A Chance At Life

Chapter II: Stampede.

"There's never anything to do here!"

It had been a week since I'd helped Braeburn at the orchard. After nearly three hours of bucking trees, I had given up and gotten my money from him. Goddess knows I wanted to quit, but it wasn't like I had any other choice at the moment. The pay was decent enough, three bits per tree, plus an extra two if I could haul the apples back on my own. I'd managed to do pretty well, earning around seventy five bits before I left. After buying myself a cupcake from an extremely odd pink earth pony (Who promised me I'd be seeing her again, as creepy as that sounded) I headed straight home, practically passing out on my bed.

The days after that had been a blur, with me waking up, eating breakfast, and making my way to work. Sometimes I'd look around for that Pegasus mare I saw at the concession stand, but never managed to spot her. Oh well, I was sure we'd be meeting again, maybe even face to face.

Sadly, that meant I couldn't look at her plo- NO BRAIN.

Pervertedness aside, today had been pretty uneventful. I woke up, took a shower (for once) and headed for work. It wasn't until I reached the front gates and spotted all the ponies that I realized today was officially Rodeo Day, when all the farmers would participate in events like calf roping, barrel racing, and even bull riding. From what I had heard, the event had gotten so many participants, along with viewers, that it had to be hosted at Sweet Apple Orchard. This also meant I had a few days off, as they had to clean up the aftermath once everything was over.

Honestly, it felt like a shitstorm waiting to happen. Then again, I could always be wrong. Who knows, maybe it could actually be fun.

“RAZOR!” A voice, all too familiar, was calling my name.

Scratch that, this wasn't about to be fun at all.

I turned around; facing the pony who had decided that yelling was the new talking. Of course, it was Laser. Almost immediately, he approached me, holding what looked like an apple in his hooves.

“Dude, did you hear? It’s Rodeo Day! Finally, something interesting happens in this town!” He exclaimed, a smile on his face as he bit into the apple.

“It’s kinda hard not to notice when the event is being held where I work, bro.” I laughed to myself before continuing- “And what do you mean by ‘something interesting’? What’s wrong with Appleoosa?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing’s wrong, it’s just.. Couldn't we have moved to Fillydelphia? I half-glared at that, he knew we didn't have the bits for a place like that. I opened my mouth to say so before he interrupted.

“Appleoosa’s great and all, but there’s never anything to do here!” He sighed, shaking his head. “Whatever. So are you going to the rodeo?”

That was a good question. Should I? I hadn't really planned on it, to be honest. Had I not run into Laser, I probably would have just headed home and slept the rest of the day away.

Might as well, this was pretty much the only enjoyable thing about Appleoosa. With a nod, I confirmed that I would, in fact, be going. This earned a smile from Laser, oddly enough.

“Awesome, Ruby'll be there too. I’ll finally be able to introduce you two.”

Ruby.. I kept hearing that name, but had yet to actually see them. Was it a mare? Had Laser actually gotten himself a special somepo-

I quickly crushed that thought, and then locked it away in the darkest corner of my mind. The idea alone was terrifying.

“Right.. I’ll be looking forward to meeting them.” I replied, my mind wandering elsewhere. The main focus was getting home, but with the rodeo starting soon that wasn't an option. Instead, I turned around and got in the line of ponies waiting to enter and see the show. I was surprised that there were so many, I didn't even recognize a few of them. Some were talking to each other, others simply stood there, moving with the line as they got closer to the gate. There wasn't much to occupy myself with, so I began listing all the things I planned to do once this was all over.

Let’s see.. I’d go home, fall asleep, and… huh, that was it. Did I really have NOTHING else to do? Not even a hobby? That’s it, once I left I’d go find something fun to do, maybe check out the Everfree Forest. When Laser and I first moved to Appleoosa, we were given two main rules: Be kind to your fellow ponyfolk, and no matter what happened, stay AWAY from the Everfree. I had always wondered what was inside, and had even tried to enter once, only to find that it was blocked off by a massive fence that stretched off as far as I could see. It only took a poke (and an electric shock) to find out that the fence was protected by magic, most likely to keep little fillies and colts away, along with overly-curious adults. I made a note to ask Laser to fly me over it one day, I had to see what was in there that they were hiding.

“Sir?” I blinked, looking ahead. I must have been out of it for a while, because I’d somehow ended up right at the gate, a light blue unicorn with a spell book as his cutie mark greeting me.

“Sorry, got lost in thought.” I smiled weakly, embarrassed at how easily I could forget my surroundings.

He chuckled, waving his hoof “It’s alright, I do it on occasion. So, you’re here for the show?” I nodded my head “Well then, that’ll be twenty five bits.”

I reached into my saddlebag, pulling out the requested amount of bits. The stallion’s horn glowed a transparent blue, enveloping my bits and placing them in a satchel around his neck. He then gave me a nod, pointing to the gate. I assumed this meant I could enter, which I did.

Inside, I could see ponies of all races walking around. Some were at little stands, buying snacks and the like. The rest were further along, forming a large crowd. They were circled around a large arena, and from what I could see an earth pony was doing his best to cling to a VERY angry bull.

Going forward and making my way to the crowd, I slipped in, managing to get a decent view of what was happening. I was also lucky enough to spot the bull-rider as he was bucked off, sliding across the dirt. I couldn’t help but laugh as two ponies, each wearing ridiculous outfits ran into the arena, distracting the bull while the pony who’d been kicked off hobbled to safety. As soon as he got away, a bell rung, signaling the end of the event. The ponies watching, me included, cheered as the same two who had distracted the bull helped pull him away, taking him to the barn in the distance.

Next up was Calf Roping, where a pony had to tie down a baby cow as fast as possible to prepare it for branding. As they brought in the calf, I spotted the other cattle, cheering from their place in the barn. Surprisingly, none of them seemed upset that their children were being used for sport. If anything, they looked proud. Maybe being chosen was an honor of sorts?

Looking back at the arena, I saw the calf running away from a medium sized stallion, a lasso as his cutie mark. It had been two minutes and if anything, it looked like the calf was winning.

And then everything went to hell.

With a roar, the stallion picked up speed, slamming into the infant cow and knocking it to the ground. Everypony gasped, this was definetly not how this was supposed to happen. We all watched as the buck stomped on the calf’s hind leg, an audible snap and a wail of pain signifying that it was more than likely broken. He proceeded to tie the rope around its legs, grinning as it struggled to get away. Braeburn and the unicorn I’d met at the front gate ran towards him, but it was too late.

With a snort, the cattle who’d been watching from the barn broke through their pens, bounding toward the arena. The crowd went apeshit, screaming and running off in all directions as the cows tore through them. I managed to catch Laser before he was swept up in the chaos.

“Come on, we have to get out of here!” I yelled at him, my voice blending in with the shouts of ponies as they did their best to avoid the stampede.

“Not yet, we have to help!” I facehoofed, now was not the time to try and play hero.

“There’s nothing we can do, now come o-“ An odd warping sound rung in my ears, and as I turned I spotted the blue unicorn, his horn lighting up as he wrapped a group of cattle in a field of magic, pulling them away and back into the barn. Tilting his head, he repeated the process, dragging more and more of the rampaging cows away from the arena. After grabbing them all, he turned his attention to the barn itself. With a visible grunt, he concentrated on the doors, slamming them closed and blocking them with a large plank of wood. At this point there were hardly any ponies remaining, those who were still there either packing up their stalls or looking for loved ones who they’d lost once shit has hit the fan.

Laser flew past me, heading towards the (surprisingly talented) unicorn that had stopped the madness. He landed in front of him, giving him a brohoof.

“Ruby, that was awesome!”

Wait, what?

“Ugh, thanks. It wasn’t easy..”  The unicorn, who I now knew was “Ruby” replied, a hint of exhaustion in his voice.

“That was some mighty fine magic ya’ used there cous’!” Braeburn approached us, grinning at Ruby, who returned his look with a small smile.

“Thanks Brae, hopefully I won’t have to do anything like that anytime soon though.” This earned a laugh from Braeburn, and a slightly forced one from me. During the conversation, Laser had flown off, most likely to see if there was anything he could do to help. At the very least, I hoped he’d fly around and make sure there that all the cows were accounted for. I sighed mentally, knowing that I hadn’t done anything but watch, not even attempting to help anypony. That made me frown as I turned my head and focused back on Ruby and Braeburn, the two of them deep in conversation.

“Anyways-“ Braeburn started, his full attention on Ruby “-we should probably check around, make sure none o’ the cattle managed to stray off in the stampede.”

Ruby didn’t reply to that, choosing instead to give a simple, yet firm nod. Coincidentally, Laser choose that moment to speed towards us, a frantic look on his face.

“Guys, a few of the cows managed to break through the fence surrounding the forest!”

Great, could things get any wors-

“-I saw a mare following them in!”

Celestia, you bitch. How dare you curse us with bad luck? I looked from Braeburn to Ruby, both of them seemed horrified. That didn’t really improve my opinion on what was in the Everfree, not at all. As the gears whirred in my mind, slowly formulating a plan, Braeburn spoke out.

“Well, that’s it then, ah suppose.” At that, my plan, as crappy as it was, came crashing down. Was Braeburn seriously giving up? From the tone of his voice, it was like he didn’t even care. I made sure to vocalize this.

“What do you mean, ‘that’s it’? You can’t seriously be thinking about leaving her in the forest, can you?” I wasn’t even given the gift of a response, only a slight nod.

I was completely baffled, a mare had gone in to help, to try and fix what an overly competitive stallion had caused, and this is what she got in return? Braeburn was dead set on this notion, he really planned on leaving her in there.

“Well, why the fuck not?” There was no way in Tartarus we were leaving her, screw Braeburn.

“Because, ah can’t have ya’ll riskin’ yer lives for a dead mare.” Dead? What?

“Dead?” At my questioning look, he continued.

“Yep, plenty o’ ponies have gone in that forest, some trying to help, others just got a bit too curious. Ain’t had a single one return.” Oh. Damn. That didn’t make me change my mind, not in the slightest, but it did make me think.

“Lookie here, Ahm not sayin’ ya can’t go, just that if ya do it’ll be the last choice you’ll ever make.” Ah, so that’s what this was about. Braeburn wasn't trying to stop us; he was trying to warn us. If I had to guess, we wouldn’t be the first to ignore his slightly misguided advice, and we definitely wouldn’t be the last.

“I’ll take that risk. I refuse to stand here, knowing that somepony needs my help out there.” Actually, that was ironic, seeing as I was doing exactly that.

At this point, Laser and Ruby decided to pitch in with a simultaneous “I’m going with you.” Thank the goddesses, I’d need all the help I could get if the things I’d heard were true.

Giving Braeburn a pat on the shoulder, I turned and faced Laser. “So, which way did they go?” Eagerly, he flared his wings, propelling himself into the air. He looked at something I couldn't see, eventually waving his hoof at Ruby and I to follow before taking off, flying deep into the orchard.

Reaching him was pretty easy. It only took about five minutes, if I had to guess. On our way to him, Ruby and I had attempted conversation, but to no avail. Probably because of my one-word replies to anything he asked, which made the walk extremely awkward for both of us.Eventually, I was able to spot Laser through the thick trees, standing next to what used to be part of the fence that blocked access to the forest. What caught my attention, however, were the two cows crumpled up next to it. From what I could see, they were the first to hit the gate, the electric shock temporarily disabling both of them. The force from their assault had been enough to drain the electric field, the other cows slamming into the section of the fence and practically tearing it apart. Hoof-imprints were here too, the mare had been close behind them when they’d gotten through, trailing however many there were left.

And now, here we were, going after all of them. My curiosity was really getting to me, I had to know what was so dangerous about his forest. Ruby was the first to go in, then Laser, and finally, me. As I made my way through the hole, I looked around, seeing nothing but trees. As we went forward, I stepped in.. something.

What I saw when I looked down will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.