The Second Chance

-Chapter 3 introductions

"So, Rainbow Dash", Tom tried to make small talk, "What do you do for a living?"

"I do stunts for the Wonder Bolts", replied Dash, "It doesn't pay much, but it's worth it, you know what I mean?"

Tom just gave her a blank stare.

"You DO know who the Wonder Bolts are, right?", inquired Rainbow.

". . . ."

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?", Dash exclaimed.

"I come from a place really, really, far away from here", explained Tom.

"I think...", he said under his breath. ' I don't know anymore...."

"Figures", said Rainbow Dash, " You're a dork who can't fly and who doesn't know about the greatest aerial stunt team ever. And now I have to show you around town, according to Ponyville's Welcome Policy, Article 3, statute 7, subsection 304."

"What..."

Tom realized he'd just been called a dork.

"Hey!", Tom glowered at Rainbow Dash.

"Relax man,  I'm just joking with you!", Rainbow Dash reassured him, lightly punching him on the shoulder, "Speaking of which, we're passing by a friend of mine who loves jokes."

"Who's tha-"

Before Tom could finish his sentence, he was bombarded with confetti.

"WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!" exclaimed a pink pony.

"WHATSYOURNAMEMYNAMEISPINKIEPIEILOVEPARTIESBECAUSETHEYRESOMUCHFUNANDYOURNEWHERESOIGOTTATHROWYOUAWELCOMEPARTY-"

"HOW DO YOU BREATHE?!", exclaimed a riled-up Tom.

"Like anyone else would, duh!", the pink pony said.

"Well, what's your name?", Tom asked.

"My name is Pinkie Pie", said the pink equine, " You're Tom, right?"

Tom's heart skipped a beat.

"Rainbow, how does she know my na-"

"She knows everyone, Tom", replied Dash.

"Come by SugarCube Corner later", said Pinkie Pie. " I'll host a welcome party there. All my friends will be there!"

" Nice to m-meet you, Pinkie Pie", said a shaken Tom, extending a hand ('Hoof', he reminded himself', 'I don't have hands anymore').

"Awww, nice to meet you too Tom", said a touched Pinkie Pie, taking his one hoof in both of hers and giving three shakes.

"See ya, Dashie!", said pinkie pie, as she trotted away, enthusiastically.

"See you later, pinkster", replied Rainbow Dash.

With that said, the duo moved onto their next stop: Carousel Boutique.

                             ******************************************

"Dash, no offense, but your friend scares me", admitted Tom.

"She's a nice mare once you get to know her", Rainbow Dash said, " My next friend is a 'fashionista' or whatever she calls herself."

The two pegasi came to a shop with an interesting design on it.

"Welp, this is it", said Rainbow Dash, "Might wanna be quiet, she might be working on a dress or something."

The two gently opened the door, and found a little pony with a horn on its forehead (a unicorn, Tom deduced), sitting down, doing some paperwork. The little pony had a white and light purple mane, with white fur.

"Hey Dash", asked Tom, "Who is that?"

"That's my friend's younger sister, Sweetie Belle", answered Dash.

"She's so cute, I'm getting diabetes!"

"What?"

"Never mind..."

Tom walked over to the little filly.

"'Hello there! What's your name?", asked Tom

"My name is Sweetie Belle", the filly said, "I'm looking for my cutie mark in math!"

"Cutie mark? What's that?", Tom asked.

"It's when a pony discovers their own special talent", explained Sweetie Belle, talking slowly, like he was a small child (oh, the irony!).

"What is your cutie mark supposed to be?"

Sweetie Belle pointed at his posterior. On it was a tattoo of the World tarot card.

"Erm, I guess I like cards?", Tom replied.

"That's a weird talent...", said Sweetie Belle.

Just at that moment a ringing sound was heard from the door. A white unicorn with a glossy violet mane had entered

"Sweetie Belle!", said a voice. " I'm  hom-"

Just before she could go on any further, she was surprised to see two other ponies in her home. Rainbow Dash (odd, she didn't normally hang around here), and a right-swept haired, indigo furred pegasus. His eyes were brown, just like his hair. He didn't seem to focus on one thing. He seemed too anxious and too tense.

'What a charming stallion', thought Rarity

"Hello there, darling, may I ask your name?", asked Rarity to Tom, in a seductive tone.

"I'm Tom", Tom explained, "And you are?

For a moment, Rarity cringed at the name of "Tom" for reasons she did not want to talk about.

"Rarity," the unicorn introduced herself, "Where are you from, darling?"

"The USA", said Tom, "It's really far away from here."

"Interesting", said Rarity, "Tom, you must tell me more."

"Oh, will you look at the time! Dash and I've gotta get going", he explained nervously.

Tom tried to gallop but couldn't, being new to walking on all fours.

Taking the hint, Rainbow Dash grabbed Tom by the arm and flew out of the boutique.

"See  ya, Rare!", said Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash, you stallion stealer!"

   *********************************************

"Thanks for getting me out of there, Dash," said a gracious Tom.

"No sweat!" said a pumped-up Rainbow Dash, "Hey, we should go to Twilight's house!"

" Who's Twilight?" asked Tom.

"Twilight Sparkle is the local nerd," a blunt Dash replied.

"Isn't that a little harsh, especially if she's your friend?" remarked Tom.

"You need to lighten up!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, " She's a unicorn that lives in a library. She's really smart, probably the

smartest pony I know."

"That DOES sound pretty nerdy. I mean, who lives in a library? I still think that was kinda mean, though," Tom said.

"Oi", muttered Dash.

"Hypocrite"

                                     * * * *At the library* * * *

"She lives in a tree, that is also a library?" asked Tom, standing outside the library.

The sodium-rich ironyhe thought to himself.

"Wouldn't that be dangerous during a storm? Plus, how hasn't it rotted out yet?" a (once-again) confused Tom commented.

"She has a lightning rod. As for the whole rotting-out thing...all I can say is, Twilight's really good at magic," said Rainbow Dash.

"Actually, she's probably is one of the best there is."

When the two pegasi entered the library, a creature could be seen on the far end of the library, standing over a pony.

" Wahh!" shouted Tom, "There's a monster!"

"Tom, wait!" yelled RD.

Tom grabbed a nearby stick and placed it in his mouth, charging straight for the beast. With a whack on the head, the beast was

seeing stars.

"You idiot! That was Spike!" , Dash told him.

"Who?" asked Tom.

As Tom spoke, the monster belched green flames, burning the stick and singeing Tom's teeth.

"YOW!!" Tom yelled in pain, teeth burning.

"That'll teach you to hurt me," said the beast.

With that said, the pony yawned and got up, revealing a unicorn with a dark purple mane with a red stripe and the same shade of

purple fur.

"*Yawn*, Spike, what's that commotion?", asked the half-asleep unicorn, "I dozed off while reading-again. I hope I didn't sleep too

long again."

"Some maniac tried to hit me. He's over there!" the tiny beast responded and pointed at Tom, making him look like the bad guy.

The unicorn's eyes snapped all the way open and she teleported to Tom, pinning him to the floor.

"NOBODY HURTS SPIKE!!" the pony shouted with a fire in her eyes that almost made Tom piss himself.

"Twilight , he didn't mean it! He thought you were being attacked by Spike," explained Rainbow Dash.

"Oh!" the fire dimmed and the pony helped Tom to his hooves.

"Who are you?" asked the suspicious unicorn.

"I'm Tom, a...an acquaintance of Rainbow Dash," Tom answered, " And you're Twilight Sparkle, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yes, indeed!" the unicorn beamed, "And that is my number one assistant, Spike the dragon!"

Spike glared at Tom, rubbing the goose-egg bump where he'd been whacked. He was still not satisfied, and was waiting for an

apology.

"Hey man, I'm sorry," apologized Tom, "Look, I thought you were going to hurt her."

"Are you kidding me?" said Spike, "Twilight raised me! She's the closest thing I have to a mother!"

"I can relate. I haven't had a mom for a long while..." Tom said wistfully.

"How do I know you're not lying?" asked Spike.

In a straight and serious face, Tom coldly said, "She died in an accident."

The whole room had turned quiet. Rainbow felt more concerned for Tom.

Gee, if he would've told me sooner..... thought Dashie, But wait! I just met him! Grr, get ahold of yourself, Rainbow Dash!

" Alright....I-I believe you...." Spike said, quietly.

"Aight' man, we cool?" asked Tom.

"........Yeah," said Spike.

" Again, terrible apologies to the misfortunate event I caused," Tom apologized, this time to Twilight.

"You're forgiven, just don't do anything like that again," said a much calmer Twilight.

"Thank you, Miss Sparkle," Tom said as he and Rainbow Dash departed to their next destination: Sweet Apple Acres.

                            * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As the two drew closer to the farm, Tom's galloping improved. He was even able to fly a few feet from the ground without face

planting.

"So, your friend's family works on the farm, huh?" Tom inquired.

" Yeah," replied Rainbow Dash, " She makes a living off of it."

                            * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In the distance, a orange furred, blonde-maned pony with a cowboy hat could be seen bucking apples off trees.

'Interesting way of retrieving apples from the tree...' thought Tom.

" Ey' Rainbow Dash, " yells the cowpony, "Who's yer friend there?"

" This is Tom, AJ," said Rainbow Dash, "He comes from USA, a place far from Equestria."

"How do ya do,Tom?" the pony gave him a firm hoofshake, "Mah name is Applejack."

"Nice to meet you Applejack," said Tom with a smile, "Who's that over there?"

Tom pointed to a little red-headed filly not too far from the acres.

"That there is mah sister, Applebloom. She's tryin' to get her cutie mark like always. That filly next to her is her friend, Scootaloo."

"Where is her family?" he asked.

"They're with the stars now....." Applejack took off her hat in respect.

"Wow, I'm so sorry", said Tom. "Who's her caregiver?"

"Her sister, Cherilee, the school teacher."

"My word," Tom exclaimed.

"Yeah, she sure has quite a hoofull, but she manages ta balance everythin' out pretty well."

"Well, good luck on that apple bucking!" exclaims Rainbow Dash before flying off.

"Well, I wish you, yours, and Scootaloo's good luck!" Tom said before running after Rainbow Dash.

"Why thank y'all!"

                                * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Their final stop was Fluttershy's cottage, on the boarder of the EverFree forest.

"Your friend's name is Fluttershy? What does she do?" Tom asked.

"She takes care of animals," Rainbow Dash said, "She's very....shy."

"What a twist," he muttered sarcastically.

                             ***A Short While Later***

As the two made it closer to the cottage, a burning pain suddenly shot through Tom's skull, seeming to make him feel like he got

tazed with a 400 watt stun gun. The pain had caused him to collapse to the ground.

"Tom, are you alright?" a concerned Rainbow asked.

"What's it matter to you?!" Tom snapped.

"Well, because-"

"It's because you think I'm playing the sympathy card. Well, you're wrong!"

"Wow, you're pissed," Rainbow Dash said, surprised.

"Well? Come on? Where's Fluttershy's cottage?", persisted Tom.

"O-oh, yeah, I forgot."

                              *  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*knock, knock*

"Fluttershy! You there?" asked Rainbow Dash, knocking on a door again.

"Rainbow Dash, is that you?" asked a meek voice.

"Yeah! Can you let me in?"

A pink-maned pegasus with yellow fur stepped out of the door.

"Sure, how are yo- EEK!" the pegasus ran back inside.

"Um, do I really look that bad?" asked Tom.

"She's not used to other people, especially people that come to her house," explained Rainbow Dash, "I probably should have told

her there was someone new with me."

"She really is. . . . shy", Tom said,

"Umm, let's see her later, at that welcoming party."