//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Paranoia // by FluttershyAllTheWay //------------------------------// What a lovely time for my computer to give up on me. For the last 4 days my PC has decided it has had enough, but oh well. Once again, my deepest apologies for this extremely delayed chapter. ********************** With a swift inner motion, Octavia dismissed her insecure thoughts and banished them to the depths of her mind. She was fine now, why should anything change? She would just finish off with her casual shop and gain the items that are required, before heading home for the day. On the other hoof, Octavia was thinking about stopping by at Joe's restaurant for her classic meal done to perfection. ********************** Joe's restaurant may be your run-of-the-mill restaurant to any other pony or your untrained eye, but for Octavia many precious memories were sealed away inside the interior of this quirky restaurant. It had been her favourite when she was a young filly; her parents used to treat her to a meal there every so often. Octavia always knew what to order prior to even entering the place: the distinctive and staggeringly memorable taste of Joe's "Daffodil and Daisy Sandwich with a side of Crispy Hay Fries" was something Octavia used to crave. However, roughly half a year after Octavia's first visit to Joe's restaurant, her parents departed from life due to infectious diseases: both in the same week. Octavia's life as she knew it was erased and rewritten - as an Orphan. The Orphanage Octavia was brought up in was an environment she found dank and desperately miserable. To start with, Octavia blamed herself unanimously for her parents departing. For a few months, all Octavia hankered for was to place her hooves in the entrance as she used to with her general care-free expression and attitude, either with her parents or on her own. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. *********************** And as of now, nothing had appeared to have changed. As Octavia stood outside the towering building in front of her, she couldn't seem to move her hooves towards the entrance of Joe's restaurant.The smell was apparent and undeniably enticing, but Octavia couldn't bring herself to enter. So many memories would be vigorously re-awoken inside her; none of these would be helping her either. With an extensive sigh that was thick with sorrow, Octavia slumped in a strange and unbeknown street. She sat outside Joe's restaurant, just next to the fold up sign and under the thick canvas. The day had been good up until Octavia's flashback. It had hurt inside forcefully, and bad memories had been uncovered and re-awoken - memories that should have stayed as they were. As if to line this day with a cherry on top, the cloudy skies begun transferring to grey as time flew past Octavia. Almost instantaneously rain began thrashing it down violently and ferociously. The canvas cover above Octavia's slumped body prevented her coat and mane from getting wet, but only to some extent. A lot of the rain was hitting Octavia's body and her hooves consistently. The fresh and flowing rain water was picking up impurities from the ground and allowing them to float freely to anywhere they wished to go. Some were collecting around Octavia. Water flowing near a flower bed picked up some dirt and allowed the two to mix perfectly, causing a thin and sticky mud to be created. It flowed over to Octavia and began clustering together and plastering around and onto her coat. Octavia just sighed and fell into a weak and disturbed sleep on the street. A few ponies glanced over in curiosity, many offering looks of pure disgust, looks which were set like cement across their faces. Although Octavia's sleep was fragmented and disturbed, this didn't prevent her having some incredibly joyful dreams. She continued to enjoy the experience of the said dream until she felt something... Something touching her... Something warm... With a start and a loud, shrill shriek, Octavia forced open her eyes to confront her attacker. She jumped back and fell into an instinctive defensive position. As soon as her eyes began to focus so she could so clearly, Octavia was shocked at what she saw in front of her. Another pony. But not just any old run-of-the-mill pony. This pony looked more than just obscure. With a jagged and striped brilliant Blue and striking Cyan mane and tail and a pair of violet shades worn precariously over mysterious eyes, this mare was not the everyday pony to see in Canterlot. Octavia gasped at the sight and continued to stare openly at the mysterious and anonymous mare. All of a sudden, the mare spoke up. Her voice was energetic and slightly hoarse. "Hey there! I'm Vinyl Scratch. I saw you slumped in the street and just had to find out what was wrong." She claimed in an almost proud fashion. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Octavia screeched. She picked up her hooves and began racing down the street, galloping at top speed. She needed to find a way home. Vinyl just watched curiously as Octavia sped off, dumbfounded by her instant reaction. *************************** Octavia reached a shadowy alley that was secluded from any streets in Canterlot and began to tidy herself up and make herself look presentable. After a few minutes of vigorous brushing, Octavia met with a terrible tangle in her mane. Intent on removing this impurity from her mane, Octavia began brushing at vigorously in an attempt to correct it and restore normality. However, Octavia was a little too intent and was almost engrossed in removing the tangle. This had led to her letting her guard down and allowing her reactions to slip noticeably. She had almost blanked out all noise in the background in her fierce concentration when Octavia heard a loud crash that resonated around the alley. The noise was metallic and quaintly out of place. Octavia's head shot up at the sound and panic rose inside her as she fervently eyed every creepy corner and suspicious shadow for movement or life. After a minute of standing her ground, Octavia slowly began to reverse out of the alley. Her heart was racing at phenomenal speeds at the presence of something peculiar and unnatural. Octavia was enveloped in bright light once more as she entered the street again. With a hefty sigh of relief, Octavia began breathing deeply in a desperate attempt to stay calm. She brushed herself down and began trudging her way home. The day had been extremely eventful for Octavia; very little of it was positive either. More unanswered questions were being revealed and Octavia's head was overflowing, straining to fit so many things in in such a short space of time. Octavia was almost at the bus stop now. She had numerous unchecked items on her list of items to purchase, but it didn't bother Octavia in the slightest. She was just in a frantic rush to get herself into her secure home - she also was hoping for a decent night of rest to perhaps cure her mind. Octavia needed to get to the bottom of these eerie occurrences from the past few days. Either something incredibly unnatural was going on, or Octavia was just being the melodramatic drama queen of paranoia. Currently, Octavia believed the former, but hadn't dismissed the possibility of the latter yet. She wanted to believe the latter, but was lacking in solid evidence for that being the truth. Whichever was correct, Octavia needed to stop worrying about things such as this because she had an insanely important performance to be prepared for: she was performing at a royal Canterlot wedding as the main cellist of the Orchestra. The Orchestra consisted of the greatest and latest talents of all things classical over Equestria and Octavia was thrilled as well as honoured to have been specially selected to lead the stringed instruments with her mighty cello. As Octavia snapped back into focus with the real world, she realised the bus stop was situated directly in front of her hooves. In her aimless mind wandering Octavia had lost track of reality and had been day dreaming throughout her lengthy ponder, not realising how far she had come. With a partially stunned feeling of both curiosity and confusion, Octavia bewilderedly sat herself down on the hard and plain plastic bench. Memories instantly flooded her brain of when all these awful events started, that night so strangely similar to this day. The setting was oddly identical and the wind apparent as much as it was before. The bus rapidly entered view and parked up at the bus stop. The doors flew open and Octavia crammed onto the bus which was incredibly cramped and full in comparison to the buses Octavia had taken recently, which seemed peculiar to Octavia. Finding a seat adequate was like attempting to retrieve a needle from a haystack. So few were available that a compromise was the only option. In the end, Octavia was forced to settle for an uncomfortable seat close to the front next to a strange colt that continued to constantly give her dirty looks. Octavia shifted in her seat uncomfortably, feeling extremely awkward. His looks were suggestive of things Octavia was not interested in: this made the lengthy bus ride home all the more intolerable for Octavia. The bus was stuffy, smelly, noisy and crowded. No peace was available or possible to find, and the disgusting colt next to her was sliding ever closer to Octavia. She just couldn't take it. "Excuse me sir, but I'm not interested in anything with you. Please refrain from touching me or expect reportings. So, back off and BUCK YOU!." Octavia stated, beginning calmly but ending up hollering at the colt. She had attracted unwanted attention and the awkward feeling of many prying eyes behind her staring at her and the commotion she was causing. With a final disgruntled groan, Octavia stood herself up and moved to another free seat, this one in a less desirable position. The rest of the journey home was entirely uneventful as Octavia sat still and stared forward uncomfortably. Eventually, Octavia reached what was her stop. With a begrudging grunt, Octavia lifted herself to her hooves and stretched her back. She had a quick walk home now and she would be safe in her cosy home. All she wanted was to be in safe hands at home and to flick on the central heating. The comfy blasts of hot air would entice Octavia as she relaxed in her soft armchair. She couldn't wait. With these thoughts fresh in her mind, Octavia set off on hoof to her house. Joyfully for Octavia, she encountered no oddities and had a fairly pleasant early evening stroll home in the less populated and less city-like parts of Canterlot. Octavia reached her front door without and opened it with precision and care. She stepped in and placed her saddlebag gently down in the hallway, ready to unpack later. For now, Octavia just wanted to relax and unwind in her armchair with the central heating blaring away and the comforting background noise of a barely audible TV. For once in the last few days, Octavia was feeling safe and secure. But should she be letting her guard down now..? Octavia violently shook her head and dismissed the negative thought instantly so she would not ruin her good mood. Tucked inside the inner confinements of her home, Octavia's mind was assessing the day. One thing caught her attention: how rude she was to the mare who went by the name 'Vinyl Scratch'. An apology was order: Octavia detested keeping grudges with anypony. The decision Octavia came to was to ask around about this pony in an attempt to find her details. From this point on, Octavia could give her sincerest apologies and also a hearty thanks for taking notice of her. No other Canterlot pony strolling past seemed to do so. From there, Octavia would offer them to go somewhere to do something and then have a meal on her. Things were slotting together peacefully as Octavia thought more and more about it all. The day had been incredibly eventful. Many things had happened: some positive, some negative. Either way, it was all done with now and none of the past could be re-written. Many unanswered questions remained, clogging up Octavia's mind intensely. However, Octavia was determined to getting to the bottom of what was going on, if anything. All would be revealed. But for now, she was too tired to continue thinking. With the TV still at a barely audibly volume and the heating still blasting out heated air, Octavia silently slipped into a calm and relaxed sleep: the first sleep of this calibre she had had in a while. She would find out what was going on, because something was definitely ahoof. Whether it risked her life and safety or not. *************************** I think I'm slowly starting to return to a more solid schedule. We will see, I'm promising nothing. Enjoyed writing this, but I don't think it's brilliant. Writing at 4am has to be detrimental to the quality. Perhaps I;m just being paranoid though. :P Thank you for the great feedback! I just hit 20 favourites. :D Also, thanks to Church for the support and morale boost: it was one I really needed. I thank you once again. I will update soon, but bye for now!