(An unknown amount of time later, POV: Cross)

I groan softly as my eyes open after what feels like an eternity. I see a tiled, white ceiling above me, and a soft beeping in my ear. I look over, and my heart soars. Luna, Chrysalis, and Fluttershy were sleeping on the couch in the room together. I slowly sit up and grunt. I look at all the equipment wired into me.

Most of them I recognised as an IV, a heart monitor, and a EKG. What i didn’t recognise was a box-shaped device attached to the heart monitor, and my blood was flowing through it.

“Wh-what the fuck….?” I yawn and rub the sleep from my eyes.

“Cross, you’re awake!” I hear Chrysalis exclaim. I look over, and she suddenly hugs me tightly. This feels odd.

“Uuh, yeah. You sure, uh...got nice fast. How long was I out? God, I feel like I got hit by a freight train at mach five…”

“You’ve been in a coma for two weeks! Doctors found a foreign metal in your bloodstream that was poisoning you! They had to flush out your bloodstream. But it’s only a temporary solution. Twilight’s looking into making you an artificial heart…”

“A what? Why? What’s wrong with the one I have?”

“The metal that surrounds it corrodes with iron, and it’s toxic…. Your heart’s killing you.”

“Th-that’s not possible….Is it?” The doctor walks in and grins.

“Well, look who’s back in the land of the conscious. How do you feel?

“I’m a bit tired...And my chest kinda hurts….But I’m okay other than that.”

He clicks his tongue. “Well, why you were out, we did a thorough scan of your internal organs. Apparently your shift from human to pony was incomplete, since your organs are not quite pony organs. So Twilight is designing you a replacement. And I have another issue that I must discuss. Do you have any loved ones or partners?”

“Yes. They’re all in this room. Except you, Doc.”

“Well, we also took your blood type. And we have no idea what type it is. It isn’t pony, that’s for sure. Do any of you have his blood type?”

I look over at Chrysalis, and she shakes her head.

“None of us do.” The doctor hums sadly.

“Then even with that new heart, he can’t get the replacement in until we find a donor or replacement.”

Luna sits up. “Mmm….what do you mean, replacement?”

“Ah, Princess. I meant replacement blood for Cross here. His blood is completely foreign to us, and we have no way to clean his system completely until his entire bloodwork is replaced.”

“Was the metal really that bad?” I asked. I never thought about the metal being corroded.

“You had less than an hour to live by the time you were brought here. Now, we need the replacement fast.”

Twilight bursts in, holding up a weird looking device made of what looked like plexiglass. “I got it! I made a heart out of tediously carved diamonds with magic-infused valves! It took nine days, but it’s done!”

We all look at her. She chuckles. “Sorry. But, I got it.”

The doctor sighs with a smile. “Like I had said before, the new heart is useless unless we can find a suitable replacement for his blood.” I can see Twilight’s heart sink.

“We’ll figure something out. But, Mr. Beam. You need rest.” I nod and lay back down. I feel Chrysalis gently petting my head, but I can’t see her. I drift off to sleep again.

When I wake up again, it’s dark outside. “Twilight, that’s really dangerous. Is there any way to be sure it won’t kill him?” Luna asks.

“K-kill him?! I-I don’t want him to die!” Fluttershy squeaks. They all shush her.

“Look, I know it’s hard, but we all could get enough to replace his blood. But we’ll have to mix them.”

“I don’t care. He’s made me feel like a normal pony for the first time. I’ll do whatever it takes.” Chrysalis says.

“As will we.” Luna adds.

“M-me, too. B-but I can’t really contribute to that...I-I don’t have a horn.”

“It’s okay, Fluttershy. I’ll make it up with my own.” Twilight finishes.

“What…..what’s the worst case?” Luna asks.

“Worst case is it does nothing and it kills him instantly. But it’s a slim chance of that happening. I can get it to the state we need it, and I’ll bring it back in the morning. In the meantime, both of you need to take a beaker to the bathroom. Fill it, and come back.”

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU REPLACING MY BLOOD WITH!?” They all scream as I suddenly yell out.

“Oh, Celestia! Cross, you scared us!” Twilight yells. “We’re going to try to replace your blood with thaumoplasm.”

“With what?”

“Thaumoplasm. It’s pure, unfiltered liquid magic. If binded properly to a sample of your blood I gathered before we changed you, I can make enough to flush out your system.”

“Oh, thank fucking Christ…. I was afraid you were talking about something else….Go ahead, then.” They each nod and take a beaker, leaving the room. Fluttershy walks up to the bed and sits next to me. She smiles warmly and hums a little tune. I start drifting off again.

I wake up with a hand gently shaking me. “Cross, get up.” Luna says.

“Grr…..five more minutes….” I pull the blankets over my head. I gasp and shiver as they’re yanked off me.

“Okay, okay. I’m up….” I sit up and yawn.

“Cross, the doctors are going to prep you for surgery. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Well, either I die like that, or I die from the one I have. I’ll take my chances with Twilight’s heart.”

Luna nods slowly. Chrysalis and Fluttershy both walk in and hug me tightly.

“Don’t you die on me now, Cross.” Chrysalis says.

“P-please be safe….” Shy squeaks.

“It’s okay. Just wait for me.” They let me go and leave reluctantly. Luna tears up and hugs me tighter.

“We love you. All of us do.”

“I….I love you all, too.” She sniffles and leaves the room. A doctor and several nurses walk in, covered in biohazard disposal clothes. They stand me up and scrub me down completely before carrying me to a large room full of medical equipment. I can see Luna, Twilight, Chrysalis, and Fluttershy standing in a room on the other side of a glass wall above me. This is an observatory.

“Okay, we’re going to carefully remove your current heart, and use this machine to slowly replace your blood with the thaumoplasm that Princess Twilight graciously provided. This machine will keep your blood flowing until we get the new heart inside. Then, we stitch you back up and pray.”

“Let’s do it. I’m ready.” The last thing I see before they knock me out is Luna’s crying face.

Author's Note

I hope you all like where this is going! I have some interesting storytelling coming in chapters ahead!