//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Shattered // Story: Nightmare // by Salty Alty //------------------------------// It had been a few days since my interview with Crystal Heart, and I had been using the time off to perform a few necessary tasks. Restock the groceries, pay the bills, get shitfaced with my friends... y'know, usual working-class pony things. It'd been a while since I was graced with a few days all to myself. It was nice.  I stretched out like a cat on my couch, the TV in front of me tuned to the Equestrian Daily news channel. Truth be told, I was only half listening. I only had it on to try and drown out the roar of the city outside while I tried to take a nap.  I was jolted out of my half-asleep state by the sound of my phone buzzing. After reaching over to the end table with a mighty struggle, I glanced at the screen. Dawn had texted me... but he should have been at work. Dawn Star: Hey Evey, you able to meet up real quick? I've got something I need to talk to you about. I tilted my head, not quite sure what to make of the message. Usually, he'd save important discussions for our weekly dates, or simply tell me about things upfront. He never beat around the bush, especially not over text.  Evening Shade: Uhh, sure. You'll need to give me a bit to make myself look halfway decent, but I can meet you at the Nook in like... a half hour or so. Why? What's up? Dawn Star: I just need to talk to you, and it's not something I'd feel comfortable texting you. I'll meet you there. As I finished reading the message I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, and alarm bells were going off in my head. I immediately attempted to calm myself down. It could just be something normal, right? He could have changed jobs, a family member could have fallen ill... there were plenty of reasonable and rational conclusions I could jump to. That still didn't silence any of the nagging doubts that had planted themselves inside of my head. I quickly set to cleaning myself up a bit, rushing through the process as swiftly as possible. I may have still looked a bit scraggly by the end of it, but that wasn't my biggest concern at the moment. I leapt off of my balcony and down to the streets below, bounding across the cobblestone roads like a rabbit as I made my way over to the Nook. The wind was particularly chilly today, forcing me to squint in order to be able to see. A storm was brewing in the sky, the dark gray clouds occasionally letting out an ominous boom, almost as if to remind me that they were there.  I arrived at the Nook just as the harsh rain began showering the city, and the wind had begun to pick up in speed, howling like an angry and rabid Timberwolf. I couldn't help but feel like a frog had lodged itself in my throat as I opened the door and trotted inside. I felt cold chills roll across my spine, and every inch of my fur stood on end as I spied Dawn sitting in our normal booth, the expression on his face a mixture of sorrow and grim resolve.  I walked over, taking the seat across from him. My eyes flashed between his phone, which sat on the table, and his face, which looked at me almost... almost with a sense of pity. "So uhh... What's wrong, Dawn? Why are we here right now?" He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just... just read it," he said, unlocking his phone and shoving it towards me.  I picked it up tentatively, almost as if it was about to bite me. The screen burned my eyes as I scanned through each line of text, not quite believing what I was reading. “What?”  My heart pounded madly in my chest as a cold sweat dripped down my brow, my blood having been chilled like arctic ice. I looked to him more than once, until my eyes hurt from rapid movement. All he did was look at me, trying to gauge my reaction. With him just sitting there silently, I pressed for more. “What do they mean you’re fired if we don't break up?!” He took the phone out of my hooves, stuffing it inside a pocket in his jacket. "It's exactly as it says. If I don't stop seeing you, my career is over. That email came in yesterday. That is what we needed to talk about." He looked out the window, his eyes taking in the downpour outside. "Frankly, it puts me in a tight spot financially if I lose this job, and you know how the market is nowadays, especially here in Canterlot." Just looking at the cold, hard expression he was giving me caused tears to well up in my eyes. I could tell that this was hurting him as much as it was hurting me. "W-What do you plan to do about it? We can get through this, can't we? We could move to somewhere like Filly! W-We could sue, this is clearly illegal! We've got options here!" At this point, I was frantic. Grasping at straws.  Desperate to keep one of the last good things in my life. He took a deep breath. “Do you want a coffee or something?” I felt about ready to cry. “No no no no! You always do this! We’re dealing with the problem, Dawn! We can’t just brush this off like everything else!” He screwed his eyes shut, subtle shakes racking his body. In the end, I think we both knew how this was gonna go, no matter how much we may have wished otherwise. "Listen, Evey. I'm gonna level with you here. I like you, and we've been dating for a long time now," he said, crossing his hooves. "But I'm not about to risk my career, and for that matter, my entire future, over one mare. And if I'm being honest, I dislike this just as much as you do, and I really hate to see things end like this..." He slid out of the booth, trotting away from me. "But I'm sorry Evey, we're done. It was fun while it lasted, for what that's worth." I sat there in shock for a few seconds, only jerking myself back to reality as I heard the door slam shut. I chased after him, sliding to a halt in the pouring rain as he walked away. "You can't bucking do this to me, Dawn! Not after everything we've been through!" I shouted at him, tears streaming down my face. "We can work through this! Don't leave me like this!" I held a hoof out towards him, almost as that would stop what was happening. "Please..." He kept trotting away, his silhouette quickly disappearing into the storm, leaving me to stand alone in the street as I felt the rain stab into my skin like a thousand icy needles. He didn't even have the dignity to look back at me.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I didn't know how I'd gotten home, everything after what had happened at the Nook was a hazy smudge in my memory. All I remember is walking through my door in a daze before collapsing. I was soaking wet, cold, but more than anything else? I felt defeated.  I dragged myself to the fridge, clumsily grabbing the bottle of hard cider I kept for special occasions. Every movement was forced, as if the world itself was dragging me down. I could hardly see through the tears that leaked from my eyes, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Maybe later. But not right now. I roughly fell onto my couch, allowing most of my body to fall limp into the comforting cushions. They felt warm and inviting...  "Just like Dawn." I have no idea how long I sat there for, blankly staring at the TV and occasionally taking a long swig directly from my bottle, the alcohol sending a soothing burn down my throat. It helped me to feel something, even if that something was only pain and discomfort. It wasn't even good cider... I clumsily grabbed my phone and tried to text Dawn, but he was either ignoring me or had blocked my number already. That hurt me the most. That he didn't even want to try and remain friends, or even acquaintances in some form or another. He just... cut me out of his life like I was nothing. Like a paper bag to be tossed in the wind. A while later, I heard my phone beep with the loud, grating noise I had chosen as my text tone, and I almost didn't even bother to look at it. Lazily flipping it over, I let out a pained chuckle as I read the message. World Wide: Hello, Evening. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, but I am sure you will be able to intuit, I am being forced to terminate your employment with the Reality Network. I wish you luck in your future endeavors. Please do not contact this number again. I couldn't force any more tears out than I already had. I felt a feeling of numbness wash over my entire body as I struggled to process everything that had happened today. "Good Faust, I'm pathetic," I thought to myself, setting my bottle on the table and burying my head in my hooves, sobbing. In the span of twenty-four hours, I had thoroughly pissed off the head of a corporate giant who was probably killing ponies who knew too much, lost my coltfriend who I had been dating for a year and considered the love of my life and loved with all my heart, as well as my well-paying job to a network I had been employed by for over a decade.  I didn't think much more could go wrong at that point, if I was being entirely honest with myself.  In the back of my mind, I felt my subconscious nag at me, trying to tell me that I'd get through this. That I had just enough money saved up to last me for a while. That I could always get a new job. That everything would be okay if I just calmed down. But I knew that wasn't the case. I may have been a frugal pony, but Canterlot was still expensive to live in, even subsisting off the bare essentials. It was the sort of city that would bleed you dry the second it could, like a frenzied piranha just caught a whiff of blood in the water.  I sighed, getting up and walking over to my balcony and resting my head on the safety rails. I didn't know what to do. How could I? I'd just had my entire life thrown into a wood chipper, and then burned to ashes.  I couldn't sink much lower than that.  I must have sat there for a solid hour, just watching ponies go about the rest of their day, the streets abuzz with activity, the soft orange of the setting sun slowly but surely replaced with the glitz and glamour of the stars above.  I wondered how it'd feel to fall again. To just... let go. Let the wind and the air do what they will with me like they had before.  Maybe it'd feel better than this. As I placed a hoof on the railing, my heart skipped a beat as I heard as I heard a voice. "What do we have here?" I jumped back, whipping my head around to try and locate its origin. I didn't see anypony... "W-Who's there?!" The voice chuckled, before I felt something caress my face. It felt strangely cold, yet inviting... like the water of a lake. "Another lost soul, another pony who's lost it all... another pony who desires to regain what has been stripped away from them. Would you like that? To take back all that you've lost? To make them feel your pain?" My eyes widened as I fell into a fighting stance. I couldn't lie, that idea sounded appealing. "M-Mayb— shut up! Who the hay are you?!" It laughed, the sound akin to that of a harp being strummed in an empty auditorium. "Somepony whom you've helped immensely, my dear. Somepony who is forever in your debt..." The voice was now speaking directly into my ear, barely even audible, sending shivers down my spine. "Somepony who only wants to help you. Do you accept my offer, lost soul?"  I had backed myself into a corner at this point, my front door now directly in front of me in case I needed to bolt. "I'm really thinking about it, but first thing's first, What the hay is your name?! I don't bucking like talking to ponies who I can't even see!" Almost as if that were an order to be heeded, the voice obliged me. Fading into view, a spectral head gazed back at me, its nose almost touching my own. A spectral mane waved behind it, almost like somepony had ripped out a piece of the night sky and stuck it on the back of their head... a mane I recognized, only from myth and legend. Milky white eyes stared into my own, paralyzing me. "I... am Andromeda. And you, my little pony, have rendered a great service to me. One I am eager to return. Do you accept my offer?" I would've been shaking in my boots, if I had any. "N-N-Nightma—" A spectral hoof held itself up to my lips, silencing me. "No, no, no... none of that now. I will ask again. Do you accept my offer?" My ear flicked at the sound of a vicious pounding at my door, the wood visibly deforming from the impacts of a meaty hoof. It sounded like somepony wanted in, and they wanted in now. I looked back at head and vigorously nodded, my eyes flicking between the apparition and the doorway. The... thing let out a throaty chuckle and looked towards the noise, before placing a hoof underneath my chin and raising my head up. "Good... then do me a favor, and don't open that door." And as if it were all a dream, the head and hoof disappeared. I looked towards the door, before deciding to bite the bullet and check through the peephole. There was nopony out there. "What the haaaaaay... was that?" I said to myself dumbly, rubbing at my eyes. "You're hallucinating Evey, just seeing things... alcohol does crazy things to your head, right?" But as I took a step back from the door, my heart skipped a beat. If nopony was out there... Then why was the door still dented?