It was approximately 10:15 pm. An occasional breeze rustled the tall pine trees in a local forest near the city of Detrot. The night sky was partially cloudy with a few stars that shone through. Sounds of nocturnal animals scurrying about were quiet and subtle, and an owl’s sequence of hoots would play periodically. For the most part, the wilderness was in peaceful silence.
A sudden thunderous boom, as if lightning had struck, penetrated the silence and echoed through the forest. Almost all the animals within the vicinity of it were scared off. The sound ended as quickly as it started, and in the center of it all appeared a gray unicorn. A circle of ashe that burned up the duff surrounded where he stood, and he too had parts of him covered in it. Disoriented, he looked confused as to his whereabouts.
“Wha? Who? Where?” said Gloomy, trying to get his bearings. He noticed he walked a few feet away from where he started and looked back at the ashe circle in surprise. He pondered. “D-did I just...teleport?”
Gloomy tried to figure out the cause of this feet as he had never been to magic school nor had he ever attempted teleportation, much less any other advanced magic. Then he realized what it was. Looking down, there it was. The Alicorn Amulet was still on his neck.
So I’m not dreaming? This is real?
It is all too real.
Gloomy jumped as he thought somepony else was in the woods, but there was only him and the forest.
Was that me? It sounded like me, but it felt...different.
He soon figured he was in a forest, but it took him longer to realize what kind of forest it was. He examined the clearing, the familiar placement of the bushes and rocks.
Wait...I remember this place.
Recalling the memories, he turned around to see a large pine tree sticking the farthest out into the clearing. He approached it and scanned its bark until he found an engraving on it. It read: “G & E were here” and had a heart surrounding it.
This is where we first kissed... But why? Why would I teleport here? Why in Equestria did I hear her voice and see an image of her in a reflection?
Maybe I miss her.
Again, Gloomy was startled by what he thought wasn’t his mind speaking.
Am I losing it? Wait a minute. The drugs! It must be my mind going through withdrawals again. I haven’t had a fix in two days.
His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a cold breeze of the night winter air. He started to shiver as his body struggled to adjust to it, but it was proving too difficult for him.
It’s f-f-f-freezing out here. Wait, where are my clothes!? Oh...I guess they must’ve gotten lost through the teleportation. Figures.
He motioned to head out until he remembered how long a trek it was from the city. It was at least an hour’s journey.
Of course! This was also the day we went on that dumb hiking trip for our forestry class. Or was it survival class?
Then, Gloomy suddenly got an idea as he looked back down at the amulet he was wearing.
Wait a minute. I remember they said this thing granted its user powers. I wonder…
Gloomy stared at a lone bush surrounded by dirt that looked isolated from the other plants. He focused real hard on it as red magic started glowing from his horn. In one swift zap, a beam of energy shot from it which made the bush burst into flames.
“Woah!” he exclaimed as he retracted from the sudden brightness. He looked in amazement at what he had just made with little effort, and then looked down at his amulet in delight.
This thing is amazing!
He sat down near the fire and rubbed his hooves together before extending them out to be warmed up.
Okay. It’s probably a bad idea to go out when it’s this cold at night. It’s best I just stay here by the fire until morning. But what about those guards? And that organization? They’ve most likely already put the word out that I’m a wanted thief. I’m not safe in the city. Gotta skip town. But I’ve got no supplies to live on. Nothing on me except this…
Getting up and turning around, he magically materialized a tent in front of him. It was large enough to easily accommodate ten ponies. Inside it was a king sized bed with comfy pillows.
I think I’ll be fine.
~~~
“Honey, what are you doing in there?”
“Go away! I wanna be alone!”
“Gloomy, please come out.” His mother was at her son’s door, speaking to him just outside his room. “You didn’t even talk to me on the way back from school. You just ran straight into your room when we got home. What’s going on?”
“I hate my life! I don’t wanna talk to anypony!”
“Honey, don’t say that. You’ve got friends and a mom who loves you very much. Just come out and talk to me.” She could tell her son was sobbing on the other side. She could hear the choked raspiness of his voice from all the crying. “Did something bad happen at school?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it! Just leave me alone!”
“Gloomy, sweety. If anything bad happened, you can tell me. I promise I won’t be mad at you.”
The sound of his crying calming down as well as sniffling could be heard from the other side. “...Promise?”
“Promise.”
A few seconds passed before she heard the sound of the door unlocking. It slowly opened to reveal an 8-year-old Gloomy with dry tear marks on his face, snorting occasionally to stop the mucus from flowing out of his nose.
“I-I’m sorry for yelling at you,” said Gloomy, trying his best not to cry anymore.
“Oh, honey. Shhhh.” She wrapped her arms around him in a comforting embrace. “You don’t need to be sorry. I can see you’re very upset. Now, can you tell me what happened?”
Gloomy levitated his backpack from his room to him and reached into it to pull out a pink slip of paper. She took it and started to read it over.
“Detention? But you’ve gotten detention before. Why is this time any-” She froze for a second. “Oh no, Gloomy you didn’t…”
Gloomy merely nodded shamefully.
“You know what your father is going to think when he finds out about this, do you?”
“Please mom, don’t tell dad! I don’t want him to find out!” Gloomy started crying again.
“Alright. Alright. Calm down. I won’t tell him, but you have to promise you’ll try not to do this again. Okay?”
“Yes mommy.”
“Alright. Now go clean up. Can’t have you looking that way when your dad gets home from work.” As she spoke, she heard the front door to the house open.
“Hey, I’m home!” Gloomy’s dad shouted as he entered.
“Hey handsome!” the mom replied as she trotted over from the hallway to greet him with a kiss. “How was work?”
“Aww, well we had a slow day at the bank, so some us got sent home early,” he said as he scanned the room. “Where’s my little stallion?”
“Oh, he’s washing up. School germs and all.”
“How was school?”
“Great. He said he got along with the other students just fine.”
“What about his grade report? There’s supposed to be one today, right?”
“Oh, yes. He did really great. Got straight A’s on all his homework.”
“Can I see it?”
“See what?”
“The progress report.”
“But...I just said-.”
“I know. I just want to see for myself. Please...dear?”
“What? You don’t believe me? You know your son’s a smart colt.”
“Look, are you gonna stop wasting my time and get the damn report or am I gonna have to do it myself!?” His voice quickly grew impatient. Gloomy’s mom lowered her head in defeat and went to get her son’s backpack.
Meanwhile, Gloomy was peeking from inside the hallway and watching in fear as her mom went near him to retrieve the backpack. She whispered to him, “I’m sorry.”
When she presented the backpack to the father, he opened it up and looked over all the papers until he found the progress report. He looked it over in confusion as all the A’s were crossed out. He noticed a note on the upper left corner that read: “See pink slip.”
“Where’s the pink slip?”
The mom thought it pointless to beat around the bush and handed him the pink slip she was hiding in one of her hooves. As he read it, his expression grew more enraged. “Your son has been caught copying the answers to homework assignments from other students this past week. Due to cheating on his homework, we have revised his overall grade this week to an F-!?” His face began to get red hot. “Gloomy! Get out here now!”
It was only a few seconds before Gloomy arrived on the spot, shaking in fear of his father’s wrath. “Y-yes dad?”
“What in Celestia’s name sake is this!? You think cheating in school is funny?”
“No dad, I don’t.”
“You think you can just get through life by taking short cuts!?”
“No dad, I-”
“You think any school is gonna want some no good cheater as one of their graduates!? Huh!?”
“Dad, I tried but some of the homework is hard and-”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses!” He firmly grabbed Gloomy by his foreleg and started leading him to the parents’ bedroom. “I’m sorry son, but you’ve got to suffer the consequences.”
Gloomy never saw his father this angry before, and as he neared the room, the father pulled out a wooden paddle that had never been used before on him. Gloomy was shocked. He was expecting his father to use his signature belt which wasn’t that much worse than a hoof spanking, but a hard wooden paddle along with his father’s rage was too much for him to handle. He began pulling desperately against his father’s grip in an effort to free himself, shouting “No! Please! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!” In a moment of sheer panic, Gloomy bit down on his father’s ankle as hard as he could.
“AHH!” The dad shouted in pain as he let go of his son. Gloomy ran to his mother and clung to one of her legs as a means of sanctuary. As the father rubbed the bite mark, he gave his son a deadly glare. “Why you little…”
“Candle, please. He’s learned his lesson,” the mother pleaded.
“You stay out of this, Maple!” Candle Wick lifted his son’s body with his magic and tore him from Maple Tree’s leg. “You don’t know what’s best for him!”
Candle turned to confront Gloomy who was trembling mid-air. “And you. I was gonna go easy on you, but now you’ve forced my hoof.” He picked up the paddle again that had fallen on the floor and, instead of going to his bedroom, he headed to the front door.
Gloomy realized with horror where he was being taken. “Dad, no! Please! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! Please, no!” He desperately thrashed about in the air, trying to grab onto whatever he could on the way out the entrance to the house, but it all proved futile.
His father stopped when they had arrived at the front edge of their lawn. Gloomy could see some of his friends playing outside on the neighborhood street with their parents watching from a distance. As some of them turned to notice them both, Candle placed his son on his belly in the grass and held him down with one hoof. Gloomy knew this position all too well and was trying to find escape in his own mind.
“This!” His father raised the paddle high in the air. His son braced himself in dreadful anticipation in what felt like eternity. Then the paddle came down on Gloomy’s rump with a thunderous WHACK! Gloomy immediately screamed in agony at the sudden surge of pain. Candle spoke with each spank to bring power to his words. “Is for! Dis-! Respecting! Me! In front! Of! Your! Mother!”
With each strike of the paddle, Gloomy convulsed and squirmed in response. He could feel the spanks growing more and more intense. Tears flowed down like streams from his eyes. He could see most of his neighborhood friends stopping what they were doing to point and giggle at him. Even some of their parents who were prying from a distance nodded their heads in approval. Others were talking to their spouses, and although he couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, Gloomy could tell it was something along the lines of “Looks like the little brat got what was coming to him.”
He turned his gaze to the front door of his house to see his mother standing just outside it. She was looking down at the floor in utter hopelessness. Not once did she make eye contact with her son during the ordeal. Gloomy felt something change in him as he looked at the expression on her face. Then, the final spank the father administered woke him up.
Gloomy shot up from his bed in the tent, breathing heavily from the terrible nightmare he had endured. It was still nighttime and, telling by how the fire was almost about to go out, it had only been about an hour since he fell asleep.
That dream...It felt so real...like I was reliving it.
Taking a moment to reason with himself that it was only a nightmare, he laid back down in his bed and closed his eyes. But something felt different. He couldn’t fall asleep as easily as before. He tried laying in different positions, tossing and turning for hours, but he couldn’t get relaxed enough. Gloomy even examined the bed and pillows which were very comfy. In fact, he thought it was the most comfortable bed he had ever slept on. As he racked his brain as to what was hindering his slumber, he barely noticed his tent was beginning to illuminate. He looked outside to see that the sun was just peeking through the forest trees.
It’s morning? ALREADY!?!
Gloomy groaned in annoyed frustration.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Feeling the air temperature now start to rise and seeing no reason to stay, he left his camp and set out in the direction away from Detrot. Gloomy knew of a local small town called Yoke Park nearby that could be a good spot to lay low. On his way, he looked down again at his amulet.
Eve...I know this has something to do with you. But what are you trying to tell me?
He imagined there would’ve been some kind of response in his head like before, but there was only his thoughts. Then, he was startled by a rustling of bushes nearby. He turned around and just several feet in front of him was a giant grizzly bear. Gloomy’s eyes widened and his body became petrified with fear. The bear sniffed at him a few times before it raised itself on its back paws in an aggressive stance. This was it. It was live or die, fight or flight in Gloomy’s mind. The bear raised a claw, about to maim him. As it came down, Gloomy closed his eyes.
NO!!!
A burst of electricity shot out of his horn onto the bear. The bear shook in pain as the current passed through its body. When he realized what he was doing, he stopped the spell to which the bear collapsed on the ground. Gloomy at first was surprised, but then remembering the capabilities of the Alicorn Amulet, he smiled triumphantly.
“Ya! You like that?” He gave another small shock to the bear which convulsed in response.
This...feels good.
He gave one shock after another, feeling the exhilaration of having power over the now helpless bear. “You want some more? Huh?” His shocks grew more intense until he heard the bear start moaning in agony. He stopped the torture.
Wait...what am I doing? I’m defending myself. But the bear... it’s not a threat anymore. It could be if I give it a chance to fight back. It looks really scared though.
As he reasoned with himself, he was surprised to see the bear get up quickly and run off into the bushes from whence it came. Gloomy sighed in relief. He figured the bear wouldn’t return, but just in case he didn’t want to stay to find out.
He had been traveling for about half a day till he reached the edge of Yoke Park. His hooves were pretty sore from all the trekking through the rough forest floor. He decided to spy out the town from the brush. The streets weren’t nearly as busy as the ones in Detrot. Only a few ponies were walking along the sidewalks, some with their pets, others with their foals. The town had only a handful of businesses for shopping, eating, recreation, etc. It was a town Gloomy could really get used to living in as opposed to the slums of Downtown.
As he observed the town, something suddenly obscured part of his vision. For a moment, Gloomy could see the back of himself as if he were standing behind himself looking at himself. Thinking somepony was behind him, he quickly turned around, but there was nopony there. But now Gloomy could see himself looking at himself. Then, the image of himself quickly disappeared and he was able to see clearly again.
What in Celestia was that? Am I hallucinating again?
He waited to see if he would have another mirage, yet nothing happened. He felt uneasy and looked over his shoulder occasionally as he continued to scout out the town.
Okay, I need a plan to blend in unnoticed. But how can I not draw attention with this Amulet around my neck. It sticks out like a sore hoof.
He then spotted a house nearby that had a clothesline outside. On it were various types of clothing.
Perfect.
He carefully snuck over to the clothesline and checked to see if anypony was around. He could hear dishes being done inside the house, but he couldn’t see anypony through the windows. He looked at the clothes until he saw a black cape with a hood. Thinking it was the best choice, he quickly removed it from the line with his magic and bolted behind one of the nearest buildings.
He secured the black cape around his neck and did his best to cover the Alicorn Amulet so it would be out of view.
I suppose that’ll have to do.
Seeing nopony still in sight, he cautiously walked around the building and onto the street. He began to relax, though, as he went down it, examining some of the stores along the way. Most of them were actually vacant buildings for sale. Many of the shops went out of business due to the decreasing population of the town. He also noticed how most of the shops he came across were either novelty stores or bakeries.
I can see why this place is almost a ghost town. Who makes a living selling nothing but bath salts?
Gloomy was so fixated on the buildings he didn’t notice an elderly couple walking their dog towards him on the same sidewalk. When he finally took notice, he got nervous again. He could see they were looking at him as well. They had care-free smiles on their faces and the dog they were walking was a golden retriever.
He smiled politely back at them, but then took notice as the couple’s smiles lowered to a more concerned expression as they drew closer.
What’s wrong? Why are they looking at me like that? I knew the cape was a bad idea!
The couple then put on a half smile as they were about to cross paths when their dog immediately started to lung towards Gloomy, barking viciously at him. The sudden yanking of the dog’s leash made the elderly husband holding it stumble forward a bit.
“Daisy! Calm down, girl! What’s gotten into you?” said the old pony, startled by their dog’s reaction.He soon regained control of the leash and vigorously tried holding his dog back.
Gloomy was surprised and immediately backed away from the dog. He then went off the sidewalk and around them in the hopes that it would be enough distance between him and the dog.
“I’m really sorry,” the elderly stallion said to Gloomy as the dog continued to bark and pull. “She’s usually nice to strangers.”
“It’s fine…” Gloomy just continued to walk around them to let them go about their day.
“You have a nice day. And again, we’re really sorry,” said the wife.
After passing each other, Gloomy looked back to see them still trying to calm their pet.
I’ve never seen an animal that angry at me before...well except for that bear earlier.
He soon put the moment behind him as he noticed a hayburger stand with a stallion working at it on a corner across the street to where he was. As he got closer, he could smell the pleasing aroma of freshly cooked hay patties. His mouth started to water and he heard a sudden groaning in his stomach.
Of course. I haven’t eaten since yesterday. But...I’ve got no bits on me. It’s not like he’ll just give me a hayburger. I...could just- NO! No, I can’t just keep stealing stuff. I promised my friend I’d make a better start for myself. But...I really AM hungry. It’s just one little burger, right? I’m sure he won’t mind if he never finds out.
Gloomy approached the stand and surveyed the food, being taken in by the smell.
“Well, hello there!” The pony at the stand was preparing another batch of hay fries. “Interested in buying a hayburger? Fresh off the grill!”
“No...not right now. I ate very recently. I’m just looking.” Gloomy began to formulate a plan as he scanned the food selection.
“Are ya sure? You look a bit...pale.”
Did he just say I look...pale? Oh, if we weren’t in broad daylight, you’d be im-paled right about now!
“No, I’m sure,” said Gloomy trying to keep his cool.
“Well alright then. Do stop by when your hankerin for some good food.”
Gloomy could see a newspaper rack right behind where the hayburger stand was set up, and then he got an idea. When the pony wasn’t looking, he concentrated his magic on the stand and ignited a small flame to one of the newspapers. The fire began to grow rapidly as it consumed much of the other newspapers and magazines.
“Heya...do you smell smoke?” said the stand pony facing Gloomy. He put his nose in the air, sniffing and turning to look behind him. “Oh, horse crap!” He freaked out as soon as he saw the huge flames just a few feet away from the cart. He pulled out a fire extinguisher he stored in his cart for such an occasion and began hosing the burning rack.
While he was distracted, Gloomy quickly grabbed a few hayburgers and a drink and ran off.
~~~
Gloomy slowly opened his eyes to see he was lying in his old bed in his old apartment. It was just after sunrise and he’d just woken up from one of the best nights he ever had. As he lay there, he stretched around a bit when one of his legs bumped into another pony’s under the covers. A tired mare with a magenta and bright blue mane emerged from the covers and turned herself to face Gloomy. Her eyelids slowly opened to reveal her beautiful turquoise eyes. She gave a loving smile. Gloomy smiled back. They both laid facing each other in a moment of blissful silence.
“Morning,” said Evening Star.
“Morning,” said Gloomy.
“What time is it?”
Gloomy looked over to the alarm clock behind him. “It’s...about a quarter past 8:00.”
“You’ve gotta go to work in like an hour, right?”
“Ya...I’m just glad I got to wake up early so I could spend a little more time with you.”
“Aww, you’re so sweet.” She gave him a little kiss.
“You know what sounds sweet right about now? Some coffee.” Gloomy got up quickly from his bed and went towards the kitchen. “You want any?”
“Sure. Easy cream, extra-”
“Sugar?” He levitated a container of sugar to show her. “I know how you like your coffee. After all, you work at a cafe.” He brought two mugs for him and her to the bed and they both had a sip.
“...Actually, I may not be working there anymore pretty soon,” said Evening, looking at Gloomy with a grin.
Gloomy looked at her confused, then his eyes widened “No...you didn’t...you got accepted? To Vanhoover!?”
She nodded cheerfully.
“So you’re actually gonna be...”
“A foal nurse.”
Gloomy became elated. “By Celestia, that’s wonderful news!” He set his mug aside and sat on the bed beside her and gave her a deep hug. “I’m so happy for you!”
“There’s just one problem.”
Gloomy ceased his hugging and looked at her confused. “What do you mean?”
“I looked at the unit prices they charge for the classes...and the book prices...It’s all so expensive. I’m working a near-minimum wage job. I’ve got some bits in my savings, but I doubt it’ll last me a whole year. Maybe I could take out a loan. Doesn’t Buck Hill’s have fair interest rates?”
“Ya...but...wait, are you having second thoughts about all this?”
“Kinda...I just don’t know if I can pay off all that debt. I mean I’m not a math expert, but I think I would be paying off my student loans for most of my life. I’m not sure I can handle-”
“Eve...If I said I could help pay for your tuition, would that be enough to make you want to go?”
“Gloomy...you don’t have to-”
“I want to. I can’t imagine anything better than seeing you fulfill a dream you had since you were a filly. You mean that much to me.”
Evening’s expression became soft and thankful, but then turned to one of concern. “Are you sure you can handle paying for those classes. I see how you’re not living on much right now what with the apartment.”
“It’s no big deal. My dad got me into the habit of saving up bits, so now I have a good amount of it in the bank. Originally, I was saving it for a rainy day, but those rainy days never came and now I don’t really know what to do with it all....till now.”
But if you’re certain you want to go through with this...that means I’ll be living over there for several years and...we’ll barley get to see each other during that time.”
“We can send each other letters, and we may find time to visit each other every now and then. It’s gonna be hard, I know. I just want to let you know that if you’re on board, so am I.”
She looked at him with eyes full of adoration. “Okay then...I’m on board.”
Gloomy delightfully hugged and kissed her in celebration.
Evening looked deep into his eyes and with a calm smile said, “I love you.”
Gloomy was surprised by her response as it was the first time either of them had said in a meaningful way ‘I love you’. He wasn’t sure how to respond until her calming gaze helped him to relax. He took a deep breath and said, “I love you too.”
Gloomy opened his eyes to find himself sitting against a tree outside Yoke Park. He looked down to see an empty cup and a few wrappers, the remains of the food he had stolen. It took him a moment to realize he had a nap under the tree after finishing his meal. The sun had already set and it was getting dark. A large storm cloud could be seen in the horizon moving towards the town. He could hear occasional sounds of thunder.
Another dream...It felt as real as the last one.
He got up and went back into town. The streets were empty and much of the stores were closed. He could feel the air getting colder. He stopped next to a clothing store with a wide glass window displaying mannequins dressed in outfits.
Why am I having these vivid dreams? I don’t think it’s the withdrawals anymore. It’s...something else.
Gloomy looked down at his cape and parted the front of it, revealing the Alicorn Amulet.
Is it the Amulet? Is that why I’ve been getting all these strange visions? This thing been messing with my head all this time?
He grabbed the Amulet with one of his hooves and motioned to take it off.
Wait...no...why should I get rid of it? It’s helped me get out of tight spots. The guards, the cold night, the bear in the woods...I’d be dead without it. It’s only looking out for me, trying to keep me safe. That’s all. I NEED it.
He released his hoof from the Amulet. When he looked up, he noticed something moving down the street where he was. A pony. It appeared to be a stallion walking towards him wearing a hoodie over his head so that part of his face was obstructed.
Gloomy began to feel uneasy by how fast he was walking. “Uh...hello?” The pony didn’t respond to Gloomy’s call but rather increased his pace almost to the point of running. The nervous unicorn began to back away as he got closer. “Hey...Can I help you or something!?”
Before Gloomy could say anymore, the hooded pony pulled out a knife. As soon as Gloomy saw it, his heart dropped and a surge of fear came over him. The pony, using his magic, launched the knife at Gloomy. In an instant, Gloomy teleported behind him. The enemy then quickly redirected the knife to strike again. Gloomy thought fast and produced a shield made out of magical energy which absorbed the attack. The pony then threw the knife off to the side past Gloomy. He then used his magic to make it come back around like a boomerang aiming for Gloomy’s backside. Gloomy quickly turned his shield around to deal with the projectile, but he let his guard down as the assailant pulled out another knife from his other pocket. Then a feeling came over Gloomy as his life was about to be ended. Pure rage.
“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Gloomy unleashed a powerful wave of magic that slammed the hooded pony from the side which launched him into the clothing store window. The loud thunderous sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the town causing some of the nearby resident lights to turn on.
Gloomy was breathing heavily from the intense moment as he went to investigate the state of his attacker. He saw him lying there in the store among shards of glass and knocked-over mannequins. He appeared to be unconscious with a few cuts on his body. He pulled the hood back to unveil a male middle-aged unicorn, but he did not recognize him.
Why...why did he attack me out of nowhere?
Gloomy then noticed there was a shirt underneath his hoodie. He carefully unzipped his sweater with his magic to reveal an outfit that looked very familiar to Gloomy. He spotted a badge with four distinct initials.
AHPA? So...he’s one of them? How did they find me so fast? H-he saw me.
Gloomy levitated a sharp piece of glass in the air and hovered it over the pony’s neck.
Wait! What am I doing? I can’t kill a pony. But he saw me. He needs to die. I can’t let him tell the others. But he’s just a pony. A pony who tried to kill me. I’d be in so much trouble for murder. Who cares when you got an Amulet of untold powers!? I-I can’t...Yes you can. Stop being a little chicken and-
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of some civilian ponies approaching from around the corner of the store. Gloomy immediately dropped the piece of glass and quickly left the scene into the woods before they arrived.
~~~
It had been hours since the incident at the town and Gloomy had exited the forest into an open valley. The storm clouds had already covered most of the sky and a heavy rain with frequent jolts of lightning was all over the valley. The uncomfortable wetness made Gloomy sulk in discomfort as he trudged through mud and grass.
“Is this...my life now? On the run from ponies out to kill me? There’s no way my life can go back to normal. Not from this. I’ve messed up too much. That’s not such a bad thing. After all...disappointing ponies IS my special talent.”
Gloomy lifted his black cape to reveal his cutie mark, a black heart that had been cracked in half.
“You’ve been really struggling with what your true purpose in life is, haven’t you? Maybe it’s because I’ve been looking at things the wrong way all this time, huh? Pain, suffering, despair? Those are all the things I feel surrounding me everyday. It’s like most times I feel like I’m a black hole, destroying myself and everypony around me. It’s been impossible to escape...so why try to fight it? Why not embrace the black hole? I mean it makes sense, doesn’t it? Here I’ve been trying all my life to be the kind of happy other ponies want me to be, but what if...they don’t see that I’m already happy being in the dark?”
Gloomy gave a little chuckle.
“Now I get it. What she was trying to show me was...ME.
He began to break out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. After it died down, he took a deep breath.
“I guess for all she’s done for me, I still owe her one last favor.”
Gloomy continued on through the darkness of the storm. The only light there was were the flashes of lightning that briefly illuminated the whole valley. His pale white face had wide eyes and large smile. He started heading in the direction of Vanhoover.