Wish Fulfillment

Shorey nearly jumped out of her skin at how loudly Rally screamed at the view before them.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Fuck yes! It’s actually right there in front of us! We’re so fucking close!” The stallion jumped up and down and screamed happily again, wearing the widest smile that Shorey had seen on her thus as she danced in place. She was glad her friend was excited, although the mare was certain it wouldn’t be as easy to make the rest of the journey as the stallion thought.

It was indeed a valley just like Shorey was predicting, one complete with another river than wound across it and a few trees that made it seem like it was in a perpetual state of good weather. The Crystal Empire itself was sitting just beyond that, probably fifteen or twenty miles off in the distance from the two of them. It seemed like an empire, too, one that stretched across where it had sat for what had to be just as many miles in either direction. It was certainly bigger than the tiny city the TV show had.

The only issue was that it was sitting on a plateau. The valley in front of it looked like it sat several hundred feet below them, but the plateau of the Crystal Empire had to be a couple of thousand feet above the valley. From the looks of it, it seemed like a sheer ninety degree rockface they would have to get up. Nothing particularly easy.

“If we move fast, we could probably get there in like four hours, and then we can find a place to sleep and talk to either Princess Cadance or Shining Armor about fixing me! This is actually gonna happen!”

“Yes you will,” she agreed, although Shorey wasn’t as enthusiastic about it as Rally was. “But we wanna be careful and not wear ourselves down if we can. We should probably rest here for a little while before we get going so that we don’t tire ourselves out trying to climb up what looks like a rock wall.”

“I wanna keep going,” Rally replied. “I don’t wanna stop for a second. I just wanna keep going, and then we can rest when we get there. Look at it! We’re already so close! It won’t take that much longer to get there!”

“Rally, we need to rest. We’ve been up all day and all night. Even just a few hours will be better than nothing.”

“But it’s right there. We’re so close! Can’t we just wait until we get there?”

“I know it’s right there. But it’s better if we just stop and rest for a little while before we start up again. It’s not like the city is going anywhere.”

Shorey watched the stallion’s energy deflate, her friend putting her ears down and now wearing a sad expression.

“Okay,” came the sigh of a reply. “I understand. Sorry. Did you wanna just stop right here? Or somewhere else?”

“I think right here is fine. Or actually, at the bottom of the valley would be better.”

“Okay. That sounds good, I guess.” She didn’t sound like it sounded good, and watched the stallion look down at her hooves. It made Shorey’s ears drop back to see.

“It’s a good idea to rest, Rally,” the mare said again. “Only for a few hours, then we’ll start heading off again.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I just really wanna get there as soon as possible if we can.” She let out a long breath, finishing, “I just wanna be myself again. It feels like I’m gonna have to stay like this for a long time. Maybe forever.”

“I know that feeling,” the mare replied, her soft voice not dissimilar to the gentle hug she gave as she wrapped her hooves around her friend. Didn’t she know it, as much as
Rally knew it. She knew how painful it was, and started to tear up at the thought of Rally hurting so much.

“We both know that feeling, and we’ve both been there,” Shorey started encouragingly. “You’re gonna get through it though. You’re so much stronger than I’ll ever be just being able to push through and get it all done a first time.”

“I’m not strong enough for this. I don’t wanna half to be strong enough for this. I just wanna flop down and die because I can’t even cry right now. I’m becoming stoic again.”

“You’re going to be able to do it,” the mare said again, pressing her neck into Rally’s and letting out a tiny sniffle. “I’m sorry you have to do it again, but I wasn’t even able to do it a first time. That’s proof of how much stronger you are.”

“I don’t know if I am…”

“I know you are, and I know you can do it,” she assured her. “I believe in you, and I’ll be there to help you if you need it. We’re gonna find Twilight or Cadance or whoever we need to, and they’re gonna fix you.”

The stallion sighed, but then smiled and leaned in before hugging her back for a second. “Thanks. Hearing that makes me feel better. I know I’m being a little dumb right now, but hearing that helps.” There was a small pause before the stallion added, “I love you, Shorey.”

“I love you, too, Rally. You’re a great friend.” Rally pulled away a second later, and Shorey continued, “Let’s try and get a little bit closer, and then we’ll rest at the bottom of the valley, okay? A little while to sleep would be good. We can stop by that river down there.”

“Okay. That sounds good.”

They continued along until they got to the river, both of them stopping in front of it like they planned after what felt like another hour or so of walking. Shorey and Rally both took drinks despite the water being unfiltered and unsanitized, deciding that another day of walking with nothing to drink would not be ideal. Then they both stood by the waters edge for a little while, Rally staring up at the city in front of them.

“I can’t believe we’re gonna be there soon… can you believe we’re actually in ponies in Equestria? I never imagined we’d see something like the Crystal Empire in real life.”

“Neither did I, but I was also under the assumption that magic wasn’t real, and it turns out it is. Who knew?”

“I hope they have some magic to use on us when we find a doctor. Speaking of which, is your side okay? It looks kind of bad. Like, bad enough that a hospital would probably be better than finding a place to stay right off the bat.”

“It looks worse than it feels,” Shorey answered, “but it still doesn’t feel that great. Let me check and see how your tail is holding up, too. I mean, if you’re okay with me doing that.”

“I don’t really care. We’re both naked, and so was Rusty Bucket, so it’s not like it’s gonna be a big deal. Although without a tail, I’m probably gonna be less modest than most ponies.”

“Yeah. Let me look.” She walked behind the stallion to get a glimpse of what happened, and made a sharp inhale at the sight of it. It was one that automatically had Rally asking about how bad it was.

“It’s, uh, not great,” she replied. “Like, almost all of your tail is missing, and there’s a few spots near your dock that are all bloody and dirty and look like they need to be cleaned the first chance we get. It’s not good. How bad does it hurt?”

“I don’t know. Enough that I can feel it when I move my back legs,” was the reply. “I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t enjoy sitting down because of how sore it feels.”

“Yeah, uh, I think you need a doctor more than I do. Your flank looks bad.” Bad enough that Shorey flinched at the thought of the timberwolves tearing off her tail rather than Rally’s. That would not have been a fun experience.

She didn’t say anything about an organ she tried to avoid looking at slowly stiffening below the stallion, but could practically hear the blood rushing to Rally’s cheeks because of what was happening. The mare tried not to, but she couldn’t help but blush, too.

“I’m sorry,” came a little reply from her friend, the stallion’s voice cracking like she was about to start crying in a second.

“You’re fine. I know what erections are. I was a man, too, up until yesterday. Or, well, two days ago.” Before her friend could say anything else, she continued, “Anyway, basically, there’s a large patch of fur missing, and the part of your flank that has no fur looks extremely bloody. I’m not a doctor, but it seems like it’s kind of inflamed, too, which I don’t think is good.”

“Do you think it’s worse than your side looks?”

“I certainly wouldn’t say it’s better,” Shorey told her. “I don’t know long it takes ponies to grow fur, but it looks like it’s gonna take a long time. We need to get to a doctor sooner rather than later.”

“Yeah, a doctor would be good. But so would food and shelter and… well, I guess we have river water.”

“And rest,” the mare finished. “Now let’s be quiet and rest for a little while, please. I don’t know if I’ll fall asleep, but if you do, I’ll wake you up in a few hours so we can start moving again, okay?”

“That sounds good to me… um, before we rest though, when do you think Forrester and Davey are gonna be here? Any time soon?”

“I don’t know about Davey,” she started, “but Forrester said he would be here as soon as he can. I don’t know if he was just joking though. I’m pretty sure Moberly would want to be here, too though. I’m unsure about the rest of the chat.”

“And then what? Forrester is gonna come here and talk about how come he’s not a mare when he loves playing Fallout: New Vegas all day?” She laughed at her little joke, and Shorey smiled as she continued, “And Davey’s gonna try and talk about cars and tell us how a pony actually has more than one horse power or something, and Moberly and Beryl are gonna argue back and forth the whole time like always.”

“Haha, maybe,” Shorey laughed lightly. “It’s gonna be a real group chat meet up, won’t it? First time ever. Although I’ve already meet you in real life before this, and Moberly, too. No one else though.”

“I bet Moberly would like Equestria more than the others.”

The mare chuckled a bit to herself at the thought of someone like Moberly showing up in Equestria. It’d be very interesting to see Rally’s reaction to them showing up, even though she probably already knew about Moberly. She might just laugh and tease her a bit, poking fun at her expense, although not in a mean way. Either way though, she expected some of the group chat to make it to Equestria, going to Ponyville like she directed them to if they did. Then they’d all meet up there. A however many miles trip that was from their current position.

“How far do you think it’s gonna be to get to Ponyville?” Shorey asked, although she didn’t get a response. Despite Rally’s wanting to continue on immediately, the stallion was already dead asleep and snoring slightly. She smiled and giggled slightly at the sight, and then closed her eyes to try and rest herself.