//------------------------------// // Cold and Alone // Story: The Cold Streets of Baltimare // by DemonBrightSpirit //------------------------------// I trudged through the grey, dismal streets of Baltimare. The cold rain ruined my coiffure, sending my mane slick across my back and shoulders. I paused in front of a rather large puddle, peering at my distorted reflection in the rippling water. The rain marred my makeup even worse than my mane. On top of everything else, my once perfect, beautiful dress not only clung to me from the rain, it was in absolute tatters. Threads frayed out from a menagerie of holes, and straps and accessories hung lifelessly, dripping water.   It was the perfect end to a perfect disaster. I came here for a fashion expo. I had brought along my newest line to premier at the event, but the hotel hosting the event just so happened to have been suffering from an infestation of horrific proportions. I barely settled down in my room when the screams started. That’s when I saw them. Thousands of them, maybe millions. Moths! They devoured my entire line, even the dress that now did little to shield me from the icy rain. Worst of all, the infestation closed the entire hotel. They wouldn’t even allow me back in to retrieve what’s left of my things. Now I’m stuck here in Baltimare with no bits, no place to stay, and no place to go.   A shiver tore through me, and I swore I saw a puff of fog as I exhaled a ragged breath. I looked up, hoping to find a café or some other shelter from the freezing rain. The only break from the onslaught was in a nearby alley. At first I considered walking further until something more… dignified came along, but another involuntary shiver forced me to reconsider. This dreadful rain was so terrible that it actually forced me to walk into some dingy alley.   The relief from the rain was quite short-lived. As soon as I sat down, a horrific scent assaulted my delicate nose. I looked up, seeing an open dumpster, and my stomach turned. This would not do at all! As I got up, I heard a terrible ripping sound and I felt a large portion of my dress fall off. Looking down, I found my hoof atop a section of my dress.   “Just perfect!” I shouted. Not bothering to try to salvage what remained of my once brilliant creation, I ripped the rest of the dress off and tossed it all into the dumpster.   My anger quickly evaporated as a chill wind ran through me. I barely suppressed a sob as I sat back down as far from the dumpster as I could while still avoiding the rain. With the hotel closed, I couldn’t get to any of my bits or gems. How could I afford a train ride home?   “What am I supposed to do now?”   “Find another alley!”   I shot to my hooves at the hostile voice. Peering further down the alley, all I could make out was what appeared to be a large group of boxes with a blanket draped over them. Cautiously, I stepped further into the cold, dark alley. “Um, hello?”   Suddenly, the blanket drew aside as a cyan mare stormed out. “This is my place. I won’t have any squatters crowding in here!” she barked at me.   I blinked, hardly believing my eyes. This Unicorn might’ve been quite the sight with her mane and hide ruffled and unwashed, but I would certainly recognize her anywhere. “Trixie?”   “Who wants to know?” she replied, glaring at me.   “I don’t suppose you would remember me,” I said, pressing a hoof to my chest. I immediately regretted it as I felt my hoof squish into my coat. Looking down, I noticed that I had just gotten mud on my chest from my hoof. Still, I had to keep up appearances. I struggled to maintain my cordial smile. “I’m Rarity, from Ponyville.”   Trixie’s expression of scorn deepened into absolute rancor at the word “Ponyville.” “What? Have you come for revenge?” she said, her voice dripping with venom. She thrust a hoof at the pile of boxes. “You’ve wasted your time! I don’t have anything left to lose!” She stormed back into the shack, her aura snapping the blanket back into position.   “Trixie, I didn’t…” Sighing, I walked over to the pile of junk. I raised a hoof to knock on the frame, but stopped myself. I pressed my hoof against the blanket-covered structure only to feel it flex under the pressure. It was cardboard. This “structure” was nothing more than a few cardboard boxes with a rather large, ratty sheet of fabric draped over them.   I backed up a few paces and sat down on the cold stone. I could hardly believe that anypony would live in such abject filth. I sighed, my gaze fixating on the spot where Trixie vanished mere moments ago. “Trixie?” I called out, trying to sound as reassuring as I could. “I didn’t come here for you. It’s just… you cannot tell me that this squalid alley is where you live!”   No reply.   My ears subtly twitched, carefully listening for any sort of sound from within the shack. The only things they heard were the steady tattoo of rain and my own labored breathing. As I began to hear my own heartbeat, I called out to her again. “Trixie, I cannot say that I am at all fond of you or what you did to the good ponies of Ponyville, but nopony—and I mean nopony—deserves to live like this!”   Still, nothing.   “Trixie?” I said, desperation seeping into my voice.   Finally, Trixie tentatively stuck her head out from behind the curtain, though she refused to so much as look at me. She didn’t say anything. She just stood there, staring at the ground.   Where was the confident showmare that thought she was the greatest pony that ever existed? All that pride, confidence, bravado… It wasn’t there. Not even a trace.   “What… happened to you?” I asked as soon as I found my voice. Trixie didn’t respond. “Talk to me.”   Slowly, Trixie stepped out, sitting down in front of her “house.” She finally gazed up at me, a glint of anger still in her eye. “What do you want from me?”   My ears folded back as I looked down. “Uh… I just…” Gathering my thoughts together, I cleared my throat before standing up and stamping a hoof. “It is absolutely deplorable that you are living like this. I cannot fathom why you, or anypony for that matter, would choose to live in—in a box!”   Trixie shot to her hooves in the blink of an eye. “Choose?” she yelled. “You think I chose to be here?” I backpedaled as this enraged mare stomped towards me. “I am here because all of Equestria hates me! My first trip to Ponyville turned me into a laughing stock. The second made me a monster!”   I cringed as my flank met something cold and solid. I glanced behind me to find that I had backed myself into a wall. Looking back, Trixie showed no signs of slowing down.   She kept marching until her face was all but pressed against my own. That didn’t stop her tirade. “I live here because nopony notices just another face in an alley! Here, I don’t have to worry about being chased away by angry mobs!”   Trixie’s chest heaved as she stepped back. After a few deep breaths, she spun around and marched back into the pile of boxes. “Just leave me alone!” she shouted back at me as she pulled the curtain, sealing herself in. “All I want is to be left alone! Is that too much to ask?”   Shaking, I breathed a sigh of relief. There for a moment, I feared she might do something… unseemly. Once my heart had calmed and my breath steadied, I called out to her once more. “If to be alone is what you truly desire, then…” I sighed. “I wish you the best.”   I started to plod back to the main street, but my curiosity got the better of me. I stood still, my ears swiveling towards that ghastly shack. Nothing. I shook my head a bit before bracing myself against the rain as I stepped back onto the cold streets of Baltimare.     By the time I’d made it to the train station, I had once again managed to saturate each and every follicle with that frigid rain. To add insult to injury, there was nary an awning to shield anypony at the train station from this dreadful weather. Walking up to the ticket booth, I found a tawny Earth Pony safe and warm under the only cover on the entire platform. “Excuse me,” I said, stirring him from a half-asleep daze. “Could you tell me when the next train to Ponyville leaves?”   The clerk slowly opened his eyes before half-heartedly glancing over at a colorful chart and opening a pocket watch. “We’ve got a train headed to Vanhoover. It’ll make a stop at Ponyville. It leaves in… twenty-three minutes. After that, one leaves tomorrow morning,” he said, never so much as glancing at me. “A ticket is fifteen bits if you’re getting off at Ponyville.”   “About that…” I said, putting on my most pathetic “woe is me” look. “I’m afraid I lost all my bits on my trip here. Is it possible for me to make a payment once I get back to Ponyville?”   Finally, he looked at me. He didn’t even blink at the sight of me and my ruined mane and makeup. “No ticket, no ride. No bits, no ticket.”   “Please! I have nowhere to stay. The hotel I was at is infested with moths, and they’re not letting anypony in,” I said, clopping my forehooves up on the counter. “You cannot possibly just leave a poor filly alone on the streets!”   “Tough luck,” he replied, once again leaning on an interior wall as his head drooped.   With a “Hmph!” I turned my back to the booth, holding my nose up high. “I have never seen such a boorish pony!” Sitting down near the booth, I shivered in the rain as I waited for somepony, anypony to come by.   Luckily, I didn’t have to wait too long. A lanky, orange stallion with a yellow mane trotted up to the counter. I carefully took measure of him as I tried to come up with most amiable approach. Unfortunately, the bitter cold kept me from focusing much at all. By the time he had purchased his ticket and started to leave, I still hadn’t come up with anything. For lack of another plan, I was forced to gamble on the first approach that came to mind.   I got up, stepping in the stallion’s way. I put on my best smile. “Excuse me. Care to help a desperate lady in her hour of need?” I asked, batting my eyelashes at him.   He took one look at me and recoiled. “Uh… Sorry, Miss. I gotta go.” He quickly stepped around me, heading towards the boarding platform.   For a moment, I felt more jilted than I ever had. Then, I realized just how terrible I must’ve looked. I had to have been soaked and shivering, my mane a sopping mess, and my makeup long-since washed away.   Just as I began to despair, I turned back to see a pair of ponies at the ticket booth. And more ponies were starting to show up, too! Surely at least one of them would have enough kindness to help me in my darkest hour.   The piercing whine of the train’s whistle announced its departure. I watched, completely despondent, as it started to chug away. Dozens of ponies had come, bought their tickets, and boarded. Not a single one of them had the heart to help a damsel in distress. What was this world coming to?   A terrible shiver ran through me as I stumbled on heavy hooves. I just stood there, my limbs too cold and numb to do much of anything. I watched several of my breaths meet the cold, rainy air to form wisps of fog. Summoning what was left of my frayed nerves, I finally willed my legs to move. I needed to find a way out of this dreadful weather before I froze to death.