//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Aftershock 
// Story: Acceptance 
// by Meatabex 
//------------------------------//

	I blinked a few times. The sun was shining from the nearby window, and birds chirped happily. I yawned, and crawled out of bed.
 
Not able to control my movement, I tripped off my hooves and fell to the floor. Damn, I thought. I’m still a pegasus.
 
“Ugh,” I moaned. Still surprised from my voice, I fell onto my tail, which was fluffy. My mane got into my face, and I wiped it away with my hooves. Slowly crawling up, I outstretched my wings, to examine them. They were a brilliant hue of green, just like my body. Trying to get up, I walked on my hind legs, slowly but surely, to the door.
 
Tripping while pushing the door open, I entered the next room with a loud smash.
 
“Who’s Rainbow Crash now?” I looked up, and saw Dash giggling. “You’re so funny. Walking on hind legs, like a dragon. That’s so silly.”
 
 “Why are you here?” I groaned, lifting myself off the ground again in an attempt to stand upright, but the effort was too much, and I collapsed, arms splayed in front, wings outstretched onto the floor.
 
Looking around, I could see books sprawled all over the place. Someone had clearly been doing some night reading. Looking up, I saw large pillars of bookcases, and ladders, lining the walls.
 
“Well, I thought my friend Twilight needed help with dealing with a certain strange pony!” she rolled her eyes. “You’re not gonna get anywhere on your back legs.”
 
“Watch me!” I retorted. Flailing my wings, I stood back up, and managed to trip a few more steps before slamming into a bookcase, and books rained on top of my head, burying me.
 
“HELP!” I screamed. A lump grew in my throat. And suddenly I felt really bad about knocking the books over. It must’ve taken people hours to organize these books! They were heavy, too.
 
I tried to dig my way out, but suddenly, all the books were engulfed in a cloud of red. The books levitated, and reorganized themselves into the bookcase. All thought processes in my mind ceased as I witnessed the magic.
 
“I knew learning that spell would come in handy,” I looked up. Twilight was looking down on me. I scrambled to get up, and managed to get onto my arms, or front legs. Her horn was shining red. I watched in awe, and she began to look nervous. “What? You’ve never seen a unicorn before?”
 
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “No, honestly, I haven’t.”
 
“It’s ok.” Twilight said. “How’s your day been?”
 
“She just woke up,” Rainbow interjected. I stood up, this time staying on all fours.
 
“So, Mark, or, whoever you are,” Twilight looked at me with concerned eyes, “I couldn’t find any entries of any beings called ‘Humans,’ as you claimed to be. In which case, you might’ve been hit by a memory-wiping spell. All I have to do, then is restore your memory-”
 
“Look, I don’t have a memory problem!”
 
Twilight looked interested. “Well, you don’t know that-”
 
“I don’t know how to show you,” I explained, “but I am a human. Or, at least, was…”
 
“Do you know anypony around here?” Twilight asked. “Any friends?”
 
That single word started to echo through my head. Friends. Friends. Friends.
 
Rainbow sniggered, “She hasn’t seen any ponies before, apparently, where she was from. Why do you walk on your back legs anyway? You must’ve been the dumbest pony wherever you used to be.”
 
I was still thinking about that word, friends. Tears began to drop from my eyes. Rainbow Dash’s smile disappeared.
 
“I’m sorry,” Rainbow slowly walked closer. “I didn’t know you were so sensitive, and, I mean, you said you were a guy, too, so I thought…” Twilight shot Rainbow Dash a look that said something like just because she says she was a boy doesn’t mean she can’t be sensitive. How could you be so inconsiderate of others’ feelings?
 
Rainbow Dash returned a look that said I didn’t know…jeez…
 
Then Twilight crouched, and cooed, “Are you ok? Rainbow Dash didn’t mean to be so rude.”
 
“Well, I wanted to prove a poi-” Twilight covered Rainbow Dash’s mouth.
 
“No,” I cried some more. Twilight just sat there, next to me as I dried my tears. “I was thinking about –sniff- back at where I lived. Where I lived, nobody was –sniff- nice to me.”
 
“Nopony…” Dash growled, but quietly.
 
I started again. “Everybody,” Rainbow shot another odd look at me, “I mean, everypony, was really mean to me,” I tried to change my word choice to help them understand. “The trees, and the grass, and the birds were my friends, because everyone thought I was weird. But they… killed all of them.”
 
I let more tears drop from my eyes. Twilight, blurred by my watery eyes, sat still for a while.
 
“I wouldn’t bear to watch any of my friends die, even if they were trees…” Twilight whispered.
 
Thoughts of the trees getting chopped down, and the birds being killed, and the grass being plowed over, only made it worse for me. I suddenly wanted a friend, more than anything in the world.
 
“It must be fun to have friends…” I whimpered.
 
“Fun? You can’t have fun without friends!” Rainbow Dash replied. “How have you never had friends before?”
 
“C’mon, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said in disdain, “you’re hurting her feelings!”
 
“All I want, more than anything in the world, is a friend!” I started bawling. Twilight tried to comfort me. Her horn shone in red light once more, and tissue appeared around my eyes, to catch the droplets of water that I sniffled out.
 
Suddenly, a bright light bulb manifested itself on top of Twilight’s head.
 
“Hay! I have a wonderful idea! What’s your name?” Twilight asked.
 
 “Mark, it’s Mark,” I sniffled.
 
Rainbow Dash slapped her head again. “Mark is a boy’s name! Walking around with that name will make you the laughingstock of Equestria!”
 
The other pony just looked at me patiently. “Maybe we can make a name for you right now. What do you want to be called?”
 
I paused. Since it looked like I was going to be here a while, I thought of a name. “How about,” I looked at my cutie mark, “Leafwing?”
 
“Ugh,” the blue Pegasus groaned. “Such a mushy name!”
 
“It’s great, I think!” Twilight commented quietly, and grinned, making that cute squeaky sound again.
 
“My name is Leafwing,” I tested it out, to see if it sounded well. I liked it. It sounded a little magical.
 
“ So, Leafwing,” Twilight grabbed a book, “you said you wanted friends?” My soft mane shook as I nodded.
 
“Well, you could first try going to Princess Celestia. In fact, I was writing her a letter to her about friendship, when you showed up,” Twilight suggested. “I was sent here in Ponyville to study the magic of friendship, actually.”
 
“Who’s Princess Celestia?” I asked. Rainbow looked incredulously at me.
 
“Are you kidding, Leafwing?” Rainbow was about to say more, but Twilight stuck a hoof in her mouth.
 
“Princess Celestia is the ruler of Equestria, and my mentor,” I could detect a hint of pride in her voice. “She’s the most powerful alicorn in existence! She could definitely help you out!” She pulled her hoof out of Rainbow Dash’s mouth. “Spike, you can come out now!”
 
A sound of footsteps greeted me as a side door opened. A creature with green spikes down its back, with a purple skin, walked upright towards Twilight, holding a pile of books. I noticed it had a sharp tail, with a spear-like end.
 
“AHH!” I screamed, surprised by the entry of another magical creature.
 
“Ahh!” It tripped over, and the books crashed to the floor.
 
“Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce you two.” Twilight brushed her bangs away. “Spike, this is Leafwing. Leafwing, this is Spike, my baby dragon friend.”
 
“The one and only!” Spike bowed. My head was spinning again. Pegasi, unicorns, and now dragons? And they were all friends?
 
“So, what’s cooking?” Spike looked at me, trying to size me up.
 
“Spike, take a letter,” Twilight ordered. The dragon didn’t seem pleased.
 
“But, I just got these books organized!” He moaned. “It’ll take me forever to do this again!”
 
“Oh, don’t worry.” Twilight laughed. “I just perfected an organizing spell! I don’t need you to do work if you’re really tired. Anyways, take a letter.”
 
“Ok!” Spike grabbed a sheet of parchment, and a quill, and stood attentive next to Twilight. He began to write down what Twilight was saying.
 
“Dear Princess Celestia,
I apologize for putting off my letter reporting what I learned about friendship. Yesterday Rainbow Dash found a pony lying on a road near Ponyville. She doesn’t seem injured. She seems fine now, but she has no memory of being a pony before, and wants to return to her home realm, and perhaps make some friends. This mystery requires a magical power with the likes of yours. We would like to visit Canterlot as soon as possible. Please respond if you are preoccupied at the moment.”
 
“Wait just a minute…Pre…pre…” Spike tried to spell it, but couldn’t quite get the word right.
 
“Engrossed?” Twilight suggested.
 
“En…En…” Spike shook his head.
 
“Have business?” the blue pegasus suggested, raising an eyebrow.
 
“Busi…busi…” Spike scratched his spines.
 
“Have things to do!” Twilight yelled. Spike quickly scratched the words down. “I remain to hear your response.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.”
 
“Ok,” Spike finished writing. “Send it now?”
 
“Yes, we need a response right now!” Twilight looked out the window. “You can’t just expect her to be able to schedule a visit at a whim! She has lots of ponies to court, lots of important business to do.”
 
“Ok, jeez,” Spike rolled the parchment up, and then breathed onto it. Green flames shot out from his jaws and onto the parchment, which quickly burned up. I gasped.
 
“You just… destroyed it.” Spike stared at me for a second, and then started cracking up.
 
“Wait, she doesn’t know?” Spike laughed even harder.
 
“I thought I told you!” Twilight paced on the floor. “She has no recollection of being a pony! And she definitely doesn’t seem to know how magic works!”
 
“Oh!” Spike looked at me. I stared back. “I sent that letter to Celestia through the magic network.”
 
“Ok… so you didn’t burn it?” I asked.
 
“Of course! What, you haven’t seen a dragon before?” Spike said.
 
“Yes, she hasn’t!” Dash spoke up.
 
“Twa-laght!” The front door swung open with a smash. An orange pony walked in. She was wearing a brown hat, which covered her messy blonde hair, which was tied at the end, similarly with her tail. On her flank was a trio of apples. I noticed it didn’t have a horn, or wings.
 
“So, there are normal ponies too?” I asked. I assumed that there weren’t any normal ones, since Twilight was a unicorn, and Rainbow Dash and I were pegasi, but it did make sense.
 
“Wha-  Twi, what’s this mare doin?” The pony walked next to Twilight.
 
“Applejack, this is Leafwing. Leafwing, Applejack.”
 
“Pleased to meet ya!” Applejack quickly turned her attention back to Twilight.

“Twi, there’s an emergency!” Applejack yelled, even though she was only standing inches away from her.
 
“What, for Celestia’s sake?” Twilight recoiled slightly.
 
“It’s Rarity!” Applejack yelled again.
 
“RARITY?!?” Spike screamed.
 
“Rarity? Talk with me along the way!” Spike hopped onto Twilight’s back, and Twilight and Applejack bolted out the library. I tried to follow, but could only manage a fast canter. Rainbow Dash looked back at me as she quickly sped by.
 
“Hey,” Rainbow laughed. “Use your wings!” With that, she took off, speeding to catch up to the other two ponies. I tried to respond, “I don’t know how to use-”
 
 As I left the library, I took in the surroundings, stopped talking, and could only stop and stare.
 
It seemed like an old village, probably before electricity existed or anything. All the houses were made of bright wood, and the grass was light green, bouncing its hues from the warm, bright sun. The sun was bright, but not so much that it would hurt to look at it. Somehow the sun still managed to make the town shine, and vividly at that. Ponies were prancing around. Tons of ponies were sunning, talking, eating, giggling, trotting, flying, racing, selling, pretty much everything and anything. Some ponies were bounding towards what looked like a school, and others walked into a shop labeled “Sugarcube Corner,” that was in the shape of a cupcake on top of a double-decker cake. The whole scenery just seemed so… happy!