Innocence

Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic.

I could hear water droplets hitting the metal roof of my car.  But that wasn't all.  I could feel the occasional cold drop fall on my cheek, but I still just couldn't gather enough strength to open my eyes.

Eventually, the drops on my face created too much of an annoyance for me to ignore them anymore.  I opened my eyes, looking straight up above me.  I had expected to see the roof of my beloved automobile, but instead I was actually looking straight into the night sky, the rain pouring down.  There was a massive hole in the roof.  After grunting a few times in pain, I moved around with my seatbelt still on, trying to see what exactly had just happened.

The windshield was cracked and pushed in, the windows to the sides shattered, the roof had the hole that I had already discovered a few seconds ago.  I was stiff from I presumed was a crash, but I didn't feel any major injuries.  I may have come out of it unharmed, or the shock I was still in may have just been concealing the pain for the time being, but I wasn't exactly sure at this point.

Looking out the window beside me, I could see a small hill that we had obviously fell down.  The guardrail running parallel to the road was broken, and the grass and shrubs in the hill were all crushed and cleared by the car.  It was apparent to me, due to the damage to both the car and the ground, that we actually had rolled multiple times.

I had no idea where we were, but all I could remember was having driving on the highway between Ponyville and Canterlot while arguing with my fillyfriend, Octavia.  Wait a minute... Octavia?!  Oh sweet Celestia!  I had totally forgotten that she was even with me at this point.  I was just too concerned with what had just happened to see if she had been uninjured in the accident.

I looked over to my right.  The grey earth pony, the love of my life, was still in her seat thankfully.  Things did not look good, though.  She obviously had some major injuries.  Her chest and head were bruised badly, but thankfully she was still wearing her seatbelt at the time of the crash.  If she hadn't been wearing her belt, things could have been a lot worse.

I quickly unbuckled myself, reaching over to her to make sure that my beloved mare was okay.  I gave her a few slight shakes with my hoof to try to make her open her eyes.  Since that didn't do the trick, I said very quietly, "Sweetheart, please speak to me.  Tell me you're okay."

There was no response.  She just sat there in her injured position, motionless.  I yelled out, "Octavia, please speak to me!"

Still no response.  At this point, panic was starting to creep its ugly face into my brain and heart.  I could feel my heart pounding faster than it ever had before.  I needed to do something, but I didn't know what really could have been done.  I quickly ran outside.  The rain was cold on this early autumn day, and I hadn't a jacket, coat, or even a blanket on me at the time.  I put all of that, as well as my own pain, behind me to try and get some help.  I ran up the hill, which was slippery from the rain on the cleared grass.

I went through the broken guardrail and onto the road, hoping desperately to see somepony who could help.  There were cars coming on my side of the highway, and the only signs of life were the few cars passing by on the other side of the divider.  Even if they had seen me waving desperately, they had no way of coming over to help.  From the lack of cars on the road, I knew that it must have been late.  The last time I had looked at the clock in the car it was about midnight.  I remembered going on a drive with Octavia to try and take our minds off of an argument that we were having earlier at my apartment, but my memory was still not working as well as I wanted it to.  I still did not have a clue as to what led to the accident.

There was no help coming, so I ran back down the hill to my car, hoping desperately that Octavia had awoken by now.  However, by the time I slipped and slid down the wet grassy hill, I looked in the open car door, and Octavia was still in the same position she was previously.

I sat back in my seat, hoping desperately to find my cell phone to make an emergency call.  I looked everywhere: under the seat, in the glove compartment, in my pockets... I wasn't wearing any clothing.  But that was when a memory struck me.  I remembered telling Octavia not to bring our phones.  I wanted us to go on a quiet drive, where we could just talk and be together, working out our differences.  I didn't want anypony to spoil the moment with a phone call or a text.  I realised at that point what a stupid decision that really was.

Oh Octavia, my sweet love.  I gazed upon her, hoping for any signs of life, but there were still none.  At this point, my heart was pounding, my mind was racing.  'This is all your fault.  She wouldn't be holding on to her life if it wasn't for you being an idiot, picking an argument with her.  She's going to die, and you're to blame,' my brain kept telling me, among other things.

Worry and fear are horrible emotions, though.  They cloud your judgement, and end up making tomorrow's problem today's, while draining you of your current strength.  Right now, worrying and fearing for the worst was just killing me on the inside.  The only logical thing to do was to just sit for a few seconds and take a breath.

Looking forward in my seat, I waited until my heart rate lowered.  It lowered enough for me to breath normally, which helped me to think a little more clearly.  The sound of the nighttime rain was actually a little calming.  I turned to Octavia, reaching my hoof over to her.  I slowly moved my hand through her luscious, dark grey mane, feeling the slight tickle of her soft hair.  I then tamely rubbed my hoof on the fur of her cheek, but that caused no change in her condition.

Oh Octavia, sweet, innocent Octavia, my beloved- how did we get here?  How did we end up in a situation like this?  I could only help but wonder.