//------------------------------// // Whatever Comes Next // Story: A Second Chance // by Tridon2951 //------------------------------// It was early, the sun had yet to rise but it's light could be seen creeping over the horizon, slowly getting up and cracking every joint I could in my body, I looked around only to see large rocks in what appeared to be an abandoned quarry I was in, I suddenly remembered all that happened yesterday. I took in a deep breath before slowly exhaling the crisp mountainous air, I would continue looking for whatever it was I hoped to find, wherever I was. Still sore and almost half asleep, I made my way in amongst the small amounts of shrubbery and large rocks that littered my intended path of travel, it wasn't more than ten minutes when I found myself staring down at a steep angle of the side of the cliff, "this is just great...", I quietly thought to myself, being the dumbass I was, I tried to get a better look of how steep it was, and if I could get down with the utmost caution, I lost my balance and began rolling down the incline, hitting every rock protruding from its surface. Frantically trying to get a grip of anything to stop my descent, I fell of the edge of the cliff, landing about ten feet further down on top of a bunch of trees, hitting branch after branch until I made contact with the hard earth below. I laid there for about five minutes, I opened my eyes to find I was in a dense forest, I had a small pool of blood coming from my left shoulder, I pulled my shirt collar to the side to get a better look, there was a deep gash, most likely from the rocks I hit as I came down, it didn't look as if it was going to heal on its own, I tore some of my shirt off and one of my sleeves, making some makeshift gauze and bandage to keep it in place, I was able to successfully tie up the wound, it did hurt like hell though. slowly making my way through the forest, grumbling all the way, I began to feel very lonely, now that I haven't talked to anybody but myself since I left the house, frowning and having a quiet controversy with myself over what I wanted my new life to be like, made my way through. "...well what if she DID want the party at the resort, and YOU spent all the money on the new dining room set? What then?" I was at a point in my own controversy that I had no idea how I even got to this topic, or why, I gave a brief sigh looking down at my feet as I walked, only to be met by a low hanging branch of a tree to my forehead, I fell on my back as I clutched the spot on my head cursing at myself, finding I broke the skin on my forehead and was now bleeding. "GODDAMMIT SON OF A BITCH!!! FUCK!!! JUST.... AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!" I was yelling now at a far louder tone than usual. I watched as a flock of birds fly off in the distance, getting up from the ground again I rubbed my forehead and looked at my hand, there was some blood on it but not a significant amount, at least not enough to make me pass out from blood loss, although my bandaging job from my shoulder was nice, it was beginning to seep through. I needed to get moving. Over time the forest began to thin out, and now grassy hills could be seen as far as the eye could see, with large mountains in the distance, snow covering their peaks. I was beginning to feel light headed and my vision was starting to blur, trying to cover some ground before I blacked out.(and to hopefully wake up from it.) I was able to see something large and red off in the distance. It was... I squinted my eyes to try and see through my blurry eyesight. A barn... which meant farmers... which meant people... which meant there was civilization... which meant I could get help. help... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I quickly made my way towards the barns location, the bandage had now come undone and the gash re-opened and began to bleed profusely as I pushed myself with the energy I had to get to the farm. I found a dirt path along the way and began to follow it, it wasn't too long before it came into view, it was an apple orchard, behind the barn and what appeared to be a small cottage-like house were hundreds upon hundreds of trees all with gleaming red specks on their branches. It was pretty rural,(almost looking Amish from the lack of tractors and other mechanical equipment that one would normally see.) there was the largely exposed white fence that ran around the perimeter, a few carts and baskets scattered around in piles, and an old rocking chair on the porch. I took a few steps forward into the property, I wasn't one for trespassing, but I did what I had to to get some help, my gash had now drenched the left side of my shirt in red and it continued to bleed, I was barely able to see anything with my heavily blurred eyesight as I walked to the front porch, my steps were shortening and slowing to the point I was moving only an inch or two per step. "What'n tha' hay are you?" I turned my head to see a four foot orange figure with blond hair and a hat of sorts looking at me. I hesitated for a second before saying one word, almost inaudible to the figure. "help..." and I fell to a pile on the ground, watching the orange figure run to my side to inspect my body before running to the front porch, only to yell something inside, I was able to hear the words "Twilight" and "Help" before passing out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I woke up to find I was no longer a bloody mess, I had been bandaged and my forehead had been cleaned, I was laying on a couch in a brightly lit room. I tried to get up but to no avail, I was still lightheaded from my overall loss of blood and I could barely move my head without getting a small throb of pain in the head in return. Looking around I saw there were multiple books on multiple bookshelves all around the room, Being stubborn as I was, I succeeded in rolling over, falling on the floor, this must have alerted the people or person who lived here, because I heard footsteps coming my way, I pulled myself to a sitting position,resting my head against the cushions of the couch before letting myself exhale deeply. "ITS AWAKE!!!" I shot my eyes open, slightly blurry from earlier, and turned to see multicolored hair on the head of a.... horse? I gawked at it, the fact it was a cyan color was reasonable, probably some dye... But it could TALK?!?( no seriously WTF?) It turned its head to look back at me, noticing that I was staring at it. "What're you looking at?" It said in a boyish sounding voice, giving me a mean glare. I flinched, it could talk and give facial expressions.... wow, what shit have I gotten myself into? I could hear more footsteps near the door entrance as I sat there, locking eyes with a horse with a dumbfounded look on my face. I left its gaze as it turned to the doorway, mine soon followed suit, five others came in stopping at the doorway, all of their expressions were filled with much curiosity, one of them, a faded yellow with a pink mane tried to hide its face out of either shyness or fear, I couldn't tell. A lavender one with a darker purple mane and pink stripe through it came forward, I backed up out of instinct, my gaze now an distrustful stare towards it, I didn't notice before but it had a horn, a HORN. Unicorns were never supposed to exist, let alone in Greek mythology and little girls toys. "There is no reason to be afraid, we're not going to hurt you." the other five nodded in agreement. I still didn't trust them, I stood up slowly, their faces changed from curiosity, to fear and amazement. They were about four feet in height and I was five foot nine, making me look a lot bigger than I was when I was sitting down. I began to back up, tripping over the small table I failed to notice behind me and toppled backwards, hitting the back of my head against the wood floor. The lavender one and its five companions began to quickly trot over to see what had happened, I quickly shot up and began to scoot backwards until I was up against the wall, with six horses, two of them being unicorns and another two being pegasi, (which I was now freaking out in my mind now.) surrounding me. the lavender unicorn came forward and spoke again. "Are you okay?" I sat there staring at the unicorn not wanting to talk to it. "Can you talk?" I hesitated for a moment before responding. "Yes..." The unicorn's face now had a large smile plastered on it's face, I stared, not knowing what to expect next out of it. The unicorn now turned to her friends having a conversation, talking about me like I wasn't even there. "Think of what we could learn! This species isn't even recorded in the zoology references! We may have discovered an entirely new creature! And to make it better, it can TALK!" The lavender unicorn's face was beaming and full of excitement. I noticed they were considerably smaller than horses so I came to the conclusion that they were ponies. Ponies... I suddenly associated 'ponies' with what were now talking in front of me and I suddenly.... Came up with no logical explanation. "What's your name?" A White unicorn with a fashionably styled purple mane had said to me. "What? oh! its Taylor..." I said snapping out of my thoughts. "Well its a pleasure to meet you my dear." she (I think) responded. I looked at her, waiting for her so introduce herself, she suddenly realized this and began to speak again. "Oh! I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Rarity, I own the Carousel Boutique here in ponyville." she said in a proud voice. "And... what exactly is your profession?" I couldn't help but ask. "Well fashion and clothing of course!" she said, assuming I already knew that. I gave a silent nod as the rainbow maned Pegasus came in real close, looking me up and down before backing off and speaking. "My name's Rainbow Dash and I'm the fastest flyer in all of Equestria!" "boastful much..." I quietly thought to myself before responding. "Nice to meet you Rainbow Dash." I said extending my hand for a handshake. (hoofshake? kinda Awkward...) "Just Rainbow will do." she said, returning the gesture. I grasped my hand around her hoof, It felt awkward, like I was a baby grabbing onto my father's giant finger with my small hand, after a few shakes, I'm sure we both felt awkward and she stepped back to let the orange pony with the now distinguishable cowboy hat that saved me from bleeding out at the farm. "Well howdy there, sorry bout' tha' confrontation an' all earlier, mah' name's Applejack, I work down at Sweet Apple Acres with mah' siblings and our good ol' Granny Smith," the orange pony said. "Well thanks for saving my life back there Applejack." I said with a sheepish smile. "Awwww well, it was nuthin' ah' couldn't let ya bleed ta' death on the ground. Think nuthin' of it." she said slightly blushing from the bit of flattery I had given her. It was now time for the pink pony with the messy looking mane to come forward. She then said a flurry of words that consisted of what I thought was, 'cupcakes' and 'party' before she ran out of the room with a bounce in her step. "I'm sorry, what?" I was dumbfounded by the amount of energy she had and that she still had more to spare. "That was Pinkie Pie, she asked if you liked cupcakes, or if you even eat them,and she went along of how she is going to throw you a 'Welcome To Ponyville' party later on." Rarity had stepped forward to clarify. "Alright I guess..." I said slightly surprised, I haven't been here for more than a day and now I'm getting a welcoming party while making friends with talking ponies. Nuff said. I closed my eyes and scratched my head for a moment, taking it all in, I opened them to see the yellow Pegasus hiding behind the doorway. Rainbow followed my gaze and saw her behind the doorway, she then looked to me. "Thats Fluttershy, she's not one for meeting new ponies, er... well you that is." "She'll introduce herself when she's ready." I said smiling at her. She took notice of this and hid even more of her face behind her mane, looking in a different direction, and casually glancing to see if I was looking. The lavender unicorn came back into the room, I didn't notice her leave. "Well I just sent a letter to the princess, Taylor she would like to speak with you tomorrow." she had announced and looked at me when saying my name. "Wait... Princess?" I said quizzically. "Yes Princess Celestia, ruler of all Equestria." she said. I thought for a moment, "so this place's government is a monarchy? Okay I guess..." I realized I still didn't know the unicorn's name. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name." I said in a kind of embarrassed tone. "Oh I'm sorry, my name is Twilight Sparkle." "Nice to meet you Twilight." I said smiling this time. "Likewise." she quickly responded, and now turned her attention to her friends. "I'm sorry girls, but I have to prepare for the trip to Canterlot tomorrow." I looked outside, the sun was on the western horizon now and it was in fact getting late. Her friends said their goodbyes and left, all of them going in their own separate directions, I watched as they slowly disappeared from sight and faded in the growing darkness, many street lamps turned on as the sun set in the distance. Twilight told me that we had to leave early in the morning, there would be a chariot to pick us up by then, she let me stay in the guest room she had, it was quaint, containing a desk, nightstand, bed, and what I loved most, a balcony. I suddenly remembered my backpack and asked Twilight where it was, she left for a moment and came back with it suspended in the air with a purple aura around it and her horn, I wasn't sure what that was but I would have time to ask tomorrow, I grabbed my bag and we said goodnight to each other and parted. The bed was a bit small but I could manage, I opened the double glass doors to the balcony and walked out, there was a slight breeze, and the moon looked brighter with all of the cosmos visible in the night, if I could use one word to describe it, it would have to be amazing. Simply amazing. But I would have time to stargaze another night, I was tired and I was going to meet a Princess tomorrow, (exciting right?) I slouched on the bed and stared at the ceiling, this place was, from what I know at least, full of many happy and very nice ponies, (seeming they were the dominant race and all) and was ruled by a Princess by the name or Celestia. I wasn't sure what was going through my head after that, but I finally realized something I hadn't before. I found what I was looking for. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Authors note: Hey guys what'd you think? this was one of the longer chapters I've written (they're not gonna ALL be this long), this took about five hours to write from the top of my head. hope you like it! If I have time later I will get to writing the next chapter, might even get it posted later... ANYWAYS! thanks for reading! please rate and comment and tell me what you think and how I can improve. Thanks!!!