Paranoia

by FluttershyAllTheWay

Chapter 2

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Ok, I want to apologise for how late this chapter is. I have had some problems recently in my life, and that has been topped by the fact that I am doing GCSE's and have Work Experience to sort and organise. The hours aren't forgiving either. I hope you can understand. I will be continuing at normal pace from now though.

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"Ughh." Octavia groaned. She couldn't have had a much more disturbed and restless sleep if she had tried. Her head was throbbing with pain and traces of her thoughts from the night still lingered in her mind.

With a straining heave, Octavia pulled herself out of the comfortable bed she had laid in all night. Although the sheets were incredibly inviting, she resisted the temptation and headed towards the window. With one flick of her hoof, the curtains flew open and light began being radiated in. It was early morning and Octavia was glad that her bedroom window faced the East: it allowed her to see the sun rise beautifully every morning. She was also grateful for having an over-sized window as well; it allowed a lot of light to penetrate her bedroom, clearing the dark thoughts of last night with ease. Octavia felt better already.

With a delicate trot, Octavia made her way down the staircase of her home. She pushed her way gently through the door to the kitchen and forced open the bread bin. After retrieving two slices of thickly cut bread, she pulled some daisies from a separate cupboard and began her usual morning ritual of constructing a delectable daisy sandwich.

With a final crunch and chew, the sandwich had vanished. Octavia had not eaten a decent meal in a considerable amount of time and she had been starving prior to wolfing down her sandwich.

Octavia delicately switched her TV on. After a few seconds of static, the picture came into view. Thankfully, Equestria News was the first channel to appear. Convenient, because it was the very channel Octavia was interested in watching. She loved keeping up to date with the current events in Equestria.

Today was drab though. Nothing was of any importance or significance. The TV may as well have been off with news stories of that quality. Octavia released a large sigh as she rose to her hooves once more, this time to turn the TV off.

Octavia sat herself back down deftly, takiing care to be as inaudible as possible. She wanted all the possible time to think; for this to happen she would require peace and quiet.

After an undecided few minutes of deep thought and concentration, Octavia came to the conclusion that if she fetched her Cello, she could both practice and clear her troubled mind. She gently pulled the cabinet door open and lifted the heavy and intricate instrument out of it with great care and caution. There was no need for harm or damage to be caused right now.

As soon as Octavia began playing she was distracted by a startlingly loud and obscure noise. This noise had ruggedly dragged Octavia out of her muddled mindset and ruined the sweet and sophisticated tones her ears craved to hear. The noise was the sole focus of all of Octavia's attention now.

Octavia listened intently to the odd noise and worked furiously to attempt to discover the source of this conspicuous sound. The sound resembled a dull thud, similair to a heavy object hitting the ground from a good height. It could be heard loudly and it appeared at sporadic intervals.

Her mind was an indecipherable mess now. Thinking straight was not only bottom of the priorities list, but also something Octavia was unable to do.

Then, just a small period of time after clearing her head of all the menacing and horrifying thoughts that had been existing beforehand, they all flooded back in a tearing tidal wave. This noise: it could be being produced by the same thing or same pony that had caused the uneasy feelings from the previous night, Octavia refrained from talking about that night though: she wanted to retain as much sanity as possible, furthermore go into her interesting investiagtion with an open mind and an extremely non-biased opinion.

Octavia brushed away the thought with an utmost haste. She knew it was always a bad idea to be dwelling on the past: her parents had drummed that lesson into her forcefully since her young filly days.

Octavia's mind was going crazy; overloaded with thoughts. What should she do to clear it out? She was unsure.

After a debate with herself, Octavia came to the conclusion that taking a bus into Canterlot for some shopping and to see a few familiar faces would perhaps put her mind at ease. Octavia began scuttling around the house in a hasty movement to search for things to take with her on her adventure.

Octavia returned with a bulging saddlebag containing numerous necessities. With a nod to the postpony, Octavia swung open her window wide. She took a deep intake of breath and allowed it to release gently, taking all stress prior to the breath out out of her body and into the crisp morning air.

As Octavia stared at herself in the mirror, she realised her mane was a massive mess. It looked repulsive: tufts stuck out at random intervals and it was a general mess. In a rapid rush, Octavia greedily snatched up her brush and began to run it through her mane in an attempt to rid her mane of previous monstrosities. Octavia thought she had made a rather decent job of it.

In her final preparation for the trip she was about to take, Octavia darted up the stairs in a blind rush and grabbed her bow tie. She fixated it in its usual comfortable and stylish position. Octavia was ready.

With a brave smile fortified on her face, Octavia pushed open her front door. She had a task to be doing and her fears to conquer. There was nothing or nopony stalking her; she was just acting like a silly filly. With those thoughts set in her mind thickly like concrete, Octavia began the brief journey that was required to get to her local bus stop.

The walk was uneventful; nothing of any importance happened. It was definitely what Octavia needed to put her mind at rest: with such an average walk, Octavia's confidence gained by the bucket load. She felt ready to attack the day and enjoy herself along the way.

With a swift but soft notion, Octavia perched herself preciously on the plastic bench that was sheltered by the bus stop. The temperature of the bench was extremely minimal - the seat was practically freezing. The cool winter morning air followed suit, being of a low temperature and having a biting effect on Octavia's coat: one that seemed to have an affect that lasted and continued to exist long after the effect had disappeared.

It wasn't a long and extensive wait until the bus smashed its way onto the scene. Octavia grinned at the sight of the large vehicle making an entrance this quickly. With this temperature outside, Octavia couldn't wait to hop onto the bus and be out of the chilly air. Another bonus to a bus when the warmth outside was non-existent was that the heaters on the bus would be blasting out hot air in an effort to warm all passengers.

Octavia fished out a few bits to pay the fee of the bus ride and practically dived onto the bus. As soon as she had entered the indoor proximity of the bus. Octavia was greeted by the welcoming feeling of warm air being forcefully blown around her. It played with her mane, whistling its way through each strand effortlessly. She closed her eyes and allowed a delicate smile to sweep across her face. Octavia was extremely content.

She tossed the bits into the tray and thanked the driver. She scanned for a seat that was available. However, Octavia was after more that just an empty seat: she was desperately searching for one that had a heater nearby which would be pumping out hot air like there was no tomorrow. She would be able to enjoy the sumptuous feeling she was filled with when having the hot air pushed through her coat and mane to the maximum extent if she obtained one of these seats.

After a few seconds with no luck, Octavia's eyes came across a free seat near the back of the bus. There was a heater powerfully radiating hot air and performing for its purpose. Octavia galloped towards and parked herself down on it. She instantly felt the hot current being wafted through her grey coat and charcoal mane. The feeling was extremely satisfying. Due to a combination of the homely atmosphere on the bus and the severe lack of sleep last night due to worries, Octavia was quick to slip off into a deep and memorising sleep.

"Hey! Hey Octavia! It's time to get off!"

Octavia forced her eyes open. They tried to resist, but she wasn't having it. The faint and distant ramblings had almost been inaudible, but they had been enough to resonate through Octavia's dreams and awake her. As Octavia blinked the blur out of her eyes and corrected her vision, she was greeted by the smiling face of the driver looming over her. She had fallen asleep for far too long, much longer than she had intended to allow herself. With a silent curse to herself, Octavia sat up and collected her belongings together. With a swift but meaningful apology to the driver, Octavia nodded her thanks to the driver. He gave her a warm smile in return and drove the bus away and back to the bus station.

Octavia had been significantly lucky that her stop was the last stop of that particular bus trip. It was a routine check for the driver to check for possessions that had accidentally been left behind by foolish and clumsy riders. This had been how the driver had encountered the silly sleeping body of Octavia as she had been cuddled up against the heater, entranced in a deep sleep.

Outside of the bus the air had thankfully warmed up a bit. Octavia still continued to feel chilly outside though, the homely heater had been so much warmer than the mediocre temperature outside. There was no way that the mid morning winter air could compete with such an effective and warming heater.

However, the city in front of her definitely enthralled Octavia. Shops loomed over the main street from either side, glaring at each other in fierce battle for customers. The other ponies trotting through the streets were merrily on their way from shop to shop; each one carried many bits to spend being that it was Canterlot she was in: you had to be rich to live in the most prestigious city in all of Equestria.

Octavia was so dumbstruck she didn't know where to start. There were countless options, but Octavia was unsure as to which would be the most effective starting point. With an effortless motion, Octavia pulled the list of items she required out of her saddlebag. She scanned over them numerous times and eventually decided on an order of which to follow.

After carefully and precisely placing the list back in her saddlebag, Octavia began the brisk journey required to fetch the first item she needed. It was a new bow tie: her old one that she was wearing currently was beginning to become tacky. Some aimless wandering later, Octavia stumbled across an ideal shop: one that sold pony accessories.

She stepped in and began the elaborate search needed to find the ideal bow tie for her. Octavia was after one with a similar colour scheme and style to the one she owned now. It took a small amount of time, but eventually Octavia discovered the perfect bow tie for her. It was white on the strap that would go around the neck; adjustable as well: quite convenient. The bow itself was a dashing shade of pink, a little brighter than the one she wore now. With no hesitation, Octavia rushed to the counter and paid for the bow tie with a few bits. With careful placement, Octavia put the bow tie safely in her saddlebag away from harm. Octavia gave the pony behind the till a grateful smile to portray his thanks. The pony nodded in understanding and returned the smile, leaving Octavia feeling satisfied with her first purchase as she exited the shop.

Octavia retrieved the list of required items from her saddlebag again and looked over them. The next needed thing was a brush of high quality. With a quick scan of the shops nearby, Octavia set her eyes upon the ideal shop. As she began making her way deftly over towards the shop, Octavia began deep and extensive thinking.

Things were going well. Almost too well... Octavia thought. Still, nothing had gone negatively yet, so she must be fine: nothing could go wrong.

Or could it...

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Thanks for reading!

I apologise again for the giant delay between this chapter and the last. I've had some problems in my life and I hope you will understand. I will be back and posting again at a more steady pace now: expect the next chapter by next weekend, probably Friday night/Saturday morning.

Tell me what you thought of this chapter then! Feedback is always appreciated.

Finally, I just wanted to thank everyone for all the positive feedback on the first chapter. So many good comments and constructive criticism. All errors pointed out have been corrected. :)

Anyway, pony on guys!

-FluttershyAllTheWay

Comments

[rainbowdash0301]

Hey everyone, I just got a free premium minecraft account from freeaccountsforminecraft.blogspot.com! You can also get one mate! I tested it and it works, time to play minecraft for free, yay!

[Prince Furo]

Looks promising, I'll add it to my read later list.

[electreXcessive]

I like this so far, well done good sir.

[Relevant Heavy Metal]

Paranoid - Black Sabbath

[FluttershyAllTheWay]

Woah! I wasn't expecting 22 notifications..? Umm, thank you everyone!

[reader238]

even a paranoid has enemies

[sunny_side_up]

inb4 featured

[Church]

You should give yourself more credit. This is actually very well written, and I'm curious as to what else you can bring to the table.

That being said, I can't imagine that Octavia actually likes that window. (I mean, it fits your Octavia's personality... but not the Octavia that is canon for me... the crabby Octavia)

That's a stupid thought, I know. Keep on writing, and I apologize for the delay in the read.

[FluttershyAllTheWay]

944195 You're really inspirational you know. I will dfeinitely have the next chapter up tomorrow. Also, thanks for the compliment! I'll have to mention you in my Author's Notes for re-motivating me.

[Church]

969497 Really? I'm inspirational?

Cool... I wasn't really expecting that... but thank you! Did I play that important of a role here?

You don't have to mention me, haha. I just like to state my mind! In any sense, glad I could help you out some. I feel better inside.

[asdfabaeradjargasdfasd]

Sounds interesting...