuck her arm out and “accidentally” placed it on my chest. “Slow down there, Tiger,” she purred, “give me a few minutes. Okay?”

I frowned a little, then nodded. “Alright.” I sat back on my rear and scooted off the bed. “I’m going to the restroom then, want anything from the rec room on my way back?” Eva threw her blanket over her chest and leaned her back against the wall.

“A cola if you would. Oh, and if you see John, tell him he still owes me that candy bar!” We both laughed.

I started picking my clothes off the floor and putting them back on. “Yeah, like he’s still going to have it.”

“If he doesn’t, tell him I’ll cut his balls off.”

My eyes widened and I pulled my panties up, looking at her I smiled. “Why so violent all of a sudden?”

Eva growled a little then smiled. “How about I edge you on a good ten times and ask you how you feel?”

I slipped my pants on and decided to skip the tank top and bra, snatching my jacket I pulled it on and zipped it up. “I only did it twice!” I said in my defence.

“Bullshit you did!” Eva turned in her seat and snatched her pillow out from behind her before whipping it at me.

I squeaked and tried to duck out of the pillows path. “Okay, okay, three times!” I held up three fingers. “I did it three times.” Eva rolled her eyes and I tossed her pillow back to her. “Besides,” I continued, “you already got me back with that weird teeth... thi—what exactly did you do—”

“Could you just go get my fucking Coke already?!”

I held my hands up and backed slowly towards the door. “Okay, sorry, your majesty.”

“You’re the one that said you wanted to bust one last round out before testing, so go!” Eva shooed me out with her arms.

“Alright, I’m going!” I said for real that time. Turning around, I opened the door and quickly walked out into the hallway.

Following the path lighting literally before me, I arrived at a T junction and broke to the left. I made my way down the hall and towards the rec room. Across from it was the central bathroom, a thought briefly sprung past me as to why I just didn’t use the one in Eva’s room. However, the thought of just grabbing her Coke when I was finished quickly stomped that bit of logic down.

I stepped into the restroom, down here in the vault, all restrooms were unisex. Meaning we all shared the same room, stalls, and urinals... yes I tried a urinal once. Never again. After I had finished cleaning myself up, I stood up from the toilet and pulled my pants back on. Flushing the toilet, I opened the stall door and stepped out.

“Howdy!”

“Waaah!” I yelped and nearly threw myself back into the stall. Looking over, I saw John Adams standing at the urinal doing his business.

“Fancy seeing you here.” He smiled with his pearly whites showing.

I placed a hand over my chest, my heart pounding just as hard as it was back in Eva’s room. “Jesus, Adams...” I gulped, “Don’t scare me like that.”

“What?” He shook in front of the urinal, zipped his fly, and turned to face me. “I’m not that scary looking.” Honestly he wasn’t scary at all. Every straight girl that may have been left out there in the world probably would’ve been falling over themselves for this man’s features. His face was well sharpened, his eyes were green as spring leaves, and his short hair sported a perfect mix of brown and blonde. As for his body Adams was fairly muscular, during the morning he was always down in the gym or running the halls of the vault. He really did know how to keep himself in shape, matter of fact, looking down at myself... I was skinny yeah, but not muscular like he was. Perhaps I should ask him for tips?

“Well, no you’re not,” I replied, scratching the back of my neck.

By the look on Adams’ face I saw he took that as a compliment. “Oh really?” His previous smile widened. “Were you just shocked by my good looks then?” He over dramatically ran a hand back through his hair, I stared at him blankly. “Or were you startled by these guns?” He raised both of his arms and flexed, my eyes did widen a bit when I saw how thick his biceps were; they were nearly larger than my head, or so it seemed.

“Ha!” He laughed. “So you were?”

I couldn’t help but place a hand over my mouth and giggle. “Yeah, let's go with that.”

Adams lowered his arm and grinned stupidly. “Awesome...” He sighed and returned back to his usual state, looking me over he smirked. “Chloe...” He said quietly.

I finished my fit of giggling and took a deep breath. “Yeah?” I asked him, the mood in the room suddenly shifted from light hearted to pretty heavy.

John looked at me, my breath slowed drastically when I saw the look of concern in his eyes. Slowly, his mouth opened, then closed. He broke eye contact with me. “There’s been something on my mind since the time I walked in here... and... it’s been kind of eating away at me.”

A bad feeling started to make itself noticeable in my chest and I leaned against the side of the stall. “What... what’s bothering you?” I asked.

John stared at the floor for what felt like an hour before he finally closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He raised his head and turned to look at me, then suddenly, he smiled. “You smell like sex.”

My cheeks burned of embarrassment, and this feeling of red hot anger billowed out of my stomach. “You—you, asshole!” I roared and charged at him. With the bottom of my fists, I pounded at his chest. However, my small, boney hands had no effect on his stainless steel chest.

John laughed out loud as he made no attempt to push me away. “What were you masturbating before you came out here—oh wait, don’t tell me you and Eva—ooooooh,” He looked down at me, the white on his teeth reflected the bathroom lights into my eyes. He gently pushed me away with little resistance, my cheeks were burning hot and I could hardly look him in the eyes. “You sly, little dog!” He beamed and punched me in the arm lightly. “I knew the doctor swung that way!” John fist pumped the air as if he won some sort of bet, he then quickly turned and looked back at me. “Y’know, Chloe, if you guys ever need a man to spicen things up—”

“What, is Reynolds not enough for you?” I asked, deflating his balloon.

John blinked. “Well...” His arms dropped. “Such a killjoy y’know that?”

I chuckled as I recalled my previous edge game. “That’s exactly what Eva said to me earlier in bed.” I walked past him and went across the hall to the rec room.

Opening the door, I was greeted by the smell of pork and beans and some sort of swinging music. “Wave those palms in the air spin around like Fred Astaire, slip me five and we can jive, that’s Geraldines routine. Let those pup—”

“What the hell are you listening to?” I blurted out when I caught Reynolds in mid hip swing, in one hand he held a can of beans, the other was a fork.

Reynolds froze and immediately turned to face me, a deep blush forming on his cheeks. “Glenn, turn the music off.”

“Yes, Master Reynolds.” Glenn cut the music and Reynolds and I looked at each other in silence.

I couldn’t help but crack a smile. “You truly are an interesting fellow.” I walked over to the fridge and opened it, the cool air chilling my skin.

“What can I say, the music be bumpin’... that’s what you kids say, right?” Reynolds walked over to the counter and leaned against it.

“Yeah,” I snorted and shook my head, “that’s what we say.” I grabbed myself a coke along with Eva’s. “Don’t you have research you need to be tending to?” I straightened out my back and faced Reynolds.

The middle aged scientist smiled. “And aren’t you supposed to be down in my lab in about—” He checked the watch on his wrist “—fifteen minutes?” I shrugged and sat Eva’s can down. Quickly, I popped mine open and took a swig. The carbonated drink burned down my tongue and throat. Smiling at the taste, I raised an eyebrow at Reynolds and offered him my drink. He raised a hand and shook his head. “Sorry, I don’t drink those,” he sighed. “Besides, Chloe, I—a working man—can have some fun every now and again.”

I shrugged and picked Eva’s drink back up. “I’m just teasing you, Doc.” I stepped around the counter and walked past him.

Reynolds sniffed and recoiled back. “Whoa!” He held a hand to his nose.

I looked at him and cocked an eyebrow. “What?” I raised my arm to my nose and took a whiff. “I don’t smell anything.” Before I could say anything else Adam’s words resurfaced in my mind, ‘You smell like sex.’ My cheeks flushed and power walked towards the door. “I’ll make sure to take a quick shower!”

The door to Eva’s room slid open and I stormed in with a slight sense of irritation. “Why didn’t you tell me that I stink?!” I slammed my half empty can of coke on her dresser.

Eva sat in her bed with her blankets laying on her lap, she held an open book in her hand, she closed it and looked over at me. A small frown on her face, her eyebrow was slowly rising. “What?” Is all she asked.

“Ya’ know what I’m talkin’ about!” I pointed an accusing finger at her. “Adams was makin’ fun of me in the bathroom and I disgusted Reynolds!”

Eva tilted her head as she tried to figure out what I was talking about, finally it dawned on her and her face lit up. She was thrown into a fit of giggles, a hand over her chest she shook her head and sighed. “You... you do know we just got done with a few rounds? Of course you’re going to smell a little... lively...” She laughed. “Next time take a shower after we're done.”

I bit my lower lip out of frustration and walked over to her. “Well—maybe next time you could—uh... eh...” I tore my eyes away from her as I tried to think of something.

Eva slipped off her bed and stood up. Turning towards me, she glided her way over her strewn clothes. “Bathe you?” She suggested as she came to a halt in front of me, her soft, thin hands placed themselves on my sides. My entire body stiffened and I looked up to see her eyes gazing down at mine. Eva was a tall woman, she stood to be at least half a head taller than me. She was not quite the tallest I been with, but she was pretty damn close.

I gulped and nodded my head. “Ye-yeah... that sounds nice.” I could feel my cheeks burning, I broke eye contact and gazed at the floor.

Eva raised one of her hands and stroked the side of my cheek. “You’re so adorable when you’re shy.”

My head snapped back and I glared at her. “I-I’m not shy!”

Eva giggled and cupped the left side of my face with her right hand. “Sure you aren’t.” Without another word she leaned forward and locked her lips around mine. My eyes widen briefly and my heart felt as if it was going to trip over itself. Her lips were so soft, and she was so gentle. Never rough like any of my other mates. Closing my eyes, I pushed into her and accepted the kiss.

We sat there for a few moments in a pleasant silence. Unfortunately the time came for Eva to pull back, she took a deep breath. “Sadly, I don’t think we’re going to have enough time to have some more fun,” She said running a hand through her hair. “Seeing we only have about eight minutes before Reynolds starts screaming over the intercom... then again—”

“We can share the shower?” I said with a sly smile, I won’t lie, her kiss had kick-started my system again.

Eva rolled her eyes. “Nope, afraid not. We don’t have enough time—come here, I have some perfume for you.” She grabbed me by the hand and guided me towards a small metal box. “Once you get this on, Reynolds won’t even be able to smell anything.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to drown me in the stuff?”

Eva chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll wash most of it off you when we’re done.”

“Oh, okay—wait what?!” A large smile appeared on my face and looked down to see Eva giving me a wink.

:[-]:

Dragging the skeletal corpse through the slick mud, I placed my foot on a nearby rock and hauled the remains up and out of the crater. I dropped onto my knees, and sat the body beside me and dug both my fists into the dirt. Lightning flashed high above me and the sound of thunder shook my ears. Hanging my head back, I released a pain filled cry into the evening air. From the ponies perspective they wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between the tears and rain that trickled down my cheeks.

I turned my head to look at the skeleton beside me. From first glance, I couldn’t tell who it was, but seeing that I carried it out of Eva’s room... it was more than obvious. Just looking at the body caused my eyes to swell with tears. ‘I can’t do it,’ I thought as my eyes tore themselves off the corpse and looked over at the two graves the ponies helped me dig. ‘I can’t do it!’

“Of course you can,” I heard my voice say. My ear twitched at the sound of splashing foot steps. The footsteps stopped and I cautiously turned my head to see my doppleganger standing above me in a pink raincoat and black slacks. Even though she wasn’t real, the rain pounded against her jacket, her hair was matted and her bangs covered one eye. Her expression was stern when she crouched down beside me. “You can’t hang onto them forever, Chlo...” Her expression shifted when she reflected. “Eh, physically that is, yeah... it’s time to serve them right. Now finish the job and drag Eva into that pit.” She straightened herself out and walked off in the direction of the forest.

Tears streamed down the sides of my cheeks, mingling with the drops of rain. The sky flashed once more and thunder roared, I looked back at the corpse. My stomach churned at the sight of the skeleton’s almost smiling face, at least that’s how it seemed. I pushed myself back into a standing position, my pants and hands were caked in mud. Bending down, I gripped Eva by her collarbone and dragged her towards the makeshift grave.

Standing beside the grave was Twilight and the others. All three of the ponies faces were stricken with pain. When I finally arrived beside them, I took Eva by the back of her neck and legs. Hoisting her out of the mud, I gently laid her in the grave beside engineer, John Adams. I looked over at Twilight with blearily eyes, the unicorn herself was slightly blurred in my vision. Blinking away the tears I said nothing to the mare but nodded my head.

Twilight took the cue and her horn lit with a purple light, the two mounds of dirt and mud beside the graves shifted and piled over the bodies. With her magic, Twilight used it to flatten each of the piles to the point that it didn’t even look as if there were two bodies buried beneath the dirt. Twilight then levitated two metal signs I had fabricated down in the engineering wing over to me, I smiled lightly at her and muttered my thanks as I took the signs, positioning them over each of the burial sites. Quartz handed me a rock, which I used to hammer in each of the posts. Once I was done I stepped back and examined each of them.

Eva Osai
July 5th 1999 – June 11th 18036
Lost but not forgotten

John Adams
December 14th 2002 – June 11th 18036
Lost but not forgotten

The three ponies came by my side, Crystal and Twilight both extended their wings out to me. My lower lip quivered and I couldn’t tear my eyes off of the two graves. This was it, this is how it ends: Standing there before the graves of two of my fallen friends, the other one was out in God knew where. I was all alone, the embryo chamber was fucked and the only possible piece that may have survived vanished when Reynolds fucked off. I gritted my teeth and clenched my eyes shut, the tears were coming much faster as a pit of anger built up within me.

I was all alone... there was no one for me to turn to at this point.

Because I’m the last of my kind...

The last of my kind...

My knees buckled and I dropped. Acting fast enough, Twilight was able to catch me with her magic. My heart was racing and I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. “Chloe?!” Quartz asked her voice was filled with panic.

“What’s wrong with her?” Crystal knelt down beside me when Twilight gently placed me on the ground.

“She’s in shock, we need to get her inside now!” Was the last thing I heard Twilight shout before slipping out of consciousness.

:[-]:

My eyes fluttered open and I was greeted by the blinding light of a fluorescent light bulb. Gritting my teeth, I pulled my arm out from under the sheets and shielded my eyes. Pushing myself up into a sitting position, the blanket crumpled at my waistline. Blinking the blurriness out from my eyes, I saw that I was inside my bedroom, deep within the vault. I smile lightly due to the familiarity. “Uh... wha?” I jolted a bit at the sound of the quiet voice coming from my left, looking over I saw a mound of something beneath the sheets.

My smile widened, ‘She must’ve crawled in here after I fell asleep.’ I leaned forward and rested my hand on the mound. “Hey there, beautiful—”

“WAAAH!” I lunged back when the blanket flew back up into my face, nearly falling out of the bed I held my hand to my heart. The organ felt as if any second now it was going to burst out my chest. Out from under the sheet popped out Quartz’s head, her eyes were wide and she looked to be on the verge of crying.

Instantly I was wracked with confusion. I had sworn that it was Eva who was in my bed, why was Quartz down here when––then it hit me. Everything that had happened earlier, the burial, my break down; everything came rushing back to me. The pain from earlier hit me hard, however, I was able to suppress my tears despite it hurting. I tore my eyes away from the cream colored pony. “I-I’m s-sorry, I didn’t intend to scare you...”

Quartz’s features softened and she shook her head, she looked back at me with a smile. “Did you call me beautiful?”

“Ye-yea—I mean, I mistook you for someone else. Not that you’re not beautiful! Like, for a horse you are—I mean...” I broke eye contact with the mare. “I’ll shut up for now...” I sat there with my head hung low, the tears were threatening to come back, but I was blinking them away. My stomach growled and signaled to me that I must’ve been out for awhile.

“It’s alright.” Quartz said and suddenly I felt something wrap itself around my neck and I was pulled into the ponies extremely soft coat. “I can’t even begin to believe how hard this must be for you,” she whispered into my ear.

My body was stiff against hers, but slowly I felt myself begin to relax and I gripped a tuft of her fur. Pressing the side of my face against her chest and I shuddered uneasily. “I can’t believe they're gone...” I whispered. “All of them...”

I could feel Quartz take in a deep breath. “You... you’re going to be alright... right?” she asked, her voice filled with unease. I had a sense as to what she was feeling at that moment, she had no clue what to say. However, I wasn’t looking for her to say “Oh you’ll be okay, everything’s alright—” None of that bullshit. I know this because I was in her exact position many years ago when a friend of mine lost his parents, I had no clue what to tell him because I’ve never lost anyone I loved. Back then I hadn’t.

Now... now...

“I-I... I don’t know...” I half moaned. “I don’t know what to do or where to go!” That sudden anger from earlier began to make its return.

“Of course you do, Sweetie,” Quartz gently ran her hoof through my hair. “Remember that movie thing with your friend, or even that dream with Luna, we need to go to Canterlot.”

I clenched my eyes shut and shook my head. “It’s pointless! James is dead and that was nothing but a dream.”

Quartz sighed and lifted my head up so that I was looking directly at her. “Now don’t go saying that, you know he’s still alive. He has to be.”

“How do you know?”

Quartz smiled at me. “Because Princess Luna said so.”

“But that was a drea—”

“To you it may have been, Chloe.” Quartz’s smile grew even wider. “But to me it was as real as the stars, and if you won’t go to Canterlot—I’ll take you there with me. No ifs, ands, or buts; you’re coming with me.”

My lip quivered at her words and my eyes began to water. I reached out and took the pony in my arms and pulled her in close, but immediately regretted it when I felt her tense up. Yet seconds later she began to settle and she wrapped her hoof around my back. “You’re welcome, Chloe.”

A few moments of silence passed between us before it was broken by three quiet knocks coming from my bedroom door. “He-hello?” Crystal’s muffled voice came through. “How do I open this?”

I loosened my arms out from behind Quartz and pulled away from her, I ran a finger under my eyes to wipe away any tears. Quartz smiled at me. “I can go get that if you’d like?”

I shook my head. “No I’ll get it.” I turned to sling my legs over the side of the bed but before I did I looked back at Quartz. “Hey... thanks for sleeping with me.”

Quartz nodded her head. “No problem, girl, I couldn’t stand seeing you being al—” Without a second thought I leaned in kissed the pony right on her nose, nothing major, just a peck right on her snout. Similar to how an owner would kiss their dog on the snout or even their cat. Though judging Quartz’s reaction, she didn’t seem to maintain eye contact with me. “Wh-what wa-was t-tha....” Her words spiraled into an unknown abyss and her body trembled.

I took note of this and stood up from off the bed with my hands raised up. “S-sorry! I didn’t mean to, it just kind of happened!”

“Guy’s what’s going on?” Crystal’s voice came from behind the door.

Quartz’s blush was burning through her coat and her eyes were locked onto my bed, her legs were curled close to her body and her ears laid flat. She then pulled the covers up and she lowered herself under them. I scowled and tore my attention towards the door, bopping myself on the head I cursed myself. “Don’t worry I’m coming!” I called to Crystal and pulled the door open.

The blue pegasus was sitting on her haunches on the other side of the door, looking up at me with both eyes. I noticed the bandage around her head was gone, yet there was a distinct bruise outlining her damaged eye. ‘Good,’ I thought looking at the bruise, ‘she deserved it.’ “Hi, Chloe!” Crystal beamed. “How’s it going? feeling any better?”

I scratched the back my head and cocked an eyebrow at her. “Barely... but...” I sighed. “I dunno... want to come in?” I stepped aside and gestured.

“Oh, well... yeah, sure!” The pony stood up and trotted past me with a smile on her face. “Whoa...” Her eyes lit up as she gazed around my room. “So this is what it looks like!”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, closing the door behind me and walking up to her. I glanced around my room. “There’s nothing but metal walls, a dresser, and a bed.”

“Yeah well...” her ears fell back. “It looks very clean.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled. “You don’t need to try and boost my ego.” I walked up beside her and ruffled her mane, the pony scowled and stepped back. “But thanks.”

Crystal shook her head and flipped her mane to the side. “So where’s Quartz?” I pointed at the lump under the sheets. Crystal raised an eyebrow. “She’s still sleeping?”

“Please don’t talk about me...” The unicorn’s voice quietly drifted out from under the sheets.

I sighed. “C’mon, girl, I’m sorry... I didn’t know what came over me.” I apologized.

Crystal’s mood did a u-turn. “What did you do to her?” Her voice became stern.

I took a step back and shook my head. “Nothing major... I just sort of... kissed her nose...” My cheeks flushed. ‘That sounded a lot better in my head.’

“Huh?” Crystal looked over at Quartz. “That’s it?”

Quartz sprung out from under the sheets. “I wasn’t ready for it!” She blurted out and rolled back over on the bed. “She just kinda came onto me!”

Crystal snorted and fell over laughing. “Really?!” She cackled and rolled back and forth. “How’s that such a bad thing?”

Quartz looked at her with her mouth agape. “I—eh... well...” Her cheeks flushed and she buried her nose back under the sheets.

Crystal sat back up and rolled her eyes. “C’mon Quartz it’s not that bad, think of it as kissing Spot.”

“What?” I looked at the pegasus.

“Her old dog.” I nodded my head and gave a thumbs up.

“But I wasn’t doin’ the kissing!”

I shrugged. “It’s not that bad, back then we humans did it all the time... except it was on our cheeks as a sign of thanks.” This didn’t seem to change the unicorns attitude as she rolled over and turned her back to us.

Crystal looked at me. “So how’d you do it?” She asked me as we walked over to my bed.

I sat down on the edge and she hopped up next to me. “It wasn’t anything fancy.” I looked at her. “Just a quick peck on the nose.”

“So like this?” Crystal suddenly leaned forward and planted her lips right on my nose. My entire body froze and my eyes snapped open as red flares were fired off inside of my head, a moment later and she leaned back with a smile.

I blinked, my body tingling as adrenaline pumped through each and every vein. I took a shaky breath. “Yeah... like that...” ‘Okay now I think I understand...’

“Huh...” Crystal licked her lips, which really made my skin crawl for some reason. “You’re very smooth, and soft. Surprising since you don’t have any fur, I actually thought you’d be kinda rough.”

“Please don’t analyze me while I’m right here.”

A pink light flashed before our eyes, causing me to shriek as I shielded my eyes. “There you are!” Twilight growled and took a few angry steps towards Crystal.

“How’d you—?!”

“I told you to wait for me upstairs!”

Quartz rose up from behind us. “You disobeyed a princess?” she asked Crystal.

The blue pegasus’ eyes widen and her head snapped from Twilight to Quartz. “I got hungry and bored!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Nevermind...” She looked at me asked softly, “How are you doing, Chloe?”

“I don’t know...” I replied quietly.

Twilight’s ears fell. “Hopefully you’ll know soon.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve contacted the Princesses in Canterlot earlier.”

Quartz’s face lit up. “What did they say?”

I tilted my head slightly and scratched my chin. “Well,” Twilight started looking at Quartz, “I explained everything that has happened over the past day.” She then glanced back at me. “I hope you don’t mind Chloe but I told them everything I could about you.”

I bit my lip and nodded my head. “I’m... okay with that.”

Twilight smiled lightly. “They wish to see you as soon as possible.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Really?” I asked.

Twilight nodded. “Not only that they sent this with their letter.” Twilight levitated out a small white sheet of paper held within a glass canister.

Grabbing it out of her magic, I saw that the paper inside was well preserved. Twisting off the top, the container hissed as it pressurized. I then tossed the cap aside, and titled the paper into my hand. I threw the rest of the container to the side and took the paper in my fingers and began to unfold it. My eyes widened when I saw the familiar chicken scratch that was scrawled on the sheet and my stomach filled with butterflies when I read the words on the sheet out loud:

“Hell, Chloe, it’s about time you got off your ass.”

Author's Note

Onto Canterlot our heroes shall go! Now the story is really starting to enter the areas I was hoping to get to, and also the areas in which I hadn't thought up to yet...

...

Uh-oh.

Chapter 12: A Blow to the Chest

My eyes widened with tears of joy, anger, and a multitude of other emotions. First off, the most notable thing I felt was the utter happiness of knowing that I may truly not be the last human on Earth. Secondly, that mother fucker has the audacity—the fucking audacity—to call me lazy. That old geezer couldn’t even begin to comprehend the shit I’ve been going through!

Yet, at the same time I felt relieved he was alive

It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, it’s as if I’d woken up from some hideous nightmare. Who would’ve known it’d be Reynolds who reached out to me, and not me stumbling upon him. Then again, seeing that the letter I had gotten from him came with the same note Princess Twilight received from... What was her name? Celest–something... That must mean Reynolds is with the other princesses.

‘Just like in my dream, Luna hinted that he was with them.’

“My God, so it really wasn’t a dream...” I muttered under my breath.

Crystal stepped over to me. “Say what again?”

“M-my dream with that Luna pony.” I looked at the three of them. “It wasn’t a dream, I actually met her!” A large smile plastered onto my face, and for once since the beginning of this, I felt genuine happiness. “It really wasn’t a dream!” I beamed.

The ponies lit up immediately at my reaction, the three of them crowded around me all talking at once. “That’s amazing!” Twilight cheered.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” My mood changed and pushed the three of them back. “A little too close.” I smiled again when they stepped back. “So, when do we get going?” I asked.

Twilight flashed her horn and a clipboard appeared by her head. Pulling a quill out of seemingly nowhere, she started writing in it. “If we head out now, we can catch the afternoon train and we’ll be there before sunset.”

Crystal jumped into the air and extended her wings out. “What are we waiting for?!” She hovered in her spot.

“Yeah, we should get going!” Quartz leapt off the bed and landed beside Twilight.

The three ponies each turned to look at me. My body was frozen, my eyes staring at the paper, the edges of my eyes were moist with tears. A stupid-happy smile was stuck on my face and I couldn’t begin to believe what was happening. ‘He’s really alive... He really is alive!’ My hands began to shake and I clenched the paper between my fingers. Closing my eyes, a few tears streaked down my cheeks. Taking a deep breath, I looked at the ponies and stood up from my spot on the bed. “Exactly...” I chuckled. “Let’s get moving.”

:[-]:

The wooden wolf drawn carriage came to a halt just on the border of town. “Alright, Chloe.” Quartz turned and hopped into the back with us as the wooden wolves howled one last time before crumbling to pieces. “I know you hate it but—” She levitated out the thick, black cloak from the other day and handed it to me. “—You’re going to have to wear this.”

I shook my head and grabbed it. “To be honest, I don’t care.” I wrapped the cloak over my shoulders and pulled the hooded part over my hair. Surprisingly, it was actually pretty heavy. Purposefully, I brushed my bangs in front of my eyes to help conceal them, though it made it slightly harder to see. Within seconds the daunting heat was already starting to make me sweat. “If it wasn’t so hot, I wouldn’t mind pretending to be like an assassin or something.”

“Assassin?” Crystal raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” I smiled then frowned when I noticed the pony was looking at me strangely. “Y’know like a person who’s hired to kill someone?”

“Why would you ever do that?!” Twilight blurted from behind me.

I cringed and spun around to look at the princess. “Well I never said I would do it, just pretend...” I grumbled the last half.

Twilight looked at me for a few seconds with disgust before shaking her head. “Anyways, Chloe, I had Spike pick me up something a while ago when you were sleeping. I think it’ll help improve your disguise so that we don’t draw too much attention.” Her horn lit up and she opened her saddle bag.

I hopped off the wagon and stretched my legs a bit, but immediately regretted it when I made contact with ground. “Ah-ouch!” I gripped the stitches on my right thigh. “Dammit, I forgot!”

“Well, slow down there, tiger,” Quartz laughed.

My heart skipped a beat and I looked at Quartz. “Sorry, what?”

“I said, ‘slow down’. We’ll get moving soon.” Quartz opened her own saddle bag and began taking any necessities out of the wagon and storing them away.

“After that, what did you call me?”

“She just called you a tiger,” Crystal said with a raised eyebrow. “What’s the big deal?”

A feeling of butterflies made itself known in my stomach and my memories of Eva slowly drifted into my conscious. “Slow down there, Tiger, just give me a few minutes okay?” The last time we made love revealed itself to me and I closed my eyes and shook my head. “It’s nothing... Just had a nostalgic moment.” I took a deep breath and tugged at my collar. It was really starting to heat up under the cloak. Gazing up at the sun, I took a deep breath and pulled the hood off and started undoing the cloak just as an idea came to mind.

“Ah-ha!” Twilight cheered. “I found the piece—what are you doing?” The princess gawked when she caught me pulling my tank top off, and looking back at the ponies I was in nothing but my jeans and bra.

“What?” I asked them. I rolled up my shirt and tossed it on the wagon. Looking down at my pants, I briefly thought about throwing them off too, but decided against it. ‘I don’t mind the shirt, but I’d rather not go commando around town.’ I jammed my thumb back at the cloak, which I threw in the dirt. “It’s like over a hundred degrees with that thing on; I’ll die of heat exhaustion by the time I get to Can–whatever it’s called.” I fixed the straps on my bra and snatched the cloak up off the ground and threw it over my shoulders. “Besides why are you shocked by me throwing off my clothes? You’re naked yourselves.”

Crystal hopped out of the wagon and walked up beside me. She stretched her legs out along with her wings and began to pace around. “Well, after seeing and hearing you these past four days, wearing and complaining about clothing.” She stopped in front of me and shrugged her wings. “We just sort of got use to you having them.” She smiled.

I rolled my eyes and patted her on the head. “Yeah... I get it. Sorry...” I pursed my lips as I tried to think of a follow up. “Take it as me warming up to you guys.” I smiled and looked at Twilight. “So, what do you got for me?”

Twilight shook her head and grinned. “I got these for you, surely they’ll make the disguise fool proof.” The princess levitated out of her bag what looked to be fuzzy gloves.

I raised an eyebrow and gave her a small frown as I plucked the gloves out of the air. Turning them around in my hands, I nearly choked and laughed when I realized what they were. ‘Paws, seriously?!’ “Are you trying to make me cosplay as some kind of anime cat girl?” I held the black, fuzzy gloves up. “What’s next, cat ears?”

Twilight took a small step back and blushed. “Well... Spike and I did get you these...” She pulled out a headband that had a set of fuzzy, pointy ears.

My jaw fell open. “You...” I closed my mouth and blushed lightly. I walked towards Twilight and took the ears. “They’re adorable!” I giggled and placed the band right on top of my head.

Twilight’s face lit up at my reaction and she straightened herself out. “I know, right!” she said giddily. “I chose those ones along with paws because of how well they match with your mane.” She closed her mouth. “I think Rarity is rubbing off on me a bit,” she giggled.

I adjusted the headband a bit, trying to find a suitable spot where it wouldn’t slide around. It was a little big seeing that it was made for ponies, but moving it a little behind the center part of my head seemed to do the trick. Even when I went to put the paws on I noticed that they were oddly shaped and my hands had trouble slipping them on comfortably. “Huh, probably should’ve told you my size,” I mumbled.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Twilight rubbed her right foreleg with her left hoof. “I was in the gryphon section of the store when grabbing these for you. Of course most pony attire is going to fit differently on you. If not at all.”

“It’s alright,” I said shoving my hand awkwardly into a fitting position. “There we go.” I moved to work on the other. Getting my hand in the final glove I wiggled my fingers inside each paw, in order to get them to fit I had to pair at least two fingers up in each sub section inside. It was cramped, but worked, and that’s all that really counted, I reached back and tried to grasp onto my hood. Trying to get a grip on the damn fabric was a pain, but when I did, I pulled it over my head and brushed my bangs back in front of my eyes. However, something didn’t feel right, the ears had no place in making themselves noticeable.

“Hold on,” Quartz said finally hopping down from the wagon. “I got this.” Her horn sparked to life and I felt her magic get ahold of the hood. “There are little slits for our ears in these things if we want to use them.” She positioned the cutouts over the headband ears and slid them through. “There ya go—and why don’t you look at that!” Quartz stepped in front of me and smiled, she sat down next to Twilight. “You really do look like a diamond dog now.”

“Ah...” I nodded my head. “So we’re going back to doing that again.” My hands were starting to warm up inside the gloves and despite losing the shirt the cloak was starting to stick to my skin again. ‘At least my shirt isn’t going to get filthy.’

“Well, with this settled,” Twilight closed her saddlebag and pulled it onto her back. “We can walk to the station from here, it shouldn’t take long.”

“What about the wagon?” Crystal raised an eyebrow. “We can’t just leave it here!”

“Don’t worry about that,” Quartz said, adjusting the straps on her bag. “I sent Topaz a letter asking if she could pick it up.”

We began to head in the direction of the town, as I past the wagon I snatched my tank top before forgetting. “And did she write back yet?”

Quartz nodded her head. “She did about ten minutes ago, so she’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”

“We’ll be long gone by then,” Twilight added, looking over her shoulder. “Not to sound rude, Miss Quartz, but do you have a reason for coming with us to Canterlot? Because there is really no purpose for you to come.”

Despite it not being directed at me I cringed. “Oh... wow.”

Quartz frowned. “Well excuse me, Princess, but yes I do have a reason for tagging along.”

“Me too!” Crystal came flying up behind us. “We’re the ones who found Chloe, therefore we have all right to tag along!”

Twilight nodded her head. “S-sorry, I’m just bringing it up because I have already explained the entirety of the situation to the princesses.”

Quartz nodded her head. “Understandable, but besides.” the cream mare looked back at me and smiled. “We’re her friends, who knows if she’s going to need us or not when we get there?”

“And who knows!” Crystal zipped past Quartz and Twilight and hovered in front of them. “What if we get famous because of her!”

“Crystal!” Quartz scowled. “How dare you say that? I’d never take advantage of Chloe like that!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that; there was no way I could take the pegasus seriously. “What am I, King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world?”

“What?” All three of them turned and looked at me.

My face fell to a flat line and I sighed. “Nevermind, I should’ve known you wouldn’t get it.”

“YO, TWILIGHT!” Our eyes shot up towards the sky just in time to see a brief streak of color zip by.

“WAAH!” Twilight cried out before ducking out of the way and next thing I knew a cyan blob collided into me.

:[-]:

I woke to an immense pain in my chest as my lungs forced out air and warm globs of what was most likely blood. Gagging and heaving for air I groaned as I tried to push myself into a sitting position. “Sh-she’s awake!”

I slowly opened my eyes, my vision was dizzy and the occasional splotch of color flashed before me. For some reason I had an aching migraine, ‘What the hell happened?’

“Chloe, are you alright?” I heard the sound of quick hoof steps before coming to a stop beside me. Groggily, I turned my head to see Quartz standing over me with a worried look on her face. “Please tell me you’re alright.”

I flopped back on the grass and gave Quartz a small smile, a bit of drool and blood seeped out of the corner of my mouth. The mare gasped and suddenly I felt a rag pressed against my cheek. “Oh that idiot of a pegasus!” she growled as she cleaned my face.

“Wh...wha hapin’?” I mumbled out.

“One of the Princess’s friends happened,” Quartz snarled. “Lets try and get you off the ground.” She wrapped her magic around me and gently lifted my back off the ground and propped me into a seated position.

I gagged into my fist, pulling it away I noticed a few droplets of blood. The sight of the droplets made me cringe and I looked towards Quartz. “What... happened?” I nearly growled.

Quartz closed her eyes and she frowned. “You see that blue mare over there by Twilight?” She leaned a little towards me and pointed out towards the road. ‘What the hell, why am I way over here?’ I thought looking back at the grass. “That blue mare Twilight is talking to is her friend, she’s also the same mare who threw you ten feet.” I nodded my head lightly and looked at the two mares. Twilight seemed to be scorning the mare more than she was talking to her.

I placed a hand over the space of skin between my collar bone and breasts, the skin there felt sore and bruised. “Sh-she flew... into me?” I breathed out.

Quartz nodded her head. “At a speed that could’ve killed you, yeah.” I gagged painfully into my fist and groaned. Shifting my weight over, I applied most the pressure onto my left knee as I tried to push myself up. “Whoa now!” The unicorn caught me with her magic and forced me to stand still. “You can’t be moving right now.”

“What about... Reynolds...?” I mumbled out. I shifted my shoulder slightly and winced.

“Your friend’s going to have to wait for now, Chloe,” Quartz shook her head. “You’re in no position to move.”

My heart nearly skipped a beat and I looked at her with wide eyes. “Bu-but we need to get moving... the train Twilight mentioned...”

Quartz lowered her head and sighed. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to wait till tomorrow’s pick up,” she said disappointingly. I broke eye contact with Quartz, gritting my teeth, my hands clenched tightly. I glared at the cyan pegasus beside Twilight. My eyes locked on her rainbow hair, I snarled and blew hot air out my nose. “Ch-chloe?” Quartz stepped in front of me. “I know it sucks, but what she did was an accident.”

“She’s going to make u—” My stomach lurched and my breath caught in my windpipe. Lurching forward with a hand over my throat, I gagged fiercely. Quartz lunged forward and wrapped a hoof over my back. Her horn flashing, a glass of water appeared from thin air.

“Take this,” she said, levitating the water to me. Taking it in my hand, I quickly gulped it down.

“Gah!” Setting the glass down in the grass I could breathe again, coughing a few more times, I took a deep breath. “Who would’ve guessed... my day starts off relatively well and now I feel like shit.”

“Chloe?” Twilight’s voice brought my attention over to her. Looking over, I saw her and the cyan pegasus walking over. The pegasus’ head was hung low and her tail was tucked between her legs, almost like a scared dog. “My friend, Rainbow Dash, would like to apologize to you.”

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and looked at me with a concerned face. “I’m sorry for crashing into you.” She broke eye contact. “I didn’t mean to hurt you...”

She actually sounded like she was truly sorry, especially with how her ears were flat and her tale was tucked between her legs. The butch voice of hers even wavered slightly as she spoke. The anger I had for this mare moments ago had completely vanished. Matter of fact, I felt a little sorry for her.

I cleared my throat.”I-it’s alright.” I smiled lightly at her.

She raised her head. “Re-really?”

I cringed when I shifted in my spot in order to get more comfortable. “Ye-yeah... j-just watch where you're going...”

“That’s exactly what I was telling her,” Twilight added. “Rainbow, you could’ve seriously hurt her. Not only that, now we’re going to miss the train.”

The rainbow maned pegasus nodded her head. “S-sorry.”

Twilight unfolded her wing and wrapped it around the mare. “It’s alright.”

I sighed and gritted my teeth as I attempted to climb onto my feet. Coming to my side, Quartz and Crystal acted as my support. “Th-thanks...” I muttered through clenched teeth. Straightening myself out, I reached back and grabbed a hold of my hood and pulled it over my head before fixing my hair. “Say,” I said, looking at the mare who rammed me. “What’s your name again?”

The pegasus looked at me with a stupid smile on her face. “Me?” She jumped into the air with her wings spread wide. “Well I’m the one and only Rainbow Dash!” She placed her forehooves on her hips and posed with her chest out wide.

I snorted at the mare. “Well, Rainbow Dash—ahem!—you sure pack one hell of a kick.” I coughed into my fist and groaned.

Twilight walked over to me. “C’mon, I’ll take you back to the castle to get cleaned up.” She forced her head under my right arm so that I could hold onto her as support.

“Y-Y’know I can w-ah-walk on my own,” I said with a wince as we started to walk towards the castle.

Crystal clicked her tongue as she and Quartz followed behind us. “I’m starting to think it was a bad idea to leave the wagon behind.”

Quartz sighed. “Y’know what? I think you may be right this time.”

“WOW! Really? I’m right for once?” Crystal asked, flabbergasted.

“Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called and flew up beside us.

“What do you need, Rainbow?” Twilight looked over with a smile.

“I remembered why I came to get you. Applejack sent me to get you because she said you’d come by to check up on som—”

“OH NO!” Twilight suddenly stopped and I nearly fell flat on my face. “I can’t believe I forgot!” She began to look around frantically. “Miss Gem, Stone; could you please take Chloe back to my castle? I’ll write Spike a quick letter telling him you’re coming.”

“Eh...” Quartz and Crystal shared an uneasy look. “We-we could,” Quartz said, “if you don’t mind me askin’, Princess, but why?”

Twilight took a deep breath. “A few weeks ago I started testing out new types of fertilizer to increase the fertility of AJ’s trees. However, I’ve been needing to take tabs on their growth but I’ve missed a few days due to...” She motioned a hoof towards me. “Chloe’s predicament.”

For some reason this made me feel a little bad. “Oh... eh, sorry Twilight.” I apologized.

Twilight waved a hoof to the side and shook her head. “There’s no need for you to feel bad, Chloe. You guys go on ahead, Rainbow and I will be back in a few hours.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “We will? I mean, I just didn’t know I’d be tagging along.”

“Of course you are, Rainbow.” Twilight started making her way in the opposite direction of the town with the cyan pegasus; the two of them seemed to be chatting happily with one another.

I took a pain-filled breath, ‘That kick is going to make one hell of a bruise.’ I winced and both Quartz and Crystal came by my side.

“C’mon, girl, let’s get you into a bed.” Quartz smiled up at me, I nodded my head and smiled.

:[-]:

“I got Twilight’s letter,” Spike, the little purple dragon said as he opened the front door for us. “Holy moly, what happened to you?” His eyes widened when he saw me hobble in with Quartz keeping me up with her side.

Spike and the other two guided me over to a chair over by the far wall. “One of Twilight’s friends happened...” I cringed as I sat down in the silver framed chair, it had a very soft purple cushion on its back and seat.

“Rainbow Dash?” Spike asked, his voice monotoned.

I nodded my head and went to shift in my seat. “It was... an accident though—ouch!” I clutched my chest. ‘Okay, no shifting, just sitting... just sitting.’

“We’re supposed to be on a train right now,” Crystal told Spike. “But that stupid pegasus ended up ruining everything.”

“So, she made you miss the train?” Spike raised an eyebrow. “What, did she knock her unconscious?”

Crystal rolled her eyes and pointed at me with a hoof. “Look at her, she looks like she just got out of a fight with a Ursa Major!”

I raised an eyebrow of my own . “D-do I really l-look that bad?” I grunted and coughed. ‘What the hell is an Ursa Major?’

Quartz tried to give me a smile but it faltered. “Y-yeah it looks pretty bad. Twilight checked though, nothing too hard to recover from... but that’s implying if you were a pony.”

I tried to sigh but cringed. “ Great, I could be dying and not know it.”

Quartz shook her head. “It’s not that bad, Chlo—”

“S-sorry to cu-cut you off.” I released a painful cough into my fist.

“What is it?” Quartz tilted her head.

“Could y-you not call me Chlo anymore?” I asked making my heart twinge.

Quartz ears flattened. “Wha-what, why?” she asked, sounding a bit hurt.

I closed my eyes, I couldn’t look at her face, and I lowered my head. “I-I don’t know... the name brings back too many memories.”

Quartz took a deep breath and stepped towards me. Gently nuzzling my leg, she nodded. “I-if it makes you feel any better, Chloe.” I gently placed my hand on Quartz’s head and ruffled her mane. I don’t know why, but whenever I placed a hand on these ponies I always found it painful to pull away. I couldn’t say this enough but every inch of them was soft like velvet, almost like a newborn puppy or kitten. It was nearly impossible not to pet them!

Spike took a deep breath and scratched the back of his head with a claw. “Well, I’ll get a bath set up. I can probably get a washer ready for your clothes.”

My heart lurched. “Please tell me you guys have my tank top!” I pulled my hand off of Quartz and allowed her to straighten herself out, the mare nodded.

“Yeah, we got it.” She opened her saddlebag and levitated it out.

“I can wash that for you,” Spike offered.

“Ye-yeah, b-but what about what I’m wearing now?” I asked, “If you’re washing my clothes what will I have to wear?”

Crystal snorted and laughed. “What happened to you, ‘warming up to us’?”

My heart nearly stopped. “Th-that was before I got hit by little-miss Nyan Cat!”

Crystal laughed. “C’mon, you’re the only one that’s not naked here!”

“Crystal!” Quartz snarled. “Leave her be.” She looked back at me. “We can probably scrounge some towels up for you. Now, how about we get you in a hot bath.”

Crystal yawned. “Yeah, I could do with getting clean.”

“Wait what?” I looked at her.

“What?” She cocked her head to the side. “Quartz and I had a little chat and we’ve decided that we should all take a bath.”

My head turned to look at the unicorn, her blush burning through her cream cheeks. “I-it was just a suggestion! If Chloe doesn’t feel up to it then we’ll just leave her be!”

A small blush reached my cheeks and I tapped my chin with a finger. ‘Moving now is pretty much a pain as it is, and... we are going to be in a bath, so...’ “It won’t bother me,” I said, “Crystal did make a point, you’re already naked so... I wouldn’t be seeing anything new.”

Spike smacked his claws together. “So I take it it’s settled then?” We nodded our heads. “Okay then, I’ll let you ladies get settled while I get the bath ready. Chloe, if you could take off those clothes, I’d appreciate it.”

I recoiled and regretted doing so as a bit of pain made me cringe. “Ow-y-you want me to strip right now?”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Is it going to cause any major problems?” I pursed my lips as I tried to think up a response. “It’d help me get things moving if you just hand me what you got.”

“Spike, how about you just get the bath ready?” Quartz said as she came up beside him. “Crystal and I can get Chloe undressed.”

My cheeks burned an even darker red. ‘Great, I’m going to have two mares rip my clothes off.’ “Eh, that won’t be necessary,” I said already pulling the cloak off my shoulders, revealing the dark black and blue bruises directly above my breasts. The marks were perfect outlines of Rainbow’s fore-hooves. Around them, the flesh was a purplish red. “I-I’m a big girl, I know how to undress myself.”

Spike smiled and nodded his head. “Thank you, Miss Quartz, I’ll see you mares in a bit.” He turned on his heels and made his way up the center stairwell.

Quartz turned to me and gave me a creepy as hell smile. “Alright, Chloe.” Crystal came up beside her wearing a similar face. “You think you can do it all by yourself?”

I could already feel a bit of sweat forming above my brow. Closing my eyes, I tried not to look at them, but their voices... ‘Oh my god, am I really getting turned on? Bad plan, open your eyes!’ Looking back at them I nodded my head vigorously. “O-of course I can!”

Both ponies started to laugh. “Oi, you’re really troubled by this aren’t you?” Quartz giggled.

‘More like finding this oddly kinky—’ I quickly shot down that thought.

My cheeks flushed and I broke eye contact with them. The cloak slumped back behind me and my skin was exposed to the cold, still air. “I don’t have an issue undressing in front of people... I did it all the time back when I was being experimented on.” I took a deep breath. “It’s just that...” My face felt as if it was burning. “It’s just I think I really like you guys—as friends!” I quickly added.

Crystal nudged Quartz. “She’s still warming up, she can take her shirt off, but nothing else.”

“What, you think I’m treating this like some game?” I asked her sternly.

Crystal shrugged her wings. “Nope, I just couldn’t help but make that brief connection.”

Quartz rubbed one leg with her other hoof. “Crystal, could you leave me and Chloe alone for a few minutes?”

Crystal smirked. “Oh?” She looked at me then back at her. “Alright, fine.” She winked at Quartz before turning away and heading off in the direction Spike went.

“What was that?” I asked having noticed the obvious wink.

Quartz rolled her eyes and sighed. She then walked up and sat down next to me. “The idiot mare thinks there’s something between us... When you were busy talking with Twilight on the trip here, she couldn’t help but chat about what happened in the room.”

“When I kissed you on the nose?” Quartz nodded slowly. I bit my lower lip. “I’m sorry if that was a little too mu—”

“Why did you do that?” She asked.

“Kiss your nose? Eh... it’s uh...” I brushed my bangs out from in front of my eyes.

“I remind you of her, don’t I?”

My heart nearly stopped. “Wha-? Remind me of who?” ‘Where the hell did that come from?!’

Quartz turned her head and looked up at me. “Your friend, Eva? You mentioned her back when you injured your leg, you said I remind you of her. Was she your special somepony?”

My heart rate kicked up a few notches and for a few moments all I could hear was “Ba-dump, ba-dump.” I swallowed a lump in my throat, ‘What do I say, what do I say, what do I say?’ I tore my eyes off of her. ‘It’s true! Everything about Quartz is true, for a pony she looks sounds, and talks exactly like Eva!’

“I take that as a yes?” Quartz asked.

I placed my face in the palms of my hands and took a deep breath. “Yes...” I barely muttered, “you’re completely correct...”

The pony beside me took a deep breath and she stood up. From the right, I felt her press her muzzle against my shoulder and she nuzzled it. “I didn’t mean to get personal there,” she said, “It’s just that since this morning, it’s been bothering me—EH!” Quartz yelped when I wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her into a hug.

The pony stiffened in my grasp, her hind legs weren’t even touching the floor, instead I held her in my arms. I don’t have a clue as to what came over me, those words she said to me, all I could hear was Eva’s voice. As horrific as that sounded it was true. After about a minute, Quartz relaxed and she rested her hoof on my shoulder and tried to hug back. “It’s okay, Chloe...”

“I know...” I mumbled into her coat, “I just can’t help but think about her... You, Crystal, even Twilight remind me so much of them.” I squeezed her a little harder.

“Is that so?” Quartz wheezed, “Would you... like to talk about it?”

I finally released the pony and she stumbled back on the marble floor, a hoof held to her chest she took a deep breath. I couldn’t help but giggle a little at the sight of the struggling pony. “Y-yeah...” I sighed. “But first, let me get undressed.” I reached back and unclasped my bra, pulling the straps off I carefully pulled the undergarment off and tossed it back on my cloak. Next, I began to undo my belt and jeans, however, the pain of leaning forward or back proved to make things difficult.

“Need help?” Quartz asked me.

I bit my lower lip and tried a few more times. “I-I think I almooo—oooh-ouch-no, no I don’t!” I sighed with defeat, my cheeks flushing out of embarrassment. “G-go ahead...” I crossed my arms over my bare chest and looked away.

Quartz smiled and stepped out in front of me. “It’ll only take a few seconds, raise your hips please.” As painful as it was I did I was told and lifted my hips.

In complete unison, Quartz was able to undo my belt and jeans at the exact same time. Raising my legs, I allowed her to pull the sleeves off each limb, she then somehow folded them properly and laid them off to the side. Looking back at me, her eyes fell on my panties and she smiled. “Nice choice of color, girl.” When I thought my cheeks couldn’t burn any brighter, they now felt like they were on fire. Like before, I raised myself off the chair and allowed her to pull them off of me. “Huh...” She giggled lightly, I looked over and saw her cheeks burning as bright as mine. Her eyes locked on the spot between my legs. “It’s a little small, but... looks almost like mi—”

I slammed my legs closed. “TALK AND DIE!” I pointed at her and snarled.

Quartz’s ears fell flat. “Ehh... s-sorry...” Her voice was quiet and soft, eyes wide as saucers, her tail was tucked between her legs she stepped back.

My heart ached at the awfully cute, yet sad sight. “Oh... s-sorry,” I said equally as quiet. “You’re the first person—I mean pony I let see that...” I looked at her with worried eyes. “Please don’t tell Crystal!”

Quartz cleared her throat and nodded her head. “Of course I won’t say anything, Chlo—I mean Chloe.” She smiled despite her cheeks still glowing a bright pink. “Spike should have the bath ready, how about I help you go get washed up?”

“Help me?” I asked her as she helped pull me out of the chair, standing on my two feet. I instinctively covered up my privates and shivered due to the cold air.

“Well, in your condition.” Quartz got beside me and slowly guided me towards the steps. “How else are you going to reach certain parts of your body?”

My eyes widened and I kept myself looking forward. “And I thought Spike watching me was awkward enough.” I gulped.

“You mean that little dude watched you take a bath?” Quartz asked as we reached the base of the stairs. She then carefully began to guide me up each individual step, it was a painful process at first, but after we developed a system, things got easier.

“Yeah,” I sighed as we finally reached the top. Quartz resumed her position beside me and we began walk/hobble to the bath. “He wasn’t as creepy as I initially thought he would be.”

“Thought he was just there to see you naked?” Quartz giggled.

I frowned a little. “Yeah, so... anyways, he just ended up reading a comic the whole time—OH SHIT!”

“What!?” Quartz stopped and looked at me.

“I forgot to get him a copy of the Avengers! FUCK!” I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

“Aveng—what? Nevermind, we can always go back later and get him one.” Quartz and I continued our walk to the shower.

“Yeah...” I took a deep breath. “Just so much has been happening... I can’t seem to think straight.”

We rounded a corner, down the hall I could see the large bath doors. “You’ll be fine, Chloe.” Quartz assured me. “Once we get to Canterlot and you reunite with your friend, we can sort everything out.”

We stopped in front of the door, already I noticed steam coming out from under the cracks. “Well, you ready to get wet?” Quartz smiled with a shit-eating grin.

I looked down at her. “Please... for the love of God, rephrase that.” I giggled.

This seemed to please the unicorn. “C’mon, let’s go get clean before I end up dragging your naked butt in there and washing it myself.”

I walked up to the door and grabbed the handle. “You implying I’m filthy?”

“Well... we were all in the mud yesterday,” Quartz reminded me, “and you also got some blood specks just above your teats.”

I rolled my eyes. “No need to be so blunt.” I pushed the door open and stepped into the bath. “Let’s get cleaned up.”

Author's Note

So I'll admit it! This was indeed a filler chapter, I had a lot of free time but I'm still trying to figure out how the story is going to progress once Chloe reaches Canterlot. So in the meantime I hope you enjoy what I brought to you.

Disclaimer* Read at your own RISK:

Hopefully by next chapter I'll have actual plot progression instead of humor/sex humor.

Chapter 13: Reunion

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.

“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 Note

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

Chapter 14: Myself?

I sat there on my knees and stared Reynolds right in his eye. My mouth hung open and my body froze completely solid. The old man broke eye contact with me and gazed at the ground. The ponies around us seemed to have fallen silent, even the princesses weren’t looking at us. “I had a feeling you’d react this way...” Reynolds barely whispered.

“Wh-what do you mean, ‘ou-our Daughter?’” I asked him, my jaw quivering along with my entire body. I had no idea what to think, or feel. So many emotions, along with a wave of disturbing thoughts, crossed me all at once.

“Chloe, remember how you volunteered to donate a batch of your eggs for my experiments?” He asked.

I thought back briefly and nodded my head; back then he was testing my eggs to see if I were to ever have offspring would they also be immune. He also wanted to test if he could somehow use them to create a breed of human beings immune to the disease. “Ye-yeah...” I nodded again.

Reynolds took a deep breath and looked at me. “As years went by, the equipment at McKinley began to degrade and I was unable to use the eggs. However, during my years of research something phenomenal happened.” He gulped and motioned with his hands for the two of us to stand up. “Come, I must take you to my lab,” he said, then continued his previous explanation as we stood back up. “Ten thousand years ago, back when I was only fifty six, the virus suddenly stopped.” He began to turtle his way towards the castle doors.

“Wh-what do you mean, what does this have to do with me having a kid now?” I asked him and slowly began to follow behind. The princesses ahead nodded and also started to make their way to the doors while the ponies behind us trotted to keep up.

“I’m getting to that,” he said quietly. “The virus had just suddenly stopped, as if somepon—I mean someone flipped a switch.” Reynolds corrected himself and I cocked an eyebrow. We reached the front steps and I stepped up beside Reynolds and allowed him to use my shoulder as support while we climbed up. “It just suddenly stopped trying to forcefully evolve us humans and animals. You saw that log right?” He looked at me.

I bit my lip and helped him up the finally step. “Yeah, I sorta recall.”

Reynolds sighed. “The nanites that make up the virus were constructed in order to jump start a species’ evolution. It would start to suddenly mix up a creature’s genetic code or just create something entirely new.”

“That’s similar to conjuration spells,” Twilight piped up.

Reynold’s stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Yes, and no. Most conjuration spells are only temporary, for instance. If I were to summon a familiar, depending on the amount of energy I use judges how long it is able to last. Whereas these nano-machines acted as deconstructors and fabricators. Amazingly enough, though, they perform a similar spell along the lines of conjuration.”

“Wait a second...” Twilight came up besides Reynolds and looked up at him. “What are you trying to say?”

Reynold’s cleared his throat. “What I’m saying is that this virus that killed off the human species is the same thing you call magic.” He pointed at Twilight’s horn. “That appendage on your head acts as an antenna for these things, it's able to send out telepathic frequencies which enables you to control them.” He then shrugs. “The stronger the frequency the more powerful the machines become.”

Twilight looked at Reynolds with utter disbelief. “W-wait that can’t be!” she blurted as Reynolds and I walked past the open door Celestia and Luna held for us.

“In Starswirl's book on magic theory he states that—”

“Ha!” I recoiled back at Reynolds’ sudden outburst. “You believe most of that garbage?” he said, looking back at Twilight. He shook his head and continued forward. Ahead of us I saw Luna and Celestia share a look of discomfort with one another. “I only added most of that fluff as a way to get them pretty colts up in parliament to agree with me.” He rolled his eyes. “Sometimes I really regret making this place a parliamentary democracy,” he muttered.

I blinked. “What?” Shaking my head and I cleared my throat. “N-never mind, what about my kid?”

“Huh?” Reynold’s looked at me. “Oh right!” He lit up. “The virus just stopped, Chloe, I don’t know why, but it stopped forcefully evolving us humans and these ponies. Like it was finally satisfied with what it was doing or something... I can’t wrap my head around it. So that’s when I grabbed the embryos and I started to form a colony.” Princess Celestia and Luna led us to a set of spiraling stairs that led downwards while Reynolds talked. “And during that time I started doing even more research on these machines due to their now docile nature.” He grew quiet when we started going down the steps at a very slow pace. “And as you can see now—ugh—” he stepped down and ever so slowly began to bring his foot down to the next step. “—I have grown very old. One hundred and ten to be exact.”

I nearly choked on my own saliva. “What?! A hundred and ten?”

“Wait a second.” Crystal’s voice came from behind on us. “I thought you were a couple thousand years old like the princesses?”

Reynolds grins. “Believe me, I’m far older than those two fillies up front.” Both Celestia and Luna looked back at him and rolled their eyes simultaneously. “Matter of fact I’m friends with their parents.”

“Reynolds, please, stop getting sidetracked,” I sighed. “You can tell me all this stuff later,” I said as we continued down the steps.

Reynolds nodded. “Sorry...” He cleared his throat and I began to wonder if these stairs we were on would ever end. “When the virus stopped, I began doing research and suffered the horrible realization, Chloe, that my time on this world is running short.” He swallowed a lump in his throat. “You see, I have lived my life far longer than any human being should. And during that time of revelation, I was struck with the idea of passing on my legacy.”

“So you took one of my eggs from the experiments and fertilized it?”

“With my own seed, yes.” At that moment I heard a door open and noticed we had reached the bottom of the stairwell. Celestia and Luna had opened a door leading into what looked to be a cave filled with glowing crystals, the pristine stairs quickly opted to a disgusting, murky black. The air around us was cool and dry, the ground was slick and the lighting was dreadful. Celestia and Luna both lit their horns and motioned with their heads to follow them.

Twilight and the two other ponies behind us awed at the sight. “Your lab is down here in the crystal caves?” Twilight asked.

Reynolds shook his head. “No, my dear, it’s even deeper than this. My lab is within the heart of this mountain, as of now we’re standing above it.” Celestia and Luna both nodded and continued to lead the way in silence, occasionally though, they’d look over and whisper something to each other.

I continued to look over at Reynolds and then away repeatedly as we walked. My thoughts whirled around in my head and I just couldn’t seem to figure out which question to ask first. So many thoughts zipped around me, and every time I’d reach out to grab one of them it’d just slip through my fingers. Except for one question though, one that lingered on my mind the second Reynolds told me. “What did you name her?” I asked softly.

Reynolds gulped and gave me a small smile. “I named her after the one girl that tried to save us all,” he said, looking at me. “I named her after you.” His voice was raspy and quiet.

My stomach filled with butterflies and my cheeks flushed, I couldn’t help but feel touched. “Th-that’s very nice of you to... to say.” I gazed at the floor.

“We’re getting close,” Luna called from over her shoulder.

The old man nodded his head. “Indeed we are close.” He pointed forward towards a wall with a large pink crystal jutting out. “Right there,” he said, “that is the entrance to my lab.”

“There’s nothing there,” Crystal said. Taking a few steps toward it, she scratched the back of her head with a hoof and looked at Reynolds. The scientist chuckled and shook his head. “What’s so funny?” the pegasus asked.

“It’s called cloaking technology.”

“It’s called cloaking magic.”

Both Twilight and Reynolds said in unison, both of them blinked and looked at each other. “What?” Reynolds cocked an eyebrow.

“What?” Twilight also raised one of her own.

Reynolds shakes his head. “Anyways, that crystal on the wall is nothing but an illusion. In reality there is actually nothing but a door built into that wall.” He said, walking over to the large, pink crystal he reached a hand out to it. Reynolds looked back over his shoulder. “Watch this,” he said, touching the mineral. His hand phased through it. Suddenly, the entire image of the crystal began to shift and wiggle like a hologram. “Amazing isn’t it?”

Twilight frowned and looked at it skeptically. Quartz also seemed a tad unimpressed. Luna and Celestia acted as if they’d seen this thousands of times, probably have, too. Crystal and I, however, were shocked. “Whoa!” Crystal galloped over to Reynolds and stuck her head through the hologram, then pulled it back out. “What kind of witchcraft is this?!”

“It’s called technology... what is your name?” Reynolds chuckled and asked.

“Crystal... sir?” She cocked an eyebrow and pointed a hoof at Reynolds. “Chloe, what is it?”

“I told you guys, Reynolds is male, there for he’s not an ‘it’.” I said with a smile. Walking past Luna and Celestia, I went over to the two of them. “So, how does it work, Doc?” I asked.

Reynolds smiled. “A few hundred years back, I established projectors and lights along the cave walls above us.” He gazed up and pointed a few of them out, they were very small and barely visible. “I have them inside glass boxes to protect them from most of the elements. Though now dusting them is a pain.” He yawned and motioned with his cane to follow him. “So, don’t just stand there, the tour doesn’t start until we’re inside!”

:[-]:

The entrance to the Kenway vault was almost an exact replica of what was now my home, the McKinley vault. The solid steel walls were plated with gold and the interior was a tad bit smaller compared to McKinley’s, but it also wasn’t as dusty either. Matter of fact, the interior looked to be almost brand new; the floors were shiny and the the center computer looked fresh and polished.

“Whoa, Chloe...” Crystal looked around and smiled as we came to a stop in the center of the entrance room. “Your place is a dump compared to this.” She chuckled and yelped when I smacked over the back of the head.

“Cause of you guys. I haven’t gotten around to cleaning it yet!” I growled.

“How is McKinley, anyways?” Reynolds asked as he closed the front door behind us. Again, the machinery reacted to the commands like a freshly oiled machine. Without any screeching metal or gears, the large robotic arm reached out and took hold of the cog door and rolled it into place. Pulling it closed, it screwed itself shut before the arm retracted itself back to the side.

“Filthy and degrading,” I replied as Reynolds inputted the code to open the secondary door that would lead us into the actual vault.

“Does it always take this long?” Quartz asked out of curiosity.

“Yeah,” Reynolds said, hitting enter on the keypad. Like the main door, a metal arm appeared out from the side of the wall and screwed itself into the door. “But I don’t normally leave the vault often so it doesn’t bother me.” He smiled at the pony.

“Why don’t you leave?” Twilight asked.

Reynolds cocked an eyebrow as the large arm pulled the cog door open, he looked over his shoulder and at Princess Celestia and Luna. “My sister and I thought it would be best if Reynolds tried to keep his presence on the outside to a minimum,” Luna said. “The thought of an alien creature living in the castle would bring too much unnecessary attention.”

“I also prefer to work alone on most occasions,” Reynolds added and motioned for us to follow him into the vault. “Now, Chloe, this won’t really be new to you seeing that Kenway is just a smaller replica of McKinley.”

“Greetings Dr. Reynolds.” The voice of a female V.I. greeted us. “I see you have brought along Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, along with some new friends.”

“Yes, I have, Stephenie.” Reynolds replied to the machine. “These are Chloe Cooper and...”

“I’m Quartz Stone.”

“Crystal Gem, but just call me Crystal.” The pegasus smiled and trotted ahead of all of us, she reached a small metal staircase and went down it.

“Where is she going?” Reynolds asked confused as to why she just went on without them.

“She’s an adventurer,” Quartz said, “she likes to go on alone and look for treasure.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll go make sure she doesn’t take anything.” The unicorn pushed on ahead and moved after the pegasus.

Reynolds blinked. “Wh-what about my tour?”

I couldn’t help but snicker as we came up on the small metal staircase leading downwards. “Well, if this is like McKinley, this wouldn’t be new to them, either.”

“They’ve been in McKinley?” Reynolds asked.

“They’re the ones who dug me out,” I said with a nod. I offered Reynolds my hand and I helped guide him down. The three pony princesses followed behind us, Twilight seemed to be chatting with them about about something, but I hadn’t been paying any attention to them. Further ahead, I could see Quartz and Crystal at the end of the hall, singled out by the automatic lights that turned on when we walked beneath them. They seemed to be trying to open doors to other rooms but were having trouble on figuring out how to open them.

“Those two down there dug you out?” Reynolds smiled. “Well, isn’t that nice of them?”

“Well, originally, they were trying to mine the gold off the front door,” I chuckled as we came to a stop in front of the two bickering ponies.

“You can’t just go sticking your head into another ponies room, Crystal!” Quartz scolded the pegasus.

“Why not, only one pony lives here!” She tried to justify herself, but it wasn’t working.

“So what, you don’t know what could be behind that door!” Quartz said. Reynolds walked up next to them and opened up the pin pad.

“I’m just curious, Quartz, it’s not like I’m going to do anything bad,” Crystal said. Looking away from her, she glanced back every now and again to see if Quartz’s expression changed. It didn’t. Suddenly, however, the door beside them slid open and Reynolds closed the control panel.

“Oh, look,” the old man said. “Wow... a storage closet, how interesting.” He pressed a button beside it and the door slid back closed. The two ponies blinked curiously and watched as Reynolds continued walking down the hallway, giving a brisk wave from over his shoulder. “This way now, my lab isn’t too far.”

“Wow...” Quartz huffed. “What a jerk.”

I chuckled and rested a hand on Quartz’s head. Scratching behind her ears I said, “Nah, you’ll get use to it. He’s very sarcastic at times.”

“So what’s in the storage closet?” Crystal asked still seemingly curious.

I shrugged as the three princesses continued on past us. Following Reynolds, Luna cast a glance from over her shoulder to see if we were coming. “I’unno,” I said honestly, “could be anything from food, experiments, scrap, ya’know, necessities.” I turned and followed the princesses. “C’mon, let's keep moving, don’t want to get lost.” The two ponies nodded and trailed behind me.

We went down another set of steps and entered a much larger room. Creepily enough, it reminded me of a prison cell block. The room was long and the ceiling was at least a few dozen feet above us. Walkways above us connected to balconies that outlined the room. Connecting these balconies were cocoons, dozens of them, even on the ground level, the walls were outlined with them. All of them in neat condition, too.

“They were all empty when I arrived,” Reynolds said, standing in the middle of the room the princesses came up behind him, I shortly after. “Stephanie says at one point they were all occupied by a band of U.S. special forces.”

“Indeed they were. All fifty-two cocoons were occupied by the U.S. Remnants Platoon.” The female V.I. said.

“Remnants platoon?” I asked. The ponies, aside from Celestia and Luna, also shared similar looking confusion. “That sounds familiar.” I took a few steps towards Reynolds.

“It should, Chloe.” Reynolds turned and looked at me. “They’re the ones who saved you from Mercy.”

I tilted my head at him and rested a hand on my hip. “Mercy...?” My eyes then widened. “Mercy hospital?”

Reynolds nodded his head, now even the Celestia and Luna looked confused. “Sergeant Rockwell of Remnants killed his commanding officer and took lead shortly after he went nuts. Afterwards, he and his squad took over the rest of the division after the military companies began to crumble.”

As if being hit by a truck, my thoughts shot back to Reynold’s old recordings. “Though there aren't many of us left. Sergeant Rockwell and his men are out on a mission as of now. So it’ll be awhile until you hear from them.” I took a few steps back, my mouth falling open.

“W-wait, wh-what happened to Rockwell?” I stammered. “What happened to the the Remnants Division?” A flood of questions slammed into me and I could feel my breathing escalate. “Where are they?”

Reynolds held up his hand and take a step towards me. “Chloe, please, calm yourself. I’ll explain everything shortly. I’ll take us to the lab, make some tea, and we can al—”

“Dad?” a familiar young voice called out. “Dad, is Celestia back?” The sound of small footsteps made their way into my ears, each step matching the beat of my heart. The sound echoed in my head and I gulped. ‘Why does that voice sound so familiar,’ I thought as my eyes drifted towards the entryway, ‘I can’t quite place my finger on it but... I swore I’ve heard it.’

I shook my head, trying to tear my thoughts away from something so ridiculous. I stepped back once more, my gaze shooting up back towards Reynolds. I took a shaky breath, all of this was too much. I had expected to just meet Reynolds and maybe cry, or shoot the shit with him. Maybe figure things out, save the human race, then just move on with life!

“Yes, Chloe,” Celestia replied to the coming girl. “I’m here, we’re just having a chat right now.”

‘Chloe?’ My eyes shot to the Princess, confused a little, it struck me that Reynold said he had named the girl after me. “Celestia!” The young voice shouted with much joy and the sound of creaking metal caused by little feet made my head turn over towards the opposite entrance of where we came in. “C-could you please finish that story you were telling me ear—... Daddy...?”

My vision was locked onto a familiar young girl that stepped out into the open; no older than eight, she had long black hair that dipped a little bit past her shoulders. Her eyes were large and blue, skin slightly pale, it seemed that she hadn’t hit puberty, yet her voice, for her age, was slightly deeper and butch... almost like mine.

That’s when it hit me, with my eyes widening I slowly tore my eyes off of the girl and looked at Reynolds. He seemed to have also noticed my revelation, his face was stricken with sorrow and he reached a hand out to me. “Chloe, please listen to me.”

I stepped away from him. “What did you do?” My heart was slamming against my chest, I had no idea what to think or say. “What did you do?!”

Celestia and Luna moved over to the now scared little girl. “Yes, Sweetie, I’ll finish the story. Come with Lulu and I, we’ll go get some cocoa.”

“What is going on?” Crystal and Quartz moved towards Reynolds, only to find themselves magically stopped by Twilight who simply shook her head at them.

“Chloe, please listen.” Reynold’s voice was wavering, sounding as if he was going to start sobbing at any second. “You have to understand that I was lonely, afraid, I had no one to talk to...” He held his trembling hands out to me.

“W-why didn’t you just wake me!” I shouted at him.

Tears rolled down Reynolds cheeks, his old ragged foot catching the floor, he dropped to one of his knees. His voice choking, a few tears dripped onto the floor, he didn’t look up at me. “Because I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing you go through the trauma that I had undergone!” He sobbed into the floor. “I didn’t want to suffer the pain again—so, a few thousand years ago, a thought occurred...” He swallowed a lump in his throat. “With the embryos gone and with all that being left is me and you...” he started hiccuping. “I re-realized I couldn’t a-access you p-personally to get an egg o-off you, however...” He fell silent for a few moments, head raising slowly he looked at me with a few full of tears. “I-I had plenty of sa-salvageable eggs and...” he bit his own lip. “I had your DNA samples.”

“Y-you cloned me...” I said, looking at him with wide eyes, I was afraid—but also angry, alienated, really—I didn’t know what I felt. “W-were you trying to replace—”

“No, Chloe, I wasn’t trying to replace you!” Reynolds dropped onto his other knee. “For twelve thousand years, I’ve been alone, no human contact. I was afraid of how you would react, so I refused to let you free, and I see now that that was a mistake!” He literally bowed before me. Hands flat on the ground, he pressed his forehead into the the steel flooring. “It was an experiment,” he went to explain, “I didn’t know what would happen. Back then, I had only recently started to learn how to clone.” He looked back up at me. “And I had an epiphany. If I couldn’t sexually reproduce human beings, why not try asexually?” He looked at the floor and shook his head. “I wasn’t expecting for it to actually work, when I first loaded the reduced embryo with your DNA and completed the fertilization... I wasn’t expecting it to actually start to grow.” He takes a deep breath. “I also couldn’t bring myself to kill her, Chlo...”

“You recreated me.” My voice was monotone, gaze locked on Reynolds. It was as if my mind had drawn a blank.

Reynolds shook his head and slowly crawled to me. “N-no, Chloe, I didn’t create you, I created someone who looks like you.” He swallowed a lump in his throat. “The environment she is growing up in is much different from what you or I have been in. Her personality will be of a completely different person... aside from her looks you’ll start to look past all of that.” His voice had started to rasp as he explained.

“But why didn’t you just wake me...?” I kept asking. “If you wanted company I coul—”

“I know!” Reynolds covers his face. “I know... Like I said, I couldn’t take it anymore. I just wanted someone I could hold close to me, and keep me company. I couldn’t face the fear of watching someone go through what I had to.”

“And here we are now,” I gulped. Leaning forward, I placed a hand on Reynolds shoulder. “I-it’s alright.” I assured him.

“Is it though?” I heard Other Chloe ask. “Reynolds took your DNA and recreated a much younger version of you! If you ask me that sounds very creepy. Hell, he even named her after you.”

“N-no, he was just lonely,” I muttered under my breath. “Th-that was all...”

Reynolds sniffed and wiped his eyes with his wrists. He took a deep breath and looked up at me. “Wo-would you like to meet her?” he asked me. “I can assure you that... she would like to see her mother.”

“You know, I have a strong feeling we’re never going to get used to that.” Other Chloe walked up behind Reynolds, I glanced at her and cocked an eyebrow. She then shrugged. “Actually, I don’t think we’re going to get use to any of this. Fuck, you aren’t even getting use to seeing me, come out of nowhere, butchering the flow of everything,” she chuckled. “Believe me, I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.”

I took a small breath and looked at Reynolds and nodded my head. “I-I wouldn’t mind that,” I said softly. “B-but before we go... in an old video I saw, you mentioned that Sergeant Rockwell and his men were out on a mission... what happened to the others?” For some reason we were both speaking in hushed voices. It was weird, but I just found myself doing it. As if I didn’t want Twilight or Quartz to hear.

Reynolds took a deep breath and spoke in a hushed tone also. “As of right now, Chloe, I do not have time. However, come to me when we break for dinner, I’ll explain everything there.” He reached up and gave my shoulder a light squeeze. “Th-thank you for understanding.” He gulped.

I sighed and shook my head. “I-I’m still trying to wrap my head around it,” I told him, “j-just give me some time and I’ll come around.”

“Perhaps you would like to go to bed then soon?” He asked.

I snorted and gave a dry laugh. “Oh shit, you don’t even know...” I practically mumbled.

I helped Reynolds back onto his feet and Twilight levitated his cane up to him. Taking it in his hand he thanked the alicorn who simply nodded in reply. Both Quartz and Crystal came up to me, the pegasus gently giving me a reassuring nuzzle when she noticed my distressed face. “We got you, Chloe,” the pegasus chimed, standing by my side. Quartz gave me a gentle smile, but continued to stand just an arm’s length away, her cheeks burning red and her gaze locked to the floor.

“Alright, if we move now, we can catch up to the princesses and little Chlo.” Reynolds’ voice picked up and he began to move towards a small metal corridor with a staircase leading upwards. “They’re most likely in my lab now messing with my equipment.” Twilight moved over to the old man’s side and helped him in going up the steps.

My heart thumped in my chest when we reached the top the stairs, The thought of meeting my own clone. daughter, whatever you wanted to call her, caused my anxiety levels to skyrocket. I didn’t know what I was going to do, or even say, in this case.

“You could always say, ‘I’m you from the future’.” Other Chloe laughed as we made our way down the hall. “That’d probably convince her seeing that you’re technically her.” She smirked.

‘Yeah like I’m going to do that,’ I replied in my head. ‘Reynolds is right; she is technically my daughter since she came from a part of me.’

“And him. Therefore, making him the father.” Other Chloe appeared out from an intersection and walked alongside me, I looked at her. “Yet I find it weird that if that’s the case, why does she resemble us the most?”

‘Because my genes were more dominant? I dunno, he said clone so... maybe he forced it into looking like me? B-besides, we did have the latest gene therapy equipment,' I tried to reason with myself.

“Perhaps. It doesn’t change my thoughts on it being fucking creepy. Like, he could’ve done this to anyone! Why us?” she asked. I looked at her and shrugged.

“See something interesting?” Crystal asked me.

I shook my head and looked down at her as we walked. “S-sorry what?” I gave her a small, fake smile.

“Well you kept looking off to the right, so I thought there was something interesting.” The pony looked at the wall. “Is there something on the wall.”

I blinked and bit my lip. “Y-Yeah, I couldn’t help but notice the walls are a lot cleaner here than back in the McKinley,” I said loud enough for Reynolds to here.

Reynolds up ahead laughed and glanced back. “Oh really?” He chuckled. “I kinda picked up an old cleaning habit a few hundred years back. With little Chlo being born, I didn’t want her growing up in a dusty old bunker.”

We we reached a small set of six steps and went down them. At the end, the corridor opened up into a much large room that extended out a few yards before stopping at a large door that stretched to about ten feet wide. “So, you wanted to instead raise her in a dusted, old bunker?”

“Better than breathing in dirt,” Reynolds said. Walking over to a small pin pad computer, her pressed in the digits for the code and the large door creaked as the locks came loose.

“Speaking of which, Doctor,” Twilight started. “I couldn’t help but overhear your statement about how you started cleaning up a few hundred years ago for her. The little one I mean.” Twilight cleared her throat. “If that was the case, why does she still look so young? Or is it a common occurrence for humans to age at a much slower rate?”

Reynolds chuckle lightly and shook his head. “Oh no... The common human lifespan is about a century, that is if you’re lucky, fit and most likely live in a first world country. I myself have lived this life for longer than any human being should’ve, Chloe here can tell you the same and the same for our daughter.”

“If you humans only live to about a hundred...” Twilight looked a little confused. “Then how are you still alive, if Chloe was right, you two should be over sixteen thousand years old!” She says with a little more emphasis on the number of years.

The larger door was a little more than halfway open now. “Remember that large room were just in, back when Chloe and I had our chat?” Twilight nodded. “Remember those machines lining the walls all around us?” The mare nodded again. “Those were cocoons, cryostasis pods, filled with nitrogen gas. We used them for sleep and to be able to preserve our bodies for extended periods of time,” Reynolds explained as the door opened completely, revealing a much larger lab then the one back in McKinley. Inside everything was pristine white, to the point in which it was nearly blinding, rows of tables and equipment filled the negative space inside. Chalk boards and white boards sat scattered around, equations and formulas I’ve never seen before written on them. Test tubes and other glassware were filled with weird, bubbling liquids I dared never to go near. The room itself, however, was oddly shaped, it was spherical. Most likely for cosmetic purposes, but compared to McKinley and the other vault rooms... it felt very out of place. Yet what made it weirder, though, was that in the center of this sphere room, there was a giant glass room filled with trees in the very center of it.

The room itself was shaped like a cylinder, and when I walked over to it, I saw inside that there was dirt and grass along with three very big oak trees. Between these oak trees was a bench. Across from that, a small table with a chessboard on it. Inside the room, Princess Celestia was standing on a small dirt path in front of the bench. She was looking at Luna and the small girl who looked exactly like me, and seemed to be telling the two of them a story.

Princess Luna looked bored, but for the little girl’s sake, kept on a smile. The child me, though, seemed to be enthralled, her blue eye wide and little mouth open, Celestia suddenly leapt onto her hind legs and kicked out with her forehooves. The little girl’s face lit up like a Christmas tree and she started bouncing in her seat. Her lips flying at a hundred miles per hour, she looked to be trying to tell Luna something. Possibly something silly, of course, because Luna herself started giggling and she wrapped the child up with one of her wings.

I stood there right up to the glass, watching with wide eyes as the three of them looked to be enjoying themselves. Amazed at how such a child who resembled me befriended these two creatures, a child that looked but acted nothing like how I was. ‘Perhaps Reynolds is right...’ I thought. ‘She may look like me, but she’ll never talk or act like me.’ Back when I was this kid’s age, perhaps ten to twelve years old, I was rotten. I wasn’t cheerful and energetic like this girl seemed, I was spoiled and mean. Only person I ever got along with was my sister...

‘Stacey...’ I placed my hand on the glass, open palmed, I wondered if they could see me. Though, after what felt like an eternity of standing there, I began to wonder; my thoughts wandering about. ‘Stacey,’ My sister’s name kept appearing in my conscious. ‘If Reynolds could remake me... is it possible he co—’

“The fuck are you thinking about, girl?” Other Chloe said behind me. “You can’t honestly be thinking about—”

“You know, they can’t see you.” Reynolds walked up beside me. My thoughts shattering, I looked over at him.

“Oh yeah... uh, I assumed that when I first walked up.” I coughed into my fist and gazed back at the child. She was riding on the back of Luna who was prancing around happily, they looked to be chasing Celestia around in circles.

“Yeah, the glass acts as a special screen, it runs off a material I call magitech,” he said and placed his hand on the glass along mine. “I was able to combine the nanites that made up the SOL virus and what is now the pinnacle of equine magic and harness its power to run a majority of machines in here.” He chuckled. “If these little bots didn’t kill us, Chloe... could you imagine what it would be like if we had this kind of power? These bots would’ve ended the world’s energy crisis,” he sighed.

I nodded my head and took a deep breath. “Reynolds... does she...” I closed my eyes and looked at the floor, trying to gather my thoughts I looked at the old man’s eye. “Does she know about me?” I pointed at the girl riding on Luna. “Does she know that I’m technically her...” I gulped. “Mother?”

Reynold’s stared into my eyes for a good long minute, finally he licked his lips and nodded his head. “I’ve told her many times, Chloe, that her mother, you, were somewhere out in the world. I’ve told her many great things about you and our time together in the refugee camps, and our time down in McKinley.” He reached back and scratched the rear of his neck. “Though she does not know you personally, I’ve tried to paint a good enough picture for her.”

I gulped and glanced back inside the bio-cylinder, my eyes wandering over the girl happily laying on top of Luna while celestia sat behind them, her wing draped over both of them. All three of them looked so happy together, as if already they were a family, and the thought of it... they probably were a family by now. “She really seems to like being with them...” I said quietly.

Reynolds nodded his head. “Yes, and they really like being with her. I believe Celestia herself put it as... uh, giving her a chance to escape reality and her responsibilities as a ruler for a short period of time. To just sit back and play, just for a little bit.”

“I take it on the surface she doesn’t get to do that much... if at all.” I glanced at Reynolds and he replied with a simple nod of his head.

“It’s nice seeing them like this.” He looked at me. “Hopefully, once she gets used to you, the two of you could do this together.”

I gulped and nodded my head. “Ye-yeah...” I scratched my head and flinched when I felt Reynolds hand on my back.

“I understand if you’re nervous, all of this must be very tough.”

“Very tough?” I looked at him and scoffed. “Waking up to see all your friends are dead except one, the world is overrun with talking magical horses, and now suddenly a child is forced onto you... Boy, talk about tough!” I shook my head and chuckled. “Jesus, fuck... I don’t know what to think! What am I going to tell her!? Oh hey, it’s me! Your long lost mother?!”

Reynold gently ran his hand down my back as he tried to calm me. “I understand, Chloe...” he took a deep breath. “All I can say is you’re going to have to talk to her. Yes, it’s going to be awkward at first, but believe me, she’s a lovable kid. It may take time, but she’ll warm up to you, believe me. Within no time you’ll be like an actual mother and daughter.”

The door to the bio-cylinder opened and out came the young girl with both princesses. Twilight and the other mare’s ears perked up and turned away from the computer they had been toying with. My eyes followed the girl as the three of them came out, laughing and giggling, the girl sat on Luna’s back, nuzzling into her starry mane.

“Princess, where did you guys go?” Twilight asked Celestia.

Celestia looked at the mare and smiled. “Oh we were just hanging out with our favorite little human,” she said looking back at the small child who giggled and blushed.

Twilight looked at the kid, her eyes widening at the sight of her she walked over with a large smile. “Oh my aren’t you cute,” she said. “Do you mind if I ask you for your name?”

The child blushed even harder and buried herself behind Luna’s twinkling mane. “Go on, little one,” Luna said, “she will not hurt you.” She gave her a soft smile.

The girl poked her head out a little bit. “M...my n-name is Ch-Chloe...” she said and quickly dipped back behind the mane.

Twilight gave her a smile and nodded her head. “Oh that’s adorable,” she said and glanced back at me, we both looked into each other’s eyes and I blushed before scratching the back of my head.

“Y-yeah, we have the same name...”

Luna nodded her head and looked back at little Chloe. “Little one, do you know who this is?” She asked walking over to me, which I quickly went to back away, but stopped when Reynolds placed his hand on my shoulder.

“It’s okay, Chloe,” he whispered to me. “Everything will be fine.”

The littler version of myself looked at me with wide eyes. Smiling sheepishly, I ran a hand through my hair and brushed my bangs out of the way. “H-hey...” I said nervously.

“Go ahead, Chloe, guess.” Reynolds stepped past me, he gestured to me with his right hand. “I’ve told you many great things about her.”

The little girl blinked and glanced at Reynolds, then Luna, and over to Celestia. All of them looked at her with a wide smile and as her eyes turned to meet with mine, I noticed one thing that tore me apart. Her eyes began to glisten, and her eyes brows curled upwards. Lips trembling, her body began to shake. As the edges of her eyes became overwhelmed with tears, they began to streak down her cheeks and drip onto Luna. Raising a hand, she tried to wipe them away, but they just kept on coming and soon her face was drenched. Most of all, though, her eyes never left mine. She started to open her mouth, her lips trying to form words but she just couldn’t seem to find them.

Looking at her I felt my heart begin to race and for some reason I felt this undying urge to go and hug the child. Celestia and Luna both looked to the girl with concern and Reynolds took a few steps towards her. “Ch-chloe it’s okay.” Reynolds reached to grab to take her off Luna. Grabbing her by the underarms, he shakily pulled her off the horse. Celestia held on to the girl with her magic as Reynolds took her off. “It’s okay, Chloe, you don’t need to be scared.”

“Sh-she’s.... she’s a-afraid o-of me?” I stuttered. My hands shaking, I closed my eyes and looked away, I could feel my own tears gathering at the edges.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, Chloe, she won’t hurt you...” Reynolds said to the sobbing girl.

“Da-daddy?” The girl whimpers into his shoulder, her eyes locked on me still. “I-it’s re-really h-h-her...? Th-that’s M-Mommy r-right?” she asked between shuddering breaths.

“Yes, Chloe...” Reynolds stroked her hair. “That’s Mommy.”

Author's Note

Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying this story, cause I'm having fun writing it. This chapter took a little longer mainly because it was heavily set on plot and I was trying to figure out Reynolds character. A lot of shit was hinted at in this chapter and I hope you guys have fun thinking about it, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

On another note I will be holding an art contest for this story if you artists out there are willing to compete! :twilightsmile: Feel free to create something if you'd like and send it to me so I can throw it into a poll, I will not be taking anything overly NSFW. By that I'm talking hardcore stuff, the soft stuff is okay. Anyhow, if you guys want to compete, any piece that is really cool or wins the poll. I'll share in the next chapter for all to see :twilightsmile: (and yes your name and link to your deviant art/fim fic account will be accessible for others.)

Chapter 15: Dinner

I blinked as I watched the young girl sob into Reynolds’ arms, my conscious racing faster than the speed of light. I had no idea what to do or think, yet I felt a yearning in my chest to just go and try to comfort the girl. I couldn’t move for some reason. My legs were locked in place and my eyes were just glued helplessly to the scene before me.

Suddenly, I felt a slight nudge in my side. My heart jumped and I looked over to see both Crystal and Quartz smiling at me. My eyes downcast to the floor and I took a deep breath, my heart had started pumping in my chest and the adrenaline coursed through my veins. Turning to face the girl that was supposedly my daughter, I noticed the three princesses were looking at me the same. As if everyone expected me to move on the girl, and I knew they were. That was exactly what they were thinking.

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and balled my fists. Taking in air through my nose, I mentally told myself everything was going to be alright. Right? I walked over to the two of them and knelt down. A fake smile on my face, I looked at the crying girl. “H-hey there...” I said quietly. Instinctively, I reached a hand out to her, but hesitated half way.

The little girl raised her head from off of Reynolds’ shoulder and looked me directly in the eyes, which were a beautiful sky blue like mine. They were teary and her cheeks were wet and red like the outer edges of her glossy globes. Though I noticed something odd about her, unlike what I had thought, she did not look terrified of me, but instead she seemed... sad in some way.

“Y-you’re my mom?” the little girl named Chloe asked me directly.

I smiled at her and tilted my head a bit before closing my eyes and giving her a small nod. Looking at her again, I took a quick breath. “Yes, I am...” ‘Though I, myself, had only learned the same thing not too long ago.’ “I guess I am...”

“Chloe...” Reynolds said, causing both of our heads to turn to look at him. The old man blinked and chuckled lightly. “This Chloe.” He motioned his head towards me. “How about all of us get something to eat? We can discuss everything there.”

I smiled at Reynolds and nodded. Just then, Luna politely cleared her throat. “That sounds like an excellent idea,” she said with a small grin, looking to Celestia who was also giving us a nod. “How about I transfer our requests over to the castle staff? I can surely have them prep us a delicious meal to our liking.”

“That sounds great, thanks!” I took my eyes off Little Chloe and beamed.

“Yeah, count me in!” Crystal skipped over to me. “I always wondered what royalty food tastes like.”

Reynolds chuckled and held Little Chloe close to him. The girl was silent, but continued to keep her eyes on me. “I can assure that it tastes no different from regular food.” He then glanced at me. “That is if you’re okay eating something that is entirely vegan?”

I glanced back at Chloe and gave her a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I’m fine with that.” My stomach growled and chuckled as I placed a hand over my gut. “Besides, I hadn’t eaten anything since the hospital.”

Reynolds, along with the two royal sisters, looked at me strangely. “Hospital?” Reynolds asked curiously.

I smirked and scratched the back of my head. “Yeah... we can discuss it over dinner.”

:[-]:

“Alright, I got another one...” Reynolds sat his fork on the table as all the ponies, save for Quartz and Crystal, groaned. Even I had my head hunched over. Cradling it in my arms, I groaned.

“C’mon, man...” I sighed. “I’ve already heard all of these...” I took my fork and prodded at at my small plate with sushi on it. Turned out that chefs back in the castle had a ton of fish left over when gryphon ambassadors came to visit. Now that would’ve been something I wanted to see. So in the end, they decided to take what they had and make some sushi for Reynolds and I. Luna said they were a tad confused on why her and Celestia were making such big orders for themselves, especially after she mentioned they’d need fish, though they didn’t question her.

“Oh, oh, don’t worry!” Reynolds said from across the table, waving his hands in a jazzy way. “I swear this one’s new, this one’s new.” He cleared his throat. “So a neutron walks into a bar—” I rolled my eyes and stabbed my fork into a sushi roll. Lifting it off my plate, I raised it to my open mouth. Though just as it was about to settle onto my tongue, the damned thing slipped off my fork and unrolled all over me.

“Goddammit!” I huffed and pushed my chair back, my legs covered in raw fish and spices. Growling, I tried to swat off what I could. Rolling my eyes, I looked up to find a napkin staring me right in the face.

“H-here you go... M-Mom...?” Little Chloe said in a really quiet, but adorable voice.

I blinked, staring at the napkin, her face was hidden behind it and I smiled. Cheeks blushing as I realized what she had called me. “T-thanks...” I said quietly, taking the napkin. Instantly the room was filled with “Aww, how cute,” stares coming from the others.

Both Chloe and I blushed even harder. Bending over, I quickly start to wipe off all the fish and sauce. “If you’d like, Chloe,” Celestia started, “I can have the castle staff wash those for you.”

“Uh...” I looked up at her. “Yeah, the thing is... this is really all I got.” I smiled sheepishly. My head snapped over to Reynolds when I heard his fork clang against his plate. He was waving his hand from side to side.

“Nonsense,” he said, “I have plenty of clothing down in my vault.”

“You do?”

Reynolds nodded his head. “Of course I do, though they’re all made for me, I’m sure you’ll find a few that you’ll like.”

“I appreciate that,” I said before looking back at Little Chloe. “And thank you again for the napkin.” The little girl looked at me with wide eyes before nodding her head, she quickly turned away and ran back towards Reynolds. Climbing onto her chair beside him, she went back to eating her meal.

The ponies around me chuckled and shared a few glances with me, I nodded my head and smiled a little out of embarrassment. Leaning over my head, I went back to eating it, this time making sure I was skewering the fish correctly.

“So anyhow, Chloe...” Reynolds chewed his food quietly before swallowing. “What I was going to say—”

“Actually, can I ask a question?” Quartz raised her hoof similar to how a child would raise her hand in school.

“Sure thing.” Reynolds smiled at her.

“What’s a neutron?”

Reynolds snorted a laugh and nodded his head. “Oh, I’m glad you asked that. I always forget that most of you ponies don’t know so much in the ways of science.” I noticed at the blink of an eye that statement seemed to get Twilight’s attention, and in a bad way. Her ear flicked and her eye twitched a little. “A neutron is a subatomic particle, and if I recall correctly, it has about the mass of one atomic mass unit. So you see, a neutron is part of an atom’s nucleus, which is the center point of an atom, let's say... for instance: Carbon 12’s nucleus is made of six neutrons and six protons.” Twilight rolled her eyes and went back to eating.

“And what’s a... a proton?”

“Well it’s easy to explain what a pro—” Suddenly Twilight got up from her seat. She stepped back from her chair and slid it under the table. Her face long and dark, she turned and walked off without a word.

The room was silent as she left. “I-is she alright?” Reynolds pointed a thumb at her and looked back at all of us.

“I-I don’t know...” I muttered as I watched Twilight make her way out of the room.

Celestia and Luna glanced at one another, I looked at them and frowned. “Did she say anything to you guys earlier?” I asked them.

Both princesses shrugged. “No she didn’t,” Celestia said, “Twilight Sparkle, though, has been known to keep information to herself sometimes.”

“Should we go talk to her?” Quartz glanced at me.

“I don’t think we should, she seemed really upset...” Crystal said quietly, “I don’t think we should anger her more.”

I shook my head and stood up. “I’ll go and check on her,” I said.

“Are you sure Chloe?” Celestia asked, “I can very well and go talk to her, too.”

“Nah, it’s good,” I said. “She wouldn’t have gone far. You guys keep chatting.” I pushed my chair and made my way over to the door. Reynolds opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Celestia and Luna shook their heads.

“She’ll be back soon, you can talk then.”

:[-]:

I opened the door and stepped out into the castle hall and the second I looked to my left I noticed the alicorn sitting right beside the door, her head was hung low. “T-Twilight?” I said to her and clicked the door shut behind me. The mare didn’t reply. “Is everything alright?” I asked and moved over to her.

“I-I’m fine... just... thinking,” she said quietly.

“Do you mind if I ask what it is that you’re thinking about?” I found myself slowly taking a seat next to her.

The alicorn sighed and lowered her head further than it already was. “Your friend, Reynolds...” she said. “What he said earlier today about Star Swirl, and how everything in those books was just nonsense he made up and how magic is actually just...”

“Nanomachines...?”

“Yeah... that...” Twilight said her voice down and almost depressing. “If that’s the case it means all of my research, the magic of friendship, everything... was it all for nothing?”

I blinked and bit my lip. I had no idea what she was talking about, matter of fact I had no idea what those nanomachines Reynolds were talking about. I didn’t have a single idea about anything that was going on, I was utterly clueless. Yet, at that moment, I couldn’t just leave the poor mare hanging there, I had to say something.

So I cleared my throat and looked at her. “Well uh...” I could feel my cheeks burning as I tried to think up something to say. “I-I’ll be honest, Twilight... I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I will say this!” I said pointing a finger at her. “A lot of Reynolds’ work is usually based heavily on theory, especially the SOL Virus since we know barely anything about it... except for that it might be what you guys call magic.” Twilight chuckled lightly as I scratched the back of my head. “I-I mean... so what if magic is nothing but tiny machines? ...Like just because you know what it is, nothing’s going to change,” I said, forcing a smile. “Matter of fact, these things might still be magical.” That seemed to gain Twilight’s attention, this time I gave her genuine smile. “Like, think about it, these robots have to run on some kind of energy, right?” Twilight lifted her head fully and gave me a thoughtful look. “I doubt these are powered by solar power, and not only, that these things must run on some severe programming.”

“I guess that would also raise the question on how these things know what cutie marks to assign?” Twilight said, tapping her hoof to her chin.

I had no idea what she said but I playfully slugged her right foreleg. “Yeah, totally! There’s no way a robot can like predict the future or run like this for over sixteen thousand years. There has to be at least something else involved that’d make these things possible.” At that point I was just blowing smoke up her ass; I had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. Though it seemed to work, the alicorn ruffled her wings and gave me a weak smile.

“Th-thanks, Chloe. I guess you’re right, there has to be more to it.” Twilight nodded in my direction and started climbing onto her hooves.

“Of course there’s more to it, Twilight.” I pushed myself up onto my feet and chuckled nervously, ‘Wow I can’t believe I just blew through this so easily.’

“Well, I guess I should go apologize to the others... I shouldn’t have walked out like that,” she said, lowering her head and ears.

I sighed and rested my hand on her head and ruffled her mane. The mare smiled and giggled softly. “Hey, it’s alright, I guess it’s safe to say we’re all a little stressed.”

Twilight looked up at me. “Well, it’s not every day that we stumble upon an ancient creature who starts spouting about how everything you knew was wrong.” She sighed and lowered her head again.

“Hey, c’mon, I uh...” I looked away from her. ‘Shit, how the fuck do I respond to that?’

“It’s fine, Chloe.” Twilight grinned. “I’m sure he’s willing to explain everything to us.” Twilight placed her hoof on the dining room door and pushed it open.

“And I was like; ‘I don’t even eat pasta!’” The ponies in the room erupted in a wave of laughter as Reynolds finished what actually seemed to be a funny joke for once.

Twilight looked at me confused and I simply shrugged my shoulder. “I would retell you the joke but it’s pretty dumb... especially after hearing it over and over,” I mumbled quietly as I went and took my seat from earlier.

Twilight came back up to the table just as everyone in the room turned to look at her. The mare gulped and rubbed one leg with her other hoof. “I-I just want to apologize for leaving so unexpectedly earlier. That was pretty rude of me.”

Celestia and Luna smiled at the mare and nodded their heads before motioning with a hoof for her to take a seat. Twilight grinned at the two mares and took her seat right beside Reynolds.

I pulled my food back up and picked up my fork. Prodding at a strawberry on my plate, I couldn’t help but notice the awkward silence that had befallen us. Glancing up, I looked around to see that everyone was just quietly eating their food. This bothered me for some reason. ‘What happened to all the jokes and stuff from earlier?’ I asked myself as I stabbed my fork into the strawberry and lifted it up to my mouth. I took a small bite of it and chewed on it softly, its sweet juices invading my tongue and making me a smile a bit. My eyes landed on Little Chloe who sat on the opposite end of Reynolds away from Twilight. Swallowing the bit of fruit, I smiled at her when her eyes met with mine, she blushed and gazed down at her plate. “So, what grade are you in, Chloe?” I asked not knowing if she was even in some school or not.

Reynolds face lit up and he looked down at her. “Go on, Chloe, you can tell her,” he said excitedly.

Chloe’s cheeks burned brighter as she looked up at me. “I-I’m in the ninth grade.” She rubbed her arms nervously.

I nearly choked on my second half of the strawberry, even the other ponies seemed a tad impressed. “The ninth grade?” My jaw fell. “Heck, you don’t even look like you’re nine years old.”

Reynolds took a pen out of his jacket and started to write something on his napkin. Chloe smiled a little, her pale cheeks turning a rosy red. “I-I’m only eight years old...” Just then Reynolds raised his napkin written on it read: “8,021”

My jaw nearly broke through the table. ‘Eight thousand twenty-one years? Holy fuck... why keep her in stasis for so long?!’ Closing my mouth, I shook my head and smiled. “Wow really? You must be very smart,” I said, scratching the back of my neck.

“Well, dad and Missus Stephanie are really good teachers.” Chloe blushed and looked at Reynolds with a small smile, and the old man chuckled and ruffled her hair.

“Eh, I just do it how my professors did it with me,” he chuckled.

I tilted my head. “Who’s Stephanie?” I asked.

“She’s the vault V.I. not as advanced as Glenn since she’s only a 2032 model, but she gets the job done.” Reynolds explained to me as he dabbed his mouth and cheeks. Just as he sat it down, he looked at Twilight. “So, you must be Princess Sparkle?”

Twilight jolted a bit due to not expecting the conversation to suddenly shift over to her. “I, uh, yes-yes I am.” She smiled and bowed her head to Reynolds.

Reynolds gave the mare a slight head nod before holding out his hand to her. “I’m Doctor James Reynolds, head researcher of Project Resurrection.... Or at least what’s left of it,” he said in a calm manner. Twilight gently raised her hoof and laid it in his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Doctor Reynolds. Chloe has told me quite a bit about you.” Twilight gave him a light smile, but from where I sat I could see her wings ruffling. I didn’t know much about pony body language, but from what I could take from Crystal in our past experiences, wing ruffling usually meant she was uncomfortable... so I thought.

Reynolds seemed to have spotted this as well. “No need to worry, Princess Sparkle,” he said, releasing her hoof. “Celestia told me that you were quite the avid learner and researcher. Am I right?”

I watched Twilight as she blinked and nodded her head quite rapidly. A smile etched itself onto my face as I saw the mare light up. “Indeed I am, I was once Celestia’s protege,” she said happily.

Reynolds picked his fork up and sliced a bit of fish onto it. “Yeah, I recall Celestia mentioning that.” I glanced over the white princess at the edge of the table, she was nodding her head slightly towards the two. “What’s your main field of study?”

That’s when Twilight’s mood suddenly shifted. I noticed by the look on her face that her thoughts immediately went back to where they were not even minutes ago. “If that’s the case it means all of my research, the magic of friendship, everything... was it all for nothing?” Her words drifted in and out of my mind and I placed my fork back onto the plate.

Twilight gulped, shook her head a bit as she caused her mane to swish a bit. “I, uh, study the magic of friendship, Doctor Reynolds.”

“The magic of friendship, eh?” Reynolds repeated to himself as he scooped the fish into his mouth and chewed on it slowly. His gaze averted to the stain glass window that was directly behind me. The colored panes cast small beautiful hues onto us, more specifically a a bit of blue reflected off of Reynolds glasses as he nodded his head. “Really now?”

Twilight nodded her head. “Yes, it’s actually how I became a princess in the first place. I was able to successfully solve one of Star Swirl the Bearded’s spells.” Reynolds slowly sat his fork onto the plate, the metal clinking against the glassware.

“I see...” He said quietly before reaching up and removing his glasses slowly.

I frowned at the sight of Reynolds, ‘Whoa... okay, I’ve seen this before.’ I shifted in my seat before getting up. “Hey... Ren, is everything alright?” I asked him in a soft voice, even with all the new wrinkles on his face and the patch over the left eye. I was somehow still able to read this man like an open book.

“Do you mind... if I ask which theory?”

“It was in the last spell book you wrote before your third slumber.” Celestia said. “The one in which you couldn’t figure out the final properties to.” She clarified for him and immediately Reynold’s eyes widened, and so did Twilight’s.

“Wait, what?!” Came a shout that was not Twilight’s. Suddenly, all heads turned to see Quartz staring at Reynolds with shocked eyes.

“Are you trying to say he’s Starswirl the Bearded?!” Quartz’s eyes were locked on Reynolds and her jaw was nearly about to break the table in half.

Crystal leaned towards the mare and draped a wing over her as she tried to pull her back down. “Okay, Quartzy, this is a little off even by my standards,” she said and leaned up into her ear. “Especially when the princesses are right there.”

Reynolds chuckled and nodded his head. “Star Swirl the Bearded was my alias back when I used to write,” he said, reaching up to stroke his very long beard.

Twilight glared at the man. “Then how come you said most of the magic was hogwash?”

Reynolds glared back at her. “I never said it was ‘hogwash’, no, no no...” He shook his head. “Magic is an interesting topic,” he said. “Hell, even at times I find myself believing that it is. These nanites that perform most of these duties or spells... it’s almost...”

“Magical?” I sat my fork down and looked at him.

He nodded. “It’s truly astounding.”

“Then what about my friendship research? The Elements of Harmony, the Tree of Harmony!” Twilight continued to list off things left and right that I knew completely nothing about.

Reynolds simply sat there nodding his head. Finally, when Twilight ended her tanget, she sat there gazing at the old man, waiting for his response. After about a minute or so, Reynolds took a deep breath. “All theories that I have yet to answer.” He grabbed his water and took a sip. Setting the glass down, he turned to look at Twilight. “Please, Twilight... all of you really.” He looked out over the room. “I’m not here to tell you that magic doesn’t exist. As I said, most of my work is composed of theories.”

‘Wow, that’s basically what I told Twilight, nice.’ I smiled warmly at Reynolds when he looked over at me and our eyes met.

“Figuring out what makes up magic just happened to be the by product of my current research. Even then though I have no idea how it works, I have theories, yes, and I can go on about them for days.” He rested his forearms on the table and looked at Twilight. Opening his palm as a gesture, he continued. “But that doesn’t mean what I’m saying his correct. Believe what you want, for that it would be nearly impossible for me to completely wipe off such a major piece of a culture that has lasted for over sixteen thousand years.”

Twilight nodded her head. “So then... what about all of your books? Are they all...”

“Most of my books, Twilight, are books on theory.” Reynolds said looking at her softly, he reached up and scratched his chin through his thick beard.

Beside him, Little Chloe reached up and tugged on his shirt, prompting Reynolds to turn around and smile at her. “D-daddy, I-I have to pee...” Her cheeks turned a dark shade of pink and her eyes wandered about, checking to see if anyone had heard her or not.

‘Okay that’s pretty adorable.’ I chuckled and went back to my food. Cutting a piece of fish, I popped it in my mouth and cringed. ‘Ugh, it’s fucking warm now.’ I pushed the plate aside and took a deep breath. ‘I’m not even hungry anymore.’

Reynolds smiled. “You do? Why don’t you ask the Princess and she can show you where the bathroom is?” He smiled and patted the girl on the head.

Little Chloe nodded her head and scooched her chair back, hopping off it, she wandered over to Celestia. Her cheeks flushing once more as she told the mare, the princess nodded and got out of her seat before kneeling down and letting the girl climb on her back. ‘Yeah I doubt I’d let a girl who had to pee sit on me... unless she was of age of course...’ I blushed and shook my head. ‘Goddammit, Chloe, my mind is drifting into the dark realm again.’

“And that’s a bad thing why?” I heard the darker side of myself giggle, stealing a glance over my shoulder my jaw dropped when I noticed Other Chloe in a black, skimpy dress that revealed so much of her pale skin take a seat right next time.

My mouth nearly struck the table at the sight of her... Eh... me. “Why are you wearing that?” I asked out loud, ‘holy fuck, I look hot!’ I said as my eyes scanned over her freshly combed back, raven black hair, her blue eyes outlined with a very small amount of mascara, causing her bright blue eyes to pop out at me. Her cute, decent sized lips were colored with a very faint, red, lipstick. ‘Holy shit, does she look like a fucking slut, but God! A fucking gorgeous slut...’ My heart was racing fast and my skin was popping with goosebumps.

“You do know you’re getting turned on by imaging yourself like this right?” Other Chloe said as she showed me her pearly white teeth. “Getting horny at the dinner table? You’re such a naughty girl~ don’t tell me you’re going to start scratching yourself.”

“Why the fuck would I do that?!” I blurted out and everyone at the dinner table fell silent.

“Di-did I say something wrong?” Luna looked around at everyone quizzically.

“Chloe!” Twilight hissed. “You just interrupted Princess Luna!”

“Yeah, Chloe, way to go and disrespect a Princess~” cooed my other half. Her smile widened and she tapped the table with her fingers. She then leaned towards me, so much so that I could see her breasts through the open top of her dress. My cheeks flushed and I forced myself to look her in the eyes. “Aren’t you going to answer them?”
ww

“I-I uh...” My heart slammed against my ribcage, I felt unbelievable hot and my cheeks were burning out of control. I tried to make myself focus, but my mind kept wandering. Especially back to last night when Quartz had kissed me, her soft lips brushing against mine, our tongues dancing. ‘N-no, stop thinking about that stuff you’re only making it worse! She’s a fucking horse! A horse! Don’t get turned on by that body!’

Reynolds and Twilight shared a glance with one another. “Chloe, is everything alright?” I jolted when I felt Quartz gently lay a hoof on my shoulder. I quickly snapped my head to look at her. ‘F-fuck, I don’t have time for this shit...’

I gulped. “Y-yeah... just suffering from a hot flash...” ‘down stairs if you catch my dr––ft–’ “I have them from time to time.” I grabbed my glass of water and gulped it down. “I apologize Princess Luna...” I said to her “I-I was daydreaming and uh... something came up... if you excuse me I-I uh...” ‘Fuck I’m stumbling over myself! C’mon, Chloe, focus!’ “I-I also need to use the restroom.” I got up from chair and looked at Luna. “Could you point me in the direction please?”

Luna nodded her head and told me it was to the right outside the door and further down the hall on the first left. I nodded my head and and quickly rushed out of the dining room embarrassed beyond belief. ‘Why the fuck am I so horny?!’ I thought to myself, my cheeks flushed I felt like I was going to cry for some reason. ‘All I did is think of one thing and...’

“Maybe because you haven’t gotten laid in sixteen thousand years?” My other half said walking up on my side. “Hell, before the world went to shit you and Caroline used to fuck at least four times a week. Fuck, sometimes you’d fuck four times in one day back to back.”

I stopped and glared at Other Chloe. “You shut the fuck up, alright?” I snarled. “Don’t you ever bring up that bitch around me!”

“Oh c’mon, Chloe, Caroline’s dead now like everyone else. Who cares if we reflect on the past,” she shrugged. “Shit, it might even do you some good.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “J-just stop talking to me!”

Other Chloe laughed and began to follow me as I started making my way down the hall. “Like that’s going to happen.” She fell silent for a moment, taking a few more steps down the hall I glanced left around the first turn and saw the restroom at the end of the hall. “Why are you even going to the bathroom anyways? It’s not like you have to actually pee or anything... oh wait~ don’t tell me you’re going to do what I think you’re going to do.”

I fired a glare at her. “I’m not going to masturbate...” I growled.

“You sure?” She smiled lustfully at me and lowered her eyelids a bit, gazing at me like a predator about to pounce on her prey. “Your body’s saying otherwise, Chlo.”

My legs shook and my body grew even hotter. I tore my eyes away from the slutty version of myself and shook my head. “St-stop it!” I stuttered and pushed open the bathroom door.

“Oh hello there, Chloe!” Celestia’s charmful voice greeted me and I looked up to the see the large, white mare standing nearby a stall door.

I jumped back at the sight of her, put hand to my chest, and blushed deeply. ‘Fuck my nipples are hard.’ I gulped and turned away from her so that she wouldn’t see. ‘I-I thought they’d also be done in here by now, dammit.’

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Celestia tilt her head as I turned away to hide my embarrassing appearance. “Is everything alright, Chloe?” she asked me.

“Y-yeah... I-I’m just c-cold.” I gulped and turned to face her, dropping my arm away from my chest. ‘Buy it, buy it, buy it.’

The princess appeared not to notice the embarrassing fact that I was standing in front of her admittedly aroused, or at least chose not to acknowledge it. She sighed and nodded her head. “Yes, I agree. Especially around this time of day the outer portions of the castle tends to get chilly.”

I smiled and let off a relief filled sigh. ‘Bought it.’ “I-If you don’t mind, is it okay I squeeze past you so I can get to the stall?” I asked.

Celestia of course nodded and stepped out of the way so I could squeeze by. Popping out the other side in front of an empty stall, I looked back out. The restroom wasn’t that large, it only had three stalls and a sink, but even then they were only about five feet apart from each other. “Th-thank you Princess... Ce...Celestial?” I blushed a bit.

“You’re close.” Celestia chuckled and looked at me with a small smile. “It’s Celestia.”

I nodded and gave her a thumbs up. “Th-thank you.” I opened the stall and stepped inside. “The fuck?” I accidentally said a little too loudly when I noticed the strangely shaped toilet seat. It was a lot smaller then what I was normally used too, not only that it was angled in such away that it looked more like something a pony would park her privates over instead of sit on... overall it was just odd to me.

“OOooh, somepony said a bad word!” Little Chloe’s voice came from the stall next to me, I flinched a bit and gulped. ‘It feels like I’m watching an old family Christmas video whenever I hear her... it’s so... creepy.’

“S-sorry...” I replied and began to undo my belt.

“Chloe, please refrain from using such foul language,” I heard Celestia say.

“Again, I apologize.” I replied and unzipped my pants.

“Other then that, is everything alright?” she asked me, and I noticed her shadow slip under the stall door.

I turned so that my back faced the oddly shaped toilet and dropped my pants. “I-I’m fine, just that your toilets are different from the ones I... Sonofabitch...” I muttered quietly when I noticed the mess my arousal made inside my pants.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, you guys have weird toilets.” I dropped my panties and awkwardly sat down and and forced myself to do my business. When I was done, I got up and cleaned myself off, pulling on my soiled underwear and then my jeans. I flushed the toilet the same time Little Chloe flushed hers. Stepping out of the bathroom, I saw that Celestia had hoisted the girl onto the sink so that she could wash her hands. “Oh... hey there...” I smiled at Chloe, trying to make myself sound upbeat instead of nervous. ‘Who knew I looked this adorable...’ I giggled.

“H-hi, M-mom...” she replied equally as awkward. ‘At least I’m not the only one having trouble getting used to this.’

“How are you?” I asked her as I stopped at the sink.

“A-alright...” she replied, her head shifting to look at me and then away, then back at me.

“That’s good.” I gave her a soft smile and then glanced around for some soap. “Uh... do you guys not have any soap?” I asked looking at Celestia.

Celestia chuckled. “Well, Chloe... no. Not for hands at least, as you can see, we have hooves.” She smiled at me. “I believe that would be a bit contradictory for us to clean our hooves and then walk on a dirty floor after using the restroom.”

I looked back at the sink. “Then why do you have faucets?”

Celestia blinked. “Well... I guess... yeah, you got me there,” she laughed.

“Wait...” My eyes widened and my jaw drop, I looked at Little Chloe. “Does that mean she—”

“Reynolds has her wash her hands properly every time she goes down into the vault,” Celestia said with an honest smile.

‘Either way that’s still freaking gross.’ I thought as I rinsed my hands under warm water, drying them off by quickly flicking my wrists. I smiled. “So, what are you guys up to?”

“Well aside from going back and finishing dinner~” Celestia looked down at Little Chloe as if she was expecting her to finish.

The child perked up and beamed. “Celestia was going to take me flying!” she giggled.

“Oh yeah?” I chuckled. “Now that outta be fun.” I looked at Celestia and cocked an eyebrow.

The royal mare chuckled and flashed me a smile. “Whenever I have any open space on the schedule, I always try and take the little one once around the mountain...” she glanced about before leaning towards me. “Don’t tell James though, he’d stop talking to me if he learned.”

“It’s not that bad though,” Little Chloe squeaked out. “Normally she just straps me down so that I’m safe.”

I gave the both of them a small smirk and shook my head. “Well, alright...” I said looking at the little one, her cute smile making my heart flutter, ‘Gah, was I really that cute?’ I thought to myself as I wiped my hand on my pants and patted her on the shoulder. “I won’t say a thing.” The two of them smiled at me. I chuckled. “As of now, I’m going to head back down to the dining room and check on the others, after that I...” I frowned. “I don’t know what I’m going to do...”

‘That’s true... what am I going to do?’ I gulped.

“You can always go and scratch your record~” I tensed at the sound of Other Chloe’s voice. Clenching my fists, I stifled the urge to whirl around and yell at her.

“You can always come and watch us,” Celestia offered, I took another deep breath.

“Maybe, I could, but... I’ll check on the others. Perhaps chat with Reynolds for a bit and see if I can learn a thing or two off him,” I said as I rubbed the back of my head.

“M-mom?” I heard the little girl ask hesitantly, as if she didn’t know if she was supposed to call me that or not.

‘Personally I’d rather not have her call me that.’ I thought but looked at her anyways.

“Yeah, what’s up?” I smiled and raised an eyebrow.

Little Chloe was halfway up climbing onto Celestia’s back, she was in the middle of nomming on her middle finger when she said, “Where have you been?”

I felt my stomach constrict around an invisible fist. Gasping I stepped back, immediately Celestia came to my aid. “Chloe, dear, I don’t think that’s a good question to be asking right now.”

“B-but I want to know, she’s been gone all these years and i’m still a kid!” She looks up at Celestia. “That just isn’t fair!”

I opened my mouth to say something, but again, Celestia came to my aid. “Chloe, nothing in life is necessarily fair. Your mother just came back from a long journey, please let her go rest.”

“Rest?” I thought when I heard Celestia’s voice, it was almost instantly when I felt my body grow tired at the thought. It’s true, I never actually had a proper good night’s rest. For the past three or so days. ‘God how long has it been? It feels like months have past...’ I thought, I have been sleeping in that wagon, or on the ground. ‘I think only once I woke up on a bed, but that was it. Then again there was the hospital bed but... well I guess that counts.’

I smiled and looked at the two of them. “Y-yeah rest, I-I think I’ll do that.” I looked at Little Chloe and reached out to her, gently I placed my hand on her head and ruffled her hair. “Hey don’t get all worked up, kiddo.” I cracked a grin. “I’ll tell you all about it after I get some sleep.”

“Y-you promise?” she asked me in this most adorable little voice.

I nearly felt my heart shatter due to the adorableness and I swore I could feel my cheeks turn pink. “I promise.” I replied back with another little pat on her head.

“Then there it is,” Celestia said happily, “let us step out of your way, Chloe, and we’ll leave you to continue whatever it is you had planned.”

“Eat, chat, and sleep~” I yawned, “That’s all I had planned for the night.”

“Don’t forget masturbation,” Other Chloe called from the back and I looked over my shoulder and glared at her.

“Oh is something wrong, Chloe?” Celestia asked as she caught glimpse of my glare.

I shook my head and faked my smile. “Oh no...” I walked to the restroom exit. “I uh, thought I forgot something,” I said before quickly ducking out of the bathroom.

:[-]:

For what was hopefully going to be the final time, I returned to the dining room table that evening. I found my exact spot and sat down. Gazing out over my food, I poked into it a ways, hoping that perhaps it had gone back its original cool and tastiness as it was when I first got it. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The sushi was now at room temperature, and had already begun to smell. Letting off an aggravated sigh, I shoved the plate off to the side and rested my chin on the table and glanced about. It turned out during my absence that both Quartz and Crystal had left the dining room, to go where? I had no clue. Though, from what I had garnered, the two of them had been purposefully avoiding any conversations, possibly afraid that they were going to say something that would offset everything.

Which I guess I couldn’t blame them, but at the time, I wished they would have said something. Half the time, Quartz and Crystal had been my emotional crutch, or even a fall back plan, then again... it was probably best that they didn’t say anything. Even if they were my tool for comfort, I shouldn’t rely on them all the time like a child would their mother.

As I sat there at the table alone, I could see across from me Reynolds and Twilight had both finished their meals. The two of them seemed to be bickering about science and magic or whatever the fuck Harvard students talk about.

“Again, Twilight, I’m not saying what you call magic isn’t... magic,” the scientist said. “Yes there are machines involved, however, whatever could be powering the machines is something beyond scientific explanation. Therefore, it could still be considered magic.”

“That still doesn’t change the fact that almost every book in Equestrian history has to be rewritten!” the alicorn exclaimed. “Why is it now that I, the Princess of Magic, am just learning about this?”

Reynolds rubbed his wrinkled face with his hands and sighed. “The reason the books never mention anything about nanotechnology is first... your species hasn’t developed a nanoscope, therefore you never discovered them. Secondly, when I made the discovery, your species was already six millennia into history, nearly half the books were already written!” he said. “Do you have any idea what old Equestrian society would’ve done to me if I came out and told them that everything they knew was a lie!? I would be strung up before them like the Catholic church!” Reynolds sighed. “But, again, as I said... just because there are these robots, doesn’t mean there still isn’t magic involved. For all I know, these things could be Magitech.”

“Magi-what?” I finally spoke up.

Both Twilight and Reynolds glanced over at me. “Magitech, machines that also run on magic. Because these nanites produce unbelievable amounts of power, nearly everything I have that is magitech can run for thousands of years without ever running out of juice.”

I snorted and shook my head. “Magitech sounds very dumb and generic though. You’re a scientist, Reynolds, why not give it some dumb long name? Maybe throw some Latin at it.”

“Latin?” Twilight looked at us with a tilted head.

“A long dead language,” Reynolds answered her quickly looking back at me. “And like what would I call it?”

“I dunno maybe something dumb like Unobtanium or something,” I chuckled as I rested my hands on my thighs.

Reynolds snorted a laugh and shook his head. “Oh don’t even get me started.” He leaned forward into his seat, a hand stroking his beard in thought. “How about Magicite, or... Magicillium?”

I shrugged. “All sounds like gibberish to me.”

Twilight however tapped her chin with a hoof. “I actually kinda like the sound of that last one, makes it sound...”

“Sciency?” I cocked an eyebrow and giggled. “I think it sounds like you two are gurgling on marbles.” I laughed.

Reynolds rolled his eyes. “The feeble minded will never understand the true benefits of science.” He smiled at Twilight who simply nodded in reply.

I frowned, ‘Are they calling me stupid?’ “Wh-what’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, sounding a bit frustrated.

Reynolds waved a hand to the side. “Nothing,” he said, “we’re just poking fun, is all.” He grabbed his glass of water and took a sip from it. “Say... where’s Little Chloe?”

I chuckled and scratched the back of my head nervously. “Oh uh... she and... damn... uh Celestia?” Reynolds and Twilight both nodded their heads. “They went out for a little walk around.”

The was a momentary silence and felt strangely out of place. My heart beating against my chest, I crossed my toes and fingers hoping he would buy it. “A walk this late in the evening?” Reynolds stroked his beard and then shrugged. “Ah, whatever...” he then yawned. “As long as Celestia is with her then she should be fine.” He ran a hand under his eye.

“Is somebody feeling sleepy?” I smirked and laced my arms together and leaned back in my chair, the old man cackled and nodded his head.

“I’m mentally exhausted,” he sighed as his head drooped a little bit.

“You tell me,” I also laughed.

Twilight fluttered her wings a bit and smiled at me. “Well if you’re tired as well, Chloe, I can probably see to it that a room is available for you.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked over at Twilight. “Really you can do that?”

“Of course I can,” Twilight smiled as she looked rather proud of herself. “I am a Princess, I can just simply ask a guard—”

“Actually, Chloe,” Reynolds said as he sliced Twilight off mid sentence. “Why don’t you rest down in the vault tonight with your daughter and I?” He leaned forward and gestured out with an open hand. “The little one would surely like to spend more time with her mother.”

“Well...” I scratched my chest. “If that were true... wouldn’t she be here right now?”

“Oh, don’t say things like that,” Twilight said to me. “she’s probably just a little shy.” Reynolds nodded his head in agreement.

“Not only that, she also doesn’t get to hangout with the princesses as often,” Reynolds added. “But if you stay the night... the three of us can stay up and get to know each other better. I have plenty of games downstairs and I was able to preserve the old Playstation 7.”

My eyes flickered back to the old man as he mentioned the game console. “Wait... you mean...”

Reynolds nodded his head. “Got about two hundred and forty eight games downloaded onto it.” He chuckles. “Not much, I played and beaten all of them at least ten times over.”

“You play video games?” I leaned forward and rested my arms on the table, bust resting on top, I smirked at the man. “What happened to them being nothing but a waste of time?”

“Wait, what’s a video game?” Twilight asked, looking between us.

Reynolds shook his head and gave an old gravely laugh. “Oh don’t get me started... I was alone, okay, and there were times in which I got bored to high hell.”

I laughed and slowly pushed myself up. “Alright then, show me what you got and I bet you, after sixteen thousand years, I can still kick your ass.”

“Is that a challenge, Love?” The old man sneered as he crossed his arms.

“No I’m positive it’s a fact,” I said with a half snarl in my voice.

Twilight’s head was snapping back and forth. “Wh-what are you two talking about?” She summoned a dictionary and started cycling through it. “Wh-what’s a video game?!”

“Don’t underestimate me little girl~” The old man slowly started rising from his chair, he reached down and grabbed what looked to be a black cane. “Probably played far more than you ever have in your lifetime.”

“Geh, such a no life,” I laughed.

Reynolds blushed and shook his head. “Wh-what was I supposed to do at night after work?” he chuckled lightly.

Twilight huffed and teleported the book away when she couldn't find the term. visibly annoyed, she sat back and crossed her forehooves. “How about we go dust off our skills then?” I smiled.

“I’d love to, but instead of walking...” The old geezer motioned with a finger for me to come over to him, I stepped out from in front of my chair and started to make my way around the table. “While you were out in the restroom, Princess Sparkle and I were tampering with my... what did you call it?”

“Blinking.” Twilight said with a smile due to this being a conversation she could contribute to.

Reynolds looked at me. “Really, it’s just a teleportation device.”

“That works, too.” The princess shrugged her wings.

“Wait, you have a teleporter?” I smiled widely.

Reynolds nodded with a grin as he saw me smile. “Yes, matter of fact this is it.” He shook his cane. “Earlier, I was having issues calibrating it, but now I think I got it settled thanks to the princess here.”

Twilight beamed. “You’re welcome!” Her tail wagged a bit like a dog’s. “Anything that has magic involved I’m pretty much an expert at.”

Reynolds snickered. “Well then, I bet you are seeing that you’re... well the Princess of Magic.” He ran his hand through Twilight’s mane. “Say, would you like to join us, Princess Sparkle?”

“Yeah, Twilight,” I said, “join us, it’ll be great!” ‘Mainly because I just want to see her reaction to the games, oh shit she’s going to be so thrown off.’ I couldn’t help but giggle at the thought of her trying to talk to a character on screen.

The mare literally started jittering, suddenly a notebook and quill with an ink pot appeared at her sides. “A-alright! I’d love to hangout with you, too!” She smiled so wide, I swore her face was going to be torn in half.

“Then it’s settled!” Reynolds grabbed his cane, with a flick of his thumb the top came off to reveal a red button. “Just grab onto me and we’ll be down in the vault within a few seconds.”

I chuckled and rested my hand on his shoulder. “Alright, what game are you planning on failing in?” I asked.

Reynolds chuckled. “Wolfenacht.”

My eyes go wide. “Oh shit you don’t mean... which one?”

“The latest one before the great impact,” he smiled at me.

“Wh-what? Really, b-but I haven’t played that one yet!” I panicked a little, Twilight was back to looking super confused.

“Oh then, guess who’ll be getting their ass beat now?” With that Reynolds clicked the button and my whole world went white.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, I am now finishing up my last year of high school. I had a massive project I needed to finish, luckily it is done now. I also have my final exams coming up so progress will still be a bit slow. I hope you all enjoyed this more slice of life like chapter.

Chapter 16: Discomforting Feelings

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!” I clutched my chest and fell to the floor. My vision going black, I shook my head and found myself back at the end of the corridor. Breathing heavily, I wiped my hand over my chest and hoisted my rifle of choice back up. “Fucking camper...” I grumbled and began to work my way down the hall.

“I’m not camping, it’s called sniping~” Reynolds’ voice came through my headset and I rolled my eyes. “Yeah sure, tell that to Twilight and her tent.”

“Uh...” Twilight’s voice came in through my other ear. “I... I don’t know what’s happening...”

I hugged my back to the wall and slowly made my way down the hall, cautiously coming up to a T junction. Gazing down the hall on my right, I saw no one there. Taking a deep breath, I turned and glanced down the left, but was suddenly stopped by a sickening smack. My vision went black and I found myself laying on the floor inside a warehouse.

“Oh shit, Twi did you see that?” Reynolds cackled.

“Wh-what happened?” The mare asked.

“I just took Chlo’s head off! There’s blood everywhere~” He snickered.

I groaned and pushed myself on my feet. With a raging headache, I moaned and brought my hands up and slid the helmet up and off my head. Closing my eyes, I now stood in a large twenty by twenty foot size room with nothing but white walls. My head still aching, I gently placed the V.R. headset on the ground along with the white A.R. that represented my weapon. Slowly, I pulled off the wired sensors on my arms and legs and sat them in the small box closest to the wall.

“You alright, Chlo?” Reynolds’ voice came through the room’s intercom.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just got a raging headache due taking a blow to the head,” I breathe out.

“Yeah the virtual nerve sensors can work a bit too well,” Reynolds said, “you can go into the V.R. system and tone down the effect.

“Uhh...” Twilight’s voice came through the intercom. “H-how do I get out—AHH!”

“Haha! Boom, headshot!” Reynolds laughed over Twilight’s whimpers.

“Everything ju-just w-went black... ow... m-my head doesn’t feel right,” Twilight groaned.

I couldn’t help but smile and chuckle. “Welcome to my world.” I walked over to the door leading out of the room and unlocked it. Hearing the deadbolt come undone, I stepped out into the cool vault corridor. The automatic light coming on above me, I shielded my eyes and yawned. For nearly two hours, Twilight, Reynolds, and I have been playing around in the virtual reality system that had been installed thousands of years earlier. Personally I wasn’t too fond of it, even back before society's collapse I hadn’t dabbled in it as much; I always preferred holding a controller or mouse. Though from what I could recall, my father had been completely sucked into the idea of it. He would always ramble about how a thing called the “Oculus” which revolutionized the idea of virtual gaming.

Yet being a gamer like myself, my sister and I never really messed with it. Perhaps it was because I’m kinda lazy and don’t prefer to move around much when I’m playing. ‘Except if I’m playing beneath the sheets.’ Chuckling at the thought, I brought a hand to my mouth and yawned into it. “Sorry guys,” I said loud enough for the hall mic to pick me up. “I’m all beat up, I’m going to go to bed.” I stretched my arms and popped my neck.

“Oh, Celestia, please don’t!” Twilight suddenly screamed, only to be cut off by machine gun fire.

“You can’t run from me!” Reynolds shouted. “I may be old but I can still shoot far better than any soldier!” I covered my mouth and snickered. ‘I don’t think it matters if I leave or not, seems like they’re having a blast.’ An explosion echoed out of the V.R. room and I laughed. ‘Quite literally too.’ I sighed and ran a hand through my hair and I turned away from the door.

“So where was my supposed room again?” I muttered under my breath and glanced around. The hallway was pretty dark due to the lights acting as motion sensors; only coming on when you walk under them. I took a deep breath and sighed. ‘Guess I’m stuck walking around until I find a suitable room.’

“Just think about it, Quartz, one thing. Just one thing and we’re rich!” My head snapped back when I heard Crystal’s voice.

“Have you gone deaf and blind over the past couple days?” Quartz voice echoed, I could hear their hoof steps coming in my direction, a faint bit of light could be seen, only to go off and back on as they headed in my direction.

“What do you mean?” Crystal asked.

“Chloe had been hurt and seems to have been depressed... matter of fact she might still be for all we know. And the fact she keeps muttering to herself, something is clearly wrong with her. Yet all you seem to care about it earning bits!” Quartz scolded the pegasus.

“Did you forget why I even went on this spelunking expedition with you?” Crystal snapped back at the unicorn. A light down the hall came on and the two of them came into my field of view, however, instead of coming at me, they turned right and continued up the hall. “I lost my house due to my unemployment. So forgive me if all I can care about is getting a couple bits so I can buy some food!”

I reached up and scratched the back of my head. ‘Crystal is homeless?’ I slowly began to follow behind them, making sure not to make too much noise.

Quartz fell silent for a few moments. “Y’know I offered to give you shelter.”

“And I rejected you because there’s no way I’m going to rely on anypony else, not anymore. I’m a mare, Quartz, I don’t need you treating me like some mother and I’m your foal. You offered me a job and I expect to be paid,” the pegasus said sternly.

Quartz once again fell silent for couple moments, the two of them came up onto a set of stairs and stopped. “But these are Chloe’s and Mr. Reynolds’ belongings...”

“Well what about Chloe’s old friends...?” Crystal muttered quietly. “We saw a bunch of cool junk at the old place—”

“Excuse me?” I growled behind Crystal.

Crystal nearly leapt from her pelt, same went for Quartz. Both ponies whirled around and stared up at me with wide and fearful eyes. “Are you planning on stealing from me?” I got on my knee and stared Crystal down.

Crystal shook her head. “N-no! I-it’s just...” her ears flopped back and she fell back onto her haunches. “I need money badly... a-and well... Quartz offered me a job to go mining and exploring... sh-she promised it’d help me with financial issues but... we’ve never made a single bit.”

“So you’re going to go tomb raiding?” I asked quietly, my voice still threatening.

Crystal cringed. “I-I never... I never thought of it like that...” She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her forehoof.

“Chloe, please...” Quartz stepped up. “I understand why you’re taking this the wrong way, but—”

“Wrong way?!” I shot a glare at the unicorn.

“M-my apologies!” Quartz gasped and stepped back. “I can understand why you’re angry, but... Crystal is in serious financial debt. That’s why I brought her along, she borrowed money from the Equestrian bank—”

“And now I’m screwed!” Crystal groaned and fell forward, she covered her face with her hooves.

Quartz leaned over Crystal. “You’re not screwed, dear, you’re just... in a hole. But we’ll pull you out of it.” Quartz looked up at me, I shook my head and sighed.

“Fine, I’ll let you have a few items from Reynolds’ old lab. Nothing from here though, the stuff here doesn’t belong to me.” I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Crystal sniffed and got up onto her hooves, suddenly she came trotting towards me before dropping onto her knees and hugging my leg. “Th-thank you, Chloe!” she said quickly.

“H-hey!” I leaned back a bit and held my arms out for balance, I felt a faint blush form on my cheeks and I shrugged. “I-it’s nothing, okay... no need to get all teary eyed.” Crystal shook her head and nuzzled my leg. I chuckled and rested my hand on her head, my fingers gently ruffling her mane.

This continued for a few minutes before, finally, the small pegasus pulled back and rubbed her teary face with her hooves. “S-sorry,” she said in a small voice as Quartz rested a hoof on her back.

I snickered and rubbed the back of my head. “Hey, no problem... you guys did help me out a lot. I guess this is the least I could do. Just make sure to ask before you start snatching up random stuff,” I told Crystal, to which she responded with a firm nod.

“I-I sure will.” Crystal said with a more confident tone. “Thank you again!” she bowed.

“You’re welcome~” I said as I brought a hand to my mouth and yawned. Pulling it away from my mouth, I rubbed the back of my head again. My eyes now feeling very drowsy, I could literally feel my conscience slowing down. “D-did you guys happen to find any bedrooms during your walk?” I asked as my voice slowly started to fall into a mumble, tiredness having hit me like a speeding semi.

Quartz blinked. “Oh I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to stop you from going to bed.” She gulped and got up from her sitting position she had fallen into. “We found a couple just down that hallway.” She pointed with her hoof down the hallway they came from.

I yawned. “Th-thanks.” I smiled at the two of them, I turned down the hallway Quartz had pointed me towards. I started to make my way down, but then stopped. I turned to face the two ponies. “O-oh and guys...” The two ponies looked at me, I took a deep breath. This is probably something I should’ve done awhile ago, but now seemed just as good of a time. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” I said in a small voice. “L-like... neither of you knew who I was... or hell, you didn’t even know what I was.... yet you came to my aid, and well—” Oh shit I was starting to get teary eyed. “I don’t know what would’ve happened if you two hadn’t been there for me.” I left it at that, my tired eyes now starting to feel watery, I reached up and rubbed the tears away.

Both Crystal and Quartz “Awed” at my words and immediately rushed over to me. Both girls nuzzled into my sides, and Crystal wrapped her wings around me like some kind of hug. I sniffled a few times and rested both of my hands on each of their heads. I looked down at them, a single tear having somehow survived, streaked down my cheek.

“You’re very welcome, Chloe.” Quartz looked up at me. “As a pony, I do not feel it is right to stand back and watch another pony or creature be in pain. No matter what you are,” she smiled, her blue eyes twinkling in the overhead light, the mare had a faint red blush burning through her coat. From the angle I was looking down at her at, the light struck her face just right and she looked freaking adorable, her fur looking so soft. I just wanted to snuggle her so badly and just ball my eyes out.

Matter of fact... that’s exactly what I was going to do. “Q-Quartz?” My voice was soft and for some reason I felt very shy. “C-could you show me to my room please?”

The unicorn blinked and looked at Crystal, the pegasus simply smiled and shrugged her wings. “You can go with her, I got to go plan my wishlist,” she said.

Quartz bit her lower lip, like me, her mind probably drifted back to the minor incident we had in the hospital. “Y-yeah, I don’t see why not.” She looked up at me.

For some reason, I felt my heart do a little leap and smiled. Cheeks blushing lightly, I, for some reason, felt a little timid. A dark thought molding itself in the back of my mind. “You think you’re gonna get lucky with a pony?” I could heard Dark Chloe behind me mutter. “Maybe kiss her again like you did in the hospital? Perhaps this time you’ll be able to stretch it further~” I tried my best to squash her voice, to silence her completely. Which, to my luck, I was able to render her voice quiet, however, I could still feel her presence. The darkness lurking within the back of my mind, corrupting my thoughts and making me think of lewd and disgusting ideas. So instead of opening my mouth and saying anything to the little, adorable pony, I simply nodded my head.

Quartz replied with a nod of her own. “Alrighty, they aren’t too far,” she told me before nodding her head towards Crystal, letting her know we’ll be off now. The pegasus stretched her wings and started heading down the other hall away from us. “This way, Chloe.” Quartz trotted off ahead of me, my tired state rendering me a little a slow, but I kept a few paces behind her at all times, allowing me to have a nice view of her a beautifully groomed tail. Despite her mining occupation, Quartz overall seemed to be a very well kept mare when I compared her to the others I’ve seen. As said, her tail was nicely brushed and the way the light shined off of it, it seemed she also kept it well washed. Her mane also seemed to be the same way, and from what I’ve felt, her coat was soft and clean.

In terms of her body structure she was rather muscular despite having magic. Now that I think about it, I would usually think that ponies with magic like her would usually be much thinner and probably not hold the same amount of musculature as her. I guess it just went to show how much she probably didn’t rely on it. Yet because of her physique, I noticed how round and curvy her body was, possibly in a pony’s eyes, she was down right gorgeous. Especially when your eyes would draw near her flank, the curviness of her legs and how well toned they were...

“You’re really treating her like eye candy aren’t you?” Dark Chloe’s voice whispered into my right ear. “Do you honestly want to take her to bed? A small pony like her? A creature that isn’t even the same species as you?” my dark half chuckled. “Who’d of thought the last human female on Earth would be into licking horse pussy~” My cheeks burned a bright red as Quartz and I came to a stop outside one of the sleeping quarters.

“Right here, this is one of the rooms. I’m sure of it!” Quartz smiled brightly as she looked at me, suddenly she cocked an eyebrow. “You okay, Chloe?” she asked having clearly noticed my flushed face, she sniffed the air. “Oh? What’s that smell? It’s kinda sweet...” The mare turned towards me, she sniffed the air a few more times and took a few steps toward me. “Did somepony spray something?” she asked as she took a few whiffs of the air.

My heart rammed my rib cage like a battering ram. ‘Oh fuck, oh fuck!’ I panicked as I knew exactly what she was smelling. “Oh yes someone sprayed something~” Dark Chloe laughed maniacally. “And that perfume is a special kind of brand, a brand that I love to call arousal. Sweet Little Chlo, being turned on by the idea of horse pussy. Tsk, tsk, I honestly thought you’d have better tastes, girl.”

I gulped and stomped out Dark Chloe’s voice, though she wasn’t lying. My arousal from dinner time had returned with a vengeance. “Smell what? I smell nothing.” I took a step back and half faked a yawn. “Boy I’m tired... I think I’m going to go sleep.”

“W-wait!” Quartz stopped me suddenly.

Before I had even made a move, I felt myself starting to sweat as I waited in front of her. “Yes?” I bit my lower lip, my lower half was a raging inferno. My mind only focusing on going into my room and satiating this ever growing problem.

Quart rubbed her right foreleg with her left forehoof. “A-about the other night in the h-hospital.” My heart jerked at the topic she’d brought up. “I-I’m sorry for ever y-know... k-kissing you.”

I bit my lip and shook my head after thinking for a moment. “D-don’t be, I-I’m the one who started all of it a-and well...” I started to move towards the bedroom door, I opened it quickly, I could no longer wait. I hated to admit it, but I needed a good rubbing. However, before I even stepped a single foot into that room, I looked at Quartz. “Besides... I really enjoyed it.” I turned back towards my room.

“W-wait!” Quartz stopped me again and I internally screamed, I could already feel my underwear becoming uncomfortable.

“Y-yes?” I looked back at her, I couldn’t help it, but my voice had a slight irritated tone to it.

Quartz had a blush burning so bright, I could see it through her fur. “C-could I... perhaps... sleep with you tonight?” Immediately my mind had taken that right to the gutter and I felt my raging heat burn hotter, but luckily, the smarter part of my conscience was able to take her words and reform it correctly. I gulped. “Uh well... y’see...”

“I-I’ll sleep on the floor!” Quartz blurted and I cringed a little, I shook my head.

“Th-that won’t be necessary.... I-I’ll let you sleep with me on the bed.” I said having gotten ahead of my horniness. Though after saying those words, I had instantly regretted it, because down bellow a certain flower was screaming to be played with and having a guest in my room would make that near impossible.

I bit my lower lip and stepped into the room. The automated light coming on, I stepped aside so that Quartz could trot inside. Unlike the Mckinley vault, the living quarter was very home like. The room was a little larger, the floor was a nice red carpet, the walls were painted to match the floor and there was a closet beside a study desk. The bed was coincidentally a queen size and seemed to be outfitted with very comfy looking pillows and blankets. Not only that, it had two beautiful, dark wood night stands on either side with lamps. Having come into this room, I no longer felt like I was in the vault, but instead some rich person’s house!

“Whoa...” Quartz muttered as she walked up behind me, causing me to jump a little due to having been distracted. I took a deep breath and looked at her.

“Y-yeah... wh-what side do you want?” I asked her, Quartz shrugged, I sighed and rubbed my thighs together, my panties were ruined now and just wearing them was making me feel uncomfortable.

Quartz seemed to have noticed my shifting, by now she just had to know what was going on. Like, she had already smelt me earlier. “Chloe, am I making you feel uncomfortable?”

My blood ran cold. “Extremely.” Is what I wanted to say! Instead, I shook my head. “N-no, it’s fine.” I told her. “I’ll sleep on the right side.” My voice was strained and I hummed softly when I clenched my legs a bit together.

“Maybe when you two get settled, if you’re quiet enough and wait for her to sleep, you can maybe get yourself off silent—” Once again I stomped out Dark Chloe’s voice.

Quartz nodded and hopped onto the bed and moved over to the left side, she cutely burrowed under the large blankets and formed some kind of pony cocoon. Her head popped out the top and she looked at me with her large, cute eyes. I couldn’t help but giggle softly as I climbed onto the bed beside her. Quartz let off an adorable yawn and blinked at me, I smiled at her. “Uh...” I blinked, another issue arose... normally I slept in nothing but my underwear, maybe even naked. Yet with my aroused state of mind, getting naked, or even just my underwear is no longer an option, and sleeping clothed was always a pain in my ass.

I let off a quiet groan as I lain beside Quartz, making sure to give her a smile as to let her know I’m fine. I turned my gaze to the ceiling, preparing myself for a possibly restless night.

Author's Note

I apologize for the short chapter. Things have been crazy with work and all, too much Berserk reading time, and just overall lack of motivation. I decided to keep this chapter more light and silly, rather then having it be overly plot driven due to me just coming off of a hiatus.

Overall though things are getting a tad saucy, Chloe is starting to go nuts due to her being sexually restricted. Then again... the girl is kinda schizophrentic as it is. So she probably is already crazy... maybe she isn't talking to ponies at all but is instead processing all of this in her head? Who knows!

Chapter 17: Eva

I don’t know when I fell asleep last night. All I could recall during the night was fighting off my urge to stick my fingers down below, or possibly mount the adorable pony next to me. The idea alone of coming onto Quartz was extremely fucked up; the thought nearly seemed impossible. Me, Chloe Cooper, a horse fucker—it was absurd! Yet last night it seemed completely logical. Half of me expected Quartz knew what I was thinking as well—like hell—she smelt it last night!

But...Something about it just didn’t seem right. Like, seriously, I’m one of the last humans on this godforsaken planet and the first thing on my mind is shagging the horse that was lying next to me. For real, I knew the thought was disgusting, but the only person I should’ve been thinking of shagging is, like, Reynolds, or something. Y’know preserve the human race and whatnot?

All those thoughts were bone chilling to think about. However, these thoughts would be quickly erased when I woke up the next morning to something abnormally soft rubbing against my chest and belly. The rubbing feeling sent tingles of excitement through me, I cooed softly and began to open my eyes. As my blurry vision regained its clarity, my eyes widened when I found Quartz spooning with me in bed. “WHAT THE?!” I couldn’t help but freak out, the exciting tingling that was tickling my chest vanished as I forced myself away from the pony. Nearly falling off the bed, I caught myself with my shoulder and took a few breaths.

Despite my random outburst, Quartz remained fast asleep. I blinked a few times before shivering when I felt a cold draft drift over my chest. I glanced down and gasped when I noticed my shirt had been pushed up and over to expose breasts. Reaching up, I quickly yanked my white T-shirt down and over them. Rubbing my legs together nervously, I also noticed my pants were off too, yet my panties were still on. ‘Thank God for that.’

I gulped. “When did I... when did I undress?” I muttered quietly to myself. I shifted a bit as I glanced around for my pants and jacket, my eyes caught them neatly folded and stored away on the desk. I frowned a little and glanced at the innocent, sleeping pony. “Did you undress me?” I asked out loud.

Quartz shuffled a bit on the bed, my head tilted as I heard her mumbling something quietly. Her ear flicked and I felt her tail beneath the blankets flick my leg gently. A small smile formed on my face as the sudden urge to touch her came to mind. Raising my hand slowly, I reached over and gently placed my palm on her extremely soft coat on the side of her belly. Her warm body sent its heat through my hand, making me feel more at ease, I smiled as my hand slowly rose and fell with her breathing. I blinked. “Wait a second...” I hissed and pulled my hand back. “The hell am I doing?” I took a deep breath and wiped my brow before looking back over the sleeping pony, I shook my head. ‘Why the hell did I touch her like that?’ I sighed and pushed myself out of bed.

Going over to the desk, I grabbed my clothes and slowly began to put them on. Behind me I heard some minor rustling on the bed, then a small, adorable voice caught my ear. “G-good morning, smelly...” The pony giggled lightly.

I blushed. ‘Is she referring to last night?’ I gulped. “Uh... g-good morning?” I said with a bit of embarrassment as I pulled a clean shirt over my chest and smoothed out any wrinkles.

Quartz chuckled lightly. “Don’t worry...” She gave off a high pitched, and squeaky yawn. “It’s a nice smell,” she said.

My blush only darkened and I froze for a second. ‘Remember, Chloe, she’s just a pony. Don’t take it personally.’ I gulped once more and nodded. “Th-that’s good. I should take a shower anyways.”

Quartz giggled and I looked over in time to see her pull the covers off with her magic. “Sorry for undressing you, I hope I didn’t freak you out,” she said with a small frown. “It’s just last night you looked very hot and you were starting to sweat with all those layers on.”

My face by this point felt like it was on fire; reaching back, I ran a hand through my hair. “O-oh! I-it was nothing, th-thanks!” I stammered.

The answer I gave Quartz made her smile. “Oh, that’s good!” She climbed up onto her hooves and hopped off the bed. “Say, were you having a nightmare last night?” she asked me.

I frowned. “A nightmare? I-I don’t think so... at least I don’t recall.” ‘Actually that is weird... almost every night since I came out of cryo I had been plagued with nightmares...’

Quartz gave me the equivalent of a shrug. “Well, it’s just that you kept calling out somepony’s name in your sleep, and next thing I knew you were snuggling all up into my back and holding me tight.”

I blinked a few more times. My eyes widening a bit, I turned and began walking to the small bathroom that was tucked away in the corner of the room. “Oh uh... who-who was I calling out to?”

Quartz tilted her head a bit as I opened the bathroom door. “I think you were saying Ever? N-no, E-Eva!”

I froze just before stepping into the bathroom. My heart running cold, I, for some reason, felt as if a part of me died. “Th-that wasn’t a nightmare...” I muttered quietly and went into the bathroom. Just as I heard Quartz start to say something, I closed the bathroom door and rested my weight against it.

“E-Eva...” I muttered quietly, bringing my fingertips to my lips just before curling them into a fist. I closed my eyes and took in a sharp breath before letting it out with a shudder. When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry with tears.

:[-]:

After I had finished my business in the bathroom, Quartz and I started on a little trek around the vault. Having forgotten about the fact the vault had a V.I. today, I spent a good five or so minutes facepalming when we had first stepped out into the corridor.

“Greetings, Miss Cooper, Quartz.” The V.I. Stephanie gave what almost sounded like a cheerful greeting.

“Good morning,” we both said, Quartz sounding rather pleased. My voice, however, was still a little under the weather after the minor breakdown in the bathroom.

“Would you like me to inform you on the news and or weather?”

I blinked. “News? Like uh... reports?”

“Yes. Would you like to know?”

‘What the hell kind of news would Stephanie know about?' I thought, There’s no more internet, all the satellites probably don’t work, and fuck... there’s no one available to even document the news.’ I shrugged. “Hit me.”

“I’m afraid I am unable to perform such an action, Madam.”

Quartz chuckled and I rolled my eyes. “Please inform me,” I said as I motioned for Quartz to follow me down the hall.

“Certainly. Last Update: March 12th, 2037.” I stopped in my tracks and glanced up at the ceiling just as Stephanie’s voice opted over to what sounding like an actual woman.

“Good morning everyone, My name is Diane Marson. Because of the havoc created by the SOL Virus, experts are proclaiming that it’ll be a potential cause of World War III. Due to the crisis happening across the globe, multiple United Nations members have dropped out due to the recent controversies involving the pandemic spreading across the globe. With the situation deteriorating and NATO now nothing but broken pieces, the Middle East has spiraled into all-out conflict. With Israel suffering heavy losses from the SOL Virus among their military and infrastructure, the remaining Iranian forces have launched an all-out military invasion this morning at roughly ten a.m. Greenwich Mean Time...”

Quartz blinked and looked at me. “Who’s talking and uh... what’s she talking about?”

I took a deep breath, ‘Just when I thought I couldn’t get even more depressed.’ “She’s a news anchor... and well... she’s talking about the beginning of the end of my species...”

The news anchor continued jabbering on, mainly about how the United States got further involved in the Middle East, along with Russia. She then went on about how the Chinese started to perform Nazi levels of genocide on its own infected populous, as well as performing the naval invasion of the Philippines. Basically, just rambling on about how the whole world literally went to shit in the span of one year.

Quartz blinked. “Dear Celestia... di-did all of this really happen?”

I glanced back at Quartz and gave her a look that sorta suggested she was dumb. Though I couldn’t blame the pony, from what I have gathered from them, this culture of theirs doesn’t really seem to view violence as a choice in anything. I sighed and nodded my head. “Yes... all of this did happen, the disease isn’t really what wiped out my species. It was the panic and greed caused by it that initially pulled the trigger.” I took a deep breath. “Just thank God the chaos ended before the point of nuclear weapons.”

“As for the weather, today should be partly cloudy with a thirty percent chance of precipitation and a high of forty-five degrees Fahrenheit or seven point two degrees Celsius.” Stephanie finished up.

“What? That’s not the forecast I read in the Cloudsdale Breeze,” Quartz frowned.

“That’s the forecast ten thousand years ago... Stephanie was never updated.” I took a deep breath. “Nor will she ever be,” I said quietly as I jammed my hands into my pocket, my stomach growling a little I sighed. “Let's go get something to eat.”

:[-]:

Quartz and I stepped into the small kitchen and dining room. Unsurprisingly the Kenway recreation room was hardly any different from the McKinley vault. On the far end, there was the small preparation area consisting of a fridge, a few cabinets, and counters that connected to a stove and oven, only to be separated by the island counter that acted as the buffer zone for the dining room/game area.

“Do you think there’ll be anything for me to eat?” Quartz asked me as I walked over to the fridge.

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

Quartz didn’t reply to my answer. Standing in front of the fridge, I reached out and pulled it open. Inside, I was confronted with a whole lot of produce such as apples, carrots, heads of lettuce, celery stalks and so on. There was virtually no meat or any MRE packs inside. “Well lucky for you—” I reached in and pulled out a couple apples. “—you can have an apple.” I turned and tossed Quartz the red treat to which she caught with no problem.

“Thanks!” Quartz levitated the apple to her mouth and bit a chunk out of it.

I gave her a small, barely noticeable smile, before closing the door and taking a bite out of my own apple. I leaned against the fridge and chewed my food before swallowing. “Well, it’s just that you kept calling out someone's name... I think you were saying Ever? N-no, Eva!” I swallowed my bite and sighed, the apple just a few inches from my face.

“Is something wrong?” Quartz asked she was already halfway done with her treat.

“That was a forecast from over ten thousand years ago... Stephanie was never updated.”

I shrugged and took another bite.

Quartz titled her head a bit, her mouth opening to say something only to be cut off by the door to the rec room opening. “Well let me phrase it in the way of Arthur C. Clarke,” Reynold’s said to Twilight as the two of them stepped into the room. The duo stopped and turn to face each other. “‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’”

Twilight pursed her lips. “So, what you’re saying is that these nanites run on such a scale so advanced that it seems like magic, but isn’t really?” she asked for clarification.

Reynolds nodded his head. “In theory, yes. Though, without any further research, I’m having trouble trying to figure out how exactly these machines are powered and/or where they come from. May I offer you anything to eat?” Twilight nodded and the two of them started to make their way over to me. Pushing myself off the fridge, I moved around the island and went over to the table. “Not only that, I am curious as to how these machines recreate themselves, it’s almost as if they conjure themselves into existence.”

“Perhaps it is beyond your realm of thinking?” Twilight suggested and Reynolds scoffed as he grabbed her a carrot.

“Oh, no, no. I have been around for longer than any man should be, I have learned countless things that partners within my community would kill to know.” Reynolds chuckled. “It just all comes with time.” Reynolds took a piece of celery out of the fridge and bit a chunk off, he chewed for a moment then swallowed. “Patience is the key to advancement.”

“Is that the same ideology you used in last night’s game?” I asked the old man as I took another bite out of my apple.

Reynold’s chuckled. “Well, certainly, I won didn’t I?” He turned to me and smiled.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Sitting in a corner with a GR-8 isn’t a victory.”

The man snorted and laughed. “Perhaps to you it isn’t, but what can I say? The GR-8 coil rifle is a great weapon.” He came around the island slowly, his other hand balancing himself on the counter before taking a seat across from me.

Twilight took the spot next to him, she seemed to have a pleasant smile on her face. Quartz, however, seemed rather confused. “What are you guys talking about?”

Twilight beamed and decided to answer before any of us could say anything. “They’re talking about this amazing... uhh... virtual reality gaming device that is able to teleport you to some other inter-dimension that allows you to—” Reynolds silenced Twilight with a raised hand.

“We’re talking about the game of pretend,” Reynolds said with a smile, “I’m afraid it’s a little difficult to explain. If you still happen to be around when I’m on my break, I’ll show you what it’s all about.”

“I take it you have a job?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Reynolds smiled. “Well, of course, I have more research, experiments, and little Chloe to take care of. Speaking of which—” Reynolds reached into his lab coat and pulled out a small, golden watch. “—she should be returning home shortly.”

“Did she spend the day with Celestia?” I asked as I recalled the two were going on a flight around town.

Reynolds shook his head. “No. She spent the night with Princess Luna.” He smiled. “The poor Night Princess gets lonely due to everything slowing down around that time of day. She asked me last night if it would be possible that Chlo would be able to assist her.”

I smiled. “Oh well, that’s nice.” I took another bite of my apple and looked at Quartz. “So what do you have planned for today?” I asked the little unicorn, she seemed to have finished her apple and was now nibbling on the core.

Quartz blinked a couple times and placed the core on the table. “Well, uh... I just planned to maybe walk around town a bit,” she said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here in Canterlot.” Quartz pursed her lips and then tilted her head. “I may even stop into a couple bars for an early morning drink.”

The last bit made me cock an eyebrow. “Bar?” I smiled. ‘Y’know a drink might not be too bad,’ I thought as I shifted my body around so that I was fully facing the unicorn. “Can I come?”

Quartz smiled largely. “Sure! I don’t see why not.” Her tail wagged a bit like a dog’s.

“Uh...” I heard Twilight on my right. “Chloe, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

I frowned a little and looked over at Twilight. Besides her, even Reynolds shared a look of concern. “What do you mean?”

“Well uh... concerning your mental condition—”

I felt something twinge in my chest and my frowned deepened. “What condition?” I said, sounding defensive all of a sudden.

Reynolds gulped and folded his hands. “Chloe, what I think Twilight is trying to say is that with everything you’ve gone through recently... right now is probably not a good time to drink. Believe me, I know.”

“Wait a second... are you trying to say I shouldn’t go out and have fun?” I snapped at them, to which they responded with a shocked and confused look. “Uh.” I backpedaled a bit. ‘Why am I so hostile all of a sudden?’ “I mean... I appreciate the concern and all. But believe me, I’m fine.”

Quartz rubbed her neck with a hoof. “Don’t worry, guys. I’ll make sure neither of us goes overboard.”

Twilight and Reynolds shared a smile. “I hope so,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, I better not hear about any bar fights.” Reynolds chuckled.

I snorted. “No promises.” That awarded me a slug in the arm from Quartz, and coming from a creature that has hooves instead of fleshy hands, it kinda hurt. “Hey!” I pouted and rubbed my arm.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Quartz said, suddenly sounding guilty.

I blinked. “Oh, now, I’m just teasing, it stung, but nothing major.” I smiled, and that seemed to put the mare at ease.

“Don’t scare me like that,” she said, blowing some of her bangs out from in front of her eyes.

Both Twilight and Reynolds chuckled lightly. “Well, it seems you two will be having fun.” Twilight smiled. “I’ll make sure to send word to the Princess before your departure.”

“What for?” I asked, curious as to what Twilight meant.

She smiled at me and adjusted her posture. “Well, the townsfolk are going to need to know that a creature such as you will be roaming around and that there should be no need for any... panic, per se.”

I blinked. “Are you sure the Princess’ words can stop ponies from freaking out?” I asked them.

Twilight only shrugged.

“Like, my dog disguise seemed to work just fine.” I looked between the two.

Twilight nodded. “Yes but that was because we were constantly moving,” she explained. “Ponies never really got the chance to stop and look at you. Well, if you’re going to be out milling with the crowds, having the populous know that you are friendly and mean no harm would probably be a good idea.”

I pursed my lips then shrugged. “Alright, I guess a State of the Union address is a little more than needed, but if it’s what’cha gotta do, it’s what’cha gotta do.” Reynolds chuckled and smiled when he glanced over at Twilight.

Reynolds straightened himself out. “And seeing that I’ve been living here in Canterlot for a thousand years or so,” he cleared his throat. “It wouldn’t be the first time they have gotten this address. So, most likely, nothing terrible should come out of this.”

Quartz bit her lower lip. “This sounds like more work than I thought it was going to be...is this really even worth a few drinks?”

Twilight shook her head. “Oh, no; we’ll be having to do this at some point, and starting today would probably be a better than never.”

I grinned and stood up. Gazing across the table at the two, I rested my palms down. “Alrighty, then! Let's go get shit faced!” My excitement for the fact that I’ll get to drink once more coursed through me, giving me the quick energy to hop out from behind my chair and push it in. Twilight nodded along with Reynolds and stood up. Without wasting time, she told us she was going to send word to Celestia, and suddenly, after a blinding flash, she was gone. Reynolds glanced over at me and gave me a small look.

“Be careful when you go out there, Chloe,” the old man told me as he slowly got up from his chair. I swore as I watched him I could hear his bones creaking as he got up and glanced at me. “Though these ponies preach peace and harmony, it doesn’t mean those streets are one hundred percent safe.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, but I received no reply. Reynolds simply shook his head and started to slowly inch his way towards the exit. I blinked a few times and glanced at Quartz who just shrugged. Biting my lower lip, I couldn’t help but feel a little put off by Reynolds’ ominous statement. I took a deep breath. “Well, I guess it’s time we go get drunk.”

“Yeah!” Quartz smiled. “Maybe if we’re lucky, we can find Crystal and see if she has any free time for some fun.” She hopped off her chair and came very close by my side.

“Oh yeah?” I chuckled and patted the pony on the head, her mane still as soft as ever. In doing so, I noticed that Quartz seemed to enjoy my touch; her head pressed against my hand in a way that reminded me of an affectionate dog. This made me snicker, and I motioned for Quartz.

The trip to the surface took a little longer than expected. Having taken one too many wrong turns, we found ourselves exploring most of the crystalline caverns that made up the bulk of the caves beneath Canterlot. After a while, I had begun to panic, as I thought we would never make it out of there alive. However, due to Quartz’s expertise in being trapped underground, the pony was able to easily guide the two of us back up to the surface where the Princesses had led us down.

Upon arriving at the surface, Quartz and I had just exited the spire leading down when I was nearly scared out of my skin when I suddenly came face to face with Princess Celestia. “MOMMY!” came the childlike shrill from little Chlo.

The young girl leaped off of Celestia’s back and came scampering towards me. The girl glanced up at me with her wide, blue eyes, her resemblance to me still rather hard to get used to. I gave a light chuckle at how she seemed to be so comfortable around me already, though I couldn’t really say the same about myself. I gulped and gave her a small smile.

“H-hey there...Sport. What have you been up to?” I asked as I hesitantly placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. ‘Even her hair feels exactly like mine,’ I thought as I pulled my hand away after she giggled happily.

“Celestia and I have been playing hide and seek!” Little Chloe giggled and glanced back at the Princess.

Celestia took a deep breath, the small, tired wrinkles lined the edges of her eyes and she gave me a small smile that I barely even noticed. “She’s been up all night and I couldn’t find her,” she said in worn out voice. She turned her head and tried not to yawn in order to remain polite.

Quartz and I both chuckled. “All night?” I glanced at Chloe, the little girl stopped bouncing happily and rubbed her hands nervously together.

“Y-yeah...it was really fun and I didn’t want to stop playing.” My heart nearly exploded when she took her gaze to the floor and started rubbing the tip of her right foot into the marble flooring. “I’m sorry...was that not smart?” she asked me quietly, sounding as if she was afraid I’d be angry.

I chuckled once more and rubbed the top of her head. “You’re fine, just as long as the Princess isn’t bothered, you’re fine.”

Celestia tried to stifle a yawn and failed. “Don’t worry, Little one. After I have a couple cups of coffee, I’ll be alright.” She draped a wing over Chloe and pulled her close, she then turned her tired attention over to me. “So, I have received word from Princess Twilight that you’ll be venturing off into town.”

I blinked before briskly nodding my head. “Yes, that is correct.” I, for some reason, found myself standing straight, almost like a soldier before their commanding officer. It was probably just the tone of Celestia’s voice; she suddenly had, like, a professional vibe to it.

The Princess took a quick breath and nodded her head. “Alright, then. Would you be able to give me time to prepare myself for the morning? I wish to make a quick appeal to the public about your presence.” Celestia fidgeted a bit when Chloe suddenly started nuzzling into her side, humming as she started running her fingers through her coat. The alicorn bit her lip, almost as if she was trying to contain her giggles.

I cracked a smile at that; Quartz did as well, and I nodded my head. “Certainly, Princess, and thank you.” I gave slight bow out of respect along with Quartz.

“Wh-where are you going?” Little Chloe asked with a hesitant tone in her voice. I blinked and glanced down at the younger girl, who was huddled up against Celestia’s left foreleg.

I gave her a soft smile. “My friend and I are just going out for uh...” I stopped myself from almost saying drinks, though she most likely wouldn’t have understood I thought it’d best be safe. “We’re going out to play.” I clarified.

Chloe smiled. “Oh, can I come?” She said with a large smile, Celestia gave me a look as she waited for my response, Quartz beside me giggled.

“This is more of an adult pony’s game,” the miner replied with a smile. Chloe's face fell a bit, and she scuffed her shoe on the floor. “But don’t worry, though.” Quartz stepped towards Chloe and for once I got to fully notice the height of these creatures. Quartz and Little Chloe were about the same height, covering my mouth slightly I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. “Your Mother and I won’t be gone long, and when we come back we can play all night.”

Little Chloe smiled at this but then tilted her head. “Who are you?” she asked bluntly.

Quartz blinked and leaned back before shaking her head and smiling. “I’m your Mother’s friend,” she replied.

Celestia glanced between all of us, patiently waiting for us to finish our little conversation. “Well, if you all could excuse us. It’s about time for Chloe’s tutoring and for me to make the address; if you could wait in the throne room until then, I would greatly appreciate it,” she told us.

I glanced at Quartz, who nodded respectfully at the princess. Rubbing the back of my head I nodded myself. “Sure thing,” I replied and looked at Chloe. Something about what Celestia said made me a little curious, ‘tutoring?’ I pursed my lip. “Hey, Chloe...what are you learning about in school?” I asked her.

The young girl immediately perked up and Celestia kinda gave me a look that sorta said, “I thought I told you we’re leaving.” I ignored the look and focused on the kid. “I’m learning about the history of the Equestrian Empire and the Fundamentals of Magic!” she said with a giggle. Her response struck me as weird, and I blinked. A child that actively enjoyed learning? Who’d a thought that a...clone of me would actually enjoy learning.

“No, Chloe, I didn’t create you, I created someone who looks like you,” I recalled Reynolds’ words and I cracked a grin. ‘Guess he’s right. This girl is nothing like me...hell, history was my worst subject.’ I reached out and patted the girl on the head which elicited a surprised gasp.

“Stay in school, kid. Don’t be like me.” I told her before glancing at Celestia. “Sorry for wasting your time,” I said, which made the Princess shake her head.

“You’re fine. Head to the throne room and I’ll be back shortly,” Celestia said before looking down at little Chloe and motioning for her to follow. The younger girl nodded with a smile and began to follow behind the large pony. Smiling at the two, I looked back at Quartz and did the same by gesturing with my hand for her to stick to me. The two of us made our way to what was supposedly a throne room. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea where I was going, neither did Quartz.

As we walked down the corridor, I silently chided myself for not asking the Princess for directions when I had the chance. Upon rounding a corner, Quartz and I saw a maid cleaning up what looked to be a mess on the floor. The mare had an adorable tan coat with a dark brown muzzle which matched her wavy mane, her bright blue eyes were squinted as she focused on the stain on the floor, and to top it off, she was wearing what looked like a french maid outfit.

I snorted at the sight and covered my mouth, Quartz looked at me confused. The maid’s ears twitched when she heard my snort. “I swear, Tumble, if you make a joke one more time...” She shook her head and straightened herself out, turning her head she continued saying, “I’m going to take my dustpan and—” She halted when her eyes laid on me, I looked back into her rather gorgeous blue eyes. I gave her a small smile.

“No please, continue—” Suddenly I was cut off by the mare screaming bloody murder. Before I knew it, she was halfway down the hall and banking left down another. Wincing from the scream, I rubbed my ears.

“Hell...despite being a girl, I can’t even get my voice that high.” I grumbled and continued to rub my left ear. Glancing at Quartz, I saw she was doing the same. Assuming correct, ponies most likely have better hearing, so she probably had it worse off than me.

“I know right?” she grumbled and looked up at me. “I take it she didn’t like what she saw.”

“You calling me ugly?” I half joked; Quartz blinked and shook her head.

“Oh, no; I didn’t mean it like that,” she said as a deep blush burned through her coat.

I laughed and walked over to her. Wrapping an arm around my pony friend, I started to walk along side her. “I’m just teasing.” I chuckled and patted her back.

“Well, there goes asking for directions,” Quartz muttered. “Our best bet now, I guess, is to just walk aimlessly.” I nodded my head slowly as the two of us continued down the walkway.

After about thirty minutes of aimlessly walking, and asking around blindly. I only managed to terrify at least four castle staff members; luckily none of them gave of banshee-like screams, thus saving our ears. Not only that; we actually managed to find the throne room ourselves. Turns out that massive double doors with a red carpet leading to it stuck out pretty much like a sore thumb.

“How did we not see this earlier?” I asked as I glanced at Quartz, who shrugged.

“Well, seeing how you got excited over shocking other ponies and started focusing your attention on doing just that... I think I can see why we never saw this,” Quartz deadpanned.

I blinked for a brief moment and chuckled. “Oh, yeah okay... uh...” I blushed lightly. “Well, let’s not keep the Princess waiting.” I walked over to the door and knocked, for a few moments nothing happened. Frowning, I turned to look at Quartz who had gone to shrug, but stopped when we both heard a loud deadbolt come loose. Flinching in surprise, I looked back at the door and awed as the massive, double door swung open before us.

My jaw then dropped even further when my eyes laid upon the massive room before us. The room stretched on for what looked like half a football field. A red carpet ran up the center of the length to the throne, large pillars evenly spaced to either side. Depicting stories I had no context for, were beautiful stained glass windows that rose almost to the ceiling. On the far end of the room, standing before the throne was Celestia, who was all alone. “Ah, Chloe, it is wonderful to see that you’ve made it.” Celestia hummed as she stepped down from the throne and started walking towards us.

Quartz and I went to meet the mare halfway, stopping at the center of the room just a few feet from each other. I blushed and ran a hand through my hair. ‘God, I need a haircut.’ My mind wandered as I tried not to think about how I foolishly got us lost. “Yeah, we uh...decided to take a little detour.” I tried to cover up my embarrassment.

Celestia chuckled. “Why yes, I figured, many of my subjects came to me screaming about it.” She shook her head and smiled brightly at me.

My blush darkened even more. I folded my hands behind my back and averted my eyes to the floor. “I’m sorry.”

The celestial pony took hold of my chin her in magic, the feeling similar to someone’s fingers taking hold, and she forced me to look up at her. “It is fine, nothing to be ashamed of. You actually made my job a bit easier by making it so that I wouldn’t have to call all the staff into a meeting.” She chuckled. “There is no need to be ashamed.”

I gulped and nodded my head. Though what she was saying was nice, it did little to quell the gut feeling I had. Yet, I took a deep breath and tried to make myself seem more lively. “So...were you able to tell the town about us?”

Celestia hummed and nodded her head. “Yes, I did, though the crowd I had drawn was only a fraction of what I originally intended for. However, ponies are known to be quite the gossipers, I wouldn’t be surprised now if everyone knew who you were, or have at least made some form of connection.” Celestia smiled. “Though, I’d still give it a bit if I were you, just to make sure that my words have traveled.”

Quartz bowed, and I quickly did the same. “Thank you, Your Majesty, we’re truly grateful,” the miner said.

Celestia smiled and gave a nod to us. “You’re welcome, you two. Now go and enjoy yourselves,” she said before turning to head back to her throne.

Lifting my head, I watched as she perched herself upon what looked like a marble throne. Smiling at us, she gestured with a hoof towards the door. “Though I must say,” she said, stopping us before we could even go. “if the two of you plan on drinking, please refrain from coming to the castle. I do not wish to deal with an intoxicated pony and human who may or may not make a mess.” She giggled once more.

“Oh, it’s fine.” I chuckled myself. “I didn’t really plan on drinking much, anyways.”

“Same here,” Quartz looked at me and smiled. “Thank you again, Princess.” She once again gave a brief bow before turning to me and motioning with her head towards the door. “C’mon, Chlo, let’s go burn off some steam.”

:[-]:

“Ya want ta kno...wha’s fuckin’ stupid?” I slurred after slamming my whatever numbered glass down on the bar counter. My eyes sluggishly glanced over the small crowd of ponies around me. “I dun even eat pasta!” Suddenly the entire crowd erupted into a fit of laughter. Ponies dragged their tongues over their salt lick while others clanged their drinks together.

Snorting and wiping my nose, I slowly turned to glance over at Quartz, who was also a bit tipsy. The little pony’s face had a red blush burning through her coat, and her eyes a were a bit dilated. Her snout scrunched a little as she giggled along with the rest of the crowd, tail swishing happily like a dog. Soon, her large, adorable eyes glanced up at me. “That’s really what happened?”

I nodded my head, which kinda made my vision blur, and I stopped to rest a hand on my forehead before saying. “Ye girl...” I took another swig of my drink. It tasted like apple juice—just with... ninety percent more alcohol added. My throat burned as it went down, and my stomach found it difficult to take in. Normally, a drink like this would make me choke up or vomit, and yet... I didn’t feel like my normal self as of recently, and now it was as if I could drink an entire liquor store. Believe it or not... that didn’t sound like a bad idea.

I sat the drink back down. “Eva...she was... she was a good girl...” I snorted once more and wiped my nose on my sleeve. I waved the bartender down and handed him my glass, without question he filled it for me.

Quartz took a small sip of her own drink and sat it on the counter. “Forgive me if I forgot but...she was one of the two you buried yesterday, right?”

That question made me take another large gulp and I nodded. “Yes...yes she and Adam.” For some reason, I didn’t just feel warm in my stomach anymore. As a matter of fact, I felt a bit sick, with a heavy sinking feeling. I took another drink. “Both of them were good people... people I let down.”

Quartz’s face drained and she shook her head and leaned towards me. “No, that can’t be true,” she said to me as I started to feel tears forming around my eyes. My vision blurring as my mind began to wander through old memories, around me I could feel my consciousness fading. Yet, it wasn’t the alcohol’s doing. No. The world faded as I suddenly found myself back inside the McKinley vault. In front of me were Eva and Adam, both of them glaring at me.

“You thought just because you buried us, all of your problems would just up and vanish?” Adam said, his voice dark and heavily distorted, like a DJ rubbing a record player.

I blinked and shook my head. “N-no, I didn’t! Reynolds said the machine broke!” My voice cracked and choked up.

Eva shook her head. Her mouth opened, and out from it came her chilling, distorted tone, “You could’ve saved us, Chloe. You and I could’ve still been together.”

I trembled. “N-no, I couldn’t have!” I stepped back and dropped to my knees, my eyes fogging with tears as I looked up at them.

“You could’ve come out with the truth and given us more time to find a cure, time to save everything.” I started to sob as both of them spoke simultaneously. “But no, you locked yourself away from everyone—hid while the world died.”

“No. No. NO!” I cried as suddenly I was ripped back into reality.

“Chloe!” Quartz shook me as my groggy eyes opened and I saw that everyone in the bar was looking at me. Everything was silent, which I then quickly caught on that my hands were over my ears. Removing them didn’t make a difference; the entire bar was utterly silent. Sniffing I looked at Quartz, her eyes worried and as wide as dinner plates.

Sniffing and blushing with embarrassment, I said, “I-I saw them..."

Quartz took a deep breath and pulled out a coin purse. “C’mon, Chloe, you had too much to drink.” Sniffling and sobbing quietly, my heart felt as if it was falling into a bottomless pit and I couldn’t help but feel totally alone. The world around me darkened and the only other pony I could see was Quartz. All I could see was her glancing up, her lips moving, but I couldn't hear any words, she nodded her head and levitated out a handful of gold coins.

Rubbing my eyes, I could feel the tears coating them. Shaking my head, I thought I could faintly hear the garbled words from my dead friends filling my ears and head with guilt filled words and self-deprecation. I covered my ears and started muttering to myself over and over. “Shut up, shut up, shut the fuck up!” My fingers clenched and unclenched repeatedly until I felt something grip my left hand.

Suddenly the words vanished and my surrounding returned to me along with all its music and other sounds. Blinking confusedly, I saw that the bar had returned to its original state and in front of me was Eva smiling at me. “C’mon, Chlo, I just got the keys to one of the rooms upstairs.”

Blinking, I smiled. “Oh?” I sniffed and wiped my eyes.

Eva nodded her head, her hand already holding mine. “Hey,” she said softly. “Everything’s alright, okay?”

I sniffed and nodded my head. “Yeah...” my eyes glanced downwards but were stopped when her hand pushed me back up to look at her.

“If you ever need to talk, I’m here for you, Chlo,” she said and gave me a wide smile. A smile that I had fallen in love with the day I saw her arrive at the vault. The same smile that was always so fucking contagious that I couldn’t help but smile back whenever she made some cheesy joke, or for teasing me relentlessly.

“I...I feel lonely...” I said, my heart suddenly starting to open up, my tear ducts flowing once more as my vision blurred. “Everything...everyone I knew...they’re gone...”

Eva shook her head and placed the gold coins on the counter, her other hand taking mine, the two of us stood up. “But you’re not alone, Chlo, you have me, Reynolds, and now Little—”

I shook my head. “Th-that’s not what I mean!” I sniffed and suddenly regretted lashing out. However, Eva didn’t flinch. Smiling that same smile, she started to walk me towards the back of the bar. “M-my Mom...D-Dad...Amy, fuck even my ex...” I wiped my face as Eva nodded along as she carefully helped me up the steps. “They’re all fucking gone... b-because of how fucking weak and pathetic I am.” We stopped beside a door, to which Eva took the keys out and opened it.

“You’re not weak, Chloe; you’re far from that.” She pushed open the door and took my hand again. “You’re possibly one of the strongest mares I know.”

I bit my lip and shook my head as she kicked the door closed and took me to the bed. “But... you don’t know what happened before I came out with the truth.”

“I don’t need to know, Hon.” Eva sat me down on the bed, to which she then laid back on and stretched her limbs. “All I need to know is that you went through all of these hardships, yet you have the audacity to call yourself weak? I’d hate to see what strong’s like.” I snorted and lain down beside Eva, my arm absently wrapping around her as I snuggled close to her.

“You... you really think I’m strong?” I asked, my voice small; I hate to admit it, but it almost sounded childish.

Eva blushed lightly when she saw my arm and turned her head to look at me, our eyes meeting. “Well, of course I do,” she said softly, breath smelling a bit like cider. “As I said you’re one of the strongest I know, everyone else would’ve given up far before where you’re at now.”

My eyes widened as my heart began to thump against my rib cage. My cheeks suddenly lit on fire as my eyes watered and I looked away, yet once again, I was stopped by Eva taking my chin. Looking back at her gorgeous sky blue eyes, she said to me, “Never lose hope, Chloe. No matter how low you may feel, or how dark this world may seem to you. I will always be there for you along with everyone else.”

Lips quivering, and eyes watering, my voice came out in a small whimper as everything began to fail on me. Without any way to say thank you, I leaned in and pulled Eva into a deep, and passionate kiss. Immediately I felt the girl stiffen, but then immediately melt and push back into me, her arm coming up my side. Humming softly, I placed my hand on her chest and pushed her over, my legs swinging over her as I straddled her.

Breaking the kiss briefly, I gazed down at my lover with lidded eyes and breathed out, “I love you, Eva.” Before she could speak, I locked my lips with hers once more.

Author's Note

Thanks to: Seven Fates, this chapter would've come out waaay later, and probably wouldn't be super good.

Also thanks to Neko Majin C, for being super quick and spot on!

Chapter 18: Hint

I woke sometime the next morning, head pounding as if someone had taken a jackhammer to my skull. Shifting about under the covers of a rather comfortable bed, I rolled onto my back and opened my eyes. Above me was a ceiling fan rotating idly at a slow pace, forcing me to blink the blurriness from my eyes. I slowly reached up and rubbed away the crust before bringing my arm back down to my side.

“I don’t recognize this ceiling.” I muttered out loud to myself, my eyes unable to recognize the fan and the wooden ceiling behind it. Slowly, as to not cause the aching to become worse, I turned my head to the side to see if anyone, or anypony, was right next to me. There wasn’t. However, I did notice the window onto the far right spilling daylight into the room, and if I listened closely, I could hear people—ponies outside going about their business.

Another minute or so passed and I finally worked up the strength to climb out of the mysterious bed I was in. Gazing about the room, I saw that I must’ve been in some kind of hotel or something. I could see the open doorway to a restroom across from the bed, a desk with an ink pot and candle to my right, and a mirror on my left.

Gazing at the mentioned mirror, I saw that I was still fully clothed, the faint memory of yesterday morning replayed and I chuckled. “I guess...I wasn’t wearing that many layers last night.” I chuckled dryly, faintly remembering I left to go drink with Quartz. Figuring I had drunk too much, thus explaining my lack of memory, I laughed quietly. “So much for not going overboard...” I snickered quietly and pushed myself off the bed. Standing on two feet, I looked back at the desk and saw a note.

I walked over and plucked the note off the surface. The paper was thick and seemed to be stained in a few areas, possibly water or something. Judging by the hand—hoof—magic? It seemed Quartz had been in a hurry. Turning to cough into my fist, I looked back at the note and read it slowly.

Chloe,

I’m sorry for leaving so early, I won’t be there for you in the morning. Something came up and I just need to go take care of it. I wrote the directions back to the castle on the back and I left you some bits in the drawer for you so you can get some food or something. I’m sorry for leaving so suddenly, I hope you’re not mad. I’m just confused about something that I need to take care of.

Quartz.

I blinked and read the note over twice. “Well that just...seems odd.” I placed the sheet of paper back on the desk and glanced down at the drawer where Quartz said she left some, “She said ‘bits?’ The fuck is a bit?” I mumbled to myself when I opened the wooden drawer and found a large sack full of gold coins. “Oh, shit,” I whispered and grabbed the pretty heavy pouch. “These are bits?” I asked myself as if I expected to be granted some kind of answer. “Well, fuck me. I might as well be rich.” I took out a single coin and looked at it, curious, and wanting to be like one of them cartoon characters testing for real gold, I bit down the piece. Like the idiot I am, I bit a little too hard and felt like I was about to chip my tooth.

Wincing, I pulled back and stuffed the coin back in the pouch and sat the thing on the table. Rubbing my jaw, I grumbled about how that was stupid and looked at the restroom. Rubbing my gut, I went and did my usual morning business. Once I was done, I came out of the restroom and checked the directions on the back of the note.

“How the hell am I supposed to follow these?” I mumbled softly as I took in each and every name of the streets that mapped out the path to the castle. After a few moments I took a breath. “Shouldn’t be too hard I guess,” I said as I thought that I could just use the castle itself as a reference. I folded the piece of paper and stuck it into my pocket and sighed.

I glanced over at a clock above the doorway; it was a quarter past noon. Rubbing the back of my neck, I checked for any remaining items I might accidentally leave behind. Taking what I needed, I shuffled my way out of the room and stepped into a dimly lit corridor. The boards creaking beneath my feet, I took notice of how low the ceiling way compared to my relative height. Reaching upwards, I placed my palm on the ceiling before my arm could even fully stretch outwards. For some reason, I found this to be humorous and I chuckled lightly. “I’m a giant,” I muttered softly and giggled before lowering my arm and glancing towards the end of the corridor on my right where I spotted what looked to be the start of a staircase. I grinned and began to walk towards it.

:[-]:

When I reached the bottom, I stepped onto a red carpet and was greeted by utter silence. What I at first thought to be because the bar was empty, I glanced up and notice that everypony had their eyes trained on me. The grin I had when I came down the steps immediately vanished and I gulped. “Hi,” I practically squeaked out and raised an open hand. “I’m Chloe...” bit my lower lip when no one responded to me, nervously I glanced about and began to inch my way towards what I thought was the exit.

“Excuse me.” I was halted by a deep voice clearing its throat. I froze in position and glanced over at the counter and saw the bartender glaring at me. “Don’t you want to at least order some lunch?” the bartender asked me, the stallion’s voice sounding much calmer than when he stopped me.

I continued to bite my lower lip and shifted my gaze around, everyone else had gone back to their own business, faint murmurs filling the bar. “Uh...s-sure...” I nodded my head, some reason my gut telling me that a late breakfast wouldn’t be a bad plan at all. I went back over to the bartender and took a seat at a stool, the height of the stool making me seem even more like a giant compared to the mare sitting beside me. I glanced at the pony and smiled at her, the mare looked at me, her eyes shifting nervously before looking away, doing her best not to pay any notice of me. “I’m sorry,” I muttered softly and looked at the bartender.

“What can I get you?” he asked me with a cocked eyebrow, his eyes appearing neutral and his outfit suit like outfit seeming rather clean.

“Do you have eggs or something?” I asked softly and the bartender nodded.

“What about bacon?” This caused him to cock an eyebrow at me and sighed and dismissed the bacon with a wave of my hand, this caused him to cock his head. “Nevermind,” I verbally said.

“We have diced potatoes for a side,” the bartender said to me.

“Are they cooked?” I gave him a semi serious look.

“Do you liked them cooked?” He tilted his head curiously.

“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t,” I replied, and the stallion frowned at me; he must’ve taken my tone as me being an ass. I sighed. “Look, uh...Scrambled eggs, diced potatoes, and toast. If you can make that I’ll take it. Just make sure you ponies actually cook the food, please.”

The pony nodded his head and turned away from me, to my right I heard a faint tsk along with disgruntled mutter of “Foreigners.” I glanced over my shoulder and saw a couple ponies gazing over at me and muttering amongst themselves, I bit my lower lip once more and shook my head as I focused on what was in front of me.

“What is that thing anyway?” I just barely heard a mare behind me ask somepony by her.

“Like if I know, I heard Princess Celestia made an announcement or something,” muttered another pony.

I gritted my teeth and sulked in my seat. “Isn’t that the creature that flipped out last night and started sobbing?”

“Probably, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Maybe it’s some kind of minotaur birth defect?”

That’s it. Whirling around in my chair I glared at the ponies who were looking at me. “Could you all stop talking about me behind my fucking back?!” I snapped at them. “If you have a problem with me just say it to my fucking face!”

“Ma’am...” The bartender coughed and I looked towards him, breathing deeply as I tried to calm myself. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, and personally I don’t care. Just please, keep it down, or take it outside.”

I glared at the bartender but nodded in defeat. “Alright, sorry...” I pulled out the bag of gold coins Quartz had left for me and slid a couple coins to the stallion.

“You tipping me?” The stallion cocked an eyebrow.

“It’s an apology tip, so take it now before I change my mind,” I grumbled and took a deep breath.

The unicorn chuckled. “Well, don’t mind if I do.” He levitated the coins and placed them behind the counter. “The name’s Sonic.”

“The Hedgehog?” I glanced up him.

Sonic blinked. “Beg your pardon?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Nothing, just an inside joke,” I took breath and rested my head on my palm. “Say weren’t you making me food?”

“The cook is taking care of that, hun,” Sonic tsked as he past a couple drinks down to a few other ponies. “Can’t manage the bar if I’m the one cooking.” He smiled at me.

I blinked and blushed, chuckled nervously, and ran a hand through my hair. “Oh yeah, that makes sense.” I shook my head, god, I can be stupid.

“Y’know, I bet you some of the folks are wondering, and I’m sure as hell wondering, too...” Sonic’s voice lowered to a whisper and he leaned towards me. “And as good a fella as I am, I hope you don't mind me asking, but...just...what are you?”

“I’m a...from a dying breed.” I sighed as I rubbed my arm. “I’m a human being.”

Sonic blinked and stood back. “A human, eh?” he quickly magicked up a few more drinks and passed them down and he smiled widely. “Well, I’ll be, my great grandpappy used to talk about your kind.”

My eyes widened. “Wait, what?” I looked up at the bartender.

“Yeah, back when I was growing up in good ol’ Appleloosa, he’d tell us stories about a hooman he knew back in his younger days,” Sonic said as he leaned back against the bar.

For the first time in a while I sat up with a large, beaming smile across my face. “Wh-where is he now?”

Sonic blinked. “Oh, he’s back home in Appleloosa, you plan on going to see him or somethin’?” he asked me just as the cook came out with my breakfast.

“I-I do now!” I said in an excited tone.

Sonic chuckled and hovered my breakfast towards me. “Well, Appleloosa is a little ways away from here, Miss.”

“Like I give a shit about that,” I leaned forward, smiled, and picked up the fork the stallion hovered to me. “If there’s even the slightest possibility that I’d be able to see more of my kind again, I’d fucking jump off a cliff if I had to.”

Sonic cocked an eyebrow. “Well, that just sounds crazy, but if you really mean it...” He fell silent for a moment. “This weekend, I plan on heading back home for the Summer Sun Celebration. If ya want, I could take you to go see my Great Grandpappy.”

My eyes widened and filled with tears. “R-really, oh geez, thank you! Yes, I will come!” I nearly couldn’t resist the urge to leap out my chair and snuggle into the pony.

Sonic laughed. “Well calm down now, your food is getting cold and here,” He levitated a quill and paper down and wrote what looked like an address. “Meet me here this day and time, my family and I will most likely be ready.” He handed me the paper and took it and smiled as I read the address: 220 Quill Rd.

“Thank you, Sonic,” I sniffed and wiped my face. “I was not expecting any of this...” I looked at him. “Do recall anything your Great Grandpappy said?”

Sonic smiled and worked up another drink and passed it down. “I recall a bit...” he leaned against the stand and motioned for me to start eating my food, to which I did and smiled at the taste, almost everything was cooked perfectly. “From what I can remember, he talked about how back when he was a little colt, him and his sister were exploring the Macintosh Mountains.” I took a few bites and looked up at Sonic as I was already halfway through my breakfast, I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. “He said that his sister had fallen into a cave and he jumped in after her. The two of them got lost, but were soon found by hoofull of your species camping out down there, I think he said...they called themselves...uh...Oh yeah! The Remnants!”

I gasped and nearly fell off my chair, practically choking on my eggs. Sonic’s eyes widen and lept over the counter, suddenly his hoof smacked into my back and a glob of egg shot out of my mouth. Breathing in deeply, I turned and grasped the stallion by his shoulders. “I need a map!”

“What?”

“I need to know where the Macintosh Mountains are!” I shook him.

“Uh...Quill!” Sonic shouted.

Glancing over, I saw an adorably cute pegasus poke her head out from under the bar. “Yeah?”

“Go get the map!” Sonic said as he stepped out of my grasp. “You’re welcome, by the way.” He smiled at me.

I blushed and nodded awkwardly. “Yes, thank you.”

A moment later, the pegasus came out from the back room and walked around the bar with a rolled up map under her wing. Sonic thanked the cute pony and kissed her nose before taking the map. The pegasus blushed hard enough that the color burned through her coat, then she turned to head back behind the bar. Sonic smiled at me. “That’s my wife,” he said before going over to an unoccupied table, he sat the map down and unrolled it, pointing to the southern region with his hoof he said, “That’s the Macintosh Mountains.”

Glancing over my eyes widened. “That’s where the Kennedy Vault lies.”

“The what?” Sonic glanced over.

“Uh...I...” I took a deep breath. “Back before the collapse, as a last ditch effort, Congress had dozens, no hundreds of vaults constructed, across the states or some shit. They were intended for people to take shelter in, but I have no clue if the evacuation was successful or not because I was already in one.” I breathed deeply. “And even then, I only know of the ones in the tristate area.”

“Uh...” Sonic blinked. “What?”

“Do you mind if I keep this map?” I asked Sonic.

“S-sure.” He nodded. “I have plenty of them in the back.”

I smiled widely and couldn’t help but lean in and kiss the stallion on the cheek. “Thanks!” I snatched the map and hurried towards the main exit. “Thanks for the food, I’ll see you this weekend!” I ran out the front door, ready to find my way back to the castle and inform Reynolds.

Chapter 19: Directions

“S-sorry!” I called out as I stumbled past another pony, my eyes glued to the directions Quartz had given me to take back to the castle. My eyes squinted as I tried to read the hoof–magic, writing. To my dismay, the plan I had originally thought of, which required me using the castle as a landmark, hand not worked. One dead end after another, I had ended up becoming more frustrated then I had originally intended.

So instead I just decided to read the directions...which also didn’t really work.

As it turned out, the directions were written in a way which required me to start from the bar. Yet there was a catch… I lost the bar. So I was stuck there, standing in the middle of the road, scratching my head like the idiot I was while also being stared at by various, if not all, the ponies in the entire blasted city.

Which brought me to my next issue, asking for directions. Something I was never good at. Though in times such as the one I had put myself in, I had to suck it up. Taking a breath, I ran a hand through my hair and brushed my bangs from my eyes. I bit my lower lip and glanced around at the ponies. As I searched for my potential helper, my gaze slowly fell upon a small, blue unicorn mare a with a darker shade of blue and white for her mane and tail.

The pony quickly noticed me gazing at her and her eyes widened a bit, eyebrows curling upwards, she quickly looked away from me. Her tail even tucked between her legs and she started to slink away, I couldn’t help but chuckle softly at the adorable sight.

“Excuse me!” I started to walk towards her, to which she continued walking away from me. “Could you please help me?”

“I-I’m sorry, I’m pretty busy,” The blue mare replied to me as she began heading up the road, towards the opposite direction of the castle.

I frowned, how rude. “I just need some directions, please, I’ll be out of your hair in a moment.” The pony stopped and took a deep breath, she then nervously turned back towards me.

“Okay, where do you need to go?” Her voice was a little wavy and nervous sounding.

I smiled softly. “I just need to get to the castle,” I said softly, trying to calm her a little despite being a little aggravated myself. “I have a list of directions here, but...I can’t seem to find the actual roads that’ll help me get to there.” I held out the piece of parchment to the pony.

The mare took the paper in magic and read Quartz’s writing, she tilted her head a little as she skimmed over the words. “Galloping Road is literally right behind you,” The unicorn said in a deadpanned tone, I felt my cheeks burn with a blush, “if you just follow west and pay attention to the street signs, you should reach the castle in about ten minutes.”

“O-oh, thank you!” I said, my face burning as I chuckled nervously and ran a hand through my messy hair.

The unicorn nodded and levitated the directions over to me. I took the paper out of the air and looked at her, she seemed a little less on edge. Instead of worry though, she seemed to be examining me from head to toe, which just made me feel a little uncomfortable. “C-curious about something?” I asked her.

“Uh...I’m just wondering what species you are...you don’t mind me asking, do you?” She looked up at me.

I bit my lip, how many ponies am I going to have to explain this to? “I-I’m a human, you probably never heard of my kind, nowadays we’re pretty rare.”

“Human, eh?” I half expected her to say, ‘oh I heard of your kind’ like the bartender, Sonic, but she just cocked an eyebrow. “That’s pretty neat, I’ve never met anything called that before, guess that’s why I got nervous when you approached me.” The mare chuckled and kicked her hoof. “Mind if I ask what you have going on at the castle?”

“Oh.” I shifted my weight to one foot and flashed the pony a smile, sticking a hand in my pocket I took a breath. “For the meantime, I’m staying there with a friend of mine.”

The mare’s eyes widened, but not like in the freaked out way like earlier. “You have a friend who lives in the castle?!”

I snorted and nodded my head, a few heads glanced towards us and I straightened myself out. “You could say so, though, I might not be sticking around much longer. Well, I can’t make that choice just yet, but from what it seems like, I may traveling down south sometime next week.”

“Are you like an ambassador or something?” The pony seemed to be very curious in me now.

I shook my head, to which she pouted a little. “No. I’m a...” Would refugee be a proper word? “A friend.” I opted instead. “I thought I’d just visit and see how everything is doing.”

The pony pursed her lip and nodded before gasping. “Oh where my manners? I’m Minuette.” She stook a hoof out to me, to which I responded with a casual fist bump with the fist holding the directions.

“I’m Chloe Cooper,” I said smiling at the pony. “Thanks for helping me out, I’d like to chit chat a little more, but I got to get some news back to my colleague.” I rolled my shoulders back, which prompted a small pop from my back which made me hum softly.

Minuette nodded. “You’re welcome, sorry for kinda panicking a bit earlier...you’re pretty nice.”

I snorted and smiled. “Pretty nice, eh? Thanks,” I said before ruffling the pony’s mane with my hand as if she was dog. Minuette’s face scrunched cutely before stepping back and shooting me an awkward look, to which I blushed and stepped back myself. “S-sorry, th-that’s a way of expressing thanks,” I said pulling the excuse out my ass, which thankfully worked and the unicorn smiled.

“You’re fine, just startled me.” She giggled and straightened herself out. “Well, I hope everything goes well for you. Have nice day,” she smiled and turned away from me.

I chuckled lightly and waved at her before taking a breath and gazing back down at the directions. Turning around, I saw the diverging road with a sign above it saying: Galloping Road.

“She wasn’t kidding,” I muttered and shook my head. “Well, oki-doki, let’s go.”

:[-]:

I done fucked up.

I don’t know how.

But I was lost.

I covered my face and leaned back against a wall in the alleyway. “How the fuck did I...?” I sighed and shook my head and gazed down at the directions, the evening sun casting its yellow glow on the page in my hand. I took another deep breath and glanced at the image. “Alright, Chloe, it ain’t that hard, maybe we can just ask for...”

I blinked once more when I noticed a blue pony walk past the alleyway entrance. Turning, I stood there a little confused before shaking my head and running back out to the road. I gasped when I saw Minuette walking with another light green unicorn. “Ahha! I’m saved!” I fist pumped the air and ran towards the pony, in the process I nearly got ran over by three speeding ponies who were pulling carriages.

Letting off a yip I just lurched out of the way of nearly being hit by a pony who had swerved out of the way. I stood there and blinked for a moment, shaking my head I looked to the now distant Minuette and ran towards her. “Hey, excuse me!” I called.

Minuette stopped and blinked, the mint colored unicorn continuing only to stop and glance back when she noticed Minuette wasn’t beside her. “Something wro—waaah!” The pony nearly flew into the air when I came up beside Minuette.

The blue unicorn blinked and turned. “Oh, Chloe...” She blinked and cocked her head. “I thought you were going to the castle?” I chuckled quietly and rubbed the back of my head.

“Y-yeah, about that...” I chuckled and looked away.

“You’re lost.” Minuette gave me a dead look.

My eyes widened a bit and my cheeks burned brightly. “That obvious, huh?”

Minuette’s face softened a bit and she smiled. “My mare, Berry Punch, makes a very similar face when she’s lost on something.” That only seemed to make my blush even darker.

“S-sorry, I tried to follow the directions, a-and I was doing good for a li-little bit,” I said feeling all flustered and small inside. I took a breath and handed her the parchment. “I can’t find Mane St.”

“Wh-who are you?” the mint colored pony finally spoke up. Glancing up at her, I blushed a little and smiled.

“Th-the name is Chloe, Chloe Cooper.” The unicorn tilted her head and before she could ask, I said, “I’m a human.” I raised my hand in a calming gesture before the pony could freak out or anything.

The mint one’s eyes widened at the sight of my hand, growing to the size of dinner plates as he looks at it in awe. I blinked and looked down at Minuette. “Is something wrong?” I whispered.

Minuette looked at my hand and then back at minty. “Oh uh...Lyra has uh...a fetish.” My eyes widened a bit and a lowered my hand. “She’s infatuated with hands,” she giggled.

I took in a sharp breath and stepped back. “Okay then,” I muttered just as the mint colored pony named Lyra shook her head.

“S-sorry, my name is Lyra Heartstrings!” Minty straightened herself out and smiled widely.

I chuckled softly. “Nice to meet you...”

Minuette grinned. “So, I take it you need directions again?” I nodded, she giggled lightly and levitated the paper with written directions up to her face, she frowned. “Mane St. is literally right there.” She pointed with a hoof over towards a road right next to the alleyway I was just in, my eyes widened and my lips curved down into a deep frown.

“Fuck!” I cursed and scuffed my foot on the ground.

Minuette and Lyra both giggled cutely. “Eh, it’s not that bad, I was the same way when I first came Canterlot,” she said. “If you just keep your eyes open and focus on what’s at hoof you’ll get back in no time.” She levitated the directions towards me and took them out of the air and nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I guess… my mind has been elsewhere recently,” I chuckled softly and rubbed the back of my neck. “I’ll try and focus more, thanks again.” I gave the pony a small wave before turning and heading back towards the castle.

:[-]:

It took a bit, but I finally made it.

After I had been stopped by at least five guards and clarified who I was, I was finally able to step foot back inside Canterlot castle. “Yaaaay...” I cheered weakly and let my arms fall back down to my side. I took a deep breath and glanced about the great hall, appreciating the mighty fine pony architecture, while also thinking to myself that if wasn’t for their magic, none of this would be here.

“Why, greetings, Miss Cooper.” I jolted a bit at the sound of a pony’s voice, turning around I smiled when I saw that it was just Luna.

“Oh, h-hey.” I felt my cheeks burning due to the embarrassment of being startled. “What’s up uh...Princess...L-Luna?”

The Princess smiled. “Please, dear, a friend of Doctor James Reynolds, is a friend of mine. You can just call me Luna.” I blushed even more at that.

“Why, thank you, Luna, I guess I can think the same way about you.” I rubbed the back of my neck, suddenly my eyes widened as my memory came rushing back. “Oh shit!” I blurted out before covering my mouth, giggling softly at Luna’s shocked expression.

“What is it?” Luna asked as she tilted her head.

“S-sorry, I just remembered something great! Where’s Reynolds, I need to talk to him immediately!” I giggled all giddy like, I was literally bouncing where I stood.

Luna giggled and smiled. “What has you all so excited?” she asked, sounding a little bit surprised.

I smiled widely and went up to Luna, just a few inches away from her I said in a excited, but hushed tone, “I met a pony in a bar saying his great grandpa knows a group of other humans living in the Kennedy vault!” I literally squealed at the last bit.

Luna cocked an eyebrow at me, her face taking on a skeptical look as she pulled back. “Really, now?” she asked, her tone not as excited as mine...why wasn’t she happy like I was?

“Well, yeah, it’s fantastic! Reynolds, Chlo, and I might not be the only people left that are scraping by!” I said trying to sound excited once more, but something about Luna’s expression wasn’t so pumping.

The mare took a deep breath. “Chloe, I know things are tough as of now and that you’re...going through some hardships—”

“Wh-what are you trying to say?” I cut Luna off as I suddenly became defensive. “That Sonic was lying to me?”

Luna rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’m not saying it’s impossible that he wouldn’t be, Chloe, you did say you met this pony in a ba—”

“But he said the name! He said they were they were The Remnants!” I raised my voice slightly but quickly silenced myself and took a breath, I started back up but in a quieter, more calmer tone, “Please, Luna...don’t do this to me.”

Luna blinked a took a breath. “Not all ponies are good, Chloe, I’m just trying to help you understand that...it’s possible this one could perhaps, take advantage of your current mental state.”

I glared at Luna and cocked an eyebrow. “What about my ‘mental state’ has you so concerned? I feel perfectly fine, hell this had been the happiest I’ve been since I learned James was still alive!”

Luna bit her lip. “Chloe, I’ve been checking in on your dreams ever since I’ve learned of your existence. You even met me a few times in them, you’re troubled...and I want to help you. The thought of something possibly happening which could devastate you troubles me.”

I shook my head. “No! Just stop, okay! Just...leave me alone!” I turned away from Luna and stormed off to go and find Reynolds myself.

:[-]:

“Mommy!” Little Chloe squealed happily when I entered the castle dining room, the little girl hopped off her dining chair and ran towards me.

“Hey!” I beamed happily and knelt down, the girl jumped at me and latched her arms around my neck.

I chuckled and wrapped my arms around the girl, I hadn’t expected to be forced into a hug like this. Hell, I can’t even remember the last time I hugged a kid, and even then, I had never expected that I would hug a kid who was supposedly my “daughter”. This whole being a “mother” bit was going to take a long time getting used to, let alone getting to know my apparent daughter. Things in this world just keep turning up when I least expect them, anymore of this and I’m just going to be driven crazy.

‘Aren’t you already?’ The voice in the back of my head said before I quickly stomped it out, I smiled at Little Chlo and released her from my embrace.

“Glad to see you two are getting along.” Reynolds coughed out from over in his chair.

I ruffled Chloe’s hair and was awarded with a cute squeak and a pout from the girl before smiling and standing back up before I straightened myself out. “Well, I just can’t help it,” I giggled while stretching my arms. “She’s just too adorable!” The little girl blushed and smiled up at me.

“Daddy’s teaching me about a man named Isaac Newton and the basic Laws of Physics!” Little Chloe chirped and I blinked.

“Isn’t that a bit much for a girl who’s only eight?” I asked jokingly as I looked over at Reynolds with a smile, pretty soon this girl’s going to be a lot smarter than I’ll ever be.

“I like learning!” Chloe giggled and hugged my leg.

I blinked, yep...this girl is definitely not me.

I shook my head and laughed quietly. “That’s great, hun. Can I ask what you want to do when you grow up?” I asked in a soft and playful sounding voice.

“I wanna bring back all the humans!” Chloe said in a very chirpy, but also confident voice which struck a chord deep in my chest, rendering me speechless. I looked down at Chloe and blinked a few times before finally smiling softly, I reached down and stroked her hair back.

“Well, I’m rooting for you, kiddo.”

Reynolds coughed and I glanced over at him. “Is there anything I can help you with, Chloe?” he asked as he shakily got up from his chair, hand clutching his cane tightly.

I gently pushed Chloe off my leg and turned to face Reynolds. “Yeah, I need to talk to you...” I looked back at Chloe. “Though I think we should do it privately.”

Chloe caught onto what I said and puffed her cheeks. “But I wanna hear!”

Reynolds cackled as he came around the table. “Sorry, hun, mommy wants to have a grown up talk with me, just wait outside, okay, we can pick up with school in a moment.” Chloe pouted more and turned, obediently she went to the door and exited the room as requested and waited. “She’s just perfect, isn’t she?” Reynolds smiled at me.

“I won’t lie, Doc...” I bit my lip. “It’s going to take a long time for me to get used to not seeing myself in her.” I looked at James who nodded in agreement.

“I can understand that, Chloe, but keep in mind she is one hundred percent human...” he turned and gestured to a pitcher of water. “May I offer you a drink?”

I rubbed my throat, which was actually very dry. “Yes please,” I said and walked over to the pitcher, took it in hand along with a spare cup that was off to the side and poured myself a cup of cold water. “Though...is that your plan?” I alluded to Chloe. “To just recreate humanity with clones of ourselves?”

Reynolds waddled over to me and rested himself against the table. “I guess it’s my turn to not lie,” he laughed softly, “It was one of my old plans, but...” he fell silent.

“But what?” I glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow, but he dismissed me with a wave of a hand.

“It was an ambition that was just too far for me,” Reynolds mumbled softly.

“You made her though,” I gestured towards the door. “Why couldn’t you make others? Get like...some kind of—”

“If this is what you came to talk to me about, Cooper,” I flinched at the use of my last name, “I’ll have you know I’d rather not discuss this.” Reynolds glared at me with his single eye.

I bit my lower lip and shook my head, the hell was that all about? “No. I came to actual bring good news,” I said softly and looked at Reynolds, giving him a small smile to help lighten the mood, it seemed to work because James immediately smiled back and relaxed.

“And what should this good news be?” He asked in a much calmer voice.

I took a long drink of my water and sat the cup aside. “I met a pony at a bar.” Before I continued I took a breath, yet before I could continue Reynolds gasped.

“Don’t tell me—”

“NOT like that!” I quickly sliced his sentence in half. “No, I’m not in any form of relationship, just let me finish,” I said as the old man fell into a fit of laughter. “Perv,” I huffed but also chuckled lightly. “What I meant to say, is I found a pony who knows of...The Remnants...” Reynolds silence ended abruptly, so much so it was as if he’d just died. Slowly, his head turned to look at me, his gaze stern and cold.

“He said his great grandfather stumbled upon humans, a few of them living where the Kennedy—GGGAAA–OUCH!” I let off a sharp cry when Reynold’s cane suddenly connected with my shin and let off a loud thwack.

“Silence that mouth, this instant!” Reynolds hissed as I let off a whimper and leaned over to clutch my surely bruised shin. “You do not know what you speak of!” Reynolds gritted his teeth and knelt down, gazing up at him I blinked away a few tears. “These walls have ears that do not wish to hear specific things,” he hissed softly. “After school, come to my room and we shall continue this discussion further.”

Utterly confused and filled with pain, I blinked once more and nodded. “O-okay...y-you didn’t have to...h-hit me though,” I whimpered.

“We both know, Chloe, that the only way to silence you is a good, light smack,” Reynolds snickered. “Believe me, Eva told me.”

I blushed softly and nodded my head. “Luna knows...” I muttered and winced when I felt Reynolds cane lightly touched my back.

“After school,” he repeated.

Author's Note

Mysterious

Chapter 20: A History Lesson

“After school.”

I sat there in Reynolds’ quarters, taking a breath I rested back in his swivel chair, feet kicked up onto his desk. I bit my lower lip and thought about his heated warning back in the dining room. “These walls have ears that do not wish to hear specific things.” Talk about ominous. Letting off a sigh I scratched my chest and adjusted my bra straps before I slid my feet off the table and sat up with perfect timing due to the door opening behind me.

The faint sounds of grumbled frustration caused me to turn my head with a raised eyebrow. “Something wrong?” I asked as I saw the heated old man toss his belongings onto his bed, the door slid shut behind him and he cast me an irritated glance.

“Yes,” he said bluntly, his voice rasp. “There is something wrong; something very wrong.” My teeth jammed down on my tongue and I gulped. Reynolds let off a deep breath and waddled over to his closet. Opening it, I saw he had a water dispenser inside.

What an odd place to store your water. I started to walk towards him, my hand naturally rubbing the back of my neck. “I take it you’re mad because of me?”

Reynolds straightened himself out and turned towards me before shaking his head. “No, I’m not angry at you directly...” he sighed. “More or less, I’m frustrated with myself.” Reynolds took a small, metal cup and filled it with water before turning to me and holding it out. “Want a drink?”

I nodded and reached over to take the cup. “What are you angry about?” I asked him nervously as I took a sip of the rather cold water.

“Past events. It’s a long story,” Reynolds grumbled as he filled his own cup and took a large drink.

“Man, I have all the time in the world,” I told him as I took a large drink myself. I went over to his bed and sat down, my eyes widening. It was memory foam.

Reynolds sighed. “I guess we do,” he said softly as he finished his cup and immediately poured himself a second one. Taking a smaller sip he went over to his desk, under which was a locked cupboard. Fishing into his pocket, Reynolds produced a small key and unlocked the door to the small compartment. Moments later, he would come out with a faded, brown leather journal, which he turned and tossed at me.

I caught the journal, which I quickly noticed was bound shut, with ease and looked at it. “It’s your diary, I remember you writing in this all the time.” I looked up at him. “I’m surprised you hadn’t filled it completely by now.”

Reynolds chuckled. “Aside from me writing tiny, I took many breaks, mainly between my times in the cocoons.” He breathed deeply and slowly walked over to me. “Neither Celestia nor Luna know of my possession of this book, and on many occasions, I had to take various amounts of sleeping pills and set up barriers around my room to keep Luna from entering my head.”

I straightened myself out and blinked, Reynolds could see the shocked look on my face when I turned to look up at him. “You really don’t want them knowing about the book,” I said.

Reynolds nodded. “Or any of my other plans...” He took a seat beside me on the bed.

“What do you mean?” I turned to look at him and also scooted away a bit.

“Ponies aren’t really ones to respect privacy, especially the sisters,” Reynolds mumbled quietly. “To be honest with you, Chloe...” He trailed off and looked at me, his face icy. “I despise those two.”

My eyes widened and I leaned back a bit. “Wh-why?” I asked in a tiny voice.

Reynolds turned and leaned a bit, his wrinkly arms resting on his knees. “They forced my hand, believe it or not. I’m practically their prisoner. I don’t want to go too deep into my past with these wretched clods...” Reynolds shook his head. “Aside from you, they took everything from me. From us.” He gazed up at the ceiling before looking at me.

I blinked slowly and looked Reynolds in the eyes. “Took what?” I asked.

Reynolds shook his head and tapped on his journal. “Read it,” he said. “Start on page two hundred and read on from there.”

“But what about The Remnants?” I leaned towards Reynolds, my arm gesturing outwards. “Why did you hit me when I brought them up?”

The old man cringed and closed his eyes. “Page 252...February 17th 15045 0600,” Reynolds said softly. “It was the start of the Equestrian Expansion.” Reynolds took a deep breath. “Everything had gone to utter shit just as it seemed to be going well...” he sniffed. “I thought I was in control, we had everything we needed I thought... I thought Jamestown was the sign of a new beginning.”

I blinked and shook my head. “What? You started a town?”

Reynolds nodded and got up. “Come here, I have pictures.” I sat the journal aside and stood up and followed him towards his desk, and opened the locked cupboard and took out an envelope. He opened it and dumped dozens of pictures onto the desk, my eyes widening and tearing up at the sight of them.

“I started Jamestown thirty years before the Equestrian equivalent of Manifest Destiny,” he said quietly as I reached down picked up an image of a middle aged Reynolds standing beside two young men who seemed to be in their really late teens or early twenties in the middle of an amateur looking wheat field.

“How come in the logs you sent me you never mentioned anything of Jamestown?” I asked as I picked up another image of Reynolds standing with a few burly men in military camouflage, my eyes locking onto a familiar face on the far right. He was a tall, dark skinned man with a graying beard, in his hand was American assault rifle. I couldn’t make out the model, though, I was never great with firearms to begin with.

“Most of the logs I sent was before Jamestown was even a thought in my mind. Half of the people in these photos were still inside the artificial wombs in most of these images,” Reynolds sighed. “And uh...afterwards...” he took a deep breath and turned away from the photos. “How much do you know of imperialism?”

I blinked and turned to look at Reynolds. “Uh...” My eyes shifted a bit. “I know it’s not a good thing?”

Reynolds nodded. “For the most part yes, it isn’t. For the one committing the act, it's usually good, as for the victims, it's godawful,” Reynolds explained at sat down.

“I take it you were a victim?” I asked shifting my eyebrow upward.

“Like hell we all were!” Reynolds gritted his teeth. “When the Equestrians started advancing eastward, we were caught within the expansion radius. You see, Chloe, they may preach peace and harmony, but back then, it was nothing but xenophobia and control.” I blinked and Reynolds continued. “They saw me and my science as some kind of fucking dark magic; the technology we were using to reproduce ourselves; the population bombs and my cloning experiments Fuck, even our water pumps, generators, everything! It was unnatural to them, therefore they dubbed it dark magic.”

“What happened?” I asked, still with a tiny voice.

Reynolds leaned towards me. “Purification. They rode in on their flying chariots and charged in at us from every angle, they surrounded the whole fucking town without us realizing it. We hardly had any weapons, most of the guns eroded away over the years; we had some but not many. Most of us had to fight tooth and nail… Lets just say we didn’t stand a chance...”

“What’d they do to you guys?”

“Purified...” Reynolds repeated softly. “We were all exposed to vast amounts of magic...” He glared up at me and then clarified; “The SOL Virus.”

My eyes widened. “They’re all...”

“Not all of them died, surprisingly,” Reynolds said. “A good chunk of us actually survived the ‘cleansing’.” I bit my lip and sat down on the swivel chair. “After they were done, they destroyed everything; the embryos, our homes, weapons and technology. They wiped Jamestown off the map and forced the survivors into wagons and we were shipped off to the capital to be trialed.” Reynolds took another large breath and let it out in a drawn out sigh. “I was made prisoner, the others... I don’t know...” He gazed up at me. “Chloe, if you’re saying that this pony of yours said he knows of the Remnants, then that means that the others made it out, or perhaps may still be alive.” Reynolds got up onto his feet and slowly began to walk towards me, a wide smile on his face, his eyes glistening. As he approached me, he reached out and placed an arm on my left shoulder, our eyes locking. “I want you to go, Chloe, if you find them, we just might be able to have the comeback we deserve.”

I blinked a few times and shook my head, Reynolds frowned. “This doesn’t make sense,” I said softly.

“What?” Reynolds said sounding shocked, his hand letting go of my shoulder.

“You’re a prisoner, right?” I looked at him. “And the Equestrians saw cloning as dark magic... Th-then how come you’re roaming freely and cloning me?!”

“I explained to them the fundamental of magic, and showed them my research. I’m not Celestia’s head scientist, but I’m also stuck within the confines of the castle,” Reynolds said. “I told you already I believe that I cannot leave here. Young Chloe was also born in secret and when Luna found out about her, she was nearly killed but I threatened to commit suicide if they did.” I blinked.

“How were you able to come to McKinley vault?” I asked.

“I came here a few thousand years before Equestria existed, the original capital a few hundred miles south of here. After the fall of Jamestown and Luna’s failed coup, the capital was conveniently relocated here,” Reynolds sighed. “Look, Chloe, I know this sounds weird or that I may even be lying, but seriously, read the journal, all the information you’ll ever want to know is in there.”

I took a breath. “I just...this is a lot to take in...like seriously, this sounds like a whole other fucking story.” I stepped around Reynolds and flopped onto his bed. “I don’t even know what to think anymore… Everyone we knew is dead, you tried rebuilding civilization and apparently the ponies are fucking Nazis all of a sudden, you’re really a prisoner, and me... What about me?” I looked at Reynolds. “If the ponies are really anti-human, why am I the only exception?” I shook my head and curled up on Reynolds bed. “Ugh... My fucking brain hurts.”

“I know this is a lot to take in, Chloe. For all we know, they could be trying to change, that’s why they haven’t done anything to you. Perhaps you are an exception. Just like Little Chloe.” Reynolds sat on the bed again.

I groaned and rolled onto my back. “I think I need a few drinks,” I said sarcastically and Reynolds chuckled.

“I have some whiskey in the recreation room. If you want, we can discuss more in there.”

I took a deep breath. “I’ll take the whiskey, but hold off on the history lesson for now.”

Reynolds chuckled. “As you wish, Chloe. I apologize for hitting you earlier.”

I laughed quietly. “You can apologize by getting me shit faced.” I glanced up at the old man and saw him blushing heavily. I snorted. “If I wake up naked next to you, I sure as hell will need to be purified.” Reynolds cringed and looked away, my eyes widened. “Oh, shit, too soon?”

“Just by a handful of millennia,” Reynolds smiled at me.

I grinned. “Ah, nothing a few drinks won’t solve.”

Chapter 21: Accident

I groaned quietly and cupped a hand to my forehead, breathing deeply. “God dammit...” I muttered softly as my head ached slightly and my stomach felt like utter shit. Two days in a row of waking up with a hangover probably wasn’t one of the smartest things I’ve ever done...then again there had been plenty of things I’ve done in the past that weren’t smart. Not only that, had it been two days in a row? Being down in the vault with Reynolds made it hard to tell time, and I couldn't exactly see a clock through my shut eyes.

I gritted my teeth and whimpered slightly as I opened my eyes, sighing with relief the lights in the room were partially dim. Looking about my surroundings through my blurry vision, I could see that I was lying on the couch in the recreation room. A few bottles of whiskey were scattered about along with a shirt draped over one of the chairs and my bra laid on the floor in front of me along with my panties...

“The fuck?” I blinked and sat up, my mind sobering up rather quickly as I noticed I was completely naked. Gulping nervously I caught on to a rather peculiar taste of something bitter in my mouth, I groaned as I reached over and snatched a bottle off the ground and gazed into my reflection, my hair was a complete mess and my face looked completely exhausted. I reached up and touched my face and flinched a bit as I was shocked with tingles, my eyes widened and I dropped the bottle...I knew exactly what had happened.

“I got laid...” I muttered softly to myself, the symptoms I was feeling, these tingles, sudden tiredness, let alone the fact I was messy and my clothes were scattered all about the place. I had just got fucking laid and by the looks of it...I probably enjoyed every second of it but, how the...why the?

I covered my face and let off a groan, suddenly I felt so embarrassed and ashamed. “I fucking got laid by a thousand year old man!” I moaned into my hands. “A fucking man!” I repeated as I shook my head as I suddenly felt like crying.

‘Maybe you were raped?’ The darker half of my conscience suggested.

I shook my head. “No, that’s stupid. Reynolds wouldn’t do that and he’s old as shit, he can barely even go up steps.” I muttered as I shifted on the couch, my exhausted body tingling due to my overly sensitive nerves, usually caused by a strong climax.

‘That doesn’t mean anything, you were drunk,’ Dark Chloe said and I glanced over to see her in the doorway.

“Yeah but...we both were,” I said softly, utterly ashamed.

Dark Chloe snorted and shook her head before tossing my bra to me, I grabbed it and put it on before walking/stumbling over to get my shirt. ‘Then why are you beating yourself up if there’s nothing wrong?’

I bit my lip and immediately pulled a lame excuse out of my own ass. “Because I’m a lesbian and...well...” My teeth gnashed my lip a little harder. “He’s old.” Dark Chloe snorted once more before falling into a fit of laughter.

‘Really, now? That’s why you’re so upset, have you’ve forgotten you’re the last chick on Earth?’ My darker half chided. ‘Listen to yourself, girl, you’re not going to be able to fuck another girl’s brains out for the rest of your life.’ I opened my mouth to retort but stopped when she continued, ‘Not only that, maybe you could help the human race by...I dunno, getting pregnant and having a real kid.’ I flinched at that and bit my lip the thought of Reynolds releasing inside me sent a serious shiver up my spine, I quickly snatched my shirt up and pulled it on, only to stop when I felt something really sticky latch onto the shirt halfway down my back.

Dark Chloe grinned wildly at me from by the refrigerator, how’d she get over there? ‘I guess we’ve got some kind of cum back story.’ I could feel my cheeks become a vibrant red as I threw my shirt off and shook my head.

“SHUT UP!” I cried out at my conscience, my heart unable to take her words any longer. “Just shut up and get the fuck out of my life!”

The other Chloe continued to laugh before starting to walk over me. ‘Sorry, sexy, I can’t really do that~’ she purred.

“Please, just go away!” I whined as I clenched my fist and began to look around for my panties, my breathing escalating as I realized I couldn’t remember where they were.

‘I wonder how Reynolds is doing?’ I felt her voice sneer right into my ear.

I shook my head. “Shut up...” I muttered softly as I clutched a hand between my breasts, my eyes shifted left and right, I couldn’t find those damn panties.

‘He probably enjoyed it greatly~’

“Shut up.” I felt tears rolling down my cheeks, where the fuck were they?!

‘I bet he’s writing all about it in his diary—’

“SHUT THE FUCK UP—!” I whirled around towards the door and screamed, only to stop when I saw Reynolds looking at me with wide eyes, suddenly, as if my body went on autopilot, I started to march towards him.

“Chloe, wh-who are you talking—” The back of my hand connected with the side of Reynold’s head, my knuckles colliding with his temple. Reynolds eyes, for a brief moment, widened in shock before rolling back as he fell to the floor.

For a few moments I remained standing over the man’s body, my chest rising and falling as I was overwhelmed with anger. As my actions finally caught up with me, my heart began to race madly as my eyes suddenly filled with tears. Covering my mouth, I felt as if I was going to hyperventilate. “Oh shit, fuck, fuck!” I dropped to my knees and shook Reynolds. “James, James!” The man didn’t respond, his eyes were closed and his body was motionless. I stood up and hugged myself with my arms and glanced wildly around the room, not knowing what to do. “What do I do?!” At this point I was openly sobbing, my voice barely even audible.

‘Good job, you killed the only other human on the planet,' Dark Chloe said as she rolled her eyes.

“SHUT UP!” I screamed and cried loudly.

She rolled her eyes once more. ‘Well, at least this time it is your fault.”

I responded by dropping to my knees and sobbing loudly.

‘So much for the possibility of getting laid again.’ Dark Chloe walked over to me and kicked me with her foot. ‘Hey, dumbass, you should at least go get ahold of someone...or somepony, whatever the fuck they say.’

She was right, take deep breaths. I pushed myself up and glanced towards where her voice was coming from. Except...she wasn’t there, yet my panties were. Right in front of the couch where I woke up. Biting my tongue I snatched the underwear and ran out of the room without even throwing them on.

:[-]:

I stumbled and sobbed through the castle with only my shirt on. Constantly stopping at every pony to ask them for help, yet like always, they ran away. As if I was some kind of monster looking to kill them or something. “Please, M-my friend!” I reached out towards a maid who quickly scurried away from me, covering my face I dropped to my knees and began to sob once more.

‘Maybe if you’d actually put on a pair of pants, they’ll at least attempt to talk to you...’ Dark Chloe tsked and shook her head.

“Shut up...please...” I said between sobs, I wiped the tears away from my eyes with my wrist and whimpered softly.

“Chloe?” I heard a familiar voice of a mare behind me, I turned and gasped when I saw Twilight looking at me concerned.

“A-are you talking to...yourself again?” The alicorn asked nervously as she approached me slowly.

I flinched and shook my head. “N-no...” I sniffed and wiped my eyes once more, I knew they were puffy and red, especially due to the irritation from constantly rubbing them.

Twilight seemed to not question my response and instead changed the subject, “Are you okay?”

I responded with a shake of my head, but then quickly perked up and reached out to Twilight, who in turn dashed back. I immediately retracted my hand. “I-I need your help,” I whispered softly, Twilight blinked and softened her body relaxing before giving me a concerned look once more.

“What’s wrong, Chloe?” She asked me while also staying out of arm's reach, it was as if she was treating me like some kind of wild animal.

“I-It’s Reynolds, I hurt him...and he won’t get up.” I covered my face once more and began to sob, within seconds I felt Twilight come to my side.

“Wh-where is he? Take me to him,” Twilight said and I felt myself being pulled up so I was standing.

I nodded my head. “He’s back...i-in th-the vault.” I continued to rub my eyes, Twilight’s magic enveloped my other arm and I felt her pulling me along like a lost child. “W-we were just relaxing...h-having some drinks, I-I blacked out and...” I decided to leave out the sex bit and instead said, “He came in and startled me and I hit him.”

Twilight shook her head. “You need to be more careful,” she muttered as we headed towards the stairwell leading into the cave. As we traveled down the steps, I couldn't help but feel very alone, and I found myself wishing both Quartz and Crystal were here. Even though I only knew them for a short bit, I just...had a feeling that the two of them would know how to cheer me up.

Yet they weren’t here… In fact, I had no idea where they were. I recall Crystal left to go deal with her money issues, and Quartz...she just left without telling me where she went.

The two friends who helped me the most weren’t here, and once again I felt like I was truly hopeless.

Author's Note

Sorry for the very short chapters recently. I don't have much time to actually sit and write a full length one. This way also makes it so I can update faster. I'll try and start writing longer chapters if I find I have more time.

Chapter 22: Apology

I sat back against the metallic wall, my eyes wide and hands resting beside me on either end. The tears had stopped flowing, my cheeks were dry and covered in crust, Twilight looked to me from where she sat on the bed next to me. Her face masked with concern after I had finished my story about what had happened between Reynolds and I. The alicorn had nothing to say, what could she say? I had acted without thinking, struck the only other human in the world beside me and now he was unconscious in the castle clinic. It didn’t make me feel better knowing that he was going to make a full recovery, point was...I hit him. I attacked him without knowing the facts, yet on pure assumption. There’s no making up for that.

It’s all my fault.

“Tsk, tsk.” Came the voice of dark Chloe who stood at the other end of the spare bedroom Twilight and I sat in deep with the Kennedy Vault. “You truly are an idiot.”

“Shut up...” I simply muttered, causing Twilight’s ears to perk. The mare looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I turn looked away. Yet there was no stopping the next oncoming question:

“Who’re you talking to?” Twilight asked curiously and I shifted in my spot. I had not told the alicorn of the events that led up to me backhanding Reynolds, the visions of a darker half of myself. The fact that something within me, a subconscious that constantly berates me. My crippling depression that I know all too well that I’m experiencing. I didn’t want to rehash of what happened in the McKinley vault, the complete and utter breakdown I had in front of the ponies; Quartz and Crystal.

“N-no one...” I simply uttered. “I was just daydreaming.” For some reason I found myself unable to tell Twilight of the other half of me. Something inside me; that I couldn’t control, kept me from opening my mouth. Yet I didn’t have to, for the next words out of Twilight’s mouth stunned me.

“You’re still seeing her aren’t you?” Twilight asked me and I froze. I knew Twilight was recalling my mental breakdown in the library in McKinley. The moment when I snapped and went completely berserk and had a screaming match with myself. I didn’t reply to Twilight, at least, not verbally. Simply, I turned my head and gazed at the floor. I heard Twilight take a breath and shift her body to face me. “Chloe, I think you should go talk to Princess Luna about this...mare--er--person you’re seeing.”

“I don’t need her help,” I muttered softly something inside my chest twitched and I bit my lower lip. I could take care of this myself, I don’t need anyone or pony for that matter to pity me. That was the kind of thought process I had. Perhaps it was some kind of punishment, his constant berating from another version of myself a more logical one that perhaps could’ve stepped up sooner and maybe even prevented all of this. Yet the me now, the one sitting here after slapping the shit out of the only other human, sat beside a talking horse doing nothing. Pathetic.

Twilight took a breath. “Chloe, please, this isn’t healthy. At least not for ponies, you should really go talk to her. She knows everything relating to well...a pony’s conscious, but yours might not be too different. She could maybe help you by casting some kind of suppressing spell that’ll mask her,” Twilight said; referring to my Dark Chloe. Who by this point had vanished once again, yet I could feel her, the shadow tendrils on my shoulders, this choking darkness inside my conscious.

A few moments of silenced passed and I sighed softly. “Sure...I’ll go talk to her,” I said quietly but really had no intention on doing such a thing. As of now I just wanted to remain alone and just sit in self deprecation, maybe go for a walk once more. Perhaps even go back to that bar and use the money Quartz had given me to just get drunk again, which sounded like a good plan. Maybe talk to that Sonic bartender again.

I blinked and sat quietly on the bed, the only sound I could make out was mine and Twilight’s breathing. Another thought came to mind shortly after I wiped the edge of my eyes, the crust of my tears flaking away. Where had Quartz gone? Or even Crystal? The two ponies who had helped me left...the two I slightly considered to be genuine friends of mine despite only knowing them for two whole days, yet by the third they had gone.

Maybe the thought they weren’t needed anymore...or if by some chance; could I have driven them away? That thought only seemed to drag my mood down more and I finally shifted in my seat and got up, my legs having come close to falling asleep. I looked to Twilight and gave her small nod of thanks before saying, “I’m going to go check on Reynolds.” Twilight simply nodded in return and hopped off the bed.

“I should be getting packed anyways,” The mare said softly, “I need to return to Ponyville to check on Spike.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “When do you plan on heading out, y’know, so I can say goodbye?” Twilight smiled at me warmly.

“Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll try and let you know when I’m heading out,” Twilight said to me and I nodded and turned to head out but Twilight stopped me. “Where have your two friends gone?” she asked and my shoulders sagged.

“The pegasus Crystal, she uh...” I gulped. “I said she could have some scraps from my vault so she could pay off some kind of like student loans or something. Quartz though...we went out for drinks and now she’s just gone.” I took a breath and Twilight shifted a bit out of the corner of my eye.

“Oh. So I take it you’ll just stay here with Reynolds then?” I glanced back to see she had cocked her head and I simply shrugged. Honestly, I had no idea where I was going to be staying. So much had happened over these past two days, I simply had no idea what to do or even if I comprehended anything I could do. In other words, I was just confused and lost. A scared, little girl all alone in an unknown world with no sense of direction.

Actually, now that I thought back on that. There was one thing, the bartender Sonic, the map and info about the Remnants Division and that brief lesson from Reynolds. His journal he gave me, everything I would possibly ever want to know was in that book. I gulped and shifted. “Honestly,” I said, “I think I might go traveling.”

Twilight blinked. “You’re going to travel? To where?”

I forced myself to smile after taking a deep breath. “I heard the Macintosh Mountains are nice this time of year.” Twilight smiled at this and nodded her head.

“Yes they are. Though it is pretty hot down there by Appleloosa as well,” The mare said and I shrugged it off.

“I’ll be fine, I always wanted to go see the mountains when I was kid.” I opened the door to the room and stepped out into the hall with Twilight behind me.

:[-]:

Shortly after Twilight and I parted ways, I returned to the upper floors of the castle. After a few questions and answers I finally found my destination. Opening the door I now stood outside of, I quietly stepped into Reynolds room, the older man laying on the bed head turned away from me as he seemed to be facing a young girl who resembled me to near perfection. Younger Chloe gazed down at Reynolds, whispering to him softly as she rubbed his hand. The old man seeming to be awake and talking softly to her in return.

“Yes. I’ve finished my studies,” The girl said softly and Reynolds smiled. “Princess Luna said that I’m learning quickly, much faster than any other foal she had taught.” She giggled softly.

Reynolds smiled and chuckled softly. “That’s good,” he said just loud enough for me to hear. “Remember now, your test is this Friday, so make sure you study once more before bed. But don’t over do it.” The girl nodded and smiled once more.

“I won’t, Dad,” Chloe hummed and glanced up, her eyes following on mine and she smiled. “Oh i-it’s Mom!” I felt my cheeks burn a little bit and I nodded my head and stepped forward.

“Yep, it’s me...just spying that’s all,” I said softly as I kicked the door closed behind me and glanced about the small bedroom I had just walked in. There was nothing special, a dresser with a desk and chair beside it along with a closet and bed. Rather plain, yet suitable. I heard Reynolds cackle softly.

“Typical ninja like skills of yours,” The man spoke a little louder now, “Always appearing and disappearing. I can’t even fathom how you do it.” I chuckled softly as I came to the edge of the bed and sat down on it gently as to not cause too much disturbance.

“What can I say? Trying to escape from city ruled by anarchy requires a specific set of skills,” I said softly, referring to the collapse of New York just before the government hauled me out. Reynolds snorted as he stifled a laugh. I took a breath after a few moments and said, “I’m sorry for what I did, James.” I looked to Reynolds who took a small breath and nodded.

“You’re fine Chloe...” He turned to small Chloe and said, “Hon, could you please leave me and your Mother alone for a few minutes?” Without question the little girl nodded and shot to her feet before scampering out of the room, closing the door behind her. Reynolds took a breath. “Look...I fully understand your reaction...and I forgive you.” I glanced at Reynolds and shook my head.

“No. It still wasn’t right, I just...I assumed that...” I rubbed my face as I contemplated for a second on how to say what I was about say. “I thought you took advantage of me and uh...” I fell quiet as I muttered. “Had sex with me.” Reynolds just barely caught this and looked at me for a second before smiling warmly.

“Actually dear, it was the other way around,” Reynolds said with a shit eating grin and I blinked now utterly confused. “I never thought I could ever see a girl like you drink so much whiskey. The last of my whiskey,” he clarified. “You were so drunk that you said, quote; ‘I don’t care if you’re a man, an old one at that, I won’t even remember this,’ and then proceeded to pounce on me.” I could feel my cheeks lighting up like a Christmas tree and quickly looked away, my arms crossing beneath my chest as I felt my heart tingle with embarrassment.

“Y-you’re bullshitting me,” I said with disbelief and Reynolds simply shook his head and chuckled.

“I can show you the security feed,” Reynolds said honestly. “I would never take advantage of you Chloe. You, the little one, and I are possible...the last human beings, and ruining any hope of friendship with one another could be devastating.” Listening to him I could hear the truth behind his words and I felt myself deflate a little more, now feeling terrible at overreacting about something that was really my fault. “Chloe...what you told me the other day, about Remnant group in the Kennedy vault,” Reynolds voice was quiet and serious sounding and I shifted to look at him. “If you plan on going...I want you to take Chlo with you.”

I cocked my head. “Wh-why?” I asked softly turning to face him and Reynolds shifted in his bed, sitting up slowly and I swore I could hear his old bones creaking.

“That young girl...has never seen anything outside of this very city on the mountain,” Reynolds said softly, “She doesn’t know what lies beyond the base and to top it off, she hardly knows you; her mother. All he knows is what I told her and well...” Reynolds took a breath and shifted. “I told you already I do not have much time left in this world––”

“Shut up,” I said firmly the second her brought up time. “Don’t mention anything relating to you fading away on me, Doc.” Reynolds smiled and simply nodded and I took a breath and sunk back before rubbing the back of my head. “I-I understand why you want me to take her for a while but...I’ll be honest, James...I know jack shit about kids. Even if she is...looks like me, I don’t think she’ll be into the sorta things i was into as a kid and well. I only ever babysitted twice in my life.” Reynolds chuckled softly and smiled.

“Yeah. I apologize for this being all sudden but...I’m not asking you to be her parent, Chloe...well...yes I am but uh...fuck...” Reynolds snorted and shook his head. “I don’t know how to say this, but uh, just keep herself and well...treat her as if she was the most sacred thing in the world. The girl is old enough and smart enough to mainly watch for herself, hell I trust her to navigate those crystal caves on her own.” I nod my head gently.

“O-Okay...” I took a breath once more. “I plan on heading out Friday which is...a couple days from now?” Reynolds nodded his head. “So uh, yeah...yeah okay, she can come with me.” I smiled as confidence began to descend on me.

Reynolds grinned himself. “Alright...anything else you want to talk about?” he glanced at me and I shifted before nodding.

“Yeah...your journal...Is it okay to assume everything in there is...true?” I asked outright and Reynolds blinked before snorting.

“If I was lying, Chloe, y’know I’d just say yes either way,” he said looking at me with a straight face and blushed before nodding, damn that was stupid to ask. James sighed. “Yes, I can assure you, Chloe. As friend, everything in that book is one hundred percent true. Dating to our time in the vault, till now. All of my research, equations, formulas, to the very thing I ate; is written in that book.” I nodded and ran a hand through my dark hair.

I took a breath and shifted. “I take it...I’ll find all that hot stuff you wrote about me too?” I joke and the old man blushed and shook his head. I giggled softly and leaned back. “Alrighty then man.” I pushed myself off the bed and stood up. “I apologize for uh...doing stuff to you...last night,” I felt my blush burn once more and Reynolds was fiery red as well. “I think I’m just gonna go for a walk for now. Clear my head.”

“I need to sleep anyways,” Reynolds said to me with a nod and slight yawn, his wrinkled body sinking back into the pillows. “I wish aspirin was still a thing.” I heard him mutter and blushed even harder as I thought he was referring to the good whack I gave him.

“I-I can check,” I said softly and he waved a hand at me.

“No need. I took the last pill forty years ago.” He hummed and I simply nodded my head. With that, I wished the man farewell and stepped out into the castle hall. Noticing little Chloe wasn’t around, I sunk my back against the closed door and covered my face before sighing deeply.

My two companions had vanished, my subconscious is trying to drive me to suicide, I’m now met with the responsibility of a younger version of myself, and the possibility of other human beings now loom over my head.

Confound this time, I need a fucking drink.

Author's Note

I know it isn't much, but this mainly outlines the road map to what's coming up!

Sorry for the long break, I've been rather busy with work and just overall lack of motivation. Now that I'm one year past graduation and just recently turned twenty, I've reached the point in life where I most start taking in my own responsibilities such as paying bills and doing all the shitty adult stuff. It's a rather bumpy ride though I'm usually quick to adapt even this is a bit much for me, but so far I'm doing fine and just a bit stressed. But not to the point where I'm snapping, nope.

Don't expect the next chapter to come flying out, I just happened to have the time and motivation for this one. It was nice writing it, but its not often I have this much free time. But hopefully the wait won't be six months like the last one.

Chapter 23: Crossed Paths

Time had seemed to move on slowly after my talk with Reynolds and apologizing for my attack. With it only being the middle of the week, I had spent the past few days mainly with myself, Reynolds, and my younger clone. I had not gone to see Luna about my mental state, reasons for that is unknown even to myself. Something inside me just kept me from doing such a thing, and besides, I hadn’t really seen dark Chloe that much. Though I could feel a dark presence watching me. Yet as Friday grew nearer, the thought of going on some sort of adventure to find the possible remnants of humanity had constructed some kind of hope with in me.

Perhaps Reynolds, my clone, and myself aren’t alone. That maybe humanity can still be saved, or at least some fraction of it. Which brought me to think over the past few days about Reynolds cloning project, and the living representation of myself that was young Chloe. My supposed daughter. The younger version of myself, who really wasn’t me; just someone who looked like me. Which looking back on it now, over the past few days I had been actively avoiding her. I don’t know why but, I some reason felt...it’s hard to describe but it was like I was angry, repulsed by her really. She kept calling me Mom and Reynolds tells her that I am, despite the fact I feel no maternal instinct for this girl. I don’t know anything about her! Hell, I have only known her for less than a week.

Now I had to take her with me; on this quest to the state next door. I didn’t know how I felt about this. Some reason I kind of feel dread, some sort of guilt for feeling this way towards this smaller version of me, who again wasn’t really me. I wish I could’ve spent the few days leading up to Friday with someone else, or somepony. Quartz and Crystal were still gone, I had assumed Crystal returned to the McKinley vault to scrounge up the couple of scraps I said she could take to bargain with to raise money to pay off her debt.

Quartz however...I don’t know what happened to her. Inside me I feel as if the day we went out drinking, I must’ve done something that scared her off. Had I gone and hurt her? Or have just done something very stupid? Possibly both. I had only known the two of them for only a couple days, but I felt so attached to them. Then again, they were just tomb raiders. Mining and scrounging up whatever they could’ve found...had they used me?

No. No, they were too friendly...but...isn’t it a con-artist's job to play the victim into doing what they wanted? Dammit, I’m being stupid! The two of them couldn’t have possibly just been playing me for a fool, with what we had gone through in such a short period of time; how much they helped me get through those few tough moments. It would be the cruelest thing in the world if they were really what I had thought them to be.

As days drifted by and the time I had spent alone or with Reynolds and little Chloe. The parts I spent alone I had mainly been reading Reynolds journal, which I must say, that man knows how to write. It felt more like a fictional book I had been reading rather than a man documenting his day to day life. He even had bits where he actually rewrote conversations he and I had word for word, the old man really did have a strong memory. Like he had told me, the journal started around the time we had first taken shelter in the Mckinley vault during the Downfall and I had forgotten Reynolds himself had a family. With what he had written, I could relate to the pain he had felt during that time.

His wife and two sons, his youngest having been taken by the SOL virus which his wife shortly contracted afterwards. He had to abandon them during the outbreak in the Fema camp outside Fort Hamilton, he talked about how the infected; who became feral and violent minutes before death, overran much of the guards and began spreading the infection. He even went further to say that during those final moments of the infected lives, the sudden surge of adrenaline they experienced had allowed them to overpower many of the national guardsmen. He even went further into explaining that so many had turned so quickly, that he had to compare them something from an old film he had enjoyed called 28 Days Later. Though instead of twenty eight days the SOL infectees only lasted from five to ten minutes before seizuring and dying...and here I am thinking that’s all it took.

As I read about how feral and violent the victims were, it reminded me briefly of the traumatic horrors myself experienced during my time being escorted out of the NYC. I never personally saw one of them due to me being in the back of a military transport, but I heard them. From the bits of news I had watched during my early days in Vault McKinley before communication broke. New York City had been in a state of anarchy for exactly twenty four hours. I clearly remember the news anchor explaining that for every five minutes a feral died at least a dozen other people were already infected. By early morning, a city of millions had devoured itself entirely.

Immune or not, after reading that information. I was grateful for having been rescued. Yet survivor's guilt was always a pain in the ass. Even if I knew for certain I could have done nothing. If a cure had been made, thousands still would have died due to the ferals beating the living shit out of people. Five minutes Reynolds stated in his journal, five minutes he described a man taking down and killing three soldiers despite getting blasted in the chest three times by a handgun.

Being underground during the fall I hadn’t even the slightest clue on how the world above was faring. Obviously society collapsed, but I had only witnessed the side of anarchy minutes before I was ushered beneath the Earth. My time above ground the disease was just that, a disease. It didn’t enrage people, no it only well...made them sick and die.

As I looked over the journal over the past few days, I skimmed through most of Reynold’s research notes. About the weird absurdities that made up the SOL virus, describing how the virus seemed to have been more engineered than it was natural. Or how his theories depicted that perhaps the virus did not come from Apophis and that perhaps it was indeed something man made. Theories that I contemplated myself over the week but couldn’t yet bring myself to believe it due to some of their contradictions. I never thought myself to be overly intelligent and admittedly I hardly ever think intelligently. It's just that how could something such as “magic” be man made when everything I had witnessed defied all the physics I’ve been taught in high school? Same went for if it was really alien in origin. I just...thinking about this stuff made my head hurt. It still does.

After skipping over many boring pages, I finally reached the more interesting bits of Reynolds diary. That being the day Reynolds ventured out to the surface for the first time. So lucky during the Fall, aside from the Chinese and Russians, the United States was smart enough not to drop weapons of mass destruction on itself. So really Reynolds, the others, and I could have actually left the vault at any point without fear of contracting radiation or dick growing mutations. So in the later pages of Reynolds diary, that’s exactly what he did. He explained how he had started to become a little crazy and talk to himself due severe cabin fever. So after decking himself out in some hazmat gear, something he dwelled on a precautionary measure.. He left the vault, which in this point in time was not buried beneath levels of earth just yet.

Further details I read talked about how Reynolds began teaching himself some basic carpentry with the help of Glenn and started to work on the foundations of the first ever human settlement built after the fall. This had also been around the time the first vat raised humans were being fertilized and born. The first person being Adam, that name made me roll my eyes at least ten times.

As I read through the many pages of Reynold’s diary, the first artificial human, Adam. Had basically become Reynold’s pride and joy. When Adam became the age of sixteen Reynolds had already gone to sleep in the cocoon for a decade while Adam, who Reynolds and Glenn educated on everything he’d need to know, raised two more humans. When Reynolds awoke, Adam was now twenty six and the kids he raised were both fourteen. Two more years later, one of the kids, who was a girl was pregnant, the sneaky kids went off and screwed in the woods and were also assigned each a tube baby.

And so the cycle continued. By this point this small village Reynolds had created was self sufficient and he only needed to appear every year or two to basically check and instruct them on what to do. By the tenth cycle there were over a hundred human beings, most from the population device along with a minority of natural borns.

Then the Remnants Division was discovered.

In all reality it was actually an army brigade. Fifty U.S. National guardsmen who had miraculously survived the fall by taking shelter inside the Kenway vault after the collapse of society. Fully outfitted with gear and weaponry, Reynolds talked about how the 1st Lt. Reinhard and Sgt. Rockwell used to brag about how they had working vehicles as well. Though honestly, here in my time in the Kenway vault I hadn’t found any military trucks or anything. So I assumed that the soldiers must have pitched them somewhere after they had eroded away.

Reynolds talked about how his starting village and the soldiers had a rocky start in the beginning but quickly became the best of friends. The soldiers acted as protection from the weird, mutated wild life that now plague much of the North American forests, such as wolves made of wood and large chimera like creatures made of animals that shouldn’t be in this part of the world. Such as lions mixed with tigers and goats. Possibly creatures from past zoos.

The world was a scary place. Especially when the Equestrian equivalent of Manifest Destiny started. Which meant the Equine empire, as Reynolds described them, started moving out west and well...that’s where I unfortunately stopped reading.

I stopped on Friday, the day I was supposed to go and meet up with Sonic and his family. Well Chloe and I were supposed to meet them. I was inside my temporary sleeping quarters in one of the castle spires. Tenth floor I believe it was. I had already packed some clothes which I stole from the Kenway vault’s laundry room which consisted of some nerdy gear and a couple military fatigues seeing that the vault was a combination of military and science alike. And my God, I normally don’t brag about myself but...girl, I look nice in fatigues. However, if there’s one thing I don’t like about them, it was the name tag on my breast. “Cooper.” The same name as my last, and being the unintelligent woman I am, I couldn’t decipher if it was the last name or first name soldiers had on their tag. Could it be either? I dunno.

Also I didn’t want to take it off as well, couldn’t figure out why. Maybe I subconsciously wanted to keep it out of respect for the previous man, or woman who wore it? I dunno. Point is though, it fitted me perfectly and looked very nice. I even found the cap to go with it! And for the love of God, they even had a few fitting bras. I never knew I’d cry tears of joy at the sight of pink undergarments.

I laid back on my bed and closed my eyes as I kicked my army boot covered feet in the air. Humming as I tugged at my collar and glanced down at myself and swam in the ego of how good it felt to be in freshly fitting clothes. “When are we leaving?” The sudden voice from my left sent me ten feet into the air as I released a startled shriek, torn from my moment of self admiring. I whirled around and looked to the bedroom door just to find Chloe, my tiny clone, resting against the door. “You’ve been creepily looking at yourself for the past hour,” I pursed my lips and felt my cheeks catch fire momentarily as I glanced away from the eight year old..

“S-sorry,” I shifted and got off the bed. I tugged the wrinkles out the fatigues from beneath my chest and swatted down my arms. “We’ll be leaving in just a second...M-mom here needs to just, uh...gather up some underwear for us.” I stuttered a bit.

The little girl frowned and crossed her arms and I grimaced a bit at the sight her scowl. For technically being only eight years old, she seemed to randomly shift to being that of a twenty year old at times. “I thought you already packed yesterday?” She asked me, her usual chirpy voice now coming out as hollow.

I sighed as she had caught me in quite the bind. It was true, technically we could leave at any moment and I’ll admit: I was nervous. My nerves were shot at the thought of leaving Canterlot and going down south to the next state, which was technically North Carolina. I’ve never been so far down in my entire life honestly, I’ve always thought of going across America when I was with my ex, but never got around to it. Now the thought of traveling across the post apocalyptic landscape, which honestly didn’t even look anything Dystopian like, unnerved me. Especially since it was with the purpose of finding others out there; others like me.

I finally took a deep breath and looked at small girl. “Chloe,” I said to her after composing myself, the girl perked up. “Wait outside while I gather my stuff.” She frowned again and sighed before stepping out the door and shutting it behind her. With her out sight, I smiled and straightened myself before turning and going over to the other side of the bed. There, laid a few bags containing books, some extra clothes and further down was a bottle beneath the bed which I had taken out from under.

I held the aforementioned bottle in my hands and stood back up as I shifted the whiskey shaped glass with a smile. Swirling the golden contents inside the glass, I examined the apple pony character on the tag which grinned happily at me. I snickered at the cuteness of the mare and muttered, “I’ll just take you for just in case.” Though before I placed the drink in with my possessions, I sneakily glanced over my shoulder before popping the top and taking a large gulp. I hissed at the pleasant burn of the alcoholic beverage and shivered with a smile before closing it off and sticking it in with my clothes.

“C’mooon!” The girl on the other side of the door whined and I replied with an annoyed whine of my own before I took my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Time we get on with this trip I guess, was my thought as I opened the door and glared down at the little girl. I’ve never been good with kids.

:[-]:

The blue unicorn and grey pegasus, which I vaguely recall their names being Sonic and Quill, waved their hooves frantically upon seeing both I and Chloe. With one free hand I waved my greeting in response to theirs just as smaller Chloe squealed upon seeing the grey pegasus and charged which granted me a belly laugh as the pegasus shrieked with fright.

“Don’t worry!” I called out as Chloe clung to the pegasus mare. “She’s absolutely harmless...I think.” I chuckled as the pony calmed down and the unicorn, Sonic, laughed nervously and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

I glanced at the stallion and shrugged before shifting the weight of my possessions to my other shoulder. “I thought it was just you who was comin’?” He asked me to which I replied with a second shrug.

I bit my lower lip before I replied, “She’s uh...my daughter?” I hadn’t meant to say it in such a questioning tone as the others, even Chloe, gave me awkward glances. “I didn’t want to leave her alone,” I quickly lied, which was fucking stupid. I didn’t even know why I was making up excuses, there was no reason to think that I would embarrass myself if I simply told the truth. Yet some reason, the truth just wouldn’t come out.

Sonic nodded and Quill shifted out of Chloe’s grasp. “Alrighty well, the train will be leavin’ in just a half an hour.” He smiled. “If ya’ll ready, it’d be right to leave now while they’re still good seats.” I quickly nodded my head in agreement, happy to off the subject related to Chloe.

I then gestured outwards. “If you could, please guide the way.” I tried my best to keep a pleasant smile, yet my cheeks burned red as I had gone and embarrassed myself anyways. I was a mess inside, with smaller Chloe with me and the thought of maybe finding more people out there, let alone traveling with ponies I had only known for a short while...I just wanted a drink to calm my nerves.

Sonic smiled and nodded his head, paying no mind to my fake smile as he started to head down the road towards the station .”Canterlot central isn’t too far from here. Stick close and we’ll be out on our way to Appleloosa in no time!” The pony beamed as his pegasus wife draped a wing over his back and they walked.

Chloe smiled widely and took my wrist gently, to which I restrained myself from yanking my hand away since she nearly made me leap out of my clothes. I blinked and looked down at the little girl who was beaming from ear to ear as she gazed up at me. “We’re really going to Appleloosa?” She asked me and my eyes widened, I had never thought to tell her where we were going. God, I’m such an idiot.

As we walked I looked away from the girl and nodded my head. “Yeah. We are,” I said softly as I forced another small smile. “Just for a couple days though.” I rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand as we walked.

Chloe had to skip a little bit to keep up with my longer strides and she giggled happily. “Have you been there before?” She asked me and I shook my head in response. “What’re we going there for?” she continued her questions.

I glanced at the little girl from the corner my eyes and curled my lips a bit before I responded, “I’m gonna go on a little search from something...treasure hunting you could say.” The girl’s eyes widened more as we stepped around a few ponies stared at us with confused looks.

“Treasure hunting?” Chloe muttered softly before speaking up, “Like Jack Sparrow and the Pirates?” The girl squeaked and this made my eyebrows raise and I glanced at her again.

“You know about Pirates of the Caribbean?” I asked the girl and her head nodded so fast I thought it would fly off into the crowd of rude ponies, their eyes still locked to us as if they’ve never seen a human being before. Which honestly, they most likely never had.

“Dad and I watched all of them many of times together!” Chloe hum and skipped a little higher as she tried to keep up, I finally slowed myself a bit so she wouldn’t have to. I smiled; a real one this time, and nodded my head.

“Which one is you favorite?” I asked as the girl raised up two fingers as she coughed and I chuckled. “You like the giant squid don’t you?” I continued and she nodded her head rapidly once more, her long hair flailing around like a loose mop. The sight of her flailing hair caused me to snort softly and reached over and brushed her hair back a bit from in front of her face, causing Chloe to scrunch up a bit before popping an eye open and glancing up at me. I blushed softly. “Sorry,” I said as I wondered why I even bothered to fix her hair.

A shout from ahead caught my ear and I glanced up to see Sonic and his pegasus wife...Quill? I think her name was, looking back at us about twenty yards ahead. I waved towards them and motioned for Chloe to pick up the pace as I started to walk a bit faster to catch up with them. That is until something else caught my eyes from off to the right. A familiar light tan unicorn with blue eyes and a chocolate brown mane who had not been paying attention to her surroundings, came from the right and stepped out in front of me.

Without any time to react, at let off a loud, “Oh fuck!” and kicked the poor mare right in the side and fell over her. With a loud, feminine yelp I went over the the open and caught myself last second right as the unicorn did the same bellow me just as my bag of clothes, and single drink hit the ground. “Sorry!” I apologized and the mare shook her head and glanced at me.

I gasped when Quartz tilted her head. “Chlo?” She said in a questioning tone and tilted her head. I bit my lower lip and shifted my body a tad as I stepped aside and then back before straightening myself.

I cleared my throat and nodded. “H-hi!” I squeaked and then coughed. Sonic and his wife came back towards us, checking if we were alright to which I raised a hand and nodded. Quartz shifted up onto her haunches before pushing onto her hooves, she also nodded her head towards Sonic and assured them. I rubbed the back of my head nervously. “It’s been a handful of days,” I said to Quartz, “What’ve you been up to?” I asked as I carefully leaned over and scooped up my bag, which some reason felt a tad heavier.

Quartz glanced away and rubbed her left foreleg with her right and said, “I had been checking up on some family here in town. I recalled that I also had something I needed to do for work, that’s why uh...I had to up and leave ya in the bar like that.”

Chloe tugged on my pants and I lightly brushed her hand away. “Oh that was all?” I asked and Quartz nodded her head a bit. “That’s fine...sorry if I uh...did anything weird while drunk...”

Quartz didn’t look at me and she nodded her head. “You’re fine.” The unicorn smiled, something that I quickly noticed seemed forced. Though I didn’t press the matter but only thought about what might’ve happened. “I’m sorry to cut this short but...I really need to get going, my cousins and I had some plans...that need doing.” The mare quickly straightened herself out and nodded her good bye to me and rushed off.

Just then I had finally opened my mouth to ask if anything was wrong before before I could, she had galloped away. I blinked and watched the mare run off with confusion and let my arms fall to my side loosely. From what I knew, that wasn’t like her at all. Had I done something inappropriate to offend her?

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Sonic said suddenly and snapping me out of my train of thought, I shifted my bag in my arms and looked at him “but the train is gonna be leavin’ in fifteen minutes and we still have a street to pass through. So ah suggest we get goin’.” I gulped and nodded my head and slung my bag onto my back.

“Yeah...lets go,” I said softly before noticing something dripping on my back. Looking back, I saw my bag of possessions was soaked. The fucking whiskey bottle had shattered....

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait. Life has been getting in the way, and hopefully I'll find the motivation to keep going.

Chapter 24: Ride

Author's Note

A short chapter for being gone for so long. Felt I needed something to let every one know I'm not entirely dead. Am working on next chapter, so if you feel this is too short to read after so long, just wait. If not please enjoy the cuteness.

Chapter 24: Ride

The rumbling train soothed my mind and calmed my nerves as it departed from Canterlot and began to make its way towards North Carolina, or in this case Appleloosa. Strangely enough I had been told that region of what used to be the United States had been rendered into a desert landscape. Don’t ask me how that’s even possible, because I don’t even know myself, and really I doubt Reynolds would know himself. Though it was interesting food for thought as I road in the passenger car with the other two ponies and Chloe who sat beside me. We talked for a bit and traded stories while we got to know each other. I listened to Sonic explain about how he and his wife met in the bar they worked and how they were originally friends with benefits.The information caused me to recoil due to how open the two were about their sex life and Chloe’s eyes widened as the term went right over her head. That gave us all a laugh at the girl’s confusion and when she asked me what sorta benefits came with that sort of friendship, I told her I’ll let her in on it when she was older.

For an hour or so we talked and laughed more, but by than it ended on an awkward note when the question of my personal relationships came into play. Though, surprisingly I didn’t hide behind my knees or brush away the question like I originally thought I would when the inevitable topic came up.

“I did have someone at one point,” I said quietly as I took a deep breath and leaned back into my seat. Quill’s eyes widened at my response and opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when I kept going, “she died some hundred years ago or something.” I shifted a bit and gazed out the window. “I don’t recall the exact date. It was all an accident and no one was really to blame save for whoever constructed the vault we were staying in.” I rubbed the back of my neck as Eva’s face appeared before my eyes, her smiling face and long, golden hair shining brightly above me. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath. “She died in her sleep, the stasis system having comatosed her but not freezing the body to a cool enough temperature or something--I forget the exact details. But she died of dehydration.”

“Th-that’s horrible!” Quill’s eyes widened and began to glisten as tears appeared. I blinked and looked at her and raised a hand.

“N-no its fine...it’s fine...I-I gotten over it...” I said coldly as my hand fell back down onto my lap stomaching sinking as I knew for a fact that wasn’t true. “I’ve grown...used to this you could say.” I looked back out the window and sighed. “I’ve done my crying, and well, the tears just stopped coming. Now all I can do is just, keep going I guess.”

“Mom, you’re being creepy,” Chloe said softly and poked my arm and I glanced over at the little girl.

“Excuse me?” I asked the small girl who poked me again.

“I said you’re being creepy,” She repeated and I frowned.

I sighed softly and forced on a fake smile. “Yeah I guess so,” I said as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Sorry about that, I sorta space out at times and just say what’s on my mind.” I continued the forced smile as I looked at the concerned pegasus and unicorn across from me. “I don’t do it too often, I just guess that it only happens when I talk about the shitty stuff in my life.” I chuckled nervously, trying to play it off as best I could.

“Language!” Chloe squeaked and jabbed my side slightly which caused me to yelp and contort in on myself. The girl giggled and started poking my seemingly sensitive side which made me unleash a very feminine squeal and double over once more.

“St-stop!” I gasped as I found myself starting to laugh with the little girl. Little Chloe wouldn’t stop however as she continueed to lightly poke and tickle my sensitive sides. Finally, I snatched one of the girl’s hands elucidating a startled yelp from her as I pulled her close against myself and wrap her up in a powerful bear hug. “No more,” I said with a breathless chuckle, the little girl giggled and squirmed beneath my arms, but I held on tightly.

Sonic and Quill chuckled. “You two seem more like sisters than mother and daughter,” The blue unicorn said as he rubbed his chin with a hoof. I had totally forgotten about those two for a moment and immediately felt my cheeks catch fire. “Oh there’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” the stallion said as he read the look on my face.

I shook my head. “N-no its fine,” I said softly as I glanced out the window and saw the temperate landscape skim by the decently moving train. “How long till we get to this...Appleloosa place?” I asked as I briefly glanced at Sonic.

The unicorn cackled softly and leaned against his wife. “A good half a day, hope ya brought something to entertain yourself,” he said with a smile as he nuzzled the grey pegasus who blushed through her fur at the contact.

The time to the destination made me sigh as I leaned back in my seat, glancing about I leaned forward and pulled out an old Android smartphone which had been spared from the spilt alcohol produced from the shattered bottle. After I had cleaned out the broken glass at the station. I looked over the silver cased phone, I had found being protected by the many layers of panties and bras. Thank God for underwear, especially them padded bras. Though I won’t be able to wear those ones till I get all that whiskey out of them, which fucking sucks because they looked so comfy. I never even wore them before, back then I thought it was just a cheap way to make breasts look larger but, after testing them back at Kenway...I’ll never frown upon such attire ever again.

Aside from being sad about such nice undergarments being tainted, the phone did have one issue though. After I had charged the millennia old thing, I was surprised it even worked, interior preservation sure does wonders, I had found out that the phone was locked. That saddened me a bit, but was also filled with hope at the same time when I saw that it was a connect the dots sorta locking system. Which in itself brought a bit of enjoyment to me.

As I sat there trying to figure out the possible path used to open the phone, I couldn’t help but gradually notice the few looks I was receiving from the others. “What’s that?” I heard Sonic ask and Chloe plucked the device from my hands.

“H-Hey!” I whined like a baby and tried to grab it but the smaller girl snickered and scooched away.

She tossed the device to Sonic who caught it mid air with his magic. “My Dad calls it a cellphone,” Chloe said with a beam and I frowned and flicked the girl in the side of head, making her yelp and whine. I glanced over and saw the ponies gazing curiously at the two millimeter thin device.

“It’s an Android Cosmos Three,” I told them specifically. “I had a very similar phone but forgot to bring it with me when I left McKinley...my home,” I clarified quickly at the end. “It’s a multi tool device.” I shrugged. “Or really a computer.”

“We have no idea what you’re saying,” Quill deadpanned and I frowned as I looked at her and sighed with a shrug.

“It’s a thing you can call, play games, go on the computer, do taxes yadda yadda....no point in explaining it’ll just go over your head.” I sighed. “In short: it's just a piece of junk because Cloud and WIFI don’t exist anymore.” Except for in the vaults, I mentally told myself. Sonic and Quill looked at me with arched brows, as expected, and levitated the Cosmos back over to me. I took it and nodded with a smile in thanks.

Sonic leaned forward in interest, which I assumed he saw this pointless conversation as a good pass time. “So...how does it work?” He asked me.

I didn’t respond for a few moments but then finally shrugged and held up the phone. “Like this.” I tapped the screen twice, its surface rippling before finally displaying a real photo of the outer Milky Way Galaxy, a picture I remember clearly from the Odysseus Projects which had struck media gold. Not even half a second after the image appeared, the time, date and year; which was all more than wrong, showed up along with nine dots.

The pony's’ eyes widened upon seeing this. “What else can it do?” They both asked me and I chuckled and shrugged.

“Not much as of right now...see these dots?” I tapped the screen, making it ripple again. “This is a lock, I have to match them up in a certain order to gain access.” I smiled and decided to demonstrate. “Like this,” I say as I started connecting the dots before--”HOLY SHIT!” I shout with glee as with God’s kiss and Jesus’s back pat, I had managed to align the dots in a sorta half hour glass shape, which then reverted back to the bottom left dot and unlocked the phone. Bringing up a background photo of a nice looking Latino man and assumed to be Asian girlfriend and or wife.

The pony’s eyes widen even more. “L-look at that photo!” The pegasus exclaimed, her hoof coming up to the screen. “I-It looks like I can touch them!” Before the hoof could touch I yanked the phone away and turned the screen towards myself so I could look at it.

“H-holy shit!” I cursed in awe again as the pegasus pouted and pulled her hoof back. “I-I cracked the code!” I said as as quickly went into the phone’s settings to disable the password, my hands literally shaking with joy.

“What’s the matter Momma?” Chloe asked me softly as she cocked her head, the two ponies also looking at me with odd looks on their faces. “Why’re you crying?” The young girl asked me.

I blinked and looked at her before turning my gaze back at the phone’s screen, the black rim reflecting my tear riddled face. I blushed deeply and wiped my eyes and said, “N-nothing...I-I’m just being...a bit over dramatic.” I smiled weakly at my trio of companions. “Momma’s gonna play on her phone now,” I said and slunk back into my seat, losing myself to the virtual world I had been without for many a millennia.

Chapter 25: Arrival

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