Chapters Dear Diary,
After I went home, I first tried to wake up Octy somehow (with all matters I had, including slapping her and douse her with ice cold water, in all the films that always works), but this damn medicament is still in her, so she still sleeps. I’m not the best one with healing spells, but I know enough to see that she isn’t in acute danger, she’ll wake up as soon as this stuff is out of her body. I just have to wait…
Oh, yes, there was one more thing. As I said, Ruben destroyed the lab with a bomb, and of course Celestia and Luna aren’t so happy about any bombs blowing off in Equestria, so they showed up a few hours ago and I had to explain it all. I don’t know if they believe me, but what could they do? Thanks to this ‘nuke’, how Luna called it, there isn’t much left to take evidences from. They shut off a wide area around the bombs impact, nopony can get into there, they said something about dangerous radiation, I have no idea what they mean, but I didn’t had in mind to go back there anyway. I still have a few days off, so I think I’ll just relax a bit, calm down after all this stress. Plus, I still don’t know how to feel about Ruben… I really had deep feelings for him, but were they worth it? I mean, he was just a toy for Nick to get me, but than he saved us after all. It’s all so weird, my feelings are totally mixed up, somewhere between love, hate and total confusion. Maybe Octy can help me through this, once she finally wakes up. I didn’t even mention her condition towards the princesses, I don’t want them to take her with them. I want to be with her when she wakes up, so I’ll be able to explain everything to her, help her understand what happened and maybe calm her down, who knows what trauma this experience could have caused to a sensitive pony like her?
Oh, almost forgot: I finally finished my song for Octy! The moment I saw her in this fabric hall it just ran into my mind how I can finally do this darn part in the end I was struggling with all the time. It’s weird that I figured that out in a moment like this. Anyway, she’ll love it! Maybe I should play it right now, who knows, maybe some wubs can cure unconsciousness? Let me try…
Nope. No chance to wake her up, no matter how loud I turned it. All these wubs, wasted! Nopony around to enjoy them! Well, except our neighbors, but you get my point. Man, sometimes I hate being me. Why have I always to be so impatient? I just can’t wait to see her face when she hears it! But I guess I should clean up a bit as long as she sleeps. Maybe the bass could have accidentally broken some glasses. But I got this, that’s no problem for Vinyl Scratch!
I admit, cleaning up is a problem for Vinyl Scratch. I’m just not a mare to make things clean and tidy up, I’m a mare to kick neatness in the face and throw some dirty wubs in the crowd. But I don’t have to tell this to you, book, right? You know me. You understand me. Aaaand I just spilled my Captain Trixie all over you, sorry. Cleaning made my thirsty, so I thought it was a good idea to take a drink, and this beautiful bottle filled with the gold-yellow fluid of pure joy caught my eyes right away. Now you finally can get an imagine of the taste! Yes, soak it all up into your dry pages! What’ya say? Exactly!
Oh, I think I just got off topic. Yeah, as I said, cleaning was a problem for me. All these sharp shards, my hoof looks like a filly tried to draw onto it with a red marker. I still don’t know how that could happen, I mean I didn’t even touch them to pick them up, I’m a unicorn after all! I bet that’s the reason why I don’t have a cleaning cutie mark. I would be a horrible charmare, cutting myself, setting the couch on fire, stuff like that. But I did my best to clean this up so Octy doesn’t have to! I may not be the cleanest pony, but I certainly am a caring roommate and friend, especially for Octy. And even more because it may be a bit my fault that she ended up how she did right now. Though it wasn’t very nice to read my diary, I don’t think I could have overwhelmed Nick without her being there to help me getting enraged. Hm, that sounds weird. But I think you get what I mean. So yeah, I feel a bit guilty and I have to do something for her as a little thank you. With a little touch of screw you for reading my diary. Sounds about fair, doesn’t it? I thought about making her some awesome meal, but we both know that wouldn’t be the best idea. I don’t think she’d like paincakes, and unfortunately that’s the only thing I can cook, though not even I like them. But for somepony who likes them, they’d be super awesome, I’m sure about that! Anyway, I have to think of a better idea. Of course I have the song, but there isn’t that touch of screw you in it I’m looking for. Maybe I should play the song while she is practicing with her cello? Well, I’m sure I’ll think of something to get this done.
Oh, wait a second, I think she’s waking up!
Sup, diary?
Anyway, after she went to bed I decided to take a little walk, a thing I usually would never do. But this time, my head was just totally filled with questions and confusion, I thought a bit fresh air and walking could help me handle all this, understand all this. I thought a lot about the things Nick said, and I came to the decision that he must’ve been totally insane. I mean, he still loves me, so he horsenapped me to turn me into a breeding machine, just so that we can rule over Equestria as king and queen? How does that make sense? If I love somepony, I wouldn’t just horsenap him. Or her. And even if I was crazy enough to do this, I wouldn’t do such a cruelty to him. Or her. If I wanted a pony to like me back, how could my brain come to the awesome idea of horsenapping and torturing him? Or her? Not even if I’m drunk, and I mean really, really drunk. Not this tiny bit drunk I was when I got to know Ruben.
Well, that’s the next point I thought about. Ruben. I had feelings for him, that’s unquestionable. But is it even right, is it possible to have true feelings for a robot? Because that’s what he was, after all. A robot, a toy to get me into Nick’s net. But on the other hoof, he was more than just a silly clone, even Nick said that. He was able to learn and feel, and that last time I looked into his eyes, I knew that it was true. So what to do? Should I mourn him? Or should I just live my life like before, acting like he never meant something to me? I can’t do that, and I don’t want to do that either. Even though he actually wasn’t a pony of flesh and blood, he was part of my life, and will it always be. I mean, without him, Octy would be probably dead and I’d still be bound this table and do nothing but give birth to clones. Ugh, I don’t even want to think about this.
I really should speak to Octy about this, she’s more experienced in stuff like that. Not clones, of course, but all these emotional things. I think I’ll do this tomorrow, she deserves a little rest after everything that happened. And that happened just because of me. If I hadn’t put my muzzle into things not concerning me, none of this would’ve happened. And then she wouldn’t have been unconscious and in danger because of me, Ruben wouldn’t have blown the laboratory, and… I have to calm down. After all, I think, what I did was the right thing. Though it’s never right to search the personal stuff of your partner, somehow this time, it was. And the time I did that with Nick’s things, it was right somehow, too. It’s this tiny ridge between right and wrong, sometimes I’m not able to decide on which side I’m acting currently.
Heyo diary,
And here comes the confusing part: During our conversation about Ruben and my feelings, she told me to see him as a pony, as I said, and to treat his death like the death of the coltfriend he was to me. I’m still not sure what to do, of course I miss him, and I mourn him, but I just… can’t show it. I can’t cry, I can’t suffer physically. My mind feels like it’s ripped into tiny pieces, but I’m not able to show at, and I’m not sure if I actually want to show it, especially to Octy. She had enough trouble because of me, and I don’t want her to worry about me after all this. But on the other hoof, I want somepony close to me to worry about me, to comfort me while I just let it all out (jeez, that sounds like the biggest crybaby emotion ever). And who would be better than Octy? But during the whole conversation she watched me in a way that was a bit… odd to me. It was the same look I received from Ruben during our ‘dates’. Should I be worried? Or flattered? She is the last pony I’d expect to be a fillyfooler. But who knows? Celestia moves in mysterious ways, so does love. I should have an eye on this. As long as I’m not sure about my own feelings towards anypony, I think it’s not the best idea to take up a relationship to her or anypony else. Actually, it’s not just my feelings towards somepony, it’s my whole mind that seems a bit… crushed. I don’t want to annoy you right now, but after all you’re just a book, so deal with it.
It’s weird, inside of my head. Sometimes I feel happy, like everything is great and my life is super awesome. But most of the time, it’s the opposite. I feel undervalued, unloved and in general pretty useless. Every time I go out, I see happy ponies, on their own or together with their partners, and every time I think ‘Why can’t I have this? What’s wrong with me?’. And it’s not just this emotional thing. Every time I take a look at my records, I remember how I started. I wasn’t really good, but I had potential. Every single song of me had the potential to be my breakthrough, but instead I managed it always to somehow screw it up. Though I keep saying I’m the most awesome DJ in Equestria, I actually know I’m not. And it’s ok to me to know that there will always be somepony better than me. But somehow it crushes me, demotivates me to see that I can’t reach the goals I expected. I never make a song with the thought ‘Oh yeah, that’ll be a number one hit’. But as every other DJ I have certain expectations I want to reach, but I barely do. Somehow this is the same like my social life. I want to be so happy so badly, that I’m so depressed when I’m not that I’m just not able to get my flank up to change anything. And that makes it even worse, but just on my own, without somepony helping me, I’m not strong enough to break this vicious circle. But how could I get somepony to help me when I’m the way I am? Nopony wants a depressed little shit like me. Except for Octy. But I don’t want to risk too much with her now. What if I take up a relationship with her and scare her off once I let her take a look inside my mind? If I’d manage to screw this up and lose Octy, I would just collapse. She’s the last pony in my life that cares for me, that loves me the way I am, no matter in which way, friendly love or love-love. If I lose her… it would be my end. Who could I call to help me then? My parents? Hah, good joke. Since I chose to be a DJ and work at night, they don’t want to speak to me anymore. They even disinherited me. I’m alone in this big world.
But maybe it’s actually not this bad and I’m just an overreacting hypochondriac. That’s one more reason why I don’t want to tell anypony about my thoughts, they could think I’m just crazy and a little, pathetic filly. I feel like I’m arguing with myself, I don’t want to tell anypony about myself, but the same time I want somepony to know about it and help me cope with it. What should I do?
Watch your language, you're talking to a mare in a relationship! I think…
After I finished my entry yesterday, I rushed through the entire city to find a proper present for Octy. Man, I hated myself for being so inpatient that I already presented the song to her, that would've been the perfect thing! But I had to find something different. And I found the most awesome thing possible! You know, Octy loves her cello more than anything else, and it could be that I accidentally damaged its case the other day. Of course I was going to buy her a new one anyway, but yesterday I found the perfect case! I was in this instrument store, and the cashier told me that he still has some cases left, so he showed a few to me. It just jumped into my sight instantly, this awesome thing! It's colored like my mane, and I bound a little bow tie around the thin end to make the connection between us more visible. The cashier asked me if I wanted it a bit more personalized, so I asked him to carve our names into it, and he used some awesome ornate font to make her name, and an edgy one for mine. Than I went to Rarity, yes, the Element of Harmony Rarity! She's totally worth being the element of generosity, she stocked the case all over with rubies and sapphires, and she didn't even wanted to be paid for this! She said it was her present for me this year, so I guess I'll have to make her one awesome gift next year.
Anyway, after that I went home and tried to wrap some wrapping paper around it. Actually, it looks like I raped it with this paper, like every year. But Octy has fun with the huge amount of paper every year, this way she has much more time to guess what it is. Oh, and I filled the entire case with her favorite candy! Man, I really am an awesome friend, right? I swear you, if you were alive, I would have got you the most awesome cover ever! But back to Octy. So yesterday evening we first cooked together and enjoyed our meal. It was so delicious, I think I would've never stopped eating if we had enough. We had salads, great vegetables, awesome pancakes, our oldest bottle of apple wine and later fondue with the remaining vegetables and fruits, I tell you, that was the best dinner I've ever had. And I’m not easy to impress with food. I’m like a food expert. So if I say something is awesome, it’s awesome, period.
After the dinner, we moved on to our presents. I gave her my paper-raped gift, she wasn’t even able to tell what form it has because of this hilarious amount of wrapping paper I used. But once she opened it, I saw the happiest pony ever. She had this huge smile on her face and sparkling eyes, I’m sure she even cried! I told you this thing was awesome! After she calmed down a bit she just dashed onto me and hugged me so tight, she pressed all of the air out of my lungs. But it was totally worth it, I’ve never seen her so excited and happy, it was even more than when I showed her the song I wrote! Next she handed me my present, man this is so awesome! She got me the new headphones I was dreaming about for weeks! These are just soooo awesome! They can handle any amount of wubs, without even loosing a little quality, and the additional bass option is just… eargasmic. Man I could talk about these things for hours, but I’ll move on to the next happenings.
After we handed out our presents, we chilled a bit in the living room, downing a few drinks and talking about several things, and I could feel her weird glaze all the time. You know, the view I reported to you the day before yesterday. And I must admit… I liked it. I love any form of attention, and the attention I got from her, especially this form of attention, made me feel awesome. I felt loved, wanted, and I enjoyed every second of it. You know, I’m a bit more tolerant and open minded in the point of my sexuality than most other ponies, and to be honest I wanted to try something with another mare for a long time, but I wasn’t sure if it was clever to start it with Octy. I mean, if I screw up and want to quit, I could never live with her together anymore. I can’t hurt her and then just keep living with her, acting like nothing happened. That wouldn’t be fair, and I don’t want to lose her as my best friend, no matter what’s between us.
And now, we’re a couple. Somehow. I mean, we spent the night together and all, but I’m not sure how we’ll continue this, we didn’t speak about it so far. It wasn’t a one night stand, that’s sure, but I think I should talk to Octy before interpreting too much into anything. The only thing I know for sure is that I’m definitely into mares. No stallion was able to give me what I received from Octy last night, and I hope we’ll stay together. I have this weird feeling inside my stomach, the same I had with Ruben. I know what that means. I wouldn’t go too far and say I love her, but… maybe it’s going to happen. And I know she feels similar. We’ll see.
Beloved paper pile!
Just when we ended our breakfast, I couldn’t hold myself anymore, I just had to mention that subject. What was there between us? Was it a serious thing? How should we deal with it since we’re both not out of the shed? Should we deny it when somepony asks us, or should we be more open? Will her family tolerate this?
What’s between us? Well, she called it love immediately, but since Ruben and Nick I’m… a bit more careful with this word. I mean, I totally trust Octy and all, but I also trusted Ruben and Nick, and we all know where this had got me. Of course, I feel it, too, but I’m just not ready to say ‘I love you’. Not yet. The day may come, but it’s not today. I just need more time, though actually I know it’s true, deep inside my heart I can feel it. Jeez, that sounds sooo not like me.
Is it serious? I guess. Of course, just because we spent a night together doesn’t mean we’ll be together forever and ever, but I could see this sparkling in her eyes, and she really wants this. A relationship, I mean. And I want it, too. How could I dare and reject a mare like Octy? Nopony knows me as good as she does, and nopony loves me the way she does. My parents? Mh, first of all, parent-love is a complete other thing than marefriend-love. Second, they don’t love me, I haven’t heard anything from them for years, and to be honest, I don’t want to. I don’t care of they find out about me and Octy, I mean what could they do? They already disinherited me, I pay all of my bills by my own, I’m completely independent from them. They have no power here.
Our coming out? That’s a big thing, I’m sure. Especially for her, coming from Canterlot and all. I’m sure her parents won’t be happy with a daughter who is a fillyfooler, so for now we’ll not show it too much. I told her she can’t hide it from them forever, and she’s totally aware of this. She just needs time, that’s all. Me? I have no problem in telling anypony what I am, I mean it’s not like it’s an illness or something. It’s just another way of living, or rather, of loving. We live our lives just like anypony else, we just don’t like stallions, that’s all. Though I admit I wouldn’t say I’m just into mares. One does not simply switch from hetero to lesbian just because of one night. But it’s okay for Octy, she’s aware of this, and she won’t urge me to do things I’m not ready to. To be honest, I’m ready to do anything she wants to do, as long as I do it with her.
That’s pretty much everything I wanted to clarify, and we did it. There are no more ambiguities, so we’re finally able to call ourselves a couple. And to celebrate this, Octy had this idea with molten chocolate… sounds awesome, but have you ever tried getting chocolate from your coat? It’s impossible! I still look like a cow, with chocolate stains everywhere. But it was totally worth it… Maybe someday I’ll give you a more detailed report, but by now it just doesn’t feel right to talk about these things.
That’s it for today, I guess. Gotta get back into the shower and finally get rid of this darn chocolate.
Diary. Listen.
Today was Bündelstag. Most of the ponies don’t know what this is, but dude, I know what that means. On Bündelstag you grab your best friends, the biggest hoofcart you can find, and than you just load every single drop of alcohol you can find into right this cart. After you finished that, you take this hoofcart with you while you just wander anyway. You know, you don’t set a real goal, you just keep walking until you find a place to enjoy, and while you’re walking there’s one important rule: Your cup mustn’t EVER be empty! You keep drinking and walking, and walking and drinking. And it’s totally awesome! You have your best friends with you and just wander through Equestria and get drunk. Actually sounds like a quite stupid practice, but I swear, it’s totally worth it. I hadn’t had so much fun for a long time, and I surely wasn’t this hammered for an even longer time. But there were so many awesome ponies I love, like Lyra, Bon Bon, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Derpy and of course Octy. Even Spike accompanied us for a while! We were out for about three hours until we reached the next city, Dodge Junction, which isn’t even far away, not even two kilometers. But this short distance was enough for us all to get totally drunk. Sweet Celestia, if I think about all the drinks we had… Captain Trixie, Canterlot Standard Vodka, Applejack Daniels, Daringmeister… I’m just like totally brain afk right now! It’s a miracle I’m even able to write to you. I think, if I wasn’t a unicorn, I couldn’t do this. My magic is like auto correction, if I would write this all by hoof, oh my, nopony could read this. Ij nx, yiu’rr awesime. See? No chance.
But I feel surprisingly alright. I just came home, ate a great sandwich Octy made for me (she’s still almost sober, she never was a pony you could take out to get drunk) and that’s the first thing I’ve eaten today, but it’s okay, I’m fine. Not fine enough to stand straight, but fine enough to sit down and write. But I think it’s time to go to bed. Soon. Not now. You know, I can’t go to bed now, I have to finish this entry. Though I don’t know what I should write any more. Maybe I should just stop it here and report the rest of the day tomorrow to you, when I’m sober again. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.
So I’ll see you tomorrow. Maybe I should eat something again before I go to bed. I’d love some pancakes right now! And uuuuuh, thanks to Octy I can make real pancakes now, not these paincakes that are as hard as granite anymore. Yeah, I’ll do this.
Cya!
Author's Note
Fun fact: The Bündelstag, or 'Bünnelchestag' as it's called in my dialect, is a real thing. In my local area it's an old tradition to wander around with your friends on December 27th, and of course alcohol plays a big role in something like that ;D
My friend, this is NOT good!
Of course Twilight informed the princess immediately, and instead of answering and telling us what to do, Celestia and Luna came here instantly. They’ve set up a death-zone around the laboratory, nopony can get in or out of the area without the princesses noticing. I slowly get the feeling that it’s not them but me who should be there… I somehow know that I play a bigger role in all this than I’d like to, but Celestia forbade me to come near the forest. I’m sure she has these thoughts too and just wants me to stay out of trouble while she and her sister take care about things. But are they really able to do so? I mean, of course they’re the princesses and stuff, and they have Twilight and the other elements with them, too, but… I’m not sure. I should do something! I don’t have to get myself into any danger, just a little look, what could go wrong? Octy isn’t at home at the moment, so she won’t notice anything as long as I’m back before she comes home. But after all I don’t want to do anything in the forest, I just want to take a look, nopony will notice me!
I’ll catch you later again and continue this entry when I’m back.
I headed towards the Everfree Forest, always trying to stay in the shadows and out of the view of anypony. Though I just was this one time in the lab, I still knew exactly where it was, I remembered every step I had to take there. I entered the forest and sneaked further until I could see the clearing in front of me. A part of this was naturally, but the large part was product of the explosion Ruben unleashed last time I was here. A few remains of the walls still where standing around a big crater right where the old factory hall used to stand. I carefully drew closer and tried to get a better view.
“Vinyl Scratch, what are you doing here?”
Great. I turned around and looked right into Princess Celestias big eyes. She wasn’t happy to see me, not at all.
“I umm- just wanted to take a look if- erm- you’re okay or need any help. I could make you some sandwiches or pancakes!”
Celestia rose one eyebrow, than used her horn to grab me and bring me to the little headquarter they had set up. Royal guards were working there everywhere, writing something down, evaluating proofs from the crater or just keeping watch. Luna and Twilight were there, too, standing a bit offside from the guards and the other elements. The dark alicorn darted a disapproving glance at me, but Twilight had struggle to suppress a little giggle.
“Vinyl, I knew you’d show up here. You’re just too curious!”
“Anyway, what should we do with her? We can’t just let her go back home on her own, she could get in trouble or just come back. Listen, you have to understand that it’s too dangerous for you to be here!”
“With all due respect, Princess, I already was able to overcome Nick one time, what should stop me from doing it another time? I mean, if it’s really him who has the control here.”
Celestia looked at me serious. “I’m sure it’s him. Whatever he has done in his laboratory, and however he was able to survive, this is definitely his work. But I don’t know what he wants, I’m sure he has enough clones to prepare an attack at whatever he wants to get his hooves on, why is he still waiting? That doesn’t make sense!”
“Oh, what fun is there in making sense? Celestia, you have all the information you need just in front of you, go on, ask the little unicorn!”
The three alicorns froze for a moment. I looked around, but I couldn’t find the source of the voice. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.
“Discord! I should have known that you have your claws involved into this. Where are you hiding? Come out!”
“I think I won’t do this. I have more important things to do, you know?”
“I thought you were rehabilitated? Have you already forgotten Fluttershy? She is your friend!”
“Silly filly Twilight. Have you really believed in what I said? Sometimes a lie is easier to take, I understand that. You didn’t want to think I was lying. I’m Discord, remember? I’m the spirit of chaos, the image of evil! I’m going to turn your world around once again, and then I’ll watch you cry. You and your little friends won’t stop me this time!”
Discord almost sang while he was talking. After he finished, we heard a wicked laugh, followed by silence. The other elements came running to us, but before they were able to say anything, Celestia grabbed me again and carried me a few steps away.
“Vinyl, what did he mean, I should just ask you? I thought you told us everything you know?”
“Of course I did! I have no idea what he is talking about! I didn’t even know he was involved into all this, I thought Nick was working alone!”
“We’ll talk about this when we’re done here.”
“Princess, I swear you, I don’t know any more!”
Celestia watched me suspecting, but she didn’t say anything. Suddenly her younger sister came running to us.
“Sister! With Twilights help I was able to locate the source of Discords voice. We found the entrance of an ancient cave, I already sent two troops there to secure the area. This is our chance! The longer we wait, Nick and Discord can gain more power and soldiers. We have to attack now!”
Celestia clearly didn’t like this idea, but she knew it was necessary.
“Prepare yourselves, everypony! In five minutes we’ll beard the lion in his den, and I don’t want anypony to not come back home! We don’t know what awaits there, but I know we can make it. For Equestria!”
The soldiers around started yelling and cheering while they prepared themselves for battle. The princesses equipped themselves with their royal armors.
“Vinyl, we don’t have time to take you back to Ponyville. I will get you an armor and I don’t want you to leave my side at any time, do you understand that?”
The princess was deadly serious. I swallowed and nodded. How did I end up here? I just wanted to take a look, not getting myself into this war! But now, it was too late. One of the stallions brought me an armor and Celestia used her magic to adjust it to my size. At least I won’t be totally unarmed down their. I’m not the best fighter, but I do know a few spells to defend myself.
I looked around. The elements were already wearing their armors, each in the color of the necklace they had around their necks. Rainbow Dash was visibly excited, she couldn’t stand still. Fluttershy was the total opposite, she tried to sneak away several times, but Applejack stopped her every time. Pinkie Pie was jumping around cheering, I wasn’t sure if she actually knew what was going to happen. This wasn’t some party, this was war! Rarity just stood there, watching her armor with sparkling eyes, and Twilight used the last minutes to learn a few new spells she could use in battle. Spike sat on a saddle on her back, wearing an armor, a shield and a sword. He didn’t look very happy, I think if he had seen any possibility to get away from here, he would have used it. Probably along with Fluttershy.
After everypony was ready we moved off. It was a strange feeling, wearing this heavy armor and not knowing if I was going to get back home, back to Octy. Whose idea was it to go here without saying a word to her?
After a short hoofpath we reached the cave Luna had mentioned. Actually, it didn't look like an ordinary, naturally cave at all. The entrance used to be covered with a thick door, but it lay a few steps away in the dirt, covered by moss all over. The soldiers Luna had sent here before where waiting in front of the entrance.
“This must be the place Nick is hiding, and where he was while the nuke detonated. In this bunker he must have been totally save, who knows how deep it's under the surface? It's too dark to spot the rear wall of this corridor, or anything else inside.”
“Don't worry, sister. I know you don't like the darkness as I do, but I also know that nopony will be able to withstand the combined power of us and the Elements of Harmony. Not even Discord and Nick. I'm not even sure this Nick is really powerful, he just has his little toys. They are no thread to us.”
Luna tried to encourage her older sibling, but this wasn't necessary. Celestia maybe was a bit nervous, but she wouldn't back down until our task was fulfilled.
“Alright everypony, this will be the day of our ultimate victory against Discord. Stick together and distract all of the clones so we and the elements will be able to take up battle against Discord. This time there will be no turning into stone, there will be no chance to rehabilitate. This time, we will end it, once and for all.”
The dark alicorn finished with an evil smile and was just about to enter the bunker, but Celestia held her back and turned to me.
“Vinyl, I know I told you to stick by my side, but... I know what Nick did to you. If you see a chance to get him, I'll allow it. But listen close; if there is any danger to you, you back up, remember that you aren't experienced in battle. And if you really get your hooves onto him... don't deal too much damage. I can imagine the things you want to do to him, but we need him alive. Do you understand that?”
I nodded, though I wasn't sure how I would be able to do anything but trying to not get myself killed if I really get involved into any combat. But if I really would be lucky enough to get a free moment with Nick, maybe even alone, away from the others... I kicked his butt once, and I'll do it again. Nick isn't strong, he always was the nerdy type of pony, not very sporty. The only thing he could do was tackling me with his horn or use his magic to throw something at me, but that wouldn't be too hard to dodge. Plus, I didn‘t think he‘d actually try to hurt me, after what I knew he still wanted me living for his insane plans, and after that to rule over Equestria with him. I was sure that wouldn‘t happen, no matter how the fight would end. Discord wouldn‘t just let Nick take control over the kingdom once Celestia and Luna are defeated.
The Princesses entered the bunker system and I followed them immediately, the elements behind me. Guards were in front of us and behind us to secure us all, but for a long time nothing happened anyway. We just kept walking, slowly and carefully though, but Luna headed the way determined. I had no doubt she knew exactly where she was going. Every unicorn used his or her horn to lighten the way in front of us, but Celestia’s horn let them all look like little torches right next to a huge bonfire. Luna’s horn was the total opposite, though it was glowing just a bit darker than her sisters, the light she spread seemed like the light of the full moon, giving all the contours and edges a silvery shimmer. It was creepy and beautiful at the same time.
After a few minutes the dark alicorn stopped. She turned around and spoke as quite as she could.
“We’re almost there, Nick and Discord are in a small hall right around this corner. Dim your lights, everypony. We probably don’t have the element of surprise on our side, I’m sure Discord already tracked us. I want everypony to look after their wingpony, and remember what you all have to do. The elements will come with me and my sister. And you,” she turned around and looked at me. “You just try to stay out of trouble and sniff out Nick if you can. If you find him, you know what to do.”
She winked, and I was sure she wasn’t as squeamish as her sister about Nick’s condition when they get him. In general, Luna seemed to be a lot more excited than her older sibling. She really was looking forward to throw herself into battle with Discord again, proving Equestria that she really isn’t Nightmare Moon anymore.
“Well then. Let’s do this!”
Luna turned around and let out a deafening war howling while she charged around the corner. The guards joined the battlecry and followed her, and soon I was the last on to enter the hall. I hurried to stick to the rest of the troop and dashed around the corner.
I ran around the corner and saw the last guard in front of me disappearing through a wall. Without thinking about it, I followed him and ran right through the smooth concrete wall. Behind this magical mirage was a quite big hall, bigger than I imagined it after Luna called it ’small’, but I think the royals have another interpretation of small as a little unicorn like me. I had to blink a few times before my eyes accustomed to the bright light coming from several lamps hanging from the ceiling. When I was able to take a unadulterated look around, I froze for a moment. Luna was right, Discord already knew that we would come, and he and Nick had set up some ‘welcoming gifts’ for us. The whole room was like a huge labyrinth of barriers, ensuring cover for them and their clones, but on our side of the room wasn’t a single spot to hide, nothing to take cover behind. I spotted Nick on the rear end of the room, behind a huge glass wall laughing like crazy and pressing some keys on a console in front of him. Discord was flying around in the hall, throwing deadly spells and yelling insults at the royal sisters. Twilight and the other elements already prepared their elemental spell, and the royal guards stormed the front and threw themselves into battle against the clone army. I had luck to be the last one entering the room, I was able to run straight to the first barricades and duck behind them as the soldiers already had made a run on it and now were about to take over to the next row. I cowered behind my hiding place and wasn’t able to move, but slowly I felt the adrenalin taking over and I calmed down. I glazed over the barricade and spotted a little door right next to the glass wall. This was the place I had to go. I sneaked around the barrier and made my way towards the opposite end of the room, always holding my head down to avoid the fatal spells flying through the room. I stayed behind the line of royal soldiers and tried helping them as good as I could. Though I wasn’t a good fighter, I knew several spells to take out an enemy, and I used every tiny thing I could get my magic on to throw it at one of the defenders. I even tried lifting one of the barricades, but they were too heavy, the only thing I could do with them was displacing them, and I used this to crush a few clones between them, but they soon were aware of this and dodged the slow moving barriers. It felt like an eternity to cross the room, but I did it without getting hurt.
Luna was the first one to enter the hall, her sister and the elements just seconds behind her. The alicorns and pegasi lifted off instantly to have more room to dodge and fight. Discord was flying right in front of them, above a labyrinth of barricades and an army of clones.
“It’s over, Discord! This will be our last encounter!”
“Oh, Luna, how can you say such a thing? I always dreamed of a world in which we can stay ‘friends’!”
“Shut your mouth! This time, there will be no chance for you. This time, we will end this!”
“I’m afraid you’re right. But you’re the ones who will be ended. Don’t fight it, just look at the chaos rising everywhere! I’m plunging your world into everlasting despair!”
Discord laughed loud and threw a spell at Luna, but she dodged it easily. In the meantime, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash circled above Twilight who stood between Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie and readied the elemental spell. Celestia now rose her horn too and enveloped the six ponies in a strong shield to prevent them from any spells Discord would use on them. Luna accelerated and aimed at Discord , trying to pierce his shoulder with her horn, but her target just teleported to the side and countered with one more deadly spell. Luna dodged it by flying a loop and answered with one of her spells, a dark whirling bold. Discord looked at it amused and just opened a hole in his chest, letting the projectile fly right through his body.
Celestia took a quick look around; the royal soldiers were gaining more and more the upper hoof, but they suffered heavy casualties. She also spotted Vinyl in the middle of the room, it seemed she was trying to get to the rear end of it where Nick was still standing behind a huge wall of glass. He was pressing keys like a madcolt, and with every touch one of the royal guards was getting into trouble. Here a trapdoor opened, there the wall shot some poisoned arrows into the crowd. She suddenly saw one of the clones sneaking up to Vinyl from behind, but there was no way Celestia could interrupt her protecting spell. She waved her sister and pointed at the enemy, and Luna plunged down to vaporize the clone before he reached Vinyl. The white unicorn didn’t even notice that Luna had just saved her life, she was too concentrated and used her magic to squash some clones between their barricades. Celestia rose one eyebrow in surprise, maybe the little DJ wasn’t as helpless as she thought.
A few minutes later Vinyl reached the back door and disappeared through it, and at the same time Twilight was ready to unleash the elemental spell. Celestia lowered her shield around the elements and joined the circle, a few seconds later Luna appeared there, too. This was the most dangerous moment, if Discord would act now fast enough, they’d have no chance to repel his magic. Luckily Luna had interrupted his casting right before she joined the circle, so Discord had to recover before he could do anything else. This was time enough for the eight to finally trigger the spell. It wasn’t just the ordinary elemental spell that turned Discord into stone once. This time, the spell was reinforced with the power of day and night. A primeval beam dashed through the room and met Discord who screamed in pain and despair, but this time he wouldn’t get away. The beam was too powerful to escape, Discord had no chance to teleport away, and slowly his flesh was getting ripped from his bones and evaporated right behind his body. It took almost two minutes, but when the eight ponies ended their spell, there was nothing left of there former adversary but one of his horns.
I went through the door and entered a tiny connection space between the main hall and the little room Nick was in. I dashed through the next door and found myself right next to Nick and two of his clones looking exactly as him, just for one difference: The real Nick had his cutie mark, the two clones had each a little number right next to it. The first one had a little 1, the second a little 2, marking them as X01 and X02. This must be the reason Nick was able to survive the explosion, he wasn’t up there! X03 must have taken his place when I had been captured up there. But how was he even able to fool Ruben? Probably he just didn’t look at Nicks cutie mark just as me when I was beating him up back then. Nopony would have thought that he wouldn’t operate Vinyl himself.
“Oh Vinyl, I knew we would meet again. Isn’t this wonderful? Look what I did, and I did it all just for you! Now that you’re safe I can finally end all the violence over there!”
Nick was just about to press a key on his console, a bigger and red one, but I dashed at him and knocked him away from the console. While falling I turned around and threw a few spells behind me, destroying the console and even killing one of his personal clones. The other one charged at me at tried grabbing me, but I was faster than him. I jumped over him and rammed my horn into his neck. I felt and heard a loud cracking, than X01 fell on the floor.
“What have you done? Vinyl, what have you done ? Don’t you see I did this all just for you? You don’t deserve living with this dirty little mare and working in these dirty little clubs. With me, you can have whole Equestria as your stage!”
“Don’t talk about Octy like that! I have caused enough harm, insane colt. You will pay for your actions, you will pay for what you did to me, and you will pay for what you did to Octy. This time there will be nopony to hold me back!”
I ran towards him and threw him down by drilling my horn deep into his left shoulder. He screamed in pain, but I didn’t care. This stallion had done terrible things to me and the one I loved, and now it was payback time. I knew Celestia was able to see me, but I wouldn’t stop until she forced me to.
“You will get what you deserve, and I insure you won’t like it.”
His shoulder was bleeding, the whole in it was almost deep enough to touch his bones. I raised one hoof and pressed it on it, trying to get it into his shoulder. At the same time I used my other hoof to press it onto his nose until I felt his bones yielding and cracking. Nick screamed in pure pain, and slowly I subsided. Though I wanted to do bad things to him, really bad things, this wasn’t me. I wasn’t a fighter, I wasn’t somepony to torture another pony. I just was a DJ, living together with her marefriend who surely wouldn’t like what happened right now. I hit him one last time to knock him out, than I carried him into the main hall where the soldiers were just about to destroy the last clones. Celestia, her sister and the elements were standing around a horn lying on the ground. I shivered when I realized it was Discords horn.
“Vinyl! You did it!”
“Yeah, Pinkie, but you all have done well, too.”
“I’m proud at you, Vinyl Scratch. Not just for winning against Nick, but even more that you discovered the meaning of killing somepony and turned against it. You are strong, maybe not physically, but mentally. Now there is just one last thing to do… Twilight, please, accompany Vinyl and your friend back to Ponyville. Luna and I will follow you later, first we have to clear this place entirely and get sure that nopony will use these wicked machines of Nicks ever again. I’ll let one troop accompany you, just in case… and of course to take care of Nick. I’m very proud of all of you.”
Just seconds after Celestia ended, a few royal soldiers came to us and we finally left the bunker, left the forest and went back home to Ponyville.
It’s over now, finally I can live my life like a normal pony… with the right mare by my side.
Dear Diary,
Enough of the emotional talk, today is New Year’s Eve! This year, we won’t celebrate it just with a few friends here at home, we have some special plan today… actually, the princesses have. They said something about getting rid of Nicks laboratory without attracting too much attention, and Luna told me to get sure to have a clear view of the Everfree Forest, so this year we’ll celebrate together with her and the elements at Sweet Apple Acres. I wonder how they will hide the blasting of this huge bunker system? Mh, actually I have an idea how they’ll do it… after all, fireworks aren’t special at this night, right?
Gotta get myself ready for later now. See you next year!
Greetings, diary!
As you know, I’m not the best cook in Ponyville, let’s say. And yesterday, Octy had the great idea to teach me how to cook properly! At first I thought that was a bad idea, I mean usually if you leave me in the same room with a cooker and kitchen appliances, it wouldn’t end well. I don’t want to exaggerate, but there was this one time I literally destroyed this one kitchen, including the entire furniture in it and the next room. That day, it turned out that it’s a really bad idea to let me make some breakfast that will ‘blow your taste buds’. How could I know that was an metaphor? I thought there were ponies that actually like the taste of black powder, so I tried baking some cupcakes with it in them. Bad idea.
But thanks to Octy, we finally figured out why I’m such a bad cook! Now when I think about it I actually should have figured this out earlier, but hey, I’m not perfect. You know, I read recipes the same way I read science fiction and pony tales. I get to the end of them, and I think ‘Well, that’s not going to happen.’
I admit, that still doesn’t explain how I can destroy an entire pack of toast without getting one properly toasted, or how I’m able to burn juice, but I’m in a learning process, and soon I’ll be one badass cook, you’ll see! Probably not, but there is a chance, right? A tiny chance, but a chance. Mh, maybe not. But at least I’ll be able to feed myself and not depending from delivery services and Octy. I still don’t get it how she can be the amazing cook she is, using just her bare hooves. With her, I have the best teacher I could ask for, and learning under her supervision is more fun than a lot of things I did the past time. To me, at least. She wasn’t quite as excited as I when I ‘accidentally’ dropped the sack of flour when it was levitating right above her head, but she looked totally awesome with this grey/white coat! Maybe it was more white than grey, but it was still hilarious, even though I had to clean it up. You hear, I cleaned it up! By myself! Without destroying anything! I see, I’m more proud of that than I should be. But it’s the little things that make the day, right?
Alright, back to the cooking thing. It wasn’t just learning to cook with Octy, it was the first time since days that we really had a lot of fun and spend the entire day together. And somehow I enjoyed every little touch of her, if she shows me how to hold the wooden spoon properly, how to shake the pan, things like that. I loved every time we touched, on purpose or not, and I’m glad she insisted on using my hooves to cook, not my magic. It’s more fun when we both have the same physical prerequisite, and it made me strain even more. I wanted to impress her, to make her proud of me and to show her that she’s such an awesome teacher that she can even teach ME how to cook. Man, I feel like a fanmare right now. But she really is awesome, and I somehow feel so good when she’s around me, I can’t describe it. It’s like when I was hanging out with Ruben, but that’s a completely other thing, I mean, I and Ruben were in love, and Octy is just my roommate and best friend, not my marefriend. Or is she going to?
I’ll have to think about this later. I mean, it’s Christmas today! I still haven’t a gift for Octy, but that’s the same situation like last year, and in the end it was totally awesome, so I’m sure I’ll handle this, too. I have at least some ideas… but I’ll report this tomorrow. It’s still afternoon, so I’ve got plenty of time to get whatever I want for her. Thank Celestia most of the stores have opened until almost evening! And I’m so curious what she got for me! Her presents are always super awesome! I always feel kind of bad when she gets me something really cool and I still don’t know what I actually bought maybe two hours ago, but somehow it was every time good enough and she was happy with it. Or at least she acted happy. Nevermind, I can feel that I’ll get something really awesome this year! I simply know it!
So that’s it for today, gotta get outta here and find the most awesome gift ever for the almost most awesome mare ever.
Good evening, paperinho.
But I’ve got good news, too!
But these rumors really make me worry the more I think about them. What if Nick really is still out there, producing his sick clones and just waiting for the best moment to get his hooves onto me? Maybe I should talk to Princess Celestia about this. I’m sure she’ll be willing to take a look around the lab, getting sure there isn’t any thread for anypony. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I’ll go to Twilight right tomorrow and ask her to send a letter to the princess.
Well, I guess, that’s already it for today. I know, it’s not much, but to be honest today wasn’t a day of big events, actually I just chilled at home almost the entire day. And what could happen if you’re alone with your marefriend at home all day? Nothing I would report to you too detailed, haha.
So I’ll catch you again tomorrow.