A Chance At Life

Chapter IV: Best Hearth's Warming Eve Ever. (Late Christmas Special)

"Ah, how I hate mares."

There are a lot of things that happened after what we now call the ‘Everfree Event’.

Our mystery mare disappeared the moment she lugged us all to town, practically rendering our mission useless. No one could identify her, and no one really wanted to, to be honest, so we let it be.

Ruby, Laser, and I were admitted into Appleoosa’s shit excuse of a hospital.

Ruby was unable to use magic for nearly a week, meaning we had to help him at the farm. In my case, ‘help’ may have been pushing it a little.

Laser’s wing was pretty messed up; moreso because he’d tried to show off while the healers were working on it and ended up fracturing a few bones. They don’t know when he’ll be able to fly again. Hasn’t stopped him, though,

As for me? Well, like I thought, my hoof had been forcibly broken in the encounter with the Timberwolves, twisted in an angle that actually made one of the nurses cry. Would have been funny if I wasn’t screaming as they tried rearranging it. They gave me a few painkillers and did what they could to brace it, but Appleoosa only has so much in terms of medical supplies. All in all, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.

Oh, and I now had a red eye.

Apparantly, the blue flowers we’d found in the forest were magically altered to play a prank on anyone who came in contact with them. Imagine my surprise when I found out they were what most call 'Poison Joke’, (and what I call the Asshole Plant.) Now, imagine my reaction when I found out my little ‘mutation’ was permanent.

Took three days and plenty of sedatives to get me to calm down after that one. Yeah, fuck flowers.

Granted, I didn’t get too many looks for it. Either ponies were too nice to stare or they simply didn’t care. Some of the colts actually think it’s pretty cool, which helps a bit.

Looking back, I can’t help but chuckle at that rhyme.

It’s been a month since that little fiasco, and things are returning to normal, thankfully.

The weather’s been a bit weird though.. We shouldn’t be getting snow in July. Maybe the princesses were trying to give us hard workers a break?

…Nah, doubt it. Still, I’d rather have snow than pass out from the infamous Appleoosian heat.

Of course, this meant a lot more was in store for me. If I’d known what I was in for the next day, I probably would have jumped off a cliff. On fire. While stabbing myself.

~  ~  ~

I was having a pretty good dream at the moment, the legendary plot of a mare I’d yet to meet staring back at me, calling me towards it. I did not hesitate, running ahead to claim my long-awaited prize. I was so close.. I could practically see her big, round plot staring back at me, her tail moving to reveal- -

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

“SON OF A BITCH!”

~  ~  ~

Disposing of my newly broken alarm clock (It was an accident, I swear!) I quickly made my way out of the house. There was little to do in terms of breakfast; neither me nor Laser could exactly earn money in our conditions at the moment. We still ate, mind you, just.. Not as much. We didn’t have too many bits saved up after paying for our hospital bills, so we had to buy sparingly. Looking around town, I could see that wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Every shop, house, and even a pony or two had some type of weird decoration. Banners promising discounts hung from most of the shops, properly advertising what was for sale. It was honestly a bit confusing. Wasn’t Nightmare Night months away? Maybe things were starting early this year?

Whatever the case, I shrugged it off and left the thought for future me to handle. It was probably nothing, right?

Coming up on Braeburn’s little section of town, I pushed my way past the wooden gate leading to the farm. Moving through the impressively large orchard, I pushed open the second gate surrounding his house.

Sadly, I’d forgotten a very important detail. Big mistake.

As soon as the gate opened, an apple whizzed past my face, impacting on the wood behind me with a thump. Surprise played across my face for a moment before I dived, narrowly avoiding a second apple aimed right where my head had been.

“Now I told’ja you weren’t allowed here anymore! Git outta’ mah farm!” Through the shock of nearly being beheaded, I simply stared up at Braeburn, who returned the look with an apple right in the face.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been smacked in the face with an apple, but damn that hurts!

Covering my muzzle with a hoof in hopes of dulling the pain, I bucked my hind legs forward, forcing myself to stand. It didn’t deter Braeburn, for I had to roll and avoid yet another apple.

“Come on! We did what we could!” I shouted at him, jumping as he tossed the entire fucking ‘basket’ at me.

Realizing he was out of things to throw, he snorted, narrowing his eyes at me. “Now listen here” He started, a low grumble making its way through his accent. “Yer’ lucky I don’t buck you to next week for what ya’ did, or better, what ya’ didn’t do. Ah’ oughta send ya right back to the darned hospital for hurting’ a member of my family. Now, I told ya once and I’ll say it again..” At that moment, his tone matched somewhere between fury and outright finality and he took a step towards me. I simply watched him, honestly too scared to even move.

“Get out of my farm, or I swear to Celestia you won’t leave here alive.”

I fucking bolted, not once looking back in case he was following. In my mind, I couldn’t help but think..

‘Today’s gonna be awesome.’

~  ~  ~

Today was not awesome.

After escaping with my life (and my virginity) I’d managed to get myself lost in a part of town I was- amusingly enough- familiar with.

I blame the massive crowd that filled the roads coming and going through the area, leaving me to wade through them in a desperate attempt to get out, go home, and promptly go back to sleep.

If only it had been that easy.

During my little escape attempt, I’d accidentally bumped into a light blue mare sporting an equally light purple and pink mane and hazel eyes, with a music note over a plaster of colors as her cutie mark.

“Oh, I’m sorry miss-“

My apology was cut short when she pulled her hoof back and fucking uppercutted me.

“What do you think you’re doing?! Pervert!” She yelled out. A few ponies were starting to focus their attention to us, creating a mini circle in the ever-growing crowd.

“Ow! What the hell, lady!” I managed to say, working my jaw to make sure it wasn’t broken.

“You were trying to feel me up! Pervert!” She repeated that line, her eyes locked on mine. There were dozens of ponies watching us now, a lot of them beginning to whisper to one another.

“W-what? I wasn’t even-“

“Pervert! And on Hearth’s Warming Eve, too!” She all but screamed, pointing a hoof at me accusingly. The crowd expressed mixed feelings; some of them gave me a gentle smile, silently apologizing for the situation I’d wrongly been put in, as for the others..

They looked ready to tear into me at the drop of a hoof, glaring and shouting insults back to back. I, of course, had one very important thing to say..

“It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve?” Sure, I hadn’t payed much attention to the calendar, seeing as I had little to look forward too, but I had no clue on how to tell the seasons or their holidays.

That may have been a bad thing to ask.. Any trace of compassion I’d gathered was gone, replaced by absolute loathing.

“He doesn’t know its Hearth’s Warming?”

“Maybe he’s posed by windigoes!”

“Pervert!”

“Get him!”

They all yelled in agreement.

I stepped back.

They charged.

I turned and ran for all I was worth, an angry mob of hick ponies hot on my tail. Of course, they hadn’t just been in one direction; I’d ended up running right through the crowd behind me, a mass of confused and increasingly irritable bodies that, in their confusion, had simply let me pass. Granted, I didn’t escape without my fair share of bruises from where a few had gotten lucky, and i certainly wouldn’t try and fight back.

Looking back, there was a literal flood of ponies barreling down upon me, raving and screaming in what I assumed wasn’t just for fun. A large number of them had broken off into fights of their own, presumably just looking for a reason to attack someone.

Making a turn into a empty narrow alleyway, I hopped around a corner and hugged the wall, praying to Luna they wouldn’t think to search here. Sure, they hadn’t been too far behind, but I was able to make a good distance between us before cutting into the alley. Suddenly, I heard hoof steps shake the earth as they approached my location. In a swift (and eerily comical) movement, they all came to a halt where I’d entered, wondering where I’d gone.

‘Ohpleasedontfuckinglookdownhere’ I fearfully thought, chancing a peek around the corner.

They simply stood there, looking around in confusion for their target who’d apparently vanished into thin air.

“Where did he go?”

‘Maybe he flew away?”

“He’s an earth pony, you moron.”

“Well.. What if he went down there?”

One of the ponies, a stallion who’s features were entirely red from head to hoof, pointed down my hiding spot.

“Doubt it. Maybe he ran further down the road?”

A few nods from those who were listening encouraged him. Grinning, he made his way to the front of the crowd, gaining their attention.

“Alright everypony! I think I know where he’s gone! Let’s git’ him!” A victorious roar from the mass was his answer and he led them away, giving me the perfect opportunity to get away.

“Phew..” I muttered in relief, moving off the wall and, after making sure no one was around, stepping out into the open roads. I couldn’t help but shiver slightly when a cool breeze passed me by, reminding me that I needed a jacket. Carefully, I made my way home, thankful that everything had gone my way for once. Taking one last look into the sky, I smiled..

That smile immediately dropped when I met the mare who’d started all this eye to eye as she hovered in the air a few feet away, where she’d likely been searching for me. Her lips twitched into an evil, almost sadistic smirk as she stared me down.

“Don’t do it.” I whispered.

Her smirk grew, and for a moment I feared she’d call them back. Surprisingly, she made her way towards me, her wings flapping every second or so to keep her airborne. I stood back while she landed in front of me, still staring me down.

“Nice place.” I noted her Ausmareian accent, but otherwise said nothing.

“I’m Melody Skies, but you can call me Melody. What’s your name?” This was.. surprising. One moment she led an angry mob against me and now she was acting as if it had never happened. Needless to say, it scared the everlasting shit out of me.

“Bitch.” She must have heard my mumble, for she snorted and started to giggle.

“Interesting name, Bitch.” She managed to get out before falling on the ground, her giggling turning into full blown laughter. I, for my part, watched her with suspicion and thinly veiled amusement.

“Right.. What do you want?” Smooth.

She picked herself up on the ground, shaking the dust off her back. Her smirk returned, and I reflexively put my hoof on the doorknob behind me.

“Oh you know, just looking for some fun.. Speaking of which..” She turned around, giving me a nice view of her assets (I meant her mane, you sickos!) and yelled.

“HE’S OVER HERE!”

Ah, how I hate mares.