Comatose

by Vennyr Pony

Chapters

Prelude: Divulgence of an Undead Tale / Chapter 1: Tragedy of the Musician
Chapter 2: Comatose
Chapter 3: Unfortunate
Chapter 4: A Choice

Prelude: Divulgence of an Undead Tale / Chapter 1: Tragedy of the Musician

Comatose

By: Vennyr assisted by Exsivity

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Prelude:

Divulgence of an Undead Tale

“Taking life for granted is a very easy thing to do when you’ve had nothing but good times. However... once those good times disappear, you may find yourself wondering; what went wrong, what you had to do with it, or how you ended up here in the first place.

“The tale that I am about to divulge tells of a tragic loss of those happy times...”

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Chapter One:

Tragedy of the Musician

Part One:

Life As Usual

Tick, tick, tick. With every waking moment and movement of the clock’s second hand, the turquoise unicorn sitting awkwardly in her desk grew more and more anxious for the day to end. An elder pony at the front of the room was droning on and on about notes and sheet music. This caused the unicorn to grow ever more anxious, for she had been repetitively re-learning the same material at the fault of the mare dictating the lesson itself. ‘Uhhhg...she’s been teaching the same thing for the past few lessons,’ she thought rolling her eyes and holding her chin in her hooves.

Taking notice of this, the mare at the front looked directly at the unicorn. “Is something the matter, Ms. Heartstrings?” The mare asked as she glared daggers across the room; catching the younger unicorn mare’s gaze.

Squeaking at the sudden confrontation, Lyra Heartstrings opened her mouth in reply only to be cut off by the bell signaling the end of class sounding. “Whew...” she sighed in relief as she gathered her things, and took her leave, before being confronted by her instructor again.

Once outside she breathed in deeply; the air was fresh today, smelling of spring flowers and rain. As she started off towards home, her classmate Octavia caught up with her.

“I wonder why she’s been teaching the same thing the past week, I mean it was a requirement to know this material to get into the class.” The grey earth pony said walking up alongside Lyra.

“I wouldn’t know.” Lyra replied slowing down but continuing to walk. Octavia wasn’t the worst pony that she knew, however the two’s relationship was tense and competitive. Today however, they were on common ground. “I just know that I have no problems with it. Just gives me time to mess around.”

“I’ve noticed, well this is my turn…See you next week Lyra” Octavia replied turning off in a direction that was perpendicular to the path that Lyra was on, then starting off in a different direction.

Now that the distraction of class was out of the way, Lyra took in her surroundings. The day was bright and warm, not a cloud in the sky. It was a nice change from the rainy weather that has been going non-stop for the past week. ‘Today’s going to be a good day…’ she thought and smiled to herself before galloping off homeward bound.

***

Less than five minutes past before she finally made it home. Opening the door she heard her mother call out to her from the kitchen. “Is that you, Lyra dear?”

“Yeah, It’s me, mom!” Lyra called back. Setting her saddlebags to the side she trotted into the kitchen to see her mother who was busy making dinner. “What are you making?” she asked curiously, while sniffing at the air.

“It’s celery stew.” Her mother replied in a content manner. A cloud of magic floating just above Lyra’s mother’s head contained many of the ingredients for the stew, as well as several utensils such as knifes, spoons, etc. “Will you please take out the garbage?” She asked her daughter in the same content way.

Nodding her head, Lyra turned to the trash can. Her horn glowing she lifted the full trash bag from its bin and carried it outside to a larger trash bin. Stepping back into the kitchen mere moments later, she opened a drawer underneath the counter and retrieved a new liner for the trash bin. The liner floated in the air enveloped in her magic; she carefully placed it into the garbage can.

“Do you have any homework?” Her mother asked as soon as her daughter had finished with the garbage detail.

“Nope, we weren’t assigned any today, thank Celestia...” Lyra sighed in relieved honesty as she turned to leave and head up to her room.

“Before you leave; could you tell your father that dinner is almost ready?” Her mother asked right before she left the room. Lyra turned her head and nodded in reply, then hastily galloped out of the kitchen. “He’s in his office, in the basement!” Lyra’s mother called after her, just as she disappeared from sight.

***

Lyra stepped down from the staircase, onto the cold tiles that paved their basement’s floor. She started off to the only other room within the basement. It was soundproof, unless one was to page the inside of the room with the microphone and button off to the side of the door, or knock on the door itself.

“Who is it?” A voice called from a small speaker shortly after she had knocked.

“It’s me, Dad. Mom says that dinner is almost ready.” Lyra replied as she peeked her head through the doorway. Her father stood at a desk in the middle of the room levitating his quill just above a piece of paper. He nodded at her before setting his quill down and following her out the door and up-stairs.

***

About ten minutes later, the meal had started. The family quietly sat at their seats at first. However, soon after everypony was seated conversation became abundant.

“How was your class today, Lyra?” Lyra’s mother asked as she began to serve everypony their bowls of stew.

“Boring… We’ve been learning the same thing forever now.” Lyra replied, levitating a spoonful of celery stew to her muzzle.

“What is it?” This time her father was the one to ask the question.

“Notes and sheet music… it’s redundant to teach us this now, especially since it was a requirement to take the class.” Lyra replied, taking another spoonful of stew. “But on the bright side, it provides me with the time to mess around.”

“Hmm…” was all the reply that came from her father. “So how was work today, Cerulean?” He asked, changing the subject and turning to his wife.

“The hospital wasn’t as busy as it usually is…” Lyra’s mother, Cerulean-cure, replied to the question. “How about for you, Sire?” she asked looking over at her husband contently.

“The same as usual.” Model-sire, Lyra’s father, replied in a casual way as he levitated a spoon to his muzzle.

Lyra’s parents worked the majority of the day; up until she would get out of class. Her classes normally went from mid-day to late evening taking up the majority of her free-time during the course of the day. Her father worked as an architect, designing new buildings to be built throughout all of Equestria (save for structures made of clouds). Her mother worked as a nurse in the Canterlot General Hospital, tending mainly to those who had recently undergone surgery.

***

“I’m going to head up to my room.” Lyra declared while she carefully levitated a small stack of bowls into the sink.

“Okay dear. Don’t forget to practice.” Her father said as he proceeded to wash the dishes with a magic encased dish-rag.

Hastily, Lyra galloped up the stairs and into her room. Shutting the door behind her, she trotted over to the window above her bedside and opened it before sitting in an abnormal fashion with her back against the wall. She levitated her Lyre off of the shelf where she had left it the previous night. The familiar scent and feel of the instrument filled her with joy as she took it in her hooves and began plucking the strings with her magic. A beautiful melody began to fill the silent space inside her bedroom, and then gently flow out her window into the evening air.

***

As the evening went on, and the sun dropped below the horizon, several more melodies flooded the air outside Lyra’s home. She played for hours before finally resting the instrument, lightly placing it back onto the shelf of which it made its home. She quietly slipped out of her room and into the hallway. In a light trot she made her way towards the kitchen. She was mere moments away from opening the refrigerator before she heard a crash from behind her. She turned back to see nothing there.

“Is somepony here?” she asked, her eyes still adjusting to the low light levels. When no answer came she used her magic to flip the light switch from across the room. After a few moments of scanning her surroundings, she turned back to the task before her and headed towards the refrigerator.

Once open, Lyra scanned the inside of the refrigerator. After several moments of surveying the inside of the refrigerator, she finally settled on leftovers from dinner. She poured herself a bowl of stew from what was left in the pot and headed up to her room after magically heating it.

By the time she was about halfway up the stairs the sound of hoof steps following her up the staircase. She turned to look back, yet saw no-pony behind her. ‘It must be my mind playing tricks on me…’ She thought as she turned back and finished her ascent and walked into her room. She returned to her awkward position on her bed and ate her stew.

A little over two minutes later the bowl lay empty next to a once again, practicing Lyra. Abruptly her melody ended. She stared wide eyed at the silhouette of a pony standing in her open doorway. Suddenly a sharp pain struck her in the side of the head, and then everything went black.

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Chapter One:

Tragedy of the Musician

Part Two:

My Personal Crypt

I awoke to strange voices. My head hurt. My ears were ringing, but I could still pick up the disjointed ramblings of two voices. I tried to open my eyes but whenever I did, my eyes were met with a blurry vision of two ponies standing over me. They were arguing about something, but the ringing in my ears caused their words to be incoherent.

“wha-“ I sounded but wishing I hadn’t because now my assailants turned towards me, the blur in my eyes had subsided enough for me to make out that they were glaring at me. One of them said something, but my hearing didn’t register, the one who had spoken gave me an expecting glare (as far as I could tell), as if I were supposed to reply. A soft cry was to be the only thing that escaped me before everything went black once again.

***

The next time I awoke, I would have been better off not waking up at all. The ringing in my ears had subsided significantly; I lifted my eyelids slightly to find that the blur in my eyes had disappeared all together. When I had opened them completely I was greeted with a pony that was dressed all in black, a mask obscuring his face, and both his mane and tail dyed an unnatural tar-like black.

“Why, hello there. Did you sleep well?” The pony sneered at me. His voice, it must’ve been the ringing in my ears earlier, but now I could recognize the stallion’s voice… but… where? Before I could place my hoof on whom this stallion was; a sharp pain ran across my face. I looked up to see that he had slapped me. He lowered his hoof then a voice behind him spoke.

“I’m sorry Lyra, but there’s no other way.” The other voice spoke at me, but not in a sneer like the other, this one seemed more regretful. This voice, though feminine, was equally as recognizable. The Mare that owned it stepped forward, her mane and tail dyed similar to the stallion, yet her mane was a mess that covered her face save for one piercing cyan eye, and instead of black clothing, she had dyed her coat a dark purple. “You see, we all make mistakes. We’re here to fix yours…”

“Wh- wha” I tried to let out. But before I could form any words, the mare had picked up a large steel pipe between her teeth and slammed it down hard against my back right leg.

The pain was instantaneous as she repetitively brought down the pipe against my body. Not only could I feel my bones breaking, but I could hear them over my screams of agonizing pain. Soon the stallion joined in, sporting an aluminum bat rather than a steel pipe. My horn shattered as he brought the bat down onto it, causing shards of it to impale themselves into my skull.

I rolled over screaming in agony as wave upon wave of pain coursed through my body. Surely somepony could hear me… but then why wasn’t any help coming? The mare dropped her pipe, that’s when I got a good look at my surroundings. I was inside my father’s study, no sound had left the room… Suddenly I was turned on my back and the mare brought down her front hooves onto my chest. I felt my ribs crack as a final winded cry escaped my body. The two ponies backed off and watched me as I laid there breathing shallowly, and bleeding profusely. My vision began to blur again from the blood leaking out from where my horn used to be. I could feel warm blood leaking from my fresh wounds as my body grew colder. My pain was dulling, but my consciousness was slipping; before I knew it, I had blacked out. Into a cold, black abyss.

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End Chapter One

I do not own the rights to Hasbro or My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic

Thanks to my awesome editor, and pre-readers.

Chapter 2: Comatose

Comatose

By: Vennyr assisted by Exsivity

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Chapter Two:

Comatose

Part One:

Emergency

It was early morning; Model-sire had awakened about a half hour ago, as was his daily routine. He would wake up in the early hours of the day; make himself breakfast, then head down to his study where he worked for hours designing new buildings to be built around Canterlot and the rest of Equestria. He had just finished his breakfast before heading down into the basement.

He descended the stairs and walked up to the door to his office. Effortlessly he opened the door and made his way into the office. He wrinkled his nose at the metallic scent of blood that traced the air.

“What the…” he began, only to falter at the now prominent sound of shallow breathing. Scanning the area before him, he took notice of the dried blood that was staining the carpet; as well as an injured pony, lying in a heap on a larger, damp, stain.

Eyes growing wide, he rushed over to aid the broken pony. He gently turned the body over to reveal the battered and bloodied face of his daughter, Lyra. A pained expression embroidered itself upon her face. One would mistake her for being fast asleep, if not for the obvious pained and fearful expression on her face. Model-sire let out a sound; that if not for his office; would wake the entire neighborhood. He took his daughter into an embrace, and then cried deeply. The tears rolled down his face as he placed an ear to her chest expecting to hear nothing. However, to his surprise; he heard her heart; it was beating, faintly, but still beating.

Frantically, he got to his hooves and levitated her up the stairs and then onto the couch in the living room of their home. He rushed upstairs to fetch his wife, Cerulean-cure. Not but a minute passed before both he and his wife emerged from the stairwell. Taking their daughter with them, the two rushed out the door carrying her to the hospital.

***

Through the adrenal urgency, it took no less than three minutes to get to Canterlot General Hospital. The fact that the family lived little over two blocks away, however had helped in the swiftness of their arrival. The two parents burst through the hospital doors and rushed up to the help desk.

The mare behind the desk gasped at the sight of Lyra’s limp body. Picking up the microphone to the PA system, she spoke urgently into it requesting assistance. Almost immediately the family was met by two EMT ponies carrying a stretcher. The EMTs gently took Lyra from her parent’s hooves, placed her onto said stretcher, and then whisked her away. The two parents were then guided to a couple of seats in the waiting room, which were set away from the rest in order to provide as much privacy as possible.

***

It had been around twenty minutes since the EMTs had taken their daughter. The two silently wept, waiting for somepony to give them news on her condition; however nopony came, so they continued to weep and wait. The sudden presence of a nurse wasn’t noticed at first; she had arrived a little over than two minutes ago. She stood silently waiting.

Finally the two took notice of her. “Mr. and Mrs. Heartstrings, the doctor wishes to see you…” the tone she gave was grim and saddened, adding onto the Lyra’s parent’s stress. “Right this way…” Unsteadily and unconfidently the two followed the nurse.

***

“Wh-what’s her…?” Cerulean-cure choked, wiping the tears from her eyes with her leg; but to no avail, for soon after more tears took their place. Breaking down she buried her face into her husband’s side.

“She…” the doctor started but had to think over how to word their daughter’s condition. “She’s in a coma… w-we can’t tell for how long…” He turned away from them, wishing that he had found a better choice of words. “I’m sorry…” he said, turning back to catch Model-sire in the eye.

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Chapter Two:

Comatose

Part Two:

‘Still Here’

*[Earlier]*

“Wha…?” I tried to say as my eyes opened. “Where am I?” I tried speaking again, looking down at my hooves. No noise came from me; only the soft sound of shallow breathing embraced the atmosphere of the room. I turned my head groggily to the side. The vision before my eyes filled me with fear and confusion.

There; lying in a battered and bloody heap was… another me. That’s when the memories of agonizing pain struck me like a train. I was sore... my mind did a back-flip through the new soreness. “Was I dreaming?” I asked myself as I did a double take. As much as I had wished to have been dreaming, this was too surreal to even be among the strangest of my dreams.

I stumbled over to my body, still clinging onto any hope that remained for this to be merely a dream. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed moments after forming. I looked terrible. Bruises and cuts riddled my body where the mare and stallion had struck me. I was locked in a disbelieving state, starring at my broken body. The room was too silent. I would have gazed at myself; unmoved, uninterrupted, for all eternity if the groans of the floor boards above my head hadn’t roused me from my stupor. My ears perked at the sound. I realized that somepony was upstairs.

***

Hastily I gathered myself and got to my hooves. Galloping, I headed upstairs, to where somepony would be there. Emerging from the stairwell I noticed that it was my father moving about. He was making himself breakfast.

“Dad?” I attempted at speaking once again, yet as before, no sound came. Yet I still found myself hoping he had heard me, but to no avail. He simply sat still and ate his breakfast. “Dad!?” I tried to scream, once again, no answer came. I panicked. I galloped over to where he was sitting and attempted to shake him. However, once I reached him, a force similar to magnets of the same polarity kept me from making contact. No matter how hard I tried, I was continuously held back by the unknown force.

I sat on the kitchen tile in confusion. “Why can’t I touch him!?” I soundlessly questioned. For several moments I sat in silence (not that any-pony could tell). Finally he got to his hooves and levitated his dishes to the sink, and then proceeded to make his way into the basement.

At first I didn’t think it of any importance, but soon realized that he would find me (or rather my body) in his study. I wish I could say I was excited, but that’s too suggestive towards ‘happiness’; what I felt was more like a form of relief, relief in knowing that somepony would finally know about my dilemma.

I followed my father. We descended the stairwell in a nonchalant manner, though the suspense of not knowing what his reaction would be filled me with anxiety, regardless I followed. I watched him as he calmly made his way through the door to his study. He must have done this very thing dozens, even hundreds of times because he appeared almost bored by this action.

As he turned to face the interior of his study I noticed that he wrinkled his nose at some smell. It took a few moments for me to notice it, but a pungent metallic scent traced the air, I found myself wondering how I hadn’t noticed the smell before-hand.

I heard him say something, but his words didn’t come to me. Then I watched as his eyes grew wide for he had finally realized that something was amiss. I must’ve been too groggy to notice earlier, but as I turned from him I noticed a large amount of dried blood, my blood, that coated and stained the carpet. I looked over to my body and wondered how this much blood could have come from me.

His eyes widened further as he took notice of my limp body lying on the carpet. The pained sound that my father released was so loud that it hurt my ears. I’d be surprised if it hadn’t awakened the whole neighborhood. I watched as he took me into his hooves and cried into my chest. The sight of my father’s tears caused me to come undone. I broke down. Tears fell from my eyes as I cried, unseen, and unheard. Through my own breakdown it had taken me several minutes to realize that he had left the room entirely, carrying my body with him.

Frantic, I got to my hooves and followed his path up the stairs. Once I had emerged from the stairwell I panicked, unable to find my father. Tears swelled and stung my eyes, obscuring my vision. Hysterically I looked side to side, searching for where-ever my father could have gone. My hysteria was interrupted by the sound of hoof steps hastily making their way down the stairs.

My parents galloped down the stairs and into the living room, where I heard a gasping sound emit from my mother. Soon after, the two rushed past me once again. I was surprised to see that they didn’t crash directly into the front door with their haste…

***

It didn’t take that long for us to make it to the hospital. My parents flew through the front doors of the hospital with me on their trail. However as soon as I had set hoof inside of the medicinally scented waiting room, I froze. I don’t know what made me stop, but throughout my catatonia it felt as if endless fathoms of phantom eyes were fixated upon me. There was a hushed sound, like wind howling on a rainy night. This sound stood out, despite that I knew those around me were speaking; their sounds were muffled, so much so that their words were indecipherable and close to complete silence, making this noise more prominent. A chill ran razor blades along my spine as a second howl sounded, this time slightly louder.

The small terror left my body all at once. I was surrounded by the many voices of various sick ponies and their loved ones. I blinked in confusion which quickly turned to anxiety as I looked this way and that, unable to spot my parents. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a light turquoise tail, my tail, slip into a hallway. My body was in full gallop before I even knew what was going on. I burst through the doors of the emergency hallway. The noise that ensued caused me to jump. Regaining my bearings, I looked into the eyes of an EMT pony. He was staring directly at me. At first I thought he could actually see me, but quickly my hopes were dashed as he shrugged before turning around to continue transporting my body to the enclosure of which it was to be confined to.

Subconsciously I followed him. As I entered the small space of the hospital room I saw a doctor and three nurses surrounding me. They where, gently poking the inner part of my hooves with small needles as well as trying to communicate with me; “Hello… Miss… Can you hear me?” were a few things that they said. My body didn’t respond. The doctor looked gravely at one of the nurses then nodded at her. She exited the room and started to head towards the waiting room as the stallion who nodded strapped a breathing apparatus onto my muzzle.

The stallion paced the floor back and forth for a couple of minutes before my parents arrived. My mother was crying and my father looked emotionless, as if somepony had come along with a vacuum cleaner and sucked all of the life out of him.

After a few moments my mother spoke up. “Wh-what’s her…?” I heard her choke quietly as she wiped the tears from her eyes. I couldn’t bear to see her like that. I began to sob… nopony could see or hear me… my parents were grieving and all I could do was watch. ‘This is too much…’ I thought while sobbing mutely.

“She…” I heard the doctor beginning to speak; he sounded sad, I couldn’t tell why… I mean it’s not like he was the one in this situation. “She’s in a coma… w-we can’t tell for how long…” I heard him say as he turned from my parents. “I’m sorry…” he said as her faced them once more. My dad was staring at him; the two were locked in each other’s gaze.

“I-I see…” my father breathed finally before turning and leaving with my mother; as he walked through the doorway I heard his voice crack and begin to sob.

This was much worse than watching my mother cry. I couldn’t handle this… I cried out and screamed at the top of my lungs…

“Mom! Dad! Wait… please! I’M. STILL. HERE!”

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Chapter Two:

Comatose

Part Three:

Grievance

*[Later]*

Model-sire and his wife had been emotionlessly lying on the couch of their living room for the past thirteen hours. The sun was beginning to set beyond the horizon line. The world was silent around them or rather if any noise were to break the silence they would not notice. The two were grieving, Lyra was their only child and she was beaten into a coma for some unknown reason.

Unexpectedly, somepony knocked at their front door. Sluggishly, Model-sire made his way over to the front door. Upon opening it he found a young gray earth pony mare.

“Octavia? What are you doing here?” he asked the young mare as he motioned for her to come inside. He changed his expression to be less grave in an attempt to hide his emotions.

“Hello Mr. Heartstrings,” Octavia smiled as she made her way inside in a respectful manner. “I was just stopping by to see if Lyra wanted to come out with Vinyl, Bonbon, and I for… Wh-what’s wrong?” she stopped in the middle of the sentence noticing Model-sire’s gravely depressed expression.

“I’m sorry Octavia, Lyra… she… she won’t be able to go with you… She...” tears began to pour down his face.

“What happened?” she asked with compassion in her voice as she lifted her foreleg, taking a step backwards.

“She… she’s in the hospital… she had an accident last night… I… I don’t know for sure what happened…” Model-sire spoke up after a few moments, sorrow deeply embedded in his voice. Slowly he trotted over to where his wife was laying then laid down next to her.

“Oh… I’m sorry…” Octavia compassionately whispered before taking her leave to let the two parents grieve.

***

After a few moments, Octavia emerged from within the confines of the Heartstrings’ household with a grave look upon her face. Vinyl Scratch and Bonbon stood at the edge of the sidewalk waiting for an answer.

“So, is she coming?” Bonbon questioned, taking notice of Octavia’s expression. Octavia merely shook her head mutely.

“Why the face ‘Tavi?” Vinyl Scratch questioned with a look of concern upon her face that was distorted by her glasses.

“Lyra’s in the hospital… she had an accident or something last night,” Octavia breathed gently.

This news caused Bonbon to gasp. “What’s wrong!? What happened!?” she questioned frantically as she began to take on a state of unrest moving back and forth anxiously.

“I don’t know… I’m sorry Bonbon…” Octavia sobbed then gently embraced her friend.

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Chapter Two:

Comatose

Part Four:

Purgatory

*[Night Fall]*

I was sobbing… My family couldn’t see or hear me… I was in a coma… I didn’t understand why this had to happen to me. For the past few hours I laid curled up in the corner of the room of which I was admitted to. I couldn’t bring myself to leave… I couldn’t go home, even if I did; my parents wouldn’t know I was there. The lights in my room had been turned out; the only remaining light was that of the miniature ones on the machines that they had hooked up to my body, as well as a dim light that shone through the window of the door that lead out into the hallway.

I heard the clopping sound of a pony making their way down the hallway. I didn’t quiet myself… actually I began to sob louder. “It’s not like they can hear me…” I soundlessly blubbered as I continued to sob.

However, the pony’s movement ceased, and their silhouette shone through the window. I continued to sob, paying no attention to the slowly opening door. “H-hello? Is somepony in here?” Asked the skittish voice of a filly; she sounded so young, she couldn’t be more than half my age.

My tears stopped immediately as I felt a pair of eyes fixated upon me. I looked at her and she looked back. We were locked in an unbreakable gaze for a few minutes before she spoke up. “Why are you crying, Miss?” she sounded so innocent and gentle.

“Y-you can s-see me?” I croaked as I changed my position to face her. I was perplexed, I heard what she was saying, yet there was no actual sound, as if she were speaking directly into my mind despite that her mouth still moved in order to form the words.

She nodded and took a hesitant step towards me. “Why are you so sad?” she asked me in that same gentle tone as she continued to inch towards me.

“I… my parents… they can’t see or hear me… they…” I choked and began to sob. She moved to my side and snuggled up against me.

“I understand… I’m the same way… What’s your name?” she said as she rubbed up against me in an attempt to try and comfort my sorrow.

“I’m… m-my name is Lyra…” I sobbed despite her efforts to calm me. “Why is this happening…” I cried burying my face into my fore-hooves.

“Lyra…” the filly spoke softly as she got to her hooves and offered me a hoof to stand. “Come with me… I have something that might give you an explanation.” She said in a tone that was still as gentle and soft as before, yet it was too adult for a filly her age.

Hesitantly, I took her hoof and stood. Only now did I get a good look at her. She was a light blue earth pony with a light turquoise mane (similar to my own in color) that fell gently around her face; her eyes were a gentle purple color that reflected light, yet there was something strange about them, their pupils and irises didn’t differentiate, it was all one faded color.

“Wh-what’s your name?” I sniffed as I got to my hooves and started to follow her.

“I’m Phoebe!” she declared in a chipper tone as she led me out the door and into the hallway.

***

I followed her through a long narrow hallway and down a flight of stairs. We entered a small room at the base of the stairs on the other side of the dull cement room was a lone metal door. I wore a quizzical look, I was confused.

“Where are we?” I asked in a mildly confused tone while turning to Phoebe. My emotional breakdown had been calmed, though I was still upset.

“We’re where I was taking you,” Phoebe smiled as she trotted over to the door and began to open it with her mouth. “The obtherths are whaitin’ inthide.” She said whilst she was in the process of opening the door.

The door opened to reveal another room similar to the one we were in, but it had several ponies of various colors and sizes. They all shared a similar feature; they all had eyes like Phoebe, with the exception of color differentiation. They were all staring at me, not in an unfriendly way, but rather in curiosity.

“C-can they see me?” I asked Phoebe, yet it wasn’t her that answered. It was a grey pegasus stallion who looked to be around the same age as my father.

“We can hear you too,” he said in a joking manner as he stepped forward to greet me.

“Wha-what’s going on?” I asked in complete confusion as he brought me inside.

“Isn’t it obvious silly filly? We’re dead…”

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End Chapter Two

I do not own the rights to Hasbro or My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic

Thanks to my awesome editor, and pre-readers.

Chapter 3: Unfortunate

Comatose

By: Vennyr assisted by: Exsivity

___________________________________________

Chapter Three:

Unfortunate

Part One:

Brink

“Dead!?” I exclaimed in fear and confusion. The mass of ponies took a step back away from me; the only two who stayed put were the stallion and Phoebe.

“But of course… There’s really no other way that any of us would be able to see you, let alone communicate with you,” he said in a mildly surprised tone as he took a few cautious steps towards me.

“D-does that mean th-that… am I dead?” I whimpered as tears began to pour over my eyelids. The stallion looked at me quizzically.

“Celestia, no… You’re not dead… but you are close,” he said while taking another step towards me. “I wouldn’t really worry about it; we’ve met quite a few ponies like you. Rarely ever do ponies like you actually die when you’re in a coma,” he smiled as if this were to cheer me up.

“Then, why? Why all of this? Why… me?” I sank to my haunches and looked down at the ground sniffing, trying not to break into full on sobs. Phoebe snuggled up against me in an effort to calm me; It had worked, somehow the over affectionate filly’s presence comforted me.

“We all know how you feel…” she spoke in a gentle tone. I found myself wondering what could have happened to such a sweet filly; I wondered why, out of all the ponies in the world, she had to die at such a young age. “We were all in your situation at one time or another…” she nuzzled up against me. By this time I had ceased my moping and found myself nuzzling her in return.

“She’s right. She’s been here longer than any of us… or at least longer than those of us who didn’t decide to cross over…” the stallion remarked as he kneeled next to Phoebe and I.

“What… what do you mean?” I asked in curiosity as I regained my bearings and looked up at him. Not that I’m not an observant pony but my emotional state as of late had been distracting me from noticing very many details. He had a slate grey coat with a jet black (natural black) mane and tail that had a silvery white stripe through them and his cutie mark was that of a grey swirling cloud. His eyes were a deep navy blue that bore similarity (at least in appearance) to Phoebe’s and the other ghost ponies’ eyes. “Why haven’t you ‘crossed over’?”

“Well… the answer varies for each of us… Some of us chose to stay like this and roam the world forever… others are stuck here because…well…” he seemed to have lost his train of thought. Or rather not want to talk about it.

“Well… what?” I asked in a tone of curiosity that had abolished my previous emotional state.

“Or we were too young to pass on…” came an emotionless young voice at my side. I turned my head to see Phoebe staring back at me with a grievous expression. My Jaw dropped… I looked at her and all I could feel was sorrow; yet, not for myself, no, for this young foal who’s soul was damned to roam aimlessly merely because of the age at which she had died.

***

*[Later]*

For hours I had been chatting with Phoebe and Hurricane (of which I had found to be the name of the grey pegasus stallion). I had asked them many questions. None of which were to important past my own curiosity, yet still they answered them; They must have felt lonely, though they did have each other, they must have enjoyed talking to somepony who was outside of their circle. I had learned that only Hurricane and Phoebe stayed at the hospital, while other pony spirits drifted in and out seemingly for no reason at all. They stayed to help those fresh to the world of the dead to make peace with their situation and make their choice when the time came. I had asked what ‘choice’ they were talking about to which Hurricane replied;

“The choice to stay in purgatory or to pass on, and become one with all of nature.”

This answer perplexed me… however; I chose not to pry much further. I changed the subject slightly by asking him why he had chose to stay; to which he replied that he didn’t want to leave Phoebe alone, who, at the time was still new to purgatory; though she had been their longer than him, he hadn’t been very far behind.

“There’s still a question that I have… it’s been bugging me for a while,” I said as we trotted around the room full of ghost ponies.

“What is it?” Phoebe asked in her casual innocent tone.

“When I came here, I burst through some doors while following a pony that was wheeling away my body. The doors slammed behind me and made a loud noise…He looked directly at me, but he didn’t see me… I thought I couldn’t interact with anypony…” I said stopping and spilling out my confusion to my two new acquaintances.

Phoebe smiled at me and replied. “No pony can see or hear you, but you can still get their attention and interact with them in one way or another,” she explained while smiling up at me.

“You can interact with any inanimate object, and use that object to interact with somepony. You just can’t interact with anypony directly. Sometimes though it tends to frighten the pony that you’re trying to contact…” Hurricane almost laughed at the last part. I gave him a strange look, but it didn’t last too long before we began to chat again.

_______________________________________________________

Chapter Three:

Unfortunate

Part Two:

Captivity

*[Earlier That Day]*

“What are we going to do now?” Octavia asked Scratch while she embraced their friend Bonbon.

“I’ve got nothing…” Vinyl Scratch replied in an unenthusiastic tone. “We should probably head home though…” she remarked in a tone of voice that would normally be considered out of character for her.

Octavia nodded in reply and began to lead Bonbon off down the street with Vinyl following closely behind.

***

“Are you sure that you’ll be okay?” Octavia asked; concerned for her friend’s well being. Bonbon merely nodded and stepped inside of her door. “We’ll come and pick you up at noon tomorrow, okay?” she explained.

“Oh, okay… thank you.” Bonbon whispered in a hushed and emotionally spent tone as she disappeared into the confines of her home.

Bonbon closed the door behind her and started to make her way into the kitchen; which would provide the most direct route to her bedroom. It was mid day but all she could think about was sleep. As soon as she set hoof in the kitchen her mother gave her a worried expression.

“What’s wrong dear?” Bonbon’s mother questioned in a soft motherly tone which was accompanied by a kind, caring stare in her daughter’s direction.

“W-one of my friends is in the hospital…” she whimpered in reply to her mother as she slouched to her haunches and began to sob.

“Which one of your little friends was it?” her mother asked in a very compassionate and caring tone.

“It…it’s Lyra…” Bonbon hesitated then continued to sob. “…Octavia and Vinyl were going to pick me up tomorrow… so that we could visit her…”

At the mere utterance of the name, Bonbon’s mother’s expression changed from tender and loving to hard and cold. “You are not going with them,” she commanded in a stern tone of voice.

The sudden change in tone and attitude from her mother startled Bonbon; she looked at her mother with eyes wide in surprise. “B-but why?” she asked in an innocent way.

“Because I told you so!” her mother yelled, her face beginning to turn red. “Now go to your room and stay there!”

Bonbon stared at her mother in disbelief and despair at her mother’s sudden cruel unfairness. Her sobs turned to tears and then to full blown crying as she galloped in the direction of her room.

***

*[The Next Day]*

There was a knock at the front door. Bonbon’s mother sighed and got to her hooves then began to make her way towards the door. When she opened it a white unicorn mare along with another mare that was a gray earth pony stood in front of her, the two looked content with the world around them.

“Is Bonbon here?” Octavia questioned in a casual tone. “We came to pick her up so we can visit or friend,” she explained.

“I’m so sorry girls, but my daughter is sick. She won’t be able to go with you two today…” Bonbon’s mother replied in a faux motherly tone.

Octavia and Vinyl exchanged confused glances with each other then turned to say something, however they were cut off by a door slamming in their faces.

Bonbon’s mother stood by the door a moment longer. She could hear their muffled remarks about her behavior being out of the ordinary. She sighed as soon as she heard their hoofsteps move away from the door.

_____________________________________________

Chapter Three:

Unfortunate

Part Three:

Visitation

*[Later]*

“Well… it seems that we’ve arrived.” Octavia said in formal tone.

“Why the sudden formality ‘Tavi?” Scratch asked glancing under her shades at her friend.

“We are in Canterlot, Vinyl. Quite a few ponies know me here,” Octavia remarked in minor annoyance towards the white unicorn.

“Putting on a show for your friends… got it.” Vinyl reworded in an attempt to vex her companion.

Instead of snapping at Vinyl, Octavia just grunted in annoyance as she made her way through the double doors of Canterlot General Hospital. The waiting room was enormous, at least with the surprising lack of ponies that is. The couches and chairs that lined the walls looked comfortable enough to sleep on. There was a small palm tree growing from a circular soil-filled depression in the center of room. Behind the tree sat a bored looking mare at the reception booth which was supported by the stereotypical marble columns of Canterlot.

The two visiting mares approached the one behind the reception desk. She wasn’t doing anything of much importance; she was merely reading a magazine that lacked anything of interest to either of the two.

“Excuse me, miss?” Octavia spoke up in an attempt to gain the mare’s attention. The mare however paid no attention to her. “Miss-“

“Hey lady!” Scratch yelled loudly in complete disregard of any patience that she may have been previously demonstrating.

The mare jumped at the unexpected outburst then turned, glaring daggers at the two. “May I help you?” she asked in a very snobbish manner.

Octavia opened her mouth to say something but was swiftly cut off by Scratch. “Yes you may. See, my friend and I here came to visit a friend of ours who was admitted here recently. Would you mind telling us which room she’s in before I…” she was quickly silenced by Octavia who covered her mouth with a hoof.

“Her name is Lyra Heartstrings; could you please tell us what room she’s in?” She asked before taking her hoof off of Vinyl’s mouth.

The mare rolled her eyes then went to a filing cabinet and removed a file folder with the name Heartstrings, Lyra embroidered on a small tab at the top of it. She opened flipped open the folder. She looked over the contents for a few moments before looking back up at the two other mares.

“She’s in room 111 on the second floor.” she stated before replacing the file and returning to her magazine.

***

“She’s in here,” stated a different nurse as she escorted both Vinyl Scratch and Octavia into the hospital room.

The two stared at Lyra in disbelief for a few moments before setting ‘Get Well’ cards as well as flowers at the small desk beside her bed.

“Wh-what happened to her?” Octavia asked the nurse (who was still standing in the doorway supervising).

“We aren’t entirely sure. Her parents brought her here, when she arrived she was badly injured, hence all of the bandages…” the nurse replied compassionately.

“How bad is…” Octavia started but was cut off by the sound of a glass vase shattering.

The three ponies turned to see the vase broken on the floor. At first Octavia expected that Scratch had been careless but looking to her side she found that Scratch couldn’t have caused the vase to fall unless she purposely smashed it with her magic; something she wouldn’t do in a situation such as this.

“I… must have put it to close to the edge…” she dismissed the event before turning back to the nurse. “How bad is her condition?” she asked in concern.

“Unfortunately… she’s on the threshold of going into critical condition. It’s actually a surprise to me that you two were clear to come in and visit her…” The nurse said in a compassionate way.

“Oh, okay… Come on Vinyl… it’s getting late, we had better get going…”

_____________________________________________________

Chapter Three:

Unfortunate

Part Four:

Curiosity

*[Earlier]*

“What do you mean?” I asked in confusion at an earlier remark made by Hurricane.

“He was explaining that we won’t be able to communicate with you, after the sun comes up that is…” Phoebe answered in his stead. She was looking up at me with her stereotypical innocent expression.

“Why won’t you be able to?” I asked, my confusion still had not been laid to rest.

“When daylight comes, we’ll disappear from even your vision. We’ll still be here but we won’t be able to talk to you. Actually none of us will be able to interact with each other; we’ll be completely on our own until night fall…” she replied that adult tone that, as before, didn’t fit her appearance, or personality for that matter.

“Why? Why won’t we be able to see each other?” I asked; the explanation for my previous question only raised others. My only problem was that I couldn’t figure out a wording for any of them; so I went with the simplest one that I could come up with that remained on topic.

“I… we… never really understood it ourselves…” Phoebe answered with a slightly saddened and confused glance up towards hurricane.

“Oh… okay.” I spoke softly, my feelings had mixed somewhere between embarrassment for asking in the first place and sorrowfulness for the two ponies.

The two suddenly began to fade before my eyes… sunrise must have been closer than I had thought. I tried to stop them from going… but… they disappeared before I could reach them. None of this made any sense to me… I still didn’t understand why. I sank to my haunches in front of where they stood previously, I wasn’t ready and… I didn’t want to be alone… not again…

***

I returned to my room. I didn’t know where else to go, I mean I couldn’t stay I that room, not alone… When I entered the room itself I couldn’t help myself. I stood over and stared at my immobile body. I was connected to several machines; a heart monitor, an IV, (which is what I had heard a doctor pony call this needle sticking into my veins, the thing was connected by a small tube to a plastic bag full of some liquid) as well as a few other things of which I couldn’t describe. My wounds were bandaged and stitched up, my broken bones were in braces, and my head was wrapped with (now blood stained) gauze around the area where my horn once protruded.

I felt tears begin to swell in my eyes. I didn’t want to cry… but I couldn’t help it. I hated feeling sorrow for myself, I never enjoyed wallowing in my own self pity… but there was nothing I could do. I trotted sluggishly to a corner and laid down, I didn’t feel tired; somehow I doubt ghost ponies need any form of physical rest such as sleep, however I closed my eyes, then went out like a light.

When my eyes opened again I saw Octavia and her friend Vinyl Scratch setting things at the side of my bed. It took a moment for my eyes to register that they were ‘get well’ gifts… My tears returned for a few moments before I got to my hooves and made my way over to where they had set the gifts. As I did this I could hear Octavia speaking with my nurse, I couldn’t make out the words, but the nature and tone of Octavia’s voice suggested that they were talking about me…

I stopped next a small desk at my bedside (of which they had placed things such as cards and a vase full of flowers). Tears once again began slowly trickled down my cheeks… but these tears were not of sadness, but of joy… Though not much brought joy to me as of late… I took some comfort in the small things that my friends had brought me.

I looked over at Octavia and looked down at the vase on the desk. I didn’t want to do what my thoughts said… but… if there was any hope to make contact with somepony; now would be the right time. I set my hoof on the desk and gently pushed over the vase. It fell off the desk’s edge and shattered on the hard floor. The noise that ensued caught the attention of everypony inside the small room. They all looked surprised and confused, Octavia muttered something but I didn’t hear it. She turned back to the nurse and continued their conversation before signaling Vinyl and leaving.

After they left, the nurse lingered in the doorway, staring at where the vase had fallen. She gave a confused and mildly scared look yet shook it off and walked down the hall towards where-ever she had been off to.

____________________________________

Chapter Three:

Unfortunate

Part Five:

Distaste Revealed

“What are we going to do? Our daughter’s little unicorn friend is in the hospital!” Bonbon’s mother almost shouted in an angry tone as she stared at her husband. “If she heals there’s no telling what could happen to us!”

“Calm down dear, there isn’t much else we can do…” Her husband replied trotting over to their bedroom’s closet door and swiftly opening it.

Bonbon’s mother gazed inside then grinned maliciously. “Dear, have I told you how much I love you?”

***

There was a knock at the front door. Bonbon’s mother galloped from deep within the confines of the house to answer the door. Her usually up-kept mane lay in disorganized strands about her head as well as in her face; some strands that lie about her head were dyed black and clashed with the usual colors of her mane.

She opened the door to find the same to young mares that had visited earlier, though now they stood against a sunset bathed background rather than the mid-day one from several hours previous.

“What can I do for you girls?” she asked in her now casual faux motherly tone.

Octavia nodded her head then reached into one of her saddle bags and pulled out a box of chocolates. “Could you give these to Bonbon as a get-well gift?” she asked while holding out the box in her front two hooves (barely managing to balance on her hind ones).

“Oh… uh, sure.” Bonbon’s mother replied while she took the box of candy from Octavia.

“Thanks. I hope she starts to feel better soon,” she said before signaling her companion Vinyl and taking their leave.

Bonbon’s mother watched them as they trotted away off to where-ever their destination lied. She slowly retreated inside of her home. Once inside she made her way to the bathroom (after placing the box of candy on the kitchen table). She peered into the mirror before her, the sight that embraced her vision was that of her own self yet it wasn’t her; beneath her half dyed matted hair her cyan, pupil constricted, eyes were full of pure hatred and malevolent intentions.

***

Emotionally spent; Bonbon had been within the confines of her room for the length of the day. She had remained awake throughout the previous night in an emotional spike that drove her to destroy every hint of order within her room. The place had been wrecked by her own hooves. After her emotional tirade had subsided, she found herself passed out in the center of it all.

When she came too, Celestia’s sun was setting to make way for Luna’s night. She gazed out the window and sighed before turning to the mess that she had made. Slowly she started to rearrange everything, collecting all of the unbroken items and returning them to their original positions and places. Her room began to look noticeably cleaner when she heard her mother’s voice call out to her from the front of the house.

“Bonbon! Your father and I are going out! Dinner is on the table as well as a gift that your friends brought for you!” her voice was followed by the sound of the front door slamming.

Slowly, Bonbon made her way out of her bedroom and down the hall into the kitchen where she found a daffodil and berry sandwich as well as what appeared to be a box of chocolates waiting for her at the table. Calmly she took the seat nearest to her food. Gingerly, she took a bite of the sandwich; she chewed and swallowed what was in her mouth before proceeding to spontaneously toss the sandwich across the room as well as the chair the she had previously been sitting on. After her sudden out of character outburst she angrily ripped a scarf off of the coat rack and stomped her way out of the house before slamming the door shut behind her.

***

It took about fifteen minutes for her to reach her destination, Canterlot General Hospital. She trotted calmly through the double doors of the visitor center but almost got thrown over by two ponies that were clad in black and making a hasty exit. She turned and watched as they slipped into the darkness of the now night shrouded city.

“That was strange…” she remarked with a quizzical look in the direction that the two disappeared. Shaking it from her mind she trotted up to the help desk in high hopes that visiting hours were not yet over. “Excuse me miss?” she asked the mare who was managing the desk.

“Yes ma’am?” The nurse replied in a kind tone as she turned to face Bonbon.

“Are visiting hours still open?” Bonbon asked in curiosity and hopefulness as she stared anxiously at the clock.

“Actually they are; however, there’s only about twenty minutes left until they’re closed so you will have to make it quick.” The nurse replied neutrally as she trotted over to a filing cabinet. “Who do you intend on visiting?” she asked.

“Her name is Lyra Heartstrings…” Bonbon faltered slightly.

“Heartstrings, Heartstrings…” The nurse muttered as she checked each file individually. “Ah, here we go; Heartstrings, Lyra. It says here that she is in room 111, second floor. Hmm… she’s had quite a few visits today. I’m glad to hear that there are ponies who care for her,” she smiled as Bonbon took her leave.

***

It took a couple of minutes to find the room, yet Bonbon managed to navigate the many hallways of the hospital. As soon as she had approached the door she drew in a deep breath then proceeded to open the door.

The vision that swam across her sight shocked her. There she was, Lyra, except all of the machines that had been connected to her were either unplugged or disconnected from her. She was bleeding profusely; the ruby-red liquid pouring from her mouth and leaking out of fresh wounds that littered her body.

Bonbon’s eyes grew wide, she couldn’t believe the sight that befell her eyes; yet, it was there, as plain as day itself. What happened next was brought about by her subconscious. A shrill, mortified, shriek pierced the serene atmosphere of the hospital followed by the loud thud of Bonbon’s unconscious body making contact with the tile flooring.

_________________________________________________________________

End Chapter Three

I do not own the rights to either Hasbro or My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

Thanks to all of the readers who patiently waited for this update ^w^

Chapter 4: A Choice

Comatose

By: Vennyr assisted by: Flippord

__________________________________

Chapter Four:

A Choice

Part One:

Return Home

A shrill scream pierced the air. A few doctors and a pair of nurses began to rush in the direction of the noise. In their haste they came upon the room of which the sound had emitted; the group made their way into the patient’s room. What they found inside was a violent and horrible scene as well as an unconscious pony lying on the floor with a mortified expression embroidered upon her face.

The doctors immediately began to check the vital signs of the newly injured patient. As hastily as they dared, they rushed her out of the room and into the deeper confines of Canterlot General. The two nurses stayed behind and carried the unconscious mare to another hospital room.

***

Bonbon’s eyes shot open quickly. They were wide and wild as she scanned her surroundings to find that she was in another hospital room, except she was the one lying in the bed. She was hooked up to an IV drip stand. It was dark, she gazed over at an alarm clock that was on a desk next to her; it was midnight. She whimpered loudly as she tried to remember what had happened. When it finally came to her, she screamed.

“Lyra!”

The door to the hallway creaked open and a nurse pony walked in with a distressed look on her face. “Oh you’re awake! What’s the matter dear?” She asked kindly towards Bonbon.

“L-Lyra… i-is..sh-” Bonbon stuttered as tears began to fill her eyes.

The nurse pony gave her a mildly saddened look as she shook her head. “I’ll be surprised if she lives passed tonight…” she sighed. “Do you have any idea of what happened to her?”

Bonbon shook her head. “I-I was just c-coming to visit h-her, and then…” she began to cry.

The nurse nodded. “I understand, dear… You are free to leave whenever you would like to. Do you need any help getting home?” She said in an understanding and soft way.

Trembling slightly, Bonbon shook her head and began to get out of the bed. She trotted slowly out of the room, with the nurse following closely behind. The nurse followed her until she had gotten to the waiting room. She saw her off and went back into the confines of the hospital while Bonbon made her way out of the hospital and into the streets of Canterlot. Still mortified; she walked the streets at a very slow pace, tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried not to make any noise that would alert somepony of her presence.

***

She made it home in seemingly less time than her trip to the hospital despite her slow pace. Trotting up to the front door of her home she sighed softly and tried to gain some composure. Surely by now her parents have noticed that she was gone. Swiftly and quietly she opened the door and slipped inside.

She walked through the living room to find her mother sitting on a solitary chair that was placed in the center. Bonbon muttered incoherently before walking past her mother.

“What did you say?” her mother asked glaring slightly at her daughter. Bonbon stopped and turned back to look at her. “What’s wrong dear?” she asked in surprised and motherly tone.

A solitary tear slipped over Bonbon’s eyelid and over her cheek as she lowers her head. She opened her mouth in order to reply, only to be cut off by her mother.

“You went to see that friend of yours didn’t you!?” her mother spontaneously snapped.

Bonbon’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden lash of anger, she opened her mouth to say something but merely began to whimper before her mother grunted angrily, and sent her up to her room. She galloped at full speed towards her room where she slammed the door behind her and began to sob into her hooves as she slumped down with her back against the door.

______________________________________

Chapter Four:

Part Two:

Trauma

*[Earlier]*

I sat quietly in my room. The sun was setting, that meant that I would be able to talk with Phoebe and Hurricane soon. However, that is not what my mind was fixed upon. Ever since I had pushed the vase off of the desk and gotten the attention of Octavia; I had been attempting to plan out some event of which I could induce that could grasp my family’s attention so that I could inform them about the current situation. Unfortunately, however, I was unable to come up with one due to the fault of distraction. Phoebe and Hurricane made their way into my room, breaking my concentration.

“What are you thinking about?” Hurricane asked with curiosity as he entered the room.

“Just… things…” I replied with distance in my voice as I turned toward them. The two of them gave me a simultaneous quizzical look.

“What kind of things?” Phoebe asked in her adult voice as she took a curious step towards me.

I sighed before replying, “I was thinking of a way that I could alert my parents… you know… so that they would know what was going on…” Phoebe sighed and looked at me in a way that made me feel as if I were a foal.

She motioned for me to follow her, so I did. While the two of us left my room, Hurricane stayed behind for some reason that was unbeknown to me. The two of us walked for a little while before ending up in a section of hallway with a large window that over looked the twilight-lit streets of Canterlot.

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked. I didn’t understand why she couldn’t just talk to me in my room, if that was even what she was going to do.

“Don’t inform your parents…” Phoebe said in a cold monotone.

I gave her a questioning look, as well as taking a step backwards before asking. “Wh-why not?”

“Because even if they understood what was going on; there’s nothing that they can do. That alone could cause them to become hopeless and irrational; I don’t know your parents but… I-I do know what could happen…” her monotone had faded and become saddened.

“Wh-why did you bring me here to tell me this, why not just in my room?” I asked in a mixture of curiosity and disappointment.

“B-because… after I died… I tried the same thing… I didn’t know that I had died. I was scared… and afterward…my mother…” Phoebe’s voice began to falter; she looked at the floor for a moment before continuing. “She jumped out this window… she broke it first… there wasn’t anything that anypony could do to stop her…”

“Wh-why did she-” I stopped abruptly. My chest had all of a sudden burst with unbearable pain. ‘What’s going on!?’ I thought, I was wondering what I could have done that would have caused it before another wave hit me. This time I crumpled to the ground, I could hear Phoebe’s voice, it was distant and muffled, I couldn’t understand her. I was struck by another onslaught of pain before finally blacking out.

___________________________________

Chapter Four:

A Choice

Part Three:

Evening Tragedy

Cerulean-cure and her husband, Model-sire sat emotionless as well as silently in their kitchen on opposite ends on the table. Neither of their dinners had been touched, their appetites were the furthest thing from their minds. It had been two days since their daughter was admitted to the hospital and pronounced to be in a coma. They both stared at their dinners in a completely uninterested manner when there was an unexpected knock at their front door.

Slowly, Model-sire got to his hooves and made his way to the door. His eyes widened in surprise as he opened the door; there, standing before him was a member of the town guard. He was dressed similar to the Princess’ own Royal Guards only with far less spectacular armor and no helmet.

“May I come in?” he asked in a calm and pleasant tone, this surprised Model-sire even further; even still however, he motioned for the guardsman to enter while opening the door wider than it was previously.

“What’s the matter officer?” He asked, his voice was almost completely devoid of emotion, save for an under-laying hind of sadness.

“Is your wife at home, ‘Sire?” The officer asked in a more serious tone. “If so, could you please call her in her? She’ll need to hear this as well…” his tone had drifted to being more of a regretful one. Surprised yet again by this out of the ordinary question; he nodded and called his wife into the living room.

Cerulean-cure made her way into the living room of her home to find her husband sitting on a couch talking with a peacekeeper. “Wh-what’s going on?” she questioned the two upon entering the scene; her voice was tired and sad.

The guardspony turned toward her, he wore an apologetic look upon his face as he motioned for her to join her husband on the couch. “Mr. and Mrs. Heartstrings, I regret to inform you that your daughter has been placed into intensive care,” he began. “Earlier in the evening somepony made their way into her room and assaulted her in a similar manner to how she was when you two first brought her to Canterlot General,” his voice was both apologetic and stern.

“Wha-” Cerulean’s voice faltered and went silent as she sunk to her haunches as disbelief embroidered itself upon her face.

“Didn’t the security cameras catch anypony?” Model-sire asked; his voice shaky.

“I’m afraid not… the only thing they were able to catch was a pair of black blurs before the cameras were broken,” the guardspony finished before excusing himself from their home.

Model-sire stared at the door for several minutes after the peacemaker had left. His eyes were distant and his face pale. He looked over at his wife; who had sunk onto the floor and began to sob.

___________________________________

Chapter Four:

A Choice

Part Four:

Intensive Care

My eyes opened to find both Phoebe and Hurricane looking down upon me. The two of them were sporting worrisome looks. My eyes were slightly blurred but clear enough that I could make them out, however my head was spinning. I was barely able to get to my hooves in order to look them over. Their stares had become even more worried. “Wh-what?” I asked through my state of confusion.

The two exchanged glances with each other before Phoebe finally spoke up. “You fell to the ground while we were talking a couple of hours ago…” her voice was gentle and concerned. “Do you have any idea what happened?” her words didn’t reach me. I stared helplessly at the two of them as if they were speaking in a foreign tongue. They simultaneously glanced at one another before once again training their attention upon me.

“Can you hear me?” Hurricane questioned while moving his left fore-hoof in a side to side motion, this motion blurred across my vision.

A small groaning noise escaped my muzzle in reply; their stares had seemed to intensify afterward. I heard Hurricane say something else but, as before, I couldn’t make out the words. “Wh-what’s going on?” I groaned while stumbling over to the two of them.

“You fell and went unconscious. Neither of us has seen anything like it. Do you have any idea of what happened?” Phoebe asked me in her adult voice as she took a cautious step forward.

“I-I can b-barely… understand you” I breathed heavily. Never in my life had it been so hard to utter a sentence that was so simple. My words seemed to have caused them to worry even more; even if my head had been clear at the time I doubt that I would ever understand their reasons.

“Are you okay?” Phoebe asked; her voice was soft with a hint of concern yet again.

“I- don’t know…” My voice trailed off. My head was beginning to clear slightly; I remembered large waves of pain overcoming my body. My eyes widened in fear. “Where’s my Body?!” I yelled clearly; abolishing my previous impediment.

The two were startled by my sudden outburst; each of them took a step back, in different directions; most likely to escape whatever madness that I intended to cause. I looked at them helplessly and pleadingly as if to ask for their help. It appeared as if Hurricane was going to answer my question. However, he never got the chance for I had bolted in the direction of my hospital room before he could say anything; or at least before my ears could register what was said.

***

I had reached my room in under a minute; only to find a member of the town guard talking with one of the doctors that worked on this floor. I paid no attention to them as I walked in expecting to find my body lying helplessly in my bed. Unfortunately all I had come across was an empty, blood-stained, bed and several disconnected and unplugged machines; the very machines that had been connected to me. Frantically I bolted out the door, but before I had gotten too far I heard the doctor pony tell the gaurdspony that;

“She’s in intensive care.”

It didn’t make much sense to me, but curiosity ended up taking dominance over my mind. I sat on my haunches next to the two ponies and eavesdropped on their conversation. I mean what point would there be being invisible, un-hear able, and intangible if you couldn’t at least listen in on somepony’s conversation.

The two were talking about me. Apparently I had been assaulted while somepony was visiting me. When I had gained this information, my mind had instantly gone to those two ponies that had put me in this situation to begin with. After the assault I- my body had been taken to intensive care, where it will remain until I’m in a stable condition.

My ears perked up when I had heard that it was a young mare that had alerted the hospital staff to the situation by screaming loudly. My eyes grew wide for the only pony that I could think of at that very moment was Bonbon. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought about her since I had ended up in this situation. I kicked myself because I knew that she must have been worried sick when she heard the news. I left the two colts in a rush. I had to make it to my body; if there was any chance that I could still be alive I would take it.

***

I reached my destination in a matter of minutes. In fact it wasn’t too far from my original room; despite being on the other side of the hospital, it was on the same floor. I reached the doors and swiftly made my way through them. When I had gotten inside I saw my body connected to several more machines than what it had been previous.

My body was covered in bandages; the only recognizable features being my body shape and a small cut out where my closed eyes could be seen. On top of that I was also connected to multiple monitors; each of which read some kind of results, of which I had no comprehension of. Several more tubes (each connected to a separate apparatus of some kind) were sticking out of my body in the bends of all my legs.

I stared at the broken pony before me in a similar manner to when I had originally come in contact with my injured body. Except this time there was hardly any resemblance (at least in look) to the two images. I stared for a few moments before slowly making my way towards it. I hadn’t got within four hooves of the bed before collapsing to the ground.

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Chapter Four:

A Choice

Intermission One

Bonbon was curled into the fetal position in the center of her room. Tears were streaming down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably. Her world had almost literally come crashing down around her ears. “I-it’s my f-fault… I-I shouldn’t h-have g-gone…” she blubbered to no pony in particular.

For several hours she laid there; whimpering and sobbing. Her emotional state had severely dropped to the point of depression within the past three days. Not only were her parents acting out of the ordinary; but the love of her life had slipped into a coma or possibly even died. “Why did it have to be her? Wh-why n-not me?” she sobbed bringing her legs ever closer to her body.

A few minutes had past; she had calmed down to the point of silence. Her tears had dried, for there was nothing left. She laid there in the same position for a few moments longer before slowly getting to her hooves. The tears had stained her cheeks. Dark circles had formed underneath her eyes from lack of rest. Ever so slowly, she made her way to a writing desk near her bed. She already had a piece of parchment and a quill in a ready-to-use set up.

She took the quill in her mouth and began to jot down several words upon the parchment. She sat at her haunches scribbling away word after word. It did not take long for her to finish the task that before her. She folded the parchment horizontally and set it back on the desk before lying in her bed. A single tear slipped over her cheek before sleep found her.

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Chapter Four:

A Choice

Part Five:

The Black Room

I awoke in a room absent of light save for a small pin prick of white that appeared to be an enormous distance away. I couldn’t tell what it was and my curiosity was driving me to find out; however I stood still, abiding a nagging voice in the back of my head that warned me to stay. Suddenly however, the light began to approach me at a rapid pace. I shut my eyes tightly as the light reached a blinding intensity.

When I opened them again I was once again in that dark room, except I wasn’t alone. There was a shining mare (who was much taller than I) standing before me. She appeared to be staring at me; I couldn’t gaze at her visage for very long without blinding myself temporarily.

“Lyra Heartsrings,” a loud voice bellowed as she looked down upon me. Her mouth hadn’t moved; it was as if she was speaking directly through my mind. “We stand before thee because thy hath either died, or nearly experienced death…”

Tears began to form in the corners of my eyes as this information had began to sink in. “Wh-who are you?” I stammered looking up into where I assumed her eyes were.

The light that encompassed the mare began to dim, revealing a tall, magenta eyed alicorn mare with a white coat and a flowing pastel-rainbow mane. I did a double take, standing before me was none other than the regent of the sun Princess Celestia. “Princess,” I said while bowing before her.

She simply waved off the formality of my greeting. “No need for such greetings, Lyra,” she spoke softly.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” I hesitated, afraid of insulting the princess.

“I’ve already told you,” she informed me in a soothing voice. “However, if you wish to know why it is I that is here to guide you through your predicament; it is because I am the one who guides ponies after their time on this earth has past. A ‘Grim Reaper’ of sorts,” she explained to me.

“I’ve always thought that you’d be the one who created life…” I thought aloud; soon after realizing what I had said I covered my mouth with my front two hooves.

The princes simply sighed and took in a deep breath. “When I was born I had ended up inheriting the ability to converse with the dead along with the representation of the objects of which I symbolize. However, death cannot exist without life and following suite, my sister, Luna was born. She had inherited the ability to create life as well as the representation of the moon and stars,” as she told me this her voice was empty and monotonous.

I contemplated her words for several silent moments. As I did so I grew angry towards the white alicorn that stood before me. She raised an eyebrow in curiosity towards my facial expression. I exploded, my words coming without thought. “So it’s your fault that Phoebe can’t pass on to the next life!”

As soon as the words exited my muzzle I found myself wishing that I could grab them from mid air and return them to my mouth because of the now hardened expression embroidered on the Princess’ face. “Do not put fault on us for the laws of the universe and of all things! We are but a messenger and guide for the dead; we cannot brake it!” her voice was loud, angry, and overlaid by a separate archaic and unnatural voice. Her eyes had changed from magenta to a searing red; her mane and tail into bright white-hot wisps of flame.

Fear penetrated my body like an iron rod being driven through my chest. I did everything possible to make myself smaller and less noticeable to the divine being before me. I laid in the fetal position shaking uncontrollably. My eyes were shut tightly; the brightness had died down, but I didn’t dare open them to view the horror before me.

“Oh dear… I am sorry my little pony. I didn’t mean to let myself loose like that…” I heard a soft voice come from above me. I opened my eyes and looked up at the Princess, her visage had returned to that of her normal self.

I had gotten to my hooves then sat, with the Princess next to me. The two of us sat in the dark seemingly endless void that I had come to be used to. We sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, though it could have been even longer within this timeless space of existence. “So… what happens now? Wh-what will happen to Bonbon if… if I die?” I broke the silence; my voice hollow and sad.

“Well… you’re not quite dead yet. There’s a chance that you can survive and awake from your coma. The only way though is that you’ll have to find out who did this to you, and stop them however you can… But, don’t sleep. Every time that you become ‘unconscious’, your body is that much closer to death…” she left me with these words of advice before standing and disappearing from the void.

***

The next thing that I knew I was lying at the foot of my body’s bed. I stood to see that it had not been moved ‘not that it could have moved’ my thought accompanied by an annoyed grunt escaping my muzzle. I returned to the hallway to find both Phoebe and Hurricane waiting patiently at the door.

“What’s the matter?” Phoebe questioned smiling up at me; her innocent eyes connecting with mine. The two of us were locked in each other’s gaze; her expression had become more serious as this took place. “Is something wrong?” her adult tone again… even now I still don’t understand the little filly standing before me.

“Um… no… I’m just… thinking; that’s all…” I broke her gaze and began to sluggishly walk in a separate direction. My mind was a mess of questions that pertained to exactly how I would be able to stop my assailants if I can’t touch them… ‘Hell, I don’t even know who they are’ I had become annoyed with myself. I cursed a few times to myself as I tried to remember the voices of the two ponies and who exactly those voices belonged to. At this point however, all I could remember was that the voices were all too familiar.

***

I had spent the rest of the night trying to remember those voices; but to no avail. The sun had come up; I had lost the ability to contact the only two ponies that could interact with me knowingly. A few hours past dawn I had given up on trying to access my unconscious memory and began to aimlessly roam the seemingly endless hallways of Canterlot General Hospital.

Several more hours past; I guessed it to be somewhere around midday. I peered outside to find it to be the typical beautiful day in Canterlot. After a few moments of staring at the wonderful scenery outside, I had decided that a walk might clear my head and help me think.

I stepped outside the large double doors that lead to the hospital’s waiting room. It was sunny out, not a cloud in the sky. Being stuck in a hospital for the past three days and four nights had made me come to appreciate the beauty of the outside world; more so than before. Though I couldn’t feel it, I had guessed it to be the perfect temperature outside; not too hot nor too cold. My expression had become content as I set off on my walk.

Everypony that I came across had smiles embroidered brightly across their faces. I had become mildly envious of their happy content lives; none of them had to deal with the situation that now had me in its clutches. However, I tried to shake the feeling because if anything, it would only hinder the entire purpose of this walk.

Several minutes passed by and I had ended up at the “Two Sisters” park in Canterlot; which had been built soon after the return of Princess Luna. I trotted through the wooden arch entrance and headed two a tall pine tree that, soon after the park was built, had become a favorite spot for the picnics that Bonbon and I would frequently endeavor upon. When I came upon that particular spot however, it was occupied by Octavia and a miss Vinyl Scratch. I drew ever closer to them to find that they were having a picnic of their own. They were talking, at first I couldn’t understand what it was about but then they mentioned her.

“Bonbon must be really sick; she hasn’t come out of her house for days…” Octavia remarked.

Vinyl Scratch simply made a confirming grunt-like noise in reply as she chewed on a bite of sandwich. “Her mother has been acting out-of-whack lately as well…” she commented after swallowing. I had partially tuned out their conversation after gaining the knowledge of Bonbon’s physical condition. Without thinking I bolted off in the direction of her house; worried for her.

***

Somehow I remember Bonbon’s house being closer to the park than it was, because as I rushed in that direction, the minutes felt like hours. Time almost ceased to exist at its slow rate of passing; however, it didn’t take much actual time for me to reach her front door. I stepped onto her front porch and took in deep breath. Slowly and quietly I entered the home, closing the door behind me, even though I did know that I couldn’t be seen, I still felt like I shouldn’t utter a sound.

I wandered through the house; I wasn’t extremely familiar with the layout of her house because Bonbon usually met me at mine. I had only been inside of her house once before. I found myself in her kitchen; her mother busy at work cooking their family’s meal for the evening. I don’t know what, but something had possessed me to watch her intently; not on what she was doing, but on her.

Shaking my head from my stupor I proceeded down the hall to where I believed Bonbon’s room to be. I peeked in the door way to find her lying on her bed. That’s when I heard it, she was sobbing into her pillow. My heart sank as I entered her room; it was a cluttered mess; crumpled papers, articles of clothing, pillows, and a smashed alarm-clock were but a few things that were scattered.

“Bonbon…” I whispered and choked simultaneously as a few tears began to slip over my cheeks. I tried to embrace her but, that damned polar force wouldn’t allow it and simply pushed me back as soon as I had gotten within six inches of her. I started to carefully climb into the bed next to her when a sudden noise threw me off guard.

“Bonbon! It’s dinner time!” the voice of her mother called out to her. My eyes grew wide as the memory of its familiarity filled me;

“You see, we all make mistakes. We’re here to fix yours…”

I threw myself off of the bed and slammed against the wall as the words swam through my brain. The voices… they… they were the same. I began to hyperventilate; I tried to make sense of it, tried to convince myself that it wasn’t them… but her voice was unmistakable. Through my hysteria I barely noticed that Bonbon had gotten off of the bed and sat at her writing desk. My hyperventilation had begun to catch up to me; I fainted, though I don’t know if I could actually faint.

___________________________________________________________

Chapter Four:

A Choice

Intermission Two

Bonbon moaned in depression and irritation as her mother called out for her to join the rest of the family for dinner. Suddenly however, she jumped to her hooves out of surprise as a spontaneous and loud thud of a noise sounded against one of the walls. She looked over in the direction of the noise, but found nothing out of the ordinary.

Slowly she made her way over to her writing desk at which she sat and began to scribble down words at mildly slow pace as a depressed expression made its way upon her face. She was only able to write a few more moments before her mother called out to her once again. Frustrated, she tore up the parchment and scattered its remains by tossing them into the air before making her way out of the door and down the hall to join her family.

__________________________________________________

Chapter Four:

A Choice

Part Six:

The Note

When I came to the room was dark, I could hear Bonbon’s breathing as she lay unconscious in her bed. I got to my hooves and walked over to her. “Bonbon…” I whispered to myself as if she could hear me. I turned away from her and began to trot towards the exit of her room when I noticed a folded piece of parchment with the words ‘Final Apology’ scrawled across the top, lying on her desk. Despite the possible invasion of privacy I levitated it to my eye level, opened it and began to read;

My beloved friends;

I don’t even know why I’m writing this... However, by the time anypony finds this I will have left this world by my own will. These past few days have been very difficult; I know that sounds like a severely small reason to commit such an act… but it’s much worse than what I can truly explain.

Lyra, my only reason to keep living has most likely died by now… And worse yet, my parents won’t allow me to visit or even find out if she’s still alive… I talked to a nurse last night after breaking my parent’s rules while they went out… she said… she said that she’d be surprised if Lyra lived through the night.

–Tear stains caused the ink to run and the words to be unreadable for the rest of the paragraph-

I have to do it… if it’s the only way that I’ll see her again. I hope that my friends can forgive me… Bonbon;

April 4th, 1003 CM

Tears filled my eyes as I read the note. I let the it fall from the grasp of my magic. It floated gently to the ground and slid under the desk. Quickly I grasped the quill on her desk with my magic. I hesitated; the ink slowly dripped off its tip and onto the parchment.

A sudden cold feeling ran razorblades down my spine as the voices of her parents filled my ears from outside of her room. The words were muffled and incomprehensible. At first I didn’t think much of it but then the voices began to speak in more intense tones. I dropped the quill and swiftly galloped over to the door and pressed my ear against its wooden body, however as I did so I heard their door shut and their voices fade away.

Slowly and silently I opened the door, the hinges creaked slightly causing me to jump. You would think that by now I would be used to the fact that I couldn’t be seen, I guess not. I creaked open the door a bit more and squeezed my way through. After that task had been completed I pressed my ear against the wooden body of the door to what I assumed to be Bonbon’s Parent’s room.

As soon as my head was settled against the door I heard Bonbon’s father ask;

“So how are we going to do it?”

The room was quiet for a moment, save for the sound of shuffling. Without warning her mother’s voice could be heard;

“I work at Canterlot General; I’ll sneak into the ICU and inject her with a lethal dosage of sedative.”

“What about her mother? Isn’t she your co-worker?”

“She works in the Maternity Ward, a different section of the hospital. No pony will notice a thing…” A sinister laughter filled the acoustics of the room. I Jumped away from the door as quickly as I could when her laughter had started. I was in shock. Unable to process what I had just heard; without thinking I dashed for the front door.

As soon as I made my way outside, I absent mindedly galloped in the direction of the hospital. I hadn’t gotten more than thirty hooves from her house before tripping over my own two hooves. I hit the ground and everything went black.

____________________________________________

Chapter Four:

A Choice

Part Seven:

Between Rope and Friends

Bonbon awoke the next morning at around noon; groggily she made her way from her room into the bathroom. There she prepared for her day as if it were any other. She bathed and groomed herself before stepping out into the halfway. From there she trotted into the kitchen to prepare her first meal for the day; she had a simple bowl of cereal before placing the bowl in the sink and heading back to her room.

As soon as Bonbon entered her bedroom her pace slowed to a sluggish shuffle. At that pace she, made her way to her closet. She fumbled around inside the closet for a few moments before pulling out a rope. It was about three hooves long with a malicious loop a tied at the end. She stared at it for a few moments before sighing loudly as she began to fasten it to a hook in the ceiling.

Without warning, the doorbell rang. Partially startled, Bonbon quickly untied the noose from the ceiling and tossed it back into the closet. Quickly she trotted down the hall and into the front room of her house. She opened the door to reveal her friends Octavia and Vinyl Scratch waiting for her.

“Hello, Bonbon,” Octavia greeted with a smile. “Are you feeling well?”

With a semi confused look she nodded. “What are you girls doing here?”

“We were-”

“-We thought that you’d like to join us for lunch today.” Vinyl interrupted Octavia; earning herself an angry glare from her companion. Bonbon smiled and nodded before stepping outside to join them.

***

The three of them had ended up at a small diner just a few blocks away from Two Sisters Park. Bonbon sat a table outside the diner; she examined the shaft of a large parasol that shadowed the table from the sun’s heat. She smiled slightly, staring it in reminiscence of fond memories of dates as well as the casual day where she would come to this particular diner and have a simple meal be it alone or with Lyra. The word burned itself into her brain. Tears rolled down her cheeks, then she began to sob quietly to herself so that no pony else noticed her.

“Here’s your sandwich, Bonbon.” Vinyl said, setting a plate down in front of her. She and Octavia had been waiting inside the diner to pick up their order.

“What’s wrong?” Octavia questioned setting a gentle hoof on Bonbon’s shoulders.

“I-it’s nothing… Just… a memory… that’s all… sorry girls…” Bonbon replied, her voice was quiet and tired.

***

About a half an hour later the trio separated to go about their own personal agendas. It was mid afternoon by the time Bonbon had made it back to her house. She entered her home silently and unnoticed, her parents were not home. Quickly she rushed up to her room; swiftly and smoothly she entered closing and locking the door behind her.

Drawing in a deep breath she slumped against her bedroom door. She sat there for a few moments before sighing and getting to her hooves. She walked over to and stared at a small CD player that resided on her writing desk. She hesitated for a moment, and then pressed the ‘play’ button.

She slowly walked into the center of the room dragging a small stool with her. Gazing upwards, she saw a small hook that protruded from the ceiling. When her family first moved to this house, she had been perplexed by the purpose of it. She still didn’t know. However this day she would give the small thing a purpose that most definitely was never the intent of such a thing.

Trotting over to the closet, she once again grabbed the hang-mare’s noose from inside. Trotting back to the center of the room, she tied the ghastly thing to the hook. She stood upon the stool and slipped the rope’s loop around her neck. Gazing down at the ground, a tear running down her cheek, Bonbon took a deep breath, and kicked the stool from underneath her.

___________________________________________

Chapter Four:

A Choice

Part Eight:

My Choice

*[Earlier]*

I opened my eyes to find that the world was black. Beside me was a tall white equine figure, it was the princess. She gave me a grave and worrisome look. I only looked back in confusion.

“Your time is running out…” she whispered as soon as I had opened my mouth to speak. “… If you don’t find your assailants soon, you will die…”

I took a step back in surprise at her statement. “B-but, what about Bonbon?” I asked looking into her eyes. “She’s planning to kill herself!” I sobbed looking up at her.

The Princess merely sighed and looked down at me as if she knew this beforehand. “She’s doing it because of her love for you; her time is short as well. I wouldn’t be able to-“

“But you’re The Princess! You could stop her somehow!” I cut her off in mid sentence.

She simply lifted her hoof to silence me. “I can merely give you a choice and nothing more… You can save yourself from your imminent death, or your love, Bonbon, from dying at her own hooves… however, in doing so you will surely die yourself. The time-frame to decide is much too short to dwell on, lest both of you die. As well, the time-frame will not allow both of you to survive, for time is much too short to attempt such a feat, even with outside help. Make your choice wisely, Lyra Heartstrings…” And with that, the blackness of the world swirled away.

***

I awoke dazed and confused on the sidewalk at what might have been midmorning to the sound of familiar voices. The sound of two familiar and muffled voices moved past me. Of course, it was Octavia and Vinyl Scratch. I found it strange how often I had been seeing them lately, I mean really; now that I’m practically dead I see these two more often? How does that even work? I’ve never really gotten to know Vinyl outside of simply meeting her, and then there’s Octavia, normally the two of us never got along, most of the time we would be competitively in one another’s faces….

The two were walking in the direction opposite to which I had been running last night; they were walking towards Bonbon’s house. I watched them; my ears had flattened backwards to the sides of my head with a mixture of frustration and uncertainty. Frustration at the same detail of my predicament that had hindered my ability to communicate with other ponies, and uncertainty at the choice that lay before me… I could never live without Bonbon, the only pony that I had ever loved aside from family… But… I didn’t want to die, nor did I want to make Bonbon herself hurt in any way… I sat in the grass; watching the two for a few moments before absent mindedly getting up to follow them.

It really wasn’t that much of a walk. As I had said before, I hadn’t gotten too far from her house before blacking out. I stood behind them as they knocked on Bonbon’s front door. I began to sweat profusely… can projections like me even sweat? I didn’t care… the only thing that mattered to me was the hope that Bonbon had not carried out what her note had warned.

Anxiety filled me as seconds droned onto minutes. I was just about to burst through the door out of worry when Bonbon herself emerged from the confines of her home. A breath of relief left me as I saw her face. She looked confused at a remark that Octavia had made regarding her health. The three of them made a quick conversation, and before I knew it I was following them to some place that they were going to have lunch.

***

I followed them for several minutes before we came upon a small little diner. At first, I thought nothing of it, then it hit me… tears formed in the corners of my eyes. This was the very same diner that I would take Bonbon out to on several of our past dates. I shook the tears from my eyes in order to catch up to Bonbon and the others (who had gained a surprising distance away from me in the short moment I stood in stupor).

For about half an hour I sat on the ground a few yards away from Bonbon and the other two. I couldn’t bring myself to be near the three of them. The feeling being nothing more than heartache at Bonbon’s decision… I had hoped that being with the other two would cheer her enough that she wouldn’t go through with it, but… her mood did not seem to improve past what appeared to be forced smiles and laughs.

Finally after an eternity of wallowing in my own self-pity; I had noticed that the three had separated, and Bonbon had begun to make her way back to her home. I watched Vinyl and Octavia for a moment. When I had turned from them I found that Bonbon was several yards ahead of me; I galloped towards her in order to keep her in my sight. I tried to keep my mind off of what I thought she might do while at her house as I continued to follow her.

***

Several minutes of silent walking later, the two of us had finally made it back to her house. The distance was not really all that great, however the two of us were moving at a very slow pace. The moment we had reached the general vicinity of her home she galloped for the front door, opening and closing it quicker than I could react. I galloped up to the door and opened it; she hadn’t locked it, thank Celestia.

Once I was inside I caught a glimpse of her tail zipping down the hall towards her room. I followed in pursuit but was stopped short by another door slammed in my face. I attempted to open the door… but… she had locked it this time. I stared at the simple wooden board that abruptly denied my access to Bonbon’s room. Without warning a haunting melody began to fill my ears. It was the sound of strings being gently amplified through a hollow wooden body accompanied by the distinct sound of a cello undermining the melody.

My eyes grew wide as I began to bang violently on the door. For several moments I banged uselessly on the door; the music was too loud. After realizing this I furiously attempted to open the door via the doorknob. I had just about given up, fearing that it was too late when I remembered my horn; I could still use magic. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the lock feeling around with my magic in an attempt to unlock the door. Suddenly there was a faint clicking noise.

I jumped with joy as the confirming noise sounded. My mouth hung agape in shock as I opened the door to reveal Bonbon standing upon a stool with a rope tied around her neck. The melody playing on the stereo made the scene more surreal and unbelievable. I screamed as I watched her kick the stool out from under herself.

__________________________________________

Chapter Four:

A Choice

Part Nine:

Interference

Bonbon fell to the ground; the wind had been knocked out of her. The noose hung loosely off of her neck as she sat on the floor. She frantically gazed around the room, expecting somepony to jump out and grab her for one reason or another. She turned around and faced the door to find that it was wide open, however the doorway was completely vacant. Her face became white and she dashed for the opening, only to have it shut in her face by an unseen entity.

Confused and frantic she attempted to open the door to find a force, similar to the weight of a pony of similar size to herself leaning against the door, that denied her any chance of opening the door. She was becoming more confused as opposed to frantic towards the situation as she turned around.

There, on the wall facing her were the words:

“Bonbon! Please! Stop This!”

She stared at the words, of which appeared to be written in marker. Her mouth hung open in shock and confusion; still unsure as to the situation. Tears began to find their way trickling down her cheeks as she began to mutter incoherently to herself.

_______________________________________________

Chapter Four:

A Choice

Part Ten:

My Decision

I sat slumped against the door; fighting back the tears that had began to accumulate in the corners of my eye. I looked over at the marker that was lying on the floor in front of the wall and enveloped it in my magic once again. I brought it up and began to write.

“Bonbon… I need you to stay here… with your family… and our friends… They’ll need you…”

“Wh-who are you?” I heard the confused and frightened voice from the side of me. It felt both comforting and saddening to hear her voice.

“It’s me… Lyra… I’m sorry that this had to happen, Bonbon…”

“B-but, I-I saw you… You were m-murdered in your bed… h-how can you… I… Can you really be here?” she spoke softly and sadly, her voice faltering as her words turned into soft sobs.

“I’m here… and I need you to stay here as well… Bonbon, please.”

“I-I don’t w-want to live without you, Lyra… I… I can’t…” she began to bawl.

“I wouldn’t be able to pass on knowing that you wouldn’t be able to live your life… I’ve made my choice, Bonbon… I chose you… I want you to live on… with or without me… I... I’m sorry Bonbon… But I have to do this… it’s time for me to say goodbye…”

***

The walk to the hospital was long… My heart ached, but I wouldn’t be able to bear the thought of Bonbon dying… even if she were to join me I still couldn’t the idea of her not being able to live a full life… even if it meant that I couldn’t live it alongside her.

I walked in through the front doors of Canterlot General Hospital; as usual, no pony noticed me. I didn’t care too much, if at all… I had lost all concern for anything within the past half hour. The only thing that I cared for now was safe… that’s all that mattered. I walked up the stairs to the second floor.

I looked out the window to find that the sun was setting. Suddenly a sharp pain struck my heart and chest causing me to collapse to the ground. The pain was horrible, but ended quickly. I felt cold… the only sensation I could feel was an empty cold. My eyes widened and I began to race down the hall towards the room where my body was kept.

I arrived to find the heart monitor that was connected to me giving of a steady single tone. I looked down and let a tear slip over my eye as I gazed at my, now lifeless, body lying in that bed… “It almost looks peaceful…” I snickered a bit but it was still half hearted.

***

The cold sensation had become stronger, but just barely bearable. Staring out the window I had failed to notice the presence of a small filly standing behind me.

“You’re dead…” Phoebe said flatly as she stared at me in disbelief.

I turned and looked back at her with a few tears in the corner of my eyes. “I-I know… but it’s okay…” I said; my voice was soft and sad, conveying the very emotion that filled my body.

“What are you going to do now?” she looked up at me with a quizzical look in her eyes.

“I’m… I’m going to pass on if I can… I wouldn’t be able to take existing in such a way that I couldn’t be seen or heard by any of my loved ones…” I said softly.

As soon as I had uttered the words the world twisted away into that black expanse of existence except instead of just myself; I found that Phoebe and Hurricane were there with me. I found myself wondering when Hurricane had gotten there. That however was the least of my concerns for, as if on cue, The Princess arrived. This caused the three of us to bow in her presence.

“Lyra…” she spoke softly. “I know that you know why I’m here… Have you made your decision?”

“I have…” I said almost flatly, while taking a gentle step towards her. “I don’t want to exist in a form that cannot be seen or spoken to… so I ask that I may pass onto wherever it is that we go after death…”

She gave me a look that I couldn’t distinguish the origin; it wasn’t sad nor was it happy either… “Very well… Is this your final request?”

“No… it isn’t…” Hurricane and Phoebe looked shocked at my reply, but I dismissed them and stepped towards The Princess to whisper into her ears.

When I had pulled away she gave me a small smile before asking gently “Are you ready?”

I nodded and witnessed a flash from her horn. I looked down at my body and watched it as it shimmered and became transparent; the cold sensation being replaced with a warm and cozy one. My body was disappearing, even from my own vision. I then turned my attention away from myself and towards the others.

“Thank you guys… If you two hadn’t of found me… I wouldn’t know what to do. I would have lost my mind… Even though I didn’t know you for very long I’m glad that we go the chance to meet… goodb-”

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Epilogue

I walked down the dark streets of a sleeping Canterlot. I hadn’t uttered a sound for the last few hours... Even when my parents returned home from their jobs, I had remained silent. I didn’t know my destination… I was just merely walking.

I found myself treading on grass. I simply sighed and continued staring at the ground the whole way. It wasn’t until I had walked into a tree that I had gotten a good look at my surroundings. I was in the Two Sisters Park… the tree I had bumped into was the very one that my lover and I had spent several moments together underneath its branches. I began to sit down when suddenly I felt something underneath me.

There, lying in the grass at the base of the tree was a yellow ‘u’ shaped wooden instrument with a note attached. Tears of joy escaped my eyes as I smiled down at the objects. I looked up into the starry night sky and whispered under my breath;

“Thank you… Lyra…”

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THE END

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I do not own the rights to neither My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic nor Hasbro Inc.

Thank you to all the patient readers who waited for this last update, and I apologize in advance if this story made no sense at all, or offended in any way.