//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: My New Life? 
// by Dj8996 
//------------------------------//

	It was a cold night like any other; the breeze carrying a slight chill with it, while the sky above me was hazy and mostly starless as usual. I was walking along the side of the lake, letting my thoughts wander off into the unknown, as I aimed my head skyward, and let in the cool air fill my lungs.

The only thing observable in the sky, was a cloud-covered full moon, with three stars surrounding it in a triangular pattern. I raised my eyebrow slightly at the sight of it. Something about that pattern in particular drew my curiosity, and felt familiar somehow. I could feel it on the tip of my tongue, but led to no avail, after a few minutes of mentally pondering it. Shrugging my shoulders, I finally let go of the thought, and let my mind wander about again, that is, until something else caught my eye.

I fixated my attention onto the water to my right. Considering the sky was covered in dark clouds, the water had an abnormally bright glow to it, and it didn’t move whatsoever. It was reminiscent of a smooth mirror. I paused in my tracks at this point, and darted my eyes towards the water, now approaching the shoreline with curiosity. As I got closer, my feet sinking deeper into the sand with every step, I paused in my tracks, mere inches away from the edge of the water. I kept on wondering how the water was glowing so bright, considering the dark and dreary environment around me.

I knelt on one knee, propping myself up with my elbow, as I outstretched my hand towards the stationary, luminescent surface. The moment the tips of my fingers were submerged, I jumped back in retaliation, pulling my hand out as quickly as possible.

“That wasn’t water,” I said out loud, my heart skipping a beat.

That didn’t feel anything like water, as a matter of fact, my hand wasn’t even wet, it was as dry as it was previous to touching it. I fell back into the wet sand, disregarding it for the time being. My mind was racing at this point, trying to logically think through what had just happened. After a really long minute, I just gave up and slumped my shoulders, my sense of logic still spinning in circles.

During that minute, I eventually thought to myself, “You know what? Fuck it,” Reaching my entire arm into the gooey substance replacing the water, mentally and physically bracing myself for whatever was about to happen.

You have no idea how much regret I felt during that moment, as I shot my arm into it, because my arm wouldn’t come back out! As I tried pulling my arm with all of my bodily strength, out of the glue-like liquid, I felt an intensely strong pulling sensation. Before even getting a chance to yell out from fear, I felt my body get pulled in with the force of a damn speeding truck, and before I knew it, my whole body was off the ground, flying into the liquid, which was now growing immediately brighter. I forced my eyes shut, and held my breath, not knowing what to expect from here on out.

I couldn’t manage to keep my breath held any longer, as it was practically being forced out of my lungs, while I felt a nauseating falling sensation. I opened my eyes, at first slowly, my mind trying to catch up with me still. There were bright, vivid colors, swirling impossibly fast, around a blinding white light emanating from the center of the rainbow-like funnel. Aside from my initial reaction of, “What the actual fuck is going on?” I felt my body becoming warped and twisted, in ways I’m glad I’m not able to describe, the numbness quickly blocking out the intense pain. I was having a near panic attack, as the colors flew by, with all of my sensory stimuli fading away quickly.

“Is this it for me, am I going to die?” I thought, letting it echo throughout my mind, everything around me now faded to blackness.

What seemed like minutes later, I awoke on the shoreline, with my consciousness now returning to me. At that moment, the only thing that I felt, was the pure elation I felt from being alive still.

“Ugghhh…” I thought to myself, “Was that like an LSD trip or something?” I thought again, trying to lean up from the ground, placing my hand on my head.

*CLUNK*

“OUCH! What the fu…” I immediately cut myself off. Instead of my hand touching my head, all I felt, was a thick object, bumping the side of it. I looked down at where my hand was supposed to be, but it was gone. All I saw was a beige colored hoof, directly in front of my face. My eyes widened immensely, my heart-rate going through the roof now. I glanced at the rest of my body, and let in a huge gasp of air. My body wasn’t the same either. Where my legs were supposed to be, there were hoofs also. The same went for my head, as I stroke my arm across the top of my head, and felt two long, furry ears along the top-sides of it.

I was in utter shock at this point, turning my head everywhere along my body, including behind me, still in utter disbelief. It was then, when I saw a big pile of smooth brown hair, coming from behind me, and resting just to my left. It was a tail! I blinked, my breathing now turning heavier than ever, as I nudged myself to the edge of the motionless water beside me, and looked into it for a reflection of myself. I peered my head just inches over the surface, only to jump back in fright.

“I’m… a pony?!” I said out loud, turning my head in every direction to observe my looks, maintaining direct eye contact with my reflection in the water.

My mind pretty much snapped at this point, the logic of all of it, now gone entirely. My head was mentally over inflating itself with thoughts of, ‘who, what, when, where, and most importantly, why?’ before I felt myself beginning to black out once more. As my body dropped roughly back into the sand, I heard footsteps in my vicinity, followed by an audible gasp. I didn't have the time to mentally process everything that has happened over the last couple minutes, so by then, I’d passed out once more.