//------------------------------// // Chance for a Change chpt 1 // Story: Chance for Change // by brony114 //------------------------------// Everfree Forest, Equestira The ever free forest, a sight to behold in the darkest of nights, was cold and had a slight breeze that rustled the leave of the trees. Many creatures could be heard throughout the thick forest; many of whom were perfectly suited for the bleak darkness that encapsulated everything like a black fog. In one of the deepest parts of the forest, beyond the Castle Of The Two Sisters, was a clearing where the moon light penetrated the canopy and softly illuminated the ground. The darkest shadows outlining the clearing with only allowing a few small shrubs to be seen. Out of the shadows, trotted a lone figure draped in darkness who ceremoniously trotted slowly to the center of the clearing. In his ethereal hold were several items: a book, seven stones with runes, and a black candle. The soft glow of his horn could be seen, though his figure remained shrouded. The black figure placed all the items down in a circle with the book in the center. Everything was arranged in a ritualistic manner. The black figure chanted softly with a low monotone mumble that could barely be heard. Suddenly there was a spark of magic that shot out of his horn that lit the candle. The black candle burned with a soft green flame, an unnatural color for sure. Its light illuminated the circle of runed stones and from the pages of the book the writing came alive. The clearing seemed to lower ten degrees in temperature and the wind began to pick up. Not startled by the change in weather, the dark figure raised his fore hooves to the moon and with a grand gesture, he ushered his spell and cast it in the clearing. Light shot out in all directions with a loud thunderclap. Somewhere in the United States of America The night was slightly chilly with a light breeze that rustled the leaves of the trees on campus. The Campus was lit with sparse street lights and the walkways were mostly empty. Thomas, an art undergrad, was out for a stroll. He had been studying for that semester midterms and was taking a brief walk to get some fresh air. His walk took him around campus, which was one of the largest in the nation. It was a relatively safe university with a low crime rate so Thomas wasn't too worried about getting mugged or anything like that. Instead, he was more concerned about a midterm exam for one of his art history classes. Art history wasn't exactly something he enjoyed learning, though he saw its benefits in his studio practice. He was more of a studio rat, working in the chemical photography labs. This semester was one of his hardest since moving from his parents home and going full time. Never had he tried to complete more than four classes in one semester. In fact, he was advised to only take two studio classes, though this semester was the last semester Dr. Tayler would be teaching fundamentals of alt process. Learning to make photos with old 19th century processes was something Thomas could really nerd over. Now he was paying for it as the endless nights of studying and studio work were taking their toll on him. DnD night with his buddies would have to take a back seat too. As Thomas walked past the english department's building he began to feel off. He had a certain feeling of dread that he couldn't put his finger on. Feeling unsafe, he tucked his hands in is pullover pockets and started making his way back to the art building. The air seemed to get colder and the breeze had picked up. There was supposed to be a cold front coming in with a slight chance of rain so the sudden change in the weather didn't seem unusual to Thomas. Still, his uneasiness was present. His eyes scanned the empty walkways around each building yet no one was there and he wasn't being followed either. He made it to the art building parking lot when he suddenly heard a soft voice. The low monotone male voice was barely audible, though Thomas's heart jumped at the sound, so he stopped and looked around. The voice seemed to come from off in the distance, but it's direction wasn't obvious to him. Thomas waited to see if he could hear it again. After a moment, he figured he was just hearing things; a product of his paranoia brought on by his lack of sleep. Shaking his head, he decided to continue walking back to the lab. " Ye creature of the bleakest heritage. Hear my summons and come forth!" Said the voice again, somewhat louder and more discernible. Thomas whirled around, eyes wide with shock. He scanned each shadow and each vehicle left in the parking lot overnight, but noone was around. What the hell? Thomas thought to himself. He began to think how the sleep deprivation was really starting to get to him. Turning around, he started walking again. I'm probably gonna have to call into work tomorrow. I can't see myself staying awake. Thomas thought to himself. Thomas worked at a supermarket as a cashier. He remembered making the mistake of going into work after a long night and how that had been nothing less than a disaster. " Heed my call! Come to me and spread the hateful darkness that is the inheritance of your ancestry!" the voice called out again. Its presence was made full, though it seemed to come from all directions. Thomas didn't stop, He didn't turn around or wait to hear the awful disembodied voice again. Instead he started booking it as fast as he could. He wasn't an athlete, but he was sure he could break any sprint record at that moment. The wind had picked up significantly and the air was icy. The trees around the parking lot were now swaying as if a hurricane had come through. Thomas was scared out of his wits as he could hear the voice calling to him. " Come and do your worst!" said the voice. Thomas nearly tripped several times but through sheer will, he managed to stay running. He was closing the distance to the lab when suddenly a flash appeared in front of him. The light shot out in all directions with a loud thunderclap. Thomas felt the earth drop from underneath him and he began to fall. His body felt like he was on an amusement park ride, feeling his body accelerate downward. The decent seemed to take forever, though Thomas could sense that time was something that was influx in this strange tunnel. The vortex of shadows pulled thomas further and faster, Making him feel as if his body was being stretched out. He screamed in agony and felt his body contort as if being molded like puddy. His body seemed to morph into several various shaped until it settled into something uncomfortable and unnatural for him. Thomas wished for the pain to stop until suddenly he hit ground. Pain raced through his body and he groaned in agony. He could feel his body was in contact with cold earth. His body felt strange like it was contorted. His hands and feet hurt and he couldn't move his digits. His head felt misshapen and his neck was strangely long. Overall, he felt unnatural and that terrified him. He attempted to get up, hoping he could walk off his strange sensations lined with pain. Perhaps he was just feeling sick and he was hallucinating. He tried to use his hands to push himself up, yet he couldn't extend his fingers. Trying to look around, he found that he couldn't see very much either. The area around him was dim, save for a single green candle; It's light revealing something akin to an alter. What is going on? Thomas thought to himself. Looking around he saw nothing, but in his heart he could feel a dark presence. His instincts seemed to be heightened, especially since his adrenal gland was pumping as much adrenaline into his system as possible. He could feel eyes staring at him. He had the strange feeling he was being evaluated, like he was on display. " Hello?" Thomas called out weakly. His voice echoes from beyond the shadows. There was no reply, just the night sounds of the forest. " Hello?" Thomas called out again, but slightly louder. Still there was nothing. A few moments passed with Thomas scanning the area for any signs of movement. Then suddenly, from beyond the shadows, a voice rich and robust with malice and decorum, filled the silence with a malevolence that disturbed Thomas to his core. Its low pitch, thick accent and slight raspiness seemed to seep into his conscience like a clear pond muddied by a disturbance. It said, " You are the harbinger of destruction and hate; The fabled architect of death and sorrow... the hominal scythe that reaps purpose from the tears of the innocent?" The voice inquired. It's sound felt to Thomas like claws tearing at his soul. It's Repugnant tone sent shivers down his back. " Who… who are you?" Thomas managed to blurt out despite his gut wrenching fear. The voice didn't reply immediately, but instead, at figure slowly slunk from the shadows; It's form materialised out of the darkness as if made of shadows. Thomas still couldn't make out what it was, but he knew it walked on all fours. " I asked for a champion of destruction, yet a pony is what I was given!?" The voice boomed in anger making Thomas shrink back. What did this thing mean im a pony? Thomas thought to himself. Just then he noticed what his hands looked like. In the time he was searching for the disembodied voice, his eyes adjusted to the darkness. What Thomas saw wasn't his hands forever clutching into a fist, but instead, connected to his arms were hooves. Thomas began to freak out by screaming like he had never done before. " Silence!" the voice demanded. Thomas once again shunk back from the figure. " I do not know what fate has done for me, but perhaps I will let fate decide your destiny. Perhaps you are the bringer of destruction and you will have some use for me." The figure took a step back from Thomas and something seemed to glow on his head. It didn't give off enough light to reveal the monsters face, Thomas was somewhat appreciative of that fact. Thomas averted his eye from the monster and began shivering in fear. He didn't know what was about to happen or what any of this meant, He felt true fear. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and Thomas could feel himself moving, but in all directions. His mind could feel himself transitioning in some strange quantum manner that violated all laws of physics. He also felt warm, like it was a sunny day in the middle of summer. It wasn't long before he could feel himself reverting back to his form and was met with a solid object that stopped his motion. Thomas was once again in pain. He could feel he was upside down and balanced on what should have been his shoulder blades. Once the pain subsided enough for him to start moving, he opened his eyes. Immediately he could see a marble pillar with a wall sconce filled with a purplish flower arrangement next to it. What now? Thomas thought to himself. Wiggling his body, Thomas fell over on his side. The floor was marble as well. He found that he had actually been leaning up against a wall with even more pillars and sconces. The room was in fact a long hallway. Looking at his hooves, Thomas began wondering just what in God's name was going on. It seem like the more he tried to figure his situation out, the more weird things got. Thomas's worried expression made clear what he was actually feeling, Confusion and fear. Thomas forced himself on his hooves which easily slid under his weight over the marble. It took some doing but he was able to stand on all four. Once he accomplished this feat, he slowly took small steps towards the opposite wall where a convenient mirror hung. He moved closer to get a better look and what he saw made him gasp. The creature that looked back at him was something like a small horse with richly colored blue fur and a white and blue striped main. His once light brown eyes were now a pair of very large light green eyes and protruding out of his forehead was a horn. He turned his head from side to side to examine his face, or rather his muzzle. Why am I a crazy looking unicorn? Thomas retrospectively thought to himself. This whole scenario was crazy and he was suspecting he was a victim of a drug induced hallucination. No other explanation made more sense to him. Thomas then turned his focus on his new surroundings. He wondered where he was. The hallway seemed to be very ornate with decorations befitting a royal palace. Along the walls between the pillars were various stained glass windows that depicted what he could only describe as horses. The windows seemed to have specific iconography that eluded to some sort of narrative, which he wasn't quite sure of. The characters seemed to be idolised in a way similar to medieval stained glass windows depicting saints. Some of the characters were recurring. Thomas followed the windows looking each one over. His efforts to stay up made sounds that echoed down the hallway. He wasn't sure if he was alone even though nobody was in the hallway with him, yet he knew that the flowers in the wall sconces were pretty fresh. Their perfume hung in the air and the fragrance seemed to help calm him down a bit. Thomas looked around himself again though he wasn't really looking for anything. He was in deep thought about his situation. Thomas never really had problems with navigating the twists and turns of his life; somehow he always knew what course to take. This Time, however, he was lost. Thomas slid onto his flank with an audible plop. He suddenly felt very tired and very alone. Never had he been so lost in his life with no prospect of getting back home. He really was hoping he was just on some crazy trip. Thomas looked at his hooved appendages once again; the site of them made his predicament sink in. He didn't know where he was, what he was, or if any of this was real. He began to shed tears. What the hell is going on? Thomas thought to himself. Thomas was scared to move since he didn't really know how to walk and he even felt reality was fragile and prone to change. He didn't want to start another event. Thomas sat there worrying about his predicament that he didn't notice the clicking that came from beyond a set of doors near by. Then the doors opened. Thomas then turned to look behind him. There were a set of door that opened behind him with another strange creature standing just inside them. The creature looked like a small deformed horse with large blue eyes and a white coat. He was also wearing golden armor with a blue plume. His bored, vacant eyes were looking Thomas over before the stallion addressed Thomas. " Sir, these corridors are off limits to the public. You're gonna have to make your way back to the Night court chamber." The stallion continued to stare at Thomas with his bored eyes. Looking back, Thomas could only show an expression of shock. There was a small moment of silence between the two. The Stallion then cleared his throat. " Sir, Please I don't want to have to ask you again." The stallion insisted. " Oh...ok sorry, Which way is that?" Thomas replied sheepishly. The whole exchange was too weird for him so any option that got him out of this weird creatures attention was a good one. " Just head back down this hallway and make a right." The stallion said as he pointed with his hoof down the hallway. Thomas nodded his head and with his best effort started trotting in that direction with his hooves slipping every once in awhile. It was like watching some wear heels for the first time. The stallion continued to stare at Thomas intently until, " Sir can you stop for a minute?" Thomas gritted his teeth and and stopped in his tracks. "Are you ok sir? You seem a bit off." asked the stallion. Thomas began to panic. He didn't know why, but he felt that letting the creature know that he was not what he appeared to be was a bad move. Thomas had the idea that he was in a palace or mansion and the horse that he was interacting with was in fact a guard. This had bad implications since he was in a restricted area. Who knew how this guard was going to react. " I… I'm fine sir just… I'm a little lost." Thomas replied. " I can see that, but I can also see you're inebriated. Who are you and what is your business here at the palace?" asked the Guard. Thomas felt he was in deep trouble. Inebriated? Why does he think that? Thomas Thought to himself. " I… uhh…" Thomas didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure if he should just tell the truth that he was pulled from his home. He still wasn't sure if this was a hallucination or not. The guard seemed to be visibly irritated and he quickly cantered up to Thomas. " In the name of the Canterlot palace Guard, I demand an explanation!" The Guard demanded. Thomas froze. He didn't know what to say. The guards expresion turned to a scowl and his horn glowed with a gold hue. Suddenly Thomas's hind legs pulled out from under him and he could feel himself being lifted up in the air. Thomas began thoroughly freaking out and his free appendages started flailing everywhere. The guard wasn't expecting Thomas to do this and a hoof smacked the him in his face which made Thomas hit the ground. Thomas, being frightened, got up and started taking off as fast as he could. He was clumsy, to say the least. Thomas shuffled as fast as he could towards the doors when he saw several more guards down the hall. They all looked up at him with quisitive looks. Thomas stopped in his tracks and began looking around him for another escape route. "Get Back here!" The guard called from inside the other hallway. The other guards looked at each other then started cantering towards Thomas. " You there, Stop right there!" One of them called out. A light grey pegasus. Thomas wasn't about to listen since he felt he was in danger. He could hear the first guard starting to gallope behind him. Thomas had nowhere to go ; The guards in front of him blocked his path out of the hallway and the guard behind him blocked his way to the night court something. " Wait!" Thomas pleaded, but then he saw a possible escape route. The fist guard had rounded the doors and was poised to tackle Thomas. Thomas cold sense him about to make his move, so he decided now was the time. "No Wait!" One of the guards called out. Thomas had only seen this stunt done in movies and the chance of it being dangerous was really high, but he had no other options, so seeing the stained glass window to his right, he decided to make a jump for it. The one change to his body, he felt, that was useful were his hooves so he planted them as solidly into the glass as possible. The glass seemed to be heavier than it appears, clearly Thomas thought this was going to be easier. However, the glass did break and Thomas fell through it, but the heavy shards dug into his forehooves and the side of his face. The stinging, searing pain was unbelievable, but what was worse was he was a lot higher than he had originally imagined. The ground was about 15 feet below from the window and Thomas could feel himself tumble as he fell. The sounds of breaking glass were all around him. The shards danced as they hit the ground below, making Thomas wish he hadn't tried to break out like he had. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion but eventually Thomas made contact with the ground. Sargent Halberd, A five year veteran of the Canterlot Palace Guard; one who was present for nearly every threat event to Equestria since the return of nightmare moon, had never seen somepony try to escape by jumping out an obviously thick stained glass window. The act astonished him beyond belief. His face was still sore from getting kicked in the mouth but that didn't stop him from racing to catch the strange, blank flank, blue unicorn who was obviously inebriated. It was unfortunate that he didn't catch the evader in time. Perhaps he could have tackled him and prevented his unavoidable injuries. Sliding to a stop in front of the broken window, he put his hooves up on the sill and poked his head out. Just as he thought he would see, the blue unicorn was laying on the ground unconscious. "Sergeant, who was that?" Called the pegasus. He had galloped up to the window as well. " I don't know Dive Bomb, but we need a medic or doctor, pronto! I don't think he's getting up soon!" Halberd replied as he continued to look out the window. " Sure thing Sarg'!" Corporal Dive Bomb replied as he turned and began flying down the hallway. Halberd began climbing up onto the windowsill, being careful not to cut himself on the remaining shards. " Aster, Fox, Help me with this guy." Halberd ordered the the other two guards, a white earth pony and a light green unicorn. " Yes Sargent!" They replied in unison. Halberd gently lowered himself down from the window and landed next to Thomas. Other Guards who were in the courtyard were cantering up to the scene. Halberd began looking the strange unicorn over and noticed the large lacerations around his face, and fore hooves. " What were you thinking you nutcase?" Halberd said to the unconscious Stallion.