Orchestrated Chaos

by ReFro


3. Mustangs and... Ponies?

Chloe’s lifeless body was being tossed around by the current as it shoved her unceremoniously further and further downstream. The once wide and calm river had started to pick up speed, becoming ever more turbulent as it narrowed. A tight bend was quickly approaching where several jagged rocks that were protruding from the waterline near the shore.

The speed of the current forcefully pushed her into one of the larger rocks of the group, hitting her squarely in the chest. The impact had spun her around, leaving her back facing the shore as she hit the bottom of the river, making her body twist over itself and land on her other side halfway onto the shore with her face coming to rest in the muddy soil of the bank.

Chloe’s eyes opened and then shut again in pain as she was brought back to life from the jarring impact. The moment she tried to gasp for air, the water in her lungs came up. She desperately struggled to breathe but was only able to get small amounts of air into her lungs. The air mixed with water causing her to go into a coughing fit as more and more of the river water was expelled. By this time, her body was begging for oxygen as she felt like she was on the precipice of passing out again. 

With most of the water, or at least what felt like most of it anyways, out of her lungs, she drew in as much air as possible. The initial shock and adrenaline rush had worn off by the time she went to exhale, and she could now feel a stabbing pain in her chest. She tried to slowly let out the rest of her breath but started coughing. This, in turn, caused her chest to burn with renewed fervor as tears flowing down her face. After expelling the rest of the water in her lungs with a few more very painful coughs, she forced herself to steady her breathing.

Chloe was finally able to take deeper breaths as the pain subsided with each passing minute and was calm enough now to start thinking rationally about her situation. The first thing she did was check over her injuries. Looking down at her chest, she noticed a large portion of her fur was matted in blood surrounding a large gash. Her eyes followed the trail of blood as it flowed down her chest, ending up in a pool in the mud below. The sight her own blood was making her queasy, and she turned her head away with a grimace, trying hard to keep herself from throwing up what little was in her stomach. After steeling her nerves and stomach, she got back to thinking about what to do next.

Ok, what did they teach us at camp about treating injuries in the wilderness...? She pondered, trying to remember her teacher’s instructions all those years ago. I need to stop the bleeding first, and then I have to try and find help... Is there even anyone or anything that can or will help me? I haven’t seen any signs of any towns or anything that would suggest intelligent life even existed here... Well, I can worry about that later; I have to close up this wound. Let’s see... Chloe looked around for anything she could use to stop the bleeding. Grass, a few bushes, cattails and... mud? Duh! Why didn't I think of that before?!

Scooping up some mud the best she could with her hoof—man, she missed her hands so much— and applying it liberally but gently as possible over the cut. She winced and gritted her teeth each time her hoof ran over the injury. A few painful applications of river mud later, the blood had finally stopped. Looking over her mud covered chest, she shivered as a stiff breeze flowed over her wet body. The evening air was getting chilly, and she was still half in the river. Deciding that it would be best not to stay drenched all night long, she was hesitant to stand up, but knew she had to get out of the cold water and get onto drier ground before twilight fell into night.

With a long exhale, she rolled onto her stomach and pulled all four of her legs under her, shifted her weight backwards onto her hind legs as she pushed her front half up. As soon as she pushed upwards, the stabbing pain in her chest came back in full, causing her to yelp in pain as she lowered herself back down to the ground.

Chloe laid there on the ground as she watched the last sliver of the sun vanish over the horizon through the trees, turning the sky and the few clouds into a brilliant array of colors. Normally she loved watching the sunset; it reminded her of her childhood on her parent’s farm in the countryside of Illinois before she had been accepted to Roosevelt University and moved to her apartment in Chicago. Tonight though, she couldn’t have cared less about the sky, no matter how beautiful it was.

The shivering was getting worse the longer she stayed in the water, and she loathed being cold. After a few mental encouragements, she braced herself, and began to stand up again. This time she fought through the pain, forcing her body to move up the embankment. She made it halfway to the grass that was about twenty feet away before collapsing back onto the ground, tired of the now all too familiar pain shooting from her chest. Panting heavily from the torture she had just put her body through, she tried to get back up, but her body refused to move any farther.

At least I’m on dry ground now and starting to warm up. I guess having fur does have its advantages, even if it is wet... She looked over her new body again. Oh...

It was a complete mess; she had mud coating a good portion of her body and various bits of vegetation sticking out in every direction. Not to mention that she smelled like fish too. Even though she was a farm girl at heart and loved getting dirty when she was younger; that stage in her life had passed as she grew older. Now being dirty just got on her nerves as it meant she had to spend a lot of time to be presentable again, but for now she let it go. She was exhausted, wet, and sore. Also, there were much bigger problems to worry about besides her appearance.

The sound of the bird’s singing fell away with the night. In its place, the cacophony of frogs, toads and other creatures took over. Chloe was now mostly dry and much warmer as she looked up to the stars that had started to make their presence known. Her instincts told her it wasn't safe to be in the open like this but what could she do? She was unable to move any further with her exhaustion was finally getting the best of her as she gave out a small yawn and tucked her head in between her front legs, closed her eyes. The rhythmic croaking from the frogs and the warmth from her coat quickly lulled her aching body to sleep.

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Chloe sat in passenger seat of Gennie’s Mustang, trying to catch her breath as the smoke slowly dissipated around them. She looked over to Gennie whose knuckles had gone white from gripping the steering wheel for dear life. Gennie slowly looked back to her friend and had a look of horror on her face. She started to talk but could only stutter as she pointed to Chloe, her face had turned pale.

She quickly looked down at herself, but it was not herself that she saw. Small grey legs had replaced her human ones and she suddenly seemed to be sitting a lot lower in the seat than she’d realized. Before she could react, the car started shaking, and they both screamed out as the car started to fall; only Chloe didn’t fall with the car. She watched in horror as the vehicle, with her friend still inside, plummeted into the darkness, and she closed her eyes, screaming out in pain.

Chloe was shaking again—at first she thought it was a seizure—but when she opened her eyes again, she was back in the passenger seat, staring at Gennie as the whole car continued to shake. Gennie just looked at her with a warm smile before everything faded to black.

GENNIE, DON’T LEAVE ME!” Chloe tried to yell as she woke up, only to have gibberish come out of her mouth. She heard a gasp and a small thud next to her. Opening her eyes, she saw what looked like a young, green pony with blonde hair done up into two braids that hung from either side, with a frilly red bonnet on her head and a saddlebag on her back. She was sitting down in front of her with a hoof covering her wide open mouth.

Chloe’s pupils shrunk to the size of pinpoints as she yelped out in surprise. She flinched backward and fell on her side, sending yet another bolt of pain through her chest. Tightly closing her eyes and wrapping her forearms around her chest, she started shaking and curled up as small as possible into a ball.

“Oh dear! Are you alright?” the light green pony asked with a concerned look on her face. But all that Chloe heard was unfamiliar noises coming from the creature as she tried to make herself into an even smaller ball.

What is this thing gonna do to me?! Should I try and run away...? No, that won’t work, I can barely move... Maybe it will just… Chloe’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard the creature stand up and the sound of hooves approaching her. Shit! I’m dead! It’s gonna eat me!

Chloe heard the pony stop right next to her and a second later she felt a gentle pressure on her back that slowly started running along the length of her, and then it repeated the disturbingly comforting motion.

“It’s okay there, I ain’t gonna hurt ya,” the creature said in a soothing voice while attempting to calm down the visible shaken filly.

Is it actually trying to talk to me? But wait, ponies can’t talk... can they? And another thing, I have never seen a green colored pony before...

Chloe slowly opened an eye to see the pony looking down at her with a look of kindness in her eyes, and it looked like she was even smiling at her as she continued to gently run her hoof up and down Chloe’s back.

“Well, ‘lo there youngin’. Name’s Granita. You gotta name there little missy?” Granita asked, looking the little filly right in the eyes.

She really is trying to talk to me... I think. But how do I respond? Or do I even need to respond?
        
        “Who are you?” Chloe tried to ask but gibberish just came out again.

        The mare just turned her head to the side with a confused look. “What? Can you repeat that?”

Chloe sighed and looked up to the pony with a pleading look in her eyes after a moment of awkward silence had passed, shaking her head back and forth as she tapped her mouth, trying to indicate that she cannot speak. She couldn’t tell if the pony understood her gesture or not.

“What language was that? Eh, guess it’s pointless to ask if ya can't speak Equestrian then ya probably cain’t understand it either,” Granita said after mulling over the filly’s actions for a moment. Her eyes fell on the young one’s chest that was covered in dried mud and blood. “That looks like a nasty cut ya got yerself there. Mind if’n I take a gander?” Granita inquired, raising a hoof in the direction of the filly’s wound. She had a good feeling that the filly couldn’t understand her but she would keep trying. Chloe just stared blankly back at her. Granita waited a moment but after getting no response, she reached a hoof out to try and remove some of the mud from the young one’s chest, but she stopped as the filly started pushing away from her, stopping a few feet back.

“What the hell are you doing?” She started to protest but her stomach decided that now would be the perfect moment to stage a protest as it loudly growled. Her ears laid back, and her cheeks turned bright red at hearing her stomach’s plea for food. She suddenly found the ground to be very interesting to look at. Her ears perked back up when she heard what sounded like giggling coming from the light green pony as she glanced up to stare at the strange sight of a giggling pony.

Wow, that was really embarrassing and... is she giggling at me? Do the ponies here have emotions? I know animal have basic emotions like fear and happiness but I have never seen an animal laugh... well, maybe laughing hyenas, but those guys are jerks.

Chloe watched the light green pony with interest as it put a hoof inside its saddlebag. She had been rummaging through it for a few seconds before lifting out a small green object, rubbing it on her fur, and started walking over to Chloe with the object in her grasp.

Chloe’s mouth started watering as soon as she recognized the object in the mare’s hoof. It was an apple. Not just any apple, it was the most delicious looking apple she had ever laid eyes on. Although, this could be due to the fact that she was absolutely starving at the moment. The mare stopped a foot away from her, stretching out her arm and holding the apple right in front of Chloe’s face. She looked at the apple, and then back to the pony. The mare just moved the apple closer to the filly, trying to get her to take it.

I’m so hungry, I haven't eaten in, what feels like, days but should I really take this apple? What if its been poisoned? Well that’s a silly question... why the hell would it be poisoned? Her stomach growled loudly again. That made up her mind for her as she reached out to take the apple. She was about to grab it, but one look at her mud-covered hooves stopped her. She was about to clean them off on her coat, but it was just as filthy as the rest of her. While Chloe was debating about how to approach this situation as she looked down at her dirty, well everything, she felt a hoof take her own.

“Hey!” She attempted to pull her hoof back and was ready to try to make a break for it as she looked back up. “Oh…” She stopped resisting, seeing that the apple had been replaced by a washcloth, which was currently being used to wipe one her hooves clean.

Chloe sat there on her flank in shock as this older pony finished cleaning off one hoof and then the other before cleaning her muzzle. After she was satisfied that the filly was sufficiently clean enough to be able to eat, the cloth was placed back in the mare’s saddlebags, being swapped for the same apple she had pulled out before. She smiled warmly, holding the apple out to Chloe.

        “Thanks!” Chloe eagerly grabbed the apple this time with both hooves holding onto it tightly, taking as big of bites as she could manage. Every time she swallowed, the pain in her chest flared up again but it was well worth it. This apple tasted so much better than any she had eaten before. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was a pony now and ponies just likes apples more or what, but none of that really mattered right now anyway as she happily ate the whole thing. Even the core tasted delicious!

Maybe I should let this pony help me out, she has been nothing but nice to me so far, and I don’t think she wants to harm me. Maybe she even knows where Gennie is! Oh, I hope she does! A grin came across Chloe’s face as the thought of being able to see her friend again. Licking her lips to get any lingering apple bits from it, she looked back to the mare that was sitting in front of her smiling. Chloe smiled back to show her appreciation. It seemed that body language was the best way to communicate, even if it was very odd to be communicating with a pony.

Now that Granita had seemed to gain the trust of the grey filly, she pointed with her hoof to Chloe’s chest with a concerned look across her face. Chloe looked down at her chest, sighing before motioning the mare to come over and look at her injury.

Granita walked over, sitting down in front to her, and started removing the caked on mud that was covering the wound. Chloe flinched and let out a soft whimper as the light green pony began to peel away the stuck on mud. Noticing her discomfort and the difficulty she was having removing the mud that had been smashed into the filly’s fur, she trotted down to the river, pulled a cup and the washcloth out of her saddlebag. She filled the cup with water and rinsed off the dirty cloth.

The mare returned to Chloe and slowly started to pour the water over her chest, freeing the mud from its grasp on the fur and patting at it softly with the washcloth to clean the wound. When she ran the cloth over a certain area above the cut, it made the filly wince and recoil a bit. She made a note to be extra careful around that area.

It had taken Granita several trips to the river to refill and rinse the washcloth before all the caked on mud and dried up blood had been removed from the wound and the surrounding area. She looked it over and noticed that it was showing signs of infection and needed to be treated quickly before it became worse. Chloe had sat there patiently as she watched the mare work on cleaning her and look over her injuries. During this time, felt like it was getting harder for her to breathe. She shrugged it off; it was probably due to having her chest touched again is all.

Granita stood up, turned around, and started walking away. After a few steps, she turned her head around and motioned to the filly with a hoof to follow her. Chloe looked back at her and tried to get up but the pain was still too great to move on her own.

“I can’t move yet.” She looked up to the mare and shook her head.

Seeing this, the mare trotted back over and laid down next to the filly, motioning with her head to her back, trying to get her to climb on. Chloe was dumbfounded at first, not knowing what the light green pony was getting at. Granita scooted closer and laid right up against her, using her head to gently nudge the filly up onto her back.

“Oh, you want me to get on your back?” Chloe eyed the mare with disbelief as she put a hoof on the mare’s back.

Granita nodded back to her. Summoning all her strength, she stood up and crawled over the mare’s back, laying down between the saddlebags that hung off either side. It was a bit painful lying directly on her chest like that, but it was better than the alternative of staying there all alone and with the very real possibility of dying.

After the filly had settled in on top of her back, Granita carefully stood up and turned her head around, checking on the filly one last time and giving her a reassuring nuzzle much to Chloe’s surprise, before heading back the way she had come from.