A World I Wasn't Meant For

by Abstract Spectrum

Chapter 11: The Downfall Of Us All

Octavia ran as fast as she possibly could in her fragile state. Vicious thunder clashed and roared, left and right, dampening both her vision, and her hearing. Rain poured in sheets, in addition to the cold air making the grey mare's hooves tremble as she ran through thick walls of sleet. Octavia sped up her pace, clenching her teeth as she fought through the harsh weather. Despite it looking as if Octavia was only running rambunctiously around the town, she was going in a specific direction. She was running towards something, what exactly that something was, she had no idea. All she knew was that her legs were taking her there, whilst her mind clouded with words like "I'm sorry" and "I failed". During what seemed like an endless sprint, she instinctively jump across small creaks, and bridges, whilst dodging trees and rocks that were dug into the ground. The only relief she got from the pain in her head and chest was from the wind in her mane. Octavia grasped her chest hard, and coughed roughly, drying her throat to where she couldn't stop. She quickened her pace more, her constant coughing weakening her legs and throat. Evidently, the sick warm-grey mare trembled. The mud build up around her body as she slid through it, the rain making a puddle in the pool that the mud formed. Between coughs, Octavia manage to yelp out in desperation,
"I'M SORRY!" she wined. "I CAN'T DO IT, I CAN'T! IT'S ALL TOO HARD AND CONFUSING! IT HURTS!" she yelled again, coughing viciously afterwards. Her head sank into the mud, as she uttered, "I've... I've failed you. I've failed you all."
As her hearing faded out, she barely heard familiar voices in the distance, let alone recognize them. Before long, Octavia was back on her hooves. She felt deadly scared at the ponies chasing her through the town. The grey mare forced her legs to work harder, as the splashing she heard behind her was getting quicker and closer.
"Tavi! TAVI! STOP!" Vinyl yelled.
"WE JUST WANT TO HELP YOU!" Lyra screamed, trying to project her voice over the clashing elements.

There was that word, help.

The 3 mares slid on the mud as they noticed Octavia stop suddenly.
"Tavi, what's going on?" Bon Bon yelled over the storm.
"We're here to help!" Lyra insisted.
Octavia didn't budge, she just stood there, motionless, lifeless. It wasn't until she collapsed on the ground that the 3 mares rushed over to help her.
"TAVI!" Vinyl yelled.
"Wow, right into the mud!" Lyra joked.
While Lyra and Bon Bon hauled Octavia on their backs, Vinyl took a moment to notice what exactly Octavia had collapsed in front of.
"Hey-hey guys! Look at this!" Vinyl yelled behind her.
Bon Bon and Lyra crouched down to see the object Octavia was running towards.
"Here lies Annabelle Treble, beloved wife and mother. R.I.P." Bon Bon read aloud. "What about this one next to it?" She pointed out.
Vinyl didn't notice this one. She rubbed the mud off of the stone and focused on the lettering engraved in it.
"Here lies Benson Treble, faithful husband and father. R.I.P." Vinyl sighed, her sentence trailing off. "These... these are her parents..." Vinyl trailed off, shocked.
"Wasn't Octavia's mother missing?" Bon Bon said. "Oh please, it's been like... 30 years since she went missing. If you ask me, she's six feet under, right there." Lyra pointed. She started feeling slight movement on her back. Octavia was nearly awake, and just barely uttered "Ifuuledyuu..." as she fell back into her unconscious state.
"We need to get back to the hospital." Lyra digressed. The other 2 mares nodded, and ran out of Ponyville Cemetery back to the hospital.

LATER, BACK AT THE HOSPITAL...
The grey mare's eyes creaked open. It was still cloudy outside, only it was nighttime as well. Octavia held her chest tightly as it cringed, grunting slightly as she clenched. She took a deep breath, and looked around the room. To her right, sat Lyra and Bon Bon, sleeping. To her left, was the doctor, awake, and looking out the window. Octavia adjusted her position, the sound of the sheets rustling getting her doctor's attention.
"Oh, you're awake. Wonderful." The doctor said with a slight whisper. "How are you feeling?" He continued, touching Octavia's neck and looking down at his watch. He backed away from the grey mare and waited for a response. Octavia only rubbed her head and looked around the room more.
"Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital, Octavia. You're here because of a terrible panic attack you had in your home not more than 2 days ago."
"What? But I was just there a minute ago!" She whined.
"Actually, a minute ago you were running around in the rain heading towards the cemetery, before collapsing in front of your parents' tombstones. Or at least, that's what you're friends told me."
Octavia rubbed her head more, trying to remember.
"What's... what's happening?" Octavia began to pant, the heart meter next to her bed accelerating. The doctor rushed towards Octavia's side.
"Octavia, I need you to listen to me. Calm down, control your breathing, and relax. You're just a little confused, that's all."
The grey mare took a deep breath, and slid under her bed sheets.
"Okay, now listen, I need you to... Octavia? Miss Treble, are you okay?" The doctor panicked, waving a hoof in front of the black-maned mare. No response. The doctor sighed, grabbed his clipboard off the bed, and left the room.

Octavia stood in complete darkness. She couldn't feel her body, nor could she move. A light turned on above her, and another one just a few feet away, it shining on her cello. She began to walk towards it, lifting a bow she didn't know she had and leading a hoof towards the instrument. Before she could even touch a single string, her DJ set smashed down on it, the wooden pieces of her cello flying in several directions. Octavia was then blasted a few feet back when her DJ set began to play incredibly loudly. As she slid on the floor from the blast, she felt a bump on her haunches. Standing up and turning around, she saw both her parents. Octavia smiled gingerly, but frowned when they suddenly morphed into Vinyl. Octavia became angry. As she lifted her front legs to smash away her once great friend, she saw the reflection of her parents in Vinyl's eyes. The black-maned mare placed her hooves down slowly, and stared deeply into Vinyl's eyes, focusing on her parents.

"This isn't right, Octavia. You failed us. You failed us. You failed us." They repeated.
Octavia covered her ears and ran away, getting no further from the possessed Vinyl, but getting closer to a bright light.

"Oc... Octavia... please don't go... please, come... come back."

Octavia stopped. She recognized Vinyl's voice behind her, and turned around, walking closer to Vinyl. The white mare stood motionless, only her mouth moving.

"I was just trying to keep you safe... I didn't mean for you to get in all this t-trouble..." The Vinyl statue sniffled. "W-we can start over, okay? I... I..."

Octavia's heart meter hummed a low-pitched beep noise.

Vinyl gasped. The statue began crying.
"N-no... this... can't h-happen..." Vinyl whined, squeezing Octavia's hoof that she held at her bedside. "IT CAN'T!" She yelled, more tears pouring out, soaking the bed sheets as she squeezed her love's hoof harder.
"Oh my gosh... Vinyl... I'm so sorry." Lyra whispered, choking up.
Bon Bon sniffled, her eyes bloodshot. "I think... I think we should go." She sniffled again.
"You guys go... I need... I need a moment." Vinyl looked down. The 2 other mares nodded and held eachother as they walked out the door.
Vinyl took off her saddlebags and opened a flap. Her hooves trembled as she took out a CD player, and 2 pairs of headphones. Placing a pair on Octavia's ears and her own, she inserted a CD titled "Orchestral Astonishment - Octavia Treble". It'd been Octavia's best selling collection of her best songs. Vinyl tapped the play button, and sat on the cold hospital floor as she listened to the greatest music she'd ever heard. Rubbing Octavia's arm, she hummed the theme to herself, her voice occasionally cracking when whines tried to push through it.

Suddenly, Octavia's cello appeared again in a different spotlight next to Vinyl. The bow floated in mid-air, and played the song she was hearing in her head.
"Man... this is some sick stuff right here!" Octavia said, bobbing her head. She slapped herself. "By Celestia, did... did I just say that? What have I..." Octavia paused. "Oh my..."

As the song ended, Vinyl slipped her hoof off of Octavia's.

Then Octavia grabbed it back.

Vinyl gasped, and looked up. She saw Octavia's eyes open, and her heart meter start back up. Vinyl stood up, and stared blankly at Octavia, who did the same.
"Oh my Celestia, Tavi you're-" Vinyl was cut off when Octavia planted her lips in the middle of hers. Octavia began rubbing the back of Vinyl's head, engaging her in the most passionate kiss they both of them have ever experienced. The two mares ignored the sound of the door opening, and Lyra and Bon Bon walking in.
"Hey Vinyl-" Lyra froze in the middle of the door.
"What is it Ly-" Bon Bon froze behind her.
It was at this point that Octavia had forced Vinyl against the wall, Vinyl now ruffling up Octavia's mane just as Octavia was hers. Meanwhile, Lyra and Bon Bon leisurely and quietly closed the door and walked away from the room.
"What was that?" Bon Bon said in surprise.
"What was what? I didn't see anything. Why are we in a hospital? Let's get out of here." Lyra panicked.

Octavia and Vinyl's lips parted, both mares breathing heavily.
"What was that for?" Vinyl asked, trying to catch her breath.
Octavia unpinned Vinyl from the wall, remaining close to Vinyl.
"I'm... I'm terribly sorry." Octavia sighed.
"Are you joking? That was amazing!"
"No, not what we just did; I'm sorry for not listening to you before. You were right, I was becoming so desperate for fame that... well I guess I seemed to have forgotten who I really was."
"Wow. I can't believe it took you so much to figure that out. But I'm wondering... what finally set your head straight?"
Octavia paused, and looked nervously at the ground.
"I... I had a dream. M-my parents, they were... so disappointed."
"And what did we learn?" Vinyl joked.
"I think... I think I should quit music."
Vinyl's eyes widened. She couldn't believe her ears.
"WHAT?! But... but Tavi! You can't do that!"
"It's for the best, Vinyl. I don't want my parents to be-"
"Okay, that needs to stop."
"What?"
"You need to stop doing everything for your parents! THEY'RE DEAD! BOTH OF THEM! WHO CARES WHAT THEY THINK?" Vinyl yelled.
Octavia's eyes began to puff up. Vinyl panted heavily, anger still in her expression. Then, she'd just realized what she'd done.
"Oh my gosh... Tavi I... I didn't mean that! I'm so sorry!" Vinyl panicked, trying to comfort Octavia.
"GET YOUR DIRTY HOOVES OFF ME!" Octavia cried, running out of the room.
Vinyl froze. Things escalated so quickly and yet, they crashed just as fast.
"Why... WHY DID I SAY IT LIKE THAT?" Vinyl yelled, bashing her head against the wall. Having one last chance to catch up with Octavia, she took it.

Vinyl turned around and rushed out of the room after Octavia.

LATER, AT OCTAVIA'S RESIDENCE...

Vinyl slowly opened the front door, which surprisingly was unlocked. Shutting the door, she paused for a moment. Planting her head in her hoof, she let out an annoyed growl. They'd ended up right back where they started.

Vinyl walked down into the basement, where she thought the sound of a violin was coming from. Finding nothing downstairs, she followed the sound much more clearly the 2nd time. She found Octavia upstairs in their bedroom, with her cello.
"Tavi? You're... you're playing your cello?"
Octavia stopped, and opened her eyes, still bloodshot from crying. She laid her bow on the bedside, and shyly walked up to Vinyl.
"That was um... ignorant of me." Octavia sighed.
"Yeah, it was. You scared the living Hell outta me."
"Okay, from now on, heh..." Octavia chuckled. "You're right." She admitted. "I should listen to you. When I was running home, I realized, yes, you are right; I shouldn't have to think about what my parents would think of me today."
"I'm sure they'd be proud of whatever you do with your life."
"And that, Vinyl my dear, is music."
"Exactly." Vinyl nodded. "So, when's your next show?"
Octavia rolled her eyes nervously.
"Eheh... that's um... the problem, Vinyl. Um... ponies and their opinions of my type of music still haven't changed their minds, I'm still outdated..."
"Oh... um..."
Vinyl's ears perked up, she heard the phone downstairs ringing.

Picking it up, she brought it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Viinyllll, babyyyyy! Guess what? I got a SWEET gig for you! You, Canterlot, biggest performance of the year, right here, right now."
Vinyl dropped the phone.

Neither she nor Octavia had written any new material in weeks, Vinyl's speakers were broken on the front lawn, and Vinyl's only two DJ sets were burned to ash.

Comments

[QuickFix]

Soooo Goooooood!!! Yess!

I'm really happy that Vinyl was able to bring her back. The scene at the hospital just made me cry, just heartbreaking.

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck.

They are both screwed as fuck.