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// (16) Soft Landing 
// Story: Wish Fulfillment (Legacy Version) 
// by Boopy Doopy 
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“A plateau?” I yelled. “A fucking plateau? Why? Why not build it in the valley? This is so fucking stupid!” I stomped a hoof in anger as I glared hatefully at the sight before me.
I was sure my voice could be heard all the way down on the valley floor… or maybe it was a canyon. I couldn’t tell, but either word worked. It didn’t matter to me. What did matter was the fact that all of this felt like it was getting completely ridiculous. 
“Rally, calm down,” Shorey tried to tell me, putting a gentle hoof on my shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay. We can see it. I bet you we can be there by tonight and be sleeping in nice warm beds if we move fast enough.”
“It’s just annoying that we have to get past one obstacle just to get to the next obstacle!” I complained. “I didn’t ask to go to Equestria to do all of this! And for what? Just to be this stallion? We’re gonna get there and they’re gonna say there’s nothing they can do!”
I wanted to cry, and could feel the sobs building up in my chest, but I didn’t. It had me extremely worried, even more afraid of that than I was of whatever obstacle came next. I was becoming more stoic, that I knew, because crying wasn’t something that should’ve been difficult for me. Just being this stallion was stealing my emotions from me and changing my mind, probably my thinking too, and I was absolutely terrified of it. I didn’t want to go back to being who I was before.
“I just want to be myself again,” I said, glancing at Shorey before having to look away. I was unbearably jealous of her. “It feels like I’m gonna be this way forever.”
“I know that feeling,” Shorey replied, her soft, honey like voice hugging my ears before she wrapped her hooves around me. She was already in tears over me, something that only made me feel worse. I didn’t want her to cry because of me.
“We both know that feeling, and we’ve both been there,” she told me. “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 just want to give up and die after a week of this. I can’t even cry right now because of this fucking hormone. I’m becoming stoic again.”
“You’re going to be able to do it,” she told me, pressing her neck into mine 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’m not strong enough to live like this like you were going to though,” I whispered. “I was never going to be able to do what you were going to do. All of this is gonna kill me.” 
“You can do it,” she assured me. “I believe in you, and I’ll be there to help you if you need it. We’re gonna find Twilight and she’s gonna fix you.”
I sighed. I didn’t believe her, but I trusted her. She was hardly ever wrong about anything, and I hoped she wasn’t wrong now.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, still hugging her, closing my eyes now. “I love you, Shorey.”
“I love you, too, Rally. You’re a great friend.” 
Words that didn’t usually hurt me cut me like a knife right then, and I was finally able to work out a tear or two. Not as much as I wanted, but it was something. As weird as it was, feeling them run down my cheek gave me a little peace of mind that there was something that could be done again. I was hoping I was just too exhausted to cry.
“Can we rest before we keep moving?” I asked. "We’ve been up all night and I need sleep.” I was not feeling up to getting to the top of that plateau exhausted.
“Let’s try and get a little closer before we stop,” Shorey suggested. “I’d rather be near the river than up here in the forest, just in case those timberwolves come back. Plus, we’ll be close to water, and I have to say, I’m thirsty.”
“Okay, I can do that… is your side okay?” It was probably just me being overly concerned about her, but her side looked bad. Bad enough that it was probably a good idea to get her to a hospital before anything else.
“It doesn’t feel too bad. Let me actually check and see how your tail is holding up.” I didn’t know if I could blush, but it felt like I did as she got behind me and bent down to take a look. My ears perked up on their own as she gave a little inhale at whatever she saw. Something bad, clearly. 
“It doesn’t look good, Rally,” she said.
“It doesn’t feel good,” I replied, wiggling my flank a little bit once I said it. I meant it in more ways than one.
“There’s a large splotch of fur missing,” she continued. “And what’s left is a bloodied mess. 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.”
“Speak for yourself,” I replied tiredly, glancing at her side again before sighing. “Can we get going now?” I asked. “I’m really tired.”
She agreed, and we left down to the valley after that. I thought we were going to stop at the valley floor, but Shorey had other plans, forcing us to keep going for another couple of hours until we got to the river bank. I briefly considered what the odds were that there was some microbe in this water that would make us sick before deciding I didn’t care. Thinking about that was going to will it into existence, I just knew it. Instead, I lapped up the water as best as I could as I appreciated the dryness in my throat melting away. Once I had my fill, I flopped down into the grass and closed my eyes, my mind demanding sleep.
“I hope we can find something to eat soon, too,” Shorey said, laying down next to me. “I don’t want to suggest eating grass yet since we’re so close, but I don’t like going so long without eating.”
“I’m too tired to think about eating,” I said, opening my eyes again. Then I paused and smiled, saying, “I could eat you, though.”
Too far. That was way too far over the line, and I knew it as soon as I said it. Even more so because of our lack of clothing, here. Just saying that, I was certain she now thought I was looking at things I shouldn’t be just seeing how quickly her face drained of color (so ponies could blush!). Not that I was, nor would I ever. Even if I wanted to, I was already jealous and bitter enough because of her. I didn’t need to add onto that feeling.
“I mean because of how adorable you always are,” I quickly tried to explain. “Like, I could just eat you up. Not that way.”
“I know, I just…” she tried to say, but stopped. She was practically radiating how embarrassed she was, and it made me feel embarrassed, too. Stupid, Rally! Can you not act like this for one day? We just survived nearly dying twice over and you still act like this.
“Sorry,” I said quietly, letting my apology hang right there.
“Well, I do think we should try and eat anyway,” Shorey finally said after a long moment. “It’s best if we try and get something in us before we get to the Crystal Empire. We haven’t eaten anything since before we got to that forest.”
“I’d really rather not eat grass… have ponies eaten grass in the show?” I asked. The answer seemed like a no, but I honestly couldn’t remember. I knew they ate hay and normal type food, but beyond that, I was clueless.
“They eat flowers, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t,” Shorey replied. “Let’s just try it.”
I sighed, watching her bend down to munch on some before I reluctantly followed her lead. I had to say, it didn’t taste great, certainly not a delicacy. It wasn’t as disgusting as I imagined it being, but I did have trouble choking it down, to the point where I almost thought this wasn’t something we should be eating. I certainly wasn’t going to be snacking on it again later.
“When do you think Forrester and Davey and everyone else is gonna get here?” I asked as I tried to eat, somehow getting the stuff down.
“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.”
The rest of the chat was something, especially Moberly. I couldn’t say I particularly liked them, what with their attitude towards me and who I was. I had my own suspicions for why they acted the way they did, the main one being that they were trans, too, and just afraid to admit it, but I couldn’t be sure since I never asked. It was a vibe I got, like a gaydar, except for spotting other trans people. I don’t think I’d ever been wrong.
If Moberly came to Equestria as a mare, I was going to laugh my head off. And then be more than a little bit frustrated afterward. It was not going to do anything to help me get over what happened to me.
There wasn’t much to say about the rest of the chat. I liked some of them more than others, and would in general consider every single one of them to be smarter than I was. I had the most fun hanging out with Forrester and Shorey though, sometimes Davey, too, even though he could be a bit much at times. I hoped those two at least came here. 
“I bet when Forrester gets here, he’ll say something like, ‘I obviously wasn’t trans enough since I’m not a mare,” I chuckled. “Or make a joke about Fallout: New Vegas.”
“Maybe,” she replied, not smiling at all, making me sigh and frown again. “I’m gonna say up front though that I don’t want anyone here to know that I’m trans. Obviously the group chat is gonna know, but as far as the ponies in Equestria are concerned, I’m just a mare.”
Don’t think about being jealous of her. Don’t think about being jealous.
“I won’t tell anyone, Shorey.” I knew she cared about things like that a lot more than I did. As far as I was concerned, I was a lady whether or not I was currently transitioned. She, however, didn’t feel the same about herself from what I understood. It seemed like, in essence, her position was ‘everyone is valid except for me’. It was more nuanced than that, but that’s what it boiled down to.
“Although I’d argue you were always a lady, what with how feminine you act at all times,” I continued. “And just talking to Rusty Bucket before, he made it seem like he didn’t understand that being transgender was a thing. Anyway, this grass tastes disgusting. I think I’m gonna wait until we get some real food.”
“It’s not that bad, but you’re right, real food would be better.”
I chewed and swallowed what I had left in my mouth before I thought of something a little bit funny, asking, “Do you think they have double bacon cheeseburgers in Equestria?”
“Cows are sapient, Rally.”
“I know, I was making a joke, Shorey.”
“Well, let’s not make jokes like that, please?” she said, more telling me than asking me. “I don’t want to ruin being here before relationships have even had a chance to form because of things like that.”
“There’s no one even around us,” I tried to say, but it seemed like she wouldn’t have any of it.
“Let’s just not say things like that. I don’t even want to chance someone being around to hear something like that.”
“Okay, Shorey,” I got out, closing my eyes and letting out a breath. As much as I wanted to say that being here was already ruined for me, I refrained. That would be just asking for an argument, and it felt like I was starting to bug her.
I knew she was right, though. She always was, mostly. She just had a tendency to be more serious than necessary when there wasn’t a reason to. Well, and argumentative if she got in that mood, something I wanted to avoid, but still. It wasn’t like I was any better. I hardly strayed from the same six or seven topics of conversation, and interrupted people too much, and wasn’t as careful a listener as I should’ve been, and pushed the line way too far over and over again, a whole list of other things. Sometimes I was surprised that she even liked spending time with me at all, what with how I pushed certain things and how I felt I acted sometimes.
“Can you believe we’re actually here though?” I asked with a yawn. “We’re ponies in a children’s show. This shouldn’t even be possible.”
“It is remarkable,” she agreed. “But I think you should get to sleep. I know you don’t want to be out here longer than we have to be, and I certainly don’t.”
Ouch. Yup, I was annoying her. I took a breath and curled up, closing my eyes again as Shorey put her back to me. I needed to act better. Tone down my personality. Stop pushing the line. And also get to the Crystal Empire, and take a train to Canterlot or Ponyville, and fix my body, and, and, and… There was a whole lot of stuff I needed to do, a laundry list of things. But I was sure with Shorey here pushing me on, I’d be able to be the mare I wanted to be.