//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: This Is The House That Doubt Built // Story: A World I Wasn't Meant For // by Abstract Spectrum //------------------------------// Octavia panted heavily as she stared herself down in what was left of the bathroom mirror. She saw how angry she was, how confused she was. She saw it, but she didn't think it, nor did she feel it. The tears that feel from her eyes weren't sad tears, but instead tears of a once great and powerful artist's mind gone awry. Octavia fell to the floor, and cried for what seemed like an eternity. She held her head tight, trying to absorb the pain. She couldn't tell between wrong and right, she couldn't tell if she was angry, sad, or whatever made her heart and mind go their separate ways. She had to calm down. Octavia crawled slowly into a nearby corner, her whole body trembling. She assumed the fetal position and tried to gather her thoughts. What has she done? What kind of world has she created for herself? Where did it all go wrong? What can she do to put her life back on the right track? She didn't know, and with such a cracked mind like her's, she wasn't going to find out anytime soon. The easy way, that is. Octavia took a deep breath, and slowly stood up, her hooves still trembling. For the first time ever, she felt scared to be alive. Just walking through what looked to her like endless hallways was like a nightmare. Eventually she made it to her bed, where she closed the blinds, crawled under the covers and tried to sleep. She was still crying, scared of what else could possibly go wrong. Octavia didn't know it, but that's part of what was bringing her to her knees pleading; she was focusing on the negatives in her life. Why does it suck? Why am I so scared? How could this possibly get any worse? The answers to those questions of which she feared. She tried to stop thinking, just so she could get to sleep. Her head was spinning, she was becoming dizzy and more nauseated by the second. The more she tried to forget, the more she remembered. Octavia was almost at her peak, she thought she was about to throw up or go insane, when suddenly... silence. She laid still in her bed, and slowly took her hooves off her head. She wasn't feeling a headache anymore. She wasn't dizzy, or feeling sick, or... nothing. Nothing but numbness. She only sat peacefully in a dark room. Finally, she could close her eyes and have everything just... stop. MEANWHILE AT LYRA & BON BON'S HOUSE... Vinyl laid asleep on the couch. It was nearly morning, but Lyra and Bon Bon knew she liked to sleep in, so they left her alone. "It's hard to believe she and Octavia separated." Bon Bon whispered, trying not to wake Vinyl. "Sometimes these things don't last, I guess." Lyra added. "Vinyl didn't seem to take it too hard, though. She was only sad for about 2 days. After that, she kinda just like... forgot about Tavi." "Speakin' of Tavi, you think maybe we should check up on her? See how she's taking it?" Lyra insisted. Bon Bon gave a small nod to Lyra, as the two mares walked out the door and Lyra slowly shutting it behind her. Lyra caught up with her cream-colored marefriend and walked with her to Octavia's home. "I hope she's okay." Bon Bon began. "I wouldn't worry about it. She should be fine. Besides, she's the more sophisticated one, right?" "Yeah, I guess you're right. Come to think of it, we've been giving Vinyl lots of support since their break up, maybe she handled it better because of us." Bon Bon thought. "What are you getting at?" "Maybe... maybe Octavia didn't handle it so well." Lyra stopped, which made Bon Bon do the same. Lyra's eyes widened. The two mares nodded to eachother, and began sprinting towards Octavia's residence. LATER, AT OCTAVIA'S HOUSE... "HEEEEEEEE-YA!" Lyra shouted, kicking the front door open. She landed on her front hooves and walked forward to let Bon Bon through. "Shh! Lyra, be quiet!" "Sorry!" She whispered. When they had stopped talking, they noticed that the house looked abandoned. Things were broken, the lights were off, everything in the room just looked... grey, old and dull. "Is she even here?" Lyra asked. "I don't know, let's check it out. You go upstairs, and I'll look around here." Lyra nodded and went upstairs as Bon Bon looked around the ground floor. Bon Bon looked everywhere, in the kitchen, in the basement, in the dining room, but no sign of Octavia. Meanwhile, Lyra was searching through every door upstairs, walking into a lot of empty storage closets where Vinyl once kept her musical possessions. Eventually, Lyra noticed a still figure laying on the bed in the bedroom. She double-checked to make sure that it was Octavia, which indeed it was, but something was wrong. Lyra's heartbeat accelerated, and she rushed down the stairs to alert Bon Bon. "Bon Bon! Come here! She's up here!" Lyra shouted. Bon Bon dropped whatever she was doing and followed Lyra upstairs and into the bedroom. Lyra had setup the covers so that it covered Octavia's body like a crime-scene. Bon Bon slowly lifted the covers to reveal Octavia. "Okay, so she looks fine-" "No! Look! She's grey!" "Lyra... really? She's always been grey." Bon Bon rolled her eyes. "Yeah but feel her!" Lyra said, shaking one of Octavia's legs. Bon Bon did the same, and retracted her hoof quickly. "Oh my... she's very stiff..." "Do you think she's... dead?" Bon Bon placed an ear on Octavia's chest. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. "No, she has a steady heartbeat." Bon Bon said, returning to Lyra's side. "So what's the diagnosis, doc?" Lyra joked. "I think... I think she might be in a coma." "Bon Bon, she's a pony, not a comb." "No Lyra, a COMA. She asleep, but she can't wake up." "Why not?" "I don't know. But I do know that we need to get her to the hospital, and fast." Bon Bon insisted. "Shouldn't we tell Vinyl first?" Bon Bon shook her head, and Lyra just accepted it. The two mares grabbed an end of Octavia and slowly made their way out of the house. When the two mares got outside, Bon Bon noticed a grey mare and a brown stallion walking on the sidewalk. "What happened to her?" Doctor Whooves asked. "She's in a coma, we need to get her to a hospital!" Lyra said. "Oh no! Here, lemme help!" Derpy cried, throwing Octavia onto her back. "Where to?" "Ponyville Hospital, stat!" Lyra declared. Derpy nodded and flew towards the hospital, as the others followed below her. "How'd she get like this?" Lyra asked, running next to Bon Bon. "We should know when we get to the hospital, just keep running." Bon Bon insisted. Lyra nodded and resumed following Derpy and Doctor Whooves to the nearest hospital. LATER, AT PONYVILLE HOSPITAL... Lyra, Bon Bon, Doctor Whooves, and Derpy all sat in the lobby, waiting for the nurse to let them into Octavia's room. Lyra turned to Bon Bon and asked, "What are we gonna tell Vinyl?" Bon Bon paused for a moment, and stared and the floor. "I... I just don't know, Lyra." Bon Bon whispered, still staring at the floor. "We've been waiting here a long time, what if she really is dead?" Bon Bon rolled her eyes and tried to tune out Lyra. An awkward silence fell over the room, the 4 friends only sat in the lobby for several minutes, just waiting. And waiting. And even more waiting. Lyra began kicking her hooves in boredom, which didn't help with Bon Bon's sanity levels. She took a deep breath, and relaxed in her chair. Several minutes later, Derpy's wings sprung up at the sight of Nurse Redheart approaching around the corner. "Octavia's friends?" She asked. They all nodded. "May we see her?" Doctor asked. Nurse Redheart nodded. "Follow me, please." The 4 friends sat up and followed the nurse upstairs to Octavia's room. "Come in quietly, please." Nurse Redheart insisted, leading the 4 into the room. Bon Bon was the first to gasp at Octavia's appearance in the bed. "How is she, doc?" Lyra asked. "Who, me?" Doctor Whooves asked. "No, the doctor." "Right, me." Lyra rolled her eyes. "No, the dude BEHIND you." Lyra pointed. The doctor stepped out from behind The Doctor and walked up to Octavia. "She is, in fact, in a coma." Doctor and Derpy gasped. "But what caused it?" Bon Bon asked. "From the information we gathered, she had a panic attack, and fell asleep. She hasn't woken up since, correct?" Lyra and Bon Bon nodded. "Does Octavia have any other close friends that aren't here?" The doctor asked. "Only this mare named 'Vinyl Scratch'. She's asleep at home." Bon Bon said. "Okay." The doctor said, placing a clipboard at the foot of the bed. "I can assure you, she'll be just fine." Everypony in the room sighed in relief. "You'll have to leave, now. She needs to rest. We'll call you if anything happens." The 4 friends turned around to leave, as the doctor instructed the nurse to keep a close eye on Octavia in-case anything happens. "So how are we gonna break this to Vinyl?" Lyra asked, catching up with Bon Bon. "We won't. I think it's best if she doesn't know." "Why?" "Do you want her to freak out? She's best the way she is now, quiet and tranquil." "Oh... kay... whatever you say, Bon Bon." Lyra looked down at the ground in disappointment. And thought to herself, "I'm just afraid what'll happen when she finds out on her own..."