At Equestria's End

Chapter 1: Veronica

A/N: (insert legal junk nobody reads here)

"Happy Birthday Veronica!" Was the sound heard through-out the quaint rancher house in Montana. The now 6-year old Veronica Thomson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomson, eagerly blew out the candles and smiled. She had just officially turned 6 and was especially happy. Her 12 year old brother, Sam, handed her a small present which she eagerly tore open to reveal a small felt-black box. She opened it, revealing a small locket. "Its a music locket, I got it for you as a reminder that were siblings no matter what." Holding up his own, he smiled at her. Veronica smiled back at her older brother and hugged hum. "Thanks Sam, I really like it!"

11 Years Later...

Veronica, now 17, was laying painfully on a hospital bed. She had been walking home from an outing with some her friends when they had been attacked by a drunk gunman who had shot her in the stomach before collapsing. Her friends had brought her to the hospital as fast as possible and the doctors had removed the bullet, but she had lost a lot of blood and was already drifting in and out of consciousness. Her parents had just arrived after receiving the news...

"Veronica! Oh my dear!" Mr. Thomson rushed to the side of the bed and cradled his daughter. "Dad, Mom, I don't think...I don't think I'm going to be around much longer...cough...tell...tell Sam I love him..." And with that, Veronica's eyes closed and she went limp in her fathers grasp. Tears streaked down his eyes as his wife hugged him from behind, already sobbing at the loss of their only daughter.

Elsewhere...

Veronica awoke with a start, the sun gleaming down on her through tree tops. Her body buzzed all over as she stood up. The first thing she noticed was that she was on all fours, as she looked down, she stared at her hoofs, which was the first thing she noticed wrong, she had hoofs. So this is the after-life? I'm a horse! She looked around at the surrounding landscape. She was at the edge of a forest near some a stream. She walked, well, crawled to the stream and looked at her reflection. She was in fact a horse, a pony to be more exact. What was odd was the color, she was a dark purple with a unkempt main that was a mix of two lighter shades of blue. She also noticed the locket her brother had given her was hanging around her neck. She opened it, relieved that it still work.

"Well now that's interesting," Veronica said to herself as she returned her gaze to the stream. As she continued to examine her new form she noticed that she feathered wings that matched her dark purple coat. She flapped them, which was shockingly easy. She flapped harder and felt herself rise off the ground. Frightened, she pulled her wings back in and landed back on the ground. Just as she was about to go see if anyone else was around she heard a voice come from behind her "Um…excuse me…" startling Veronica.

She whirled around to face a light yellow pony with a pink mane. Veronica screamed and jumped back as did the yellow creature in front of her. "Did…did you just talk?" "Y…yes…who are you?" the creature asked in return. "My name is Veronica, but most people just call me V, who are you?" "I…I'm Flut…y…" The creature replied in a barely audible whisper. "I'm sorry your name was?" "Fluttershy." The creature squeaked in a barely audible voice. "I don't blame you if your scared, I'm scared too, I don't even know where I am." At hearing this, Fluttershy relaxed slightly and observed the pony in front of her.

"What do you mean you don't know where you are?" Fluttershy asked in a now more audible tone. "I mean, well I was…was…" Veronica started to tear up at the memory of her death in her father's arms. "Oh you poor thing, you must come back with me to my home." Veronica was hesitant, I barely know her, she thought to herself, but I don't know where I am so… she looked at Fluttershy, who looked at her expectantly. Fuck it, I'll just go with her. "Okay, I'll go with you." Veronica replied, still attempting to hold back tears. "Oh…okay, just follow me."

Fluttershy led Veronica to her house. Veronica had noticed how Fluttershy had wings but didn't fly very high or fast, many times just walking along side V. They eventually arrived at Fluttershy's cottage which was nestled in a small corner of the forest. Fluttershy led her inside, "Just make your-self comfortable and I'll make some tea." Fluttershy told her, all of the previous shyness in her voice had been replaced with a warm, calm tone. Veronica sat down on a sofa and waited as she heard bustling from what was apparently the kitchen. Fluttershy eventually returned from the kitchen, holding a tray with two cups and a teapot in her mouth. Setting down the tray on a small table, she poured steaming hot tea into the cups and picked up the cups with her hooves and gave one to Veronica. Veronica was surprised how she was able to pick up the cup with her hooves like she had hands.

After taking a few sips from the warm and calming tea, they set the cups down and they spoke. "So, where are you from, if it's not too much of a bother." Fluttershy asked, "Well, I…" Veronica began, I should just tell her, fighting back tears she began, "Well, my friends and I were coming home from a party when we were attack by some drunk person…" Fluttershy stared at the pony in front of her, she had never heard of anypony attacking another, it was unheard of. "He…he…shot me, and I was rushed to the hospital. I lost a lot of blood and I was fading in and out of consciousness, I remember seeing my dad's worried face before fading out." "After that, I woke up here as a pony of some kind and then met you." V finished, holding back tears. Fluttershy got up from her seat and gave V hug, which initially startled her but she quickly returned the hug and began sobbing.

Fluttershy hugged her like a mother would a little child, rubbing V's back and softly saying "Shhh... its okay..." an hour passed and the crying had stopped V removed herself from the hug, "Th...Thank you, I know I'm a total stranger to you, but...thanks." she said, Fluttershy smiled, "oh its nothing really, although I am curious as to why you walk so much." V cocked her head slightly, "Huh?" "Oh its just that with your wings, I would have thought that you would fly..." V remebered the wings on her back and sighed. "I don't really know how," She looked at her flank, which she was still getting use to having, and she looked at Fluttershy's. "Um...Fluttershy, whats that on your flank?" "You mean my cutie mark?" "Um...yes?" "Its a special mark that we pony's get when we discover our special talent." Fluttershy responded, "After what you told me, I'm not as surprised as I was before." "So when do I get mine?" V asked, Fluttershy chuckled to her self as the question reminded her of a certain group of three young filly's.

"It happens when it does, you can't just rush it." V shrugged, it didn't really matter to her, as she was more interested in learning about her new environment. "V, its getting late, you can spend the night with me and we'll go into town tomorrow." "I have a better idea," V replied, getting a curious look from Fluttershy; "A slumber party, we can learn more about each other." Fluttershy seemed rather excited about the idea and quickly got the things needed for such a party, well, it wasn't going to be one of Pinkie's parties, but it was still going to fun for the two ponies.

Fluttershy put the blankets on the floor and V was in the kitchen making some basic snacks. She may be a pony with wings, or a Pegasus as Fluttershy had informed her, but she still knew how to cook and help out at a slumber party. Finding sugar and corn, she made kettle corn as best she could. After she finished with the snacks she brought them out into the living room where she found Fluttershy waiting. They sat down and talked about each other, Fluttery shy telling V about her friends which caused V to chuckle about Spike's major crush on Rarity. V told Fluttershy about her world and how it could be a cruel place a lot, but still had its moments of joy. After several hours of talking and telling jokes, the two finally went to sleep. V was looking forward to a new day and getting used to this new world she found herself in. Little did either of them know that V was not the only former human to be thrust into this world known as Equestria.