"Are we monsters?" Mel asked as both of us walked the dark streets of the city, all the horses residing in them fast asleep. Their metal legs scraped against the concrete as we went, filling the air with the horrible noise.
"No...why do you ask?" Max replied, his eye glancing up to hers.
"Well...we tried to keep those horses as hostages..."
He stopped, coming to a complete halt as he stared at her.
"We were going to set them free eventually" he countered.
"But...it's still kidnapping, would we have done that even if we didn't look like this?" she asked, gesturing to herself.
"No...I guess we wouldn't have...I mean, we only tried to do that since we were looking for these" he said, holding up his portal gun "I guess...if we were still human...then we wouldn't have needed to try and do it in the first place..."
The both of them were silent as they continued their journey, looking for any signs of movement, from either the horses, or whatever other creatures might be nearby.
"So, what happens when we actually get out of here?" Mel asked, glancing to Max.
"I...don't know" he sighed "I guess, we could just..."
"You didn't think this through, did you?"
"No..."
"Oh perfect..."
Indeed, the two didn't have a place in Equestria, or any other part of the world they now resided in. The only thing they could do was to keep walking, hoping to find someone or something that might help them get home.
"Y'know, it's a miracle we can see out here at all" Mel said, in order to fill the empty silence.
"I guess we can thank our eyes for that..."
"Yeah...y'know what else?"
"What?"
"...I'm going to miss my sense of smell..."
Max only sighed as he realized she was right, they'd never be able to regain some of their human functions now that they'd been transformed.
"I think my sense of touch went a little bit too...I mean...things don't feel the same as they did before..."
"Yeah..."
"...we can't cry anymore either...I guess..."
"Unless it's oil..." he joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"That's not funny..."
'Well...it was to me' he thought.
"And...oh no..."
"What? What's the matter?" he asked worriedly.
"I...I...I wanted to have kids...kids, Max- I-I- can-can't do that n-now..."
Max thought it best to keep his figurative mouth shut, lest he start something he couldn't finish or control.
"I...I know..."
"No you don't..." she said miserably "you just...you don't..."
"You're right..." he relented "but...unless we can find our way back, and find a way to change ourselves back, I can only assume it's going to get worse from here on out..."
She nodded sadly, then wiped her eye on instinct, sighing to herself as both of them continued, walking the streets.
"So, about the whole 'emotions' thing, do we really feel them? Or is it just a simulation of that emotion?" he asked.
"I don't know" she responded "I guess...we could be programmed to accept and display the emotions in relation to the simulation..."
"But what if it's just our AI? We don't have human brains anymore! It doesn't make any sense!"
She shot him a look.
"We're in a world full of frickin' talking horses! How do you expect anything to make sense?!"
"Mel, keep your voice down!" he said in a harsh whisper.
"No! No I won't! We got thrown into this! Just...randomly! How- How do you expect me to deal with this?!"
"I- I- I-"
She turned and ran, her metal feel clanking against the pavement as she flew down the street. He gave chase, clumsily running after her as he occasionally glanced upward, hoping none of the horses would wake up and look out their windows to see what was making all of the racket in the street.
"Mel! Mel!" he said, chasing after her "Come back!"
She glanced back to him, and she picked up her pace, putting more distance between herself and Max.
He finally stopped, exhausted, as Mel appeared as a speck on the dark horizon, her off-white body contrasting greatly with the rest of her surroundings.
"Mel...no..."
'I can't lose her...gotta keep going...' he thought to himself '...something could...happen...'
He resumed his chase, attempting to catch up with her, and maybe try and talk some sense into her as well. The thoughts of what could happen to her further fueled his mind, forcing him to run a bit faster, which gave him the hope that maybe he could catch up to her. After all, he had to stop, that meant she had, as well, at some point.
He holstered his portal gun, hoping that would give him a bit more speed as he continued to chase after her. Of course, he had the portal device, but then again, he didn't have a clue where she was, making the device a bit useless at the moment.
'Can't stop now...have to keep going...'
He repeated the mantra over and over in his mind, which in turn forced his body into moving as fast as it could. The urge to find Mel was overwhelming, to say the least, dozens of thoughts made themselves known as he went. What would happen if she got lost? If one of those horses found her? What if she was attacked? Shut down and sold for scrap? What if they got her portal gun? Then they'd know they weren't supposed to be here.
'Please be alright...please be safe...'