At Equestria's End

At Equestria's End
Chapter 3: Terra Equestria

Life Disrupted,
Harmony Interrupted,
Heroes will emerge,
In light of the coming Scourge.

Nightmare Moon is dead,
But a new nightmare will take her place,
Cold, Fear, Death,
She will rise in time with the Blood Winter,
Her Name will mislead others,
Her Name is Rapture...

Veronica awoke early the next morning, she looked around Fluttershy's cottage and found the sleeping pegasus on a blanket near hers. Slowly, she rose from her own blanket and quietly crept out of the small cottage in order to avoid waking up Fluttershy. After she had exited the house, she looked around at the beauty of the surrounding forest. The morning dew was glistening in the rays of the sunrise and a light mist floated gently above the ground. This brought a tear to Veronica's eye, as she was reminded of home.

Hearing the door open behind her, she quickly wiped the tear away from her eye and turned to see Fluttershy exiting the house. “Oh, I'm sorry if I woke you, I just wanted some fresh air.” V quickly apologized. Fluttershy shook her head, “Its no problem, really, I also wake up around now anyway. I...” Fluttershy cut herself off when she noticed the tears in Veronica's eyes. “Were you crying?” she asked, walking up to her and giving her a hug, “Yeah...its just that the beauty of this place in the morning reminds me so much of home...I couldn't help it.” “Its okay,” Fluttershy responded, “I understand you miss your family a lot, but don't worry, my friends and I will help you make the most of it here, okay?”

“Yeah, I guess.” V sniffed, she missed her family dearly, but no matter what, this was her life now. She might as well live it and make the most of it as Fluttershy had said. Just as she was about to say something else, she was cutoff by a rumbling from her stomach. V blushed slightly as Fluttershy had heard as well. “Lets go back inside and I'll make us some breakfast.” She giggled as the two re-entered the cottage.

MEANWHILE...

Fuck! My neck hurts! Were the only thoughts on Jack's mind as he awoke in Vinyl's living room. Vinyl had insisted he stay the night but her house had only one bedroom so he had been left with the couch. His head had been crammed at a ninety degree angle and was seriously cramped. He reached back with his hoof and rubbed the back of his neck. “Damn it Vinyl, I should have slept on the floor.” he said to himself as he made his way to the small kitchen.

Looking around, he noticed more of Vinyl's house than when he had first arrived. Their was clutter, everywhere! He looked at the counters in the small kitchen, or, rather where the counters should be. Instead, pizza boxes, soda bottles, and various records cluttered and spilled over the counters and into what Jack assumed was the sink. Now Jack wasn't a clean freak, his life on the streets kinda prevented it, but this was ridiculous. Jack sighed, he wasn't exactly in a position to yell at Vinyl, he did just arrive Equestria as Vinyl called it.

He found the fridge and pulled it open to see what he could eat. As he surveyed the contents of the fridge he noticed that they were an awful lot of things involving hay. Unable to find anything that looked edible enough, he grabbed an apple and closed the fridge. Another thing he had noticed was that he could pick up and move things with his hooves as he could with his hands, which was good to know. He ate the apple, which was surprisingly sweet, and chucked the core into the trashcan.

Just as he was figuring out what to do next, Vinyl came down the stairs yawning. “Morning...yawn...how did you sleep last night?” she asked. “My neck hates you, but otherwise fine, I just finished eating breakfast and was getting ready to explore a bit.” He replied, staring at her. Her mane was frazzled a bit more than he remembered and she looked absolutely exhausted despite having just woken up. For some odd reason, she still had her sunglasses on, even though she was indoors. “Wait a sec, I'll come with you, wouldn't want you to get lost or something.” she replied, quickly dashing back up the stairs.

She was back after a few minutes, her mane and tail back to their previous states of frazzled-ness. The two exited the house, the sun shining down on them as they made their way into town. Just as they were entering the town square Jack was tackled by a pink blur “HEEEYY!!! YOUR'RE NEW IN TOWN AND I KNOW BECAUSE I KNOW LIKE EVERYPONY HERE SO SCINCE I KNOW EVERYPONY HERE THAT MUST MEAN YOUR'RE NEW WHICH MEANS I GET TO THROW YOU A PARTY YAY!!!” and with that the pink blur was gone as fast as it had come. Standing up and dusting himself he looked around. Spotting Vinyl, he walked over to her and, keeping his voice low so nopony could hear, he asked “What or Who the fuck was that?” “That was our local party pony and crazed energy ball known as Pinkie Pie, and what did I say about cursing in public?”

“I think the situation merited it and besides nobo—pony heard anyway.” Vinyl sighed, it was going to be tough getting him to behave in public. “Come on, pony's are starting to stare at me.” He said, motioning back in the direction of her house. “Fine, theres something I wanted to talk to you about anyway.” She answered curtly as they headed back to her house.

…

Veronica and Fluttershy had just entered town when they were stopped by a certain pink ball of energy. “OOOHHH YOU'RE NEW TOO!!!!!!!! THATS AMAZING BECAUSE I JUST MET SOMEPONY WHO IS NEW WHICH MEANS I GET TO THROW TWO PARTIES!!!!!” and again, the pink blur sped off. “Was that Pinkie?” “Yes” “You weren't kidding when you said she was energetic, though I wonder what she meant bye another new pony in town?” Veronica stated, rubbing her chin in thought. “I don't know, its unusual for us to get two new ponies in town at the same time unless they know each other.” “Hmm...well, food for thought, where are we headed again?”

“We're going to my friend Twilight to see if she has anything on your...erm...condition.” Fluttershy meekly replied, trying not to upset Veronica. V caught on to this however, and corrected. “Fluttershy, you don't need to watch what you say around me or anything, were friends and I'm not going to be angry with you.” she stated in calm tone, placing her hoof around Fluttershy's neck. This caused her to blush slightly and smile, giggling, they made their way up the street to Twilight's.

…

“...So thats my story up to this point, Fluttershy said you might know what to do.” Veronica finished, they had arrived at Twilight's earlier in the afternoon and V had explained her situation to Twilight after brief introductions and a light lunch. “Hmmm... this has certainly never happened before to my knowledge. I'll write a letter to Princess Celestia, she would be the best pony to get answers from.” “Thank-you Twilight, I just knew we could count on you.” Fluttershy thanked, “Its not a problem, though you may wish to not tell anypony else until after I hear back from the Princess.” “Got it, so as far as living accommodations and such...” “You can stay with me...that is...if you want to...I mean...I won't force you or anything...” Fluttershy trailed off shyly. “I would love to stay with you Fluttershy, thanks!” Veronica smiled, I may never see my family again, but its nice to know I'll have friends to help ease the burden.

“Also, I can have one of my friends help teach you how to fly, if you like.” Twilight offered, which Veronica gladly accepted. With that, the two left while Twilight got to work on the letter:

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'm writing to tell you about a new pony that arrived in town. She's very nice and sweet but she says she was once something called a human. Fluttershy took her in and we've agreed to keep her history to ourselves until we hear back from you. Please do respond quickly.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

Some time later....

Veronica sighed...her new 'teacher' was very headstrong...which was putting it lightly. The pegasus known as Rainbow Dash flew around in a zig-zag of moves that could be reminiscent of showing off. She had managed to learn how to hover and move around slowly, but even those skills were still awkward and she found herself very much preferring walking instead. Sure it took longer, but she didn't mind. “And then you do that...” Dash proclaimed in a boastful tone. “Right...I think I'll stick with basic flight for now, no need to be fancy...” Veronica commented, watching the cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane