A Chance At Life

Chapter I: Late. Again.

"Don't beat yourself up over something you can't control."

Sleep.

Most ponies like it, embracing it happily. They slept knowing that there would always be something better waiting for them the next day.

"Wake up, dipshit."

I wasn't one of those ponies.

As I opened my eyes, my body screaming at me to go back to sleep, I looked over to see who had interfered with my nap. Of course, it was my brother, Laser Blast.

Before I continue, I should explain my wonderful family. Laser is, as I said, my brother. Like me, he was born in Manehattan, home of all things that wouldn't really pass as "good" in normal society. Our mother, Celestia bless her, was about the nicest mare you'd ever meet in Manehattan. She made sure we never went hungry, while also raising us as best as she could. Without her, I can't say we would have survived for long in that cesspool of a city.

Our father was a different story. He managed to bring out the worst in ponies, even if they were already pretty upset. How he got a mare like mom always lingered in my mind, though I'd never ask her that. I.. didn't really like him, and with good reason. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't abusive or anything like that, he was just.. Bad. Negative. I can't ever remember seeing him smile, not even when Laser managed to come second in the Best Young Fliers Competition when he was eight. No matter what we did, he'd always give us this look, as if we would always be failures to him. To be honest, I wonder if Laser and I were accidental births.

Oh, and he was an earth pony, just like me. Woohoo. Laser was fortunate enough to end up as a Pegasus, the lucky bastard. Like mom, he was a bright orange color, akin to the sunset. Also like our mother, he had a blood red mane, with eyes to match. That was where their similarities ended, however, and he started taking after dad. Arrogant, occasionally stubborn, the list went on. Still, he was my brother, and we looked out for each other.

"Dude, you alive?"

I shook my head, getting rid of those memories. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the past, I was a fully grown stallion, I had a life to live. Once we had gotten old enough, we'd moved out of our parents' home, hoping to start a new life in good ol' Ponyville. Unfortunately, we weren't that lucky, and had to settle for Appleloosa. It was a decent enough town, though there was rarely anything interesting happening. I'd managed to score a job with Braeburn, working at his orchard. Laser had gotten a job as.. something, I couldn't even remember anymore. Whatever it was, it paid pretty good, and combined with what I earned from Sweet Apple Orchard, Braeburn's farm, we were doing pretty good in terms of living.

"Sorry Laser, was just thinking." I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Think later, I have to go meet up with Ruby at the market later, and if I'm not mistaken, you have work, so get up!" I didn't know who Ruby was, but at the word "work" I had jumped to my hooves, wide awake. Checking the clock beside my bed, I noted that it was now one in the afternoon.

Speaking of which, I was supposed to be at Sweet Apple Orchard by twelve. Fuck my life.

I ran out of the room, ignoring the shouting of an angry Laser, who I had pushed over on my way to the door. Making my way downstairs, I glanced at the kitchen, wondering if it mattered whether or not I chose to make something to eat. Seeing as I was already late, I really didn't want to piss Braeburn off even more than he probably was by telling him I'd decided to stop and eat. Hell, I'd seen his cousin, Big Macintosh. That behemoth could probably crush me with a flick of his hoof.

With that thought in mind, I shuddered and opened the front door. I was greeted by Celestia's sun, shining brightly in its place in the sky. I didn't really care for it, seeing as I was more of a nighttime pony. Something about the moon just.. fascinated me. One day I hoped to meet the fabled "Mare in the moon" and tell her just how much I loved her night sky. Walking through the residential district of town, I would occasionally look around, spotting ponies who, like me, were headed to work. There weren't many jobs in a place like Appleoosa, it was more of a farming town than anything else. It wasn't hard to get by, all it took was a bit of hard work. Looking away, I could see the market area from here. While some ponies were headed to work, others were in little concession stands, selling food and other goods to various customers. I spotted one in particular, a light turquoise Pegasus mare, who's mane was a hot pink and  had what appeared to be navy blue eyes. I couldn't get a good look at her cutie mark, then again it was probably for the best. I didn't want her to turn around and think I was staring at her flank, that would have been REALLY awkward.

Then again, maybe I could get away with a little staring...

No brain, focus. I have a job to do, dammit. With an exasperated sigh, I continued down the path, eventually making my way to the entrance of Sweet Apple Orchard. Who came up with that name, I'll never know. Pushing my way through the gate, I was greeted by a sight I was fully expecting, but still not prepared for.

Braeburn was waiting for me, and he was furious.

At that moment, I was pretty sure I was about to be beaten to a pulp, aggressively raped, or fired. I REALLY hoped it wasn't the second one, losing my virginity to some farm pony was not how I wanted to go out.

Luck seemed to be on my side for once, however. Braeburn's angry look quickly morphed into a cheerful one, if not slightly exaggerated.

"Howdy! Looks like you're a tad bit late, eh pard'ner?" He said, his eyebrow raised in what appeared to be an amused expression.

"Er.. yeah, sorry about that. I kinda overslept...again." I replied, lowering my head slightly. Braeburn had only asked me to do one thing when I was hired, "Work hard, and come on time." I was hardly ever on time, and when I was, I would knowingly slack off. I felt a ball of guilt building up in my stomach, the weight of what I had done practically crushing me.

Braeburn must have sensed my unease, putting a hoof on my shoulder and looking me right in the eyes.

"Now look here-" He started, a look of determination on his face "-don't beat yourself up over something you can't control. We all make mistakes, and it's our job to learn from them. Sure, you've been tardy on occasion, but that doesn't bother me none, I know you'll show up, ready to work hard!" Based on his tone of voice, I could tell this was what he really believed. It did nothing to help, only making that ball of guilt grow to the point it was almost sickening. Braeburn had believed in me, despite how bad of a worker I was. He had held on to the belief that I was really trying my hardest, when in reality I was barely doing a thing. I felt unworthy, I didn't deserve to work for this pony. But then I realized: He had believed, really BELIEVED, that I could do better. And I'd be dammed if I wasn't going to try. For Braeburn.

With that, I smiled, nodding at him as he released me.

"Now if ya'll excuse me, I have to go help muh' cousin Ruby with the cattle. You'd think a unicorn would know how ta' milk a cow.." And with that, he turned and left. Ruby.. I'd heard that name somewhere, but from who?

Whatever, I'd remember later. For now, I had work to do.

As I approached rows upon rows of apple trees, I was pretty sure I had a LOT of work waiting for me. Looking down, I was glad to notice that there were buckets placed beside the trees, made to store any apples that were knocked down. I wondered who the unlucky pony was that had to carry all of these back to the farm, and laughed as I tried to imagine a pony like Laser struggling to carry a basket full of apples on his back. Shaking my head, I turned away from the tree and reared up my hind legs. Hopefully I could get more than a leaf to fall this time...

*FWUMP!*

With a well placed kick, more than half of the apples came tumbling out of the tree. I mentally gave myself a congratulatory cookie as I began placing the fallen apples into the bucket. This, I realized, actually wasn't as bad as ponies would think. If anything, I could be done in less than an hour! As I set the bucket down, I smiled and got ready to move...

...And then I looked to my right, the row of trees stretching into the distance and practically disappearing into the horizon.

"This is going to take much more than an hour." I said to myself, groaning.