//------------------------------// // Forever Alone // Story: Mare-y Stories to Tell in the Dark. // by BillytheBrony //------------------------------// Forever Alone "Hello Everypony, thanks for coming!" Twilight Sparkle said with a bright smile as she held the door open for her closest friends, who all trudged in with their sleeping bags and other such sleepover paraphernalia. "Anytime, Twi." Said Applejack with a smile on her freckled face. It was the middle of winter, so she didn't have many chores to worry about on the next morning. "I wouldn't dream of missing another sleepover party, the last sleepover party I had was with the twins, and they didn't really sleep much so I guess it wasn't much of a sleepover so -mmpf!" Pinkie Pie started to ramble off before Rainbow Dash shoved a hoof in her mouth to stop her tirade. "Yeah yeah, You know you can count on us to do these sorts of things." Said the pegasus as she nudged Pinkie further into the library. She didn't want to hear Pinkie stand there rattling off her entire few days activities. "Twilight, darling, we simply MUST do these more often." Said Rarity as she strutted inside, levitating various makeup cases along with her sleeping bag. She -lived- for these sleepover makeovers, or as she liked to call them, double overs. "Oh, um, Hello Twilight." Came the shy and meek voice of Fluttershy as she quietly sneaked in behind Rarity, smiling at the lavender Unicorn from behind her mane. "Ugh, we're not going to do -girly- stuff are we?" Asked Rainbow Dash, a look of disgust on her face as she eyed the cosmetics that Rarity was bringing. "Why Rainbow Dash, even you could benefit from looking a little feminine every now and then." Rarity said with a smug look as she fluffed her mane somewhat. "I'm sorry Dash, but it -is- in the book." Twilight said as she levitated the book in question over for Rainbow to look at. Rainbow rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine fine, if it's in the book, Celestia forbid we don't follow the book." She said with a slump of her shoulders. She could never really say no to her friends, especially that egghead Twilight. "So what's the first thing on the list, Twi?" Asked Applejack as she started laying out her sleeping bag. "Please don't say makeovers, please don't say makeovers." Chanted Rainbow Dash eagerly. "Well I figured once we all got settled in we could tell some scary stories." Twilight said with a warm smile as she set down her own sleeping bag as well. "Oh, um, sc, sc, scary stories?" Whispered Fluttershy with a small eep as she slunk down some, sitting on her sleeping bag with a worried look. "Don't worry, Fluttershy, we shant make them -too- scary." Rarity said with a warm smile as she put a comforting hoof on the meek pegasus's shoulder. The action seemed to help calm her down some. She gave a small smile back at the pearly white unicorn. "Oh I -love- scary stories!" Bounced Pinkie from where she had set up her sleeping tent. Balloons and streamers and such were tied to the various supports on her little sleeping tool. "Alright, so who's first?" Twilight said as she looked around the room. "Does anypony know any good scary stories?" Rainbow Dash was about to open her mouth and say something but was distracted by a small squeak. "Um, actually, if you don't mind, I'd like to start." Said Fluttershy of all ponies, getting a startled look from the rest of the group. "Fluttershy? Are ya sure, sweetpea?" said Applejack with a look of confusion and concern. Fluttershy nodded. "Oh like -this- is going to be scary." Said Rainbow Dash with a disappointed roll of her eyes. "It -is- a scary story." Said Fluttershy with a worried look in her eyes. The Pegasus moved to stand up more. "It's something my mother told me when I was a filly and it's stuck with me ever since..... The Young Pegasus gazed out of her window at the streets of Cumulus Drive. She had been living in this part of Cloudsdale for many years now. She had never gone outside or interacted with any other ponies. She had always stayed inside, only sneaking out for work and then back home with the minimum amount of social activity possible. She was just too scared, too scared of other ponies and how they might pick on her for being quiet, too scared that some pony might try and take advantage of her or do something horrible to her when nopony else was watching. She sighed heavily, turning away from the window to prepare her dinner for the evening, alfalfa shoots and some spring water were on the menu tonight. She didn't fancy herself a good cook, she didn't fancy herself good at anything really. Most of her youth had been staying out of the way of other ponies so she didn't trip anything up. A clumsy young filly had warranted her a lot of ridicule in school, so now as an adult, she decided she'd just live her life as solitary as possible. The world didn't need her, nopony needed her. She would just stay inside where it was safe. She sat down in front of the television set as she nibbled on her dinner. The dull glow of the television illuminating the otherwise unlit cloud house. She glanced over at the pile of mail on the table. She reached forward with a hoof to start sorting through it as she ate food with the television on in the background. Bills, bills, bills, some scam from some country across the seas. Oh, here was a letter from her mother. She smiled warmly. Her mother loved her very much and always did her best to try and keep her safe and out of harm's way. She opened the letter, reading the top line. "My dearest..." Yes, a usual opening to a letter, she moved over the greeting part to get to what her mother wanted to say. Frowning slightly as she read the words. The letter seemed to be fairly standard, but the content of it appeared to upset her slightly. Even though she knew her mother meant well. She also knew that mothers tended to be very protective of their children. She wasn't a child anymore, she was an adult. She could make her own choices. She set the letter down on the table and finished her dinner, in a of a bit of a sulk. She turned off the TV and washed up for bed. Soon enough she lay down to close her eyes and fall into a fitful slumber. She woke up in the morning when the alarm went off. Hitting the button to turn it off as she shuffled out of bed, stretching and yawning as she trotted into the bathroom to take her morning shower. Sighing with relief as the hot water helped wake up her body. Going over some of the letter in her mind. ~Daughter, you should try and socialize more and meet other ponies~ She shook her head. No that was not worth it, it only got her teased and laughed at for being a clumsy little filly. She trotted out with a towel around her head and wiped the steam off of the mirror. This was then followed by a shrill little scream as she almost immediately dove under the covers and cowered under there for several long, tense minutes. Soon, she managed to creep out and back into the bathroom. Breathing very nervously, she slowly crept up to stare at her reflection. She... She wasn't there! Well she was, but she was somewhat faded, almost see through as she stared at herself in the mirror. She raised a hoof to look at herself more directly to see that it was indeed hard to make out. ~Staying inside all day without any interaction isn't good for you, my dear.~ She shook her head. Why were the words from last night coming back now? She didn't understand! She started hurrying around her house this way and that in a panic. She was sick, this was some kind of, vanishing illness. She should see the doctor! She quickly ran to her front door, and stopped. She perked her ears this way and that as she noticed something that was out of place. There was no sound. No sound at all. The building was made out of cloud so sound was usually muffled. But normally she could hear ponies talking, or walking around, or -anything- at all. But this time she couldn't hear a thing. She opened her mouth as if to call out....but no sound emerged. She bit her bottom lip and carefully stepped over to where a window was. She peeked out. Sinking down almost immediately, everything was blurry and out of focus. There were shadowy figures walking the streets, they looked like ponies, but blurred, as if paint was smeared by water. Tears starting forming in the pegasus' eyes as fear took a stronger hold on her. ~You can't hide from the world forever. You need to get out there and make some friends.~ She closed her eyes, putting her hooves over her ears, trying to block out the words that repeated in her head from the letter. Why was this happening? Why did this happen almost right after recieving a letter from her own mother? Did her mother know what was happening? She started crying, unable to hold herself together as she cried herself to sleep right there next to the window. She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she woke up. There was no sound anymore, no movement outside of the window, just darkness. She assumed it was nighttime. She didn't care anymore. She was so scared, she only wanted her mother to be there for her. ~You can't always come to me when you need help, my dear~ The Words of the letter taunted her even more now as she moved to stand up and tromp into the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. Whatever it was had gotten worse. She could barely see herself. She opened her mouth to speak, and nothing came out again. She tried her best to say -anything- and she couldn't mutter a single squeak. Dejected, she lowered her head and softly walked back into the living room. She looked around at her sparse apartment. No pictures or anything to distinguish her apartment from anypony else's. ~You don't have anything to call yours in your room. I'm sending some of your things so you can decorate your apartment~ She sniffed again. Moving to the door, reaching out again towards it. She had to do -something- about this. She felt like... She felt like she was, ~I'm worried one day you'll just fade away and be gone forever.~ Her eyes widened. The last line in the letter from her mother. Her mother had been so concerned for her daughter's lifestyle that she had sent a letter to try and help. It was true! She -was- fading away. Was it because she was too scared of the world around her? Too scared to meet other ponies. Too scared of Cloudsdale. Too scared of... Being herself? She whimpered slightly as she looked to where the letter was lying. Softly stepping over to look it over again. She frowned softly. Something was wrong. Right after it addressed her, her name. She couldn't make it out. It was like a smear where the ink was. She bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. She was so withdrawn she didn't even recognize her own name. She wracked her brain, trying to sift through her memories for anything to help identify who she was. Some scrap of information in her mind that would help her fix this horrible mistake she had let happen. Then her eyes spotted a P.S. at the bottom of the page. ~Just know that I'm sending this because I love and care about you so very much.~ Her eyes watered again as she hugged the letter to her. Tears started to roll down her cheeks as her mind went back to those times in her youth. Not when she was being picked on or humiliated, but the times with her family. Her strong father and caring mother. She mouthed her mothers name softly. She thought about her childhood. Soon enough she heard a knocking on her door. She snapped out of her reverie. She wiped at her face, blinking somewhat. She looked out of the window and saw that everything was back to normal. She quickly looked down at her hooves, they were back to normal. She hurried to the door and opened it. "I have a delivery for-" Started the delivery pegasus before he was cut off by a happy squeal. He jumped slightly and looked bewildered at the mare who was dancing for joy. He smiled somewhat. "Never seen anypony so happy to get thier mail before." He said as he gestured to a box that had her mother's shipping address on it. It was apparently her things that had just arrived. The package was signed for and the box quickly taken inside without a word. She quickly opened the box and took out another letter from her Mother. "To My Dearest, Azalia Here are your things from when you lived with us, please use them to decorate your apartment. We both miss you and would like to see you sometime soon, so if you can work it into your schedule. Let us know and we'll work something out. I hope you are doing well, living by yourself all alone and never interacting with anypony has me worried. But I guess i'm just a busybody. You'll do fine. You're your mother's daughter afterall. Love, Chrysanthemum." She sniffed at the letter, then blinked. Nodding to herself she set the letter down and quickly bolted for the door, pushing it open as she turned to spot the mailpony about to fly off. "Waiiiiiiit!" She called out, rather surprising herself in her loudness. The Mailpony almost fell over at her shout. "Wh, what is it?" He said, wondering if he'd messed something up or forgot something. "Um... would... would you like to come in for some dinner?" She asked, feeling shy again, but at least trying to make a connection. The Mailpony blushed slightly. "Why sure, I think I've got time in my schedule for that." He said with a smile, trotting inside. "My name is Willow Bark." He said with a tip of his mail hat. "Mine's Azalia......" "And they lived happily ever after." Said Fluttershy with a warm smile. Getting a set of surprised looks from her friends. "Fluttershy, it's not a scary story if there's a happily ever after." Said Rainbow Dash with a roll of her eyes. "Come on now, Dashie, Ah'd be pretty scared if Ah started fading away like that." Said with a concerned expression as she looked at her own hoof as if expecting it ot start fading away already. "Indeed, whatever happened to Azalia and Willow? Did they become an Item?" Asked Rarity, a mischevious look in her eyes. "Oh my no, he just introduced her to more friends. You do know that was just a story, right Rarity?" Fluttershy asked with a small smile. "Well, that one gave -me- the chills." Said Twilight as she shook herself. "I'll say, I wouldn't even know what to do if I vanished like that. I mean, who would be there to throw parties?!" Said a scared sounding Pinkie Pie. "So who's next?" Twilight asked with a look around the room. "Ah got one." Applejack said as she smiled somewhat mysteriously. "Oh no, killer apples." Replied Dash with a taunting grin. She got a pillow to the face in response. "Shut yer trap. It ain't about apples at'all." She coughed somewhat, clearing her throat.