Nightmare Free Equestria

Luna followed Octavia as they left the mess hall and passed through the kitchen. A small number of ponies moved back and forth, working to prepare food for the others. Among them was Pinkie Pie, Joe, a unicorn that ran the donut shop Luna had found Pipsqueak in, and one of the royal cooks.

The royal cook limped as she walked around the kitchen. One of her front legs was slightly misshapen, looking like it had been broken but improperly set. It made Luna feel a pang of sympathetic pain for the mare. There was also a pang of guilt as Luna looked at her and realized that she had never learned the cook's name. She looked away, saying nothing as they continued to walk through.

"This is the store room," Octavia stated as they reached a doorway. "Any food or supplies we manage to find and retrieve are brought here." She pushed the door open stepped inside. "It would be the best place to begin searching since it is the closest."

The room was rather sparse. There were a few bags of flour, some potatoes, some sugar, and a bushel of apples.

"There is not much here," Luna said, looking at the potatoes.

"No," the gray mare agreed. "We are always scavenging for more. Plus, we are fortunate that there were many earth ponies in Ponyville."

"Are you saying that food is actually being grown down here?"

"Correct." Octavia gave a nod and continued to look around the room. "It seems that she is not here."

The pair passed through to the other side and out of another doorway. Once again, Luna found herself passing ponies as she made her way through the labyrinthine tunnels that made up this underground defensive location. As they went, the pair moved away from the sculpted and cement portion and into natural caverns. Luna looked at the natural walls and large crystals. Octavia started to talk as they continued.

"Down here are some of the more active and dangerous activities: experiments and inventing in the hopes of creating additional offensive and defensive capabilities; combat training, offensive and defensive, by any and all races who feel the need to; it's also where a great amount of the farming is performed due to the sheer amount of space available."

Luna and Octavia made their way to a large cavern that had been cleared of crystals, stalactites, and stalagmites. The floor was covered in mats, mattresses, and old blankets to add some padding to it. In the air at various heights were crudely made hoops of different sizes, although all seemed wide enough for a pegasus to pass through, if barely.

A small number of the winged ponies sat on the ground, watching. In the air, flying through the loops, was a turquoise green pegasus with a two-tone orange mane and tail. The mare was moving at high speed, flying from hoop to hoop and slipping through with ease. She even managed to make it through one that looked too small by pulling her wings against her body, letting the momentum carry her. There were cheers from the watchers as the pegasus came in for a landing.

"The second pegasus that I would recommend taking with us," Octavia said, pointing at the mare.

Luna gave a nod and walked toward the crowd of ponies. The cheering grew quiet as she approached, the ponies turning to look up at her. The smile on the turquoise pegasus fell as she saw the alicorn approaching, eyes going wide.

"What is your name?" Luna asked as she got closer.

"Lightning Dust, ma'am," the pegasus said as she gave a salute.

"Your aerial feats were most impressive, Lightning Dust," Luna stated. She looked up at the hoops. "I have known Wonderbolts who would be able to perform such stunts." Her gaze shifted to look at the mare, seeing the green. "Are you interested in the opportunity to use your capabilities in combat? Fair warning that it shall be dangerous."

"I'm in!" Lightning Dust shouted, grinning widely. "A chance to push myself, show off, and help? How could I say no!"

"Wonderful." Luna let her glance move over to Octavia standing off to the side. "There are other ponies for me to seek out and speak to. Once all have been elected, all will be requested to meet for strategic planning."

"You can count on me."

Luna gave a smile and nod. Turning she walked away from Lightning Dust and toward the waiting Octavia.

"She is a very enthusiastic mare," Luna stated.

"Indeed," Octavia agreed. "It is the reason I knew of her. Although I did not know her name." She once again began to lead the way through the caverns.

"You said that she was the second pegasus you would recommend. Who is the first?"

"...I think you will have to meet her to believe me. Hopefully she will be around shortly. As it is, there are others to seek out."

Luna gave a nod and continued. The statement had made her curious. What could possibly be so strange about this pony that Octavia would think that Luna would not believe what was said? Deciding not to ask, she continued to follow the earth mare through the caverns.

As they went deeper, Luna began to feel a strange vibration in her chest. At first she thought it was her imagination, or perhaps an emotional response to something (or perhaps her tea and cake were not properly settled). As they continued deeper, a faint sound began to reach her ears. Not the source of the sound, but its effect. Whatever it was that was happening was vibrating the crystals, causing them to give off an audible hum.

"Should we be worried about the crystals' humming?" Luna asked as she walked past one of them.

"No," Octavia said, not even breaking stride. "It simply means that we are getting close. She likes to listen to her ... 'music' ... when she's working, and has a tendency to play it quite loudly."

That was an unexpected answer. Luna picked up her pace, walking faster as she wanted to meet whomever Octavia was taking her to. As they continued, a different sound began to reach her ears. It had a heavy bass and powerful rhythm. There was something musical about it, but it was like no music Luna had ever heard before.

The sound was soon joined by lights of different colors shifting, flashing, and moving, seemingly in time to the music. The pair continued to walk toward it, reaching the source.

Bright lights of numerous colors continued to writhe and flash, bouncing off the walls, sliding across the floor, and even splintering as the struck the crystals (how had those not yet shattered?). The music -- for lack of a better term -- played, seeming to cause the entire cavern to vibrate.

In the center of the room was a white furred unicorn with an electric blue mane and tail. For a moment, Luna thought that it was Captain Shining Armor. That was not possible though, since Shining Armor was believed to be dead. On closer inspection, the unicorn was a mare. Luna thought she looked familiar, but could not quite place her. There was a pale blue aura of magic from the unicorns horn, the energy encompassing several tools that floated beside her.

"VINYL!" Octavia shouted, getting no response. "VINYL!" Still, she got no response. Luna placed a hoof on the gray mare's shoulder, getting her attention.

"Allow me."

Luna drew on her magic, her horn glowing a dark blue in color. Shifting the energy, she made it glow with the silver of moonlight before releasing it. The silver energy shot from her, flying like a comet up into the air and across Vinyl's field of vision.

"Woah!" the unicorn shouted as the energy flew past her nose. The music and lights stopped, the cavern becoming easier to see. Vinyl turned around, lowering the sunglasses and looking at the two. A wide grin spread across her face as she pushed the glasses back into place.

"Octi!" Vinyl shouted, then noticed the other pony with them. "Oh... and... Princess Luna. Heh. What brings you here?"

"Luna," Octavia said, turning to face the alicorn, "Allow me to present to you Vinyl Scratch, DJ and inventor."

"Inventor?" Luna raised an eyebrow as she looked at Vinyl and the machines behind her.

"Yeah," Vinyl said before flinching. "Er... I mean, yes, your highness."

"It is just Luna, and there is no need for formalities. Now, I would like to hear more about your creations."

"Well, I build and maintain my own equipment," Vinyl said, "as Octi here can tell you."

"Vinyl," Octavia groaned, "I have asked you, repeatedly, not to call me..." she let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, "Octi... or Tavi for that matter."

"Actually," Vinyl grinned again, "I believe your exact words were-"

"WHY" the gray mare shouted, cutting of the unicorn, "don't you explain to Luna what you have been working on."

"Alright, alright," Vinyl said. Her eyes were hidden behind her glasses, but it was safe to guess she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, like I said I build and maintain my own equipment. That includes sound and lighting. This," she pointed at the motion she was working on, "is actually an attempt to create a transportable, weaponized version of it."

"You are attempting to combat the changelings using light and sound?" Luna asked, looking up at the device.

"Yeah." Vinyl grinned. "Using it right, it could create headaches, dizziness, nausea, maybe even cause a pony to faint. Plus, the boss girl-"

"Twilight," Octavia stated.

"Yeah, her. Anyways, she told me about this book she read on bugs, and it mentioned something called a... uhm..."

"Locust."

"Right. Those. And according to her, the book said that if you hit him with the right sound, it totally disrupts their ability to fly and sense each other or something like that."

"So while changelings are not locusts," Luna said, "they are somewhat insectoid in appearance. If successful, the creatures would be disabled and inhibited without permanent damage to them nor to any ponies who may end up in the crossfire."

"Exactly," Vinyl almost shouted. "You seem to totally get this."

"Do you think you might be able to have a usable version by tomorrow?" Luna asked. "Preferably something that can be carried with a group of ponies in a hot air balloon?"

"Wow." Vinyl rubbed at the back of her head. "That's... that's kind of close. I don't think I can have it completely right, but I might be able to have something that we can work with."

"If not, do you think you can find some of your unique music which would be aggravating and distracting to others?"

"Oh, totally. I've even done stuff like that before."

"I suspected as much," Octavia said, narrowing her eyes at the grinning unicorn.

"Yes," Luna said. "You are quite skilled and capable." She looked at Octavia. "Thank you for introducing me to your partner."

"What?" Octavia shrieked, turning bright red in the face. "What...what makes you think that she and I are together?"

"I have seen such bickering in only two types of relationships," Luna explained. "I do not believe that you and she are siblings." She tilted her head. "Was I mistaken?"

"No," Vinyl said, snorting with laughter. "You are completely right. It's just that Octavia is a little uncomfortable about it because of how upper class and sophisticated she is, and I'm... well.. not."

Octavia let out a huff and looked away, her cheeks still a bright red.

"Wait a minute," Vinyl said, "What's going on?"