Letters in Absence

by Magenta Gleam

One-shot

To my dearest sister Fluttershy,

You of all ponies have thought that you would know me best and to many I'm sure that may seem true but there are things you should know.

You see I wear a mask, not one made of clay, nor of any other physical manifestation. My mask is one I have made so I never show who I really am, a facade created from fear.

You see a brash pegasus who never believes what he is doing is wrong, taking advantage of others without considering the consequences of his actions and while on the outside that may seem to be true it couldn't be further from what I feel inside. For you see this is my mask, years I have spent perfecting it so none can see my fear.

Every task I've given up on because I know that no matter what I try it will always end in failure so in the end I don't ever truly give anything a chance, running from one flight of fancy to the next and when I show my inevitable failure I immediately run back to where I last could be my true self.

Home.

I know the burden I place on you and our parents and do you want to know the truth?

I hate myself. I hate my fear, I hate my mask and I hate the way I treat other to maintain this false image of a pony.

I am nothing.

I write this hoping you will never read it, that one day i can be the brother you once loved.
I dont deserve you as a sister and I don't deserve the kind and caring family that raised me, I want to be one that does but where do I start?

How do I just drop the pony I have become, to tear the mask from my face and give you all the love and respect you deserve?

Your loving brother,

Zephyr Breeze.

Dear Fluttershy,

I don't know why I write you these letter because I know I'll never send them.

How could I when I know how you will look at me?

When you look at me with disdain I know I deserve it but I could not stand you looking upon me with pity, I know I would break into so many pieces that even Celestia could never put me back together.

So I will continue to write to you and never send them because at least then I can pretend that I am the brother you always wanted me to be, honest and kind just like you. That will never be me but all I can do is hope, right?

Maybe one day I will change, stop mooching off our parents and make something of myself.

Ok, did I seriously just write that?

I'll never change and you know it, Zephyr never changes. I'm just a selfish Pegasus who cares nothing for others and will endlessly chase a dream until it gets too hard and give up until I start again. But why does my heart feel so heavy?

Please take this pain away?

Zephyr Breeze.

Dear Twi Your Royal H Hey there T

My friend Twilight,

I know it might be weird to hear from me like this but I need some help and I'm not sure how to ask for it in pony.

I've no doubt mentioned to you before about the tense situation between my brother and I and I normally wouldn't ask for you to aid me in such a personal situation but with your position I thought you would be the best to ask.

You see my brother went missing some time ago and while this wouldn't seem like too much of a problem given our tenuous relationship I feel like something might really be wrong. The last times we saw each other he seemed like the same rude and insensitive pony as always but there was something in his eyes, almost like he was tired but didn't want anypony to know.

Please let me know if you can help, only if you are sure that is.

Your friend forever,

Fluttershy.

Dear Fluttershy,

I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you in pony or very quickly, in fact I have only just had the opportunity to read your letter.

The Griffins diplomatic situation with Equestria only seems to get worse day by day and I barely even get time to sleep or eat, but I'm sure you don't want to hear about this dry political nonsense.

I'll put a word in with Celestia and see if anything can be done about making sure your brother is alright.

I'm sorry to cut this short but I really have to be getting back before they decide taking an overly long drink of water is a capital offense.

Your eternal friend,

Twilight Sparkle.

Your Royal Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle.

It is with a heavy heart that I write to you today.

During our routine patrols around the border of the Whitetail Wood early this evening my guard unit found the corpse of a yound pegasus stallion matching the description of Zephyr Breeze.

All units were instructed to notify you immediately were any trace of this unfortunate stallion to be found.

While his body is scraped up there are no obvious signs of what happened to create this terrible situation.

I am sorry to deliver you such bad news.

Corporal Crystal Gaze, Solar Guard.

Fluttershy please read this.

I'm having Spike send this by dragon fire so I know there is no way that my messages are not getting to you.

I know thing are bad but you need to come out, I'm sure you miss your brother but there are many who need you.

I and your friends miss you, life is just not the same without your quiet presence and the animals are getting scary like they are rebelling without you.

Just let us know you are ok?

Your friend, Twi.

Author's Note:

I hope this isn't too terrible.

Comments

[Fire Wolf77]

Very nice man. "We all wear masks and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin." Well done sir.

[Magenta Gleam]

7340082
Thank you. :3

[Frankie2]

I have a feeling Fluttershy found those letters after the guards discovery.

[Frankie2]

Dear Twi Your Royal H Hey there T

At first, I thought Zephyr was writing this letter. I can't see Fluttershy actually addressing a letter like that.

[rcmero]

i.ytimg.com/vi/bf2nhEoZNm0/maxresdefault.jpg

Also there is this great [ strike ][ /strike ] tag, you could use it maybe.
(And I'm not sure if this requires the Tragedy tag too.)

[Magenta Gleam]

7340437
I wrote it like that because I felt like Fluttershy wouldn't be sure how to address Twilight in a letter.

7340455
Admittedly I was tempted to use the Tragedy tag but I decided not to because while the emotions created are strong I feel that the writing isn't good enough to truly require it.

It was meant to have strike tag but it never copied over and I forgot about it.
Fixing it now, thanks. :)

[rcmero]

7340504 I had to double check the rules to make sure about that, the Tragedy and Sad tags are frequently confusing.

[Magenta Gleam]

7340585
Sad seems to be easy but Tragedy is a little more difficult.
Inclusion of the sad tag seems to be common sense unlike Tragedy which is more structured in usage.

[The Bricklayer]

Quite the heartbreaker of a story and I like the letter format. But I would like to know more of the aftermath and how Fluttershy deals with her brother's death

[Stuff]

Zephyr (after reading this thing): "WHY WOULD SOMEPONY WRITE THIS?!? WHO WOULD WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THIS?!?" (Just trying to lighten the mood)

[Fire Wolf77]

7340129 You welcome

[Sparkletop Rainbows]

This was okay, although I wish Fluttershy could read her brother's letters afterwards.

[Magenta Gleam]

7343543 It would destroy certain parts of the sequels if she had received his letters.

[IAmApe]

Boring suicide fic that goes nowhere.

[Magenta Gleam]

7398474
1. It never states that he killed himself.
2. It has a sequel.
3. The death isn't the focus of this fic, his viewpoint is.

[IAmApe]

7399156
A sequel is no excuse for a story that goes nowhere. This story says "One-shot" and is tagged "Complete", so there's no way for a reader to know the story is actually incomplete without reading it. Even if you had done the reasonable thing and made this the first chapter of a longer story, it would still be a bad first chapter.

The half of the story that's from Zephyr's perspective says nothing new about him; it's all stuff we already know from the show. And if he didn't kill himself, then why does he die in the story at all? There's no apparent cause, and the only effect is that Fluttershy is implied to be sad about it.

It also annoys me that this story ignores the events of the only episode Zephyr Breeze was in. Fluttershy tried to help him get his life on track. Maybe that didn't work out, but we don't know because nobody in this story seems to remember that happening.

[Country bumpkin]

I enjoyed the letter structure. Could have used more development. Perhaps in the end mentioning that the letters were found would have worked. Then you would have had the contrast with Fluttershy's letters of concern and the clear cry from help coming from Zephyr with the twist that Fluttershy just never saw them.

[Fracturedheart]

Feels hurt.