//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: A Rude Awakening and An Unbelievable Discovery // Story: Invisible Walls // by Harmony Charmer //------------------------------// "Caroline? Are you awake?" My eyes slowly creaked open, but immediately shut once they saw the brightness of the lights. "She's awake! Mom, she's awake!" Blinkie? "She is?" Why did Sue sound so different? I gave opening my eyes another try, and saw the bright lights again. "Doctor, she's awake!" Doctor? I thought, alarmed, they brought a doctor in? Slowly, my eyes began to adjust. Instead of seeing the Pies, like I had expected, I saw my cousin and aunt, along with my mom, brother, and a doctor. "Hey there, sleepyhead! Have a nice nap?" asked the doctor in an unbelievably cheery voice. Nap? What was he talking about? "Where's Pinkie Pie?" I asked, panicky. They all looked at me strangely. "Pinkie Pie?" My brother asked, "Why would she be here? She's just a cartoon pony!" What? I was just with her... No, oh Celestia, no... Was it all... A dream? And this time, I actually did cry. Not in my dream, in reality. Because that was where I was; I was in the real world. And this time, I couldn't wake up from it. Everypony- no, everybody, my heart aching as I began to realize it, looked at me strangely. With my voice still ragged and broken, I asked, "How long?" No one had to ask what I had meant; how long had it been? How long had I been dreaming? "About a year," said my mother. More tears started flowing from my cheeks. "How? How did this happen?" No one said anything. Their silence only brought me more tears. I grabbed onto my own arms and held them close in a makeshift hug. When I did, I felt bumps on my wrists. I fearfully looked down at my wrists and saw a scar on each wrist. I had never realized anything so horrifying in my entire life. I had tried to kill myself. That thought seemed almost impossible. I didn't even remember it. All of my pain drove me to do that? I never even considered it... But, the scars were undeniable. Losing Pinkie and the others was forgotten as my discovery shook me to the core. I looked at all of them and saw the pain and confusion in their eyes. Like me, they didn't know why. Was my suicide attempt the cause of my fantasy? Was I really so tired of my own life, that in my fragile and desperate state I created a world where I could make people- no, ponies, happy and in turn, make myself happy? I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. All of this was too much to take in... I felt tears fall down my cheeks, but I refused to sob, knowing if I did, I'd never stop. "We'll have to run some tests to check if she's ready to move around," Said the doctor, obviously uncomfortable with the current situation. "Are you insane? Look at her! She is no state to go through anything like that!" My mother screamed. I swallowed hard, feeling my throat swell. She sounded just like Sue. "See? Postpone the tests! She needs love and..." Her speech had gotten lost as my world began to fade around me. Everything I thought I knew was a lie. My life in Equestria was never real, meaning my happiness wasn't either. I'm not meant to be happy, only meant to suffer and struggle so others can be. It was a sad thing I had come to terms with before all of this happened... But doing it again hurt me a lot more than the first time. "No," I said firmly, looking up from my knees. They all looked at me in shock. "Go through with the tests. Anything," I said, "to forget." My words caused everyone in the room to flinch, afraid of what I would do.The doctor looked from me to my mother. "Are you sure? Because, we can postpone them until you-" "Just get it over with," I interrupted, laying back down and turning on my side. I closed my eyes and shut out their murmuring voices. What did it matter what they said about me? Because that's just it, I thought to myself, nothings matters. Not anymore. * * * I was healthy as a horse, which I find completely ironic. My time at the hospital was probably the worst in my life. I spent most of my day in my hospital bed, but barely slept. When I wasn't moping around, I was being forced into physical therapy. They tried a therapist, but silence was the only result. After a few days, I overheard some of the doctors calling me "a hopeless case" after one of my sessions. And afterwards, I'd be force fed by a stingy nurse. My days repeated like an annoying skip on a CD or tape. But, my stay at the mental ward was about to have a new development. I was laying in bed when it happened. I was waiting for my lunch, as I had grown accustomed to. When the nurse came in with the tray, there was a little white paper bag on it. None of my other lunches had a bag on it, so I was suspicious. There was a small note of the side of it. It said, "Eat after you eat your veggies!" Baffled, I took the tray from the nurse and ate it, without being force fed. The nurse couldn't believe her eyes and almost started celebrating. When I finished my tray, I lifted the bag up and opened it. And I swear to Celestia, I just about had a heart attack. Inside, was a cupcake, with pink frosting and Pinkie's cutie mark on it. I slowly lifted it out of the bag and saw another note attached. Dear Caroline, You don't know me personally, but I feel like I know you. Your brother has told me about your dilemma and I hope you get better soon~! And I mean it from the bottom of my heart! Like Pinkie says, "Gotta giggle at the ghosties!" With love and tolerance, a fellow Brony. I blinked in confusion. "Brony"? What's a "Brony"? And why did they care about me? And what did they mean by a "fellow one"? I looked over at the laptop on the side of the bed my mom put there in case I was bored. I had never thought to use it before then. I reached for it and turned it on. Then, I searched up, "What is a brony?" A few thousand results popped up, which surprised me. I picked a link and my heart nearly stopped. There was a picture from My LIttle Pony and another of people dressed up as the characters. A brony was someone who loved watching My Little Pony and celebrates the show itself. I put my hands to my face and tears started flowing. The nurse saw this and ran out to get a doctor, but I was too overwhelmed to care. There were people who loved the show like me? I thought that I was the only one! I looked back down at the cupcake on the bedside table. My heart began to warm up all over again, just like when that rainboom hit. The doctor ran in the room with the nurse in tow. He began asking me questions, but I ignored him. On the website, there were several videos with songs from the show. I scrolled down and saw one titled, "Pinkie's song compilation". Although I didn't want to, I clicked on it. Almost immediately, I saw footage of Pinkie bouncing around and singing all of her wacky songs. It first started with Giggle at the Ghosties, and songs I wasn't familiar with followed. The words to the songs would pop into my mind, but I was never really sure if they were right. Whenever I thought I was wrong, it turned out to be right. About halfway through, a song I was all too familiar with came on. All you gotta do is take a cup of flour! Add it to the mix! Now just take a little something sweet, not sour! A bit of salt, just a pinch! I could feel the tears gather in my eyes, but I wiped them away. I don't know what surprised me even more; that the song was in the show or that Pinkie was singing it. Something moved inside me; it felt like a flicker... but of what? Hope? Was there a small possibility that what I experienced for the last year was more than a dream? I felt myself taking a deep breath, not understanding why. My voice, something I thought was diminished what felt like ages ago, found its way out of me, for everyone to hear. Baking these treats is such a cinch! Add a teaspoon of vanilla! Add a little more and you count to four, and you never get your fill of- I could feel my lips curve upwards into a smile as each word left my mouth. I jumped out of bed and began twirling around, like back in the Pies' kitchen. I threw my arms up in the air and shifted from foot to foot as I twirled and twirled. Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty! Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty! Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes! I stuck one foot out to stop my twirl and stuck my arms out, mimicking a ballerina. Both the doctor and nurse had bewildered expressions on their face. Then, unexpectedly, I started laughing. The nurse and doctor, who had stood in silence the entire time, exchanged glances with one another. I sat back down on my bed and held my sides as my laughter faded to muffled giggles. The nurse looked back at the doctor and in a frightened voice asked, "Has she gone mad?" The doctor looked over at me for a moment, then shook his head. "No," he said firmly, "I believe she's made a full recovery."