“Vinyl, why haven't you been sleeping lately?”
Vinyl stopped mixing her music, straightening up. “Tavi? You’re awake?”
“Yes, I’m awake.” Octavia replied, rising from the couples shared bed to trot to her marefriend. “I rolled over to wrap a leg around you, and you weren’t there. What’s up?”
“Just makin’ some music Tavi,” Vinyl replied, waving a hoof dismissively. “Go back to bed, I’ll join you soon.”
Octavia stayed where she was, leaning upon Vinyl. “You’ve said that before, and you didn’t come back to bed, Vinyl.” Octavia sniffled, turning to the mare next to her. “What’s going on?”
Vinyl sighed. “Alright.” She sighed again, trotting off. “I suppose I need to tell you.” Vinyl lead her marefriend into the kitchen, sitting Octavia at the table. “Let me get you something to drink first, though. It’s going to be a long night.”
Octavia smiled weakly. “Alright. Some tea then, if you would.”
Vinyl nodded, her horn glowing as she turned, starting to prepare tea. “So, I guess I’ll start with some old news.” Vinyl set the kettle on the stove, filled it with water, and set it to boil. “I’ve got ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as I’m sure I’ve told you.”
“Yes, you have,” Octavia chuckled weakly. “And I won’t say you don’t. And I still say those are the longest four words you know.” The couple shared a small laugh.
Vinyl smiled. “Ya. it’s part of what makes me, me. But, the big part that this plays in my insomnia is the hyperactivity part.” Vinyl’s smiled faded a little. “I don’t work like normal ponies, Tavi. Most ponies get up, have their coffee or tea or whatever, and that wakes them up, gets them ready for the day. Me, I wake up, and I’m ready to go. I may not be happy about it, but I’m awake. To be honest, I’m never truly asleep.
“I wish I could give you a deeper, more scientific explanation, but that’s all I’ve got. I guess the best way to think of it is like a lightbulb. Most ponies, are either on, or off.” Behind Vinyl the kettle started to boil, the steam making it’s telltale whistle. VInyl concentrated, quickly preparing and serving tea to Octavia. “Like you. During the day, you start off kinda on, have your tea, and then are nice and bright. Then, as the day wears on, you start to dim, until eventually, you go sleep, and turn off. Me, I don’t turn off.”
Octavia sat, staring at her marefriend, sipping her tea. “So, if you never turn off, how can you keep going? How do you keep the light turned on?”
Vinyl gave a small chuckle. “The body doesn’t need sleep ‘Tavi. Not in the least. It’s the mind that does,” she answered. “See, sleep is the mind’s way of sorting through everything that happened, and filing it away. The body, as long as it has food, will keep going. The mind however, if it doesn’t get sleep every so often, starts to break. It starts to stop working right. It mixes memories with reality, until there is no difference between sleeping and waking. And then, not long after, you die.”
Octavia blinked, surprised by the calmness of which Vinyl spoke of one’s death. “But then, what about you? If you aren’t sleeping...”
“That’s another way in which I’m different. I don’t need sleep. not actual sleep at least.” Vinyl shook her head sadly, looking down. “I won’t say it hasn’t had an effect on me. There are times when I don’t know if I’m awake, or still dreaming. There are times when everything blurs together. But I’ll be fine.
“You see, while for most ponies, sleep is the mind’s way of filing the days events, it’s not for me. I just take a moment to relax, let my mind calm down, and I can get the same effect. To use the light bulb again, you have to turn it off to measure the power it used during the day. Me, I can do that, while still letting it run.”
Octavia continued to sit, sipping her tea. Her mind went over everything she had just been told, processing it all. “but then, why don’t you go to sleep? wouldn’t that be more efficient?”
Vinyl shrugged. “Ya, likely. But I can’t. I don’t have an off switch for my light bulb. Just a little dial, dim to bright.” VInyl sighed before continuing, her voice darkening. “I’ve tried to sleep lately. I lay down, get comfortable, hold you close, and close my eyes. And I try to sleep. But my mind is still working. Still doing something. And it doesn’t stop. No matter how much I try to slow it down, make to turn off, it won’t.
“I wish I could sleep. I want to relax, I want to dream.”
Vinyl jerked awake with a start, sitting up in her bed. Her body shook; Eyes flitted open and shut as she tried to look around. Slowly, she managed to take stock of her surroundings. Octavia, her love, lay next to her, sound asleep. The window, though the curtains were drawn, betrayed the darkness of night. The room was as quiet and still as a bedroom should be in the dead of night.
Slowly, Vinyl climbed out of bed, shaking. “Am I still dreaming? Or am I awake yet?” she asked herself, slowly stumbling out of her room. Her eyes darted back and forth as she trotted down the hall, stumbling as if drunk. She made her way to the kitchen table, sighing. “Another night wasted.”
Author's Note
So, this is a Vinyl Scratch and Octavia fic. Not quite a thousand words, and really, just a scene. Didn't have anywhere for this to go. At the same time, this is based on some truth. I do have ADHD, and it seriously messes with my mind and my sleep. It's been a while since I slept. I usually just pass out for a few hours.
“Twilight, come with me.”
Celestia’s voice was sharp, calling out to her student. Twilight immediately looked up from her book, confused as Celestia turned and left. With barely a moment's hesitation she jumped up and followed her teacher. “What’s going on, princess?” Twilight asked as she caught up.
“You’ll understand soon enough. For now,” Celestia replied, sighing. “For now, we have things to discuss.” Twilight nodded, quickly trotting behind the quick pace of her teacher. “As you are well aware, you’ve become a princess of Equestria. With that come royal duties and blah blah blah. There’s a lot of boring stuff you have to do. But that can wait. Much more pressing is the matters of your continued education.”
“I’m always happy to learn, your highness,” Twilight replied. “But, what makes this so important?”
Celestia lead Twilight into the throne room, which was empty save for four individuals. Luna, Chrysalis and Cadence sat talking, though their conversation ended the moment the doors opened. Discord lounged in the air, awakening as Celestia and Twilight entered. “Relax, Twilight. They’re all here for good reasons.” Celestia assured her, knowing Twilight was on the verge of attacking Chrysalis. “Alright, sit down, and listen, and listen closely.
“You were never meant to finish Star Swirl’s spell.” Celestia began, sitting next to her sister. “He created that spell to be a test. A way to gauge a unicorns potential. Obviously, only the most powerful of unicorns could even attempt it, and it was his, and later my, way of testing the potential of powerful unicorns. There is very little in the way of rating a unicorns power, and the few measurements don’t hold for unicorns with our level of power, Twilight. That spell was created so we could get an idea for how powerful a unicorn is.
“When I sent that book to you, it was after much consideration with Luna. We knew you were powerful, and growing more so daily. And we wanted a gauge on that, something to measure your growth by.” Celestia sighed, leaning on her sister. “So, we gave you the book. To our incredible surprise, you ‘finished’ the spell. Truth be told, I never thought it possible. But you did it. You altered the very fates of ponies. A feat not even Discord could manage.”
Twilight turned to the draquoennious with wide eyes. “But what about what he did to my friends when he escaped a year ago?”
Discord chuckled. “Was Rainbow Dash not loyal, if not to you? Was Applejack not honest, if only with herself?” Discord shook his head. “I merely placed a basic tint of chaos in them, Twilight. That’s all. I didn’t change who they are, simply how they expressed it. But you, you, with a single spell, taught Rarity weather magic and Pinkie Pie how to farm? They may not have been good at it, but you changed who they were, and who they had been. No, the forces you tapped into are out of my reach, Twilight.”
“And that is the problem, Twilight” Celestia continued. “You touched new magic, a feat not done since Cadence worked her first love spell. A feat that shouldn’t be possible.”
“So, the question is,” Luna spoke up. “How? Now, if you’re magic had been on the level of Celestia’s or mine, as Cadence’s is, we wouldn’t care. But you’re magic is vastly more powerful. You’re reaching into the realms of godhood, you altered the very fabric of reality, and sewed up the patches to make everything work.
“But also, the test failed. For the first time, Star Swirl’s test failed. We still don’t know the extent of your power. And that is why you’re here, now.” Luna stood and nodded to Discord. With a snap of his claw, Discord formed two stone figures, roughly resembling ponies, which promptly started aimlessly wandering. “Now, you know what Celestia can do, you’ve studied under her for years.” Celestia smiled and conjured a miniature sun in front of her. “Now, you’ll get to see what the rest of us can do.”
Luna closed her eyes and began to concentrate. After a moment the entire throne room plunged into shadow, the only light coming from Celestia’s ball of plasma. “My turn.” Cadence said, standing. “You see these figures Discord has provided? Watch. I can give them love.” With a flash of Cadence’s horn, the two figures ran to each other and embraced, kissing and cuddling. “I can give them lust.” With another flash the two pulled back, grins spreading across their faces. One of them turned around and wagged their ass while the other quickly mounted them and started rutting them. “I can take it away.” After a third flash the pony on top pulled back and sat down as the other joined them. “And I can give them hate,” Cadence whispered, her horn flashing a fourth time. The two ponies stood and glared at each other for a moment before launching at each other, aiming to kill. A final flash from Cadence’s horn and the figures let go of each other, sitting peacefully.
Twilight stared in horror as the figures so quickly went from love to lust and then to hate. “That was..... I don’t know. Terrifying I guess.”
“That was simple an expression of what Cadence can do, Twilight.” Chrysalis spoke up, taking the stage. “And now, I believe it is my turn.” With a sad smile, green flames flashed across Chrysalis, disappearing to reveal the exact form of Twilight. “You already know I can do this. But I can do much more.” With another flash of green flames, this time across everypony, everypony looked like a different pony in the room. Another flash and the spells faded. “I invaded because my changelings are starving, Twilight. I sacrificed hundreds to give the ones who came with me enough strength to fight. Luna was kind enough to come find us and help.” Chrysalis sat down, giving Luna a smile and a small nod, which Luna returned.
“Now, Twilight,” Luna spoke, her spell fading. “There are limits on what each of us can do. I can no more create a miniature sun than I can make to ponies love each other. We are limited to the magic we discovered for our cutie marks, or those inherent within us. But you’re talent is magic. So, we need to see just how powerful you are.”
Author's Note
So, the idea with this one was that, as explained in the chapter, the spell was a test of Twilight's potential. but, as she finished the spell, they never got a real measure for her power. So, in this, they're trying to figure out how much power she has. I was going to continue this on more, but wasn't sure where to go.
