It was hard to tell how much time had passed. Nurse Emma's scritches and ear rubs were exactly what the night pony needed; that headache never stood a chance. The nurse even eventually did get to whatever paperwork she had to get working on, although her free hand remained on Jinxi's ears. Eventually the other nurses seemed to just accept that this was happening, and started going about their normal tasks, pretending she wasn't there.
Good things never last, however. From the other side of the counter came a man's exasperated voice. "Perez, what the fuck are you doing?" The angelic nurse let out a startled noise that the night pony could easily have recreated, and the ear rubs came to a halt. "You promised if we let you work the ETS ward, you wouldn't do this shit." When Jinxi cracked open her eye, she saw a tall, dark-skinned man in a doctor's coat, pinching the bridge of his nose. The lanyard ID proclaimed him to be Dr. Avery Downey. "We managed to convince that lady not to sue when you pulled this sort of thing with her service dog. This is..."
The nurse—I guess her surname's Perez—let out a bit of a petulant whine. "But she was sick in four-eighteen's toilet, the poor little thing," she explained, as if that was actually justification for snatching me up and engaging in a non-sexual petting session. "I just wanted to make her feel better."
Dr. Downey—Jinxi now recognised that he was a man Jacen had seen on his first day here—sighed and glanced up and down the length of the night pony. "And her tail is raised because?"
Jinxi's eyes shot wide, and she immediately rolled off Emma Perez' lap. Even as the young mare's belly hit the floor, her tail whipped down to cover herself. The moment her cheeks flushed, the other two nurses in the vicinity burst out laughing. One was asking something about fur blushing between fits of giggles. The male nurse, on the other hoof expressed his disbelief that neither party in that pony petting session managed to notice.
Without waiting for the nurse to respond, Downey continued, "Just so you know, Jacen Cadlow is a twenty-five year old man—"
With an indignant squeak, the night pony interjected, "I'm Jinxi! Technically I was made from his absorbed' sister's cells." The man fixed her with a flat stare. A glance at a nearby clock revealed that it was now after midnight. "The original is still asleep on the bed, like all day ponies should be at this hour."
His jaw clenched."ANYWAYS," he growled through gritted teeth, fixing the nurse with a glare. Dude needs to take a chill pill. "Just... Remember that the ETS patients were human once, and are still clearly quite sapient, if frustrating to deal with. Don't let me catch you treating any more like you would a pet, or the union won't be able to protect you."
Turning to look down to the pony, he sighed. "Do you have an actual reason to remain out here, or can I trust you to return to your room?"
Jinxi looked back up at him. "Food," she said flatly, glancing at the space underneath the counter where there was an open box of trail mix snack packs and a minifridge. "I haven't eaten since we were put under on Saturday. Nurse Kate also informed me there might be snacks out here."
A few minutes later, the young pony was back on the shared bed in her hospital room with two packets of trail mix in front of her and a cold ginger ale sitting on the table beside her. Apparently, they might not be able to get their hands on anything she could eat until roughly five in the morning... so she'd probably end up eating an early breakfast and then conking out. This will have to do until then, she thought as she clumsily manoeuvred the still spread tarot cards back into a deck and putting them away in their box.
She was amazed with the ease with which she managed to tear open the top of the pack with her teeth. Immediately, the scent of salted seeds, nuts, berries, and chocolate assailed her nose, and a hungry groan could be heard from her belly. Eating it was another matter entirely, though. Jinxi couldn't quite grasp it right with her wing. In the end she just ended up having to hold it with her lips and prop it up with a hoof when she wanted to dump some into her mouth. It was super tasty, but awkward. Next time, ask for a cup or something.
Soon after eating the first pack of trail mix, she returned her attention to her phone. There'd been a text message that she'd somehow missed when she went to do her thing with the cards. It was from Peter, but it was dated Saturday afternoon. That made her frown, because there'd been no further attempts at communication since then. Just the one message.
Jacen... and Jinxi, I guess...
ETS is accelerating here, and everything's going to shit out here. There are gangs of people targeting ponies and those with the symptoms, making it dangerous to go outside. It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't running out of edible food here, and Gage could get around on his own. Truth be told, I'm not too far behind him. Another two days, and he'll be full stallion. Yeah, you were right. By then, though, I won't be in any state to drive. I could even be a pony by this time next week.
We've been keeping an ear to the ground for safe places, and we think our best bet for seeking shelter is in Greenwood Village. We'll try to get in contact when we can, but things have been spotty lately. Ah shit, there goes the power again. We gotta go. Stay safe you
It worried her that there were people attacking ponies and ponies-to-be. She couldn't be there to protect her friends—and damned if being the protective one wasn't odd compared to her pre-transformation personality—if they got attacked. The mere thought of her best friends, her brothers from other dams, getting hurt got her hackles up. A lot of it she attributed to the protective instincts of her night pony nature, but Jinxi couldn't deny that there was a degree of possessiveness behind it. Ponies being in danger was bad enough, but much like the thought of it affecting Jacen, her colts being in danger was magnitudes worse.
There was no romantic or sexual intent behind it, so far as she could tell. It felt more like... because of all they'd done to support Jacen growing up, she felt indebted. That was why; they were hers to protect. At least, she hoped it was the case. If she did somehow end up having those sorts of feelings for either, it wasn't gonna end well. Gage was as gay as the day was long, and she was a filly. Pete, on the other hoof, she had no idea what way he even swung. He could've been secretly lovers with Gage, and she'd never know.
With agonizing slowness, she managed to tap out a message.
Jinxi here. When this is all over, I'm gonna try to convince Jacen we should move back to Colorado. You guys are our family, and family needs to stick together. I'm gonna be ultra pissed if I find out you two got hurt 'cause I wasn't there. Keep safe, colts.
Just as she hit send, an odd feeling hit Jinxi. Something nearby was all but crying... but it was her night pony nature that was screaming at her to seek it out. Admittedly, she was kind of curious, because it almost felt like what she'd experienced in that vision. The only way she could describe it was some sort of magical pull that evoked the thoughts fear and dark.
Before she even had time to consider, she was down on the floor and walking into the hallway. She looked around for a moment, her ears trying to catch some sort of hint of sound. There was whimpering and plaintive cries in the next room over, and her weird night pony sense was pulling her in that direction. Unfortunately, that room's door was closed.
Though a nurse had taken notice of her, she ignored the man as she spread her wings. With a great downward thrust, she lifted off. Once she gained enough height to peer through the door's inset window, she glanced between the two beds, trying to pick up on the source. A small earth pony filly with a green coat and cherry-red mane lay nestled against a pegasus mare's belly. Between the facial twitching, the shivers, and the whimpers, it was clear that the foal was having a nightmare.
"Poor kid's been having nightmares since she and her mother were brought in," the guy commented as he walked up beside her. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that he was probably thinking unfriendly things because she was flying indoors, but he seemed to have more patience for her than Kate did. "I didn't realise your hearing was so good as to hear her from your room."
The night pony forced herself to keep a calm expression. Every instinct was telling her to help the filly, but she didn't know how. "Night ponies protect at night, both from physical harm, and nightmares," Jinxi responded, unable to keep a bit of frantic energy out of her voice. "I need to help her."
As she used her forehoof to manipulate the door's handle and push it open, she found herself unable to move forward. The night pony snapped her head around, baring her teeth, as the nurse had grabbed hold of her tail. "You are not going to harass other patients when they're trying to sleep," he said in a low voice. "Return to your room."
A hiss escaped her as she rounded on him. "Did you not hear me?" she whispered back at him, smacking his hand hard across the knuckles with her hoof. He immediately released her tail with a grunt of pain and stepped back, allowing her to float backwards into the room. "I'll do my job and you do yours."
Paying the man no further mind, she carefully landed beside the sleeping mare and her foal on the bed. She contemplated how she could possibly help, but she came up with nothing. Her dream that evening had been interrupted, so it was possible that knowledge had never actually been imparted. Still, she had to do something.
Sucking in a deep breath, she nestled down, her legs folded beneath her. Using her left wing to gently caress the filly's side, she had an idea. So far as she knew, this was the only child that had been transferred here, which meant this was the filly a mare had been singing Take Me Home, Country Roads to as some sort of lullaby.
As Jinxi began to hum the melody to the song, the foal seemed to calm slightly. That said, it wasn't entirely working. The creeping dark presence enshrouding the sleeping pony's mind was still there, plain as day to her. There was no magic rising up within her at her desire to enter the filly's nightmare and bring it to an end. Even if she was soothing the child somewhat, her inability caused her to experience no small degree of guilt and shame.
Just as she was about to give up, she felt it... Magic—somepony else's dream magic, she instinctively knew—and the momentary trace of another's presence. It only lingered for a moment, but she was almost certain that somepony who actually knew how to do her job had vanquished the nightmare for her. Then, just like that, the filly stopped shaking. There was a contented sigh, and her facial expression softened.
Jinxi withdrew her wing, and her heart nearly broke when the still dreaming foal tried to grab hold of that long wing-finger. Quickly schooling her own expression, she turned to face the nurse as she crawled over to the edge of the bed. He waited until she hopped down off the bed and exited the room before letting out an exasperated sigh. "How the hell did you manage to calm her?"
"Night ponies protect," she deflected in a tight voice. "It's the purpose ETS gave us."
She brushed past the man, and rushed back to her room. That guilt and shame was eating away at her mask, and if she didn't get out of sight quickly, somepony was gonna see. I can't let them see me cry, she admonished herself as she pushed the room's door shut. Night ponies are strong! We're protectors, not crybabies...
Rather than join her brother on the bed and snuggle up against him—as much as she wanted to do—she sought someplace else to sulk. She spotted a space above a storage cabinet that could easily fit a night pony. It took no effort for her to fly high enough to climb atop the cabinet. Even as she curled into a ball, burying her muzzle in her forelegs and pulling her wings over her head, she could feel the tears coming.
As she finally broke down, she wondered why this was such a big deal... She'd failed once, but that wouldn't mean she'd always fail. Besides, there was more to protecting than just making sure they got a good night's sleep. But you failed to protect her, she told herself. You're just a little kid yourself now. You can't help anypony.
Something was poking her. "Wake up, you!" somepony called down below. This was followed up with something jabbing her in the side, just behind her wing joint. "Wake up and get down from there, now."
The night pony cracked open her eye and lifted her wing. There was a dark blue unicorn mare with a fluffy green and teal mane standing there, a broom levitating in front of her. A pair of glasses rested atop her horn, but what drew her in were the narrowed golden eyes looking up at her. Probably trying to decide if she's gonna poke me again. Jacen was right there beside the doctor, looking up at the night pony with an annoyed, somewhat dejected look. "'s daytime, Tara," she slurred, putting the wing back down to shield face. "Night ponies don't do day."
"Come on, Fussyfangs, something important's happened!" her brother said. "You can sleep more after the president makes his address."
The night pony groaned and stood up, stretching her wings. "He's not my president, and my name's not Fussyfangs," she mumbled, lazily jumping off the cabinet and flapping her wings to slow her fall. "The heck is so important that you gotta torture me like this?"
Jacen just glared at her, looking like he'd been sucking on a lemon. "ETS is over," Tara answered, since he seemingly wasn't gonna tell her. She set the broom down beside the cabinet. "I don't know how yet, but it's apparently not going to infect and change anypony else. Everypony still mobile is waiting in the day room."
That definitely got Jinxi's attention. "Gimme a moment to use the restroom and I'll catch up with you." She felt their eyes on her as she lifted off again and flew into the open bathroom door. When they didn't at all move, she made eye contact with her brother and settled on the toilet seat. "Don't make me make this awkward to assert dominance." She waved her wings in a shooing motion. "Go on, get."
They quickly left her alone when they realised that she wasn't bluffing. Minutes later, she joined them out in the day room. Not counting herself, her brother, her physician, or the mare and her foal from last night, there were six ponies in the room. Nine more were on the cusp of entering their transformation's mobility-impinging state. Nurse Kate was also there, now looking as small as Tara had been the previous day.
Everypony was staring up at a TV mounted on the wall. There were interviews about the apparent end to ETS playing, but there was no indicator as to when the president was apparently gonna make a public statement on the matter. Almost every single pony that was interviewed had a different opinion. Some were scared they'd be forced to turn back. Others seemed angry, especially at humans that had spurned their help. Yet more were happy for their human neighbours, if for no other reason than they need not be afraid. The only general opinion that was shared by a vast majority was that none of them wanted to turn back.
Why shouldn't they be scared? So many of them consider their transformation a gift, Jinxi thought as she came in to sit beside her brother. I wouldn't exist without it. Even if there really was roughly half a billion ponies around the world, there was still sixteen humans to every pony, and that was nowhere close to an even population spread. We'll be a minority among our former brothers, and I fear that not all will be so accepting that this is how the world is now.
There was, of course, also the fear of the humans. There'd been reports of violence towards ponies and the infected all across the continent... Peter had even mentioned some in Denver. It was a result the natural human fear of the unknown and strange that drove some of it. Ponies were an unknown quantity, and they were different. What had once been a trait intrinsic to survival now risked destroying something beautiful.
There were also mention of marks appearing on the flanks of ponies. These marks—the term cutie mark was used consistently to refer to them in those reports that mentioned them—apparently either codified or represented a pony's special purpose in life, or some talent unique to them depending on who was asked. The rumour was that if a pony found their meaning in life and received their mark, there would be no going back for them.
Nearly every one of the transformed ponies in the room besides Tara, Jinxi, and Jacen, expressed a desire to get a mark. Even the little foal the night pony had failed to help last night couldn't help but gush at the idea of finding their special talent. The doctor, on the other hoof, wasn't sure that she wanted to remain a pony. Whether she would even be allowed to retain her medical license was her biggest concern.
There wasn't any going back for Jinxi and Jacen. Neither believed that their transformation could be reversed without killing one or the other. That said, despite her failure last night, the leathery-winged pony thought it was possible that she was onto something as far as marks went. That weird stuff last night with the cards left a lingering feeling nagging at her. There was no denying there had been some odd happenings, but there wasn't enough information for her to go on. Then again, if her purpose in life was getting migraines from cards and ending up vomiting, maybe she'd pass on it.
As time drug on, Jacen found his sister leaning against him, as if staying upright was the only thing keeping her awake. He felt guilty keeping her up like this, especially with the little episode he had the previous evening, but this was important. If ETS really was over, and all this news wasn't just response to hearsay, he might have to reconsider how he felt about everything.
There was also the matter of Chloe throwing the odd glance in his direction. She was a nice enough mare, but he knew very little about her. Her expression was also hard for him to read, especially once Jinxi's head started resting on his shoulder. It made him feel so weird; as a gambler, he was very used to having an easy time gauging people.
Finally, after a commercial break, the news channel was showing the press room in the White House. The President of the United States stood behind a podium bearing the presidential seal, waiting a few moments to make his address. It wasn't immediately noticeable, but even he hadn't been able to avoid infection. Both his hair and eyes were a lot more silver than was natural on a human. Jacen was disappointed that the man hadn't been fully transformed; if he had been, the man would have been a powerful figurehead for the ponies in the United States, possibly even somepony to rally behind.
With her mind more geared towards the safety of others, Jinxi found herself thankful that he wasn't fully transformed. She remembered the text Peter had sent, about gangs of bigots attacking ponies. No way those sorts of people would accept having a pony lead them. Plus, the hyper-religious portion of the population probably viewed this as a punishment for sinners. A pony president would be the Antichrist to them. There'd be civil war over whether a pony was legally allowed to be president, regardless of whether he was an American citizen.
It was better that he had just one hoof in the door, so that he'd have compassion for the transformed, while still being human enough as to not agitate the bigoted.
"My fellow Americans, both human and pony, and all those tuning in around the world," he greeted the cameras. "Today marks the official end of Equine Transformation Syndrome. I know many of you are confused, scared, and have questions. I am here to answer them to the best of my ability."
The twins considered his opening statement. 'Both human and pony' implied that he considered those who transformed to still be American citizens. It inspired hope that those changed would not lose their civil rights. That quickly fell to the wayside, however, as he began his explanation of how ETS came to be. Everycreature in the room fell silent as he confirmed the fears of many; ETS was an intentional act of terrorism.
That's where the explanation got weird. A pony from another world, identified by the name of Sunset Shimmer, had spent the last twenty years hiding among them. In that time, she'd been preparing to unleash this pandemic upon the world with the intent of turning every human on the planet into her species. Why, though?
Just when they thought it couldn't get any weirder, natives from Sunset's home world made contact and pledged to aid in bringing about the end of Equine Transformation Syndrome, as well as aiding in the apprehension of Sunset Shimmer. It was actually phrased that Shimmer had been eliminated, and most of the ponies present couldn't stop from gasping. Even Jacen had done so.
The government was choosing not to put the blame for Sunset's actions on the ponies of this other world. The pony responsible for all of this had been branded a criminal before ever coming here. Before facing justice, however, she faked her death and escaped to Earth. These ponies—these Equestrians—discovered her survival and plot by complete fluke, but took it upon themselves to aid nonetheless.
Diplomatic relations were already being opened, and the Equestrians had already pledged to find cure for ETS's effects. They were even advocating for the rights of the transformed. With that sort of pressure, the president expressed that United States government was taking a zero-tolerance stance regarding violence toward ponies.
"Ponies are kind," stated her brother, earning a chorus of voices repeating it. "They knew nothing about us, yet they put their necks on the line for us." Then he clopped his forehooves together, jostling his exhausted sister. "Would humans do the same? Even now, these ponies advocate for our continued well-being. We should aspire to be more like them!"
While ponies in the room let out a cheer, and the president started talking about FEMA relief workers, Jinxi pondered what the transformation had done to Jacen. He seemed almost reverent about these Equestrian ideals from his vision and mimicking them, but he also seemed confident in his line of thinking. Where was the scepticism and the stoicism? Had their mind being split in two done something for his charisma that made these ponies agree with him? Or were they all really brainwashed after all?
By the time the alien pony, Princess Twilight Sparkle, appeared on the screen, the night pony was unable to remain awake. She ended up missing the reactions from the ponies in the room, especially those who had been exposed to a vision of a world with no humans and eschewing the old technology, when the princess shared her admiration for Earth's culture and technology. Jacen especially had been surprised, as he incorrectly assumed that a pony from another world would want them to spurn technology in favour of magic.
The princess was quick to assure everyone that her government had no foreknowledge of Sunset Shimmer's designs for this world. Prior to escaping to Earth, she had been facing arrest for attempting to do the same thing to a foreign power. She begged for everypony's forgiveness.
Ponies always forgive, Jacen thought. The rest would have as well. They wouldn't have had a choice. It wasn't nearly as happy it started out as. Holes were starting to form in the faith he'd built in the vision he'd been given, the longer he listened.
Although the winged unicorn was trying to hammer in that Sunset had nearly succeeded, to his ears it sounded like praise for the mare's genius. But for some lucky breaks and Twilight's own interference, all would have become ponies. It made him admire Sunset's planning all the more. There were even aspects about the spell—for that's what ETS truly was—that were beyond even the Equestrian's knowledge.
He wanted to be angry at the mare for interfering—for stopping this world from being uplifted entirely—but then she said something surprising. Despite not being her ponies, she wanted to champion their ongoing well-being. She would not tolerate anything more being done to the transformed against their wills. Even if there is eventually a cure, she won't force it. She was advocating for choice—something Sunset had never given them. Ponies are generous.
As the interview came to an end, he actually did find he had some doubts... and what his sister had mentioned last night returned to the forefront of his mind. The princess hadn't gone into why Sunset Shimmer had done all of this, which meant that she either was not privy to the answer, or the answer was too terrible to put into words. Neither thought was very reassuring.
For that matter, what would one pony need with eight billion ponies? Did she intend to rule over this new world of ponies? Were they just pawns intended to be spent removing threats to home? How could she even assure obedience for that many people? The answer is obvious, you change them to make them more pliable, he decided. I have these instincts that are telling me to work the soil to help provide, to build a pony society. If the instincts were strong enough, a pony might even be too busy to think about rebellion.
He frowned as Jinxi's insensate form slid forward slightly and fell across his forehooves. Last night, she said her vision showed humans and ponies working to coexist, He leaned down and nuzzled the side of her head with a soft smile. "You already had some idea, didn't you?" he whispered to himself. "The vision was originally meant to make Equestrian values seem like the best choice... to give us our objective when the world collapsed, but in just the span of a few hours it had been changed, because Princess Twilight's ponies knew the message wouldn't work right in this new world of both ponies and humans..."
A cerulean feather prodded him in the side, and he nearly pushed Jinxi off of him in surprise. When he turned his head, he saw Chloe standing beside him. Little Alexa was a little ways back, once again reading one of those Little Golden Books. "You looked lost in thought," she whispered. "What's on your mind?"
The young stallion considered his words carefully. "Do you think... that the want to emulate the values shown in the vision is natural?" he asked, slowly pulling one hoof out from under his sister's head. "Or is it just because we were made to want to follow those tenets and lessons?"
With a shrug, Chloe sat down beside him. "I don't know," she admitted. "I have all these new things in my head telling me how to use my body. When I was a human, I hated flying, and flying home from Denver last week is probably how I caught the virus. Now, I'd like nothing more than to have the open skies at my wingtips; just being kept inside is driving me crazy." With a huff, she lowered her head. "I don't hate the idea of flying for fun, but now that you mention it, I can't help but wonder if that's just natural to the body, or if she made us think it, just like that dream."
His night pony sister let out a tired snort and murmured, "What matters isn't what you're told ta believe; it's what ya choose when ya've had time ta think." She rolled off his other hoof and used her wings to once more shade her face. "Glad you're thinking critically again... was worried you really were brainwashed..." With one last yawn, she added, "The tenets you mentioned don't sound harmful... Keep'em if you like'em. What's important is it's your choice, not hers." Then, Jinxi started to softly snore.
A smile crossed his face. "Little Miss Fussyfangs is right," he admitted. "Let's decide for ourselves how we live as ponies, instead of letting a vision tell us." His smile fell slightly, and he admitted, "There are probably some things that are hardcoded in, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Eyebrow raised, Chloe watched as he started to walk away from his sleeping sister. A moment later, he hopped up on one of the day room chairs and continued to watch the news. "Shouldn't we move her?" she asked, eyeing the rising and falling of the blue-grey pony's sides. "Surely she'd be more comfortable sleeping back in your room."
Not looking away from the TV, which was now replaying the earlier news feeds, he laughed. "Oh hell no," he said with a smirk, flicking his gaze back to Jinxi. "Have you seen those sharps in her mouth? No way I'm chancing getting bit if we startle her. You saw my startle reflex just a moment ago." Again, he snickered. "Nah I wanna see if someone—" He paused, remembering the presence of Chloe's daughter. "—effs around and finds out."
The mare slowly looked back and forth between the unusual siblings. "Really?" she asked, ruffling her feathers before going over to sit with her daughter. "She seemed like such a sweetie when she wandered in last night and soothed Alexa's nightmare."
Jacen turned his attention entirely to the pegasus mare, casting but a momentary glance at her daughter. "She did what?" he asked, unsure if he'd heard her correctly. That struck him as an odd thing. Why had she wandered in there in the first place?
"Yeah, maybe twelve thirty, I woke up hearing her arguing with one of the nurses outside my door," she explained. "She was saying stuff about night ponies protecting the dreams of others, and how it was her job. Then she flies in, lands on the bed beside us, and starts to hum John Denver while gently stroking Alexa's side. I think she was doing some sort of night pony magic, because after a while, my filly settled into a peaceful sleep, and your sister left without a fuss."
The first thing to come to his mind was 'Ponies are kind'. The second thing to come to his mind was the thought of how creepy that would sound if this had involved humans instead of ponies. Looks like she has her own programmed instincts to compete with too... I just hope they don't get her into trouble.
While the pair conversed and the foal continued to read, Kate re-entered the day room. The moment she saw the night pony asleep in the middle of the floor, the shrunken nurse held up her hands and stared at them, before glancing at the pony. Seeming to consider this for a moment, Kate instead walked over to the nurse's station and said something to a nurse. When Kate returned, a tired looking male nurse stared down at Jinxi and muttered something that sounded like "Little weirdo."
Jacen began to smile as the man reached down to pick her up. There were a few other ponies in the room who'd heard Jacen's earlier comments about what he expected would happen if someone disturbed her. All of them turned to watch with interest. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned, knowing fully well what was about to happen. The nurse ignored his warning, sliding one hand under the little mare's chest. The other slid around her rump.
With an indignant shriek, she bit down hard on the man's forearm. "Ow, god damn it!" he cried as he pulled back and tried to put pressure on the already bleeding puncture marks. "That's twice you've attacked that arm. What did it ever do to you?"
Even as the male nurse pulled away and Kate fell backwards in surprise, the night pony hopped to her hooves, shuffling back a couple of times. With her wings spread and her head low, it almost seemed like she was conscious, but after a moment, she just started to sway and look around with unfocused eyes. Jacen cackled as she took to the air and lazily landed on top of the bookcase, only to immediately curl back up and begin to snore again.
Chloe couldn't quite resist giggling either. "I think it's because you touched her hindquarters," she teased. "I'd probably be upset if somepony touched my flank while I was sleeping, too."