1 - The Ledge
He didn’t want to go, but he felt compelled to go.
He walked the path until he was at a clearing and at a cliff. So he stood at the cliffs edge, with the cool wind blowing past him. The air moved around him, like life would. Uncaring but always moving, even if it was slow at some points. He asked himself how long could he continue this, coming back and forth just to stand at the edge. He felt like he should just leave.
Here the last of humankind was standing at the edge of a cliff. He was waiting for a moment to click in his head and allow him to lunge forward off the cliff. He felt so alone, yet he had so many friends and people who cared. Albeit they weren’t human friends, maybe some humans aren’t cut out to love anything but other humans.
But the cliff seemed so peaceful, yet he was scared. He sat down on the edge, looking down into the forest below. He had a fear of heights yet looking down from this cliffside made it seem peaceful and calm, instead of scary and endangering. His fear slowly went away and he was enveloped by the peacefulness of nature around him. The birds chirping around him, the movement of the leaves in the wind brushing against one another. Even the sound of the wind blowing past his ears, nature was always a beauty when you sat down and listened and observed it.
A smile grew on his face as he listened and looked about, the peacefulness always made him feel happy, yet insane. He continued to look about and in the distance he watched as two pegasi raced against each other, although he couldn’t see the colors of them. Wait the colors, he just noticed as he was listening, he forgot to note the lack of color he could see.
He started to hear footsteps, not the usual clip clop like a pony would make. But actual human-like footsteps, he froze and continued to look forward as the footsteps got closer behind him. The footsteps stopped and he heard a figure take a seat next to him. However, it did not speak to him nor attempt to touch him, but it just sat next to him. He was tempted to just greet it, hoping it was another human, maybe one he never met.
So, he looked to his left, it was not there. He looked to his right, still there was nothing. How could he be hallucinating at a time like this? That’s when he knew, it was only a matter of time at this rate. Then he noticed nature wasn’t making any sounds. He couldn’t hear, yet he could hear. He could hear the footsteps approaching, but there were no sounds of nature. After awhile, it was just silence.
There was then no color, and there was no sound.
But yet he heard the footsteps, again and again. They would quiet down and start up. But even when he turned to look, he saw nothing, the paranoia and insanity grew in his head. Yet he wasn’t panicking. That’s when it let itself be seen to him. It was a dark shadow, in the shape of a human. He studied it, it seemed rather feminine.
It sat next to him and put it’s hand on his. It was a warm touch, a human touch. A touch he had longed for, one he had not felt in ages. They both turned to each other and then the shadow hugged him, the color and sound returned to the world as he was warmly embraced the hug. This couldn’t be a hallucination, it must be real. It was all so peaceful and it was real.
The shadow stood up and offered him it’s hand. He took the hand and stood up, it was then a pathway appeared, extending from the cliff into a door filled with light.
The shadow pointed to the door and in a soft female voice it whispered,”Home is beyond there.”
Could he finally go home? He knew that there must’ve been humans left somewhere, maybe they finally mastered technology and we're here to save him from this lonely world. However, not once did he think to check if he was hallucinating or if anyone else was around him.
Behind him two earth ponies questioned what he was doing, he was silent and standing at the very edge of the cliff, he couldn’t hear them at all. He could just hear his inner thoughts and the voices in his head. The ponies panicked as they could slightly understand what he was about to do, they began to plead for him to come back towards them. Even though they knew it was futile.
He couldn’t hear, the world was silent. But yet he heard sound. He couldn’t see the world’s color, yet he saw color. He could only focus on the shadow and the pathway to a door. The way out was right before him and all he had to do was walk forward. Forward is the way home and safety from his lonely world.
The two earth ponies watched in absolute horror as he took a step forward.
He did it, he was walking on the pathway to the exit, yet he felt like he was falling and falling. But that must be a side effect of this technology, so he continued into the doorway. The doorway which would lead him to salvation.
Falling.
Not falling.
I will be safe.
...
The two earth ponies went to the edge of the cliff and looked down, they looked at each other. They must get help from anypony nearby, or from town. One of them waved to the distant flying pegasi, the other earth pony ran back into the forest towards town.
The two pegasi by some miracle saw the earth pony jumping about and waving at them and so they flew that way. The earth pony in the distance pointed down as they got close, the two pegasi gave each other a look before looking down.
. . .
The two pegasi landed next to the earth pony and they put their wings around them and took a step back from the cliff side. All they could do is wait for some form of help.
Soon the royal guard came into the area and closed it off. Princess Twilight took the time to also visit the scene. They wish they could have been there sooner, maybe they could have done something. They were blind and distracted with so many other things, like work and the exhausting job of being the princess of a kingdom. Twilight stepped to the edge of the cliff and looked down, then they looked back up. She realized this spot of the cliff was so very peaceful, even despite one of their fears being down there in the forest below.