A Second Chance

Black. Black everywhere. That’s all I saw. Once again, I was in the dark void, but this time, I couldn’t even see myself. Nothing could be seen. I probably stared at the darkness for what seemed like centuries, when an image blended in colorful swirls with the blankets of black, as if they were a giant screen. The image was so blurry. All that could be made out were the colors. I could see the colors tan, blue, and white. Lots of white. The colors looked like smudged paint on a canvass, dull and bright colors shading and overlapping each other. Colors faded in and out. As time passed, the picture faded less and less, and it got clearer and clearer, revealing a new color each time. This time, the colors sky blue, purple, and red joined the “painting.” A couple of seconds passed, and soon, I could hear something. A voice. No, voices. Several feminine voices, all talking at once. I couldn’t make out the emotion in their speech, as the sound was also faded. More time went on, but as much time as I did staring at the shadows of an empty space. With time and patience, the image became clear. The sound was like a choir of women, and all of them showed one clear emotion. Worry. I saw four figures shaped like, of course, ponies. This time, I could name almost everypony in the room. I could see Luna, Sunshine Beam, and... Who is that? There was a light blue mare with a purple mane streaked with pink stripes. A big, red bow rested on the top of her head. Bit there was soomething odd about her. She was...an alicorn. I had never seen an alicorn, other than the four princesses, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and of course, Twilight Sparkle, which I had only seen Celestia, Luna, and Twilight. It took me minutes to realize where I was. I was inside a hospital room, laying on a patient bed. Wow. I had gotten myself bruised enough to get me a one-way ticket to the hospital. Finally, in a snap, I was conscious, back in Equestria, aware of my surroundings.

I finally managed to say, “What happened?”

I rubbed my head with my hoof. As I did, I felt a big, and I mean big, bump on my forehead. For a second I thought I was a unicorn, but realized it was just an awful reminder of the “flight lessons.” Everypony in the room turned and gasped.

“Oh thank Celestia he’s okay!” said Sunshine Beam, sliding her forehoof across her head in relief.

You can also thank Luna, I thought. I turned to see the now clear image of the mysterious alicorn. She wasn’t tall, so she hadn’t been an alicorn for long. But she also wasn’t new. I think I had heard something about alicorns aging slowly sometime in the past. Everypony in Equestria probably would’ve known about a new princess, including newcomers like me.

“Who are you?” I said as polite as I could, trying not to sound rude.

She was about to tell me when Sunshine Beam broke in. “She’s Princess SugarBloom Lullaby.” She put a hoof in midair, as if holding up a sword to respect royalty. Kind of a long name, I thought. Though I couldn't admit the fact that Pinkie's full, Pinkamena Diane Pie, name was long as well, so I let it slide by.

I turned to see Luna, only to see a nurse I recognized as Nurse RedHeart right next to her.

“How long am I going to be here?” I asked.

“Actually, we’re releasing you today,” the nurse said, looking at my now surprised face. “You’ve been here for two days, which should be enough.”

Two days! You’ve got to be kidding me!

“At what time am I going?” I said, still surprised by how long I had missed out.

“In about a minute or so.” Nurse RedHeart said, thinking.

I lay in the fluffy mattress for two minutes, staring at nothing but the wall in front of me, and occasionally turning to see one of the mares’ worried faces. I was thinking about asking the cyan alicorn more questions, but I thought it might have been kind of awkward. A doctor I hadn’t seen before walked in.

“Mister...Gleaming Waffle. It’s time for you to head off.” he said in a kind, yet manly voice.

“Alright.” I said in a lazy voice.

I sat up in the bed, realizing the horrible mistake I had made. My back cracked as loud as a firework, and pain shot up from my spine to my head.

“OW!” I yelled in pain.

I let myself fall back into the cozy bed. The mares quickly ran towards me to help me, but I denied the act of kindness. I wanted to prove I wasn’t a little colt, that I could do things for myself. Once again, I sat up. But this time, I sat up slowly. It seemed to have worked, as I only felt a small amount of soft pain. I slid of the bed and stood on the tiled floor. I walked around to see if it would hurt. It didn’t. It only hurt when I bent my back, which I wouldn’t need to do in order to walk, or trot.

“Thanks for the help!” I yelled to the nurse and doctor as I walked out the door. “Did you come here every day to check on me?” I asked all the mares.

“We were afraid something happened to you, and we wanted to see if you were okay.” said Sunshine Beam.

There was a moment of silence, which was quickly shredded off by Luna. “We shall celebrate the coming of Gleaming Waffle properly with a tour of Equestria! Obviously, flying wasn’t the best of choices.” she lowered her voice  as she stated the last sentence.

I didn’t want her to feel bad, so I quickly accepted her offer. She seemed to have cheered up a bit, but not completely. We headed towards Ponyville, following a dirt road as a guide to our destination. We didn’t talk much during the travel. Actually, we didn’t talk at all! It was all peace and quiet on our way to Ponyville. In about five minutes or so, we arrived at Ponyville, plus an extra two minutes to get to the center.

“Where shouldst we go first?” Luna asked in a friendly way. I thought for a moment. I really wanted to meet the mane “five” properly. I chose Rarity as my first pick, because if I didn’t befriend now, she would never accept my friendship. I knew it would be hard, but I had to try!

“I remember somepony told me there’s a mare who makes great clothing here in Ponyville. Is it true?” I "asked."

Luna didn’t even have to think once. “Thou must be talking about Rarity, the element of generosity.”

I pretended to think about the subject.

“Can you take me with her?” I asked.

“Haha! I most certainly can! I know Equestria like the bottom of my hoof!” she proudly cried.

Everypony around us turned to look at her. She just sunk with a flushed face looking down with an embarrassed smile. The ponies just ignored the scenario and kept their attention on their tasks.

“Come on,” Sunshine Beam nudged Luna with her muzzle. “Let’s go”

Luna stood up, shook herself from the smudges of dust and dirt off of her, and started walking with a confident face. I followed. As we walked, I saw many wonderful things. I could see market stands selling fruits as bright as the colors of a sonic rainboom. I saw big, buff work stallions pulling carts made of thick oak wood. And then I saw the boutique. The Carousel Boutique to be exact.

“Here it is.” said Luna in an amused voice as I stood there in awe. “Thou haven’t even seen the inside!” said Luna making her way to the door.

She walked inside with her chin up like a fancy mare. Then it was my turn. I was about to walk in when suddenly a blue stallion walked in front of me, ending up in yet, another catastrophic accident. I was on the ground, looking up to see who it was. When I looked up, I saw every detail clearly, because he was still standing right in front of my face! His hair had two shades of green. Light green and normal green. He was wearing a light purple hoodie that seemed very old.

“Hey buddy, you made me fall on my flank!” I said in an angry voice.

He ignored.

“Hey,” I said a bit louder this time. “I said you made me fall!”

Still no reply.

“Hey. I’m talking to you. Hey.” I took in a deep breath and let out the loudest yell I could release. “I SAID I’M TALKING TO YOU!!!”

Yet, he still stood there, eyes closed, moving his head from side to side. I started boil up when I noticed something. He was wearing headphones. I swapped them off his head and started crushing them with all my anger on the dirt ground.

“Hey!” the blue pony said with angry eyes. “Duuude, what was that for?!”

“That was for knocking me off my hooves! What are you doing walking around with your eyes closed and headphones at full volume?!” He stared at me with a emotionless face.

“I was enjoying a song when you came by here and smashed them.” he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

I slapped my forehead with my hoof. Remember Gleaming Waffle, you’re trying to make new friends, here. So set your best impression to this pony and get things over with. I sighed.

“Look, I’m sorry I destroyed your headphones. How much do they cost?” I said, widening my eyes with fear. I had just realized I had no money, or bits!

“Don’t worry yourself off, it was also my fault. I should have paid more attention to my surroundings.” he said.

I never would’ve expected him to say something like that! But it was still a good thing, then I wouldn’t have to go out ask for bits!

“So...we’re good then?” I said, holding out a hoof to make “peace.”

He, as well, extended his forehoof and shook mine.

“Then it’s settled.” I said.

I stood there, waiting for him to go inside. “Ehem. After you.” I said, pointing at the door.

“No, you go.” he replied.

“Well, if you insist.” I said.

I took a few steps towards the door, when the blue pony walked in front of me and smiled, “Nevermind.”