Under The Blue Sky

[16 years later]

Those smiles...those haunting smiles...

Alfred couldn't pull his eyes away from them, letting them penetrate and consume his soul. The small beautiful smiles of the fragile ponies, huddled with another smile so ugly, so heart-breaking. The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked so happy standing next to a monster, their eyes gleaming in the bright sun. Their smiles brutally forced precious memories into Alfred's head, almost bringing him to tears in his dusty, worn chair, within the dusty, worn room surrounding him, inside the dusty, worn excuse of a home. No, not home, house. Alfred lost his home years ago.

Alfred wiped his eyes with shaking hands, taking extra care with the damaged one, before rising from his seat, dragging his hollow and shallow bones with him. He limped his way to the window on his right, his metal brace clanking through the empty house with each step. As he approached the curtains he lifted a hand to pull them apart, almost being blinded by the light.

Oh , how he remembered the blinding light. The blinding, white light from all those years ago. Such a long time ago, yet he could remember it crystal clear. He remembered the dark night he went out, the moon, the sudden movement of his right hand. He remembered the exact time it took to place it infront of his eyes, the exact distance from his face and the exact amount of energy needed to get it to where it was. Of course he didn't remember that back then, back when he was young and vulnerable but now he remembered it crystal clear. Infact, after years of observing, dissecting and examining his fragments of joy, he could remember much more than ever before. Not from an identity crisis, or a sudden case of amnesia (although that would be suitable after the coffee shop incident), but because it was all he had. He would find himself sitting in his chair staring at a photo for hours on end after pulling it down almost every night. He'd lose sleep over it, he couldn't stop, and the more and more he did it, the sadder and sadder he got. Alfred looked at every face, every pair of eyes, staring right back at him. He'd sometimes even caress the cheek of a few ponies, almost desperate for them to somehow magically touch him back or talk to him. Throughout the years of loneliness, Alfred was slowly driven to a new kind of insanity. The constant reminder of the life he had left behind didn't help, but it was all he had. In a big wide world filled with magical, amazing and wonderful creatures, landscapes and lives, the only companions he now had were the frozen, lifeless smiles staring back at him through a glass case. He once had it all, friends, family, even a lover, but now all he had was a wall. It's funny how time slips away.

He pulled the curtains just enough to peek through at the world outside his prison. A small crowd gathered at the market a small way away from his house, and although it was a distance away, Alfred could still make out the hardened faces of a few ponies staring back at him. He could feel the cold stares like a knife to his stomach, like always, but by now the pain didn't effect him. It was understandable for them anyway. He had lived in that house for a few years, and as soon as he moved in and the locals heard, they went berserk of course, banging on his door, cursing at him whenever he went out, even a few small attacks here and there, basically quarantining him in his house away from the world. But eventually, overtime the hate died down, and Alfred had been able to get out more, not that he wanted to anyways. However, much more recently, Alfred had been spending a lot more time out of his house, whether it was just general walks, or for other, more suspicious reasons. No pony noticed and no pony cared about his sudden attitude, as long as he kept at a distance he could do whatever he wanted...and he definitely had things he wanted to do.

He may have been the most unlucky, miserable and notorious bastard in all of Equestria, but he was not finished. He did have things to do, very...very important things to do. He'd be damned if he were to die like this, and he'd be damned if he were to die without getting what he wanted, even if he had to burn the whole world down to get it.

After gritting his teeth his stern lips soon cracked into a small, perhaps sinister smile as his sight lifted up to the trees brushing the sky. He saw beautiful birds silhouetted by the bright blue sky, he saw them swooping and soaring so free, reminding him of a particular pony who used to do the same. Before he fell into another small pocket of depression, the birds vanished from his view and disappeared into the trees, leaving him with the peaceful sound of their tweeting and singing. He closed his eyes slowly, removing his mind of all the bad thoughts. Instead he filled it with thoughts about the future. He took slow deep breaths as he thought about where he'd go, who he'd see, what he'd leave behind. He knew it wouldn't be easy, and he sure as hell knew it wouldn't be moral, but that wouldn't stop him. Nothing would.

He turned over his shoulder back to the wall, and then to his old chair. With a slow motion he drew the curtains again, sealing him off and returned to his throne. He relaxed himself into it and stared back into the smiles. He stared...

And stared...

And stared...

...planning.