Reveal
I write this now with full knowledge that whoever finds this manuscript will find me quite mad. My fear of being labeled as insane has passed with the knowledge of my oncoming demise. For several long, desolate years, I have heard the accusations and insults toward my dear friend Vinyl. I have had to suffer through questionings and suspicious glares for longer than I care to remember. But that is nothing compared to the sicking knowledge I have carried with me.
Many of the ponies I know are slowly starting to fear and persecute unicorns. The High Council has been in turmoil for nearly a decade, with the House of Unicorns at the center of it. As of late, the members of their race seem to be seized with some sort of madness-madness that was brought to light with the death of my beloved Vinyl. Several horrid murders have occurred over the years, and the perpetrators of all of them have been unicorns. The killer always works alone, and have always died at the scene of their crimes. Many proclaim that this is due to some new hereditary disease.
It is the work of a disease, but they will never find a cure for it. They will never be able to prevent the deaths. For this is the work of one horrid, heartless entity. This parasite infects unicorns, and unicorns alone. But it does not take the minds of several helpless ponies. It only takes one.
Vinyl was the one.
*******
This all began in our first year at Canterlot University. I shan't bore you with the details of my studies, for there were many of them. Vinyl took only one class, and that was a computer course. It was so she could better her already admirable dubstep music. She knew she didn't have to improve much. She was there because I was there.
We had been inseparable since the first day of school. We insisted on attending every class, every camp, and every program together. Wherever she went, I followed, and vise-versa. No one ever addressed us as single parties. It was always "Octavia and Vinyl" or simply "them". Our friendship was an unlikely one, but I could never find anypony better. She was with me when I was diagnosed with cancer, and she stayed with me until I overcame it. When some unworthy suitor had the audacity to break her heart, I was there to dry her tears and put the fear of Celestia in the despicable offender. We attended each others concerts faithfully, and once created a single piece together. We needed no one else. We were everything to each other, and we were content with that.
Of course, we had insisted that we be roommates, and we continued to pester management until they finally gave in. Our first six months were completely, happily normal. Vinyl would go out to one of her parties and come back intoxicated, and I had to make excuses for her every morning after while finding time to scold her. She'd mock me for being "uptight" and would try to force me onto stallions. It was life as normal. Messy, slightly stressful life, but still happy life.
*******
It was the seventh month when our reality was shattered.
I was in our dorm, frantically preparing for a major test that would occur at the end of the week. Vinyl had left for one of her parties. I didn't expect her to be back before four the next morning. One can only imagine my surprise when she came sauntering in through the door at ten, accompanied by another green-furred mare whom I'd never laid eyes on before.
"Tavi, this here's Whimsy. She just got booted out of her pad and needs a place to crash for the night. Think we can take her?"
"Of course." I replied, quickly straightening my bow tie. I have never been one to turn my back on an unfortunate in need, and I wasn't going to start. I gave our guest a welcoming smile, but it quickly faded when I noticed her eyes.
I'm not quite sure how to describe them. They were a radiant emerald, which wasn't out of the ordinary in the slightest. What concerned me was what appeared to be a ring of light purple that I caught only a momentary glance of before it seemingly vanished. I would have shaken it off if it wasn't for something else that I saw, not in her eyes, but with the expression of her eyes.
For a few moments, what I could see could only be called absolute loathing. Her eyes carried with them the burning fire of wrath and distaste, anger and disgust. My heart paused for several moments, frozen by the coldness of those spiteful orbs. Only in my darkest nightmares have I seen eyes like that. I never would've imagined that they would enter my life, forever, as a agonizing memory. I should have said no. I should've throw the poor wretch out and locked the door, with Vinyl trapped inside with me and safety.
But that flash disappeared so quickly, and the hour was so late, that I nervously passed it off as a trick of the mind. The moment had passed, and now all I saw was a grateful young mare who looked completely exhausted.I quickly put on my smile again and dragged an extra cot out of our closet. Vinyl looked it over and nodded in approval before turning back to our guest. "Waddya think, Whimz? This good enough for you?"
"It'll do." Our guest responded. Her voice was so soft it was nearly inaudible, and I had to wonder how Vinyl had heard her over the usual racket of the club. She turned to me with a bright smile. "Thank you for letting me stay, Miss Octavia."
"Think nothing of it." I responeded. Whimsy suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Can I use..you know...?"
I quickly noticed that her eyes were darting over to our restroom. "Go right ahead, we won't mind." I assured her.
The moment she was out of earshot, Vinyl removed her trademark sunglasses, placed them on her nightstand, and flopped over into her bed. "I think you're gonna like her, Tavi. She's real nice." She stated.
I chuckled faintly. "I'm sure I will."
I will never be proven so wrong ever again.
I quickly classified Whimsy as a very anxious mare. She never seemed at ease, and seemed to suffer from constant insomnia. She rarely spoke, and when she did, I couldn't help but notice how her eyes constantly darted backwards, as though she had see something in her peripheral vision and was trying to see it again. She blinked quite often, and there were long pauses between each blink. Her behavior was downright unsettling, and I could never feel comfortable around her.
Originally, she was to stay with us for only two days, but Vinyl seemed to take a liking to the mare. She started skipping her class so she could stay with her. I admit, I was quite nervous at first, but I put aside my unease as days passed. Whimsy showed no real threat, though at times I could swear I could see the purple rings around her eyes and the disturbing hate from before. I never said anything about it to Vinyl. I'm not one to spread rumors, and I still passed those moments off as illusions. Still, I tried not to stay in the same room for long.
I'd often walk into the room, and both of them would be whispering nervously, glancing about as if they were expecting to be caught and punished at any given second. But the moment they caught sight of me, they fell silent. I would inquire about their current activities, and they would both rapidly change the subject. I couldn't help but feel hurt. This was the first time Vinyl intentionally left me out of her plans. Of course, that made me even more suspicious of our new roommate. What if she was dragging my friend into something dangerous? Something illegal?
This continued for several days, until finally I'd had enough. I needed to know what was happening, and I needed to know now.
The dorm above us had a rather loose floorboard, one that lead directly to the thin layer of drywall beneath it. I was often kept awake by the ponies that used to occupy the room. They never did anything distinctly disruptive, but the space between us and them was so little, on quiet nights I could hear almost everything they said.
I decided to use this now empty room to my advantage. During my last class of the day, I asked to be excused on account of an upset stomach. Seeing as I had never missed a class before, the professor allowed me to leave.
Vinyl was usually gone at this hour. Wasting not a moment, I dashed onto the floor above our home and carefully swung open the door to the dorm above us. I waited for a few moments to see if they were already downstairs. Hearing nothing, I quickly trotted over to the loose floorboard and pried it upward. I arrived right on time. I could hear the door swing open, and I could hear two sets of hooves enter my room.
I recognized Vinyl's casual step and the nervous quick clicks of Whimsy's walk. Vinyl moved to the center of the room while Whimsy closed the door behind her.
"Well?" Whimsy asked, worry obvious in her voice.
"I've got you covered."
I could practically hear the proud grin on her face as she said it. There was a faint whoosh, the sound of a unicorn's telekinetic magic firing. Whimsy sighed in relief. "Thank the gods. I thought I'd never get it..."
"It wasn't easy." Vinyl confided. "I had to knock the librarian out. Don't worry; I didn't hurt her. It was just a sleeping spell. But still, the off-limits section is huge."
Whimsy had taken the object from Vinyl. "All of my problems, all to be solved by tonight..." Her voice was dreamy. "I can't thank you enough, Scratch. You have no idea what it's like to have this thing crawling around inside you..."
I could hear her flipping pages. "Summonings...artifacts....gateways...no, none of that's any good...where's the index when you need it?"
Vinyl crept up behind her. I imagined her looking over Whimsy's shoulder, straining to get glimpses of whatever was on each page before her companion turned them. Whimsy cried out in triumph, and Vinyl jumped backward. "Here it is!"
"What is it?"
"It appears to be an extracting spell." There was a few moments of silence as Whimsy read. Then:"This is going to be way easier than I thought!" She laughed.
"Good. I'm not all that talented with fancy magic."
"Alright, I just need to put this down here...you brought the chalk, right?"
"Yep. Is that all?"
"That should do it. Just let me trace these symbols here..." There where a few unpleasant scratching sounds as Whimsy drew her marks and lifted and resettled furniture. She sighed with satisfaction and strode back into the middle of the dorm, confidence apparent in every step. "Now, for the words. Step back, Vinyl. Things are about to get weird."
She spoke, but it was not in any language I had ever heard before. It sent my fur on end as she growled and coughed out the sounds. There was something unearthly to it. Something wrong. The temperature of the whole building seemed to plummet, and for a few moments, I thought I heard a faint roaring sound. I was suddenly struck with the urge to flee, as fast and as far as I could, but I stayed put. Whatever was happening was dangerous, and I needed to be there.
And, as if to confirm my fears, I heard one of the most awful sounds in all of my existence.
Vinyl started screaming.
