//------------------------------// // to a New Life // Story: Waking Up // by Omegathyst //------------------------------// Kicking the door open to her room, a tall white woman with long dark brown hair walked inside and started taking off her Starbucks uniform like it was poison, shaking the articles of clothing off as it joined the unfolded clothes on the floor. She left the door open as she changed into a T-shirt and shorts, no need to close it when no one else was home, afterall. Johanna Waters could’ve tended to the sea of disorganization on the floor, but there were urgent matters to be taken care of first. Namely, the newly released My Little Pony movie. Johanna walked to her desk, sitting down on her swivel chair as she opened her laptop and started playing the movie. Even as she was approaching 20 years of age, she saw no reason to stop indulging in something that relaxed her stressed mind. She could let the headache-inducing thoughts of customers throwing drinks at her and the one guy who vomited on the floor, leaving her to clean it up, to the back of her mind as she acquainted herself with a new cast of colorful ponies. Of course, besides the clear chemistry she could see between Sunny Starscout and Izzy Moonbow, there was one pony that caught her eye. The shortest of the group, and yet the mare that kicked her heartbeat into high gear with her beautiful pink fur and alluring singing voice. Pipp Petals. In the past, Johanna rolled her eyes at the people who found the cartoon ponies to be attractive and often thirsted after the ponies in their own artistic ways. Now, she felt her face heating up as she listened to the pink pegasus sing. She could see it now, Pipp Petals would be talked about non-stop, a fan favorite of the five main characters. After the movie ended, Johanna searched the internet, finding a lot of art of Izzy Moonbow. That’s fine, surely she’d… Johanna froze up as she found a poll of the most to least popular character in the new movie, Pipp Petals at the lowest of the list with less than 10% of people voting that she was their favorite. Was this some kind of joke? “This is bullshit!” Johanna shouted, waving her arms for a moment before she set her arms back down on her desk. What wasn’t there to like about her?! She sang like an angel, looked like an angel, and was a very talented shortstack of a pony. With her shift and discovery of just how undesired Pipp was on the internet, Johanna felt drained as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She closed her laptop and took off her shorts, practically falling onto her bed and not even bothering to move underneath the blankets. Johanna grabbed her phone, set an alarm for the next morning, and tossed it towards the pillows as she closed her eyes and allowed her body to succumb to some much needed rest... As the sun rested on Johanna’s face from the windows above, Johanna grumbled as she reached for her phone, her hand grasping nothing but air every time. Finally, she grabbed hold of something cold and her eyes jolted open. She wasn’t in her own bed, but rather an even softer one held by golden beams. There were several recliner chairs, a bowl full of fruit, and golden walls around the room. If Johanna didn’t know any better, she’d say she was in the- “Hey dude.” Johanna felt an imaginary bucket of ice cold water dumped on her as she sat up on the bed, strands of dark hair covering her eyes. And yet, the white figure with toothpaste hair was unmistakable. Shaking the hair out of her face, Johanna’s jaw dropped as she stared at the tall pegasus. “Z-Zipp Storm?!” Johanna shrieked. “So if you’re here, then that must mean…” “Slow your roll there, hairless monkey,” Zipp scowled. “Just how do you know what my name is?” “I have a name, it’s Johanna. And I watched the movie, about how y’all saved Equestria?” Johanna explained, her brain still processing that she was in Equestria. “Well, technically it was Sunny that saved Equestria. How in God’s name did I end up here? And where’s your sexy sister? I want to talk to her.” Zipp’s eyes widened as she stammered a bunch of sounds, none of them forming anything coherent. After a few moments, she stopped, and gave a long sigh as she pressed one of her hooves against her face. “I need a drink…” Zipp groaned. “Can I go with you?” Johanna got up, noticing that she wore the same clothes that she went to bed with. Forced to go barefoot, Johanna walked towards the bars and looked down at the pony that barely reached her waist. “Fine,” Zipp rolled her eyes as she pressed a button, the bars moving to allow Johanna to leave the room. “But no leaving my sight, got it?” “Yes ma’am,” Johanna nodded, walking at the same pace as Zipp instead of following the pegasus. “Damn, guess I won’t be able to clean my room now.” Knowing you, you were never going to do it anyway. “So spill,” Zipp looked up at Johanna. “You might as well tell me everything you know.” As they reached the kitchen with two tall golden chairs against a marble counter, Johanna explained the entire events of the movie to Zipp. Zipp rolled her eyes as she got out a pair of shot glasses and a bottle of vodka from the nearby fridge, listening to the alien lady refer to her sister as sexy multiple times in her story. As Johanna reached the end of her explanation, Zipp finished pouring alcohol into the glasses as she stared up at Johanna. “Dude, you don’t even know if my sister’s into mares, let alone whatever you are,” Zipp shook her head, pushing one of the glasses towards Johanna. “Here, we might as well see if your big monkey body can handle as much alcohol as mine.” “...are you suggesting a drinking contest?” Johanna wiggled her eyebrows, slowly grinning ear to ear. “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting,” Zipp took her own shot glass in her wing and downed it in one gulp. “Figuring out all this ‘alien monkey in Equestria’ shit can wait till tomorrow.” “I’m not…” Johanna grabbed her shot glass, gulping it down in the same fashion before finishing her sentence. “...an alien monkey, I’m a human.” “A what?” Zipp refilled their glasses. “What did I just say about figuring out this shit.” “It can wait till tomorrow, I know,” Johanna rolled her eyes, already downing her second shot. “Can I at least meet your hot sister?” “Tell you what, I’ll take you to her if you win,” Zipp told her. In that moment, Johanna steeled her resolve, drinking shot after shot until everything became more blurry. One moment she was drinking shots, the other moment she was walking with Pipp, one of the guards behind her with a drunk Zipp on his back. Then, there were dresses and flowers, and even more Pipp… Then Johanna blacked out as she finally crashed onto a bed much softer than the one she woke up in.