The Takeover

Six years ago...

Nova

I had butterflies in my stomach, my nervousness most likely obvious to the others. I looked over at Khan, the love of my life. He doesn't seem as nervous as me but you could still see his eyes moving frantically when he looks around. I looked over to Griel who was wiping down his guitar at a table nearby. Cayne is doing the same but he has his tough pony look on, clicking the pedal on the floor with his hoof and using his magic to turn the tuning keys on his bass. I turned around to look at Cas, who doesn't at all look nervous, going at it with drum sticks in his telekinetic grasp, with a drum solo of sorts. As much of a drum solo as one could do with a drum pad at least.

I heard the clopping of hooves on the other side of the backstage curtains, an up beat song playing over the PA. The crew that was performing is dance group, not something I really care about and seeing as they aren't playing music, I don't know how they are going to make it into the Canterlot School for Gifted Musicians.

I didn't have a doubt about being able to get into the school, it's just the process. We have to perform in a crowd of ponies of at least one hundred along with the three judges.

We had just had our first show at the Ponyville High School talent show in the town hall about three weeks ago. It was our first show that we played, but it was a success. We got more than just an appreciation award as one of the scouts for the Canterlot School for Gifted Musicians offered us a tryout which we obviously accepted. The pony said his name was Smokey and he would like us to tryout for the school. And here we are.

"Anypony know where Lazer is at?" I heard Khan ask to anypony that was listening.

Griel said, "Haven't seen him."

"Nope," Cayne chimed in.

Khan looked over at me but he knew I hadn't seen him.

Cas was still going it at it on his practice pad, when Khan yells, "Cas!"

Cas jumps. "Wha-" was all he got to say as he knocked over his practice pad and nearly fell backwards in his chair and his telekinetic grasp broke on the sticks.

Khan starts laughing, Cayne and Griel snickering as well, breaking some of the nervous tension causing me to my smile as well.

As the laughter dies out, Khan asked, "Have you seen Lazer anywhere?"

Cas never got to answer as a voice came from the backstage exit door. "Lazer has arrived," Lazer says in a royal voice, smiling as he continues his walk over to us.

"I thought you weren't going to show," Khan says to him, gaining a look of shock.

Lazer was a pony from Las Pegasus, normally working the strip club circuit as a live light show along with the DJ for entertainment. I've never seen one of his shows and I also didn't know him that well. He was Khan and Cas' friend more than mine, as they went to school together.

"You thought I wouldn't 'show'? Lazer asks, laughing at his own pun. "You must be mistaking me for somepony else."

"Ha ha," Khan moves his head side to side with each 'ha' sarcastically.

With Khan, Cas, and Lazer talking together and Cayne and Griel preoccupied, I decide to walk around behind the massive red curtains that separates us from the performer and the stage behind it. I could really hear the hooves clopping now, the wood floor sounding hollow as the dance team continues their audition.

I also hear the praise from the crowd, cheering on the performers, The techno song that played over the PA system causing the stage to vibrate my hooves.

I walk aimlessly on, waiting for our time to go on. Which I think is going to be any minute. I trotted back the way I came, coming back across the stage. Smokey is standing right behind the back curtain also seeming to be doing nothing. "Hey," I tell him nervously. We still haven't gotten to really know each other yet.

"Hi," he says with a lack of emotion.

"So," I began, trying to think of something to say. His emotionless response leaving behind an awkwardness that I can feel. "What happens if we get in?"

His reply is quick, "If you make it then I will become your manager. You will be working in a studio with professional equipment and when you release your first album, I will set up showtimes with local places for your band to play at."

"All of this just for getting in?"

"Yes."

"Well, I guess I should go ahead and start calling you manager. We are going to get in."

"I like that confidence," he says as he walks away, "keep that up."

I turn around and keep heading back to the others.

I round the corner, I see everypony bustling with activity. They are bringing out all of our equipment, including our own loudspeakers, the instrument and vocal microphones, and the PA head and floor monitors. We have a really good setup, three out of the five of our band having jobs is the only reason we had all of it.

We have two dual, 15-inch loudspeakers along with four other single, 15-inch speakers and two 12-inch floor monitors and a 1500 watt PA head. We don't have any lights of any kind, which is why Lazer is here. If we wanted to get into this school, we were going to have to really stun the judges.

As I walk back, I see Cayne, Griel, and Cas moving back and forth to and from the stage, unpacking the equipment and moving it on stage.

I know we have to be speedy with this setup and I walk up to an equipment box that holds most of the wires and begin running them to their respectful places, having memorized our entire setup top to bottom, inside out and upside down. Khan refuses to let me help with heavy lifting, so I walk over to the PA head, mic in hoof as the eager crowd continues chattering during the intermission.

Khan flies over to me with a wire in his muzzle. He lands behind the rig and plugs is up giving my a small smile before going back to whatever he was doing. I stood in front of the PA waiting for everypony to bring me their cables. I plug in my microphone into the first XLR male port on the rig. I begin singing a classic tune into the mic, the tune I always use to test the mic, as it has many highs, lows and pops. The crowd went silent as I went through the first verse. When the verse came to an end I heard a few cheers and small bit of stomping. I turn around halfway, bring up a hoof to wave at the crowd before returning to what I was doing.

Now that my microphone is indeed working, all of the levels balanced to our liking, I grab the next cable with my teeth Griel's pedal board in, the quarter inch jack having a quarter inch to XLR female into the XLR male port next to mine. I give him the go ahead for a test. He plays a quick run through of another classic metal song. As he finishes, a few more hoots and hollers made their presence known. Khan walks over, his electric, vibrant blue guitar dangling around his neck and the cord dangling from his muzzle. I give him a quick peck on the cheek and grab the cord, plugging it in next to Griel's. Cayne levitates his cable to me which I plug in and immediately afterward, my ears are assaulted with bass by the nearest dual 15" loudspeaker. Cas levitats his nine microphone cables over and I begin plugging them in one by one. He tests his drum kit piece by piece, me monitoring the levels on the head monitor. After I had all of the cables plugged in, they all start playing a song that is still in the making for us that nopony knows about.

I wrap the microphone cable around my right hoof so were it wouldn't dangle. I fly over to the floor monitors and sing a short piece of the verse to check if they are on and level with the other speakers, along with the others doing the same. Khan nods towards me and so does Cayne and Griel, all standing near the 15's. With that we are ready to go and we end the little test run.

I see Khan walk out of view of the audience, him asking Lazer if he was ready, to which Lazer nods in the affirmative as him as Khan flies back into the view of the audience.

Nervousness is taking it's toll on me, I just need to make sure to keep my voice steady.

Griel starts playing the intro to the song we would be playing. In order to give me time to get the crowd hyped up, he knew to keep playing the intro in a loop until I gave the signal.

"Canterlot School for Gifted Musicians, how are we doing tonight?" I shout into the mic, rewarding me with a few murmurs. The second time always gets a better start then the first. "Come on everypony don't be shy. We are a lot more nervous than you are, trust me." A few ponies start laughing as I continue. "I said, how are we doing tonight?!" The crowd's shouting is more elevated now. I give the others the signal to start the song. I hold the microphone close to my mouth and whisper, "Now that's more like it."

As the intro faded into the first riff, Lazer went to work at what he does best; flushing the crowd in a spam of strobes, lights, lasers and many more.

<--------o------O------o-------->

The song comes to an end, the final three shots from the drums ringing out, the air from the subwoofers blowing my mane like the wind of a tornado. I messed up a few times but overall I think I did good. I hope I did good. The crowd was cheering and yelling, so I guess it was alright.

"That was very impressive," the middle judge spoke into the microphone.

"It's about time we got a metal group into this school again. The hip-hop and electronic scene is really becoming a bore," the judge to the right says as the cheers from the crowd die out.

"I'm glad you liked it," I said, breathing deeply to recover from the song.

"Okay, so we are going to ask a few questions before we give you your scores," the judge on the left said, shifting in his seat.

"Shoot," I say, unraveling the microphone cord from my hoof.

"What made you ponies want to start a metal band, even though the popularity of the genre is almost at an all time low since it's creation?" The judge on the left is asking questions that I love answering.

"That's actually exactly why we did it. We have a feeling that it will be very soon that the genres the judge on the right mentioned are going to be in the state that the rock and metal genre is in now," I begin, looking around the auditorium. "We felt it was a good move to start now, so by the time the...metal revival, if you will, begins, we will be right there in the middle of it."

A few ponies are hooting and hollering as the middle judge asks, "Very interesting and a very bold career move. So tell me, what if this uprising you've dubbed as the 'metal revival' doesn't happen.

"Well, that would suck...a lot," laughter made its way from the crowd. "We would probably keep playing for fun every now and then but move more towards different careers."

"I happened to notice that the song was deeply political and rather dark with a lot of almost unnoticeable double meanings," the judge on the right began. "So, what type of ponies are you trying to appeal to?"

This one is a little more difficult than the last few. "We as a band, see the world as it is, not smoke, no mirrors. Truth be told, we all think the world has gone to complete shit," a few gasps echo off the walls, loud murmuring replacing the silence of the crowd's former state. "We think that the brutal truth and meaningful lyrics that the metal genre has to offer will hopefully wake everypony up, to stop being pushed around. To stop thinking about what others think of you and start thinking of yourself. If you feel that somepony is against you because of something you like, somepony you like, maybe for something you did or didn't do, don't worry about them. Somepony who is worth your time won't judge you for any of those things and to answer your question, we are trying to appeal to anypony who has a mind of their own and doesn't sway at a teeny bit of criticism and judgement.

The audience goes dead silent. That nervous twinge is starting to wash over me as I hear a pony in the crowd scream, "Yeah!" and that kicks the crowd into a blast of cheering and applauding and even a few standing ovations. "That is quite the speech," the judge on the right remarks with a smile forming on his face. "You are very right. The bluntness of the genre would do the world a lot of good."

I'm about to thank him when the middle judge interrupts me.

"Let's get your scores, shall we? Remember, in order to be excepted into the school you must get a composite score of 8 or above."

The silence in the auditorium is deafening.

The judges are now handing down their verdict. "Lyrics: eight. Sound: nine. Appeal: nine. Showponyship: ten..." Turning to the others I saw as their faces lit up. We had just gotten a ten. "Now to individual members' scores," The judge clearing his throat before continuing. "Drums, nine. Lead guitar: ten. Rhythm guitar: ten. Bass guitar: nine. Vocals: seven.

What? I guess I got the score because I messed up a few times.

"Composite score:" I took in a breath. "9."

Relief bathing me as the crowd erupts in applause. As I turn around, Khan grabs me up in a hug and leaves the ground with me in tow. Ascending in a spiral, his lips meet mine as we slow to a hover above the stage.

I break the kiss. "We did it!" I exclaim in joy. This is one of the happiest moments of my life.

I wave to the crowd as we begin our descent to the stage. Upon landing, the judges say, "Welcome to Canterlot School for Gifted Musicians. All of you."

Cayne and Griel are exchanging "brohugs" as they would call it while Cas continues playing the drums in excitement.

We did it.

<--------o------O------o-------->

Later that night...

Mom is really against the idea of me and a male pony sharing a room together. In fact, she told me not to but tonight is just one of those nights where you throw your worries to the wind. Khan opens the door for me, as I walk past him I see a smile beginning to form on his face. As I approach the bed I unfurl my wings and fly over it and then I close my wings, me crashing onto the soft, five star hotel mattress. I lay on my side, watching my handsome stallion as he walks over to me.

He stops, looking me over. He bites his lip but keeps his mouth shut.

"What?" I ask him, wondering what that look is about.

He smiles and says, "You...you blow me away." He flaps his wings and flies over me onto the bed, my head between his front hooves and his back legs on either side of my hip.

"Do I now?" I ask him playfully. "It seems to me I only pull you closer."

Moving my muzzle directly under his, I drape my hooves over his neck, rubbing his blue mane. "I'm just going with the flow," he replies, pressing his lips into mine. I feel his tongue trying to gain entry and I let him, him exploring my mouth and me doing the same. Our breathing is getting heavier, my heart soaring. An involuntary moan escaped my mouth into his, him responding only with more pressure into the kiss. I feel so small under him but that same feeling is a sense of security. He pulled away, panting softly, his chest heaving with each breath. Looking down, I saw the rise and fall of my own chest.

I'm not done with him yet.

I pull his head down, our muzzles once again only an inch apart. He met my eyes as I hold his gaze. He has beautiful, pale purple eyes that I can't seem to get enough of. It's an addiction that time couldn't break. "I love you," I say, looking back and forth to his left and right eye.

"I love you, too," he says as I lean in to intercept his perfect mouth with mine.

There isn't a day that will go by that I won't love him. I would have never thought that I would ever be with a stallion that possessed good looks and an even better personality. I close my eyes, pretending that me and him are becoming one. He leans into me even more, our bodies touching each other. Bending my legs a little bit to get more comfortable, I can feel the heat of my arousal in my nether regions. I can also feel them getting wetter by the second, my body pumping out its natural lubricant. The cold air from the hotel room's air conditioner making it very cold below the equator.

I pull away from our kiss, catching my breath as I pull him closer. I gave him a little nibble on his ear, him doing the same for my neck. A lustful moan escaped my muzzle once again, loving every second of this.

I saw his wings flare up, him leaning into a passionate kiss again which I am glad to return. There is something about our bodies being together like this that just feels so right.

Something that wasn't there before poked my tummy and I'm starting to feel a little rush of adrenaline. I tried to look down but Khan's body was in the way. Quickly noticing my reaction he pulls away from the kiss and looks me in the eyes lovingly. "I won't do anything that you don't want to do," he says softly, an almost whisper.

I guess I just don't have no quit in me but I'm sure not about to stop him. He goes back to kissing my again, putting one of his hoofs around my neck. I hear him moan quietly, his lips never leaving mine. He lifts himself off me just a little bit and I found myself looking down in curiosity. His member is laying across my stomach, his head looking right at me, the light from the lamp on the bedside table reflecting off a tiny drop of his own pre ejaculate. There is something about his stallionhood that is so enticing I broke my kiss with him. I want to know what it tastes like.

Leaning up and bending my head down, Khan asking, "Nova?" My mind is made. I'm going to find out what he tastes like in a different place. I could feel my crotch getting wetter as I'm getting closer. I'm head and muzzle with and I open my mouth and rap my lips around his head only and licking his tip with my tongue, tasting precum for the first time. Sucking his head and then pulling off of it, Khan releases a moan unlike the one I heard before and it isn't helping my situation down there. Precum isn't bad tasting, it just felt funny the way I had to get it.

I lay my head back on the pillow, the soft lump of cotton melding to the shape of my head. Khan's member now completely hard, still sitting against my stomach, his entire head glistening. He lays back down on me, his throbbing cock now sandwiched between us. He moves his right hoof under my neck and kissing me again, this time being short and sweet. He uses his left hoof to readjust his stallionhood, it now sitting on my left leg. My legs were squeezing together, involuntarily, although I'm not sure why.

I open my legs slowly, his rock hard cock sliding down my left leg and then stopping at my nether. His stallionhood is cupping my marehood, turning me on in ways I have never felt before. He leans in and we continue are passionate kissing, our tongues going back and forth into each others' mouth. It's getting almost unbearably hot down there now and I know I'm winking very hard right now. Holding our kiss, passionate moans coming from both of us and still keeping his right hoof behind my neck, he begins moving his left hoof down my constantly quivering body. Down my chest and my stomach his hoof travels, then he began stroking my soft, wet folds, gaining a strained moan from me as my head rolls to the side in pure ecstasy. My world is fading as my breathing quickens, my heart rate even faster than before.

Khan stops suddenly, relieving me of my elevated state. He only stops for a second, as Khan returns to stroking my winking marehood, but it isn't a hoof this time. I open my eyes and look down to see him using his left hoof to rub his head against me, my nectar mixing with his. He is lost in his own trip, him hovering over me with only about two inches in between our bodies. I don't want to him to stop. I don't want this night to end. He looks down at me, a kind heart smile on his face and an understanding look in his eyes and asks, "Do you want me to keep going?" He was still rubbing his head around my lips, sending pulses of pleasure through me.

Do I want him to keep going? Hell yes I do. I have a condition, "Yes I do, under one condition," his face turns into a lustful smile. "You better pull out or I'm going to pull it off."

He chuckles nervously, looking as if he isn't too sure of himself anymore. "Got it. Are you ready?"

I nod my head, giving him the most caring look I could. He put pressure against my lips, his stallionhood pushing inside. Moving his hard cock up and down inside my lips with ease, causing me to feel twice as good as before. The cold air seeps into my marehood, leaving it cold when he slides his member up. That's when he touches it, the tip of his cock rubbing smoothly against my clitoris. Throwing my head back in a fit of pleasure unmatched, I let out a humble moans. He starts rubbing it faster, providing with a steady amount of ecstasy with each stroke. He slowly rubs down to the opening of my dripping tunnel. He caresses it with his tip in a circular motion, causing my lip to quiver.

He then put his tip into the opening of my love tunnel and began slowly moving in. I moan his name as my unused walls begin to stretch to accommodate for his size. A little pulse of pain layering itself in pulses of pleasure. I couldn't help but to lean up and look down. He isn't even a quarter way in, his medial ring still four inches from my tight lips.

The emptiness inside my stomach is filling when my love canal explodes in pain. "Gah!" I say pulling myself back with my for hooves from his cock, two inches of it sliding out, leaving just his tip inside my lips. I know what the source of that pain is and I'm sure he does too.

"You're still a virgin?" he asks me with genuine concern.

I nodded my head slowly, worry starting to grip me. What if he thought I'm not cool or something?

He's about to say something before being interrupted by knocks on the door. He pulls completely out of me sending one last spike of pleasure, stands up and flies slowly to the door. I can tell he is trying to hide his junk. I slide under the covers, trying to hide the evidence of our activities. He opens the door, standing behind it and peaking his head out.

It's Lazer. I can't hear what he's saying, but I know his voice. Khan looks back at me, "Come here for a second." I uncover and fly over to the door, me and him trading places, me keeping my body behind the door. "Yeah?" I asked Lazer, his electric green eyes looking worried.

"Nova, your mom is in the ICU in Canterlot Hospital," he says sadly, his ears drooping back. Fear washes over me, along with a little bit of relief. I thought she found out me and Khan were sharing a room.

"What happened?" I ask him.

"She was taking a train here when it came off the tracks about three miles from Canterlot," he says looking at the floor before continuing. "She isn't in too good of shape, Nova."

"I'll be there in just a moment, do you know what room she's in?"

"No, you'll have to find out when you get there."

"Thanks, Lazer." I shut the door and run into the bathroom.

Khan leans against the doorway, "What's going on?"

"My mom has been in a train wreck and is in the ICU. I'm going to go see her, Lazer says she's not in great shape." The reality of it all settling in. What if my mom...no! No that can't happen.

I turn on the water in the tub. Hopefully I can rid myself of the smell of sex before I go over there.

"I'll go with you," he tells me.

"Okay, I'll be out in just a minute," I say as he nods and shuts the bathroom door for me.

I hope my mom isn't in as bad of condition as Lazer made it seem.

<--------o------O------o-------->

The Canterlot Hospital Entrance, Fifteen minutes later.

I close my wings upon touchdown, making a desperate dash for the glass hospital doors, Khan right behind me. I slow to a walk, pushing the doors open, my heart sinking in my chest. There are ponies everywhere, the nurses white specks in a sea of color, mostly the color of red. Some ponies had various body parts wrapped in medical bandaging, others with braces and casts. These ponies are all from that wreck.

I walk to the receptionists desk, about five ponies making hasty movements to and fro with papers and medical supplies of all kinds. I manage to stop one of them hovering a clipboard and a pen in her telekinesis. "Can I help you?" She asks in a hurried voice.

"I'm looking for somepony that was in the train wreck." I say hurriedly, trying not to hold her up in her work.

"Name please?"

"Comet."

She hovers her clipboard in front of her face, reading through whatever is on it. She flips the page and skims some more, "Ah yes, she is in the ICU, room 403 on the fifth floor.

"Thank you so much!" I exclaim, the nurse nodding her head and continuing about her work.

"I'm going to wait outside," Khan says.

"You aren't coming with me?" I ask.

"I'll be right outside the door. I'm not going anywhere." With that, he takes his leave towards the door.

I make my way down the hall, dodging out of the way of gurneys rushing past me. The elevators are at the end of the hall, one of them open with three ponies in it, one of them a nurse. I pick up my pace and climb aboard. I press the button for the fourth floor, the second and fifth floor buttons already lit. The door closes and I feel the mobile room moving up and coming to stop. The door opens and two of the ponies got out, leaving me with the nurse.

The doors close again and the nurse holding his gaze on the panel with buttons and asks, "Are you one of the ponies that was in the train accident?"

"No, my mom was," I reply unable to hide the sadness in my voice.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he says as the elevator stops on the fourth floor and opens. "I wish you the best of luck."

I step out of the elevator and look back at him, his sincere eyes meeting mine. "Thank you."

The doors close and I turn around, two nurse stations on both sides of the room with vending machines against the walls to either side of me. One of the stations is empty, the other one only housing one nurse. There are two stainless steel doors in between the two stations, my guess that's were the rooms are.

I rush over to the desk, coming to a stop in front of him. "Sir, I'm looking for my mom; she's in room 403," I tell him.

Looking at me from the corner of his eye, "I'll need you to sign this guest sheet before I can open the doors for you," he says sliding the sheet to me. I grab a pen cover from the box next to me and the nurse slides it onto the back of the pen and hovers it in front of me. I grab it with my teeth and sign my name. I look at my signature for a second. That's really nice, I thought to myself. I'm gunna have to remember that.

The paper floats out from under my nose and the tingling feeling of magic surround my mouth as the pen is floating out of my mouth, leaving the plastic cover behind. I let the plastic cover float out of my mouth and into a trash can to the right.

"Alright, Nova," he says, putting the clip board back onto the desk and the pen back into a jar. "Who are you going to visit?"

"Comet," I say, eager to bust through those doors and go see her.

He scribbles a few things on a paper and throws it into a stack on the other side of the desk. "Alright, you can go through," he says, pressing a button on the wall next to him. "Third door on the right."

"Thanks," I say as I'm heading through the doors. The hallways are nothing like the room before. It's bustling with activity, nurses running up and down the hallways, gurneys set against the walls in no particular order. I'm keeping to the right, as the onslaught of chaos continues around me. I dodge out of the way of a nurse running into a nearby room, I can hear the monitor in that room going flat. My ears pin back as my heart rate begins to rise. Passing room 402 I pick up my pace slightly, my hoofsteps matching my heartbeats.

Coming to a complete stop once in front of the door, the big red and gold plate on it reading, 'Room 403', I brace myself for the worst. I lift my hoof and turn the handle, pushing the wooden door open. I take two steps in and stop in my tracks.

"Oh," I say in horror, the sight before me that is my mother making me immediately sick to my stomach. She is facing away from me, her faded pink mane stuck together in clumps, covered in blood. Her side has a bandage around it that's soaked with her blood from her cutie mark to the joint of her front left leg. Her wing looks like its broken in several places, the bandaging not hiding the unnatural bends in her wing. "Mom..."

I walk slowly to the other side of her, a CPAP mask around her muzzle, a strap going around her head. "Holy shit, Mom," I say walking up to her.

"Watch your mouth, Nova," she says hoarsely." Just because I can't stand up doesn't mean I can't spank you."

A smile crept its way to my lips, my feeling of relief making the room not as warm as it had been when I first walked through the door. A feeling down below brings back a twinge of guilt as I look at my mother.

"What happened?" I ask her, my voice shaking slightly from trying to bury my guilt.

"The train came around a bend too fast and it flew of the tracks. I was sitting by the window when it landed on its side."

"How did that leave you with all of this?" I ask.

"Well, when the train turned over on its right side, me was sitting on the right side, another pony's luggage from across the train car landed on me at an angle, crushing my wing. Then the pony landed on me, breaking two ribs and shattering another, along with making my wing even worse and causing the corner of the metal case to cut into me, one of my lungs collapsing as well."

"Celestia, Mom," I say in shock. "What did the doctor say?"

"He says that as long as I don't move around too much, my shattered rib shouldn't bother any other organs, but he also said that my wing has an eighty percent chance to not heal properly, even after them setting it not too long ago," she stops and coughs forcefully, blood splattering inside her mask.

"Mom!" I say grabbing the sheets with my mouth and take the mask off of her just long enough to wipe the blood. She breathes in deeply, her side rising up. I can see the pain in her face as she's doing so. "Celestia, that hurt," she says, still regaining her breath. "The doctor says I might not be able to fly again."

"That's terrible," I say sadly. A pegasus who couldn't fly is a sad pegasus. I don't know what I would do without my wings.

"Look baby, I love you," she says to me, her wing twitching, "but these meds they gave me are helping tenfold with the pain, but they are also making me very tired."

"I understand," I say looking around the room, my eyes landing on a couch under the window. "You don't mind if I stay do you?"

"I would never mind you staying, sweetie," she says with that caring look in her eyes.

I walk over to the door, "I'm going to go tell Khan that I'm staying," I call back.

"I'm not going anywhere," she says straining her voice for me to hear. I walk through the door, closing it behind me. Making my way through back down the hall from which I came, walking to the metal doors and the elevator. I'm alone this time, as I press the ground button on the panel.

In no time the elevator doors open and I'm once again cutting my way through the chaos that is the hospitals lobby. I open the doors, escaping into the cold, night air. A breeze ruffles my mane as I walk along the curved side walk, street lamps lighting up the cobblestone roads. I should've worn a coat.

Another carriage pulls up under the hospital's canopy, two unicorns hoping out the back, horns alight as they pull another gurney with a pony laying on top of it, adding another casualty to the list.

I keep walking, my breath making little clouds that evaporate within a second. As I start to round the corner, I hear Lazer's voice.

"She only made a seven. You know that's is average right? You're run of the mill pony can do that." I stop in my tracks, leaning against the wall.

"I know but-"

"Exactly! No buts," Lazer says, cutting Khan off. "You guys are all really good, all above average. Hell, you and Griel both got a ten! Surely you can't justify keeping her in the band."

"She can improve, Lazer," Khan says with a sigh. "She is actually very good at singing, she was just nervous. It's only our second time playing for a crowd."

"If stage fright is what makes her mess up then that's another reason she should go. I'm not saying to break up with her...just find a new singer."

My heart drops in my chest like an anchor. Why would they want to replace me? I gave that show my all, I wanted to get in just as bad as they did. I did get in! We all did!

"You're probably right-"

That's when I've heard enough. Tears starting to build in my eyes, the winter breeze making them sting, I fly back to the hospital door and back up to the third floor. The pony behind the counter recognizes me and opens the door.

As I walk through, I see three nurses and a doctor run by the hallway I'm in, going to the right. I fly around the corner, watching as they all pile through the third door.

Room 403.

"No," I say out loud, flying full speed down the hall, above the gurneys and IV stands that litter the floor below. I stop at the door and run in, the screen on the heart monitor showing a flat line and a ton of beeping filling the room. I run to the side of the bed, where the doctors are pulling out a defibrillator and turning my mom over on her back.

Time slows to a crawl as all I can do is stare at the nurses as the attempt to revive my dying mother. A tear falling down my face, I run over to her, peaking over the doctor's shoulder.

"She told me that you said she would be okay!" I scream at him, tears flowing like water from a faucet.

He looks back at me with a sad expression on his face. "I'm sorry," he says in a defeated tone. "I never told her anything like that."

The nurses count down from three again, causing my mother's body to jump as the defibrillator touches her chest. The doctor turns around and gives the signal for her to stop. The mare on the right looks to a clock and says, "Time of death: 11:39 PM. Cause of death: loss of blood."

I let myself fall backwards against the wall, chocking back a sob. I lean my head against the wall, staring at the ceiling and anywhere else that isn't that bed. The weight of guilt pulling me to the ground. I had gotten a hotel room, doing exactly what she asked me not to and sharing it with Khan because of that I almost lost my virginity. I think back to just recently, her words echoing in my head.

Look baby, I love you.

I didn't say it back.

...they are making me very tired.

She knew that Khan was going to be with me when I came here and she knew I would ask to stay with her. She knew that I was going to go tell Khan that I was staying.

That's why she lied. She knew she was dying, the doctor telling her so. She didn't want me to be here to see her pass.

She knew.

And I didn't say it back.

"I didn't say it back," I say out loud, my face hurting with the strain of my crying and sobbing.

...I love you.

"I didn't say it back."

I stand up and walk to the door, tears falling free on to the tiled hospital floor. I walk slowly down the hall, dragging along. Faces passing by me, ponies I would probably never see again. Once again I travel alone down the elevator. I see my reflection in the stainless steel doors of the elevator my own eyes an exact replica of my mothers. I squeeze my eyes tight until I feel the elevator stop and hear the doors open. I once again mill through the crowd, like a ghost. No one noticing my presence, just another pony.

As I walk through the glass doors, the fragility of life makes itself known to me. It doesn't stem the pain I'm feeling in my heart however. I walk around the corner I had previously been eavesdropping behind, finding Khan now standing alone.

Noticing me immediately he turns towards me and sees my distraught expression. "Is everything okay?" he asks as he walks towards me.

I shake my head back and forth as he wraps his hooves around me. I cry into his mane openly. After about a minute he says, "Let's go back to the hotel." He doesn't even question why I'm crying which is good because I know talking about it would only add to the soreness that my face is already feeling. He wraps his wing around my back, warming the places it touches.

<--------o------O------o-------->

Khan and I walk into the hotel room together, his wing still hanging over my back. I nudge him, giving him a sign that I wanted him to let go of me.

I couldn't meet his eyes, not after hearing what I heard earlier. My heart is torn in two, the weight and the guilt of losing my mother and the possibility of losing the band too causing my spirits to drag along the floor as I walk over to the bed closest to the bathroom.

I bite the covers and pull them back and straighten the pillows. I crawl under the covers, the cold from outside still not having worn off of me.

Khan begins to crawl in to the bed next to me when I stop him with a hoof softly against his chest.

"I'd like to sleep alone tonight," I say to him, his empathetic expression showing a look of understanding. He turns off the lamp on the table in between my bed and his.

I stare at the ceiling for what seems like hours. Thinking over what Khan and Lazer were talking about earlier, I realize that I'm about to lose Khan too. Between the band, school and his job he isn't going to have time for me. I'm going to have to let another pony important to me go by choice, to make it easier on me.

The pain of losing him slowly over the next couple of weeks after they kick me out of the band would be worse than me breaking up with him.

I need to come up with a plan that will get him to believe that I'm not leaving him because I overheard him talking to Lazer about kicking me out.

The pain of the mother I would never see again pushing all of these thoughts aside, the superiority of its weight not giving any room for other thoughts.

I don't know how the best day ever could turn into the worst so fast.

I close my eyes, the weight of the world wearing me out as I drifted asleep.

<--------o------O------o-------->

Three days after Comet's funeral

"You're kidding me right?"

I look into Khan's shocked face, as I spill the imaginary beans about an imaginary situation.

"I'm not," I say. It's killing me having to do this, but it's for the better. "She's a really nice mare."

He turns away from me, staring out the window, the beams of light reflecting off his eyes. "Was any of what we had real?"

"Yes it was! I've just realized I like mares, I'm sure you understand because you do too."

He looks up at the ceiling and squeezes his eyes shut, the veins in his neck flexing as he inhales deeply. "Then I guess it's over then," he says with a sigh.

"I'm not quitting the band but I just know this really cute mare that I've had my eyes on for a while, even before I started dating you."

"Whatever," he says dismissively. "I'll see you at the next practice." He walks out the door, closing the door behind him. Our twenty minute conversation coming to a close.

I breath a sigh of relief but also pain.

"I'm sorry, Khan." I say to the empty room. Alone completely, once again.