"Cheer up, Vinyl!" Bon Bon chirps, her amber voice practically assaulting my ears. "If you ask us, some sunshine will be good for you!"
I fold my forelimbs.
I frown.
I do not want to be here.
I never asked to be brought out here.
And yet, here I am, being rolled across town in a wheelchair. Bon Bon and Lyra gently push me towards home. My head aches, trying to catch my bearings through the brightness beyond my shades. All I want to do is be turned around so that I can face the hospital again. Maybe if I concentrate hard enough, I can still detect the fine ripples of indigo and—
"Honestly. You were only taking up unnecessary space at Ponyville Central," Bon Bon adds. "Octavia's fine. We all know she's fine! The doctors have told us a gazillion times that she's making a healthy recovery in record time! It... simply isn't healthy for you to sit around in that sterilized environment, watching paint dry as you wait for her to be moved to another unit!" She looks aside. "Isn't that right, Lyra?"
"Uhhhhhhhh..." Lyra mutters. Judging by the pitch in her voice, I suspect she's dreaming up another instrumental in that creative skull of hers. "...huh?"
"Eughhh..." Bon Bon groans. "Lyra, a little help here."
"Hey. Vinyl. Octavia's totally not dead. Stop getting so freakypressed about it, kay?"
A brief burst of magenta.
Did I just laugh?
Weird...
"Hah!" Lyra beams, her voice more golden than ever. "Told you I was here for moral support?"
"Fine... fine..." Bon Bon sighs. "How about this, Vinyl?" I sense her face leaning in through my peripheral vision. "Humor us by spending one day out in the open air. One day. We'll run by your apartment so you can grab some stuff. Y'know... Tavi's things. Necessities... comfort items. Things that'll make her really happy once she fully wakes up from the first wave of magic stabilization treatment. Then, we'll swing by Sugarcube Corner! The Princess and her friends asked specifically that we make a stop there so that they could visit you... at least... visit and socialize outside of a cramped hospital room. Wouldn't that be nifty?"
"Yeah, Vine!" Lyra grins. "They've been really dying to see you!"
"Lyra!"
"Yeesh! What now?!"
"Don't use the 'd' word?"
"Why not?" Lyra shrugs. "Everypony's fine! Tavi's fit as a fiddle! We're... like... in the Fit Fiddle Zone!"
"Ugh... you can be so impossible at times..."
"B-Squared, will you just lighten up? We're supposed to be relaxing! Letting Vinyl let loose!"
"Yes, but there are... st-standards to uphold!"
"Oh good grief. Hey, Vinyl. What's the color of stuck-up?"
Another magenta burst.
"See?!" Lyra points. "I got her rolling!"
"Lyra, I swear, if you make her faint again..."
"Hah. We could swing by our place and park her outside the bathroom door. That would make her faint."
"Gaaaaie! Lyra!"
"Haha! What, Bon Bon?! Come on! Vine's our friend!"
"But... b-but we're out in the open! Goddess..."
"You are sooooooo red right now."
"Grrrr..."
"Shouda called you 'Beet-Beet' after foaling. Friggin' priceless..."
I sigh, hugging myself.
A tiny smile hangs off my muzzle.
I truly am lucky to have such idiotic friends...