The sky is dark by the time you get out, your bloodshot eyes droop once you realise what time it is. You have been working all day, "and for what" you think, you shake your head expelling those thoughts from your mind, and instead just focus on your hooves carrying along this Canterlot street.
You hope of bumping into someone, a friend, celestia knows you haven't seen them for a while.
But late Friday night you know that everyone will be out partying and enjoying themselves responsibility free, like you used to before... For the second time you stop thinking those thoughts and continue on home. The factory you work at, underpaid, is a long way from your home. Industrial district, Canterlot proper and Canterlot main.
You continue walking down the street. You are in Canterlot proper now, and all you can see and hear are signs of partying. You can't help but feel sad, try as you might you're forced to remember your life not two years earlier. You were the craziest of party ponies, they regularly told you, that you could give Pinkie Pie a run for her money.
You were fun people wanted to get close to you. You were more than happy to oblige, you think about and realise that that was your downfall. You were too eager, too willing to listen to anyone.
So when a bunch of colts came in two years ago and told you that they were planning to break into the castle and steal celestia's crown, you agreed without hesitation. You groan wishing you had said no, or at lespast been more drunk so you could've chalked it up to the booze.
When you and the colts got there they told you that you had to go in, they would keep watch. You believed them.
So you smashed a window and crept in. You managed to get quite far along the royal corridor before yells of thief, burglar shattered the silent night. Royal gaurds chased after you. Instead of surrendering you ran. Idiot you silently scorned yourself as you walk. The gaurds caught up to you, as you knew they would. They tackled you, cuffed you and worst if all marched you through the swarms if onlookers who had gathered. You see the colts laughing uncontrollably, not realising or not caring how much trouble you were in. The gaurds marched to the holding cells while they contacted princess celestia to inform her. Then they called your parents.
You rember your stomach dropping when they got there. The gaurds took you and your family into a private room. You don't remember much of that. Or maybe you don't want to. It ended up with your parents as good as disowning you, they kicked you out and stopped paying for hour schooling. As well as the 18 month prison sentence.
You don't realise it, but your crying. You didn't have bad time in prison, you found some nice mares to talk to. In fact you we're let out two months early for exemplary behaviour. The worst part was visitor day. You had no visitors. Except one, a mare you barely knew from university. She and you were both leading the class in advance musical studies and Canterlot university, you never really had anything to do with her, except rivalry. You didn't know this then but she always thought you were too sure of yourself, to egotistical. Well you certainly aren't either of those any more, you realise that maybe just maybe your life took a turn for the worse so you could meet her again.
You two talked for as long as they would allow, you talked about music. You feel something new, and you realise that it's friendship. Not hollow interest like she was used too, friendship. Care.
She started to visit more and more, by the last four months she was there every single visitor period. Until one day she came by and told you that she was going away, on tour with the central Canterlot philharmonic orchestra. You said your goodbyes. She left. Two weeks before you were realesed.
You are bawling your eyes out now, and you don't care. You need to get home and you need to sleep, so you can get away from your past. You gallop and gallop turns into a full sprint. Your hooves loudly clacking along the pavement. But you don't care, you can't care.
Finally you make it home, to the house the government supplied, which you had been working everyday for nearly two years to pay off.
You leap on to the bed.
And cry yourself to sleep.
4 YEARS LATER
You wake up in the grey world in which you are used to living. You recollect on all the good things in your life, as you have done so every morning. You own your house now. You are no longer working on a production line, you have desk job. That's all the things you count off. You decide to treat yourself out to breakfast as you do occasionally.
On your way to the cafe you see something, you see someone. You see her.
Your world is nothing but grey, and there she is nothing but grey. You ask her name. Octavia. You silently jump for joy, you have found your friend. You introduce yourself, she barely recognises you. You ask her if she's free to hang out. She is. You realise that things don't seem as grey. You realise that your happy. All thanks to her and her coat of nothing but grey
5 YEARS LATER
You think back on your life, you think back to the five years that were taken away from you.
Then you think about the five years you've had with her.
Your world is nothing but colour, not a single drop of grey except her. She was there for you when your world was nothing but grey. She been there for you ever since.
Her coat is nothing but grey.
