So Alone
The world is so quiet now, it would be strange if it was still new. Tell me, have you ever felt singled out? Not by other ponies, although I know that too well. I mean by, whats that word again, fate? Almost as if you were chosen for some special thing. It's not a great feeling, especially at such a cost. I don't know if you know me, but once upon a time I was nopony special. Just a mail pony they all made fun of behind my back. Not that I cared, I was me and that's all I cared about. I had some friends, but I think they were only my friends because they felt sorry for me. And now... I'm sorry, it's hard to talk about... I just watched so many bad things happen to everypony around me... But... I'll try...
Everypony had heard the rumors, but no pony knew what to think. Saddle Arabia was building huge walls and it had us all worried. I remember stopping by Twilight's one time to drop off a letter, and walking into some kind of meeting. The Princess' were there, both with opposing faces. I only meant to drop off Twilight's letter, but they must not have noticed me. I heard quite a bit before deciding to leave.
"What do you mean, why would the Arabians be building giant walls?" I heard Twilight ask, she had a bit of fear in her voice.
"We do not know, Luna and I have attempted to speak with them but they refuse to allow us entry" The Princess Celestia also had a tiny bit of worry behind her voice. "We suspect they feel threatened."
"Why would they feel threatened? I thought they were our allies" Twilight asked once more.
"They may feel threatened by our growing power. Think about it sister, not only do we have the Elements of Harmony but also Discord and the power of the Crystal Empire. It is likely they are only playing safe" the Princess Luna stated with strong confidence.
"But I have told them myself, I desire only peace with the eastern nations! These walls only serve to further divide us from that goal" Princess Celestia sighed as she hung her head.
"What if it's something else? Maybe they are scared?" Twilight suggested, she seemed unsure of her question though.
I decided I spent too much time eavesdropping so I left the letter on a table side desk as I turned to the door, but stupid me...
THUD!
"Owwww...." I raised my hoof to my muzzle, which was now sporting a thin trail of blood from the closed door.
"Wha- who is there?" I heard Twilight ask, also noticing the clip clopping sound of her hooves coming my way.
"Uhh, mail pony! Just dropping off some mail!" I spurted out as I quickly opened the door and rushed out of the library.
I doubt that Twilight would have been mad at me for listening in, she seemed like a nice mare. That and she did save Ponyville more than once, her and those other mares she was friends with. I opened my pack to deliver the next message, but found my bag empty. I just smiled at a job well done as I turned to go home. I had a long week of mail delivery after all!
That was the beginning, first Saddle Arabia starts building these giant walls and then everypony starts freaking out. That three letter W word was thrown around but I didn't think it would turn that bad. If they wanted to start a fight, why would they build a wall? Seemed silly to me at the time. I suppose they were smarter than I thought, but that's not hard I guess.
Another one of them just walked by... they give me the creeps. They way they trot around, clicking their jaws like they are trying to talk... I saw a few ponies I knew the other day, just a few jocks who liked to tease me. I remember watching when they were... turned. I was so scared, everything happened so fast. The party, the dancing, the loud ponies talking, then the scream. Oh that scream...
It was another party celebrating some pony getting their cutie mark. I think it was that small yellow filly, with the big red bow. She seemed so happy with her mark, an apple with a hammer on it, and her friends too. The cute little white one and the little orange one. I felt bad for her, I watched her a few times as she tried to fly but never could. But now they were all in a big hug celebrating their friends big day. It was a very happy day.
These parties were usually much bigger, but Pinkie Pie had left with her friends to Saddle Arabia. Gee, take a guess why. Anyways, so it was left to Cherilee to host the party. She was doing a very good job, everypony was enjoying their time. I didn't really attend, I had my job and there was extra mail today. Even as I hovered passed the party, I could hear the fun and excitement. That teacher knew how to throw a party.
As I was on my route, I happened to run into a few stallions hanging out on the side of the street. I never learned their names, but they didn't like me so I never worried about it. As I hovered passed, my luck decided to take a dive. Literally. Somehow I managed to lose my balance and topple over in the street, spilling all of my letters out before me. As I scrambled back to my feet, I felt a hoof on my back. A sudden push later and I was back on the ground, and they were all laughing.
Pushing back a tear, I continued to gather my foothold and pick up my letters. They were scattered pretty far. One by one, I picked them up. Almost to my last one, but as I reached out for it a dirty hoof stepped out on top of it. I looked up to see somepony I didn't recognize. He seemed lost, his face shooting around like he was searching for something. I tugged at the letter a little before the pony lifted his hoof and made his way passed me. Something in the air smelt funny, like bad food.
I had my letter's all packed back up and I was ready to go, at least for a moment I was. There was a terrible scream from behind me, one so loud and scary I froze up. Finally I decided to turn around, but immediately knew it was a bad idea. The pony from before was hunched down on top of one of the jerk ponies who pushed me, the jerk was twitching on the ground beneath him. The other pony then stood back up and darted away towards the party. I was about to leap into the air to stop him, but then I saw something I will never forget...
The jerk who pushed me began to twitch and thrash about on the ground. His strong legs left marks on the stone street beneath him. I watched in horror as the stallion rose up with a jerk, his chest was thrust high in the air as his head lolled back. And his eyes, oh Celestia those eyes. Pure white balls stared at me before the head jerked back up. The stallion made a loud croaking noise before rushing off towards the party. I wanted to run, wanted to turn around and leave. Fear however had my hooves glued to the ground.
Now there is nopony left... I left Ponyville the day after that. Sure, I searched for others. A little bit anyways, but everytime I saw any of them... Well I just flew away in fear... Yeah, I'm a chicken. You don't have to tell me. Maybe if I were Rainbow Dash I would have ran in and tried to save somepony, but I'm not. I'm just Derpy, the mail mare.
So now I just wander from town to town, hoping to find somepony to talk to. After all, it get's lonely out here. All by myself, picked out by fate to survive. I don't like fate, it's just so mean. And I don't like these things either! Some of them look a little like ponies, but I can tell. They don't make me feel better, being around them just reminds me of the hurt. Of how lonely I really am.
I've tried to make them take me, make me one of them. I thought to myself, maybe they are the other ponies. Maybe if I were like them, things would be better! But no, they don't want me either. They walk past me, when I put a hoof in their mouth they stop. They won't even take the time to bite me. So I wander, looking for somepony like me. Looking for a ghost like me.
"Aahh!" I tripped again... Nopony around to see it but still, but wait. What did I trip on?
A box, a small wet box. Of all the things to step on, I find the one wet box to trip over. A mumbled groan comes from the box, and for a moment I think nothing of it. But then it hits me, something is in the box! Something alive? I can sure hope!
"Uhh, hello?" I say as I look into the box, there are three bundles wrapped up side by side. Three small blue blankets adorn the bundles, each with a little red patch on them. One of the bundles shifts.
"Huh? Who- Who's there!?" A terrified voice shoots out of the box as the box is knocked back a little bit.
"Just a pony looking for other ponies, my name is Derpy Hooves!" I am trying my best to smile, going a few weeks without having a reason to smile tends to make you forget how to.
"Der- Derpy? The mail mare?" The young voice stutters. "Are you... one of them?"
"Nope! I'm the same Derpy I've always been!" So this pony knows me, well that's a good sign.
"Uh-ok, I'm coming out then" The little orange pegasus crawls out of the box, the blue blanket wrapped around her body like a cape. "I'm Scootaloo, in case you didn't know. Sweetie and Apple are still asleep... How did you... you know..."
"Same way you did I guess, just that lucky" I smiled for real this time.
It wasn't perfect, but at least I had somepony to talk to. Now, just to find someplace to go. That could wait however. I just nudged Scootaloo back into her box and tucked her back in with her blanket. With a promise to keep them safe, I let the three fillies rest. After fighting the urge to sleep myself for an hour or two, I finally closed my own eyes. Sleep was one of the few blessings left in this world, and I intend to take advantage of it.
Author's Note
Just an idea I had for a quick one shot. Just watched World War Z and even though I had mixed feelings about the movie, there was a certain inspiration it gave me. As far as that goes, let me know what you guys think in the comments below!
