A Second Chance

Stealthy Strike's eyes fly open wide as she feels Arthur kiss her, then she feels an electric shock run through her body. Finding herself unable to focus on one thought due to the ten thousand other thoughts stampeding out of control through her brain and limiting her ability to think rationally. She begins to feel her body awaken and cause her to feel like she is starving for emotion, then switches to a different emotion that is plentiful. She quickly chooses anger next and begins to pull it out of him, trying to satisfy her hunger. She finally gets her thoughts under control, against her own will, she tears herself away from his mouth and then glares at him with a mild blush on her cheeks. She crosses her arms across her chest and then says, "What the buck are you thinking kissing a changeling that you don't even know! If I couldn't control my newly awakened body, I would have completely drained you of all emotion." She then continues staring at him as she thinks, 'How dare he steal my first kiss like that, he is not my lover!'

I then rest one hand on each of my revolver handles and switch my stance then say, "My apologies, I thought that you needed a little help. So I thought that if our mouths made contact, you might be able to eat my emotions better."

She calms down a bit at hearing that he wasn't trying to steal her first kiss, and says, "Can I continue eating now, I still am pretty hungry?"

I chuckle and then say, "It is up to you, you are the one who stopped. Eat as much as you like, I don't feel any different."

Stealthy is shocked to hear that he doesn't feel any different after the amount she consumed thinking, 'How are you not affected by the amount I just took from you? If any pony lost that amount of emotion, they would have passed out.' and says, "Okay, let's see how much more it will take to satisfy my hunger." She places her hands back on his shoulders, cocks her head and opens her mouth slightly to resume consuming his emotions.

I close the rest of the distance and return my lips to hers, resuming our kiss and hoping to give her the rest of what she needs to satisfy her hunger. I then place one hand behind her neck and move the other to her lower back and dip her slightly, trying to make it go faster so we can resume our journey.

She is taken by surprise when she feels herself being kissed, then cradled like a lover as love begins to flow into her body much faster. The flow continues to increase, causing her to lightly choke before relaxing her throat to just let it flow into her. As a strange new emotion flows into her mouth, she concentrates on it and identifies it as lust. Lust and love continue to flow into her body in higher amounts, causing her eyes to roll up into the back of her skull as her body becomes ravenous. Her hands find their way to his neck unconsciously as she sucks his emotions down harder, her tongue then joins his in a wrestling match of dominance. Just as her tongue starts to win, her body stops taking in emotion. She quickly pushes him away and breaks the kiss, looks away and covers her mouth quickly with her hand and belches loudly. The unexpected belch causes her to blush fiercely and quickly say, "E-Excuse me, you weren't supposed to hear that." She then clears her voice and then says, "I'm not hungry anymore, I'm ready to leave when you are."

I chuckle and start laughing while saying, "Okay then kid, you have some interesting manners for a girl you know. If I was anyone else, I would probably be offended by that belch." I turn around and then head towards the wagon and say, "The wagon's this way kid, follow me if you need a place to stay."

She looks at him and scowls, then follows after him when she lets out a smaller burp. Beginning to feel tired, she realizes that she has overeaten and then blames herself for wanting more food. She looks at the wagon and asks, "Is there anywhere that I can lay down to relax for awhile, I ate too much."

I nod and then drop the back gate down and get up into the back to search for an empty long box in the wagon, finding one and set it on the back gate. I open the lid and look to her and hear her let out a smaller belch saying excuse me and then say to her, "This is where you can relax and keep out of sight, from the way a few ponies talked about Changelings, it seems that they are not well liked. This box will be your home until I can get a house built to sleep in, so hop in and make yourself comfortable."

Stealthy wearily climbs up onto the gate and crams herself into the box, folding her wings down and lays on her left side and brings her knees up to her chest. Finding this position comfortable, she looks to Arthur and says, "Okay I'm ready, you can close the lid now."

I then nod and say, "While you are in that box and we are moving, it is best you just stay quiet until I knock 'shave and a haircut, two bits' on the box. You will then know it is okay to come out of there." I close the lid, lift the box and set it up on top of the dynamite, closing the back and returning to my seat and snap the reins lightly saying, "Alright girl, take us to our new home."

Lou starts moving forward, then picks up the pace to a gentle trot and says, "She survived the encounter you had in the cave, Arthur? I'm surprised because normally everyone that tries to harm you either ends up dead or pissing themselves out of fear."

I sigh and nod my head and say, "Yeah she said that when the dynamite bundle went off, she was sent flying into the wall and hit her head hard that caused her to fall unconscious. It was a good thing that happened to her, though I do feel bad for her waking up to see what the dynamite did to her friend. Well maybe now she can have a chance to turn over a new leaf and make amends for what she has done like I am trying to do." I then feel a coughing fit coming on and then set down the reins and cover my mouth with my coat sleeve. After the coughing fit passes, I look at my coat and see that it needs to be washed. I pick the reins back up and watch the road ahead of me, looking around at the snow on the ground and begin humming a tune that comes into my mind.

Meanwhile, at Rainbow Dash's room inside the hospital in the Crystal Empire...

Rainbow Dash sighs in relief at finally being able to go home to Ponyville, she looks to nurse Helping Hoof and says, "Thank you for treating my wounds, do you know how long it will take me to be able to fly again?

Nurse Helping Hoof then looks at her and sighs saying, "You won't be flying for three months, you need to keep the wrap on your lower chest for a month and a half or six weeks total. You are to abstain from any strenuous activity that may cause any of the injured bones to heal improperly, you got very lucky that the wing wasn't damaged any worse or you would have completely lost your ability to fly. Stick to our instructions and you will make a full recovery and be able to fly like you could before you were injured, do you understand what I just said to you?"

She rolls her eyes and says, "Yes I heard you the first dozen times, now can I please get out of this hospital?!"

The nurse nods and frowns at her and says, "Yes, you are now free to go. You do not need to worry about the bill, it has already been taken care of by the crown."

Rainbow huffs and walks out of the room in her sporty halter top and jogging pants, making her way down the halls to exit this prison of health. She arrives at the waiting room and sees her friends all there waiting for her and then says, "Hey everypony, are ya ready to make our way back home!?"

Pinkie is the first one to give her a light hug, avoiding her injured areas and then says, "We were worried about you Rainbow Dash, you will be just fine as long as you obey the doctor's orders. I know you will make a full recovery in no time at all, you will be able to do sonic rainbooms in two months for sure!"

Applejack approaches her next and hugs her lightly saying, "Pinkie is right sugarcube, if ya follow the doc's orders ah know that ya'll make a complete recovery in no tahm flat."

Fluttershy comes up and gives her a gentle hug and says to her, "We will all be here to support you, so don't you worry Rainbow Dash. You should consider yourself lucky that you haven't had a hard life like mister Arthur Morgan had, I only saw a little bit of what he suffered through. What I saw in his eyes, I cannot tell you because it is something that he needs to be able to trust us first to be able to tell us himself. So please just try to stay calm and take it easy for six weeks and let us all help take care of you."

She chokes up a little at hearing that and says, "I-I don't wanna be a burden to any of you all, so just stop it and leave me be..." She then begins to walk away out of guilt but is stopped by Twilight's magic and says, "Hey, let me go!"

Twilight then turns her around to face them and says, "Stop it Rainbow Dash, there is no need for you to feel guilty about being defeated by an opponent stronger than you. You always gain knowledge with every defeat, and that helps make you smarter. I admire you for never backing down from a fight, but sometimes it is wiser to observe them and wait for them to make the first move. Remember that we all once lost to Trixie, including me. With a little knowledge though, we turned the tide and won the battle! Don't forget that we are all friends, and friends protect each other and last forever."

Rainbow Dash's eyes then tear up and hugs her tightly and begins bawling out loud, relying on her friend to be there to lend her a shoulder to cry on.

The rest of the girls join in on a group hug, careful to avoid brushing against Rainbow's injuries. They continue to hold Rainbow Dash and be there for her until she stops crying and stands on her own two hooves again, then release her and back up a little bit with smiles on their faces.

Rarity then comes forth and says, "Well darling, are you ready to be on our way back to Ponyville? Do you know who you will be staying with during your recovery, there is no way we will let you stay home by yourself with injuries this severe."

She then sighs and says, "I would stay with Applejack, but there is always something that needs to be done on the farm. I would choose Rarity, but she is always busy with coming up with new designs for her outfits. I also would choose Pinkie Pie, but she is always doing something and isn't exactly the quietest pony in Ponyville."

Pinkie Pie then interjects saying, "Heyyy!" causing the other girls to giggle and laugh at the truth of it.

Rainbow then continues saying, "It is going to be either Fluttershy or Twilight, but I am thinking of going with Fluttershy. The reason being that I would most likely get more rest if I stayed with her, if I stayed with Twilight, I most likely wouldn't get much sleep at all due to her tendency to worry about every little detail. Aside from that, Hearth's Warming is right around the corner and she just wouldn't be able to have the time to care for me."

Twilight then smiles and nods saying, "Wise choice indeed Rainbow Dash, but I do not worry over every little detail..."

She then smirks and says, "Do too..."

Twilight narrows her eyes and says, "Do not..."

Rainbow says with a giggle, "Do too."

The girls all burst out laughing and head out of the waiting room together, making their way towards the train station when a crystal chariot arrives for the six of them.

The two guards stop in front of the Representative Elements of Harmony as one of them says, "Please allow us to take you all to the station at, courtesy of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor."

They nod and tell them thank you and that they appreciate the gesture, hop in and let them carry them to the station.

Meanwhile, at the tunnel near the entrance to the cave...

Chrysalis walks down the tunnel with her ally Colm when a foul smell hits her nostrils, causing her to gag and pinch her nose and say, "What in Tartarus is that foul smell!"

Colm then sighs and says, "It is the smell of a corpse starting to rot Your Majesty, it is not as bad as it would be if we waited much longer."

She stops moving when she steps on something odd, causing her to illuminate her horn. She then sees the scattered body parts belonging to the changeling that Stealthy mentioned, looking around the walls to see dried or gooey green blood splattered all along the walls with changelings in a single pile a bit further ahead of the mangled remains of the other changeling. She fights down the urge to gag and then says, "What ever kind of creature is able to do this to my faithful children!? Whoever or whatever this thing is, will pay dearly for thisss..."

With the girls at Ponyville, a few hours later

The trip is long and uneventful as the girls finally arrive at Ponyville station, then disembark the train to return to their homes when the crusaders Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle both come running forth in excitement and start talking all at once.

Twilight then says, "GIRLS, GIRLS, calm down and speak one at a time please and tell us what happened."

10 minutes ago somewhere north of Ponyville...

Celestia dismisses court for the day and calls for a chariot to be brought out front for a short ride to Ponyville, then makes her way to the chariot and instructs the pegasi guards pulling it to fly above the road to Ponyville and keep an eye open for a large wagon heading there.

After a few minutes of flying low, one of the pegasi spot the large wagon and say, "Princess Celestia, the wagon you were looking for is down below. What are your orders, Your Highness?"

She then looks down and says, "Fly alongside it, so I can speak with it's driver."

I whistle a tune when I see Lou look around, then pull on the reins for her to stop and ask, "What is up Lou?"

Lou stops pulling and looks around and then spots a carriage in the sky above them with a white pony inside of it and two pegasi ponies pulling it wearing golden armor and says, "There is a sky carriage coming our way, with two ponies in golden armor pulling it and a white pony sitting inside of it."

I shake my head and then say, "It is probably just Princess Celestia coming to talk with me, continue on Lou I will talk to her while we move."

She resumes pulling the wagon and gets into a light trot saying, "Alright boss, we will be in Ponyville in about twenty minutes."

Celestia then pulls up alongside Arthur and says, "Good evening mister Arthur Morgan, has your day been eventful?"

I turn to look at her and then say, "About as eventful as that scenic ride through the countryside earlier, do you miss riding in this wagon already?" I then chuckle at the end just to annoy her.

She then scoffs and then says, "Oh please don't try to be funny Arthur Morgan, I would not want to ride in something so rough. I was coming to find you to inform you that I am on my way to Ponyville to inform them of two new visitors to our world from lands unknown, and have had a rough journey while trying to find a place to stay."

I nod and say, "Well thank you for thinking about us, we appreciate your efforts to make our lives easier."

Celestia nods and says, "You are quite welcome Arthur Morgan, may you enjoy a peaceful life in Equestria." She looks to the pegasi guards and then says, "Okay guards, I am finished here. Please resume our journey to Ponyville."

Presently, outside the train station with the girls

Apple Bloom then takes a breath and then says, "Well, you just missed Princess Celestia paying a visit to Ponyville."

Sweetie Belle then says, "Yeah, she told us of two new visitors to our world from lands unknown.

Scootaloo then takes a breath to say, "She also said that they have had a hard journey and were looking for a place to live!" She then looks at Rainbow Dash and asks, "What happened to Rainbow Dash, why is she badly injured!?!"

Rainbow steps forward before any of the other girls can tell them and says, "Well, I am badly injured because I made a wrong choice and attacked somepony I shouldn't have. That caused me to get injured in the process, but that issue has already been handled squirt. So you don't need to worry about that at all, because they won't hurt me anymore." She watches as the crusaders come up to her and then hug her, smiling as she hears them say that they would be there for her if she ever needs help, as well as wishing her a swift recovery.

Twilight then says to the group, "Well everypony, shall we wait to see who these new arrivals are and greet them?" She then looks to Rainbow and asks, "Rainbow, do you want to stay with us to greet them or are you going to go with Fluttershy to her house?"

She looks to her, softly smiling and says, "Yeah I think I can stay for a little bit and try to make a better introduction than last time. I think we all know who is going to be coming here Twilight, except for these three youngsters right here." She then uses her hand and digs it into Scootaloo's mane and roughs it up lightly while chuckling.

Apple Bloom cocks her head and then says, "Who is it that is on their way here?"

Twilight smiles slightly and then says, "It is somepony that we met during our friendship mission to the Crystal Empire, but you will meet them soon enough. Their appearance is unmissable."

A couple miles north of Ponyville...

I finally start to see some structures in the distance and say to Lou, "I think we are almost there Lou, just a bit further and we will be able to take it easy for awhile."

Lou continues at a light trot, breathing slightly heavier and says, "I am curious of what exactly a spa is, we will have to find out what exactly they do when we get there."

I look ahead and then say to her, "So am I girl, I am looking forward to a nice bath." I then look around for any potential ambushes, when I look at the horizon and watch as the sun sinks the rest of the way past the horizon. I look to the other side as a soft gentle light washes over the land in a wave that rushes away from us. I smile softly and say, "That signifies that Luna's watch has started, I have a feeling that this will be a relaxing night for once."

The citizens of Ponyville squint at the barely visible form on the road in the distance, unable to clearly make it out as one pony then says, "Can anypony make out any details of what they look like, I can't see much at that distance."

Another pony then says, "Neither can I, I wish that the sun would have stayed up a little longer. We would have been able to see the details much better then."

I continue to watch as we get within a couple hundred feet of the town when I see ponies gathered around, looking in our direction curiously. No doubt trying to see what we look like, I then chuckle and quietly say to Stealthy in the back, "Hey kid, make sure to stay quiet back there. We are almost to Ponyville, so if you hear me and agree just knock once for yes and two for no." I hear one knock and nod and watch as we head the rest of the way into the town, watching as they clear a path for us to continue on our way. I look around at the strange glowing lights and decorations on each and every building, including a few decorated pine trees scattered around the city.

Twilight watches as the citizens make a path for the incoming visitors, not saying a single word yet. She chuckles lightly and then says, "Well girls, it looks like our guests have finally arrived. From how the citizens are parting for them, I think they will stop here in a little bit."

Applebloom then climbs up onto her sisters back and then asks, "What kind of creatures are those, ah've never seen anything like them in my school books!?"

I continue to make my way down the path as ponies continue to guide me to my destination, they stand aside to make room for us to pass by. I look around and see that the path they are opening up leads around a building in the center, then winds around it and stops at what appears to be the train station. We finally reach the end of the path and I pull on the reins lightly and say, "Woah girl, this is far enough. I think we are in the town of Ponyville, can someone tell me what town this is?"

Twilight then says to Applebloom, "The one on top of the large wagon is called a Human, they are male and their name is Arthur Morgan. The large bodied one in front of the wagon is a four legged pony, but is called a horse where they are from and their name is Lou. They both will be sharing this world with us, as well as settling just outside of Ponyville." She then steps forward and says to Arthur, "You have arrived at Ponyville, mister Arthur Morgan. I hope you had a pleasant journey here, do you know where you would like to stay for the night?"

I then look at her and say, "I would like to stay the night at a hotel, does this town have one? I could even rent a spare room above a tavern, if one is available. This town looks really nice at night, I am sure that nighttime around this time of year is one of Luna's most enjoyable times of the day."

She then watches as several of the ponies then smile at hearing that and talk amongst themselves briefly, before going silent again to wait to hear more. She then smiles and says, "I have no doubt that it is one of them as well, unfortunately Ponyville does not have either one of those yet. There have been discussions about building them, but at the moment we are focusing on the coming holiday. I have a few spare rooms in my castle, if you would care to stay in one of them?"

I then think it over and say, "Alright then, I will take you up on that offer, a room in a castle beats a lean-to any day. Would one of you have a stable where my horse Lou can stay?" I hear a few gasps and turn to the crowd and say, "Before you get angry at the word I used, please understand that four legged ponies like my companion Lou are called horses by us humans where we came from. Unlike you, they are entirely earth ponies and cannot speak with words, fly or use magic. Our world is a cruel and harsh world where each day is a battle to survive, and we both would rather stay in this world rather than return to that one. Out of consideration for you all, I will try not to use the word around any pony okay?" I then see the crowd nod in agreement and say a few words amongst themselves, before turning back to the girls on the platform and say, "So would any of you have a place where my girl Lou can stay until a more permanent solution can be found, I will even pay for her stay."

Applejack then steps forward and says, "She can stay at our place with the cattle inside our barn if it is okay with her, ya don have to worry bout payin'. Yer new to our world and it wouldn't be right to have ya pay, yer wagon would have to stay outside though 'cause of its size."

I nod and look to Lou and then ask, "How does that sound to you Lou, do you have a problem with that?"

Lou smiles and then nods her head and says, "That sounds alright, I'm happy as long as I can keep warm, satisfy my hunger as well have a place to relieve myself. You humans are so spoiled and picky about that, you should be more like us and go wherever you please."

I then turn to her and then squint my eyes at her and say, "Hey I have tried that once. I remember having to go so bad that I forgot to look and then sat down on a cactus, I would prefer splinters than sharp needles in the rear any day."

Rarity frowns at the conversation between the two and then hears the crowd burst out laughing regardless of how improper the conversation is and then quietly mutters, "How revolting, I would never indulge in such a vulgar manner."

Twilight then gently smiles and lightly chuckles saying, "Okay then, I shall accompany you to Applejack's house and lead you to where my castle is, then show you where you will be staying for tonight."

I then look at her quickly and give her a serious look then say, "Actually, could we go to your place first? I have some important items that need to stay close to me, plus I would like to get to know you six a bit better if this is going to be my new home."

She cocks her head and nods saying, "Very well then, that is fine with me but let me ask the others if they can spare some time." She then looks to the others and looks at them seriously and says, "Will you girls be able to spare a few minutes getting to know our newest friends?" She then watches as they all look at her and nod and say yes, looking back to Arthur and says, "Alright then, please follow us to my castle and we will talk for a little while."

Rarity then turns to Sweetie Belle, smiles and asks, "Sweetie Belle Darling, could you head on home without me? I will be there as soon as I am done speaking with our newest friend Arthur Morgan."

Sweetie Belle then smiles and says, "Can't I go with you, to get to know him too? I have so many questions to ask him."

She looks to Arthur Morgan and then sees him slowly shake his head no, then looks back to Sweetie Belle and says, "I am sorry but I think that he needs to speak with us adult ponies right now, maybe tomorrow you might have a chance to talk with him and Lou alright?"

She then hangs her head and says, "Awwe...Alright sis, I will wait for you to come on home then." She then looks to her fellow crusaders and says, "I will see you all tomorrow so we can then have our chance to talk to the new visitors, goodnight fellow crusaders." She smiles and then hugs them all before turning around and heads for home.

Twilight watches as Applejack sends Applebloom home as well, then sees Rainbow Dash tell Scootaloo that since she won't be able to fly for awhile, she can stay with Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, or Pinkie Pie.

Scootaloo then looks at Rainbow Dash and asks, "Can I stay with Applebloom for a bit then stay with Sweetie Belle, and switch between them both from time to time?"

Rainbow then smile and says, "Of course you can scoots, just as long as it is okay with Rarity and Applejack first. We will arrange for your things to be brought from our home tomorrow, alright?"

Twilight smiles and chuckles lightly at the display, then watches as they both agree to the arrangement with Scootaloo choosing to stay with Applebloom for now. She then watches as the crowd then begins to disperse, still very curious about the newest visitor to Ponyville before looking to Arthur Morgan and then says, "Well mister Morgan, are you ready to follow us to my castle?"

I smile and nod saying, "Yep, I'm ready when ever you are Princess Twilight Sparkle. Just lead the way and we will be right behind you."

She looks to her friends and smiles saying, "Well girls, are you ready to head to my castle to talk with Arthur?"

Rainbow watches the girls all nod and say they are ready, then start to follow Twilight down the platform stairs to the road and thinks, 'Why does he have to talk to us all, is there something that he not want other ponies to know?'

I see Rainbow Dash make her way down the platform, wincing slightly and call out to her, "Hey Rainbow Dash, would you care to have a seat up here with me during our trip to the castle?"

She stops as the others look back and look at him and her with shock on their faces and takes a deep breath and sighs saying, "You'll really offer a seat next to you to a pony that attacked you with no good reason?"

I look back at her with a soft smile and say, "Why not, you are not planning on trying to kill me right, or get even?"

Rainbow then looks back at him in amazement and chuckles lightly and says, "Not at the moment I'm not, I'll accept your offer, so thank you." She makes her way towards him and looks at the thing he is in and asks, "So with my injuries, how do I get into this huge thing?"

I set the reins into the holder and turn to her and say, "Well getting up here is kinda like climbing up a wall. It is easy for me, but will be a bit tough for you because you are a bit shorter than I am. So either Twilight will have to use her magic, or I can just lift you up high enough so you can grab hold of the side of the seat and stand on the step to get onto the platform to sit on the seat. There are bars up here behind the seat back so be mindful of where your wings are."

She thinks about it for a moment and says, "Go ahead and lift me up there please, but be careful as I have a wrap around my lower ribcage."

I nod and then make my way down to the ground by simply hopping to the ground from the platform, landing with a thud. I make my way around the back of the wagon and step up behind Rainbow and then say, "Okay, I'm gonna grab you by the hips and then lift. So whatever you do, don't kick me or fart in my face."

Rainbow sniggers at hearing that and says, "Don't worry, my name is Rainbow Dash, not Rainbow Gas!"

I laugh as well and crouch down, grab her by the hips and lift her up high enough to reach the step and say, "Let me know when you are ready for me to let go."

She grabs onto the side of the seat and steps onto the step saying, "Okay I can get it from here, thank you." She carefully makes her way to the platform and scoots into the seat, making sure that her wings don't touch the metal bars behind the seat back. She holds onto the side of the seat with her right hand, and holds onto the seat back with her left as her hooves dangle in the air, too short to rest on the platform and says, "This thing is big, but I have seen things from even higher in the sky."

I go around the wagon and get back up into the seat, watching as Rainbow's hooves finally land on the platform and chuckle saying, "Damn your legs really are much shorter than mine." I watch as she blows a raspberry at me, I turn to look at Twilight and the others as they stare at me for some reason. I sigh and look to Rainbow and say, "Hey Rainbow Dash, I'm sorry for injuring you that badly. I hate being taken out of my saddle forcefully, back where I come from, some other humans will actually try to steal your pony from you while you are in the saddle by rushing you and yanking you from there. They will then jump into the saddle and ride off with the pony, it has happened to me quite a bit but I always got my pony back from them." I extend my hand to them to hopefully have them shake it back in acceptance and say, "Do you think we can be friends?"

Rainbow looks down for a bit and looks at the extended hand and looks back up and then to him saying, "Yeah we can be friends, I was wrong for acting so rashly like that. How did you get your pony back from them every time?" She then takes his hand and gives it a firm shake.

I look to her, shake it and lower my hand back to my side and say, "I used what I injured you,with only they were not as fortunate as you. I will tell all of you more about myself when I feel ready alright? I need time to adjust to the peaceful world you have here."