Alan Mane

Darkness. Complete Darkness. No way out. Its presence brings an overwhelming amount of dread and restlessness, leaving those in its grasp to fight their way through. In this case it is a young stallion that has struggled through the darkness for what has felt like centuries. The feel of this place has brought chills to the stallion's spine and paranoia to his mind.

"H-hello?" trembled the stallion as he proceeded down nothingness. His ears perched and his eyes scanned for any sign of life in the darkness but he was unsuccessful. The brown earth pony has been sweating ever since the feeling of dread has swept in and since then he hasn't stopped.

"Can anyone hear me? Please I-I don't know where I am". Still no answer to his pleas. Just as the stallion was ready to call again, he heard a faint whisper. His ears perched up and a feeling of joy enlightened him even through the dread of the darkness. "Hello? Please can you help me? I'm over here!". The stallion waited for a response but nothing. Just the beating of the stalllion's heart was heard in the silence. "Enough jokes, this is not funny" he exclaimed. The amount of dread was overwhelming.

He continued walking aimlessly until he could find the owner of the voice. His body was beginning to suffer from exhaustion and fatigue but he refused to allow his body to give up on him until he found a way out.

"Alright, now where can you be. You couldn't have gone fa-" he muttered but stopped when he heard the whisper once again, faintly louder this time. The stallion, filled with eagerness and excitement, ran to the source of the voice, ignoring the signs of his body beginning to belt under his weight. He was just too eager to get out of here, or at the least experience this hell-hole with someone else.

As he ran straight through the void of darkness the voice kept growing louder. "Yes this is it!" screamed the stallion in joy. The whisper was getting louder, but the stallion still couldn't see who was calling him. They're probably hidden by the thickness of the darkness he thought. But it wasn't adding up. The voice was getting louder, but as the stallion actually stopped to listen he could not make out with what the voice was saying. It only sounded like...Gibberish.

He stopped running now, and cautiously jogged through the fog. "What in Celestia is going on?" wondered the stallion. The voice was still growing louder, which was peculiar for it seemed as if the voice was coming closer even though he was moving at a slower pace. It seemed as though, the slower he moved, the louder the voice became. The stallion couldn't move any longer through this darkness and oxygen deprivation eventually caught up with him, leaving him to collapse and wallow on the floor of the void.

Panting heavily, the pony begin to experience the dread creep back into his heart, while the voice grew louder this time containing screeches and howling of inaudible context. The pony began to tear up, covering his eyes and ears, while mumbling repeatedly "Please, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop...". The voices stopped suddenly. It was too quick so the stallion waited for quite some time, still balled up on the floor and expecting the worst. When the worst didn't come the pony opened his eyes and removed his hooves from his ears stifling muffled sobs in the darkness.

"This...just doesn't add up..." he mumbled to himself as he began to stand on his four hooves. As he began to regain control of himself, he felt a change in the atmosphere almost as if the air was being sucked right from it. "Oh no please I just started.." but he quickly stopped as felt his trachea began tightening. The pony began to grasp for air, slowly losing consciousness, and mind racing. The panic then set forth and he tried struggling through this feeling almost as if he stood a chance against it. As the stallion started losing consciousness, he felt that the darkness around him was beginning to sweep in as well, creeping its way into his eyes, ears, and mouth, trying to tear down the walls of emotion to reach into his soul. Tears welled in his dry eyes knowing it was the end of him and he knew he will never be found in this realm of nothingness. With what felt like his final gasp of air, he closed his eyes to slip from this hell, allowing himself to be taken into the afterlife.

An eerie feeling of peace descended into his body and soon the stallion found himself in a tunnel, which radiated bright light at the end." Bright Light!", Cried the stunned stallion. The pony began to run closer to the light, suddenly feeling a burst of energy in his body. As he got closer to the light, it radiated of his skin and he felt it piercing past his skin, cleansing him of his sins. As he ascended closer to the light, the feeling of peace was almost imminent...Until he saw the shadow.

It outlined what looked like a female earth pony but very tall and menacing. It blocked the young one's path and made no attempt to move. This shadow gave him an odd feeling, almost as if it was trying to communicate to him without speaking. He couldnt ponder on this thought though and The young stallion tried to move from the shadow's path to the light but to no avail. He started to struggle but the Shadow only chuckled at his feeble attempts. The stallion knew it was a hopeless cause and with a sigh of defeat he let the shadow envelope him. It hurt every inch of his body and he tried to stay strong but could not.

The shadow laughed and stated wickedly,"Your Mine".

The stallion started feeling weak, his eyes rolling to the back of his head, letting the darkness consume his body.  The last words to pierce his mind before his end were "Alan, wake up"...

The brown stallion's eyes quickly shot open, rising from his bed, sweat beading down his head and his heart pounding heavily against his chest. He quickly and alertly looked around his surroundings, cautiously surveying his room. His room was vaguely small, but was a descent size for a single occupant. Alan quickly looked to the left of his bed, managing to make out the vision of his desk, which held a laptop along with some documents scattered upon the desk. He then looked to his right, only to see his wardrobe, shut securely, which helped ease his suspicions.

Alan slowly lifted his hooves up to his head, soothing his headache, wiping the dry tears from his face, and assuring himself he was no longer in that realm of sorrow. After bringing his breathing to a steady rate, Alan noticed the peak of the sun glowing through the window that resided behind his desk and felt secure with the rays of the sun enveloping his room, dropping his hooves from his face. "Never thought I would be glad to see you Mr. Sun" he said sarcastically, admiring the rays at the same time. He looked at the lamp table residing to the right and groggily opened the compartment of the table to pull out two painkiller pills. Another night of nightmares, another set of pills, he told himself, and doused the two pills in his mouth. He simply swallowed the pills, too tired to leave his bed for a glass of water. The effect of the pills did little to ease his headache but it did leave him to continue his day a little more comfortably.  After sitting in his bed for quite some time, he eventually rose, still traumatized by the events of his dream, and descended down the hall to the kichen,to make himself a fine cup of coffee. He knew he couldn't rely on pills alone.

    That cup of coffee hit the spot, for Alan felt much greater, letting the warmth and creaminess give him a sense of ease. He felt safer in his kitchen which had many windows, allowing light to flow in from all directions. That was a good benefit that came with having a four room apartment on the thirtieth floor in Manehatten. He let down his coffee on the table which stood in the middle of the kitchen, and walked down the hall to the entrance of his apartment. He opened the front door to glance around, only to notice that the weekly newspaper lay on his doorstep. He glanced around seeing if anyone else had received there newspaper in such a manner, for he usually needed to head down to the lobby to pick it up himself. The hall was not so narrow, containing with doors parallel to each other until it reached the elevator.

He lifted the newspaper, glanced around, and opened it seeing what was knew in Equestria. He scanned the paper looking at the politics section, business section, but what he really wanted was the comics section. "I may be a bit too old for comics but they cheer me up in times like this" he chuckled to himself.

"It's not that immature to have a laugh every so often" said a voice flirtatiously.

Alan picked his head up to see a pretty mare smiling at him with grey toned skin and green eyes with a black toned mane but suited her perfectly. It was his neighbor of two years but Alan did not process that fact though for she scared the wits out of him, dropping his newspaper at the sudden appearance of the pony, which startled him. She giggled and bent down to pick up the newspaper which was now scattered in sections. She picked up a section and handed it to Alan who felt silly for his sudden spasm. He was blushing.

"Don't be embarrassed, it was my fault I should not have startled you like that" she said not breaking eye contact the whole time.

Alan suddenly regained his wits and quickly said "Please, no, it was my fault for jumping up like a little foal. I just have not been getting much sleep lately and it's been getting to me".

"Well I hope you get better then Alan" she said with a hint of worriedness. He wished the same for himself. She quickly continued speaking.

"So how is your story coming along, writer? She asked giving him a playful wink.

He laughed and said "Not so good Jane. I'm just having troubles trying to organize the ideas and put them on paper. These dreams aren't helping either".

She frowned and approached the stallion. "Oh you poor thing, is there anything I can do?", still approaching with a smirk in her face. Alan always fancied the mare but could not muster up the courage to seize the moment.

"Maybe later…" he said dryly. The grey mare began to walk away from the stallion slowly.

He felt as if he offended the poor mare but she glanced at him and said "well if you're ever looking for 'a good time', you'll know where I'll be". She glanced over to her room and with a wink, galloped to her home.

Alan felt stupid for not taking the chance, but he didn't feel like 'having a good time' at the moment. As he bent down to retrieve the rest of the fallen papers he glance to see the section his neighbor handed to him. Comics Section. He laughed and proceeded to pick up the rest and went back into his apartment.

    As he walked down the hall, he entered the kitchen to put the newspaper(s) down on the table. He picked up his cup of coffee and began to drink what was left of it. His face contorted though as the once warm creamy coffee, entered his body as a cold sugary stream. He sighed, placed the cup down and began to walk down the hall again which at the far end contained Alan's room and to the right was an empty bedroom. Alan never wish to acknowledge that room always passing by it without glancing at it, but it was virtually impossible considering it was right next to his room. Glancing at the room gave him a sense of sadness.emptiness.loneliness. But Alan, despite these feelings, was never fond of company. He would label himself anti-social, but he could indeed socialize. Possibly his hatred of company came from his sudden burst of fame, due to his 'Best-Selling' Novels. He did not want to be so cynical but that's what he thought. The neighbor probably only found an interest in Alan because he was a successful writer, and that stung him a bit. He felt that people were never interested in him, because of, well, him but instead, because of his fame and fortune.

"What Fortune? It's not like I'm planning to exploit all that money on things that I have no purpose of having" he mumbled to himself as the thought entered his mind, and stepped through the door to his room.

He made his bed, shaking of the sheets of dead skin and other contents, and plastered himself in front of his desk. He admired the pages scattered on the desk, fiddling through them with his hooves. There has to be one blank sheet of paper here, he thought to himself, still rummaging through the sheets. At last he found a sheet of paper and opened the compartment of his desk to find a pen. There was no pen. "It's a never ending cycle of messiness" he sighed, looking for a pen in the small compartment. Finally after what felt like hours he found the pen and begin to think of new ideas for his new story. His last novel, Darkness Falls, centered around a Protagonist who was trapped in a forest consumed by darkness. Alan knew about the connection to his dreams and novels, and at first he thought it was just his mind acting out the scenarios of his work. But the dreams continued onward, and began to get more fearful, personal, and terrifying. It started off with just darkness but a feeling of evil, almost as if the darkness was out to get something. Or someone.

The dreams started to get more vivid though, with memories beginning to play into his mind, but with the darkness present as well. It changed the original memories into much more sinister plots, keeping Alan awake, not wanting to endure these nightmares anymore. Then it hit Alan. He grew up here all his life, from when he was a little foal up until now. This is where most of his memories resided.

"..and the darkness attacks my memories" he thought aloud. A smile stretched across Alan's face and he felt a sudden rush of joy. "If I leave this place I could probably clear up my head, stop having these nightmares, and start getting back on track!" he exclaimed with joy. But then reality hit him. How could he leave? He couldn't just leave the very place he grew up in. and where would he go? Finding houses is not so easy now, and he wouldn't know of a place to look. He decided to weigh his options. "If I stay..." but he stopped. "What options? I have no reason to stay in Manehatten" he said. It was overpopulated and Alan wanted a place away from people, especially as rude as the inhabitants are here. With questions like these burning in his skull, he could only call one friend he knew could help him organize. He glanced to the side of the desk and saw a phone. He grabbed the phone and dialed a number and placed the phone on his ear.

"Hello?" Said the voice from the other line.

"Yes, Jerry", Asked Alan.

"Hey, Alan! How've you been man, been getting worried sick about you"

"Glad to hear from you to buddy".

"So whats going on, how is my moneymaker doing?"

"I told you Jerry if you ever…" scowled Alan but was cut short.

"Just kidding my man haha I remember the day we were still messing with little fillies how can I betray our friendship" exclaimed Jerry.

"You rascal. Well I have a question to ask you… about the nightmares. I'm going to need you to bear with me".

"No problem, say what you need to say".

Alan felt uneasy at first telling Jerry, but he knew he had to. He proceeded to tell him everything about his plan and how it may help him clear his mind. Jerry was quiet towards the end but eventually spoke up.

"You sure this is what you want to do?" questioned Jerry.

"As sure as I can be"

"hmm…fine then you S.O.B. but stay in touch alright? I don't want you dropping off the face of the map".

"I'll be sure to do so" chuckled Alan.

"well you want a quiet re mote place and that isn't too hard to find, but you want to find a place where friendlies reside yes?"

"Mhmm"

"Well I know of a place where the inhabitants are as friendly as they can be and oh would you look at that there is a nice little cabin that resides right by the area"

"That's perfect.'

"hold on I'll text you on the details tomorrow, my computer is running a bit slow. Damn thing wont start…"

"You do what you got to do jerry, talk to you later"

"Three hundred down the drai-"

Alan just laughed and hung up the phone. He felt much more at ease now that this plan was at a go, especially in such a small time-lapse. He questioned what he should do before he leaves Manehatten to restart himself anew. Then his eyes lit up and a smirk shined on his face. Around this time the sun was now beginning to retreat from the world to the other side, and Alan decided to tie some strings.

He walked out from his room turning on the lights in his house, and prepped the kitchen for a meal. He couldn't decide what to make so he mustered up whatever skills he could to batch up a secret salad recipe he learned from a friend a while back. After admiring his work, he saw that the salad was too much for one pony to eat so he decided to invite another friend. He then readied himself up, putting on his best attire and cologne and walked out his front door. He surveyed the area for any sign of life but the only thing there were the lights shining the hall. He walked out from his door and approached the door to the left.

As he stood in front he gave himself a little shake and when he finally felt ready he knocked on the door with his hoof. After a couple of seconds Jane appeared at the door. She was stunned at the stallion in good attire, but then smiled and sighed playfully, "Thought about my offer?". She was smiling. The stallion didn't falter. "Actually I came to invite you over for dinner, that is, if you haven't already had any" he replied smiling back. The mare smiled and said "Let me put on MY good attire now."

"Take your time" he said.

She winked and closed the door. Alan retreated back to his home, tidying up things and cleaning whatever mess he could find. As he approached his room to clean the documents on his desk, the phone rang. He looked at the phone and then answered, while still cleaning.

"Hello?" Alan answered.

"Hey sorry Alan about my bucking computer the thing is just a mess. Anyways I found the info about the house" Explained Jerry

"Alright give me the details."

"Well it is a two story cabin, two rooms a kitchen, living room, and there is a lovely surprise for you as well."

"I'm expecting a surprise right now" Alan chuckled.

"I'm not going to ask buddy."

Alan Laughed.

"Oh yeah one more thing about the place it is."

"Oh darn I forgot. Alright where is it located!?" exclaimed Alan

"Hold your reigns. Its located in a town named Ponyville"

"Ponyville? Why does that place sound familiar"

"Something about these holder of the elements of harmony, blah blah, forget that so you still in?"

Alan thought for a while.

"If it makes you feel better you not knowing it that much shows it's a humble place" said Jerry, who seemed to be reading Alan's thoughts.

"…Fine I'll do it"

"Alright great talk to you later man. Oh and Alan? Try not to hurt the mare"

"I'll try" retorted Alan, laughing, and he hung up.

Then there was a knock on the door. Alan quickly sprung from his room, forgetting about any mess, and galloped to the entrance door. He opened the door and was instantly stunned by the grey toned mare.

She wore a black short dress that only added to her black styled mane. Her green eyes twinkled at him with adorned affection. She stood outside waiting for the stallion to regain his wits, but she enjoyed his reaction. He eventually broke free of her charm and stammered "Co-come in-ma-mad'am". Stupid he thought to himself. "My, what a gentlepony" she replied and walked in. she wandered into the kitchen and Alan accompanied her shortly after. He went to the cabinet to retrieve a bottle of wine and place it on the table. "Never knew you fancied wine" she said smiling. That's not the only thing I fancy he thought. "Oh well it suits the moment" he said. Alan sat himself on one end of the table and expected Jane to do the same. Instead she sat right next to him and looked up at Alan as if she expected his reaction. "I'm sorry if this strikes you a bit odd" she explained, "I just never felt right doing something like that with someone I feel comfortable with".  Alan became astonished, and began having second thoughts about this particular mare. Maybe he has misjudged her all along, and she wasn't like the rest.

After a long night of talking and joking the two ponies were done with their meals. "Oh stop Alan im sure those are lies!" exclaimed Jane. "Cross my heart, college was not a place to lay about, especially when your friends were around", Alan replied. Jane laughed and stopped to look up at Alan who was smiling at her. "So Alan a fine stallion like you has to have some sort of origin, am I right?" Jane asked. Alan now began to glance around a little nervous by the question. Jane saw this and she placed her hoof on his. "Alan if it bothers you, you don't have to tell me" explained Jane. Alan looked up at the mare into her green eyes. He sighed, and said "It's no trouble really". He began to feel uncomftorable but finally broke from his shell.

"Well after I got my major in English, my greatest enemy was finding a job." They both laughed. "I looked in alot of places, and even though I came up in the top of my class, it was only a class of 20 students. What I really wanted to do was become a news editor".

Jane glanced away, feeling embarassed about giving him a newspaper in the morning. "I'm sorry" she said.

"Dont be" he said reassuringly. "It was so long ago, I can care less about that occupation".

Jane gave him a quick smile, but she still felt bad none-the-less.

"Anyways I eventually found a job doing editing for a magazine instead and well...it didn't appeal to me. At all. The pay was great but I didn't feel free, I felt bounded down, unable to flap my wings" The Earth pony said flapping his forearms in a wing formation. Jane giggled at the charade. "My imagination was not getting any freedom, so I quit and for that I ended up jobless. I tried writing and I loved it but it was getting me no where. I tried to publish my work to big publishing companies, but they simply tossed my work aside" he said shaking his head at the memories of his hard times.

"I felt my spirit breaking, the feeling of defeat eating at my dreams, and eventually I knew I had to find a job but by then I lost everything". Tears began to well in his eyes. "I was homeless, living on the street, forced to sleep with the animals. I felt no different from them. I felt like an animal and i wanted to be put down like one".

"Dont say that!" Jane snapped as she stared head on at the stallion who was on the verge of tears. Alan still continued on.

"Luckily my friend of many years found me on the street. Her face when she saw me. It was not disgust. It was...it was sadness. It was the first human look I got from anypony in a long time". He layed his head on her shoulder. "My friend allowed me to stay in her house and as long as i helped around i could stay. I thanked Celestia for this oppurtunity. My First book, Shadows, was my first successful Novel and I would not have been able to publish or even write it, if it was not for my friend. She negotiated with many publishing companies and eventually found the right one that gave the righ amount of respect and money. She's the reason I'm still here. Sadly shes not.." Jane was just about to gasp, but she couldn't give him another worry. Instead she picked up the stallions head and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Your friend did a great deed and you have many reasons to thank her. You know deep down that you base all your hard work on your friend even though you may not exploit it." Jane said.

There was a silence between the two and Alan was now beginning to manage a smirk.

"Now i have something to thank her for Alan" Jane said, breaking the silence.

"What would that be?" Alan asked quizedly.

"Meeting you" she muttered. Alan then smiled and let her hug embrace him. He felt broken and he was in need of fixing. Eventually he had to free himself from her comforing grasp and said "let me get this stuff off the table". He then grabbed both plates, washing them in the sink. He scrubbed the plates clean and placed them down and turned to his side admiring the beautiful mare still standing by the table.

"So how did a lovely mare such as yourself end up here?" Alan asked. Smooth move he thought to himself.

"My, a gentle stallion who has a way with words" Jane said smiling."Well it is a really long story..."

"If it is any trouble you dont have to tell" Alan said quickly.

"..BUT..." emphasized Jane. "I could shorten it up for you to make it a bit more bearable".

Alan felt a little ashamed of his outburst but simply said "okay".

Jane smiled and started speaking of her past. "Well, ever since i was a little filly, i always tried my best to be the best. It just was the way I was. I always tried to succeed in what I did and that resulted in me always being in the top of all my classes". Jane started to lower her gaze now. "Well, even though I always worked hard, I never had a role model nor did i get any support".

Alan perched up a brow, looking at the mare, eager to hear more.

"My family was never really there for me" Jane explained. "They were always to busy bickering with one another. Pretty soon, I ended down the wrong path. I met the wrong kind of people, and that resulted in everything I've worked for going down the drain."

Alan was silent still gazing at the mare. He saw her voice begin to give a hint of sorrow.

"My parents were never there to support me, but they were there to punish me when i was not doing good" she said, laughing dryly. "I didn't like that and I told them how I felt". She was now lowering her head. "That resulted in me and my father getting into an argument and he kicked me out of his house. I was alone with no one to care for me."

Alan could not think of anything to say. Questions were blaring in his mind, but if held them off, he was sure his questions would be answered when she continues.

"That didn't stop me though" she said now highering her head, a bit more prideful. "I continued going to school, staying at my friends house in and out until i got my high school diploma. After that I was on my own. Luckily, I made some friends over that course of time, and a friend of mine got me a job to be an accountant for a modeling agency".

Alan couldn't believe this. He couldn't imagine a mare as gorgous as her, being so strong and determined. It left him stupified.

"They probably only hired me because they needed another pretty face in the office," Jane said laughing. "But the pay was good and I loved what I was doing, so after a couple of months, I was able to get back on my hooves, and put my life back together".

Alan saw her smiling, but he knew she was still hurting inside. After all, He knew from experience, events like that aren't easy to get over. He couldn't stay quiet, due to fear of creating an akward silence.

"Jane, I am shocked you got back on your hooves and got everything back in place. Too many ponies now a days fall victim to the darkness in their lives. What some ponies don't realize though, is whenever there is light there is darkness, for without one, there can not be the other".

Jane tilted her head, laughed, and said "Taking quotes from you book, I see?".

Alan thought about what she said and then about what he said. Then the bulb in his head went off. Alan laughed as well and replied " Actually that's a new one, I may put that one in my next novel".

"You do that" Jane said, looking up at Alan with daunting eyes. Alan looked back at her, and the two looked at each other for quite some time. He had to break eye contact though when he placed the dishes he washed up into the cabinets, stacking one on top of the other.

"Hey Alan?" Jane asked.

"Yes?" he replied, closing the cabinet.

"You are different. I mean you're different from other stallions. I don't know why, but, you seem like a real nice guy who hides a lot". Jane began to approach Alan who turned towards her.

"Thanks Jane" Alan mustered with a smile.

"No, Alan, thank you for being a caring stallion. I use to think the world was a vicious cruel place filled with mean uncaring people, who are simply out to use others for their own personal gain. You showed me that not everyone is like that though and I thank you for that."

She was now close to him now, forelegs wrapped around Alan's shoulders and his wrapped around Jane's waist. She brought herself closer to him, and Alan prepared for a kiss, closing his eyes. It never came though instead a whisper came to his ear saying "I hope you didn't get full on dinner, because there's still dessert". Alan widened his eyes, and Jane looked back at him with a wink and a smile. Alan simply returned the smile, bringing his head closer to hers and the two passionately kissed closing their eyes. Alan felt at peace for once again. It was a strong feeling because it was the kind of feeling he use to have before the start of the nightmares. Or maybe because he truly felt he was not alone...

"Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody." -Mark Twain