For how long of a time would I be like this? Trapped in the quiet realms of my own psyche; awake, but not so, as I awaited for some sort of cataclysmic event to change the still air and resounding silence.

Weeks? Months, perhaps? I wouldn't even be surprised if it was years, or an eternity. After all, that's what it felt as though it would be.

The same sightless void, only different. No sounds could bring me to a moment of peace, for there was none; no ponies, or people, could offer a kind conversation with me, for there were none; and no sensations would make me feel alive nor passed, for there would be none.

I suppose that, at this time, all I had were my thoughts. Even then though, they were blurred; Misshapen, and difficult to focus.

I would provide my own sounds. I would be the composer, and the audience, creating and listening to these writs of music from what little noises I could recall or manage to clearly hear.

Of course, the mind has its limits. It's for this reason that I would only be able to use a set number of these natural symphonies. For this reason that the music often lacked its organized chaos that gave it its charm; The very reason I had grown to enjoy it.

I would run out of thoughts soon enough. I knew that.

Without anything–anyone–to keep me occupied, entering new thoughts and images into my mind despite being unable to actually see and fully enjoy these sorts of things... My canvas would fade. The metaphorical canvas that I would use in thought would simply fall apart with the passing of time, bit by bit.

I'd wonder to myself, 'what would be lost next'? Would I lose the image of that small bakery a few blocks over, including those of its owners, and the ever-so-cheerful pink employee? Or would I have to recreate that of a friendly pony I had met during one of my walks, her timidity fading slightly as she realized my 'condition' and instantly felt the need to apologize, despite not having done anything wrong.

It was a sort of forced upon payment, really. In order to stay in this world between consciousness and otherwise, I would need to pay with a shred of my 'art'. I did not want to stay, as I did not want to lose my images, but I was given no choice in the matter. I was held captive in my own self. At least, I thought this was where I was.

For all I knew, I had passed that thin line between life and its alternate long ago, and had been transcending its boundless void in between the entire time. There was no up or down for me, as I had heard many people speak of over my life. Instead, it was just a forward, or back, coupled with the occasional side to side. (These had simply been added by my part, in an effort to break monotony every now and then.)

I was both walking and laying myself down quietly at the same time. I couldn't tell which it was. Which was the true me, awaiting difference and the end of a cycle.

Time passed nonetheless, despite my confusion, and the distortion that often accompanied it.

After what felt like three years, a few months, several hours, there was finally a change.

All at once, the two bodies of motion seemed to coalesce.

That which was laying down began to shift, its arms tightening closer to its body, and legs moving out slightly; The one which walked suddenly ended its paces, coming to a complete still before then starting to fall.

These bodies came to a meeting point somewhere along the path. I could not see it, but I could feel it, as the two eventually came together once more, no sound accompanying them, and no warning assisting their existence.

... And then, a tone. A soft, audible tone, which only came for a moment, before just as quickly leaving. It had almost seemed like another trick of the mind, making me believe myself to still be in the endless void from before... Only... I did not recognize this noise.

Then there was another. Two more, in fact, going together in a rhythmic unison, perfectly timed apart.

I felt warm and cold at the same time... But this was already an improvement, for I couldn't feel whatsoever before.

It was then that I realized something. One by one, I began to regain my sensations.

Sound suddenly became more vivid, and less bland, and overused. I could feel soft, thin, and comforting cotton laid over most of my body, serving as a sort of embrace to keep me well; To show me that I was really, truly there... That, and a slight painful throbbing in my head.

As my senses seemed to finally regain their lost splendor, aside from my sight, which had managed to stay the same despite all of this time, I began to move.

It was only slight, to test out my capabilities at the moment. A simple twitch of my arm, a fold of my leg, and the like. Actions which, despite my having grown to know of, suddenly felt foreign with every motion.

It was these small interactions with myself though that seemed to attract someone else's attention. A gasp could be heard from my left, sharp and echoing, contrasting rather uniquely with the constant tone to my right, before it was soon followed by even more sounds.

The sudden shifting of a chair, and the sound of rapid steps, distinguishable to only be those that could be created by a pony's hooves. Then, I felt a slight shift in the side of my bed, and I could feel a solid disturbance graze my arm through the blanket.

"You're awake!" A voice had exclaimed... She had exclaimed... Her voice was... Difficult for me to pin... If only because of the still-clearing fogginess of my thoughts. Once the scape of my mind became visible once more though, I recognized the voice with relative ease.

"ShimmerSky?" I questioned, my voice feeling dry and hoarse, and my head turning to face the direction of her voice.

"Y-yes, it's me! Oh dear Celestia- S-somepony get the nurse, he's awake!" I heard her confirm and yell, the sudden high volume causing a ring in my ears, but also serving to further awaken me. I gave a slight groan at her yell, which seemed to bring a much more quieted and nervous chuckle from her. "Heh... Sorry."

Before I could tell her that 'it was fine', I could hear the sound of hurried hoofsteps approaching, becoming louder and louder with every second. From what I could hear, in fact, there were two ponies that were causing these sounds. Two pairs of hoofsteps.

Within a few moments, I could hear the two enter the room, one of them stopping somewhere in front of me, while the other made their way to my left.

"Oh man, really?!" I heard a familiar, tomboyish voice ask, seemingly panicked and excited at the same time. Her voice seemed further off ahead of me, so I assumed that she was the one at the end of my bed.

This also meant that, most likely, considering the fact that I could feel her hooves carefully roaming over me, looking me over, the pony to my right was the nurse.

"Oh, thank Celestia." I heard the mare in front of me say in relief, giving out a sigh shortly after. "Look, dude, I'm MEGA sorry about what happened! I was trying to clear the skies and... Well, trying to beat my speed record, when I got caught in one of the clouds. Then I just spun out of control, and you just happened to be there, and-"

"It's fine." I responded, my voice still feeling dry like sandpaper, and sounding no different. This seemed to draw the nurse's attention, as she carefully put down my arm, which she was currently using to check my pulse regularity, and spoke up.

"Oh, you should have a drink. Pardon me just a moment." She excused herself away, the sounds of her clopping hooves still audible as she moved around the room, seeming to look for something.

"Wait... It's fine?" I heard the mare ask, almost incredulously. Truthfully, I only barely knew her. In fact, the only reason I recognized her voice was because of the occasional flights she would give over the town with the rest of her weather team–this included ShimmerSky–giving each of them different jobs and orders. The same went for her name, which, had it not been for ShimmerSky's description, I would have overheard during their flights.

"Yeah, Rainbow Dash, it's-" Before I could continue, I suddenly felt something very cold and smooth graze my lips, hints of water along it. I flinched back slightly at this from surprise.

"Here. I brought you some water." Recognizing the nurse's voice, I gave a curt nod in her direction, before she then placed a hoof gently on the back of my head and leaned me forward towards the drink.

Almost out of instinct, the moment the glass grazed my lips again, I placed my mouth over the rim, gulping down the ice cold and refreshing water as the nurse slowly tilted the glass for me.

The dryness of my throat was quickly, and quite literally, washed away in a torrent of freshness and clean cold, removing any discomfort I may have felt.

Having thoroughly satisfied my thirst, I began to pull away from the glass, which, upon being noticed by the attentive mare, caused the nurse to pull away the glass from me as well. Somewhere further to my right, I could hear the glass being set down upon a wooden surface.

"Thank you, Nurse Redheart." ShimmerSky said to the nurse, preempting my own attempts at staring my gratitude. Nonetheless, I felt it necessary to do so despite this.

"Yes, thank you." I agreed, turning my head to where I believed Redheart–at least that's what I now knew her name to be–to be and offering a small smile.

"Oh, it's no problem at all. Anyways, is there anything else you may need?" She asked, with a distinct caring and kindness in her voice.

Shaking my head, I responded with a "no thank you", listening as she then excused herself and left the room, stating that, if I needed her, to feel free to call.

It was only logical that she had left, really. After all, she had other patients to care for, some of them likely to be worse off than I. She had a perfectly sound and understandable reason to... Go...

It was then that a flash of a certain image came to mind. That of a mare, her face still an unfinished project–or at least previous project–and a smudge now horrible accenting her features. The same mare that had, as I recalled, left just as well... Only I did not know her reason, and could only assume as to what it may have been.

"... Seriously though, you aren't even a little mad?" Rainbow Dash's voice was what brought me back from my thoughts, my eyes momentarily widening as I looked towards the direction of her voice before then just as quickly returning to their normal state.

"Oh, uh, no. No, not whatsoever." I assured her with a gentle nod of my head. Despite this though, she continued to take a rather various approach. I couldn't imagine as to why.

"... Even though I knocked you out for a solid two days?" I rose a brow as I heard this, mentally relaying this message a few times over before I was finally able to respond.

"Two days?" I asked. "Odd. It felt longer than that... Either way, no harm done Rainbow Dash." Adding that last statement in as cheerfully, and calmly, as I could, a moment of silence filled the room.

"Heh. Wow. Even I don't let go of a grudge that quick." She said with a chuckle, now seemingly in a much more positive mood. "Thanks for that. Oh, and, um, sorry again."

I could hear her hooves clopping lightly against the floor as she took a few steps back, but I didn't comment on this. Instead, I just answered as if I had not heard this.

"It's no issue."

"Yeah, well," she began, trailing off for a moment as, even now, her voice began to sound further off, "I've uh... Got to get going. The weather team needs their daring leader after all. Heh." I chuckled as well as she said this, rolling my eyes in her direction to add emphasis to my amusement.

As the pegasus exited the room–I assumed–she gave out one last call, though this time aimed towards my housemate.

"Oh, and ShimmerSky, you're free to take the week off!" And with that, she was gone, her hooves and voice fading to nothing, leaving an air of quiet, only occasionally interrupted by the machine to my right.

After another moment or so, my head further embedding itself into the soft pillow below it as I gave out a tired yet relieved sigh, ShimmerSky broke the issue.

"A lot of us were really worried. Not just some of the other ponies from the weather team, but practically everypony in Ponyville." She had said, concern still clear in her voice. "Imagine how relieved we were when Rainbow Dash and I got you to the hospital, and they just said that you had only gotten a mild concussion."

Despite the rather inappropriate timing, I couldn't help but to give out a chuckle. "Minor? If minor means I miss two days while I'm unconscious, then I think I'll try to avoid anything major for a while." ShimmerSky barely held back a laugh at this, the sound of her hoof being placed over her muzzle being faint, but audible.

"Good to see that crash didn't knock any of that optimism out of you." Again I felt the edge of my bed slightly shift as she placed her hoof back down.

"It's going to take a lot more than that." I replied with a simple and soft smile. At the back of my mind though, I knew that I was partially lying. She was still there, after all, in her unfinished glory.

"I'm glad." Though this was a short response, I could still sense some hesitation within it. I was only left to wonder as to the reason though, with little to no idea as to why she had spoken in this way.

Parting my lips, I expected to ask her for her reasonings and what bothered her, only to find the words escape me in the form of, instead, a yawn. "You must be tired." She added quickly after, myself only now feeling the exhaustion that pulled at the lids of my eyes. "Try to get some rest, Eugene. I'll be right here, and I'm sure the nurse will be more than happy to help as well, if you need it."

The ability to speak leaving me as a sudden sense of overcoming drowsiness forced me to further lay back against the hospital bed below me, a deep breath escaping me in response.

The next few additions of speech she gave seemed... Garbled. I did not want to have tuned her out in such a way, so much as my tired mind preferred some time to itself, recovering its lost sense of voluntary rest as I soon dozed off to sleep.

I wasn't–Nor am I–sure how long I had slept through my dreamless rest, time easily having the possibility of having been long and short at the same time, but as I eventually felt my consciousness and awareness returning to me in my awakening, I realized that it had not been voluntary.

Somewhere further off, though just faintly, I could hear a pair of voices speaking to one another loudly, a short groan escaping me as I completely awoke as a result. "Oh, did you sleep well?" I heard ShimmerSky ask from my side, apparently having followed through with her earlier statement that she would be here with me. She, however, sounded distracted as she said this. I could only assume this was because of the same matter that had awoken me.

Offering her a nod, I reached both of my hands carefully below me, pushing myself further up the bed I laid on until I was soon sitting up, the pillows serving as a sort of support to my doing so. Raising a curious brow, I tried to focus my hearing on the two loudly conversing ponies... Though, it seemed that only one of the two were really attempting to speak with a louder tone. The same whose voice seemed... Eerily familiar.

"What do you mean you can't let me through!?" I heard a mare yell–Though just barely. "I have to see him!" As she went on, I couldn't help but to continually hear her voice echoing in my mind. It was as if I knew her... But at the same time, my mind did not want to.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I've been strictly told not to let you through." This voice was much more simple to pinpoint, the mental name 'Nurse Redheart' quickly coming up for the scantly recognized pony.

As the argument seemed to go on, I moved my attention to ShimmerSky once again; I thought that, perhaps, she would have an answer for this.

"ShimmerSky," I began, rubbing at a slight discomfort in one of my eyes, "what's going on?"

She did not respond immediately, instead settling for a moment of silence before, with a sigh, she gave out an answer. "... She came here to see you."

This did not answer my question, so much as it left me with more. Even more odd was the tone in her voice as he had said this; How she had spoken at an almost blank state.

"Who did?" I asked, raising a brow as I looked to her. Certainly, there had to have been a reason that she–at least, I assumed it was her–had asked that this particular pony be kept out.

Again, she paused. "... I think you know." She responded, this time... Solemn.

I was still unsure as to what she had meant, by all means. As I made to just ask further into the subject though, it was then that I was given my answer, though not from my close pegasus friend.

"I'm sorry, Miss Octavia, but there's nothing more I can do." I froze as the name echoed down the hall, reaching my ears, and breaking apart whatever barrier my mind had created in order to keep from recognizing her voice.

... It was her. After having been gone for so long... It was her. As I sat there, looking blankly ahead of me, my eyes wide in shock, I heard ShimmerSky let out a sigh.

"It was bad enough seeing you hurt from that crash... But the way you were before that... So broken up and sad because of her. I don't want to see you like that again." She really was a good friend. Even in regards such as these, she does her best to help in any way that she can. I appreciate, greatly, how she always acted so nicely and caring to me... But at the same time, back then, I knew this wasn't what I wanted.

Granted, I didn't want to resurface any negative emotions I had. I would've much rather preferred to have kept them suppressed, slowly smothering them until they were reduced to nothing. At the same time though, I also desperately wanted to, and knew I'd have to, at least face these problems head on.

After all, I would only have been able to avoid them for so long. It was for the better that I did it sooner than later.

"... Let her in." I said simply, a more neutral expression adorning my features as I took in a deep breath. I could actually feel the shock she felt as I said this.

"What!?! Eugene, she-"

"I'm aware of what she did, ShimmerSky," I calmly interjected, "but you need to realize that, one way or another, I'm going to have to settle things with her. At the very least, I'd like to talk things out."

Once more, a moment of silence filled the room. "... Alright."

The weight of her forelegs on the left edge of the bed disappeared within a moment, as I then heard her hooves clopping lightly against the floor. With each step, they gained some distance.

"Nurse," she suddenly said, likely being stood by the doorway to the room as she did so, "it's fine... You can let her come in."

The sound of faint hoofsteps could again be heard as I patiently, anxiously, waited and listened. A few seconds afterwards, another much more rushed series of clops registered in my mind, growing in volume until, finally, I could tell that they were at the door.

"Eugene!" I felt myself inwardly flinch at the sound of her voice, a tinge of negativity stinging at me before just as quickly disappearing.

She... Octavia seemed to come closer, beginning to circle around to the left side of the bed, where ShimmerSky had been. "Oh thank Celestia you're okay! I-"

In a rather loud and abrupt manner, the door to the room was suddenly closed shut, this time causing me to physically flinch in surprise; Aside from that, I did not give too much of a reaction.

The air became still, almost blatantly so, for quite some time. A time longer than there had already been so far. Finally, a voice came through again.

"... You have some nerve, you know?" I heard ShimmerSky say, bringing about a raised brow from me. I wasn't really sure what she was doing at the time, what with myself having been more focused on the upcoming situation with Octavia, so, it was only natural that it took me some time to react.

"What do you me-"

"Oh, don't give me that!" She interrupted, Octavia giving out a short gasp in response. "I don't believe you, Octavia. You act so nice and caring to him for over a month, and then you just up and disappear? Do you have any idea what you put him through?!" She yelled, with Octavia, in turn, seeming unable to reply. "He thought that he had driven you away for who knows how long! He lost so much of his cheerful nature, he stopped enjoying those walks of his, and on top of that, you decide that, now that he's hurt, you can just suddenly show up and-"

"ShimmerSky..." I said simply; A silent signal to her direction in order to stop her. She understood, quieting herself with nothing more than a quick breath. Shortly after, the door handle shifted, I heard a squeak, and the sound of it shutting again.

She had left–I assumed–and now I was alone, with her. If ever I had the possibility of avoiding this kind of issue... It was completely gone now; disappeared in an instant.

I could hear nothing more than the tone of the medical machine to my right. Just a constant beep, beep, beep. Octavia didn't make herself known, but I could tell she was still there, to my left... Just right there.

It was from this same direction that I heard what sounded like paper being picked up, clacking lightly against another as it was raised and partially dragged about a wooden surface, and giving out a light flap as it was, by my guess, unfolded.

"... You've... Gotten a lot of cards, you know?" I could tell, just by her tone, that she was trying to end this silence. To bring up some sort of conversation, and end this hopelessly tense quiet... Suffice to say, it wasn't a very well executed idea.

"... Eugene?" I heard her continue to ask, this time her voice seeming, almost, pleading. I continued without response for some time–Or at least, some part of me wanted to. I, however, couldn't find myself able to do so; the only thing worse than trying to speak to her now, was being silent.

Taking a deep breath, I finally spoke up. "Two weeks, Octavia," I began bluntly and simply, not even turning my head towards her,"two weeks that I thought you had just... Left me." I found myself leaning even further back against the wall and pillows that currently had been awaiting my arrival, as if my body could not support what my mind was allowing me to speak out.

"What? But, Eugene, I wouldn't-" Raising my hand up halfway, pointed towards no direction in particular, Octavia quickly grew silent, perfectly understanding my wordless request.

"... Wether you did this for the same reason that I believed you had or not, Octavia, you still just disappeared without a word. Thinking that you had left was one thing, but, I also thought that, maybe, something had happened to you... That I'd honestly never see you again." It felt forced for me to say this. My throat constantly tried to close itself off, to keep me from going on any further. I pushed through this though. I knew that I just had to speak my mind.

"Eugene... I- I didn't mean to-... To make you feel this way... It's just, the orchestra was being played in Canterlot for a while, and, as a member, I had to attend. I couldn't have just told them 'no'. What kind of orchestra would be short of a member, after all?"

The orchestra. That was the reason. A sort of... Business trip, I suppose. Honestly, a part of me couldn't help but to give out a thankful sigh of relief. Another part of me, though, continued in its misery. A large emotion had formed from it some time ago. One that, though I knew of, I was unsure as to one thing.

"Then, why didn't you say anything? It's not like I have anything to keep me too busy to at least hear you out. Especially now." She responded within the next second.

"Well, I wanted to! Believe me, please, I did...! But... I guess I forgot..." Now, I could easily hear what sounded like dejection in her voice. It had been there since she had first come into the room, but it was only now that I had been able to notice it.

"I was just in such a rush to get to Canterlot. The ride itself normally took somewhere over an hour, and the other members were going to start rehearsing early in the morning." It seemed almost too coincidental. As if, on that day, everything was conspiring against me. Something that had never happened to me, at least in this such of a degree. I'm actually ashamed to say that I... Doubted her.

"When I heard of what happened to you from Vinyl, I wanted to come back to Ponyville as soon as I could to see you. I couldn't though, since the band still had one more performance to go through before we'd be done." At this point, her voice was starting to strain. It was as if, to her, these words actually caused her pain.

"And that performance... By Celestia, it was awful... I didn't miss any notes, or cues, or anything like that... But the entire time... All I could think about was wether you were alright or not. If you'd be okay or... Or..." And she stopped. The strain that had been gradually had become too much for her, and she could no longer go on. So, instead, she simply stayed stood where she was in silence... Even this silence, however, somehow gave the impression that she was forcing herself to keep it, and holding back something more.

That emotion that had been growing was now... Clear to me. As to who it was aimed at though... I wasn't sure.

"... Octavia..." I heard what sounded like a sniffle escape her, furthering the emotion's growth as I realized something. She was crying. "... I have to say, I'm... Disappointed..."

"... I understand..." She said forlornly, causing my stomach to begin to twist up in knots.

"But," I quickly added in, "I'm also not sure of its really you I'm disappointed in... So much as it is myself." A small gasp from her reached my ears, allowing me to guess that I had genuinely surprised her with what I had said. It was then that, for the first time that since she had come into the room, I turned my head to her direction.

"Octavia, despite how kind you've been since we've met, I still assumed that you'd be so uncaring as to just avoid me. It's happened to me before and, I suppose that, with you especially... It just became unbearable." It really was true. If there was anyone, or anypony, whose leaving would, and had, affected me the most... It would be hers. "... Can you ever forgive me?" For a moment, I had thought that I heard something drip to the floor.

"... No..." Before I could give any sort of response, or express even the slightest of surprise, the bed began to shift, and, within an instant, I suddenly felt a gentle warmth envelop me; a particular trait of this warmth including soft fur, a smothering body, and the cold, bitter drips of tears.

What she had been holding back was released all at once as she began sobbing into my chest, her forelegs circled around me as she held me in a tight grip, and she leaned most of her weight onto me. Even now though, she still tried to speak.

"N-no... Y-yo-you sh-shouldn't be sorry... I was the one who made you feel so badly... Who made you think I left because you were different... Who... I'm sorry...!" Her voice yet again gave out near the end, her grip tightening on me as she devolved into a sobbing mess.

For a moment, I was unsure of what to do. I had never thought I'd hear Octavia like this. I'd never heard her cry, or, aside from that one incident in the restaurant, even caught the slightest sadness in her tone.

Wether a minuscule part of me believed it or not... She really did care for me.

My arms gained a force behind them, slowly lifting themselves upwards and towards my chest until, finally, they circled around something solid... Her. Her mane flowed through my fingers as I gently took hold of her head with one hand, and her back with the other; Her warm and soft fur shook slightly in time with her sobs and hiccups, which only seemed to increase as she realized that I was holding her.

After several moments, throughout which I had not released her from my hold, she began to sputter out another set of struggling words.

"I-... I promise you... I'll... M-make it up to you... I-I promise." And as her grip on me tightened even further,my chest now beginning to feel wet from her tears, I gave out a sigh.

My mother had once told me that, in every piece of art, be it music, writing, or painting... There would always be a mistake. Once it would occur, there was nothing anyone could do to change the fact that it had once been there... What they can do though... Is fix the mistake, in anyway possible.

To make a correction.

Author's Note

Been a while... Frick...

I'm not giving up on this story though! You can believe that!

Hope you enjoy.