Deepfreeze222 - You weren't supposed to expect it, that's what makes it a twist ;)

ShadowRoxas12 - Oh, I'm not the one you should be asking that.

INGENman - Well, some of those questions will be answered at least. Aww, why not? Luna promises not to bite... too hard

UnknownHero55 - Ah ah ah... no spoilers... Thank you though, I do try my best; and appreciate that you guys are enjoying it.

outruncone8116 - Oh don't worry, this story won't be ending for a long time yet, I'm guessing two years before I even start the sequel at this rate.

frytrix - Lol that's the point of a twist :P Well, here you are sir, the next chapter of My Little Story

DragonLovingBrony - If I didn't know what you meant by that, I'd say that was pretty mean. :P

A/N - Hey there everypony! Here we are for another installment of A Second Chance. Got a bit of interesting news; I've started Beta reading for an author named DragonLord RyuKizoku, specifically his MLP fic, so head on over to his page and give it a read if you feel like (The beta-reading starts on chapter eight). Not much else this week, been relatively quiet for me. Remember that my poll is up until the end of the year, so please head over to my page to give it a vote, and feel free to PM me with any ideas you have to make it more interesting. As always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly; enjoy!

My body raced through the halls of the palace on autopilot as my mind raced to find a solution to save Blake. The twists and turns of the labyrinth-like corridors were as difficult to navigate as a straight line, as I had traveled them countless times whilst under Princess Celestia's direct tutelage. How could this have happened?! Surely one of the doctors would've noticed magic like that when they scanned his injuries…

I snapped back to reality when I realized that I was standing in front of the large, ornate doors leading to the throne room. I could only guess that Princess Luna would be resting right now, but I believed that Princess Celestia would be able to handle Nightmare Moon's treachery as well as her sister.

I ignited my horn to open the door, but they were held fast by a cerulean aura. I turned to see none other than Princess Luna standing behind me with her horn surrounded by the same cerulean aura holding the doors and a small smile on her face. Her smile faded as she studied my no doubt distraught expression. "Greetings Twilight Sparkle. You seem upset about something, and unfortunately my sister is in a council meeting and cannot be disturbed; perhaps I can assist you."

"Oh, Princess Luna… thank the heavens you're awake." I replied with a sigh. "Something's gone wrong with Blake! The doctor said something about dark magic but we can't figure out what and he won't wake up and we need your help!"

Princess Luna walked up to me and placed a hoof on my shoulder. "Please calm down, it will be alright." I did a few breathing exercises to calm myself. Once I was done, Princess Luna continued. "Better. Now, start from the beginning and explain exactly what happened."

I did just that, starting from the time Applejack and I arrived in Canterlot and ending when I arrived at the doors to the throne room. "And that's what happened Princess; the doctor tried his best, but he couldn't figure out what it was."

"I see. And since this doctor believed that Nightmare Moon was involved with this, you sought me out." I cringed as I heard the ire in her voice.

"I-it's not like that… I-I just thought that since you were once one and the same, maybe you'd know what she did…"

Princess Luna smirked. "Relax Twilight, I was merely jesting. I know you of all ponies would never bring such an accusation upon me. Now, I suggest we make haste to the hospital to discover just what my thrice cursed other half has wrought upon dearest Blake this time…" She began trotting back down the corridor before she had even finished speaking.

I dashed to catch up with her. "Princess Luna, wait! Wouldn't it be faster if we teleported?"

She sighed. "You are correct Twilight… however; I believe we shall both need every ounce of our magic to help Blake if Nightmare Moon is indeed involved in his current predicament."

The silent walk back to the hospital was relatively short, but to my worried mind it felt like an eternity. We arrived to find Applejack sitting in a chair next to the bed, her iconic hat being wrung in her forehooves. She looked over to us and let out a sigh of relief. "Hoo-wee… Am Ah glad ta see y'all. He ain't so much as twitched since ya left."

Princess Luna stepped up to the bed. "I see. Let us have a look, shall we?"

The Princess of the Night touched her horn to Blake's forehead, igniting it and enveloping his prone form in her aura. Her eyes flicked back and forth as she presumably searched for whatever it was that kept our coltfriend asleep. The aura surrounding her horn began to billow more intensely, indicating that she was coming across some form of resistance.

Eventually her aura winked out and she turned to face us. "It is as I feared. The doctor was correct; our dear Blake has been placed within a Microcosm."

Applejack's face scrunched up. "What th' hay does that mean?"

Princess Luna sighed. "It means that his mind is trapped in a prison that it is creating. Think of it as a dream so real that you believe it actually is real."

"Well, can't we just wake 'im up?"

The Princess shook her head. "It is not that simple… as I said, his mind is trapped; this is a dark and ancient spell designed to keep the victim ensnared until their body ceases to function…" Applejack and I gasped in unison. "We are fortunate in two regards however; the first is that it would seem that our dear Blake is imprisoned within a pleasant world, which means his mind is not being tortured. The second is that it would seem that in her haste, Nightmare Moon cast the spell imperfectly, which means that it is possible to enter his mind and attempt to free him."

"Aww! Blake's still asleep? I was gonna see if he wanted some ice cream… Oh well, more for me! La-la-la la-la." We all turned to the door at Pinkie Pie's sudden outburst just in time to see the mare turn and hop off down the hall.

Princess Luna blinked several times. "I do not believe I shall ever grow accustomed to that mare…" She shook her head. "As I was saying, it is possible to send somepony into Blake's mental prison and attempt to free him; though this will not be an easy feat, as you will first need to convince him that he is in fact dreaming, then convince him to leave said prison."

"That don't sound so hard." Applejack said cheerfully.

"You would be surprised. Imagine that somepony were to walk up to you right now and claim that you were only dreaming, and that neither Blake Marshall nor your other friends are real, that they are just figments created by your mind as you lay trapped in a magical prison." Applejack blinked several times. "Now imagine that same pony also told you that in order to leave said prison, you would be forced to do something terrible."

Applejack looked nervous. "W-what d' ya mean by 'terrible?"

"It differs from pony to pony… or person in this case. Tell me Honesty, what is the most terrible thing you can imagine doing?"

Applejack sighed and thought for a moment. "Ah guess Ah'd hafta say… hurtin' one o' mah family."

The Princess nodded. "Then in order to leave, you would need to torture one of them…"

Applejack gasped, but remained silent. After the shock of what we had just learned wore off, I spoke. "But Princess, is somepony as caring as Blake even capable of something like that?"

She sighed and looked at the floor. "We must hope that he can be convinced, for it is the only way to wake him." She looked back to me. "It is a parameter that was made a part of the spell during its creation to prevent its victim from escaping easily."

"But Princess, if'n it's diff'rent fer everypony, how're we gonna know what Blake's is?" I was also wondering this.

"Fortunately, that part shall be fairly easy. The trigger will be the one thing that the prisoner could normally never bring him or herself to do. For most beings, the trigger is much the same; intentionally harming a loved one. This is true with Applejack, as I believe it would be with you as well Twilight."

"Wh… what if the trigger would be to... kill the pony trying to rescue him?" As much as I didn't want to ask, I knew it was a valid concern.

Princess Luna was silent for several moments. "… We must hope that it does not come to that…"

I gulped. "Well… I suppose there's no point in delaying any longer. What do we need to do princess?"

"The process, while taxing, is fairly simple. I shall cast the spell to send you into the dream realm, and-"

"Ah'll go, Princess. Ah feel like Ah owe it to 'im fer savin' us all from Nightmare Moon." She Blushed. "Besides, he's mah coltfriend, and Ah'd feel bad if'n Ah didn't do somethin' ta help 'im."

Princess Luna shook her head. "I am sorry, but as much as I can appreciate how you feel, only a unicorn can enter the dream realm as the magical link must be maintained from both sides simultaneously."

Applejack hung her head slightly. "Besides," I said, nudging her. "He's my coltfriend now too."

She chuckled. "Yer right Twilight…" She nodded her head in determination. "Alright, Ah trust ya ta bring 'im back ta us, so go get 'im."

I nodded and turned back to Princess Luna. "Alright Princess, just tell me what to do."

"It is fairly simple; all you must do is focus on the spell I shall cast upon you and channel some of your magic into it." I opened my mouth to ask a question, but she interrupted, continuing. "Do not worry; you shall subconsciously channel the required amount of magic into the spell, so that shall not be a concern." I closed my mouth since she had answered my question.

I sighed and nodded to the Princess. "Alright, I'm ready whenever you are."

She nodded and looked to my left. I followed her gaze just in time to be wrapped in a bone-crushing hug from Applejack. "Y'all bring 'im back safe, ya hear? That poor feller's been through too much as it is, he don't need ta suffer no more 'n he already has." She drew me back and looked me in the eyes. "Y'all come back safe too Twi…"

I returned her hug and gave her a nod before turning to Princess Luna. Her horn was already alight with magic and she was looking in my direction. "It is time." That was all she said before a tendril of magic stretched out from her horn and connected itself with Blake's comatose form.

A second tendril reached out and connected with my body, enveloping me in the Princess's cool, calming magical aura. An instant later, I felt myself rocket forward, as though I had been launched from a giant slingshot; then, the world went white.

Blake

It's been almost three days since I woke up in a hospital bed on Earth, and I had all but come to terms with what I perceived to be the events of over a month as being little more than a dream cooked up by a mind desperately clinging to life.

My sister even showed up to wish me well and spend some time with me. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something felt… off… whenever she was around, like she was somehow out of place. I didn't dwell too deeply on it though, simply attributing it as another side-effect of being unconscious for so long.

I was understandably excited; today was the day I was to be discharged from the hospital so I could go home and my life could hopefully return to some sense of normality. My physical therapy had gone well, which was understandable as most of it was simply stretching and working muscled that hadn't been used for an extended period. It was no different than stretching out a limb after having a cast taken off, and I'd had plenty of experience with that in my lifetime. There were still things to do, mostly to help undo the damage the bullet, which I learned was a thirty-eight Special, had caused.

My wife, Lauren, had brought me a new shirt to replace the one that had been ruined when I had been shot. I was in the process of buttoning it up when she walked through the door. "Hey there handsome, ready to get outta here?"

I chuckled and kissed her, an act made tolerable for her due to the hospital providing me with a toothbrush and paste so I could get rid of the two week old morning breath that had been driving me crazy since I'd woken up. "Sure am toots, I think I'm gonna have nightmares about this place for awhile."

She laughed. "I bet. Now, let's get you home… I have plans for you mister." The lust dripping from her voice sent chills of excitement down my spine.

"Oh no… please, won't someone save me?" I said in overly dramatic, mock distress.

We made our way out to the car, where I noticed my sister leaning against the back door, seemingly waiting for us. "Hey Sarah, what brings you here?"

"What? A big sister can't visit her baby brother and his wife after he gets out of the hospital? Especially after y'know… being shot."

I gave her a mock scowl. "I'm two minutes older than you and you know it. Besides, I only got shot a little bit."

"A little bit?! He hit your heart!" She shouted, getting in my face.

I smirked at her. "I got better." I said in my best British accent.

Her face instantly blanked. "You're an idiot."

"Now now children, you can fight all you want once I'm done with him."

Sarah stared at my wife for a moment. "…Eww." Was all she said before turning around and getting into the car.

Lauren and I followed suit, with my wife behind the wheel while I sat next to her.

Twilight

I groaned as I came to, my head throbbing and my body aching. I put a hoof to my head, but instantly recoiled when I realized I didn't have one. I opened my eyes to see a hand where my hoof should be, very similar to Blake's, but much smaller and more slender than his. My new, furless skin was an odd color, seemingly a shade of peach with a small amount of a pale, muted brown mixed in. I remembered Blake telling me once that the brown color was called a 'tan', and they were supposedly attractive in addition to serving the function of protecting them from the sun.

I ran one of my new hands over my arm and gasped at the plethora of new sensations, things I'd never felt with my hoof before. "So this is what it's like to have hands…" I looked down to examine the rest of my body and almost shrieked when I realized that I wasn't wearing a shred of clothing.

This normally wouldn't be a problem except that my teats were now on my chest rather than safely tucked between my hind legs, which now offered no protection for hiding my marehood as my pony body had. I finally looked around at my surroundings and noticed that I was thankfully in a small alley with nopony around. I looked above me and saw a clothes line strung between the two buildings, though out of my reach.

I concentrated on a flower-patterned sundress that was much the same color as Fluttershy's coat. It took a moment to rediscover how to use my magic in this new form, but I was eventually able to, my forearm glowing softly with my pale pink/purple aura.

The dress floated down to me and I made to stand up and catch it, only to realize too late that I didn't know how yet. This ended with me landing firmly on my flank with an 'Oof'. With my concentration broken, the dress floated sown and landed on my head, seeming to add insult to injury.

I growled in frustration and clumsily began pulling the dress over my head to hide what I could while I could. Once it was sufficiently secure, I tried to stand once again, this time with better results as I braced myself against the nearest wall for support.

My legs wobbled and my balance was constantly thrown off by the unfamiliarity with standing on my hind legs coupled with an urge to drop back onto all four, but I knew I couldn't do that. Once I was fully standing, I managed to pull the dress the rest of the way down, hiding my exposed marehood and flank.

Once that was accomplished, I decided it was time to teach myself how to walk in this new body. I took a few shaky steps forward, clutching the wall for support as best I could, and discovered that while in different places, the various joints for my hind legs were still there and still worked relatively the same. With that piece of information, relearning to walk became a relatively simple matter, and I almost had it mastered by the time I reached the end of the alley. I also discovered why humans wear shoes when I stepped on some gravel.

When I emerged from between the two buildings that had provided me a modicum of shelter upon my… unceremonious arrival, I gaped in wonder as I looked around. Some of the buildings were simply massive, easily three times the size of anything I'd seen in Manehatten or Canterlot.

I nearly jumped out of my skin as a loud noise sounded off right next to me. I looked to my left to see a human female sticking her head out of what I could only guess was a 'car', based on the way Blake had once explained them to me.

Blake

I looked on in confusion and horror as a strange young woman, maybe early twenties, wearing a pale yellow sundress stepped out in front of our car, not paying any attention to where she was going. Fortunately, Lauren stomped on the brakes and laid on the horn, managing to stop before striking the young woman. The woman looked over to us and I nearly had a stroke when I saw her face. Her hair was a dark purple-ish blue with a rose and violet streak running through it, her eyes were an unnatural purple color. It can't be…

Before my mind could recover, Lauren began shouting out the window incoherently at the disturbingly familiar woman. I shook my head several times, hoping that it was some sort of weird trick or hallucination my mind was conjuring up, but nothing I did got rid of the image of a human Twilight.

Things got even stranger when her eyes met mine; they began to sparkle and she more-or-less trundled over to the car, her balance obviously shaky. I rolled down the window slightly to tell her to go away, but she began talking before I got the chance. "Oh Blake! Thank Celestia I found you!" Wait, thank Celestia? "You need to listen to me; you've been locked in this dream world by a spell. I-" She was cut off as Lauren, who had gotten out of the car, shoved her away from the window.

"That's plenty enough sister; why don't you go bother someone else with your ramblings?" Twilight looked shocked. "You heard me! Get going! My husband's been through enough without some crazy rambling on about spells and whoever this 'Celestia' is!" So I wasn't hearing things.

"Hold on." I interjected as I climbed out of the car. "Who are you? How do you know that name?"

Her shocked expression turned to me before turning to a hurt one. "Blake, it's me… Twilight."

I had no idea how to respond to that, by rights, the only people who knew about that were my wife and that neurologist at this point. "You can't be. That was just a dream, none of that really happened. Now tell me who you really are and how you know those names and what Twilight looked like in my dream."

She began to tear up. "Blake… It's really me; don't you remember asking me to be your marefriend after you woke up in the Canterlot hospital? Or all the times we cuddled together on your bed, or that amazing Chai tea you showed me how to make?"

I was becoming increasingly angry with every word. When she finished, I couldn't contain it any longer and lashed out, pushing her up against the wall of the building behind her. "You shut your whore mouth! I don't know how you found out about all that, but it WASN'T REAL!"

The Twilight imposter began full on crying at this point. "How could you? After everything we've been through?"

"What's going on bro? What's this chick's deal?" I heard my sister's voice from behind me.

"I've got this Sarah." I growled.

The Twilight imposter's eyes widened. "Wait… 'bro'… 'Sarah'… I know what's happening!" The imposter shouted as she wrenched herself free from my grasp. "I can prove I'm the real Twilight Sparkle!"

As she spoke, she pointed her arm at a nearby trashcan and her forearm lit up with a pale pink-ish purple aura that I recognized, though I'd never described how magic auras looked to anyone. The trashcan lit up with the same aura and lifted off the ground and floated over next to us before spinning around in midair.

I gaped, wide-eyed at the display. No one should know about that! "H-how're you…"

She smirked at me. "You can do it too, just remember what I taught you and take the can from me."

Reluctantly, I complied, raising my own arm towards the can and concentrating on casting the levitation spell as Twilight had taught me. I might as well prove this imposter wrong so she'll go away. The can was suddenly coated in a blue-flecked golden aura… my aura, as Twilight's faded away.

I stood there dumbfounded; everything I had thought was a dream turned out to be true, and what I had once longed to be reality had turned out to be the dream. I looked around at the dream world and noticed that everything had stopped. Even Lauren, who was in midair as she aimed to tackle Twilight, was completely motionless. The next thing I noticed was the deafening lack of sound of any kind; I couldn't even hear Twilight breathing beside me.

I looked over to her, and she thankfully looked back. "Ok, so what do we do now?"

She sighed, the first sound besides my own voice I'd heard since I realized this was a dream world. "Well, Princess Luna told me that in order to break the enchantment and free yourself… you'd have to do the one thing you'd never do."

I was about to ask what she meant by that when my head was filled with an overwhelming static buzz, like someone had left a static-filled T.V. on max volume in my head. I clutched at my head reflexively, but there was oddly no pain involved. A moment later, the buzzing stopped just as abruptly as it had started, leaving me with memories I hadn't had a moment before.

I looked over to Twilight, who was looking at me with concern. "Well?"

I shook my head. "I know what I have to do… but I… I don't know if I can bring myself to do it…"

She cocked her head in curiosity. "What is it?"

"Do you remember what I told you about what happened to my sister?" I asked, looking at Sarah as she leaned in a frozen pose against the car. "Well, I have to let it happen…"

Twilight gasped. "I won't make you do that! There has to be another way!"

I shook my head. "Something gives me the feeling that the only other option is to go back and make me comfortable while I wither away."

She gasped again and began tearing up. "Why is this happening? All I want… all anypony wants, is for you to be happy, but-" I cut her off by wrapping her in a hug.

"I am happy Twilight, and don't think for a second that I'm not grateful for what you and the others have done for me." I looked up as the world faded away and covered Twilight's ears as the scene changed to a very familiar woodland setting, with one key difference; I was no longer a little boy, nor was I tied up…

Luna

"So Princess, how goes the plans fer Blake's new house?" Honesty's bearer asked me as I watched over Twilight's prone form resting on the floor.

I gave her a small smile. "They are going well; construction is to begin within the next two days. I do hope he will like his new home, it is to be made as true to his blueprints as possible."

She grinned widely. "That's great! Ah can't wait ta see-" She was abruptly cut off by a bloodcurdling scream tearing its way from our mutual love's throat.

His eyes were wide open as tears streamed from them, his face skewed into a look of abject horror that tore at my soul.