//------------------------------// // Running All Over // Story: A Mystery Older Than Celestia Herself // by Crazy Pizzafan927 //------------------------------// To say that Octavia was less than pleased that May morning, would be an understatement indeed. It all started, with the view. Well actually, it started with waking up at five o’ clock in the morning, but it mostly started with the view. The view outside the train was terrible! There was only a sea of cream-colored icing outside, that stretched out for miles, which were apparently, poor excuses for buildings. The windows had been littered with green molds, dried-up pieces of gum, and thick layers of dust, as if somepony decided that windows were garbage dumps. Where were the window-washers, for Celestia's sake? Daring to spare a glance at the window once more, she whipped her head the other way and shuddered, choking back on her squeal. On instinct, Octavia rubbed her saddlebag, feeling its sandpaper-like texture on her hoof. The corners of her mouth threatened to twitch upwards. This saddlebag was one of her memories of home. Of Canterlot. Cuddling it closer to her face, she could feel coolness of the copper emblem of her cutie mark. With a small yawn, she laid down on her seat and cuddled her bag, not caring if it was going to leave a perfect octave-shaped dent on her face. Her eyelids suddenly weighed like bricks, forcing her to shut her eyes. And so she did, drifting off into a blank dream. Screech! went the cursed wheels of the train, waking Octavia up. Stifling a yawn, she slid down her seat and grabbed the suitcases and the cello case from underneath. Then she balanced her many luggage onto her back, her knees wobbling from the weight. Although Octavia was proud to be an earth pony, this was one of those moments that she wished to be a unicorn. Hm, fancy that, her as a unicorn. She shook her head, her dark brown mane whipping the air; this was simply not the time to be thinking such nonsense. With a soft groan she trudged to exit the train, which wasn't an easy feat. Especially not when two ponies were yelling at her. “Hey lady! Move out-of-the-way!” “Yeah! Some of us have important places to go to!” Octavia had been tempted to yell at those rude ponies, but she decided to try to walk faster instead; she wasn't about to lower herself to their level. As she tried to walked, somepony had used their magic to throw Octavia off the train and unto the wooden platform of the train station. Waving a grey hoof in the air, Octavia wasn't holding back. “Uncouth!” Octavia would've done more, but she decided that it was (ironically) uncouth that she shouted in a public place. Luckily, only a few ponies stared at her, but they looked away once Octavia glanced at them. With a huff, she scanned the area for her luggage, only for something feathery to crash into her face. She figured that it was a pegasus with a bad sense of flying, but when she opened her eyes, they told her a different story. It was actually a pony covered in white feathers. A unicorn, judging from the mint-green horn that was poking out from beneath the feathers. The unicorn spat out some feathers. “Hi there!” The unicorn waved a hoof. “Sorry that I bumped into you. You see, I was chasing. . .” Then the mare told Octavia of a story that involved a lyre, a lantern and glue. As she told her story, Octavia couldn't see what it had to do with bumping into her. “And then the cockatrice came out of nowhere and went, ‘GRRRRRRRRR!’” At the last part, the unicorn growled right into Octavia's face! The earth pony was about to tell the unicorn off for doing such an uncivilized act, when she heard a voice that sounded like its owner had sucked in way too much helium. “Lyra! Quit scaring the poor mare!” A cream-coloured earth pony could be seen running towards the unicorn, her navy blue and pink mane bouncing as it did. “You're just exaggerating, Bon Bon,” Lyra turned around to face the cream-coloured pony. Bon Bon stared at Lyra. "Really." “Really!” “Then care to explain why the mare's slowly backing away?” Bon Bon pointed a hoof towards Octavia. Or at least the spot where the cellist had once stood on. She realized this seconds later and turned to Lyra with a raised eyebrow. The unicorn could only reply with an awkward smile and a shrug. She knew that it was very rude of her to do that, but Octavia wasn't the kind to enjoy uncivil ponies. Or anything uncivil, for that matter. Oh well, at least that unicorn wasn't that pink pony at the Gala. She was about to try and remember something that she'd forgotten, but any further thoughts were interrupted by a loud gasp behind her. By the time she turned around, she could only see a pink blur dashing out of sight. She could only wonder at what exactly the blur was until somepony took her by the hooves, and lifted her up into the clouds. Octavia was flailing around wildly, like a fish out of water. “Wha-what!? Let me down!” “Calm down!" a voice that sounded very much like a colt, exclaimed. “I'm not a foalnapper!” Still skeptical about the latter statement, Octavia looked up to see a grey mare, slowly flapping her wings and staring down at her with cross-eyed, yellow-orange eyes. Octavia avoided looking at the stranger's eyes. “Then why are you carrying me?” The stranger waved her hooves around in the air. “Because Scootaloo was about to run over you! I wasn't going to let somepony get ran over!” The pegasus looked down at Octavia to ask her name, except that said pony was busy falling to her doom. “Oops...” Octavia's light violet eyes were quickly drying out as she fell, forcing her to shut them the first few feet of falling. She didn't know what would happen to her, which scared her. She didn't enjoy the unknown, and the darkness of her closed eyelids weren't making this terrifying experience any more pleasant for her. She continued falling, hoping to Celestia that she would somehow live. At the last moment, Octavia decided to open her eyes. Big mistake. Now the ground was only five feet below her, and there was no sign of anything to cushion her fall. Celestia, now she wished she was a pegasus. She decided to close her eyes, hearing the flapping of wings and somepony yelping below her as she landed on something furry. Wait a moment, that would mean she was still alive! Thank Celestia! She looked beneath her to see a light brown stallion with a dark brown and spiky mane. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his hourglass cutie mark. She really hoped that she wasn't going mad, since she saw that cutie mark back in Canterlot, albeit on different stallions. Identical cutie marks can't be on different ponies, right? Hearing a muffled groan, Octavia reminded herself that she should get off the stallion's back first before wondering about cutie marks. So she did, blu in the process. She waited until the stallion slowly got up before making her escape, shouting an apology as she did. But if Octavia stuck around a while longer, she might've seen a certain pegasus giving the stallion a short wistful glance before flying after Octavia. What's wrong with me today? thought Octavia, slowing down to a stop, First, I ran away from a unicorn covered in feathers. Although she was uncivil, I was no better by running away. Second- Scratch! Pressing her hooves firmly against her ears, Octavia glared at the direction where that ghastly sound came from. She saw that it came from a familiar-looking, white unicorn who was turn-tabling. Octavia had nothing against turn-tabling, but why the unicorn just had to do it out in the open where everypony could hear it, was beyond her. Figuring that she had nothing better to do, Octavia ambled over to the unicorn and greeted her. Or at least she was about to the latter when suddenly- “Come in!” The unicorn grabbed her by the hoof and literally dragged Octavia into the building behind her. Octavia avoided the urge to buck her captor in the face as they were plunged into the darkness. Darkness... Now that very word made her cringe, for it hides everything that Octavia was familiar to. It would make the forests seem dangerous and creepy, and it would make her open closet look like a monster of some sort. Or at least, her closet back in Canterlot would look like that. Octavia didn't even know if her new closet in Ponyville would be even be creepier looking than the one she had in Canterlot, or if her old closet still held the record. New closet... Now that reminded her of something... Octavia's thoughts had been rudely interrupted by the sudden flicker of lit lights and a shout of a window-shattering yell of, “Surprise!” Her captor had apparently let go of her, as she was once again, literally blown back into a wall, which isn't the best landing cushion. A pink hoof grabbed Octavia's tail and pulled her off the wall like a sticker. Once back on the ground, Octavia looked up (despite the pain it was causing her) to see the face that she wouldn't look forward to see for her whole life. It was the face of that pony that she heard was called, Pinkie Pie; the Element of Laughter, a party-thrower, and the mare who had ruined the Great Galloping Gala. At least for Octavia. In her shock, Octavia stepped backwards. “Maia!” “No, silly!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in her high-pitched voice. “My name's Pinkie Pie, not ‘Maia’! But if it were my name...” She tapped a hoof against her chin and started to ramble about the results of being called 'Maia', which Octavia didn't listen to as she was too busy backing away from the pink pony. She was about to get lost into the crowd until Pinkie Pie stretched out her hoof and grabbed on to her as she 'teleported' to Octavia's side. “So what's your name? You wouldn't happen to be my sister, Inky, would you?” Octavia was about to reply, but Pinkie interrupted her. “Wait a moment, if you're my sister, you would've sent me a letter. Why didn't you send me a letter!? I would've thrown an even bigger party! Ooh! Is mom, dad and Blinky here, too?” Pinkie stared at her with those sky blue eyes, glimmering with uncontainable excitement. Octavia almost didn't want to disappoint her, but she also didn't want to trot around and pretend that she was this, 'Inky' pony. That wouldn't turn out so well. “Sorry, Pinkie,” Octavia was inching towards the crowd. Better be with a bunch of strangers than this crazy pony. “But I'm not Inky, I'm Octavia.” “Oh. Okie dokie lokie!” The pink earth pony bounced off into the crowd, her hot pink mane bouncing in the air. Octavia rolled her eyes and walked into the crowd, but she saw Pinkie's stretched out head bursting out of it while balancing a pink-frosted cupcake on her cotton candy-like mane. The cellist backed away quickly as if a manticore was after her hide. Pinkie either didn't notice or didn’t care, as she took the pastry off of her head and tossed it to Octavia, who caught it. “Try one!” Pinkie danced along to the music that the white unicorn was playing. “It's a specialty from Sugarcube Corner!” Staring at the pastry in her hooves, Octavia was debating whether to eat it or not. She didn’t want to eat such vile thing, but she didn’t want to offend the pink mare either. She was stuck in between two stones. If Octavia decided to eat the cupcake, she would have that flash back about that Forbidden-to-Speak-Of Incident. But if she decided to refuse, that would mean that she would upset her, which isn't the best impression that one should make. But any further thoughts were (once again) interrupted by a thunk! Jumping at the sound, she turned around to see that her cello case was right on the ground behind her, with a certain unicorn shivering in place. Taking deep breaths and counting to three, she deadpanned at Lyra. It continued for about two seconds until she opened up her cello case to see that her cello was still intact. Thank Celestia! Noticing that the unicorn in front of her was now covering her eyes, she placed a hoof on Lyra’s head to calm her down. The plan worked, as Lyra immediately stopped shaking and looked up at Octavia, tears brimming her golden eyes. “I’m so sorry!” Lyra dashed out of the front door, tears falling as she did. Octavia just stood there, cocking her head and raising an eyebrow. She felt a hard jab on her back, causing her to turn around and face Bon Bon. Bon Bon was pounding her front hooves against each other as she stood over Octavia on her hind legs, casting a long shadow. When she opened her mouth, Octavia was forcing herself to not trot away. "What have you done to Lyra?" Bon Bon whispered. Her turquoise eyes became colder, and were staring daggers into Octavia's very soul. With a wince, Octavia's pupils and irises shrank as her eyes widened, resembling dinner plates with a single dot in their middles. Shaking, she caught a glimpse of a memory resurfacing, which she swore was happening all over again all around her. The long shadow, the piercing glare that Bon Bon was giving her, the soft but spine-chilling whisper, they all caused her to remember something that she thought she'd locked inside the darkest and the least ventured place in her mind. Rearing, she bolted through the crowd like a cannonball, not caring much for the following string of curses that she dared not to repeat or their well-being. You cannot hide forever, little Octavia. You cannot hide forever, little Octavia. The all-too-familiar whisper was echoing through her mind, like a shout in a canyon that stretched on for miles. Although this whisper was very familiar to her, Octavia couldn't help but think that this was the only thing she'd hate to remember. Maybe some things were better left forgotten. She kept on running, but from the party or the trauma, she didn't know. She just ran. Maybe she shouldn't have come to Ponyville and went against the family tradition instead. Screeching to a halt, she realized that this was the tradition's fault. If she never had to follow the family tradition of moving to a new town right after her fifteenth birthday, she never would've met these crazy ponies, she wouldn't have to move into that haunted house, and she wouldn't have to remember her foalhood trauma. "Stupid tradition!" Octavia ran to the nearest tree and bucked it. It wasn't a strong buck, since Octavia rarely had much practice. She was a cellist and one doesn't see cellists buck anything on a daily basis. Despite the strength of her buck, Octavia kept bucking the tree, placing more effort into it every time. "Stop it!" The cellist paused; that high-yet-low voice sounded familiar. She shook her head, passing it off as her imagination. She raised her hind legs and extended it to the tree's brittle bark with a powerful force, leaving the thin branches to drop their dead leaves. She was about to repeat when somepony tackled her down to the mud. Looking up to see her attacker, she spotted the grey pegasus that had dropped her earlier that day. "I'm sorry that I had to do that, but you would've hurt yourself!" The mare stared at her with worry. Octavia glared at the pegasus. "Oh, because I'm from Canterlot, you just assumed that I'm weak?" "What? No! It's-" "Well we Canterlot ponies could be strong, too, you know! We Canterlot ponies aren't as fragile as vases like everypony seem to think! We Canterlot ponies just choose to not act like barbarians!" Looking up, Octavia could see that the Pegasus was ready to have a retort of her own. But instead of shouting back at Octavia like she expected, the Pegasus did something that Octavia would never expect from a stranger: A hug. The hug reminded Octavia of her parents, when they hugged her goodbye before she left for Ponyville. Not too tight that it would suffocate her, but not too loose that it would be insincere. Mother. Father. Violet. Canterlot. Tasting something salty, Octavia wiped away whatever was on her mouth and realized that it was also all over her cheeks. Tears. She broke away from the hug. "Can you tell me what's wrong?" Nodding, Octavia sat down, which the Pegasus also did. Immediately, Octavia spilled the beans, telling the stranger of her day in Ponyville so far, leaving out the details of her foalhood trauma. She may trust this stranger, but Octavia wasn't that ready to tell her about very personal problems. Despite the plot hole that Octavia had caused by leaving out the reason why she ran away from the party, the pegasus didn't call out on it and was very patient. Having nothing else to say about her day, Octavia wiped her tears and looked away from the pegasus. "You don't have to worry much about Lyra, she's sorta like a drama queen." The pegasus placed a hoof under her chin. "But I think she might be last place on the list of drama queens." "Who are the others on the list, then?" "In fourth place, it's Rose, then the third is Lily, then Daisy." The pegasus paused for a moment. "Those three are what we call around here in Ponyville, 'Flower Ponies' or 'Flower Trio'. But anyways, the pony in first place is Rarity. "But enough 'bout the drama queens, what's your name? My name's Ditzy Doo, but you can call me Derpy Hooves." Derpy held out a hoof to Octavia, which she shook. "But what's your name?" "Octavia." She frowned for a moment. "But why have you been so kind, when I was so rude earlier?" "Weell," Derpy started as she rubbed the back of her head. "I wanted to apologize for dropping you. But then you ran away, and then I got lost because so many ponies were in my way and I didn't want to crash into them. Then I saw DJ-P0N3 drag you into Sugarcube Corner for Pinkie's surprise party. So I followed you, but I got lost in the crowd. Then, well, you know what happened next." "But I'm sorry that I dropped you. It was an accident!" "Don't worry, Ditzy. You're forgiven. But you still didn't answer my question." "Oh. That's because I'm used to ponies being rude. And plus, you're homesick." Octavia didn't agree with Derpy's logic, but she didn't want to be rude again. So instead, she silently nodded, allowing Derpy to lead. But where to, she didn't know for sure. But she did know for sure that it wouldn't be the party, since Derpy wouldn't do that, not after what Octavia had been through. This looked like it was the dawn of a new friendship. New. Now that was the word that Octavia used to fear, but maybe new things aren't so bad after all. Thunk! Octavia jumped at the noise and the sudden wind behind her, coughing at the cloud of dust that quickly surrounded her like a cocoon. Once the dust cleared up, she forced herself to turn around to see the monster behind her. The 'monster', was a dead tree. She shivered for a moment and backed away, stopping when she felt something stop her. With a yelp, she saw that it was only Derpy. Derpy frowned. "This is weird; trees aren't supposed to fall during this time of year." Correction: Maybe new things aren't so bad all the time.