A Second Chance

It had been 3 days since Josh had found out he had magical abilities, since then he had Twilight show him a bunch of spells. Some he picked up pretty quickly such as levitating and opening doors. Others such as this protecting spell he was now being shown by Twilight.

"Now pay attention." Twilight said as her horn glowed, soon a violet bubble surrounded Spike. Josh watched as Twilight then picked up a stray book and threw it at Spike, it bounced off the bubble and fell to the floor. Josh looked as Twilight continued to throw things at Spike.

"As you can see, this spell is great for protection. While it can be broken, it all relies on how much magic the user can use and how tired you are." Twilight turned and faced Josh, "Now you try."

The shield around Spike dissipated and now Josh attempted to do the same as Twilight, Closing his eyes and soon his hand was glowing with a white aura. Soon surrounding Spike, what seemed like a Bubble began to form however it soon dispersed and Josh let out a heavy breath, "Nope, still can't do it." Josh said as he stretched.

"You will eventually, I mean you picked up on levitation and using common objects like scissors and doors pretty quickly." Twilight said as she picked and organized the books she had used as projectiles.

A knock on the door soon followed and Spike answered it, opening the door he found himself pushed aside by a group of excited fillies who ran towards Josh. Jumping at him they gave him a massive group hug.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Josh said as he embraced his three little friends, "It's been a while, what brings you here?"

"We heard you learned how to use magic!" Sweetie Belle said, as her, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom let go of Josh.

"Yeah! Can you show us!" Scootaloo said impatiently.

"Well, I guess I can show you some of the things I learned like..." Josh paused.

"Like what?" Apple Bloom asked as a white aura surrounded her and soon Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"Like this!" Josh said as he lifted them up into the air, he began moving them around the room. The three fillies cheered as scootaloo even took on a superhero pose as she flew around Golden Oaks. Letting them down, they cheered.

"That was awesome!" Scootaloo said, "Can we do it again?"

"Later, now is there another reason you came by?" Josh asked, looking at the three fillies.

"Well there is one other reason," Apple Bloom said, brushing the ground with her hoof.

"We have a school project coming up about creatures outside of Equestria, and we were wondering if we could do it on you and maybe bring you in!" Sweetie Belle said.

"Well I don't know...." Josh said, looking at Twilight he asked her. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea!" Twilight said as she walked next to the three fillies, "It will help ponies learn more about Josh and humans in general, and it will also give him a chance to meet some of the younger ponies!"

"Well then it's settled!" Josh said, looking at the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Great! We should probably leave now so we can make it to school." Scootaloo said.

"Wait, it's today?" Josh asked, "And you are only now getting something to present on?"

The three fillies looked quite embarrassed but Josh just sighed and hurried them, saying a quick goodbye too Twilight they began running through the town towards the School.

"So what's the game plan?" Josh asked as they ran past the many inhabitants of Ponyville.

"Well we don't really have one." Apple Bloom said as they began on the path towards the school.

"So what are you just going to introduce me and then make things up as we go along?" Josh asked sarcastically.

"Yep!" Scootaloo said as they reached the school.

The CMC reached first, stopping to catch their breath. "See, we had time." Scootaloo said as Josh caught up with them.

Apple Bloom looked at Josh, "Alright, just wait out here until we give you the signal."

Josh leaned against the wall and breathed heavily, he was holding his upper right leg as he did so.

"Hey, you alright?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yeah, just a cramp." Josh replied, he knew he was lying. Should have listened to the Doctor about extreme activities. Standing up he looked at the fillies, "I'll wait out here for a signal, then come inside."

The CMC nodded at Josh before entering the school, which in reality was a building with a single room for the class. He leaned against the wall trying his best to listen for any signal, but all he could really hear was what sounded like young children talking about different animals. After a while, the door opened and Scootaloo poked her head out.

"Alright, it's time, just stand in front of the door." She said, quickly moving back inside.

Josh shrugged and stood in front of the door.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts!" He heard Scootaloo yell, "Allow me to introduce you to the one and only!" Apple Bloom swung the door open allowing him and the rest of the class to see him.

"Joshua Hill!" The CMC yelled in unison as everypony looked at him.

"What is that?" He heard a voice say.

"He is a human!" Apple Bloom said proudly.

"The only one we know of!" Scootaloo said.

"Well what can he do?" He heard a snarky female voice say.

Josh stood in the doorway, he only now noticed how tall he was compared to the ponies in Equestria. The teacher pony was eyeing him, obviously wary of him as he stood just a bit taller than them. Seeing as the CMC was struggling to come up with something, he decided to take the wheel. "Well!" Josh said walking in front of the class, "I can talk for one." Josh saw the look on the faces of the fillies as they began to chat among themselves. Looking around he saw a stack of books on the teachers desk and he got a wonderful idea, using his magic to pick them up he began moving them around the room. "I can also use magic!" Josh said as he then also picked up the CMC, "Now guessing I got to talk about myself." Josh said with a chuckle.

Josh found himself surrounded by fillies, the presentation went great but the young ponies still had questions. He could have left but Josh had nowhere to be so stayed around and enjoyed being the center of attention.

"Are you really from outside of Equestria?" A young colt asked.

"Yep, but I like Equestria a lot more." Josh said jokingly.

"Are there more humans?" Another one asked.

"Yeah but not around here." Josh said as he noticed the CMC standing behind everyone, "Now excuse me but I want to ask my friends how they think I did." Josh walked through the crowd and approached his little friends, but as he did her heard the same snarky and rather rude voice from the presentation yell out.

"You really hang out with those blank flanks?" Josh turned to see who had said this, upon looking he saw standing with a smug look on her face a pinkish filly with a white and violet mane.

"A blank flank?" Josh asked confused.

"You know a pony without a cutie mark." She said in a rude tone, expecting Josh to know.

Josh hadn't really cared about cutie marks, he barely paid attention if anyone he met had one. Turning to the pony he said, "And? I don't know nor really care about cutie marks, heck I don't even have one so why should I?" Josh looked at Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, "And besides they will get them in time, and until then they get to go on adventures to find them."

"Yeah so leave us alone Diamond Tiara!" Scootaloo said.

"Hmmp!" Diamond Tiara huffed before an idea struck her, "Well then, why don't you go on a little "Adventure" then?"

"Maybe we will!" Apple Bloom said turning to Sweetie Belle, "What's on the list?

Sweetie Belle took out a ruffled piece of paper, "It says here, animal trapper."

"Trap what? Cute little bunnies" Diamond Tiara asked.

The CMC looked at each other before Scootaloo boldly said, " No! We'll trap an animal from the Everfree forest!"

All the young fillies gasped upon hearing this, Josh turned and gave her a confused look. He hadn't read about the Everfree forest but he didn't have any idea on what would be so bad about it.

"You wouldn't!" Diamond Tiara said.

"Can and will!" Apple Bloom said, "Common CMC lets get a move on!" Apple Bloom and the rest of the CMC started running before noticing Josh was still standing still. running back towards him she grabbed his arm, "That includes you, you're still a crusader!" Apple Bloom dragged him and soon he began speed walking behind them not to aggravate his leg again.

Approaching the entrance of the forest, Josh, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo all stopped and looked at the forest. Josh wasn't scared like the three younger fillies were, but he was unnerved and felt a chill. Josh took the first steps and the rest followed, walking through the forest Josh asked no one in particular, "So, what exactly are we going to try and catch?" Just then Josh saw what seemed like the head of a chicken pop up from a bush. Josh looked disappointed but the CMC ducked behind him, "What is it?" Josh asked as the beast slithered out from behind the bush, Josh could now see that it had the body of a snake with wings to match.

"It's a Cockatrice!" Sweetie Belle said, "Don't look it in the eyes!"

Josh dispute the warning looked at the Cockatrice, he quickly realized his mistake when he felt his feet freeze up. Looking down he saw his feet had turned to stone, acting quickly he closed his eyes and screamed at the Cockatrice hoping to scare it off. He felt his feet again, quickly he moved towards the Cockatrice and yelled at it, this seemed to scare it off and Josh sighed.

"Okay, I think I understand why people are scared of this place now." Josh said turning towards the CMC, "I think we should head back to town." Just then he heard a loud rawer, and quickly turned towards the direction of the sound. He watched in horror as what seemed to be a Lion with wings come out of the brush and towered over him.

"GIRLS RUN!" Josh shouted as he picked up a nearby rock and threw it before running, he quickly felt a sharp pain shot up his leg. He started to slow down but quickly sped up again as he heard the beast roar. lucky for him the rock had stunned it long enough for a head start, he was about to give out a sigh of relief when to his horror, he heard someone trip followed by a short but loud wimpier.

"My ankle!" Apple Bloom shouted as she laid on the forest floor, "I think I twisted my ankle!"

Josh could see the two fillies attempt to pick their friend up, he was only around 200 meters away and quickly gaining. He had to do something or Apple Bloom could get attacked. Mustering up all the courage he could he turned and faced the beast. Surprised by his sudden stop the beast could not stop and slammed into him, sending both tumbling to the ground.

Josh cussed as he got back up, his entire right leg was on fire but he couldn't stop. Getting up as the beast tried to stand, "I don't think so!" He yelled as he kicked the thing in the face, causing him to fall and roar in pain. After this Josh ran towards Apple Bloom.

"Are you alright?!" He said in a panicked voice as he slid to a stop.

"I don't think I can run." Apple Bloom said trying to stand.

Josh looked behind him to see the beast had gotten back up, quickly scoping up Apple Bloom in his arms he ran as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed. They ran as fast as they could, they couldn't figure out the winding path they had taken to get to where they were and soon they came to a dead end.

"What do we do?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Josh looked around for any means of escape, he couldn't find any and worst of all he heard was that the beast stopped running and began growling. Turning around he saw it pacing, he was not an animal expert but he knew it was readying an attack. Quickly he pushed all three fillies behind him and stood firm, "Stay behind me and no matter what happens to me if I say run you run." He said to the fillies then turning back to face the beast. He eyed it as it eyed him, "Alright you overgrown house cat, you want a piece of me? Come get some!" He yelled in a shaky voice, he was absolutely terrified. Forming his arms into an "X" he readied for it's attack, if he could even distract it for a minute that would be a minute for the CMC to escape. He closed his eyes to brace.

"Josh!" He heard a shaky voice say, opening his eyes he saw the beast running at him full speed. He un-crossed his arm and put an arm behind him in front of the fillies as a blocking method. He heard the fillies scream as the beast lunged at them, hearing this seemed to make his world slow down. A fire flared in his eye, a fire that had only flared up once when Trixie had put Twilight in danger.

"NO!" He yelled as magic soon flared around him, the beast crashed into a shield that had formed around the four souls. Josh opened his eyes as the best stood back up and began attacking the shield, Josh felt the blows but it was an odd sensation. It was like getting punched but also not, regardless he held firm. He then heard the voice in his head again, "Attack!". Almost on command Josh pulled his arm back, and as the shield dropped he threw a small orb of magical energy at the beast. Getting a direct Head shot the beast pulled back. He looked at his hand then back at the beast, it looked ready to attack again before it seemingly changed to a face of fear and ran off.

"Yeah that's right!" Josh said, "Run!" he finished as he turned and looked at the CMC, he sat down in front of them and gently grabbed Apple Blooms leg, he saw that it had turned a bit red and had begun swelling, "Alright i'll carry you home." Josh went to pick up Apple Bloom but he felt something wet hit the top of his head, looking up his heart stopped as his eyes locked with a massive wolf-like beat made of wood. He now realized what scared the lion beast off. It didn't take long for Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to look up as well.

"The hell is that?" Josh asked, his voice filled with fear.

"Timberwolf!" Scootaloo said.

Josh grabbed the three fillies and held them tight, he pulled them into his chest in order for his body to act like a shield in case the Timberwolf attacked. Just before it could however he heard what sounded like glass shatter before catching a whiff of something awful.

"Leave this area for you should now, this part of the forest is not your home!" A voice called out from a distance.

Josh looked up at the Timberwolf to see it back away, and ran off. He looked for where the voice had come from before someone ran towards them. As they got closer he noticed that it was a zebra.

"Zecora!" He heard Apple Bloom say.

"I heard your screams of terror and I am glad to find that it seems you all appear to be fine." Zecora said as she looked at Josh, "As for you I have not seen before one of your kind, but it seems that Apple Bloom trust you and so do I."

"Well, thanks for the help Zecora." Josh said as he stood up, "But we are not as fine as you think, Apple Bloom twisted her ankle and we need to get to a doctor quickly!"

Zecora walked over and looked at Apple Bloom, "Come to my hut so I may treat your wounds, then to Ponyville I shall lead you to."

Josh nodded in agreement and picked up Apple Bloom, following Zecora while keeping the CMC close in case they ran into anymore problems. Upon arriving Josh set Apple Bloom on a bed and sat down, with a heavy sigh he closed his eyes and thought about what happened. He placed a hand over his aching leg, he should be lucky that was all the only injury he had. But he reminded himself how he was going to have to explain to Applejack, Rarity and Scootaloo's parents how he not only let the three fillies explore the Everfree forest but also let Apple Bloom get hurt. Josh felt something nudge against his hand, looking down he saw Sweetie Belle.

"I'm sorry we dragged you into this." She said, as Scootaloo also approached him.

"Yeah, we won't let you take the fall for this." Scootaloo said.

"No, I should have known better." Josh said as he looked at the fillies, "Plus I'm older, and I shouldn't have let some school yard bully influence me like this. Now thanks to me, Apple Blooms hurt."

"Lucky for you she will be fine, just a sprain that will heal in two days time." Zecora said as she approached Joshua, "But for you, I sense something dark that we should fear."

"Something dark?" Josh asked, standing up. He didn't know what she meant but it was best to listen, "What do you mean?"

"For certain I do not know, but if you allow your anger to grow then an unspeakable curse will befall all we know." Zecora said, walking over to a shelf of potions before grabbing an unlabeled bottle. Handing it to Joshua she said, "This potion will show what it is you do not know, but beware if you let such knowledge control how you act then certain doom will follow your path."

Josh looked at the potion, it was a greenish color but that could have been the glass. It was attached to a sling so he put it on, "Thanks, now if you don't mind, I think we should head back to Ponyville." Josh said as he walked towards Apple Bloom, "You still need a lift?"

"No I should be able to walk now." Apple Bloom said as Josh helped her down from the bed, "You wouldn't happen to have a map would you?" He asked Zecora.

Zecora handed Josh a map and he was on his way, lucky she had marked down an exact trail that they would need to follow and managed to safely return to Ponyville. Upon returning the CMC told Josh to go see Twilight about what Zecora said, and so he wouldn't get blamed for what happened to Apple Bloom.

Spike was dusting when he heard a knock at the door, setting aside his duster he answered the door and welcomed Joshua back. "What took you so long?" He asked as Josh made his way inside and sat down on the nearest chair. Spike noticed Josh's expression and it reminded him of when Twilight was focused on a thought, "So uh, whats up?" Spike asked getting Josh's attention. He now noticed the bottle in his hand.

"Where is Twilight?" Josh asked, as he looked at the Bottle.

"She went to buy some food, why?" Spike said as he watched Josh open the Bottle.

"Spike, can you keep a secret?" Josh asked, looking at him.

"Of course I can, what is it?" Spike asked.

"I met Zecora today, she told me I have something "Dark" about me and she gave me this potion to find out what it is." Josh said looking at Spike, "She told me that if I let what this tells me control my actions then it will doom us all, so I need you to promise me you won't tell Twilight what I tell you I see."

Spike looked at Josh, he didn't like the idea of keeping a secret from Twilight but at the same time Josh was willing to trust him with something important enough to hide it from everyone else, "Alright, I promise."

And with that Josh drank all of whatever was in that bottle, at first he felt nothing but then his vision started getting tunneled. Slumping back in his chair the world started shaking, thoughts of being poised raced in his mind as his eyes closed.

Josh quickly opened his eyes and found himself in a void, he looked around but saw nothing. He also was not standing, but at the same time he wasn't floating. He searched around trying to find anything when he saw what looked like someone walking towards him. Not a pony or anything else, it was someone. Josh tried to make out the person, he could tell they were an adult based on his size but beyond that it was like the person was a shadow.

"So you are the one who has been sent." The figure spoke, his voice was deep and raspy. "Glad to finally see the person I have been helping." He said, with a small smirk.

"Who are you?" Josh asked, the figure was arm's reach away from him but he was still like a shadow.

"I know what you are thinking, and don't worry I am not an enemy but a friend." He reached out a hand, expecting Josh to shake.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Josh didn't even slap away his hand he just crossed his arms, "If you know what I am thinking you should know why I am here, and why I don't trust you for a second."

"But you should, I can get you home" The figure said, this immediately caught Josh's attention.

"Impossible, no one even knows how I got here." Josh said his confidence was shaken,

"Oh my poor boy, you can't even imagine what I know." The figure said as he snapped his fingers, the void changed to a peaceful field. The man was still but a shadow, "I learned from the famed Star Swirl the Bearded himself."

"Alright then, how did I get here?" Josh asked, he was still very suspicious.

"I am more than happy to explain, you see I was like you once. A normal human, but over 1,000 years ago I encountered a magical anomaly. After entering the anomaly I awoke in Equestria, I was taken in by a young wizard known as Star Swirl and he showed me how to perform great spells and soon I became one of the most powerful in all of Equestria." The man then used magic to show what looked like a young knight bowing in front of Star Swirl, "However, Star Swirl feared my power and he cast me away. Doomed to be trapped in this dimension, however it was foretold that another human would return on the eve of my banishment to free me."

"And I'm that Human?" Josh asked.

"Of course." The man looked around as the world began fading, "We do not have much time left, so I must warn you. Do not trust Twilight or the Princesses, the second you seem to be getting too powerful for them to handle you will suffer the same fate as me."

"Yeah right, Twilight would never do that." Josh said as the world continued to fade.

"Would she?" The man said as he faded away.

Josh felt the ground beneath him gave way and he fell, closing his eyes he felt himself hit something hard. Opening his eyes he saw Spike in front of him as Josh laid on the floor. Getting up he saw the broken bottle now laying on the floor next to him.

"Dude, you okay? You mumbled a lot and at the end you lunged off the chair." Spike said as he swept up the broken glass.

Standing up Josh held his head, looking at Spike he sighed. "Well Spike I got a lot to tell you."