Lonely Depression

by StormLuna

An Unexpected Encounter

After Roseluck panicked and took off, I too took off. I was not sure what direction Roseluck took off to but I took off to the one place that I was pretty sure nopony would bother me, the Everfree Forest. I could not believe that my own sister would not only try to force me into a situation like that but would force another pony, one who also puts up a false front in the workplace, into the same situation.

Once I got into the forest, my gallop slowed into a normal walk. I figured that since almost nopony simply goes into the forest without it being a life or death situation, that I could slow my pace. As I slowed my pace to a regular walk, I couldn't help but replay the events of the day in my mind. Everything from me telling Lyra how I wished I had a close friend like how she had Bon Bon, to the trip to the marketplace and then her pretty much forcing Roseluck and I into a very awkward and uncomfortable situation.

How could I have been so dumb to reveal my desire for a friend to Lyra? Why couldn't I have just waited to tell this to a therapist or maybe Dr. Hooves since we are both in the medical field? I suppose I chose Lyra to tell this to because she is my sister and she does have a close friendship. While I highly doubt that I could ever grow that close with anypony, I will admit I'm a bit envious of her and her friendship with Bon Bon. I suppose that is what happens when one is an extrovert though, they develop many friendships and when they have a bestie, they are bound to act like that.

I reached the Castle of the Two Sisters much more quickly than I thought. Luckily I have the ability to teleport so I bypassed that rope bridge that I am quite certain will break one of these days if somepony has to cross it on hoof. Once I headed into the castle, it was the same as it always was, a chunk of ceiling would fall in one place, then in another. I certainly hope that the whole place doesn't eventually cave in because that is the one place that I can find solitude in.

Like always, I headed to that secret chamber that Twilight and her friends discovered when they headed out there once. I liked that place the most because not only was it the one place that wasn't damaged back when Luna turned into Nightmare Moon but it also provided protection from the elements. As I headed in, there was something in there that I had never seen before, another pony. As I entered the room I heard a voice, "Who's there?"

I saw a light coming from this pony so it was obviously another unicorn. I lit up my horn and noticed that it was a unicorn I had interacted with some, "It's just me, Amethyst."

Amethyst turned around and was shocked to see it was me, "Oh hi Colgate. I didn't expect to see you out here."

"Likewise." I gave her a curious look and continued, "So what are you doing here? Why did you come out here?"

"To seek solitude." replied Amethyst. "To seek solitude and be alone with my thoughts."

"Same here."

I noticed that she was reading a book and was likely not in the mood to talk so I decided to grab my favorite book and continue to read it where I left off the last time I was out there. I grabbed Celestia and Luna's old journal and quickly became absorbed in it, so absorbed that I would be shocked when I heard, "Colgate, why do you have to be here alone with your thoughts?"

This was something that stunned me. I know Amethyst well enough to know that she is as reserved as I am and generally isn't huge into conversations. I figured that perhaps if I talked with her, I could get some venting done and get things off my chest, "Well, this involves my sister and I. Somehow she was able to pick up on me feeling a bit down and I made the mistake of telling her that I wish I had a close friendship like she does."

"Oh?"

"Yes and she decided to drag me to the market to try and find me a friend. She then decided to force Roseluck and I into what was a very awkward situation. Needless to say, she ran off after not too long and I came out here."

*sighs* "I know your sister is an extrovert and thinks her ways will work for everypony but they don't."

After that we again got back to reading our books until I became curious about what caused her to go out to the castle, "So what about you? Why did you have to come out to seek solitude?"

*sighs* "I just needed it. Seeing so many ponies out and about and seeing so many close friends out together just frustrated me and I had to get away. I'm sure you know how that goes."

"All too well."

"I just feel jealous of them sometimes! I see so many ponies out there that are so close and I wish so much that I could have a close friend like that."

"Join the club."

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Never in my life did I imagine that there would be another pony out there who thought the same way I did, a pony who actually knew what I felt like, a pony who knew what I was going through. Again their was a silence, albeit more brief until I heard, "Thing is, I'm scared to try and get that close to somepony like that. I see your sister and Bon Bon and wish I had a close friend like that. You know how it is, right?"

"To be honest Amethyst, I do wish I had a close friend but the whole nose booping and flank bumping they do, that really wouldn't be my thing."

"Nose booping and flank bumping?"

"Yes, nose booping and flank bumping. The two did it in my office on Friday and things like that, they're just not for me."

*sighs* "Well I can see where you're coming from, that is a bit strange."

The way Amethyst reacted to my statement seemed a bit odd. The way she sighed made it almost sound like she was disappointed that I wouldn't ever do anything like that. Then I thought to myself, "Come on Colgate, we're not even friends, just acquaintances! Why would she even be thinking such a thing!"

Again things went silent. Despite it being just a few minutes, it seemed more like it was hours. Things would again relax when I heard, "Colgate, I know we are only acquaintances but what would you think about maybe just spending time together and talking some, maybe becoming comfortable with one another."

"Sure, that sounds like a good plan to me."

That was something that shocked me and kind of made me a bit nervous, a pony simply wanting to hang out with me. I know it sounds odd that such a thing would unnerve me but it did. I figured that part of hanging out would likely involve maybe sharing some interests so I grabbed Celestia's old journal, sat next to Amethyst and questioned, "So, have you ever read the royal sisters' old journal?"

I could tell that she found what I did as odd at first but then once she took a look at it and began to read what I was, I could feel her anxiety begin to subside. Once she began to read it, she began to laugh over some of the antics the two princesses engaged in when they were fillies, the same things that caused me to laugh the first time I had read them.

Once she joined me in reading their old journal, we began to talk about the things they did. It seemed a bit strange because we suddenly weren't interacting like most introverts would, we began to interact how your average pony would. Now yeah, we weren't interacting the way extroverts would or the way friends exactly would, but the interaction was certainly different than anything I would have expected.

Darkness descended on the forest long before either one of us expected it. Once we did notice it, both of us were a bit surprised and I was the first to comment, "Dark already? Night arrived sooner than I expected."

"Well I guess time flies when you wind up getting lost in a good book."

"That it does Amethyst, that it does."

"So Colgate, think we should get going?"

"Yes we should." My stomach began to growl and I continued, "I'm getting hungry anyway and I'm not exactly in the mood for the berries that grow out here."

"Neither am I, let's get going."

We got up and exited the castle. Now many ponies are scared enough of the Everfree Forest during the day but apparently Amethyst has been here in the night and was no more scared of it than I was. We knew what we would need to do in the event we ran into timberwolves, just blast them apart with magic and rush away before they had a chance to regenerate.

Luckily our trip back to town was a rather uneventful one but it was once we got back to town that the unexpected happened, "Hey Colgate, what do you say we grab a bite to eat."

Now this was something that I wasn't expecting in the slightest. While Amethyst and I did have fun reading through Celestia and Luna's old journal and shared a few laughs together, I never expected her to suggest that. "Yeah, we can do that."

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect out of this but deep down I was thinking that perhaps Amethyst was interested in being a genuine friend, something more than just mere acquaintances.