//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19 
// Story: The Human Pet 
// by RushyFiction 
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You shiver underneath the covers, a sheen of cold sweat covering your forehead peeking out. Not only have your recent exploits physically incapacitated you for a while, but somewhere along the way, you'd picked up a helluva case of flu. Maybe it was that nap out in the rain. Or the one you took on the stone floor of the candy shop's basement. It occurs to you that you nap in many strange places.

Now, you are the sole resident of a large private ward in the ponies' hospital under an extremely strict quarantine. You couldn't really blame them - after all, you are a weird alien golem thing. But you couldn't help missing the friends you'd made an awful lot, particularly the fillies and Sweetheart. You are able to see them once in a while, with a plastic sheet between you and them, but it isn't enough for you, and you're sure it isn't enough for them either. Your communication is, after all, almost entirely based on hugs. Still, it's enough to at least settle your mind and make you wish your body just hurried the fuck up so you could get out of here. You've never felt so bad about being lazy in bed all day.

From the clopping of hooves and the squeak of wheels behind your back, you surmised that your one and only break from the monotony had arrived: the Nurse. Since you'd woken up here, the young white mare with a soft pink flamingo mane tied in a bun had been the one to look after you. You were too weary and ill to care why or how. Nurse is very kind, a true professional and you can tell she has a passion for helping others. Though your ape form must no doubt be strange and off putting to her, you never catch a wince or a quick eyebrow raise.

The day begins as always, with Nurse pushing in a cart-sized wheelchair. It's too big even for you, let alone the ponies - you assumed it was designed for one of those big horses, like the princesses, though you hadn't seen any since your visit to the capital. However, since you aren't moving much anyway, you saw no reason to complain.

Nurse moves the wheelchair to the right side of the bed, between you and the window that you're facing. Clamped in her teeth is a red ribbon, tied to a small cardboard box with three pink butterflies printed on, that you already know contains presents and food from your group of friends. You're deeply touched every time you see one. It's quite remarkable how deeply the little equines care for someone they consider one of their own. Nurse sets the box on your bedside table and then pulls the damp, hot comforter off of you, exposing you to what you feel to be the biting winds of Antarctica.

With Nurse providing her back as a support for your right hand, and your left hand gripping onto the bed's metal rails, you manage to push yourself onto the elevated wheelchair without having to use your injured legs too much. As you huddle on top of the chair, Nurse expertly pulls you away from the bed and helps you to the bathroom, leaving you there to manage on your own as she replaces the sheets.

"F-f-f-f-fu-u-u-ck..." you stutter, and grab one of the blankets for warmth before washing your teeth. Your reflection was a fright - all sticky hair, dark shadows under the eyes and a permanent blush. Because of your jittering, you actually manage to finish quite fast, eager to hide your hands under your armpits. Nurse appears at the door and cruelly pulls the blanket off of you, followed by your hospital gown as you get ready for a sponge bath.

The concept of having one of the ponies clean you might've seemed more than a little strange in different circumstances, but you had little choice and now, you cannot deny you enjoy the natural warm feelings of safety and care that flood over you as Nurse's tender hooves work their way across your body, rubbing away the byproducts of your sickness. The combined heat from the water and her smooth, velvety body close to you drive away the fever cold just for a few blissful minutes. "T-t-t-thank y-you, Nurse..." you mumble, and close your eyes.







Back under the now-crispy and cool covers, you untie the string around the box and take off the top. Inside, you find an assortment of treats - unfortunately, as delectable as the slice of apple pie seems, you're far too sick to ingest food and so you place that on the box top you left on the bedside table, along with a few muffins, cupcakes and a random fistful of... fried grass? Who the heck fries grass?

You also pull out three photos, looking like they've been made with the pony equivalent of a Polaroid. The first one shows Applebee and Snowy squeezed into your old denim trousers, with Scooter balanced on their front hooves, wearing your T-shirt and trying to casually lean on a tree. They make one hell of a human.

The second photograph is a bit more classical - Sweetheart sitting on her lawn in front of her cottage, with all the various birds and rodents around her in the shape of a heart, all giving genuine smiles at the camera. The love they all had for one another, and you, shone through the image like a lightbulb suddenly turned on, and your shivering slowed down and stopped as you imagined going back there, and being welcomed home by your caretaker.

Home…

Is this it now? Are you accepting your stay here in this quirky little town, where trusting magical ponies run about your feet every day and love the shit out of everyone who falls into their spiderweb of friendship without expectations?

You watch as Nurse trots to your bedside with a cheerful smile and hops up to your wheelchair, where her eyes bulge out as she notices the freshly baked apple pie slice sent to you. You can't help, but snicker slightly as her tiny red tongue slips out of her mouth and hangs there, building up a bead of drool. You release your Nurse from the agony and hand her the pie.

Receiving confirmation from your eyes, Nurse takes a large bite and chews it, her cheeks comically puffing up and her sky-blue eyes rolling out of pleasure.

Yeah, you're staying. Showing these indescribably charming, wholesome ponies the love they deserve may be impossible, but it's a mission worth undertaking regardless. "I'll boop the lot of ya, I swear." you mumble and pinch Nurse's tiny nose. You hear a muffled squeak coming out of her throat behind all the pie, and she goes cross-eyed.

Satisfied, you let Nurse finish her unofficial breakfast and take a nap, knowing that sleep's the best medicine. As your mind starts drifting away, you hear a soft humming, briefly bringing you back. You force one eye slightly open, just a slit, but it's enough to see Nurse lower her hoof on your back, which she starts stroking slowly. Her mouth is open, meaning that she's not just humming, she's singing to you. You pout a bit, wishing you could understand the words. It sounded pretty... your eye closed shut again, enjoying the caress of the soft hoof across your back and the lovely voice of your Nurse.

In your hand, you hold the final photograph of a pink filly with a carefully styled purple-white mane, sitting on an expensive four-poster bed and holding up a messy watercolor painting of a sunlit field, where a brownish biped strolls with one of his limbs holding onto the hoof of a pink quadruped with a tiara-shaped object on her head.