Maybe Today Will Be Different...

It rained outside. The drops from above splashed onto the clear windows with a quiet thud. Hoops laid in the bed of his apartment and looked outside. The town of Cloudsdale drifted over the cities, currently over Manehattan. Hoops had never actually been to the city below, as money prohibited that he got on any train when he used to live on the ground. Hoops thought about going down there, and eventually convinced himself it would be fun. He switched off the TV and got out of bed. The apartment was small and was only three rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a bedroom. All were below average and had many problems, but it was the best he could afford. He was a writer, the books he had written were amazing and got great ratings. But, after taking a year off, and getting robbed, he developed writer's block. His ambition wanted to write but his brain had no ideas.

He grabbed his saddle bag and forced his journal in there along with a pen. He also grabbed his keys and left the apartment. He went down the elevator alone and left the lobby. He was hoping in this town that nobody would know who he was. He didn’t need someone to ask for an autograph. He would have to get his pen, which would get his book wet when he opened his bags. So he wore a hoodie that concealed everything but his face. He set out into the rain. He rather liked the rain hitting his hood, the rain soaking into the fabric. He walked down the busy streets, hoping it would be fun.
A couple hours later, the rain eventually got old and started to annoy him. He walked into some fancy hotel and bumped into some mare. She was smaller than him, as he was a tall stallion. She was definitely cute and looked up at him, her wet face lit up. She dropped the rest of her books and picked up one, Hoops looked at it. It was his book. He chuckled a bit and the mare asked for him to sign her book. He pulled out his pen and signed it in a messy cursive. She smiled again and looked a bit nervous,

"Could you… Um… Possibly go to… A book talk with me later? I want to impress my friends.” The young mare asked. Hoops thought she was incredibly cute, and she seemed smart. He sort of nodded and ask for the address. She handed it to him and he flew home.

Hoops put on a nice suit and tie, He rather liked what he looked like and even did his hair as it was a special occasion. He hadn’t been asked to go anywhere in a while and took a long time to get dressed. When he was finally done, he looked at the note and went to the address. It was in some tall building. The place he was going was on the 27th floor and was a room off to the left.

It wasn’t a large group, around 15-20 other ponies showed up. He showed up early, but everyone was already talking about some stupid new book. When he entered the room though, everyone stopped and stared at him. They were mostly mares, with only a few other stallions. The mare he had bumped into earlier stood up and screamed, “I told you so!” to another mare and came over and hugged Hoops. He sort of pushed her off of him and sat in a chair. It was next to hers.
Hoops was known for his books, but he was shy. Very shy. He only used his deep, raspy voice when necessary. The mare who he bumped into, which he realized was named Rose, seemed very excited that he had spoken to her earlier. She asked him to do it again before everyone else arrived. He shook his head no and just sat in a chair. Ponies would ask him why he never spoke. He usually just shrugged. One time he did try to explain it once, but he got in too deep and ended up just walking away mid sentence. Ponies insisted he continued, but he just kept walking.

But that was many years ago. He still doesn’t talk much, and he still is stubborn. He has come out of his shell a couple years ago when he went to a writers convention. He had a panel about his upcoming story and was forced to talk, even if he hated it. Ponies always said they loved his voice, and he was a great writer. He didn't think so, he thought he was just your average pony, who just knows how to put words on a page.

Rose was a weird pony. No, she didn't do anything weird. She didn't take strange looks at him. She didn't touch him. But Rose constantly asked questions, directed to Hoops. He didn't know how to answer them. Somewhere personal. He could tell she just wanted him to speak for her, to prove to her friends that he was comfortable around them. He wasn't, at all. In fact, he felt very confined and really wanted it to be over soon. Though, the meeting hadn't even started yet. Once the final pony came into the room, a mare stood up. She seemed to be the leader of the group. Hoops found her rather attractive, and Rose could tell. She scrunched up her face in rage and just watched him for a bit longer.

"Hello, every pony. Today we have a special guest, Hoops... The author of The life of a shy writer. Let's give a round of applause for Rose, as she was the one who got him to come here!" The leader mare smiled with enthusiasm and the rest of them clapped their hooves together with joy. Hoops smiled a bit and to everyone's surprise, commented a simple, "Thanks. I love attending thing like this. Especially for my fans. I know I haven't really been out much, and haven't been writing as much... But, I am writing a new book. I can read it to you all if you would like."