Chapters Two mares in the underworld
A simple night of relaxation
Like any other evening in Ponyville, the townsponies were having a wonderful day under their rulers sun. Well, most of them were happy. A single gray mare walked down the street with her head hung low, her cello case strapped to her back. As she walked towards her house, she could already hear the music that was constantly played by her marefriend, the DJ simply known as Vinyl Scratch. As she opened her front door, she found Vinyl doing what she normally does on a Friday night, drinking a beer while reading up on her favorite artists on the couch.
Vinyl lifted her gaze from the magazine to see her marefriend taking off her cello case. She cocked an eyebrow at her sad marefriend, worry finding its way into her magenta eyes.
"Something wrong, Tavi. You look a little.....sad." Octavia just opened her cello case as her answer, bits and pieces of splintered wood and strings sprawling onto the floor. "What the hell happened to your cello? It looks like a Hydra decided to use it as a tooth pick."
Octavia sat down on the couch and face planted into the nearest pillow, sobbing a little at the lost of her instrument.
"Why don't ya tell me what happened, it might help." Vinyl suggested, caringly looking at Octavia.
Octavia lifted her head from the slightly wet pillow, sniffling a bit. "A-alright, I'll tell you. It all started in Canterlot at my latest private concert........"
As the curtains opened to reveal a small room filled with the elites of Canterlot, Octavia stood at the ready with her cello. Everything was going according to her schedule, Now all she had to do was play her music. Light stomping signaled it was time, and Octavia played her music like it was water. Every note wafted in the air like a gentle breeze, but it felt as though even the wildest of beasts could be tamed by the cellists music. When she finally stopped playing, she was met with the applause of her audience.
When the curtains closed, Octavia was approached by the stallion that had asked her to play in the first place, Fancy Pants.
"Well Ms. Philharmonica, that was a lovely performance." Fancy pants said as they walked over to the other nobles.
"Why thank you Fancy Pants. It's always a pleasure to play at one of your get-togethers." Octavia replied, grinning the entire time.
Octavia was soon introduced to the other nobles, and as luck would have it royalty. "Ms. Philharmonica, I would like to introduce you to Prince Blueblood." Octavia bowed respectively, and tried to start up a conversation with him.
"So Prince Blueblood, how is the royal family been doing." she asked.
"Oh, it couldn't be any worse, what with all the new ridiculous laws and bills my Aunt has to pass." Blueblood said annoyingly.
"And what bills would that be?" Octavia asked more out of curiosity than interest.
"Pshh. Just some grants to help build up some 'new genre of music'. It's just so annoying." Blueblood said with the followed agreement of the other nobles.
Octavia and Fancy Pants just looked at each other before looking at Blueblood. "This new genre, wouldn't happen to be, I don't know, called dubstep?" Octavia sheepishly asked.
"Dubstep? Ha, an unrefined name for an unrefined excuse for music." Blueblood laughed like he had heard a good joke. "It doesn't amaze me that the peasants created it. They'll make anything for their own disgusting amusement."
"I really don't see any problem with it." Octavia said, causing the nobles to gasp. "What?"
" You don't see a problem with it? It's a problem by itself. Ugh, and not to mention its 'DJs' are one of the most pitiful excuses for musicians. They're just repulsive."Blueblood said with utter disgust.
"Hey! Just because it's 'new' doesn't mean it's bad. One of the best ponies I know is a DJ." she defensively said, causing even more gasps from the nobles.
"Ms. Philharmonica! It sounds like you approve of these degenerates. Next thing you'll know, you'll start approving of Fillyfoolers of all things." Blueblood furiously said, feeling his anger towards Octavias defending of what he deems 'undesirable'.
"And what's so wrong with fillyfoolers?" By now, Octavia had started grinding her teeth, spitting the words at him. Each passing moment making her angrier at the supposed 'Prince'.
"How can't you see it? Everything is wrong with them. If it were up to me, I-" Blueblood was immediately knocked to the ground by Octavia, blood dripping from his nose from octavias punch. "Guards!" He said, though it was muffled since he was holding his snout with his hooves.
Immediately, two guards appeared on both sides of Octavia, one holding her forelegs together while the other held her cello. They waited for Bluebloods orders as he got some tissue for his bloody nose.
"I order you to 'escort' this hooligan out of here. and be as rough as possible." Blueblood angrily said.
The two guards did as they were ordered, and the next thing Octavia knows, she's thrown out into the street, into a puddle no less, in the middle of the night. Before she saw the light coming from the door diminish, her precious cello is thrown out without its case, causing it to shatter against the cobblestone street. Once the door closed, Octavia groaned in in anguish at what they had done to her. Right when she was about to get up, a hoof presented itself to her. She accepted it, and saw that its owner was nopony other than Fancy Pants.
"I'm terribly sorry about that, Ms. Philharmonica. The others can get like this half the time. Personally, I always love new things, so I really don't care if my peers deem it 'undesirable'." Fancy Pants apoligizingly said.
"You shouldn't apologize for them. I'm the one that should apologize. I should've kept my mouth shut." Octavia said sadly.
"You shouldn't be the one to apologize. Blueblood is too spoiled to be royalty." He called for a nearby cab as he helped Octavia put the remaining pieces of her cello back in its case. "I'm sorry about your cello. I could have it replaced for you."
"Thank you for the offer, but that cello can't be replaced. It was carved from one of the very first trees that my family had planted." Octavia held her head low, her mood growing more depressed with each passing moment.
"I'm terribly sorry, Ms. Philharmonica. You'll get more than enough payment for your losses."
Octavia didn't respond, she just got into the cab, and drove to her hotel.
"After I got to the hotel, I went to bed, woke up the next morning, and had a couple drinks before coming back here." Octavia sniffled a little as a small smile appeared on her face. "I think telling you that actually did help. I feel a lot better now."
"I told you it would." Vinyl nuzzled Octavia a little before taking another drink from her beer. "My old man taught me that sharing a bad memory helps make it feel a little better." Vinyl then pulled Octavia in while she waved a hoof in front of them. "And besides, when you were thrown out, ya shoulda' yelled 'Fine, I don't need your fancy get-togethers. I'm gonna have my own fancy get-togethers, with black-jack and hookers!' You know what ?" Vinyl let go of Octavia and stood on her hind legs on the couch. "Forget fancy get-togethers!" As Vinyl said that, she fell backwards because of her loss of balance, causing her to take a filled vase down with her. The end result was a DJ with a wet mane and a giggling cellist.
"Wow, I thought I'd never see the day when you take a bath."Octavia said through filly-like giggles.
"Oh ha ha, Tavi." Vinyl got back up on her hooves as she dried her mane with magic. She waited until Octavias little fit stopped, but got the perfect idea of how to cheer her marefriend up. "Hey Tavi, I got an idea." Vinyl said as she pulled her marefriend by her hoof into the kitchen. "I'm gonna show ya how to turn a bad situation, into a good one."
Vinyl started rummaging around in the cupboards while Octavia watched her with confusion. After about a couple of minutes of searching, Octavia heard an 'aha' before she saw Vinyl pull out what she was looking for.
"Uh, Vinyl? I don't mean to be rude, but what is that?" What Vinyl was currently holding in he magic was a lable less wine bottle that was half full of some sort of clear liquid.
"It's called Slivovitz."
"Slivo-what?"
Vinyl chuckled a little as she brought out two shot glasses and chairs towards the table. " A few years back, I was doing a gig in a country called neighbia. Winters are colder than the moon over there." She shivered a bit at the memory as she uncorked the bottle. "Anyways, after I was done, a couple of my new fans got me a few bottles of this stuff. They said it's a plum brandy that can knock even a manticore on its ass." Vinyl sat down as she poured a small amount of the brandy into each glass, motioning Octavia to sit down.
"Are you serious Vinyl?" Octavia just got a blank stare from the DJ."Vinyl." she sighed. "I don't think drinking with you will help lighten my mood." Octavia sank into the chair, sighing a little sadly.
Vinyl just smiled the same cocky grin she has when she has one of her performances. "Oh, but you've only partied with the mare Vinyl Scratch. You haven't even begun to party with DJ PON3." Vinyl then levitated her shades over her eyes. "What have you got to lose?"
Octavia pondered what Vinyl said before coming to a decision. "Alright, Vinyl. I play your little drinking game." Octavia picked up the shot glass with her mouth and gulped down the slivovitz, feeling nothing at all. But then it decided to hit her like a ton of bricks. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said it was strong." She started to feel a warm tingling in her cheeks as Vinyl drank her own shot and poured more for the both of them. "I think I'm starting to feel better." A big, drunken smile found its way onto Octavias face as her cheeks started turning red.
"Your starting to look better, too. Now lets see how long it takes to finish one of these bottles."
3 hours later
Octavia just looked at Vinyl with a stoic expression, completely oblivious to the card with a picture of a crown on it stuck to her forehead. Vinyl had a card with an orange on her forehead and had a drunken smile spread across her face.
"Am I princshess?" Octavia slurred, completely hammered by the half drunken bottle the two mares had been sharing for about three hours.
"No."
"Jewelry?"
"warmer."
"A crown?"
"Correct!" Vinyl said as she threw up her forelegs, causing her shot glass to fall off the table. "You winsh a prize!" The DJ slurred as her cheeks became a little redder from their already tomato red state.
"Whats the prishe?" Octavia asked.
"More booze!" Exclaimed the DJ, lazily lifting the bottle with her magic. But said bottle only made it half way across the table before gently falling onto it. "Does anypony else see sound right now?" Vinyl said before passing out.
"Oh Vinyl, letsh get you to bed." Octavia tried to pick up Vinyl, and was rewarded with her tripping over the shot glass and falling head first onto the side of the table.......hard. "Ow, I fell light headed all of a sudden." Octavias vision blurred as she stumbled to the floor right next to Vinyl. "Good night, pony." And with that, she closed her eyes and passed out.
Two mares in the underworld
Octavia could feel a cold chill run across her body as she slowly came back into consciousness. But she wasn't met with the floor of her and Vinyls kitchen, instead she found herself lying on the cold floor of a cave. She looked around and saw what appeared to be a small lounge set up in one corner of the cave. A fireplace burned with a welcoming fire, while a comfortable looking sofa sat near the fire. An armchair faced the fireplace, and a cup of warm tea sat atop a small table next to it .
"Good, your finally awake."
Octavia jumped a little at the unknown stallions voice, her eyes darting around the cave until they rested on the armchair. A black aura surrounded the handle of the teacup as it was brought to its owners lips. Octavia wanted to say something, but couldn't out of fear from not knowing where she was.
"Don't be scared. I don't bite."
Another teacup levitated near the sofa, hinting to Octavia to sit. The mare walked cautiously over to the couch and sat down, the smell of the tea wafting into her nostrils. She took the still levitating teacup with her hooves, drinking deeply from it.
"Earl Grey, my favorite." Octavia savored the taste for a moment before looking over at the armchair. The unknown stallion had a black robe on, completely concealing his body and face. A bone white horn protruded from the hood. "Um, I don't want to be rude, but who are you?" Octavia asked.
The stallion chuckled a little before taking off his hood. Octavias pupils had become the size of pinpricks when she saw his face. He had no hair, or skin for that matter. He only had a skull with red dots for pupils in a sea of darkness. He outstretched black wings as he took another sip from his teacup.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Death. But I normally go by Mort." Mort explained casually.
"D-does that mean I'm d-dead?" She stuttered, fearful of the truth.
"Yes, yes you are. But just because your dead, doesn't mean you can just mope around. Why do you think I gave you tea?"
Octavia took another sip of her tea to calm her nerves. The tea helped a little, although now she had more than a few questions.
"I was wondering, how did I die?" The mare asked.
"I'll tell you as soon as your companion gets here." Mort brought a skeletal foreleg with a watch on it up to his face. "She'll be here in about three.......two.......and one."
Immediately after he said one, the familiar snoring of Vinyl Scratch filled the cave. Octavia looked over her shoulder to see the DJ sprawled across the floor, her shades reflecting some of the light coming from the fireplace. She was completely oblivious to the chill Octavia had been awoken by.
"Should I wake her up, or should you?" Mort questioned as he took another sip of his tea.
Octavia set her tea down before getting off the couch and walking over to her marefriend. "Oh, Vinyl, wake up." Octavia said in a sing-song voice. After a few moments without a response, she merely resorted to lightly nudging Vinyl with a hoof. "I said, wake up." Her voice was just loud to be the voice of a stern mother, but Vinyl still didn't wake up. That's when she decided to resort to yelling while kicking Vinyl. "Wake up!" She repeated with every kick, but all she was doing by now was just tiring herself out. When she finally stopped kicking and started panting, a steaming bucket of water floated next to her. "Thank (pant,pant) you." Octavia said through breaths of air.
When she finally stopped panting, Octavia took the bucket with her hooves and dumped its contents right onto Vinyl, getting immediate results from the now screaming mare. She started clutching her face as she felt horrible burning seeping into her skin. "It feels like I'm burning!" She started looking around for a way to stop the burning, and found another bucket, this time with ice inside, levitating towards the distressed mare. Not questioning who decided to help her, she plunged her entire head into the bucket, and then resurfacing with a new found relief.
Lifting up her glasses, Vinyl Scratch was finally able to take in the entire cave, and Mort. She blinked a couple times before shaking her head with her eyes shut, thinking that she was still asleep.After opening her eyes again, she realized that this wasn't a dream.
"Hey Tavi, where are we?"
"Well, you might want to sit down for this."
Vinyl complied and sat down on the sofa and was shortly followed by Octavia.
"Okay, so now will you tell me?" Vinyl asked.
"I don't know how or why Vinyl, but we are no longer of mortal flesh and blood." Vinyl Scratch adopted a confused look as she tilted her head. "It means we're dead, Vinyl." Octavia deadpanned.
"Ohhhh." Vinyl said as she understood what Octavia said. But then she understood what Octavia said. "Ohhhhhh. That's bad."
"I'm sorry, Vinyl." Octavia put a hoof on her marefriends shoulder.
"Well that sucks. Oh well." Vinyl said as she put her forelegs behind her head.
"I know it's hard to accept, but we can- wait what!?" Octavia couldn't believe what she just heard. "How are you accepting this so easily?"
"There's no use crying over spilled milk. Life is life, and death is death. Simple as that. And besides." Vinyl pulled her shades back down. "The afterlife isn't gonna know what hit 'em after DJ PON3 is done with them." The DJ once again had her usual cocky smile spread across her face. "So how did we die, skeleton dude?" She asked as she turned towards Mort.
"I would like it if you called me Death, but prefer Mort. Now on how you both died." Mort reached into his cloak and pulled out a small leather bound journal. He opened it up and started flipping through the pages before stopping on one. "Ah here it is. Scratch, Vinyl. Occupation: Disc Jockey. Hometown: Ponyville. Time of death: 4:33 a.m. Cause of death: multiple organ failure due to liver poisoning." Mort looked up to see if Vinyl had any questions. And of course, she raised her hoof like a school filly. "Yes?"
"I've been drinking as long as Berry Punch. Hell, we even shared our first beer. How am I dead before her?" The DJ asked with a hint of annoyance.
"It's a little thing called not going to your doctor for three years and not noticing the first stages of liver failure.But as for Berry Punch." He facehoofed as he explained. "I don't even understand how she's still alive after drinking so much." Mort sighed "She should be dead ten times over already. I think she either made a deal with a demon or she just has a golden liver of the gods." Mort regained himself before flipping through the pages of his journal again. He stopped and turned to Octavia, the mare already sensing that he found her information. "Here's your info. Philharmonica, Octavia. Occupation: Cellist. Time of death: 3:55 a.m. Cause of death:hemorrhaging of the brain." Mort looked up and was once again met with a hoof being raised.
"Would hitting the side of a table be able to cause death?" The cellist asked.
"Normally, no. But if you've been drinking, then yes. The blood would've been thinned out, which means it wouldn't be able to harden to stop the bleeding." At this, Mort could hear an audible smack across the back of the DJs head.
"Ow!The hell was that for?!" Vinyl said as she held the back of her head, glaring daggers at Octavia.
"That was for getting us into this mess!" Octavia yelled, smacking the back of Vinyls head again.
"How did I get us into this mess?!"
"You're the one that said 'What have you got to lose?'. And look at us now, we are dead!!" Octavia was now hyperventilating from all her anger, not having anything to deal it out. Right then and there, a pillow surrounded by a black aura floated next to her, and she immediately started punching it until it was nothing but a deflated piece of wool and cloth. "Thank you, Mort."
"You're welcome. But now, I'm afraid I must take my leave, I've got other souls to deal with you know." Mort got up from his armchair and gave the two mares a reassuring hug. "Both of you will be living in the underworld counterpart of Ponyville. Midnights Moonshine." A bright flash blinded the two mares, causing both of them to cover their eyes. "Look for a building called 'Necromancers delight' and all your needs will be accommodated. Ta ta."
The light disappeared, and along with it, Mort. The two mares had suddenly found themselves in the middle of a street in a very similar, but different, town. The streets were cobblestone while the buildings were a gentle dark blue. A large clocktower showed that the time was 5:30 a.m. A little before sunrise. Both mares just sat for a few moments before Octavia got up and started walking down the street.
"Where are you going, Tavi?" Vinyl asked.
"To where Mort said. Not that you care I'm guessing." Octavia said, anger still obvious in her voice. "are you coming or not?"
"Well, duh." Vinyl go up and went to catch up with her pissed off marefriend.
Two mares in the underworld
Necromancers Delight (part 1)
After a while of walking around the now waking town, Octavia and Vinyl Scratch had finally found what they were looking for. In front of them stood a two story building made out of a dark cherry wood. What looked like a gothic tower jutted out from the back of the building, while the front had a single large window displaying an assortment of books, potions, and a whole assortment of different items. Two large wooden bat wings had the words 'Necromancers Delight' carved across them. The two mares walked to the front door, only to find a closed sign on it.
"I guess we'll have to wait then." Octavia said.
"I don't think so Tavi." Vinyl pointed to the bottom of the closed sign. In very tiny writing, a small message was present. " 'Friends of Mort welcome anytime.' Huh, well I guess this is our lucky day."
Vinyl pushed on the door slightly, and was rewarded with the door swinging open. Apparently they don't lock their doors, go figure. Vinyl thought. As they walked inside, they were met with a torrent of yelling, and supposedly, panic over the stores owners breakfast.
"Put it out!Put it out!"
"I'm trying! It's not my fault cooking hates me!"
"Since when was water able to catch on fire!"
"I don't know. You get the water, I'll get her wings!"
"It feels like I've been banished to the sun! For the stars sake, just put me out!"
"It's kinda hard since the water keeps on combusting!"
"Use the fire extinguisher!"
Psssssh! "It won't die down!"
"Use a blanket! Smother it!" Pssssh! "Waters out!"
After what sounded like a couple swats from some sort of heavy object the yelling finally stopped, and everything seemed to stop with it. From what the two mares could gather, there were two mares and a stallion in the back room, which would probably be part of the residence. Then finally, a unicorn stallion walked out of the back room and behind the front counter. His coat was a deep navy blue that looked nice with his tomcoltish silver mane. His eyes were a comforting purple, while his cutie mark wasn't so comforting. It was the skull of a pony in the middle of a trinity.
"Who are you two?" He asked with a hint of annoyance. He waited for an answer, but only got the incomprehensible stuttering of Vinyl and Octavia. "Well? Spit it out."
"W-w-we were told t-t-to come here by M-M-Mort." Octavia half said, half stuttered.
"You're friends with Mort?" He said in an unbelieving tone.
"Y-yes." Vinyl said, mustering up her courage.
"Well then." He leaned towards the two over the counter. "Why didn't you say so?" He said with a goofy smile. His entire personality seemed to change in a single instant. At first, it was this possibly bitter and angry person, and now it seemed like they met the nicest pony ever. " Follow me you two. We can talk over breakfast." The stallion started walking back to the door he came from before stopping. "Oh yeah. My names Night Shade. What's yours?" Night Shade asked.
"Vinyl."
"Octavia."
""Alright, Vinyl and Octavia, follow me." The two mares followed Night Shade into the kitchen, which is where they found the last thing they were expecting. A pale yellow earth pony was on the back of a black Alicorn, clenching a couple feathers in her mouth. "What are you two doing?"
"Helping Moony here with her feathers." The mare said, although a little muffled. "Alright, On three."
"Just pull them out already." The Alicorn said.
"One.....two.....three." The mare pulled out a clump of feathers, which was followed by the quick but painful scream of the black Alicorn. The mare hopped off her back and went over to one of the cup boards and pulled out some gauze. After wrapping the Alicorns wings, she finally sat down at the table. "Your wings will have new feathers in a couple days hopefully. Sorry about the burning though." The pale yellow mare said apologetically.
"It's alright, Midnight Rose. It's not your fault cooking doesn't like you. But you know what?" The Alicorn lowered herself to the pale yellow mares eye level. "You're the only pony I know that can catch water on fire. And that is one of the reasons why you're so special." The Alicorn said, giving Midnight Rose a comforting smile.
"Ahem." Both mares turned to face the three arriving ponies. "If you to don't mind, would you kindly sit down while I get breakfast?" All the mares sat down. "Thank you. I'll be back in a couple minutes." Night Shade went back into the store and out the front door, leaving an awkward silence with the four mares.
A pale yellow hoof reached across the table in a shy but welcoming gesture. "My name is Midnight Rose, I'm Night Shades wife." Midnight Rose shook both Vinyls and Octavias hooves, allowing them to take a moment to look at the two mares in front of them.
She had a deep red mane that was a little disheveled, but still straight. Her eyes were a rose red, while her cutie mark appeared to be a black rose from the few glimpses Vinyl and Octavia saw of it. She gave the two mares a friendly smile, revealing a pair of bat-like fangs. Both mares started shifting nervously in their chairs, which Midnight Rose took notice of.
"Oh, sorry! I tend to forget about my fangs." She closed her lips, a little red tinting her cheeks. "I'm a vampire you know. I won't bite you, so you don't need to worry. Especially here." The two mares stopped shifting and had relaxed, a little. "So, What are your names?" Midnight asked.
"Vinyl."
"Octavia."
"Fine names for fine mares." The Alicorn said. Both Octavia and Vinyl Scratch had noticed the disturbing similarities to Nightmare Moon. In fact, she looked like she was an exact copy of Nightmare Moon, except without any armor.
"Um, excuse me?" Octavia asked the black Alicorn.
"Yes?"
"I don't mean to be rude, but you look a lot like...."
"Nightmare Moon?"
"Well, I don't want to be rude, like I said, but yes." Octavia confessed.
"Well I should since I am. But don't worry, I won't harm you." Nightmare Moon eyed the two mares for a moment. "Now, how did you to die?" she asked.
"Well, Nightmare Moon...." Octavia started before being stopped by a black hoof.
"Please, just call me Moony." All my friends do." Moony said with a smile.
"Well, Moony. It all started during my recent solo recital......"
Ten minutes later
"And that's about it." Octavia finished.
"Sorry about your cello. It must have been worth a lot." Midnight said.
"Good thing I never took over Equestria, or I would have to deal with that filth." Moony said in disgust. "The nerve of some ponies."
"I know, right?" Vinyl said. "I would've kicked his flank if I were there, but Tavi already did." Vinyl put her forelegs behind her head as she started to relax. "So, how did you two get here?"
Midnight was the first to tell her story. "I got here because of an angry, and very prejudice might I add, village burned me to death along with Night Shade about seven hundred years ago. He found me barely living from not drinking blood out in the nearby woods. He let me drink from him and taught me a little necromancy and magic. It comes naturally when you're a vampire. After a while, we started becoming close." Midnight sighed happily, nostalgia taking root. "Those were some of the happiest moments of my mortal life. We even had a foal." Her once happy smile turned into a sad frown. "Unfortunately, the nearby village saw us as demons, and had decided to drag us into town and burn us for supposed 'crimes against society'. I burned when the sun came up, and Night Shade was burned at the stake. But our foal did make it." Her smile returned with a vengeance. "Night Shade had made some friends with a few villagers, so they took care of him. They even told him about us. He learned a little necromancy, and since then, a little bit of Night Shades lost craft is still helping people in a way." Midnight sighed a little as nostalgia took root again. "When we arrived at Morts greeting cave, we quickly became friends with him. He even pulled some strings with the king of the underworld and arranged a wedding for us since our marriage was never 'official'. We've been here ever since. Happy endings always happen to good ponies, I guess."
"Hope those villagers got what was coming to them though." Vinyl said.
"Oh they did."
"That's good." Vinyl turned to Moony. "So, Moony. How are you dead? Aren't you a part of Luna?"
"Yes and no." Moony replied. "After the elements of Harmony cured Luna of me, I had gained enough magic to form my own soul. At first, when I arrived, I was nothing but malice. But Night Shade and Midnight showed me compassion. And ever since, I've been a humble and more relaxed soul." Moony looked past Vinyl and Octavia to see that Night Shade had arrived. "It appears that our breakfast is hear."
All the mares turned around to see Night shade carrying multiple bags of what smelled like toast, eggs, and sandwiches with him. But what Vinyl and Octavia didn't expect was a red Alicorn filly following him. When the filly noticed the two mares staring at her, she rushed over to Moony and hid behind her.
"I'm sorry, my new friends. But my sister can be a little shy around new ponies." Moony said.
"Sister?" The two mares said in unison.
"Allow me to explain. Days after my banishment, Celestia separated her anger from herself and destroyed it. The result was Solar Flare, Celestias 'Nightmare Moon'. When I came here, I found her terrorizing a local village. After a little help from my friends, I was able to stop her. I was the first to show her love, and ever since then, she had turned into a filly. I've been her big sister ever since. We even run our own cafe'." Moony leaned down to Solar Flare and nuzzled the filly. "Now tell me, why are you here and not watching the shop." she asked.
"I was getting a little worried. After Night Shade came in, I closed the cafe'. I-I'm sorry." Solar Flare said, tears starting to form in her eyes.
Moony pulled Solar Flare into a hug like a consoling mother. "Sshhh. It's alright, nothing happened to me." She took notice of her wings. "Well nothing big. Tell you what, after you introduce yourself to our new friends and we finish breakfast, we can spend the day at the park." Moony said.
"Okay." Solar Flare sniffled. She walked up to Vinyl and Octavia and introduced herself. "H-hi, I'm Solar Flare."
"Sup kid. I'm Vinyl Scratch."
"I'm Octavia. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Vinyl and Octavia were able to get a good look at the filly. She had red coat and sun cutie mark, her mane had two colors. The border was the color of a firey yellow, and the inside was the same red her coat was. The non existent breeze that flowed through her mane made it look like she had flames for hair. Her eyes were dragon like slits with lavender irises, while the whites were lightly tinted lavender.
"Now that everypony is done talking about 'how we got here' stories, can we finally eat?" Night Shade said, already setting out all the places for the food and plates. When everything was set, the six ponies sat down and started eating breakfast.
Two mares in the underworld
Necromancers Delight (part 2)
As they sat there eating, Solar Flare couldn't help but stare at the two mares sitting across from her. Both of them seemed so odd to her, one had an electric blue mane while the other looked like she belonged in the capitol city. Solar Flare pushed her eggs around her plate before setting her fork down and looking at the two mares.
"U-um excuse me Vinyl?" Solar Flare asked.
"Yeah Flare?" Vinyl asked.
Solar Flare was taken aback by the nickname, but continued despite her shyness. "I was just wondering, but why does your hair look so funny?" She asked, but a black wing draped itself over her back before she could get an answer, knowing that a scolding was about to commence.
"Now Solar Flare, remember what I told you about asking ponies questions like that." Mooney said condescendingly.
"Sorry Vinyl." Solar Flare said, lowering her head as she did. "I've just never seen anypony with a mane like yours."
"Really kid? If that's the case, then it's alright. At least you didn't ask 'what's a record' or something like that." Vinyl said before putting a forkful of eggs into her mouth.
Solar Flare then picked her head up with a confused expression. "What's a record?" She said with innocence in her voice.
When Vinyl heard this, she gasped and brought half of her fork and food down her throat, causing her to need some assistance before she passed out. Octavia had the same reaction, minus the fork and food. After taking a couple seconds to compose herself, Octavia looked at the choking DJ for a few seconds before slamming her hoof into the middle of Vinyls back, causing Vinyl to spit her fork onto her plate. She smacked her lips together for a few seconds before lightly coughing.
"Thanks Tavi for the help, but for some reason I taste blood now." Vinyl smacked her gums a little bit more before turning her attention to Solar Flare. " Now to what started this, but excuse me for the volume Flare, but HOW DO NOT KNOW WHAT A RECORD IS!" Vinyl shouted, almost blowing a hole into everyponies eardrum.
"I-I've never seen one. I'm pretty sure that there isn't even a record store in town." Flare started to sniffle a bit. "I-I'm sorry."
Vinyl felt sympathetic towards the filly, and a little guilty at her sniffling. "Don't cry kid. That just means Aunty Vinyl gets to show you what she does." Vinyl said as she pulled her phone out of her mane, which confused Octavia.
"How did you do that Vinyl?" Octavia asked.
"Pinkie Pie taught me how to store stuff in my mane." Vinyl stated matter-of-factly. "In fact, I've got an extra pair of speakers in here that attach to my phone." She pulled out a small pair of speakers that could easily hook up to her phone.
Octavia knew what was coming next from having to listen to Vinyls 'wubs' every day. "Oh look at the time, the store is open. Might as well look at the merchandise before the morning crowd comes through the door." Octavia picked up her plate and proceeded into the store front. "I'll just uh, browse for a bit." and with that, Octavia got as far away from the kitchen inside the store as possible.
When Vinyl hooked up her speakers to her phone, she looked for the first song she knew would make an impression, and started playing it.
After the song ended, most of the contents of the table had been blown onto the floor by the initial sound wave from the DJs custom made speakers. Those that had normal manes had them blown back while the two Alicorns looked a little bewildered.
"That......was........AWESOME!!" Flare exclaimed as she jumped out of her seat.
"That, my young Flare, is dubstep. But there's more than that on records. I've got some more music on this thing if you want to listen while we clean up." Vinyl started levitating all the plates, including Octavias, towards the sink.
Each of the adults started doing a different task. Midnight cleaned the table, Night Shade and Mooney cleaned the floor, and Vinyl did the dishes. Flare made sure to stick close to her new friend and learn as much as possible about this 'dubstep'. All the while, Octavia started looking around the library of the shop to see if anything caught her interest. After scanning the shelves for a bit, she found a very peculiar book that looked like it could shed a little light on the underworld. The binding read 'A guide to the underworld for the newly deceased'. Octavia picked out the book and flipped to the section called 'how everything works'.
The way the Underworld works
For those that are new to the underworld, they and possibly you are wondering how the sun, moon, and stars are visible in the underworld. This is actually a simple explanation really. The four horses of the apocalypse are known to cause Death, War, Famine, and Pestilence on the mortal plane, but in the underworld their roles are completely different.
Death: Deaths responsibilities include the rotation of the sun, moon, and stars here in the underworld. He tells souls how they died and where they can start out. He also controls the passage of time and reincarnation. All you have to do is either wait a few hundred years or you can have him or one of his disciples reverse your age.
War: Wars responsibilities are the safety of the souls of the underworld and the punishment of those that harm others. He is the head of the royal guard in the capitol city Tartarus. He's also been known to be a horticulturist and pascifist when he's not on duty.
Famine: Famines responsibilities are the well being of crops and food distribution to the entire underworld. He uses his locusts to eat invasive insect species that could potentially destroy entire farms.
Pestilence: Pestilences responsibilities are the health of the town and cities as well as finding cures for plant, insect, animal, and pony diseases and illnesses. He is normally the personal doctor of King Minos daughter.
"What'ya reading?"
Octavia jumped at the unexpected voice, nearly bumping into the bookshelves. She looked for the owner of the unknown voice, but all she could hear was Solar Flare asking Vinyl more questions about music. Octavia thought that she was just hearing things until she looked up.
A white pegasus was lightly hovering above her, the pegasi's mane was a frazzled and blonde mess. She had lavender eyes and three balloons as a cutie mark. Octavia was a bit shocked at the similarities of a certain pink pony she knew, but blurted out her name without even thinking of asking the pegasus her name.
"P-Pinkie Pie?"
"That's not my name, silly!" The mare giggled. "MynameisSurprisebutyouprobablythoughtIwasPinkiePieforanumberofreasons. ButIamrelatedtoPinkiePiethough,she'smygreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatGREATGrandaughter!Ihaveacouplesiblinigslikeherbutnotmuch,sosheisoneofmyfavorites. Hey,doyoulikeparties?Ilikemphmmphmph." A navy blue hoof covered the mares mouth as she continued to talk,which allowed Octavia to process what the mare had just said.
"Sorry about that, Octavia. Surprise can be a little energetic. All the time." Night Shade said. "She helps at the cafe', but loves making friends." He then looked at the still talking mare. "Surprise, how many times do I have to tell you not to bother my customers."
"Mph mm mph mm mph! Mm mmph m mmm mph m mmph mmm mph mph mmm mph mph!" (I had a sore throat! That means a friend of Morts come into town!) Surprise muffled.
"I guess that's okay then. But please talk normally when we're around other ponies. I'm one of the few that can understand you when you talk fast, remember?"
"Mmm hmm!"
"Good, now Octavia, I want to show you a couple of things you'll need to know. Follow me." Night Shade gestured Octavia to follow him as he took his hoof off the now silent Surprises mouth.
Author's Note
Hi there my both new and old fans! I promised a chapter about a week ago, and here it is. I hope you like it. And here's a question, if any of you want to see a fic that delves a bit into Night Shades and Midnights life, just say something. (If you guys and gals want to read one like that.) So stay tuned for more Vinyl and Octavia in the underworld. Oh and I introduced the original Pinkie Pie, Surprise! My god, what have I done?
Two mares in the underworld
Necromancers Delight (part 3)
Octavia followed Night Shade through the kitchen and into the living room. It had a similar layout to Morts cave, but had a coffee table between the armchair and sofa, and a television on the mantle. Midnight Rose, Vinyl, and Mooney were sitting on the sofa while Flare was on her sisters back. Night Shade sat down on the armchair while Surprise condensed a cloud from thin air. Octavia squeezed her way in between Midnight and Vinyl, a little snug but not too uncomfortable. After a few teacups levitated to everypony (except Surprise, who pulled a milkshake out of her mane), Night Shade started talking.
"First things first Vinyl and Octavia, you should see the aftermath of you two dyeing." Night Shade flicked his horn and the television flickered to life, showing a large mass of ponies in front of Vinyl and Octavias house.
"At about 9:30 this morning, the bodies of Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Philharmonica were found in their home. The paramedics have not revealed the times of death or how they died. But from what little information I have gathered, the two mares were drinking away their sorrows due to a small incident that had happened at a small get-together Sir Fancy Pants was conducting. This has been confirmed by the party guests and Prince Blueblood, which the Prince had requested that both bodies be sent out of the country for unspecified reasons. This was denied unanimously by Princess Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and the elements of harmony. And finally on a sad and closing note, this reporter can say that Equestria has not only lost two wonderful ponies, but sparks in the musical world have gone out, and the community is weeping for their loss."
A couple of ponies raised their hooves to the sky as they turned away from two covered gurneys being pulled out of the house. One had a styalized mouse mask on, one had a tombstone with headphones for a cutie mark, and another had his mane combed to one side with it being a little spikey.
"DJ PON3 parties forever now!" They exclaimed.
The screen flickered back into lifelessness as two saddlebags floated over to the cellist and DJ. Both of them opened the saddlebags and found a small assortment of different goods. The same book that Octavia had been reading was in both bags as well as a map, a few hundred bits, some sort of spike-like pendant, and small note inside.
"All that you'll need to start out is in those bags. Normally you wouldn't get the pendant, but since you two are friends of Mort, you got them." Night Shade pulled out a pendant that everyone else had. The pendants glowed different colors, each one similar to each ponies coat. "These are a special design that only the horses of the apocalypse and the royal family can give or have." Night Shades pendant turned an inky black, and the next thing that happened astonished Vinyl and Octavia. A black crow appeared out of Night Shades shadow, small black wisps coming off of it every few seconds. It landed like a feather on his shoulder, cooing softly as Night Shade nuzzled the crow. "This is Shadow, my familiar. He's technically a piece of my soul, but still has a mind of his own. Each familiar is a reflection of its owner, but there are certain requirements. Midnight, would you mind taking over?" He asked.
"Certainly not, my love." Midnight said as her pendant glowed a deep red. Two black bat wings poked out of her mane, causing Vinyl and Octavia to assume that her familiar was a bat. But what came out wasn't what they expected. A small red bunny hopped onto Midnights back, scratching its ear with its front paw. It clearly looked like it was half bat along with being a bunny, it even had small fangs.
"Aawwwww." Vinyl picked up the bunny and started hugging it like it was a plushie. "This little guy is just adorable! She looks like she came straight out of an anime!"
"She is cute, isn't she? Her name is Fluffy." Midnight giggled. "Now, each pony has different requirements that they must fulfill before the pendant creates your familiar. For me and Night Shade, our requirements involved our will to pull through the obstacles we faced in life and death." As Midnight talked, Shadow flew over to Fluffy and cooed at her. The bunny responded by wrapping the crow into a hug with her paws.
Vinyl put a hoof to her chest as she made a cringing sound.
"What is it Vinyl?" Octavia asked.
"The adorableness, it's too much!" Vinyl looked like she was having a heart attack. "I don't think I can take it."
Octavia just rolled her eyes as Midnight continued talking."As I was saying, each pony is different with their requirements. You don't even need the pendant after you get your familiar, but it acts like a beacon to where you need to go. Sometimes it creates a small trail for you to follow, like breadcrumbs that lead you to home." Midnight nodded to Surprise as she started sipping her tea.
Surprise understood what Midnight meant, and she slowly floated her cloud to the ground as a lavender and blonde aura surrounded her wings. When she finally reached the ground and walked over to Vinyl and Octavia, a lavender and blonde blob started flying over her head. "Sometimes in order to find your familiar, you need to actually see what happens after you die." The blob finally took shape, revealing a blonde and lavender hummingbird energetically orbiting her head. "When I got hear, I was very sad because I thought of how I left all my friends and family and thought I would never be happy again. But then Mort showed me how much I mattered to the ponies that I held dear, they weren't even sad that I had died. They just thought about all the good times we had." The hummingbird slowly made its way onto Surprises mane and made a small nest for itself. "When I saw how happy my friends and family were because of me, this little guy appeared. He represents how much happiness I brought everypony. It was sooo much that even after I died, they were happy because of the time I spent with them."
After Surprise stopped talking, Vinyl and Octavia looked over to Mooney and Flare, expecting two familiars to pop out at any moment. All that really happened were two mares looking at two alicorns with reddening cheeks.
"Yes, well...." Mooney started. "We don't have familiars yet. From what we've gathered, finding your familiar can happen at any time, or any place."
Vinyl and Octavia then looked at their pendants, then at everypony else. All eyes were on them, waiting for the moment they put on their pendants. Both mares sighed as they put on there pendants, mentally breathing a sigh of relief as they felt everyponies eyes slowly drift off of them. At first they felt nothing, but then they felt a small warmth. Not enough to make wick burn, but a tiny spark of life.
Octavia could feel the spark growing and moving inside the pendant like water, smoothly flowing from one end to the other. As the spark grew into a small flame, Her pendant started to glow an oak brown. She didn't know why, but she felt at ease, a certain calmness flowing over her. The only other time she felt like this was when she showed others the beauty of her cello.
Vinyl Scratch felt the same spark grow in her pendant, but it was completely different. The spark grew into a constantly changing flame moving to a rhythm it could only hear. The flame glowed erratically a tri-color of neon blue, white, and magenta. Vinyl could feel her blood pumping, an adrenaline rush taking hold, and her head slowly bobbing to a non existent beat. She closed her eyes and could faintly hear the chanting of a long dissolved crowd.
"Vinyl,Vinyl,Vinyl,Vinyl,Vinyl,Vinyl,Vinyl,Vinyl,Vinyl!"
"Vinyl !Vinyl !"
Vinyl was snapped out of her nostalgia by Octavia yelling into her ear, nearly blowing a hole into it.
"what was that for?" Vinyl asked.
"You feel asleep and started drooling on my shoulder." Octavia pointed to he moist shoulder. She then looked over to Night Shade. "Sorry about that, Night Shade, as you were saying?"
Night Shade continued talking, but Vinyl really wasn't listening, instead she was looking at a very odd sight. Right in the middle of the table stood a small, lime green flame. Vinyl couldn't explain why, but the flame seemed to call out to her, beckoning her to follow. She reached out to the flame, only for it to move towards the door. Vinyl got up and followed it, oblivious to the confused stares she was getting.
"Vinyl, what are you doing?" Octavia asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going after that flame." Vinyl pointed to a bare spot on the ground as if she was staring at something that wasn't there. She then snapped her head towards the front door. "Come back little guy!" And with that, she dashed out of the living room, through the kitchen, and out the front door.
"Vinyl, wait!" Octavia along with the rest of the living rooms occupants chased after Vinyl, almost losing sight of her when they exited Necromancers Delight. "Where did she go!?" Octavia looked around the busy street for her marefriend.
"Over there!" Surprise yelled, spotting a light and neon blue tail disappearing around a corner. "I'll meet you in a few block, I've got to get something!" And with that, she took off over the houses.
Now with the group down to five, the three ponies and two Alicorns could only see Vinyls tail as she rounded every corner. When they finally reached main street, they saw that Vinyl was heading down the middle. They were all starting to feel the effects of exhaustion take over their bodies, slowing down to catch their breath.
"Why.......are we........ having to............catch our...........breaths. We're.........dead." Octavia said between gasps of air.
"I'll tell you.......later." Night Shade said. "How does............that mare run..........so fast?"
"She's a DJ." Octavia said, finally slowing her breathing to a normal pace. "She gets an adrenaline rush almost every gig she does. And on top of that she used to run track in grade school." Octavia looked down the street at the slowly shrinking DJ. "You would need a miracle to catch up with her on hoof."
"You called?" Surprise exclaimed as she floated down with a very familiar object on two wheels. "Who wants to be a living cannon ball?!" She asked.
Octavia looked at the cannon and walked over to it. "I'll do it. But I better not be blown to bits!" She said. As Surprise helped Octavia into the cannon, Octavia was able to see the differences between This one and Pinkie Pies. For starters, it was made out of wood and had a fuse instead of a button. And it looked like it used a lot of gunpowder.
"Ready?" Surprise asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Octavia replied. She heard the fuse being lit and hoped that this worked.
The next thing she knew, Octavia was shooting towards Vinyl at an incredible speed that made her eyes water. When she was finally a mere inch or to away from Vinyl, fate decided to intervene and put a lamp post in front of Octavia. As Octavia held her head in her hooves, She could see Vinyl trotting towards a large forest as she kept trying to catch whatever she was after. Octavia got up and starting wobbling over to the forest, but was stopped by a couple of hooves holding her back. When she turned to the hooves owners, they belonged to none other than Night Shade and Midnight Rose. (Which had used the same transportation Octavia did.)
"You can't go into the forest!" Night Shade said, panic making its way into his voice.
"Why not?" Octavia asked, still trying to go after Vinyl.
"That place isn't safe during the day, we'll have to come back later." Midnight told Octavia.
Octavia just looked at the forest, a sense of dread filling her. "Vinyl, if I find you, your going to have Hell to pay."
Vinyl kept on chasing after the flame completely oblivious to her environment. The small flame finally stopped, and Vinyl practically tackled it.
"Gotcha!" She held the little flame in her hoof for a few moments before taking in her surroundings. "Where are we?" She asked the tiny flame.
"I don't know, I thought we were playing tag." The flame flickered as it gave its response. It's voice even sounded like a small fillies.
"Whoa, you can talk?" Vinyl asked.
"I guess so." The flame said.
"Well then, I guess we should look for a way out now." Vinyl said as she put the flame on her shoulder. She looked around and saw a large spire in the distance. "I guess that place could have somepony." She started walking towards the castle before stopping again. "I was wondering, what's your name? Cause I don't think calling you 'little guy' is a really good idea."
"Hmmm." The filly sounding flame flickered as she thought. "I don't have a name, I guess."
"Well then, how about I call you....." Vinyl scrunched her nose as she thought of a perfect name. "Flicker!"
"Why Flicker?" The flame asked.
"Because every time you talk you flicker. Do you like it?" Vinyl asked.
"Yeah!" Flicker said. "Off to the tower then?" She asked.
"I guess so."
And with that, Vinyl and Flicker walked towards the distant spire, completely oblivious to the dark violet eyes watching them from the darkness.
Two mares in the underworld
The black forest (part 1)
As Octavia and the rest of her friends made their way back to Necromancers Delight, Octavia decided to ask a few questions about the forest.
"I was wondering, what's so bad about the forest?" Octavia asked.
"What's so bad about it?!" Her friends said in unison.
"Even when I was full of malice, I wouldn't put one hoof into that wretched place." Mooney said with a hint of fear in her voice.
"It's one of the scariest, horrifyingly evil places in the underworld!" Flare said, shaking like a leaf.
"Only the bravest of warriors or the stupidest of fools enters that forest." Midnight added as they entered Necromancers Delight. "I think we've got a book about places like that......." Midnight ran a hoof over the stores bookshelf until she pulled stopped and pulled one out. "ah, here it is." Midnight trotted over to Octavia with the book and gave it to her, Octavia opening it immediately.
The Black Forest and other areas to be cautious of
One of the most dangerous and typically unknown places in the underworld is the appropriately named the Black Forest. Spanning from the northern mountains that border the capital city Tartarus and the outskirts of Midnights Moonshine, it is one of the few places that crosses over into one of the other four planes of existence.
"Four planes of existence?" Octavia asked nopony in particular.
"Yeah, there are four planes of existence. There's the mortal plane, the underworld, Heaven which is the plane of celestial and holy beings, and Hell which is the plane of evil souls and infernal beings." Night Shade said with a dismissive hoof. "Just keep reading."
The Black Forest intersects with both the mortal and infernal plane, creating a sort of mediator for the mortal plane, but this is not the case here in the underworld. The black forest hosts a wide variety of animals, fauna, and other inhabitants, but don't let their appearances fool you, all are dangerous. One of its most dangerous inhabitants is the packs of sinisteeds.
Normally a territorial infernal creature, the sinisteed feeds off of innocent souls by corrupting their very nature, causing the soul to become another sinisteed. Not much is still known about the black Forest, but it is recommended to go around instead of through the Black Forest at any cost.
"I feel like there is a lot this book isn't telling me." Octavia turned towards Midnight and Night Shade. "That's good, right? The sinisteeds are the only bad ones, right?" Panic started finding its way into Octavias voice.
"I wish it were the case." Night Shade said. "The sinisteed is just one of the horrible inhabitants of that damn forest."
"Elemental wolves, trolls, carnivorous plants, undead. The list goes on and on and on." Midnight rolled her eyes. "There's even necromancers, pyromancers, red mages, and a whole assortment of vampires."
"But I thought vampires were good. Your a vampire" Octavia pointed to Midnight. "your a necromancer" she pointed to Night Shade. "and you two are the technically corrupted versions of the princesses." She then pointed to Mooney and Flare. "How are those ponies different from you?"
"They choose to use necromancy to harm others and the vampires won't hesitate to suck you dry." Night Shade said.
"That's another thing, how can we be 'sucked dry' if we're dead!" Octavia sighed. "That doesn't make sense."
Night said sighed heavily as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, you can die here, you just come back after it happens. But if you die by the hooves of the dark arts or if your killed too much, you'll eventually fade into nothing."
"Into nothing!"
"Look, we don't have time for this." Night Shade said as he lightly shook his head. "We're gonna need to start packing. Mooney, do you think we could borrow your crossbow?"
"Certainly."
"Good. Surprise, could you help Midnight get our traveler packs."
"Yeppers!" Surprise said as she picked up Midnight and carried her off.
"Wait a minute!" Octavia yelled, getting everyones attention. "First of all, how did you get a crossbow?" She pointed to Mooney.
"It was a gift from War."
Octavia facehoofed. "Of course it is." She then looked at Night Shade. "And why do we need travelers packs?"
"Our packs have everything you need to traverse places like the Black Forest."
"Found them!" Surprise yelled from the other room.
"Good! How many!"
"Only three!"
"Looks like I'll need to make a couple more." Night Shade turned to Mooney and Flare. " Sorry, looks like only three can go."
"It's all right. I've gotta keep a promise anyway." Mooney nuzzled her little sister as she materialized a crossbow in front of her. "Just take care of this thing, alright."
"Can do." Night Shade yelled to Mooney as she and Flare left. He then turned his attention to Surprise and Midnight as they carried in three saddlebags. "Hey Midnight, you think you can use some of your shadow magic to help us out?"
"Shadow magic?" Octavia looked confused at what Night Shade said. She got her answer when she saw Midnight concentrate, her muscles visibly tensing as if she were casting a spell. What she saw both amazed and confused Octavia even more. Just like Night Shades familiar, black wisps started forming around Midnight, even draping itself over her back as she started to relax. "How did you do that?" Octavia asked.
"Like I said, I'm a vampire. Magic comes naturally to me." Midnight said as she stretched, her joints popping as she did so. "It has been a while since I used my magic though. I should exercise it a lot more."
"Yeah, me too." Night Shade picked up one of the saddlebags and proceeded to open it. "Looks like everything's in here." He said, moving some things around. "Hey I've been looking for this!" Night Shade pulled out a small lighter that was shaped like a guitar. "This thing's been lost for ages."
"Hold it!" Octavia said, finally having enough of not being in the conversation. "First of all, if anyponies going to go get Vinyl, it's going to be me. Second of all, I want an entire explanation on this 'planes of existence' thing. And third, I want to know more about this bloody town!" Octavia panted a little, not out of exhaustion, but out of anger.
"You done?"Night Shade raised a brow as he said it. Octavia nodded. "Good, we leave in about thirty minutes." He floated a saddlebag over to Octavia and Night Shade. "Lets just hope she hasn't come across the forests guardian."
"It has a guardian?"
"Yeah, but nopony knows if it's good or evil. I think evil."
"Why is that?
"Well duh, it's called The Black Forest for a reason. But it's a good thing I found this." Night Shade flicked open the lighter and gently blew on its flame, causing the flame to spew out like water. It even almost singed Octavias eyebrows.
"Is this place ever normal?"
"Define 'normal'."
As Vinyl walked through the dense foliage and trees that had become known as the dark forest, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. At first, she tried to ignore it, but a sense of dread eventually found its way to Vinyl. To calm her self down, Vinyl scrolled through her phones library to find a song to calm her nerves.
"Hey lady, what's that?" Flicker asked with curiosity.
"It's called a phone. It has my entire library of music." Vinyl said, finally finding a suitable song mix she had found not too long ago. "Oh yeah, and please don't call me lady. The name's Vinyl."
"Okay Vinyl." As Flicker said this, she started to slightly grow and shrink in rhythm with the song mix, her color changing from a lime green, to a tri-color of neon blue, white, and magenta.
"Whoa, this is new." Vinyl said as she watched the change unfold.
"What's new?" Flicker asked, before flickering as she thought. "Is it because I'm three colors now?"
"Well, yeah." As Vinyl smiled at the small flame, the sense of dread she felt was slowly dissapating. "I think it's pretty cool."
A few moments of peace is all Vinyl needed for the lingering sense of dread to disappear completely, but the forest wouldn't allow that. A deep, sorrowful moan came from the depths of the forest. This caused Vinyl to slightly shake in fear, her pupils becoming the size of pinpricks. Even Flicker seemed to shrink in fear, her once erratic flame becoming almost a tiny spark.
As Vinyl shakily continued forward, she heard another moan, closer than the previous. By now, Vinyl started looking over her shoulder, her fear starting to take over her rational thinking. But she proceeded forward, although she was at an extremely slower pace than before.
When she finally had walked a couple of feet, she could hear rustling behind her, and then the deep sorrow moan rang through the forest once again in the one place Vinyl didn't want to hear it.
Right behind her.
Author's Note
Hey there readers! I just wanted to say that I appreciate any and all feedback from you people. I also wanted to say that I got the sinisteed from an extremely good fanfic writer a while back when he talked about it in his blog. His name is Chaotic Note, and he's really good, if you want check him out!
Just remember, like,comment and fave!
Two mares in the underworld
The Black Forest (part 2)
The deep, sorrowful moan continued as Vinyl stared at the monster in front of her. It looked like a black stallion, but didn't at the same time. It looked as though its coat was made out of an inky black mist that acted as skin. Small wisps came off of it as its black, soulless eyes stared at her. She could even see some of its bone structure under its "skin".
When it took a step towards Vinyl with another moan, she tried to run in a full sprint, but her body wouldn't respond to her. The monster continued to take step by step towards the frozen mare, its black eyes never straying from Vinyls gaze. When the monster finally stopped its slow saunter, it was a mere inch or two from Vinyl, giving her a stare that could kill.
After a few minutes of the stare down, Vinyl could feel herself becoming weaker as it continued. Unknown to her, she was slowly becoming the sinisteeds snack.
'Get away from it, Vinyl.' said a familiar voice inside Vinyls head.
'Flicker? Is that you?' Vinyl asked, her eyes starting to glaze over as her coat started becoming a darker shade.
'Please! Run away! I don't want you to disappear!' Flicker said, fear evident in her voice.
'I.......can't. I feel so......so far away.' By now, Vinyls coat had almost become a charcoal black and translucent.
Please don't give in! Ughhhh, this thing is making me angry. Just go away. Go away. Go away.....'
Suddenly, a neon blue and white flame engulfed the sinisteed, causing it to break eye contact with Vinyl and let out a cry of pain.
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Flicker by now had entirely engulfed Vinyl in a magenta flame, causing her coat to become a light grey instead of a charcoal black.
Once the fire had turned the sinisteed into a pile of ash, Vinyl slowly regained her senses again, only to hear more of the sorrowful moans.
"VINYL, RUN!" Flicker shouted. And Vinyl couldn't think of anything else to do, but run towards the castle.
After walking for some time, Octavia and her two friends had made a decent pace into the forest before hearing a cry of pain coming from right in front of them. All three made eye contact before dashing deeper into the forest, all the while hearing sorrowful moans coming out of the surrounding forest.
When the three finally came to a halt, they were met with a smoldering pile of ash, along with the sorrowful moans growing louder.
"What is that?" Octavia asked as she approached the pile of ash.
"Sinisteed ash." Night Shade said as he slowly took a defensive position, putting himself between Octavia and the sorrowful moans. "One of the few ways to kill them permanently. Costs quite a bit on the market."
"But if there's ash..." Midnight said, her shadows becoming tendril like as black figures started appearing between the trees. "Then there's the fire brigade."
From what Octavia could see, they were completely surrounded by, from what she could guess, an entire pack of sinisteeds.
"Don't look into their eyes." Warned Night Shade, averting his own gaze. "That's how they feed."
Octavia did as she was told, but noticed that Midnight wasn't doing the same. She also noticed that Midnight had a maniacal smile stretched across her muzzle, accompanied with a mad glint in her eye.
"What are you doing?!" Octavia half whispered, half shouted.
"Like I said, I'm a vampire..." Midnight looked hungrily at the sinisteeds while half of her tendrils turned into wisp-like wings. "And these are just snacks."
Midnight Rose lunged at the nearest sinisteed, taking it down by its throat while Night Shade shot a concussive shot towards three approaching sinisteeds. He then positioned himself in front of Octavia as he pulled out his lighter. And with one quick, deep breath, Night Shade blew a forceful breath. Immediately the sinisteeds were engulfed by the lighters flames, eliciting cries of pain from them all.
After a few minutes of the impromptu bonfire, Night Shade surveyed the area, only to see the remaining sinisteeds disappearing back into the forest.
"Oh thank Celestia, they're gone." Octavia said as she got out of her fear fueled crouch.
"That's not good." Night Shade said, suspicion in his voice.
"W-What do you mean?" Octavia fearfully asked.
"The sinisteed never runs off...." Night Shade said as he pulled out multiple jars, scooping up the sshes with them. "But when they do, it's because of a bigger predator."
As he finished his sentence, a hoarse howl sounded menacingly around them.
"Elemental wolves. Shoulda guessed." He sighed as h walked over to Midnight Rose, who through out the battle and now, had been suckling on the dead sinisteeds neck. "You done?"
With a loud pop and satisfying sigh, Midnight Rose looked dreamily, and somewhat drunkenly, at her husband. "Ready when you are dear."
"Hope you are, because I've got an idea."
"Well, I hope this idea of yours involves dealing with a giant.......flaming.........wolf." Octavia yelled fearfully as she stared into the giant flaming wolfs eyes, which were staring right back at her.
It's eyes had the same glint Midnight had barely a few moments ago, which meant only one thing.
It was hungry.
Author's Note
I know this chapter is comparatively short, but I thought it was good, hope you do too!
