The streets are flooded. The house is empty and cabin fever is starting to take hold. 48 hours of living hell.
It's not healthy to stay inside too long, especially when you are alone... too bad the flood gate has broken and now half of Ponyville is stuck inside. With no communication and no plan, Aperture is forced to stay home. Normally he would take any opportunity to get outside with his camera and take some pictures. But right now, that just isn't feasible. Being susceptible cabin fever certainly isn't helping matters. Knowing fully of how the equestrian brain is possible of all kinds of horror if the conditions are right, this misfortunate pony certainly is anxious of the next 48 hours.
I actually wrote most of this story a few months ago but never thought to upload it till now. It's not finished, I'm currently about half way through writing the whole thing. The rest needs some polish but it'll all be uploaded when its ready. Thanks to Milo_Chalks for inspiring me to clean up and actually publish this thing. He's been my rock for the past month. Go check out his new fic he's just posted here <-----
Hearing the pitter pattering of rain on the roof was not a new sensation. It was all that could be heard in this house over the past week. Never ending downpour. Showering down on Ponyville like a dark shroud, constantly overhead. Clamping my hooves over my ears did little to stop the constant noise. Whether it was because of how loud it was or if it was my mind trying to fill the emptiness with the only sound it could remember. It was maddening.
I finally decided it was time to get up, I was getting restless lying in bed anyway. Rolling out from under the sheets I was greeted by the blisteringly cold air. I hurried to my wardrobe to collect my scarf and jumper.
“Much better” I said to myself. Talking to myself had become a habit. I always felt calmer if I could think out loud rather than just in my head. After all the lightning hunting I had done for my photography and all the time I spent alone during said hunting, I suppose it was only natural to develop such a compulsion.
I hurried down the stairs towards the fireplace, fumbled with the matches for a bit and finally managed to get a fire going. Soon, the entire room was filled with heat. Suddenly my home felt more homey than it did when I woke up. Light was cast onto my photography award that I obtained several years ago for winning first place in the Equestrian Photography Society’s annual ‘Photo of the year’ contest.
“Awarded to Aperture for his incredible still shot of lighting striking a tree in the dead of night.” It read. They make it sound so impressive, but really it was just right place right time sort of thing. I just got lucky. Never the less, I was proud of my achievement. I then headed towards the front door to go and see if the newspaper had been delivered yet.
Twisting the handle resulted in the door swinging open by itself and a cold wet sensation on my hooves. I looked down.
“Water?” I exclaimed as the fluid quickly sloshed past my hooves and onto my carpet. I quickly forced the door close and peered out the window. It looked like all of Ponyville had been completely flooded. Water running down the streets in a similar fashion to a small river. I was astonished. How could we have gone from an admittedly large amount of rain to full on flooding?
Then it hit me.
The flood gates, they must have broken. All that pressure must have caused it to break and cause a flood. Considering that Ponyville is between two mountains, it wasn’t impossible for it to flood like this, but I never thought I would see it could happen. I can’t even open my front door without risk of completely flooding the entire house.
Opening the door for that small amount of time had already caused substantial damage to the floor. I can only imagine how much destruction could be caused by leaving the door open. I had come to the realisation that I was imprisoned by the elements, in my own house of all places.
“This is my worst nightmare” I thought to myself over and over again, each time making me more and more anxious. “Ok, Ok calm down.” I said “Inhale, count to three, exhale”. There was that habit again. It really did help, and in a situation like this I’ll take whatever kind of support I can get. Worrying ran in my family. My Dad would constantly worry about everything, small or large. I guess I got that from him. My Mum was the opposite, always laughing things off. She had an aura of calm around her most of the time. I could really use that aura right about now. I sat down back at the fireplace.
The water had already started to evaporate leaving my carpet dry once again. I suppose that’s a start. I just stared into the fire and tried to forget about my situation. Every now and again I would think “Hey why don’t I just go outside and get some fresh air”. Only to come crashing back down to reality as I realise where I was. Without warning there was a tapping on glass. I looked around, confused. Where could it have come from? Was it just a tree scratching my windows? Again two taps. I spun around only to see a blue face smiling back at me. I hurried to my hooves and scurried over to the window and pushed it open.
“Hey bud, how you doin’ in there?” The blue pegasus said.
“I’m fine yeah, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’m just doing the rounds and letting everypony know what’s going on with the weather.”
“So you’re a weather pony?”
“Ponyville’s one and only!”
I recognised the mare and started racking my brain for a name that matched the face.
“You’re Rainbow Dash right?”
“Yep that’s me!”
“Ah of course, so what did you want to tell me?”
“What? Oh! About the weather, yeah it’s a bit screwy at the moment” She said. “Apparently there was a mechanical malfunction or something up in Cloudsdale and that’s what caused all the rain in Ponyville over the past few days.”
“So how long will it be until it’s fixed?” I asked.
“Should be around two days. Apparently I’m not important enough to know the exact time when it will be fixed but two days seems like a fair guess don’t you think?”
Two days. Those words echoed in my head. Two days, stuck inside. Two days, alone.
“You alright there bud? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” She says, trying to hold back a laugh. I was insulted at how she was treating the situation. It was all fine for her, she had wings, she could just fly away whenever she wanted to. But I’m stuck here. Maybe it’s just me. I do tend to get a bit distressed when solitude is involved.
“Hello? You still all there?”
“Yes sorry, I was… thinking about something.”
“What were you thinking about?” She asked.
“Does it matter?”
“I guess not, I was just curious” She said.
“Well it better be going then, seeya!” She says as she begins to fly off.
“Wait!” I yell. She turns back to look at me. Why did you do that you idiot.
“Yeah what is it?”
“It’s just that…”
Sweet Celestia, what are you doing? You don’t even know this mare.
“Well, I have pretty bad anxiety. And it can get pretty bad when I’m forced to be by myself”
“Oh… ok” She said nervously.
“So I was just wondering if you could come back and…”
There must be a better way to phrase this. I thought.
“I would like to ask you if you would come back tomorrow and check on me.” I said. “I wouldn’t ask you otherwise unless I thought it was important.”
“Hmm” She rubs her chin and looks off into the distance.
“Ok then, will do” She says cheerfully.
“Wow ok thank you so much.” I say.
“I owe you.”
“Well I’ll try and remember that, uhhh…”
“Aperture.” I say.
“Ok then Aperture” She says. “I’ll come back ‘round this time tomorrow and see how you’re holding up!” She says with a small salute.
“Thank you so much” I say
She smiles and flies off into the sky. I close the window and take a deep breath and try to stop my heart from leaping out my mouth.
After the visit from that weather pony I was feeling a bit better about my situation. Maybe it won’t be so bad, there must be something I could do. I looked out the window. “Maybe I could take some pictures, this kind of weather doesn’t come around often” I said to myself. I wandered upstairs to grab my camera.
This house doesn’t actually belong to me, well… it sort of does. My house mate Kindle Spark left for Manehatten a few days ago for business. I really missed having her around. She provided welcome company for me. Thinking about her deep red mane relaxed me.
For a moment I forgot where I was, what my situation was. I imagined I was in Canterlot with my all my friends. At the donut shop, laughing, smiling. I opened my eyes, I was halfway up the stairs. Once again, I crashed back to reality. My heart sunk, I had really convinced myself that I was somewhere completely different. That’s another thing I’m really good at. It’s a blessing and a curse I suppose.
I finally made it to the top of the stairs and moved towards my study. Pushing down on the handle produced a loud groan as the door opened. This didn’t help me feel any less anxious. I headed into the cold dark room. Since the door had been closed, none of the hot air had made it inside. I could see my breath all of a sudden. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. There on the desk the glint of a camera lens caught my eye.
“Found you” I said. I grabbed my camera and returned down the stairs towards the front window which was just next to the front door. I pulled the curtain and gazed out into the street to observe the damage. It was nothing too bad, but the water was about a quarter up some pony’s doors.
There was no leaving. I only wish that I was a unicorn or a pegasus. That way I could either just teleport between houses until I got to someone I knew. Or fly there instead. I suppose I could just wade my way through the water. Earth ponies are blessed with glorious strength, I can be thankful for that at least. But even then, if I opened the door there would be no possibility of closing it.
The water had only risen further since my close call earlier. It was difficult enough then, it would be down-right impossible now. The raw power of the flowing water would be too much. I stood there for at least an hour just snapping away. It was a good way to kill time. That’s one hour down, 23 until the weather pony returns.
I’d already forgotten her name, I have awful short term memory. Maybe I could convince her to stay, or is that too far? Would she mind? Seeing those rhinestone eyes again would provide me an enormous amount of comfort. Now I just sound creepy. I barely know this mare, I can’t even remember her name and here I am fantasising about her presence.
“I really am going mad. That didn’t take long. No, I shouldn’t talk like that. It will only make me worse.” I said to myself. I started pacing around the room, thinking about what else I could do the occupy my time. Maybe I should read a book. Princess Twilight loves books, and if they’re good enough for her then they’re good enough for me. I walked over to the bookshelf that was attached to the stairs.
Whoever designed this house had quite an eye for interior design. I hoofed through a few books until I found something that peaked my interest. ‘Lights of Manehatten’ written by Nightowl. I wish I knew this was here, I could have given it to Kindle before she left. It would have made for a fitting farewell present. Thoughts of her face start to flood my memory again, I let them come.
I remember the time we first met at the university in Canterlot. We hit it off almost immediately. We remained friends for 2 years. It was at the end of my studies that I was kicked out of my apartment for not paying rent. I tried to charm my way out of it but it didn’t work out so I left. I was talking to Kindle about it when she told me that her parents bought her a big house in Ponyville for her to live in after she finished school. She invited me to move in, I was amazed by her kindness.
Within a week I was settled in. I was unaware of the history that certain Ponyville residents had. Until a giant castle sprung up from the ground one day. That was… odd. Granted it was probably the best thing that happened all day since my soul had been sucked out of me by a giant centaur. That whole day was just one big blur. Either way, no harm done. I got my soul back and Twilight Sparkle got a new house. Good for her.
I snapped back to reality. I got lost in my thoughts for a bit there. I sat down with my book and started reading. Reading about Manehatten was making me want to go. The descriptions of towering skyscrapers dotted with squares of light coming from the rooms on each floor sounded beautiful. Anything would be better than this. In fact couch-surfing doesn’t sound too bad if it meant I didn’t need to spend all day inside, alone like I am right now.
Upper East Manehatten sounded somewhat similar to Canterlot. Rich upper class trotting around like they owned the place. I was born into wealth, just as many other ponies in Canterlot were. But my parents made me work for everything that I wanted. At the time I was annoyed that they wouldn’t just buy me anything I wanted like my friends parents would. But now that I’ve aged, I understand why they did what they did and I thank them for it.
Kindle was brought up the opposite of how I was. She was showered with expensive luxury items whenever she wanted. Looking back, I am amazed at how she wasn’t completely corrupted with greed. I remember a few months after we first met, we started talking about our parents. She said she felt like she had it too easy and wishes that her parents had taught her how to work hard and not just give her everything she wanted. I never fully understood that mindset, but I can see how an upbringing like that could bite you in the ass as you get older.
I think a large reason of how we became friends was our pure fascination of how different we both were in how we worked and studied. To anypony outside of our circle, this would seem like a weird reason to be friends. But it just worked.
Lost in thought, once again. It’s amazing how distracted we can get when we’re thinking about things. Jumping from one subject to another without an obvious connection between the two topics. Shaking my head, I stopped myself from falling back into deep thought. I was tired, maybe I just needed to sleep. It had been a long, stressful day and I was spent. I rose to my hooves and grabbed the book from the small table next to my chair.
As I moved towards the bookshelf, I heard a whisper. Just for a moment. Quiet, but noticeable enough to hear. I glanced around in search of the source of the sound. Nothing. I’m just tired I thought to myself. I placed the book back where I found it on the bookshelf. I put out the fire that I had lit earlier and headed upstairs to my room. My bed was still a mess. I never got around to making it when I got up. I normally did it after I had breakfast, but I completely forgot. With good reason I suppose.
I slid under the sheets and pulled them up to my chin. I was freezing but I knew that within a few minutes I would be warm so it didn’t matter too much. Staring at the ceiling, vision blurring, mind clouding. All my worries left my mind like a bucket being dropped off a bridge and being carried off by the stream below.
Light. Sunlight. I was awake. Drenched in cold sweat, a torturous nightmare had abused me last night. Memories of pain and fear still fresh in my mind. All the stress and chaos of yesterday had caught up to me in my dreams it would seem. Just a dream though I thought.
I rose to my hooves to gaze out the window. Praying that all the water would be gone and that it would be all over. Nope. Water still flooded the streets, it seemed as if it had gone down a small amount. I might be able to leave the house today. I would have climbed out the window, but there was absolutely nothing to climb on and the fall could seriously hurt me. This house was quite tall and downstairs had a very high ceiling so the top floor was easily 4 meters above the ground.
I didn't want to risk it. I’m desperate, but not that desperate. I chuckled to myself. For some reason the thought of me face planting into the ground was pretty funny. Granted the fall would kill me, but at least it would be a humorous death. Geez, I've been stuck in here way too long.
I threw on my blue jumper and went downstairs. Quickly I got a fire started in the fireplace so I could warm up. One of the only things that brings me delectation right now is the heat radiating from the roaring fireplace.
I stoked the fire with gusto, eagerly awaiting warmth to return to my being and for the sweat to leave. Every now and again I see something move in the corner of my eye. Shadows from the dancing flames, that must be it. The overwhelming thought of being watched made the hairs on the back of my neck raise. I’m not even talking to myself anymore. Whenever I open my mouth to say something, nothing comes out. I feel like something will hear me...
The crackling of the fire and the beat of my heart are the only things I feel comfortable hearing. I’m dead still staring into the fireplace. The flames licked and danced in front of my face, I became mesmerized by the grace of their movements.I suddenly felt calm, at peace. For the shortest of time, i felt safe.
Suddenly, without warning. A book fell from the shelf behind me. I froze with fear, my heart exploding in my chest like dynamite. I felt dizzy and sick with terror. I couldn't even bring myself to turn around and see what happened, a million scenarios flew through my mind at once. What if somepony broke in and was getting ready to stab me in the back of the head. What if the shelf was going to fall down and crush me to death.
Quickly I spun around, nearly falling into the fireplace. Nothing. There was nothing. And that was the scariest part, no books had hit the floor. Every single book was placed neatly on the shelf, dust still sitting on top of most of them. Whatever made that noise. It had moved away.
The sun had fully risen and the house was flooded with beautiful sunlight for the first time in nearly two days. Despite the rain still plummeting down, it was clear that it wasn't going to last. Still deep as ever, the water looked more and more inviting with every passing moment. A nice daytime swim would do a world of good. But, if I opened that door, the entire bottom floor would be flooded in seconds. Ember would slaughter me for destroying all her furniture.
Memories came flooding into my memory of my university days. Swimming in the fountains at midnight with my marefriend at the time, Gembright. So many sleepless nights thanks to her. Shame we couldn't stay together, I know she wanted to as much as I did but I suppose fate had other plans. Maybe one day, we’ll cross paths again. I doubt she’ll hold out for me, I wouldn't want her to anyway. Besides, it's not like I did. I would be lying to myself if I said that Ember hadn't peaked my interest more than once.
She’s single, so who knows. Argh, just thinking about asking her out was making me anxious as all hell. I remember how hard it was asking Gem out. I spent all night up with my gay friend Skysoar. Despite his sexuality (or maybe, because of his sexuality) he was a whiz with the mares. He could read ponies like you wouldn't believe. I credit him for getting the two of us together in the first place. We were already friends so it was just a matter of asking her to dinner, sounds simple but I blushed my brains out. Looking back the next day it occurred to me how much she was blushing through her smile.
Sky was right, she was into me. I was too much of a thick idiot to see it though. Ah, looking back at my past gives me tingles of happiness. I’m a very nostalgic person and reminiscing is one of my favourite pastimes, along with making new memories to reminisce about of course. I wouldn't say I’m super popular in Ponyville, but most of the ponies here seem to know me by name so I guess considering how I've only been here a short amount of time, I guess I’m semi-popular.
All the happiness drained from my soul as I heard a loud creak come from upstairs, followed by some other noises. My face went pale and my guts hit my pelvis. I knew I had to go and see what made that noise but I really really didn't want to. I just stood there, blindly staring at the roof above thinking about what could have made the noise. I slowly started moving forwards, towards the staircase. My legs on autopilot, my mind raced with fear and anxiety. Each step felt like it took an eternity to climb.
Protect me Celestia I thought to myself as I reached the top. To my right was my room, and my study next to that. On the left down a short mezzanine was Ember’s room. Sometimes we would hang out in there and go throw my latest photos on her bed, since it was bigger than mine it made for more space to place photos. Sometimes I would have thoughts about sleeping in there, next to her, feeling her warmth on my body and the beat of her soft heart.
Snap out of it Aperture, you have a job to do. The noise oddly enough, came from her room. I opened the door and stepped inside. The door had remained closed since she left so not only did the cold air bite at my fur, but the familiar smell of her perfume wafted over me, it was like she was right next to me. I took another step further into the room. Both mine and her room were quite generous sizes, even by my upper class Canterlot standards. My eyes scanned the room and saw nothing out of place or unusual.
I glanced over at the wardrobe. Dark thoughts flooded my mind. Something could be hiding in there. Waiting to pounce and end my life. I extended a shaky hoof and grasped the handle with reluctance. Then, with even more reluctance I pulled and the doors swung open to reveal, nothing. Just clothes. I pushed them aside and searched for any unfriendly entities that could be hiding. But, thank the princesses, there was nothing.
I hurried back downstairs and quickly climbed onto the sofa and wrapped myself in a blanket in an attempt to gain even more heat. I felt so much safer snuggled up with this piece of cloth than I did snuggled up without it. Don’t over think it, stupid. You’ll just make yourself feel worse.
