//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Denial, Sorrow, and Semi-Acceptance (v2) // Story: Well, this is new... // by CommunistTaco //------------------------------// Note: This is not the original version of this chapter. If you wish to view the original it can be found here: http://pastebin.com/TRbjEkUk “Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody.” ― Stephen Chbosky I used to dread waking up at the start of the day for completely different reasons than I do now. When morning comes today, I dread waking up and seeing the world that I'm supposedly condemned to for the rest of my life. I can't help but cling on to the desperate hope that I'm in a coma in the hospital and this all some weird hallucination. 'That's it! It is all a dream. The lightning put me in a coma and I'm dreaming this all up. I'll wake up sooner or later in the hospital and go on with my life! Talk about a realistic dream though huh. My mind sure can come up with some crazy ass things. I found energy in this new explanation of my situation. I slowly got up and stretched in a similar manner that a cat does and then made my way back out into the forest. A dream it was. It seemed too, convenient that I was dropped into magical pony land through a rip in time and space. That I happened to be discovered by the one pony who knew the rulers of a huge kingdom personally. That said rulers just happened to know exactly what happened. It just didn't fit. I knew sooner or later I'd find a way to prove once and for all that this was all fictional. 'Maybe that's how this dream works! I have to uncover solid proof that this is a dream and then I get to wake up. The easiest way would be to just kill myself which would probably end the dream either way but that's the cowards way out. I'm gonna do this the hard way!' The light of the early morning was shining through the dense canopy and I couldn't help but admire the beauty of this strange dream land. The forest had the fresh smell of rain which I assumed rolled through the previous night. It reminded me of the time my 3rd grade class took a field trip to the local wildlife sanctuary. Funny story. The day of that field trip, one of the chaperones didn't show up so the kids in the missing parent's group got split up among the rest when we got to the sanctuary. Me being the idiot I was at the time didn't realize it was my chaperone who was missing so when everyone departed I accidentally got separated from everyone else. By the time the teachers realized I was gone it had been a whole hour and a half. They ended up finding me hiding behind the bus and called off the field trip early. I went looking for some form of nutritional nourishment. I eventually came across the stream from yesterday and to my luck another vine of raspberries. I managed to quench my thirst with a few sips of water from the stream and my hunger with some more raspberries. I decided to casually walk through the forest to admire it some more. I observed many aspects of wildlife including birds, squirrels, and even some rabbits. They were all going about their days like nature intended them to. It was like everything made sense in this forest. It kinda reminded me of the Garden of Eden but with a much more dark and creepy atmosphere. If only I could wake up sooner and see the planet that said legend originated from. After walking for a bit I stumbled across what seemed to be trail of some sort. Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to follow it. The trail had the obvious shapes of hoofprints in it that seemed to have been made not too long ago. I assumed it was some kind of wandering travelers or a caravan of some sort so I followed the prints towards where they seemed to be going. I realized that I might just be following some bandit gang and might get captured, but hey, anything to get away from crazy ass Twilight and her insufferable rulers. Better yet I could join a criminal gang and go rob the princesses of all their money. I assumed they some sort of treasury, and with this world's level of technology, it would all be cash. I could be the demolitions expert or something related in that manner. Oh what fun that would be. Walking along the trail I continued to observe the beauty of the greenery of the forest. All of a sudden I heard faint voices originating from what looked like a tree but upon closer inspection seemed to be some sort of tribal hut. I crept closer to listen in on the voices. "...He has a teal coat, red mane with black streaks and no cutie mark. Did you happen to see him wandering around here?" I heard the unmistakable voice of Twilight come from the hut. 'Oh, looks like Twilight and Co. are attempting a search party for me.' I was flattered to say the least. Either they were here to drag me to prison for yelling in Luna's face or they wanted to get me caught up in their cutesy friendship crap. I didn't really like those options but I assumed they would probably find me eventually. I decided to remain hidden and reveal my presence at a more optimal time. I heard a voice of what sounded like a African accent coming from the hut. "Your friend I have not seen, but fear not if you remain keen," the voice rhymed. "Oh well, thanks anyway Zecora!" I heard Twilight say as she walked out the door of the hut followed by the other five of her friends. I looked behind them as the door was closing a caught a glimpse of what looked like a zebra. 'Magical ponies, crazy wooden wolves, and rhyming zebras. Wonderful...' I thought sarcastically. The six looked disgruntled to say the least. They looked like they got little to no sleep while organizing this search effort. I decided to be the sadistic jerk I sometimes was and try and scare them. "Great now what do we do? Search the forest until we see him? He ran off! We shouldn't have to go find him." I heard Rainbow Dash exclaim obviously annoyed. "He's just a bit lost and confused, Ah'm sure that once we talk some sense into him he'll come around." I heard the orange mare who I believe had introduced herself as 'Applejack'. "Well go ahead and try. I'm waiting," I said flatly poking my head out of the foliage. All six mares jumped back and toppled over in surprise. It took all my will power not to burst out laughing right then and there. After realized who it was that had spoken Twilight jumped to her hooves and gave me a huge hug. "We were so worried when so ran off like that! You shouldn't run away from your problems like you did!" Twilight half cried, half lectured to me. "First of all get off me I like my personal space. And second, I've finally figured it out," I said smugly "This is all a dream. None of you are real. I'm just in a coma in the hospital and dreaming all this nonsense up." "Do you really believe that?" Twilight asked with a look of concern on her face. "Yep!" I said giving her a toothy grin. I began to tell her about my plans to prove the existence of this place to be false when she interrupted me. "Vlad I know this may be hard to believe, but this is as real as it gets. You're in denial," Twilight said. "Nope not true dream pony. You're just lying to me to get under my skin." "No I'm not. You have to stop lying to yourself," Twilight said firmly. "No! This world doesn't make any sense! It can't be real!" I returned anger creeping into my voice. "Just because something doesn't make sense doesn't make it fictional." "But this has to be a dream...! Doesn't it...?" I said falling on my haunches so quickly that I yelped a bit in pain. 'You can't feel pain in dreams... Now that I think about it I've been in pain several times since coming here. So that must mean... NO!' I immediately broke down on the ground crying in a ball. "Why does this *sniff* stuff always happen to me!" I wailed, "My parents died, I was put in the orphanage from hell, and now this!" I was normally a pretty reserved guy when it came to pity, sorrow, and depression but now I was letting out 10 long years worth of bottled up sadness. My parents' untimely deaths, the years of harsh bullying, my dead end life for the past year, and the events of the past 36 hours. All six mares gathered around me inputting words of comfort. I felt someone wrap their arms around me and I looked up the timid yellow pegasus whose name I never caught hugging me. "Hush now. Its OK. Your going to be OK," I heard her say in the most comforting voice I have ever heard. "Hey, it's gonna be ok, just let it all out." "My parents *sniff* would be so disappointed in me. Throwing away the life they gave me..." "Listen here mister!" the pegasus said with the most authority I'd ever heard her muster, "I'm sure your parents loved you very much but they wouldn't want to see you moping around! They would want you to make the best of it!" I was astounded by her sudden pep talk and was at a loss of words. "Oh I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, "I didn't mean to yell, I'm so sorry." Unsure what to do at that point I decided to resume crying on the ground for a little while all while the yellow pegasus comforted me offering more apologies. Eventually, I was able to gather myself and stand up. I turned to the mare who had been hugging me for the last few minutes and said, "Thank you..." "Fluttershy," I heard her squeak out. "Thank you Fluttershy, all of you. I've been so stubborn and difficult these past 24 hours. I was being a jerk to the only peop... ponies who were trying to help me at my darkest hour. And yet you still all came back to find me. Thanks to you all, I think I can begin to move past this. It will take time, I guarantee it, but I believe eventually I will be able to let my life on Earth go. And it's all because you six took the time to care about me," I said with a small smile on my face. "That's what friends are for silly!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "You would consider me your friend? I've never had any friends." I said sadly. "Well then consider us your first friends! We'd all be glad to offer you the opportunity you've been denied your whole life," Twilight said with a smile. "I would love to be... friends," I said 'I'm making... friends.' "Now let's head back to Ponyville. I'm sure one of us will allow you to stay at our place until toy get a house of your own," Twilight said. "I'd like that, thanks," I said quietly. I just realized that I went through the five stages of grief all out of order. I went; Bargaining, Anger, Denial, Sorrow, Acceptance. Just shows how messed up I am. Oh well. And so we set off, back to Ponyville, and towards the start of my new life. My new life in the land of Equestria...