Wish Fulfillment

“Ooohhhhh… i-i-it’s f-f-f-fucking cold out here,” Rally got out, her and Shorey’s fur still dripping wet from the river. “There n-n-n-needs to be something we can do.”

She was a shivering mess as they walked, but certainly not tired. Her completely soaked fur and mane saw to that. Thankfully, it was warmer tonight than Rally had experienced up to that point, feeling somewhere in the forties. It was still dangerous to be outside with wet fur, but it was less so than the bitter cold of the mountains and plain she’d already been through. In any case, the body heat they generated felt like enough to stave away any potential hypothermia.

“J-just keep going,” Shorey instructed, the two walking side by side to catch each other if they fell. The stallion wouldn’t have been surprised if she flopped dead right there. It was certainly a possibility with how destroyed her mental state felt. How she hadn’t done that already, she didn’t know, except that part of it was that Shorey was now there to help keep her a little bit more sane.

“How far away d-did that stallion you met say th-the Crystal Empire was?”

“Like five days,” Rally replied. “And I’ve been out here for about th-th-that long. I think today is d-day five.”

“Well then I don’t see why we shouldn’t get there tonight,” Shorey said. “We can treat tonight’s walking as day five…” Then she sighed and said, “My side is absolutely killing me.”

“I really hope we get there soon,” Rally commented, being reminded of how badly her flank and dock still hurt. She hated how fully exposed she was now, and was glad no one was around right now to get an eyeful of everything she didn’t want to show off. She wondered how long it would take for her tail to grow back. She hoped it wouldn’t be long.

She took a breath and did her best to push down her dysphoria, an easy task with how tired and hurting she was. She might have before said there was nothing worse than being a man, but she decided nearly drowning and having her tail ripped off painfully were two things that were worse.

“I’m not spending another night out here,” I continued. “I wanna stop being outside for at least a year.”

Both walked slowly, tiredly trudging along and looking behind them to check for danger every so often. The foliage got thicker the farther into the forest they went, and the sounds of different animals came to them. The hoot of an owl, the flap of a bird’s wings, the rustle of something else nearby. It kept Rally aware and alert of her surroundings, and kept her watching carefully for the slightest hint of danger.

There was something else, too… was that crying? Rally turned to Shorey, and sure enough, the mare was almost full on sobbing as they walked forward, a change from the flat expression she had on a second ago. It caught the stallion by surprise, and she blinked in confusion at the sight.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned, although not stopping since the mare was still moving. “Are you in pain?”

“No… well, yeah, but that’s not why,” she replied tearfully. “It just came on all at once. It’s because I’m a mare now, and you’re not, and we’re both really in Equestria, except you’ve had to suffer and be outside for a week and a half, and.. I don’t know! I’m just happy that I can finally be myself, and upset that you have to go through all that again.”

“Awww, you’re adorable, Shorey!” the stallion replied, not able to help but laugh at her concern and tearful happiness. “I told you before that all that estrogen was going to make you cry at the drop of a hat if you ever transitioned, and now you know first hand that it does. Err, first hoof. Either way, it’s adorable as heck.”

“This isn’t the drop of a hat,” she tried to refute, only making Rally laugh harder. “I was thinking about something sad. It’s not random.” Shorey was smiling, too, still sniffling as she spoke. Rally tilted her head and gave the mare a knowing look, and she blushed in response.

“Look, I already cry kind of easily,” she continued, a few tears still dripping down. “Heck, I cry when I have to say goodbye to my nephew. It’s not like this is something new.”

“Well that sounds like the cutest thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Rally smiled widely. “How you always one up yourself on the adorableness factor, the world may never know.”

“I don’t know how you can say that,” was the reply, the mare finally able to take a breath and wipe her eyes. “I’m just being myself.”

“Well seeing you be cute and happy makes it worth it to be dripping wet in the cold. I’m gonna have a heart attack from how cute you are.” It was a nice moment, one where the stallion almost forgot about the dysphoria and nearly dying and not having a tail. It made her smile to see her friend happy.

“Heh, you’re crazy,” Shorey replied, her eyes still very wet despite wiping them again. “Dang, this is going to be weird to get used to.”

“You’re absolutely adorable. I love you, Shorey.”

“I appreciate the sentiment,” the mare finished, stopping for a moment to wipe her eyes with her hooves one final time. “You’re a great friend, Rally.” She looked up at the unicorn and smiled, before a gust of wind brought both of their attentions back to the task at hand. “Celestia, it’s cold out here,” she said, shivering. “Let’s start moving again.”

Both unicorns continued on through the night, carefully watching their back as they walked. Both could appreciate the night as they moved, even in spite of the cold. There was a bright sky full of stars, and there was another full moon hanging overhead, illuminating their path. It was an interesting thing to notice– the phases of the moon didn’t change over the course of the week Rally had been in Equestria. She couldn’t remember if they changed in the show or not, but it was certainly a difference between here and Earth. The stallion wondered what else might be different.

The word ‘fun’ could not be used to describe their trek. It was still chilly, and Rally found herself shivering and yawning as the two walked. She could feel herself drip drying as the night wore on, a little bit of frost forming on her mane as she could almost feel her coat getting matted and knotted. That, on top of being hungry, a bit thirty, and whishing for a shower, she could say she was just plain exhausted.

And dysphoric. Yes, right now it was very much a feeling quite far in the background, but it was still there. It was easy to push down, but she worried that once the second there was no more survival to worry about, it would hit her at full force. She already could say she wasn’t the most mentally healthy after a week out here. She knew her mental health would probably decrease further, even after they found shelter, and had no idea what to do to prepare for that.

“Is something wrong?” Shorey asked, sensing her worry as the sun began to rise, once again only taking a few minutes to get to the center of the sky and warm their fur.

“It’s nothing,” the stallion replied quickly, her voice breaking a little bit and dropping somewhat out of the femininity she was trying to go for. “I’m just stressing out is all. I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“I can keep going if the Crystal Empire is gonna come up to us soon,” Shorey. “I’m already exhausted after just a couple of days out here, and feel super grimey. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you over the last week.”

“I’ll be fine. I mean, this is what I wished for, right? And if I can be a mare and have kids eventually, then it’ll all be worth it to me.”

“Mhm. I understand,” the mare agreed. “Although I would’ve modified my wish if I knew you were out here. Ask for more supplies.” Then Shorey smiled and looked at herself, adding, “I don’t mean to gloat though, but I also wasn’t expecting being myself to feel this nice. I wish I would’ve done this before.”

“Uh, yeah, it’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” There was a little jealousy in the stallion’s words, but mostly it was happiness. It was very hard for Rally to be jealous and bitter when her personality was bright and upbeat enough that Rally could be trapped in it like a moth that found a lamp. Not to mention, she saved her life already– twice, probably, with how hopeless she felt just before the mare showed up. It was very hard for Rally’s heart not to melt around her. She wondered if Shorey felt the same way about her.

Probably not, but either way, that’s a thought for nowhere near anytime soon. Need to get to the Crystal Empire first, then get myself fixed, and then… She didn’t know. Head to Ponyville? It would be pretty cool to see the city in real life, but anywhere in Equestria was good, so long as she got to be herself.

There was more walking, the cold not really bothering them as much as Rally thought it would. The sun being up now helped to warm the air up, the temperature reaching something almost decent. Although any tiredness the cold tried to zap away was in full force now. Her body ached from all the exercise she was getting, and knew she was going to be ripped by the time they got to their destination. Shorey must have felt the same way, as the mare was practically dragging her hooves now.

“Can we stop and rest for a while?” the stallion asked. “I can’t keep going like this on no food, and I haven’t had anything to drink since I took in a stomach full of water from that river.”

“Sure, but I think we’re almost there,” Shorey replied. “See the way that hill rises in the distance?” She used a hoof to point at something far off, something Rally couldn’t see. From what she could tell, this part of the forest was no different than the last part.

“No?”

“Well, if you could see it, the way it rises makes me think there’s a valley ahead. I would actually put money on it, and some on the Crystal Empire being there. That’s where I would build a city. We should be able to see it with how steep the grade looks from here.”

Rally couldn’t say she understood what she was saying at all, but it sounded like it made sense. She didn’t remember the Crystal Empire being in a valley in the show, but things in Equestria already weren’t one to one with the show anyway. Besides, given Rusty Bucket’s time frame, the two should’ve been very close to it by now.

The hill they walked up wasn’t very steep, but it was enough that Rally wondered if a cliff was coming up, something she wasn’t fond of dealing with again. There was a point in the distance that was particularly obscured by trees that they walked towards, one that Rally thought would probably be the spot that they would see the valley Shorey thought was ahead.

Please let us see it, she begged the universe, hoping for a break to be brought to her for the first time during her adventure as the two made their way to the top. Let us see the Crystal Empire in front of us. Please.

The universe answered with exactly what she wanted to see.