The Clydesdale

by Ocean Heart

She Who Speaks in Rhymes

They brought him in, of course I would help.

Meeting such a stranger; though the similarities between us, I felt....

So, eager was I to lend a hoof...who was I to step in the way ...

For these two ponies seemed fated to meet each other...

And making this cure was child's play.

"And what of this over-sized pony?"

Chance was still out cold, after collapsing in the forest with no explanation; Twilight rushed him to the closest thing she could call a doctor, luckily an expert in this field. All five of her friends gathered around him on the ground, concern, fear and guilt for letting him succumb to an unknown danger. Dash started pacing back and forth,the guilt pouring from her for letting her own race take precedence over taking care of their guest. Chance had been out cold for a half an hour now, the group was beginning to wonder when...or if he would wake up.

"We think he ran into something..." Applejack started.

"A patch of poison joke!" Pinkie finished dramatically.

The zebra wanted to sigh, she keeps warning ponies, but every so often, another victim would wander themselves in and beg her for the cure....she thought about charging for each batch...of course her good nature quashed those thoughts. Zecoria instead, examined the pony thoroughly to find traces of the magical flower or it effects; other than being a giant, he seemed fine. Soon she discovered a glowing pedal in his mane that confirmed the six's story.

"I will need time to cook up a brew, and find a bath large enough for this mule." She said with a small laugh, the group apparent missed the joke...

Thats when she realized...this pony was having a reaction to the flower...

Chance felt his body lose its numbness, consciousness returning painfully slow. Memory a bit blurry and arms slow to respond, he felt...the wood of some platform under him, legs hanging off the end of the table and hooves touching the ground while his arms were resting at his side.

Wait...legs...shouldn't bend that way!

Chance sat up with sudden speed and looked at what he expected was to be broken legs. Instead, he was greeted by the face of a striped pony and his legs now jointed...like a humans. They swung lazily and he felt the knee cautiously, fingers rolling around it and under the fur...

"Fingers?!" He shouted and held up his hands as if they were alien attachments.

"Calm yourself-" The striped pony tried to say.

"Striped pony?!" He hollered.

Chance scooted back quickly only to fall crashing to the ground when he ran out of table, crushing poor Applejack and Rainbow Dash under his heavy frame. Of course, he didn't notice them until he took a good look at the surroundings; dark, dingy...crusted in mold with strange things lining the walls of this apparent hut.

There was a lot that Chance could handle and keep going, new world, sure; new friends, why not...new body..well everyone has a breaking point, right? Chance didn't even notice the mares under him complaining and struggling in the shock of becoming...semi-human.

Fur like his old body, a mane, hooves on his feet and big tail currently draped over and between a set of cyan wings. Yet his back was straight up and he couldn't believe his eyes when he wiggled his fingers. Twilight just didn't know what to think...poison joke never had such a dramatic effect, becoming something completely alien just didn't happen...and yet it just did..

Chance jumped up and hit his head on the roof of the hut, groaning and hunching over to push his way outside, almost needing to crouch through the doorway; he needed air. The hyperventilating stallion couldn't even remember who he was before arriving to this strange world...this insane world of witchcraft...so once he got outside, he stood upright, hitting ten feet in height, his grew dizzy when the ground was so far away.

"What's happening to me..?" He asked himself quietly.

The mares filed out of the tree and tired to bring him back down.

"It's okay! This is normal-" Twilight tried to get out.

"Normal!? How is any of this normal?!" Chance shouted back, making the others flinch with the mixed shock and frustration in his voice.

Examining his hands,covered in his normal colored fur, turning them over to see the palms. The hooves on his feet ere half sunk in the mud and making him feel anything but better. Chance needed to be alone, he wanted to stop talking to multi colored unicorns and strange pegsi; just take time to watch the cars drive by the farm again...

Why did I have to want to change...why can't I be normal...

That's when he remembered his friends back on the farm...they probably missed him, they might be looking for him, what would the farm hands think if he returned like this..?

Could this be Celestia's plan...the part she left out?

Its official, I don't like the princess.

"I just....I need to be alone right now...I can't keep up with this mess." Chance stated dryly, arms falling limply to his side and walking awkwardly, slowly, in the first direction he picked.

The stripped pony was outside, watching him carefully as he left. Pinkie Pie tried to go after him with Dash and even Twilight; only to be stopped by Zecoria...a look of deeper understanding halting their charge with fear and anticipation. One ignored the zebra's warning, however...

"Sugercube! Wait!-"

Applejack tried to explain the situation, she tried to stop him from wandering alone into the dangerous forest, but he stopped his walk and looked back, his own fear showing plainly...fear of her..fear of this world that was left unanswered for far too long. Applejack realized that it was partly her fault...her friends...they all pushed him too far, he wasn't ready for the everfree; and now they were paying for it.

"J-...Just leave me alone." He pleaded, continuing his path into the shadows of the trees.

Applejack wanted to go after him still, but all it took for him to get away,was her hesitation.

_ _

Chance walked until he found a natural way to make each step, climbing through the forest trees once they grew too close together for walking, all of it no real effort for a stallion of his size; though he nearly lost his grip occasionally from his hands shaking. Chance followed his path until he hit a mountain face, a clearing met with a stone wall.

What am I going to do... he thought to himself.

Chance's life was turned upside down, kicked, and thrown around until it landed him here somehow, walking up to a dark cave that was tucked away at the edge of the clearing.

"Whats happening to me...?" He asked out loud.

Something in the air make him shiver, crossing his arms as he entered the cave in hopes of finding a secluded place to think. All he needed was time to think and process all this, not party or pretend he can accept his fate just like that.

What you truly desire...

It echoed around the walls of the cave as a sudden swarm of bats made the stallion duck,all of the winged beasts flying over him and out into the forest. Chance wanted to curse, to yell or scream out his frustration and self-hatred...but he was too tired to waste energy like that.

After what felt like a half an hour of walking, Chance spotted a glow...it was a dull green glow that came from a chamber in the cave system. The sound of gravel shifting from the chamber made him hesitate.

"..Hello?" He said, his voice echoing unpleasantly.

No answer came....so he continued forward, body tense and heart racing, turning the corner quickly...nothing...the chamber was lined with glowing...material. Material seemed to be the best way to describe it, green and viscous, it dripped from corners of the wall and sat in seemingly random clumps on the floor. It made for good lighting,so Chance walked in slowly; eyes scanning the area constantly until he found a spot to sit by a empty wall, carefully lowering himself and blowing out a sigh when he finally was able to rest.

"What did you mean..?" He asks quietly, trying to make sense of Celestia's words.

Oddly, he just felt more tired, the dull green around him made it easy to see...but it also was calming, it lulled the exhausted stallion to a doze,his head bobbing up and down as he tried to keep thinking.

"Just...a quick nap..."

Author's Note:

My Little Furry, anthro is magic.

I realized that the plot needed a major overhaul for the plans and key points that I have planned, so I needed a drastic shift. This worked out pretty well for me I think, Chance takes on a more Fluttershy approach to a problem and runs away from it; it hints at the inner turmoil still happening and reminds that coming to a new world and starting a new life in two days is stressful...

Poor Applejack, can stand up to anything except her friends.

So many short chapters, its frustrating >:U

And Zecoria....is...hell. Credit to the writers that can properly give her parts, I sure as hell cant..