The Meaning of Life

by Falgantil

A date and a sandwich

I wake up and as I look down on Octavia, only to realize the bed is empty. A sting of disappointment pokes my heart, and it feels like the midday just got that much darker. I lay back onto my pillow and let the events of the past day sink into my mind. Just as I've closed my eyes, a knock on the door is heard and I open my eyes again to check the source of the noise. In through the door walks Octavia, with a tray with lunch on it.

“Good morning. Or should I say afternoon?” She smiles at me and sets the tray down on the nightstand. “I got us some lunch, if you're hungry?”

“Like a horse” I say, and grab a sandwich off the tray.

She takes a sandwich and sits down on her bed.

“Why are you being so nice to me? I mean, you could have just dumped me here and then left...”

“Would you like me to leave?”

“No..! I mean... No” I am blushing quite clearly now, and I attempt to drop the subject by taking a bite out of the sandwich.

“Well, to answer your question, I'm not the type that just leaves someone at a hospital after bringing them there. I like to make sure they're alright before I actually leave.”

“Why didn't you leave this morning then?”

“You know, it really sounds like you're trying to get rid of me” She lets out a nervous laugh.

“No. Well, I mean yeah it probably does, but I'm really not.” I smile at her, and she seems to ease a bit.

“Well, to be completely honest, you seem like a completely different type of pony. Just the way you talk. Completely different from the colts I'm used to talking with. You don't have that overconfident side.”

“And that's a good thing?” I ask, now quite baffled by what she's getting at.

“Yes, of course.” she says, to my surprise. “All colts acts like they own me or something. I don't want someone to protect me, I can protect myself damn well. I want someone I can talk with. Someone who is just as much down to earth as I... Oh boy, now it sounds like I want to...” She lowers her voice and continues. “date you...” She's now blushing quite obviously, and she now looks everywhere else than on me.
I realize, this would be a perfect moment to push things the right way. And although I have never been too bright on pickup lines, or dating at all, I figure something to say quite easy this time.

“Well, would that really be so bad?” Although she's not looking at me, I keep smiling at her. Her blush is now almost rose red. She lets out a small squeak.

“Oh my...”

I decide this is enough pushing from my side. Now she knows I'm interested, and if she also is, who knows?
I continue eating my sandwich, and after a few moments her blush starts to fade, and she slowly starts eating as well.

“So... You said you were playing at some garden party before you found me?”

“Oh yes, the Hinderson family.”

“Can't say it rings a bell... So are you performing solo?”

“Oh, no I have band mates.”

“And what do they play?”

“Oh, well they... don't... know I'm here” she finishes, now frozen in place, with the sandwich in her hoof, looking at me with an expression of horror.

A split second later, she's running toward the door, and out into the hallway. A few minutes passes, as I finish my sandwich. The door opens and Octavia trots back inside, wearing an expression of relief. She walks over and sits down on her bed, then lets out a sigh.

“What happened?” I ask.

“I'm so terribly sorry to just rush out all of the sudden. I just remembered that I hadn't notified any of my band mates of my whereabouts, and they do tend to become worried, if I vanish all of the sudden. Luckily, they had “embraced” a barrel of cider at the party, and assumed I'd gone back to the hotel. So no big search this time.” She lets out another sigh of relief before finishing the last bite of her sandwich.

“This time? What happened last time?”

“Oh, well last time Lyra had a little affair with a stallion at that party. We didn't know until later on. And well, suddenly Lyra was gone, and we didn't know were she went off to. Turns out she'd gone home with that stallion, and... Well, it was quite the hazzle finding her again. We asked everypony at the party, but frankly the cider had gotten the better of a lot of the guests, and the remaining didn't know. Eventually, she showed up at the hotel though.”

“Ah. I guess I am not the only one who's had quite some adventures then.”

“No, I guess not” She smiles and we both let out some light giggles.

A knock comes from the door, and a nurse walks in. “Oh good, you're awake. How are you feeling?”

“Uhm, I'm fine.” I reply. Redheart is wearing the same nurse-like smile as always.

“Alright then, that's good to hear. You're free to go in a few moments. I just need to run a few tests first.” As she finishes her sentence, she walks up to the side of my bed. First she grabs my leg and starts to bend it at the knee. Before I can react, she lets go and instead grabs my head, now with a tiny flashlight in her mouth lighting me in my right eye, then the left. Then, with unpony-like strength, she flips me around so I lay on my back, runs her hoof over me a few places on my back. And before I can object, she yanks a hoof right on my hip, before turning me back over to state:“Yep, physically you're as good as ever. You are free to go.” She smiles at me, and walks back out the door.
I sit there for a moment, contemplating what had just happened. As I look at Octavia, I notice she's seems just as confused as I, if not more. We both shrug it off, and Octavia grabs her few coat and purse before we head out the door.

“So where do you live?” she asks as we're walking down a street. I haven't thought about this at all, and as I can't think of anything that wont cause a problem some way or another, I reply with the only thing that comes to mind.

“Well, I don't actually live here in Ponyville. I live in Canterlot, but I just came to meet with my friends, here in Ponyville.”

“Oh, alright then. So where does your friends live?”

I decide that I can't stall it anymore, and reply. “Right this way. We're staying at Twilight's place. She lives in a library, inside a tree.”

“Oh my, sounds fancy. Wait, Twilight... As in, THE Twilight?” she says.

“Uhm, who is 'the' Twilight?” I ask, wondering what she means.

“The famous Twilight Sparkle?”

“Her name sure is Twilight Sparkle. Although I wasn't aware she was particularly famous.”

“Are you kidding me? She's Princess Celestia's student!”

“Oh, right. Yeah I can see how that might have something to say...” Odd. Never has there been any particular talk about this in the fanworld, but it is true that Twilight ought to be rather famous considering her position.

We continue walking down the street, and take a turn right, where we can see the tree house further down the road.