I faded to sleep beside Sandra, and suddenly I wasn't there. I could see a pegasus soaring high above the city. She had a herd, numbering six winged ponies in all, one of them a stallion. The change had been a frightening time, but now that they were all together, everything seemed better. They had learned quickly and painfully where to avoid flying, losing one of their numbers to the weapons of the bipeds. I wasn't sure how I knew all this, but I did. She looked down and saw something odd and pointed it out to the others. Soon the entire herd dipped lower for a better look.
Something large and heavy was crushing the parked cars. She could vaguely remember what a car was, and she asked the others what the big thing was. One of them started telling a story about a great war machine, but that seemed quite silly to her. It was far too slow to be very frightening. Were there people inside? Yes. They should share the gift with them. Everypony agreed. It was the only right thing to do. They were about to drop on it when they saw there were people walking along and behind it, wielding the deadly weapons that had harmed them before. A human herd! A human stampede! Fear swelled in their hearts, but excitement as well. So many potential new ponies close together.
The scent of them was tantalizing. They had to be converted. She smiled broadly, spotting other ponies closing in on them and pointing them out to her friends. A lumbering stallion of a horse parked himself around the corner from the marching soldiers and directed his own cannon in their marching path.
We'd never seen that kind of pony before and became quite curious to see what he planned to do with that thing. He was stroking himself firmly, and when the soldiers crested the corner, he went off like a bomb, or more like a garden hose, spraying ten soldiers before they even knew what was going on. The pegasus herd cheered on the big guy, but the cheers died in their throats as the bipeds, gifted or not, raised their deadly weapons and riddled the stallion with holes. He flopped to the side and stopped moving, just making a puddle of blood and other fluids.
The herd was suddenly furious. The earth pony had done nothing but share. He hadn't deserved that. Rage mixed with desire and they swooped down as one, coming behind the moving men and attacking. Some of their numbers had the gift of the reaching tongues, but she had a different gift. To think, when she had changed, her breasts growing in so large low on her torso had bothered her so much, now they were another tool to be used.
With a thought, they became painfully engorged and sprayed milk on command, and she strafed the soldiers, trying to dart in and out of cover to avoid a similar fate of the earth pony. They were doing great at first, but the bipeds, er, humans, yes, that was their name. The humans caught on, and the next time she did a pass, pain exploded through a wing, and she crashed in front of one of them. The human pointed his weapon at her and she whimpered and begged. There was great pain, then nothing.
I quailed from my uncertain position. I could feel every death of the ponies, and each was like a stab in the heart. They felt personal. These were my ponies, and they were suffering. I saw a familiar hydra tunneler rise up under the tank and she shoved it on its side abruptly before submerging quickly, avoiding more than a few painful stings. She was as tough as she had felt when I kicked her, and at that moment, I wished her the best of luck. She didn't return for another pass, and I decided that was probably the smart choice.
Slowest but most powerful in many ways, the unicorns arrived on the scene and began actively disarming the humans. Their control of their magic wasn't much better than my own. They could grab things from afar, no other tricks.
"That's because they are still young."
"What?"
"It's me, Cindy. I'm your head too, don't forget. I'm here."
So I wasn't alone in my dream. I wasn't entirely sure if that was a comfort or appalling. It felt a little of both.
"Order them away."
I could do that?
"You said it, not I. They're your ponies."
I shouted and screamed, but I wasn't really there, and several unicorns were sent to the ground in bloody piles.
"Stop shouting, you're sleeping. The best that'll do is scare Sandra. Use your mind, literally. Think at them."
I focused on a group of three unicorns, thinking 'run away!' at them as hard as I could. They hesitated, looking around fearfully before they took off in a wild gallop away from the fight. Soon all the ponies were scattering into the city, and to avoid the dangerously armed humans.
I woke up as the last pony in the area was cut down. It was much darker now. Sandra was nestled in close, but I felt she was awake. "You were screaming in your sleep. Are you alright?"
Cindy's horn began to glow softly, allowing me to see Sandra's concerned face. She blinked at me. "You've gotten ears."
Ears? I reached up and felt around. Yep, pony ears. Long, furry, and very much a match for Cindy's. Things sounded a bit differently, more focused wherever the ears were pointed. "The army's here."
Sandra shrank back a little. "How do you know?"
"Hard to explain, but basically I could see the other ponies while I was sleeping." I pulled over my boxers and pants and started to get dressed for the evening. "It was a huge fight. A lot of the soldiers were probably infected, but they slaughtered dozens on dozens. Each death was like being punched in the chest."
Sandra frowned and swayed her tail. I noticed something odd about it and looked more closely. Instead of a voluminous light-red/orange mass of hair, it had swollen and become more like a dragon's tail, though still furry. Its end terminated in a dragon-like fin. She was more of a monster, but still my Sandra. My Sandra? The thought felt odd, but I reached and gently stroked over her head and she began to purr. "How are you holding up, Sandy? You've been through a lot?"
Sandra tilted her head up at me. "I... Well I'm better off than the ponies you saw being shot, I guess. I have you, and I still have my mind, so that's two things to be thankful for. I don't recognize the person in the mirror anymore... Am I ugly?"
I shook my head. "No, you're not ugly. Different, but not ugly."
She smiled. "Hearing you say that makes all the difference, which feels odd... It's like you're my father, uh, not for the sex part, but... I'm explaining this horribly." Her ears fell and she looked upset.
Dressed, I crouched in front of her and began scratching along her jaw as I leaned in and kissed her oddly bisected jaw. "You're fine. Stop worrying." I got a tongue for my troubles as she licked me across the lips. She looked happier at least.
Clop clop clop. A knocking came from the front door from an obvious hoof. All three heads turned to look at the door curiously. I crept quickly over to the window, peeking through one of the holes, but I couldn't see anything from that angle. Ah well, the ponies were a lot less scary than the humans right then, so I opened the door.
Standing there was a small pegasus with the biggest cock I'd ever seen. Could he even fly? The pegasus smiled up at me nervously. "Am I in the right place?"
Sandra peeked around me, gawking at the huge-shafted pony. "What are you looking for?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. I was trying to share the gift with the humans, and my friends didn't make it... I heard a voice or something, and I followed it here. Please don't abandon me." He sagged in place. "You're the only people I know now."
My heart ached with a strange sympathy. He was a stallion with no herd anymore. I described the mare I saw in my dream and he looked happy a moment. "Oh! Yes! She... was... a friend of mine. How do you know her?"
I waved him in and closed the door behind him. Soon we were all seated in the living room. Cindy smiled at him. "Don't you worry. You're our pony, and we won't let anyone hurt you."
He seemed pleased at her announcement and rolled over, showing his belly and swollen horse cock at us. "I am gladly yours."
I felt odd looking at him. This should be freaking me out more than it is, and it was freaking me out pretty good. "Cindy? What am I?"
Cindy shrugged my shoulders. "I couldn't say, but I feel responsible for him, and everypony else."
Sandy reached out a hoof and poked the new pony's member. "Are you always, uh, hard?"
He flushed through his fur. "Most of the time..." He sniffed the air and rolled onto his hooves. "Why? Do you need servicing?"
It became Sandra's turn to warm in her cheeks. "I belong to William. Ugh! Wait, no, that came out wrong. I don't belong to anyone, but, yeah, we're together."
He nodded a little as if that all made perfect sense. "This place feels safe." He pointed at Cindy and her glowing horn. "How are you doing that?"
"Magic." Cindy smiled. "Funny you mention that. I don't think we should stay here."
I agreed. "How far did you fly to get here after the fight?"
He looked thoughtful. "About... six blocks? That way." He pointed. That was far too close for my comfort. It was time for us to leave.
"Gather up all the supplies you can, we're abandoning this place." I was off, grabbing a backpack and filling it with the water bottles we had. Sandy and the... "What's your name, big guy?"
"I'm not that big..."
Sandra pointed underneath him. "Yes you are."
He giggled a bit as if just getting the joke. "I had a name... Susan. That doesn't fit me anymore, uh... Lone Wing, because the rest of my wing is gone."
Sandra threw a leg over him and hugged him. "Aw, you're not alone." Lone nuzzled into her and they began cuddling as I focused on packing up to go.
When the backpack was filled to capacity, I swung it around onto my back to experience a new pain as something got squished back there. I shrugged off the pack again and turned around to show my back at the others. "Is something wrong back there?"
I felt Sandra's tongues pulling up my shirt and wetly exploring my back, making my skin crawl. "You're growing wings."
Lone Wing went wide-eyed with wonder as I turned back towards them. "You're so gifted! Two heads, two horns, wings? You're amazing!"
Sandra nodded quickly, wagging her thick tail. "And he's ours. You'll keep our herd safe, right?"
"I'll try, damn it." I tried the backpack again more carefully and managed to sling it on before moving on to the duffel. Soon we were packed and ready to go.
Lone wasn't eager to move after his panicked flight, but Sandra played taxi for him, and he rode her back as we emerged onto the dark street outside.
"What I wouldn't give for Google Maps right about now." But I wasn't going to get that. I turned opposite the direction of the army and got to marching with the others at my side. I could hear the distant occasional noise of what was likely firearms, and hoped the other ponies had gotten the message to stay away from the army.
We hiked for most of the night, until the cover of darkness began to recede. I picked a house at random and went up to the door. Locked. Lone hopped off of Sandra and took to the air before crashing into the door, knocking it open with remarkable ease. There was a shriek from inside.
We had found a human. She was alone, and scared, and quivered in a huddled up ball beside the kitchen counter. She had no weapons. Lone spread his wings out. "Should I share the gift?"
Sandra shuddered, visibly resisting that impulse. "No! We're not savages. This is her home."
She looked up at us with confusion. "You can talk?"
I stepped in cautiously. "Yeah, sorry about the door. We were looking for a place to hide during the day."
She slowly stood up. "You're not going to attack me? Oh god!" She spotted Cindy and shrank back. "This is all a terrible nightmare."
Sandra snorted and stepped inside with us. A sway of her powerful tail knocked the door back shut. "Tell us about it."
Cindy smiled at the scared human. "We're not here to hurt anyone. Us ponies have love, not hate. Please don't be scared of us."
"Lovely, it talks too." She put a hand to her head. "I'm guessing asking you all to get out wouldn't work?"
I could see the street outside getting lighter through the cracks of her boarded up home. "We'd really rather not. We'll try to be courteous guests at least, sorry. Do you have food? Water? We brought some."
She brightened up a little bit. "The water started tasting funny, but I still have food. I, uh, guess we'll trade, water for a place to stay."
Lone waddled up to her. As graceful as he was in the air, his constant and oversized erection made walking a humorous looking activity. "Hello, I'm Lone Wing. That is Sandra, William, and Cindy." I didn't remember giving my name, but that was far from the strangest bit of the day and I didn't have the energy to argue it.
She nodded down at Lone. "Nice to meet you... Mister Wing? I'm Diane." Her eyes kept wandering off his face to his more obvious physical feature. "Am I going to be safe sleeping around you?"
Lone looked confused. "Why wouldn't you be?"
Sandra sighed softly. "She's afraid you're going to use that thing between your legs on her."
Lone perked with understanding and flushed. "Only if you want me to?"
"No! No... thanks, I guess." Diane walked away from the uncomfortable sight.
We had a new home, at least for the next day.