Three Years Gone

Chapters

Chapter I: On the Last Three Years
Chapter II: Blood and Trust
Chapter III: The Coming Storm
Chapter IV: Out of Time
Chapter V: Truth and Consequences
Chapter VI: The Hard Part
Chapter VII: The Eclipse, Part One
Chapter VIII: The Eclipse, Part Two
Chapter IX: An Invisible Thread

Chapter I: On the Last Three Years

The two mares in the dressing room had both been a part of many performances in their lifetimes. Neither had done much acting before, in fact the two of them had only been in one play before, that was when they had met, all those years ago. It seemed like forever since then, a time of innocence and peace. But even moments had seemed like centuries over three years of suffering for one and a rollercoaster of emotion for the other. It all came to a close on this night, though it wasn’t a play like their previous acting experience. In truth, tonight was far from a work of fiction. That night would reveal their lives to the world in whole; the “acting” wasn’t acting as they acted it was, it was just pomp and circumstance for the culmination of the efforts of four individuals. “Are you ready for this?” the white mare asked. She had been unsure if her partner was really ready to take a step like this, revealing events so personal and tragic. “Of course I am, Vinyl. It’s time everypony knew the truth about all of this, that rumors be put to rest.” Octavia hugged Vinyl tightly, “I just wish it could have happened sooner.”

* * *

The crowd grew quiet as an old, unicorn stallion walked up to the microphone. As he looked out across the crowd he grew excited inside. He was glad to be sharing this story; perhaps he could finally regain some respect from his peers. In truth he wasn’t very old at all, but the events of the last three years might as well have aged him thirty years. His mane was grayed and his once beautiful, olive-colored coat had clearly received some punishment. It had all been worth it though, for this moment of triumph and for poor Octavia and Vinyl to finally be able to move on. He cleared his throat and spoke clearly to the crowd in the massive concert hall, made up of his fellow psychologists and news reporters. “My friends, my enemies, and all of you who aren’t even associated with me,” His voice had a distinct British accent to it, but it seemed friendly and inviting. “You may wonder why you have gathered here tonight, for this conference. Before I can tell you that I must warn you, this will not be a short presentation, we may be here until Celestia raises the sun and perhaps until it has set again. For my colleagues, you may wish to leave. For you reporters out there, you should stay; the story which has captivated many will finally be resolved and you don’t want to miss that.”

He waited to see if anypony would leave. He had expected some to do so considering past events, but none moved; all appeared interested in what he had to say. He readjusted his notes, which were just for effect, all that had happened was engraved into his brain, and stepped up to the microphone once more. “Three years ago I announced my retirement from my psychology practice, which was met with outcries from the community of psychologists in Equestria. ‘There are too few of us and you are the best’ or ‘Don’t be selfish with your talent’ you would say to me on the streets. Still, even today, I sense a tension among us, and I am good at sensing those kinds of things.” Some in the audience stirred, looking uncomfortable. They were likely remember some of the things they had said, things much worse that what he had quoted. “There has been a misunderstanding, I did not retire from the field of psychology; I retired from taking new patients. Three years ago I was presented with a case that needed my full attention. This case has been cracked wide open, and the pony I have been treating has been cured of her afflictions. So without any further ado, I, Erik Equineson, present my patient, Octavia Philharmonica and her partner, Vinyl Scratch.”

His audience was now captive as murmurs spread throughout the crowd. “Octavia?” “Did he say Octavia, as in the cellist?” Partner? Who is that white mare?” The two walked out across the stage and cameras flashed. They stood there next to each other, looking genuinely happy, and let the reporters have their time. It took a few moments for the chaos to die down and after it did Vinyl and Octavia strode down to their seats in the front of the massive room. Erik continued, “For those of you who need a refresh on Miss Philharmonica’s story, I will start at the beginning. Octavia was the first to earn her cutie mark in her class; she was exceptionally talented at the cello. In fact, that doesn’t express enough how beautiful her music sounded. Before she had completed her first year of regular schooling she had performed personally for Princess Celestia herself. She was a prodigy.

“Then, in her eighth year of schooling, shortly before she would begin a series of concerts, she stopped playing. Her concerts, some of which were scheduled over five years in advance, were cancelled. Equestria all questioned what had happened, but she never spoke of it. Every time somepony got close to her family they were escorted away by guards. She quickly became just like any other student, she blended in to the crowd and didn’t stand out. The media didn’t let it rest, and up until three years ago, pictures of her in public still surfaced. It was three years and four days ago that she came to me. In actuality she was brought to me by Vinyl, who I’m sure you still have many questions about.” The stallion took a full step back from the microphone to take a breath and gather his thoughts. Had anypony been close enough they would have seen the look in his eyes, one of sadness, one of regret, one of all of the terrible emotions that had been brought out for him. It seemed just like yesterday that everything had happened.

After a full minute he stepped back up, “I’m sorry in advance for any more pauses I may take. I only take them to look back on this story. While this may seem like a well put together show it only all came together a few hours ago. In fact, we only decided to present all of this to you two hours ago. I’m surprised as many of you are here as you are. Now let’s continue, shall we?

“When I first saw Octavia she appeared sad, distant, withdrawn, and strangely regretful. Vinyl asked for my help. I spent four days meeting with Octavia. I attempted a few spells on her, attempting to cure any imbalances that could cause depression. I had never before met a case I couldn’t solve within two days, I couldn’t believe it. I thought I may have been losing my touch, but I remember what happened on the fourth day so vividly; I still have nightmares about it…”

* * *

“How are you feeling today, Octavia?” Erik asked as he walked into the room. This was the first time she had stayed overnight here, but a spell such as the one he had cast the night before would require her to be supervised. She had slept soundly though and awoken at the time Vinyl had said she usually did. He didn’t quite understand her. Vinyl had said she was a famous DJ but he hadn’t ever heard of her. It wasn’t as though he had seen much of the night life but ‘famous’ implies that more ponies would know about her than just the punks that attended such establishments. What surprised him even more was that she was dating Octavia. Even though something was clearly wrong with the mare in front of him she still had class, so why would she date such an unrefined pony. Perhaps that was a symptom of her illness. Octavia had no response to his question, she didn’t even acknowledge him. “Octavia, are you alright?” He took a few steps closer to the bed she sat on the edge of.

There was no sign but the sudden flash of her eyes. She quickly jumped up, rushing at him. She knocked him to the floor, skillfully grabbing his pen out of the air. In that moment, she was truly afraid. She had just experienced a very real, visceral reaction. And she very much meant to kill the source of that terror, by any means necessary.

Chapter II: Blood and Trust

The mare sat down slowly in the back of the massive room, going unnoticed by the audience who seemed captivated by the old stallion. She’d heard this story before though, and thus hadn’t bothered to be on time. Perhaps she was just here for insurance; she didn’t want everypony to know her involvement in this. If they did know, she didn’t know how they would react. Weren’t things like this beneath her? Perhaps Octavia had reminded her of someone, maybe of herself. Besides all of that she was exhilarated, the disguise was working. It certainly wasn’t something she was used to but with help she was now an old pegasus stallion that fit in perfectly with the psychologists in the concert hall. But there were others in the hall, regular ponies that didn’t report the news or help those with problems. News had traveled fast and now there were ponies gathering outside from all over the city to see Octavia.

* * *

“Whoa, wait a minute here,” a young earth pony had spoken up from the second row of seats. “First off, how could she possibly hurt you with a pen? Second, does any of this really matter? Can’t you just skip to your diagnosis and treatment so that we can all go home?” Erik looked annoyed at the question, not because it was a stupid question but because everything had been going so smoothly and this stallion had interrupted the flow of things. He knew he would have to explain though, especially with the new members of the audience. Not many ponies had advanced degrees in pony psychology after all.

“First, a pen could do quite a bit of damage when shoved through a jugular vein or another of the important tubes in the neck. Secondly, and you should pay attention to this as I doubt you’ve reported on psychological discoveries before, all actions of a patient are important in the diagnosis of psychological problems in ponies. Any action, twitch, thought, or mumble could lead to extraordinary places. Since it appears we have many members of the general public present now and now that I’ve been made aware of the level of inexperience of some of the present reporters.” Erik stepped back to think. He’d taught classes before on general psychology but that had been to students over the course of weeks, months, even years. He would have to condense that into a few minutes, but he liked a challenge.

“Until about thirty years ago psychologists focused on chemicals and structures in a pony’s brain, looking for abnormalities and correcting them. This could be an enlarged area of the brain or a chemical that isn’t being produced. That changed when I entered school. In my third year of specialized practice I did a few experiments and in short discovered that none of that matters nearly as much as the magical element. We all, or at least most of us, know that everypony has magic of some sort. After I made this discovery I decided to test just how much magical imbalances affected ponies and the results were groundbreaking in the treatment of conditions.”

He stepped back from the microphone to take a breath and collect his thoughts. There was a bit of a twinkle in his eyes. He’d always loved teaching; this was far from a classroom setting though.

“There are different kinds of magical energies. Earth ponies have the least variety, pegasi have slightly more, unicorns have a massive amount, and alicorns are presumed to possess the most. Of course we couldn’t exactly examine royalty so there aren’t any exact measurements on alicorns. So, ignoring them for the sake of simplicity, unicorns have the most amount of control over their magic, they need to control their abilities to harness them. Pegasi showed a fairly low amount of control, but less was required because their talents came naturally. A few unicorns could, however, control their magic to perform extraordinary feats, with a lifetime of work. Earth ponies couldn’t control their abilities, but they came naturally and didn’t require any. As a result of this, unicorns with an imbalance in their energies would be able to control it fairly easily and their lives would hardly be interrupted except for an inability to perform certain spells. Pegasi with an imbalance would have greater issues and be more likely to experience other symptoms; they may be unable to control the weather or may even lose the ability to fly. We found that imbalances were most common in unicorns, they happened rarely in pegasi, and about one in every billion earth ponies may experience a natural imbalance. When earth ponies become imbalanced it is very dangerous because they can’t control it at all, and they are very likely to experience symptoms other than an interference with their magical abilities. These ranged from depression to psychosis to full blown schizophrenia.”

The audience seemed thoroughly confused which was good enough for Erik, even Vinyl and Octavia seemed to not understand it all. They had received quite the education since Octavia had returned to them.

Erik continued, “Octavia is an earth pony, which leads us to the next two years in our story. You see, it wasn’t for 18 months after I had met Octavia that work would begin on what would become her cure, and it would be another six before I would learn of such things. What happened before then is still important though…”

* * *

Erik wasn’t a fighter, he was a thinker. The blast that came from his horn surprised him just as much as the immediate feeling of nausea afterwards. He fought it though; this was no time for weakness. Octavia had been knocked upwards, into the ceiling leaving a large indent. She was clearly very hurt, and still fighting. Vinyl dashed into the room and surveyed the scene.

“What the hell happened?” She asked, appearing very angry.

“Be quite and do as I say,” Erik replied quickly. “Go into the next room over and open the third drawer. Grab everything in there and come back, quickly.”

Vinyl seemed suspicious but ran off anyway. Octavia wasn’t a fighter either, but she was still struggling regardless, despite the dangerous amount of blood she had already lost. As Erik started to stand he realized just how disoriented he was, the room was spinning, he couldn’t focus to do anything with his magic, and he felt completely drained. He started to crawl towards the now destroyed bed Octavia had spent the night on; underneath it was a sedative which he hoped would keep her from inuring herself, or anyone else, any more than she already had.

Vinyl came back into the room with her horn glowing, IV equipment floating behind her. “What are you doing?”

She asked, Erik was still far from reaching the bed and he imagined he didn’t look to be in very good condition. Octavia was starting to stand up now; blood was still flowing from a gash in her side and other, smaller cuts over her body. Nopony should be able to move with how hurt she was.

“Under the bed, there’s an injection syringe. Grab it and inject it into the muscle on her back, next to her shoulders.” Erik replied.

Vinyl wasn’t sure why she trusted this stallion but she quickly found the syringe and stepped toward Octavia. Octavia swung her hoof weakly at Vinyl but missed as she was clearly disoriented. Somehow Vinyl stuck the needle in the right place and pressed down on the plunger, injecting an opaque, yellow-green liquid into her partner.

That was easy, she thought. “Now what?”She asked, turning to Erik as she helped Octavia, who had gone limp almost immediately, to the floor.

“Now for the hard part. Do you know how to star an IV?” Erik seemed urgent, which made Vinyl start to feel nervous.

“When would I have ever learned that?” Vinyl replied. It seemed like a silly question, even to Erik. “Well, there’s a first time for everything. Use that tourniquet to tie off the lower half of her hoof from the upper half,” Erik said it almost as though it would be simple.

“Why do I have to do this? Wouldn’t it be safer if you did it?” Vinyl spat back.

“I can’t use my magic, something happened-“ Erik started to say.

“When you blasted my fillyfriend into the ceiling, I get it.” Vinyl was getting frustrated; if this was the best psychologist in Equestria then Octavia may never get better.

“Now isn’t the time argue, I had you inject her with an emergency sedative but if we don’t get her started on the antidote for it she’ll be dead in minutes.” As he said this a fire seemed to be sparked in Vinyl’s eyes.

“Why the hay would you do that?” It was as though every emotion she had ever felt had been converted to anger and came to the surface at this one moment. “I can’t do this! I’m a DJ, not a miracle worker, doc!”

Just as the tears started to come Erik walked over and smacked her. “Pull yourself together; we are not letting her die.”

Vinyl seemed to awaken from some sort of daze. Her horn glowed as she picked up the various things she would need to start the IV. Erik didn’t understand, he didn’t even say a word as she performed the procedure perfectly; almost too perfectly. Intravenous Therapy had just been invented a few years ago and it was far from perfected. It usually took three or four tries to start one but Vinyl, who had never even seen an IV started, performed perfectly…

* * *

“I think now would be an appropriate time to take a break. I’m terribly thirsty and I imagine that at least a few of you are too. I’ will return in five minutes.”

Erik stepped back from the microphone and walked off stage. It didn’t take long for everypony in the audience to start talking and it didn’t take much longer for reporters to surround Octavia and Vinyl and begin their bombardment of questions. Vinyl seemed to enjoy the flashes coming from the dozens of cameras; she had always loved attention though. Octavia, while she had enjoyed performing in the past, had to wonder, why they had to take so many pictures. If they kept up their pace they’d each have thousands by the end of the night.

Erik paced backstage, suddenly nervous. So far everything had gone perfectly but he still wondered about the end of the story. He had felt so strongly that they were doing the right thing but now he wondered, didn’t the public have a right to know? He took a sip from his glass and started to walk back out onto the stage.

The reporters began to settle back into their seats as Erik stepped back to the microphone once again. Vinyl and Octavia exchanged a look, almost as though someone had told a joke. Erik tapped on the mic with his hoof thrice to get everypony’s attention and almost immediately the talking died down.

“It was later that night that Vinyl and I finally got a chance to speak while Octavia rested,” Erik began. “She was, to put it bluntly, still pretty pissed off. She told me that in the morning she would take Octavia and leave and they would figure out what was wrong on their own. I couldn’t let that happen. I’d like to say that I knew something was seriously wrong and I desperately wanted to help but that wasn’t exactly it. I had never failed to help before and I didn’t want that record tarnished. I told Vinyl I was leaving my practice to work with Octavia full time because she needed professional help and I was the only one who could help her…”

* * *

“Ha! I’ve seen the ‘professional help’ you’ve given her already and I really don’t think she needs any more of that.” Vinyl replied.

It was true that Erik hadn’t exactly helped when he blasted Octavia but he didn’t see that happening again. “She attacked me,” he said. “Not that it was her fault. It’s just that I haven’t ever had to fight a patient before. Listen to me; if she has another episode like that someone could really get hurt. She needs a stable environment and therapy. You two can move in here and I’ll help her, free of charge.”

Vinyl looked at him suspiciously. “Why would you do that? If you’re leaving your practice and help us for free won’t you go broke?” she asked.

“Look around, Vinyl. Money is something I am not short on.” It was true; the home they were in was beautiful. The walls were hoof carved in such a way that it must have taken years to complete the entire complex. There were massive fireplaces in a few rooms and various suits of armor and other pieces of artwork throughout.

Vinyl thought of Octavia. It was just too much anymore, she loved her but life had become so stressful. Vinyl had to work, but she was afraid every time she left the home that the mare would burn the house down or cut herself or do some other terrible thing. “Alright, I guess we’re moving in.”

Things happened quickly after that; Vinyl and Octavia’s apartment was sold, all of their things were moved to Erik’s home, and the stress seemed to melt away. Every day Erik and Octavia would talk. For almost a year Octavia said nothing. Then one day she finally spoke.

“Why do you do that?” Octavia asked out of nowhere.

“It’s nice of you to join us, Octavia. I must ask what you’re referring to.” Erik seemed shocked.

“You spin your pen. Is it some sort of nervous tick or something along those lines?” Erik was taken off guard by the question. For a year he had tried to initiate conversation with her and all of a sudden she initiates a conversation with him.

“I’ve never actually thought about it. I guess psychologists never think about themselves in the way we do our patients,” Erik replied. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to talk about you?”

“That would depend on what you want to talk about, I suppose,” Octavia responded. Something had changed about her, she seemed more confident.

“Let’s start simple,” Erik wasn’t quite sure how to do that but he would have to try. “Can you tell me a little bit about you and Vinyl?” He mentally kicked himself immediately after asking.

“That isn’t exactly simple but we could talk about that,” Octavia perked up and there was a bit of a glisten in her eyes. “I suppose you want to know why we’re together, right. Why would a classy mare like me date someone so foalish and unrefined?”

Erik laughed. “I suppose I’ve wondered that. As long as you’re comfortable talking about it then go ahead.”

“I suppose it’s the whole ‘opposites attract’ thing,” Octavia was smiling. “We are completely different yet we love each other all the same. We met when we were in school, in our second year. Back then it was more of a rivalry; who was smarter or faster or who was most liked. That continued on for a couple of years. I forget what happened but some time in our fifth year we became friends, at least that’s what she’s told me. I can’t really remember things around that time very well.”

“You don’t remember? Can you remember anything about that time?” Erik had instantly slipped into detective mode; an opportunity had presented itself and he couldn’t let it get away.

“No. Trust me, I’ve tried but I can never remember anything from then up until my ninth of school.” Octavia started to get that usual sad look back in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, we’ve made quite a bit of progress today and that is something to be proud of,” Erik said. “Would you like to see Vinyl?”

Instantly Octavia perked up again. “I’d love that, thank you doctor.”

* * *

“Octavia and I would talk many times over the next year. She would occasionally go back to being sad or angry but those phases came less and less as we talked more. I tried many spells and other therapy methods but I could never get her to remember what happened during those years.” The audience seemed to be having mixed reactions. Erik recognized the look on his fellow psychologist’s faces. They were trying to figure out what had happened to Octavia, he doubted any of them would get it, though. The reporters were all furiously scribbling down every word he spoke, barely keeping up. The rest of the ponies packed into the now cramped concert hall where all focusing on him, trying to take in every word of the story. Everypony that is, except for one. The disguised pony in the back was focused on him for a different reason, although he did not notice, and that was to see if she could figure out what he was thinking.

She had heard of ponies in the past who could read minds, but it hadn’t been a simple task for any of them. She had to make sure though, that he wasn’t thinking of telling them all what had transpired in that forsaken dungeon. If he told of her involvement that was fine, but the events in that place could not be spoken of ever again.

------------------------------------------------------

Authors Notes:

I’ve been having fun writing this story so far and I hope that anyone who has read it has enjoyed it as well. I want to note that the story will get darker as it goes on. I hope I can maintain a word count of about 3000 for chapters from now on but there may be some shorter chapters.

Finally, I must ask, please comment. Tell me what you liked, tell me what you disliked, and tell me what I can do better. Even if the only message you want to convey is how terrible of a writer I am I want to hear- err… read it.

Until Next Chapter,

<3 Shae

Chapter III: The Coming Storm

Unknown Location, Present Day

Based off of her name you would have never guessed that Raincloud would have ever been in this situation. Even her cutie mark was a droplet of rain. It had always been obvious that she should become a member of the weather patrol but she wasn’t exactly one to adhere to destiny. She was a fairly small pony, at least she was smaller than anypony else her age, or those younger than her for that matter. She wasn’t the fastest flyer in her class at flight school but she was by far the most agile; on the obstacle course no one could catch her. She had taken plenty of self-defense classes for just such situations as these and had even excelled at them. Unfortunately, none of those things helped when pinned by a pony three times her size and weight.

She could only blame that cursed professor of hers. Perhaps that had to do with the apparent inability to take blame for anything but it actually was, at least partially, his fault. He knew that she was far too curious for her own good but mentioned illegal spells anyway. She had to think back to the day when this all started.

* * *

Canterlot, Eighteen Months Ago

It was a strangely cold night, Raincloud could see her breath. There was hardly a sound, not even from her as she snuck through the garden. A few leaves fell around her as she walked past a tree but she hardly noticed; she was focused on her goal: The Canterlot Archives. She spotted the open window and looked around to make sure nopony was looking. She waited three seconds and then jumped forward, spreading her wings, and took flight. She had gone over the flight dozens of times in her mind, not because it was difficult, it was literally straightforward, but so that she could look around to make sure no one saw her.

Just as she reached the window a beam of light fell over her body. She tensed as the bright light flood her eyes, and crashed into the bottom of the window, falling inside. Three guards dashed to her, surrounding her completely. She could have easily flown out had she not crashed; not that it was entirely avoidable. Raincloud had a long history with bright lights but that’s a story for a different time.

“Who are you? And what are you doing in the archives?” One of the guards asked.

“Is that how you treat all of the ladies? How rude, you didn’t even ask my name,” Raincloud replied. She didn’t feel she had to respect this guard at all and figured that they wouldn’t hurt her so she decided to be as sarcastic as possible.

“Well now, aren’t you just so smart?” The guard said back. He turned to the other guards. “Grab her, take her to the princess.”

“Sir, with all respect, couldn’t this wait for the morning? The princess needs her sleep too,” One of the other guards said.

“I think she’ll want to know about this. It isn’t every day that someone attempts to break into the archives,” The leader guard said. “That is, if we exclude Twilight.” He trotted off chuckling to himself.

As soon as he was gone the other guards let go. “I don’t suppose you’d mind walking, would you?” The one to Raincloud’s left said.

“I’m not that heavy, am I?” She said standing.

“Oh, no, miss. I’m sorry. I just- ah,” The guard blushed, stepping back a bit.

“I’m only kidding. I can’t fly, my wing is pretty busted up, so I’m not going to be escaping if that’s what you’re asking. Just lead the way,” She replied, gesturing in front of them.

The two guards led her down a long hallway lit only by the moonlight. She probably could have escaped if she wanted to but it wasn’t very often that one got an opportunity to speak with the leader of one’s land. They turned into yet another long hallway and approached a large doorway. The guard to her right put a hoof in front of her. “Let me go in first, to see if she’s even awake.”

It surprised Raincloud that the massive doors opened so easily. A moment later the doors creaked open again as the other guard motioned them inside. The room was at least one hundred meters tall and was another three hundred to the end. It was at the end that Princess Celestia stood, looking as elegant and strong as Raincloud had imagined ever since she was a little filly.

Raincloud reached the end and bowed as Celestia started to walk forward. “I hear that you broke into the archives; is that true?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, it’s true your majesty,” Raincloud responded.

“And why exactly did you do that?”

“Research your majesty. We don’t have a library in Ponyville so I had to come here.

Celestia thought for a moment. “What kind of research is so important that it brought you all that way from Ponyville to break in to the most secure gathering of information in all of Equestria?”

“My psychology professor mentioned something about illegal spells and I’m a bit too curious for my good your majesty. I had to see what kind of spells where potentially harmful enough that they had to be made illegal,” Raincloud stumbled through her explanation, speaking a bit too quickly.

“Please, call me Celestia, but tell the truth as well. What would a pegasus need with information on illegal spells? Are you a spy?” Celestia glared.

“I told you, princess. My psych professor, I just graduated by the way, told me something about illegal spells cropping up and I wanted to know more. He said something about blinding spells, mind control, and some other nasty stuff. I’m telling the truth!” Raincloud was genuinely afraid now.

Celestia bowed her head for another moment of thought. “Guard, you may go to the others, you all have the night off. Raincloud, come with me, there is something I must show you.”

The guard ran off and Celestia started walking down the long room, Raincloud following behind. They walked along the same corridors that the guards had led Raincloud down until they reached the window where she had crashed. To be honest, Raincloud had no idea where she would have begun looking for information on illegal spells; now perhaps she would find out. Celestia led her through another series of corridors, down a flight of stairs and through a doorway into a medium sized room with a wooden table in the middle and bookshelves on the walls.

“There are going to be very important events going on very soon. I’m going to have to pay attention to such things. It is fortunate that you came when you did because other, equally important events have been set in motion recently. Stay here, in the castle, and learn everything you can about all of the spells in the books in this room. On the day before the summer sun celebration I want you to come to me and I will further instruct you. I need to know I can trust you, Raincloud, because your task may determine the very fate of Equestria.” Celestia’s voice was shaky, as though she were afraid of something. But she was Celestia; she had nothing to fear, right?

“You can trust me, Celestia,” Raincloud said. In the past she hadn’t been very trustworthy, but this was somepony she had truly looked up to as a filly.

“I’ll see what I can do about setting up a library in Ponyville too. A student of mine will be there soon and I’m sure she would love the task,” Celestia smiled. “I’ll leave you to it, and if you need anything feel free to ask anyone. You are now a personal guest of mine in this castle.”

* * *

Canterlot Castle, Fifteen Months Ago

Raincloud had grown accustomed to the castle grounds. Every square inch was a piece of heaven. She had spent a lot of time in the towers, she loved being up high, reading the various books in the room Celestia had shown her. The Summer Sun Celebration was tomorrow which had given Raincloud just enough time to read through the entire collection. It was time to get her next set of orders from Celestia. She gathered her things and began possibly the last walk through the castle. Three months had gone by and she still noticed new features every day; she could have spent a year there and not have explored everywhere.

As Raincloud approached the familiar doors to Celestia’s room she heard a crash from inside. It took only a split second for Raincloud to react. She ran forward immediately, charging through the doors. “Princess, are you alright?”

Celestia was lying on the floor in a rather uncomfortable looking position. “Oh, yes Rain. I was just testing something out.” She said standing up, giving a forced laugh.

“Alright,” said Raincloud, a bit unsure. “I’ve finished up with my research and the Summer Sun Celebration is tomorrow. What is it you need me to do now?”

“I need you to return to Ponyville now. Pay attention to everything that happens around you and remember what you have learned. If anything suspicious happens, track down the source and stop it at all costs.” Celestia said, still seeming distracted.

“Suspicious, like what?” Raincloud knew something was up.

“Raincloud, over the last few months we have become good friends. Tomorrow, something will happen at the summer sun celebration but don’t be afraid; it will be taken care of. You will know what I mean when by suspicious when you see it,” Celestia started toward the door. “You’ll also find that there my student is working at a library there. Don’t mention that you know me but if you need any books there should be anything that you could possibly need there. Again, you’ll know where to look. I must be off now, there are preparations to be made for tomorrow.”

With that, Celestia was gone. Raincloud still had many questions, and for the first time in her life she was afraid. In three months she and the princess had had many talks and had become good friends and with almost no warning, no information, she was gone. Something was bothering the princess in a way that Raincloud hadn’t seen before. Raincloud hadn’t been sure of much in her life, but the one thing she was sure of now was that if the princess was scared, they all should be.

* * *

Raincloud’s Apartment, Ponyville, Fifteen Months ago

Six Hours after the Return of Princess Luna

It hadn’t taken Raincloud long to move in. It wasn’t as though she had had help, she just didn’t own very much. She sat down and thought for a moment. Her life had suddenly become so fast pace. She was used to speed but not like this. One minute she had been trying to steal secrets from a royal library, the next she was on a mission for the princess herself. Then, all of a sudden, the princess’s sister returns from a thousand-year imprisonment to rule Equestria and all she could do to help her friend was move into an apartment. She would have to make a note to stop by the castle to meet Luna some time.

* * *

Unknown Location, Present Day

The space she was in wasn’t the largest and that wasn’t good for Raincloud. She needed big spaces. It wasn’t exactly like she could just sit and wait. She, and most stallions she had met, thought of herself as a fairly attractive mare and she knew that the stallion in the room with her had had his eyes on her for a while. She couldn’t be sure what he would do when he got a hold of her but she had ideas. Vinyl, you better hurry up or I’m going to haunt you for the rest of your miserable life, she thought. The stallion leaped toward her.

* * *

Concert Hall, Manehattan, Present Day

“Vinyl, are you alright?” Octavia asked. She could tell something was wrong.

“I think I may have forgotten something,” Vinyl replied, her face morphing into an awkward grin. “I’ll be back in time for the big show, don’t worry.”

Vinyl stood, leaned over to kiss Octavia, and then hurried out the side door. That was strange, Octavia thought. She waited for a moment then walked up to the stage, signaling for Erik, who walked over quickly. “I have to go do something quickly.” Octavia said quietly as whispers came from the audience.

“Go? But you can’t just go. We’re kind of in the middle of something here!” Erik whispered back to her.

“Just stall, alright. I’ll be back,” Octavia said quickly and ran off to chase Vinyl.

In the back of the Concert Hall the mare disguised as a stallion stood, coming out a trance. She hurried out the back door, confused. Where am I? she thought, with terror coming into her eyes. The disguise faded slowly. Who am I? She forced her way through the gathered crowd and continued walking down the street. She stopped and laid down to rest as the memories came flowing back.

“Sister, what are you doing here? Stay there,” The figure had appeared above the mare and then ran off. “Guards, come quickly!”

Why had the figure called her sister? Who was she? It was too much to handle at the moment and the mare drifted into unconsciousness.

Inside the concert hall, Erik was trying to think of a way to waste time. Curse those two. Why do they always have to do something stupid in the middle of important things like this? He thought. “Alright, mares and gentlecolts, it appears there will be a slight delay in the proceedings. I’m supposed to be stalling but I’ve never been good at that. Oh well, don’t worry everypony, this story is about to go much, much deeper.”

--------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes

I really enjoyed writing this chapter but I'm not exactly sure how well I did :\

I'm just a bit afraid that the sudden skip to this new character is confusing. Anyway, please give me some feedback in the comments. I want to read it whether it's negative or positive (or neutral).

I hope you all enjoyed, though!

Until Next Time,

<3 Shae

Chapter IV: Out of Time

Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Philharmonica

Manehattan, Present day

“Don’t you dare move another inch, Vinyl!” Octavia shouted. “Where the hay do you think you’re going? This night is important to Erik and I; isn’t it important to you? I mean, I can’t-“

“Stop, Octavia,” Vinyl interrupted. “I’m sorry; I need to go help somepony.”

“Who could possibly need your help?”

“I’ll explain later. I promise I’ll be back before the end. Just go back to the concert hall and I’ll be back with her in a couple of hours.”

Octavia’s face grew warm at the word “her”. Vinyl started off again but Octavia ran up and grabbed her. “Who is this mare? Why can’t she get help from someone else? Explain yourself!”

“I’d love to Octavia, trust me, I really would. Right now, though, I need to go save my idiot niece from getting killed,” Vinyl said quickly, running off afterwards.

“N-niece? You have a sibling? Why am I just learning this now?” Octavia yelled after her. Why do I love her again? She thought. Well, clearly she doesn’t think I can be of any help. Octavia turned to return to the hall.

As she walked in the side door she heard Erik finishing up a story. “So after all of this time, the mare says to me, ‘I’m not her sister. I’m her coltfriend!’ Ah! There’s Octavia now, will you be staying for the rest of the show?” The audience laughed a bit. Erik looked as though he had lost a bit of his sanity.

Octavia nodded toward him and he continued. “Well, since we can expect that Vinyl will not be returning any time soon I’ll just continue-“A commotion from the back interrupted his speaking.

“The princess has been attacked!” Somepony shouted.

“Everypony stand back!” Shouted a large guard pony. “Octavia Philharmonica, Vinyl Scratch, and Erik Equineson, come with me immediately.”

A roar spread through the audience like wildfire and Erik looked at Octavia, confused. Octavia motioned toward the guard and they both reluctantly walked to him. “Where is Miss Scratch?” He asked.

“I have no idea; she left suddenly saying something about helping her niece.” Octavia said.

“Well then, we’ll just have to track her down. Come with me, quickly.” He motioned toward other guards who started to peel back the crowd

“Sir, where exactly are you taking us?” Erik asked.

“We’ll discuss that at the castle.” The guard replied

* * *

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle’s Home, Ponyville, Present Day

“Twilight! Are you home?” The shouting came from downstairs along with a loud banging on the door. For a moment Twilight had to think, but rushed to the door at the realization of who the voice belonged to.

“Vinyl, what the hay are you doing here at three in the morning?” Twilight asked, opening the door. “How did you get here, anyway? I thought you were in Manehattan.”

“That doesn’t matter right now,” Vinyl said urgently. “I need you to teleport me somewhere.”

“Teleport you? Couldn’t you have just used the transport you took from Manehattan? Even if you can’t, you’re a unicorn, teleport yourself.”

“I must have missed that day of class,” Vinyl said sarcastically, pulling an atlas from the bookshelf. She turned to a page and pointed. “There, we need to go there, now.”

Twilight looked at the spot where Vinyl pointed. “That’s the middle of nowhere. Why would I take you there?”

“Stop stalling!” Vinyl shouted. “Somepony’s life is at stake, now hurry up!”

Twilight looked at her a moment and saw genuine fear in her crimson eyes. Her horn glowed and in a flash they were teleported into the woods, a small, metal building in front of them. “You know how to fight, Twi?” Said Vinyl, running toward the door.

“I think that’s going to be left to-“ Twilight had followed Vinyl into the building, but the scene inside made her stop mid-sentence. Vinyl’s legs shook as she took it all in; the walls were covered in blood and at the center was the almost unrecognizable body of her niece.

Twilight dropped to the ground and threw up, surprised Vinyl didn’t react in a similar manner. Suddenly, as though she had gone insane, Vinyl burst into a maniacal torrent of laughter. What have I gotten myself into? Twilight thought.

* * *

Octavia Philharmonica and Erik Equineson

Canterlot Castle Courtyard, Present Day

Octavia and Erik continued following the guard as he led them through the castle. They hurried through a courtyard as pegasi took flight all around the castle, the civilians trying to get a peek at what was happening inside and the guards trying to keep them out of the air. They eventually reached a set of large doors, guarded by two guards on either side, which they were rushed through.

In front of them they saw Luna lying on a bed with Celestia next to her, clearly she had been crying. “Has there been any luck with tracking down Vinyl or Raincloud?” She was asking a tall, strong-looking pony.

“No ma’am.” The guard replied.

“And what of Twilight?”

“The team we sent to retrieve her and her friends reported back moments ago ma’am.”

“Good.”

“Ma’am, they couldn’t locate Twilight.”

Celestia’s head dropped at the words and the guard walked off to attend to other matters. Octavia walked forward slowly and sat on the other side of Luna. “Princess, please, tell us what is going on.”

“Octavia, we need to know where Vinyl is.” Celestia said, looking up with a new strength.

“I’m sorry, your majesty. She left shortly before this all happened. She said something about saving her niece’s life.” Octavia responded.

“You don’t know where she went? I guess we’ll just have to wait then.”

“Why do we have to wait for Vinyl? What are we even doing here?” Octavia wasn’t used being in emotionally stressing situations like this yet.

“My sister, Princess Luna, was placed under a mind control spell.” Celestia said, looking down at the mare on the bed. “Vinyl may be able to help us.”

“But how would Vinyl be able to help with mind control spells?” Octavia responded.

“Octavia, dear,” Erik cut in. “When you were still sick Vinyl and I had to do many things we may regret eventually, but this is not the time for that.”

“You see, Octavia,” Celestia started again. “There are very few ponies in this world that have learned of such things. Vinyl is one of them.”

Octavia ran her hoof through her mane. “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about and I’m tired. Is there somewhere I can rest?”

Celestia motioned to a guard. “Take Miss Philharmonica to her room, please.”

The guard walked over and Octavia stood and followed him off. As Octavia walked away Erik leaned in closer to Celestia. “Be honest with me, do you think Vinyl did this?” He whispered.

“Of course not, she couldn’t pull off a spell like that on Luna, but I do need her help. Do you know who this niece of hers is?” Celestia whispered back.

“I’ve never heard of her but if she’s anything like Vinyl she can only cause trouble.”

“I suppose so, now, down to business. I need to know everything with what happened with Octavia.”

* * *

Twilight Sparkle and Vinyl Scratch

Unknown Location in the Woods, Present Day

“What are you laughing about?” Twilight shouted at Vinyl. “This isn’t funny Vinyl, she’s dead.”

Vinyl’s horn glowed and Twilight reacted instantly, attempting to teleport out of the area. When she opened her eyes she found she was no longer in the room she’d been in before, it was an entirely different room, but Vinyl was still there. Vinyl winked at Twilight and then turned and walked forward to another door.

“W-w-what just h-happened?” Twilight stammered.

“Syv,” Vinyl said. “He’s very powerful and in the area. We need to get Raincloud and get out.”

“Raincloud? Why are we rescuing her? She’s a complete and total b-“

“She’s my niece and she has some very important information. I didn’t realize you knew her.” Vinyl looked back at Twilight. “Can you get this door open? Precision isn’t exactly my specialty.”

Twilight walked up to the door and her horn glowed. “I’ve seen your shows and you show quite a bit of precision there.”

“That’s just a lot of practice. Are you done, yet?”

“It’s locked, Vinyl. I can’t just unlock doors instantaneously. Now what the hay happened, there was a dead pony and blood, where did it all go?”

“That was an illusion from Syv. Dispersing illusions is easy after you’ve learned and it’s far from precise work.”

Twilight focused on the door for a moment, her horn glowing a bit brighter until there was a click. “Before we go in, would you mind telling me who this ‘Syv’ pony is?”

Vinyl glanced over at the door they had entered through. “He’s a unicorn who could easily kill us if he wanted. He’s toying with us so we need to hurry before he gets bored and does something extreme.”

Vinyl opened the door, revealing a long hallway with yet another door at the end. They heard a scream from behind the door and both dashed to the end of the corridor. “Why did you bring me with you again?” Twilight shouted at Vinyl over the scream.

“I needed a shield,” Vinyl said jokingly.

“This isn’t exactly a time to be cracking jokes,” Twilight responded.

Vinyl reached the door and didn’t both unlocking it, blasting it down with a burst of energy from her horn. Inside, a large, overly muscular stallion was creeping towards Raincloud, who was trapped in a corner. It didn’t take more than half of a second for Vinyl to blast him across the room. Raincloud looked up, eyes wide, and then suddenly burst out in laughter. “What took you so long, Aunt Vinny?”

“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t call me that,” Vinyl responded. “You might want to hurry up, I only knocked him out for a little bit.”

“Why don’t you just kill him?”

“You know that isn’t how we do things,” Vinyl glared at the young pegasus.

Raincloud stood up and walked toward Vinyl. “I don’t know why you treat me like I’m just a kid, we’re the same age, you know.”

Vinyl reached forward and gave her a hug. “I don’t remember me ever saying that I’m not just a kid too.”

“I see you brought her.” Raincloud said, finally noticing Twilight.

“You’re welcome for the rescue, can we leave now? Something doesn’t feel right about this place,” Twilight said, looking around the room.

“You can feel them too?” Raincloud asked. “It’s the energy of everypony who’s died here. This is their slaughterhouse.”

Twilight’s horn glowed, and, with a flash, they left that place for the last time.

* * *

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Erik Equineson

Canterlot Castle, Present Day

“It wasn’t long after the wedding, about a year ago, that I heard about a pegasus in Ponyville doing research on a few different spells, one of which interested me in particular. She was going by the name Raincloud, but I never believed it; it was hardly a name fitting of an investigator. I’m pretty sure her cutie mark was fake too, I mean, who goes against their cutie mark?” Erik said.

“You know Raincloud?” Celestia cut in, surprised by the connection.

“Apparently I should be asking you the same thing,” Erik replied.

“She was in Ponyville under my instruction,” Celestia explained.

“Well you certainly picked the best pony for the job. I think I still have bruises from the beating she gave me to get me to tell her why I was there,” Erik couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the encounter, regardless of how painful it had been.

“That wasn’t why I beat you,” a shout from behind Celestia. Erik and Celestia looked to see Raincloud, Vinyl, and Twilight standing there, looking around awkwardly.

“Well, would you mind telling me why you did?” Erik said.

“How did you get in here?” Celestia asked.

“I beat you because you were a strange stallion in my house,” Raincloud said, beaming at the chaos the palace had dissolved into. “Not many strangers show up to meet me under good circumstances.”

“How did they get in here?” A guard asked, walking into the room.

“What are you doing here Erik?” Vinyl asked. “Is Octavia here too?”

“Yeah, she’s here. I think you might want to talk to her,” Erik replied.

“Is somepony going to explain how you three bypassed a multilayer protection spell to teleport in here?” Celestia asked, clearly annoyed at being ignored.

“What protection spell, princess?” Twilight asked. “We teleported just outside of the castle first and then blinked in here. There was nothing protecting the castle.”

Celestia stared blankly at the three for a moment and then motioned a guard over. “Why is there no protection spell?”

“Princess, we applied those spells, multiple times. I saw them go up with my own two eyes,” the guard replied.

“Bring Twilight’s friends here immediately,” She commanded the guard, and he ran off. “Erik, Raincloud and Vinyl, explain to me everything that has happened in the last year, now.”

Erik took a deep breath and continued. “After Rain finished beating me I explained why I was there. I had heard she’d been studying illegal spells, one of which included a spell to block off memories or functions from being accessed by the brain. The symptoms matched Octavia perfectly.”

“I was suspicious at first,” Raincloud cut in. “I had been looking for someone who had experienced the effects of that spell to examine, it was almost too perfect. He brought me to see her and I knew almost instantly that someone had placed a mental block on her to make her forget something.”

“She explained to me that a spell like that would cause major imbalances in the energies throughout Octavia’s brain which caused all of her symptoms,” Erik finished

“Alright, that makes sense,” Celestia asked. “So if you found that out a year ago why was she just cured recently?”

“We didn’t know how to fix it,” Raincloud answered. “It’s a very complex spell and the block on Octavia’s memory was massive compared to anything on record. Nopony had ever been cured of a mental block before.”

“Well you obviously fixed it so how did it work?” Celestia cut in again.

“I worked with Octavia for about a month before it dawned on me,” Raincloud said. “The block was essentially just a mass of energy so if we poured enough of the conflicting energy into it we could cancel it out. It took another two months to determine the specific type of energy and how much of the opposite type we’d need.”

“They figured out that a very rare type of energy was needed,” Vinyl said.

“What type of energy was it? Why is it so rare?” Celestia continued to probe.

“It’s rare because it’s only found in very few ponies. It’s the type that only alicorns have.” Erik answered.

“Well, who helped you out with that? Not many alicorns are ready to help out in situations that complicated,” Celestia said.

Vinyl’s vision focused on the still sleeping Luna. “Your sister is incredible and I’m lucky to have met her. Not just because she saved Octavia but because the meeting was so unlikely in the first place.”

* * *

Vinyl Scratch

Club Nio, Manehattan, Eight Months Ago

“What can I get you to drink, miss?” The bartender asked in a slightly Indian accent.

“The strongest stuff you’ve got,” Vinyl stated.

The bartender turned around and reached for a bottle. “I take it you’ve had a rough night, then.”

“The last few years have been pretty difficult, actually. I’m doing a show here in a few minutes and I want all of the trouble to go away so I can enjoy myself,” Vinyl responded. “You don’t actually want to hear my sob story though, that’s just your job.”

“Generally that’s how it works,” he said, pouring himself a glass of the same drink he’d given Vinyl. “Not this time, though. Your eyes tell a story, and I want to hear it.”

“I only date mares,” Vinyl said flatly. The bartender quickly turned around and started washing glasses. Vinyl finished her drink and walked to her equipment to prepare for the show, when, just a few seconds before she was going to begin, a loud crash came from outside. I guess I’d better check that out, she thought. It’s not like anypony else in here is lucid enough to care. She set up a playlist of tracks and dashed outside.

There was nothing in the street in front of the club but the crash had definitely drawn attention. Vinyl quickly ran to the alley to the left and started to look. In the middle of the alley, among twisted metal from trash cans, was a dark blue mare. “Well this is a bit of a surprise,” Vinyl said looking the mare over. “Princess Luna, wake up, we need to get you out of here.”

The mare shook her head, coming out of a daze. “Where am I? I was flying and then all of a sudden I couldn’t fly anymore.”

“Can you fly now?” Vinyl asked.

“I fell at least five hundred meters; I may be immortal but I can still feel pain so I’m not going flying anywhere any time soon,” Luna replied, wincing as she shifted to get to her feet.

“Alright, we need to get you out of here. Not many ponies in this neighborhood like you or your sister,” Vinyl said, urging the princess on. “If the wrong pony finds you then you won’t last long.”

“I take it you aren’t the wrong pony then,” Luna said while standing up slowly.

“I ask Celestia for a miracle every night before I go to sleep,” Vinyl responded. “I have somewhere I can take you that will be safe.”

Vinyl crept around a corner slowly checking to see if anypony was around, then motioned to Luna to follow. “Where is this place you’re taking me?” She asked.

“It’s just outside the city here. I live there with my marefriend, the doctor who’s trying to help her, and my niece,” Vinyl answered, hurrying down the street while being careful to notice anypony who may be around. She heard voices coming from the next street and ducked into the closest ally.

“Octavia is your marefriend, right?” Luna asked.

“Who are you?” Vinyl turned around looking angrily at Luna. “I met Princess Luna at the wedding and you’re acting completely different from her. At the very least you’re acting much more modern.”

Luna sat down and looked sadly at the ground. “I’m trying Vinyl, I really am. It’s just that so much has changed. I suppose I should take ‘too modern’ as a compliment.”

Vinyl’s horn glowed and a veil appeared around Luna. “What are you doing Vinyl? It’s me, Luna!”

“I believe you now,” Vinyl said. “I had to make sure. I’ll explain that bit of magic later but now we need to get to somewhere safe.”

Vinyl peeked around the corner and then rushed between streets with Luna following closely.

* * *

Erik Equineson’s House, Manehattan, Twelve Hours Later

“Erik, Raincloud, get down here now! I need help!” Vinyl shouted.

“Vinyl, where the hay where you? I thought you were dead after going into that part of the city,” Raincloud’s voice came from upstairs.

“Get down here, now!” Vinyl shouted again.

Erik’s jaw dropped when he entered the room from his study. “Sweet Celestia, Vinyl!” He said in disbelief. “I know we need an alicorn to help Octavia but kidnapping a princess is going a bit too far.”

“An alicorn for Octavia,” Vinyl said, her voice trailing off. “Forget that, we need to get Luna fixed up and get her back to Canterlot immediately. It won’t be long before they send out the entire Royal Guard looking for her.”

Erik ran back into his study to grab a first aid kit just as Raincloud walked down the stairs. “I knew you were a sketchy pony, Vinyl, but kidnapping-“ She started to say.

“I didn’t kidnap her, now help me get her up onto that bed,” Vinyl interrupted. Raincloud rushed over and helped to lift Luna who had now fallen unconscious.

Erik came back and ran over to the bed. He took out a thermometer and started taking her temperature. “What happened last night, Vinyl?”

“I was about to start my show and then she fell five hundred meters into the ally next to me, I had to help her. We got chased a couple of blocks from the checkpoint. I forgot everything that happened after that, I just woke up in front of the house with a few aches. She’s worse off than me, though,” Vinyl explained.

“I’d agree. I’m almost certain she has a pretty nasty infection,” Erik said.

“She’ll just get better, right? She’s an immortal goddess,” Vinyl asked.

“The right infection could still kill her. Generally alicorns have very good immune systems but she spent a millennia on the moon; I can’t imagine how weak hers is,” Erik said. “We need to get her to Canterlot immediately.”

“We can’t exactly carry her there and I doubt anypony at the police station will believe us; we’d probably just get arrested for drug possession,” Raincloud replied.

“I have an idea,” Vinyl said. “Can you keep her stable for a couple of hours? I need to go to Ponyville.”

“We’ll do our best,” Erik confirmed.

* * *

Ponyville, One Hour and Forty-Four Minutes Later

“Twilight, open up; it’s an emergency!” Vinyl’s voice came from downstairs.

“I don’t have any alcohol, Vinyl!” Twilight shouted back. A moment later there was a loud explosion from downstairs and a plume of dust rose to the second floor. Twilight jumped out of bed and rushed downstairs.

“Why did you blast the door in?” She asked, looking around at the debris.

“You wouldn’t unlock it, now teleport us to my house in Manehattan,” Vinyl commanded.

“You just blasted my door down so please explain to me why in the name of Celestia I should take us there,” Twilight responded.

“Because a certain princess who spent time on the moon needs to be taken to Canterlot castle to be treated for a very nasty infection,” Vinyl said.

“You aren’t kidding, are you?” Twilight asked hopefully. Vinyl shook her head and Twilight teleported them immediately.

* * *

Vinyl Scratch, Raincloud, Twilight Sparkle, Erik Equineson, and Celestia

Canterlot Castle, Present Day

“That was you who helped her?” Celestia asked. “She said she could never remember the name of the one who helped her. Thank you, Vinyl.”

“She remembered, I just asked her not to tell anypony. I don’t need thanks,” Vinyl replied.

“Twilight!” A shout came from the doorway. Everypony looked over and saw Pinkie Pie jumping up and down excitedly. Pinkie skipped over to Twilight with her four other friends following, greeting in their various ways.

“Why were we brought here, Twi?” Applejack asked.

“Everypony outside is panicking and the animals are getting scared,” Fluttershy whispered.

“Who cares about that?” Rainbow Dash asked rhetorically. She flew into the air few feet and did a few flips and barrel rolls while continuing. “You should have seen it, Twilight. I performed the most awesome trick, ever! I was flying along and then-“

“Did anypony ever tell you that you remind them of a cat?” Raincloud interrupted, looking mischievously at Rainbow Dash.

“Raincloud?” Rainbow looked at her in disbelief. “It’s been a while! How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine, although I haven’t quite been able to love anyone the same after that night,” Raincloud said. Rainbow’s eyes grew wide and her face became a bright red as her excitement turned into an awkward grin.

“You know her, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Well a couple of years ago I was a bit curious and-“ A scream from behind them interrupted her response. Behind them Celestia was clutching her head in her hooves, screaming in apparent pain.

“Princess!” A guard shouted as many rushed into the room.

“Get away from me!” She shouted, blasting them away. Her wings opened and she blew a hole in the ceiling with a burst from her horn.

“No way,” Raincloud and Vinyl said simultaneously. They looked at each other and Raincloud continued. “It’s impossible, right? There’s no way they could have taken control of her.”

“If it wasn’t them then we’re in more trouble than before,” Vinyl said.

Celestia suddenly took flight and left the building via the ceiling, still screaming in pain. Everypony looked around in shock, unable to comprehend what happened. Suddenly, Luna awoke, gasping for breath. “What happened?” She asked.

-------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes

This was an interesting chapter for me to write because I completely deviated from the plan I had for this story at the end of Chapter Three. I've had everything planned out and right in the middle of the story I throw a ton of it out. It's better this way, though.

I don't have these chapters beta/pre-read so if you see anything you think may be a grammatical or spelling or any other kind of error please point it out to me. In addition I'd love to read any other comments on the story, be those positive or negative.

Until Next Time,

<3 Shae

Chapter V: Truth and Consequences

Canterlot Castle, Present Day

“This is not good,” Vinyl said, pacing back and forth nervously. “This is not good at all.”

Twilight walked up and shook her. “Calm down, Vinyl! Tell us what just happened.”

“Allow me,” Raincloud said. “Vinyl has been through enough. Celestia just got put under spell. I think the same happened to Luna, which is why she ended up in Manehattan. I think they were practicing on Luna or something like that.”

“You’re talking about mind control?” Twilight interjected. “How could they possibly do that? Celestia is far too powerful for something like that to work.”

“The question isn’t how, its why,” Erik said

“No,” Twilight said. “The question I am asking you is very much ‘How did anypony place Celestia under a mind control spell’.

Erik sighed and looked over at Vinyl. “There are nine of them.” He said.

“Don’t do this, Erik,” Vinyl said, glaring at him.

“Nine exceptionally powerful ponies,” He continued.

“Erik!” Vinyl shouted. “You’re opening Pandora’s Box here. If you do this, there is no going back, no end in sight.”

“Don’t you think I understand that?” He shouted back. “I was there too, Vinyl. I was with you all when it happened and hope every day that I can forget, but I can’t. It’s always there, in the back of my mind, like an itch that can’t be scratched. We don’t know what’s going to happen Vinyl, but I think it’s time we try something.”

Vinyl stared at him for a moment, fire in her eyes as she contemplated the years of events that had happened over four months. “I’ll be with Octavia. Explain everything to them and then we leave in an hour.” She said and then walked off into the castle.

The rest of them sat in deathly silence as their imaginations stretched to their limits, wondering as to what could have happened. Finally, Erik took a deep breath. “It all started to end four months ago…”

* * *

Vinyl, Erik, Raincloud, Octavia

Erik’s House, Manehattan, Four Months Ago

“Erik, Raincloud, come here, quickly!” Vinyl shouted as she came in the front door.

“How often do you have to yell at us, Vinyl?” Erik said as he came out of his study. “It seems you do it far too often.”

“This is kind of important,” Vinyl said.

“Hopefully more important than that watch from the cereal box,” Raincloud jived as she descended from the second floor.

“How many times do I have to say this? I was seven!” Vinyl responded. “Anyway, I got a letter back from Princess Luna and she’s coming today, in a couple of hours.”

Erik and Raincloud’s jaws dropped. “She’s coming today? But we haven’t even perfected the procedure yet!” Erik said.

“Well get to work then,” Vinyl said. “What can I do to help?”

A knock came from the front door and they all jumped. “Who could that possibly be?” Raincloud asked.

Vinyl walked over and opened the door. “Princess Luna?” She said awkwardly. “Um, I uh, didn’t expect you this early.”

The princess walked into the foyer. “I’m just not used to making the trip without being knocked out of the sky, I suppose,” She said jokingly. “I’m sorry if you aren’t quite ready yet, I have plenty of time and can wait all I need to.”

“Waiting won’t be necessary, your majesty,” Erik was still in shock, barely keeping calm. “We aren’t one hundred percent ready but we could take a crack at it if you want.”

“Sounds good,” Luna smiled. “I’m happy to repay the favor. That isn’t to imply that we won’t still keep in touch after today, I’m just happy helping out.”

Erik led them upstairs to a medium sized, square, metal room with Octavia inside, sleeping. “She’ll be in a medically induced coma while we perform the procedure. You’re going to need to focus on her brain and try to find the blockage, then, once you’ve found it, you need to pour as much of your energy into it as you can. Hopefully it will break the block and she’ll return to normal,” Erik explained.

“Is it safe?” Luna asked.

“Honestly it isn’t,” Erik said. “There is a risk of death for both of you; hers much higher than yours, but there’s no other way.”

Luna paused for a moment, thoughts racing through her mind. “Let’s do it.”

Erik flipped a leaver on the wall and chemicals started flowing into Octavia’s IV. After a moment the door opened and they all walked inside, Erik checked to be sure that Octavia was asleep. “Alright, focus; focus as much as you can. You need to get into her mind which is no easy feat but you can do it.”

Luna closed her eyes and her horn glowed. She suddenly tilted her head and took a step back. “It’s horrible, this feeling. It’s closing in, the loneliness.”

“Luna that is not you, it’s trying to defend itself, which means your close, keep going,” Erik said.

“Come on,” Vinyl said under her breath. “You can do it.”

Luna’s horn grew brighter and she took a couple of steps forward. “I can see it, the torment. This poor thing, why her?”

“Come on, Luna. Focus!” Erik circled around to the other side of the bed.

Suddenly, the glow around Luna’s horn became blindingly bright and pure energy flowed out of it, into Octavia. Suddenly, Octavia rose, floating in the air over the bed. Everypony in the room collapsed except Luna and Octavia. “You win, Princess,” A raspy voice left Octavia’s throat. “I’ve had my fun with her, now I’ll leave. Know this, The Nine, they come for you. The world will burn in their wake and the flesh of their victims shall rot on mountains bone. You, Princess, shall be their last hope, but you, you will perish with them.” Octavia collapsed onto the bed and they all fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

“Vinyl, I think she’s coming to!” A voice shouted. The name, it seemed so familiar. It was a nice name.

“How is she doing?” Another voice asked.

“She’s stable, brain activity is up. I think it worked.” The first voice replied.

The light was blinding. Everything had been so dark for so long but now, the darkness had been lifted and it was dawn for the first time. The first sight Octavia had when her eyes opened was the face of Vinyl watching over her. It took a month to catch Octavia up on all that had happened in the world.

* * *

Erik’s House, Manehattan, Three Months Ago

It was supposed to be a peaceful night, but the universe enjoys its cruel jokes. Vinyl’s eyes shot open as a blood-curdling scream came from Octavia’s room. She leapt out of her bed and rushed into the hallway where she met up with Erik and Raincloud. When they burst through the door into Octavia’s room they found her sitting, staring into space. “Octavia, are you alright?” Erik asked, gently.

“I saw them,” was her only response.

“Who did you see, Octavia?” Vinyl asked.

Octavia’s head shot up, her eyes pure white as though her soul had gone. “They live in the tower.” She said, and collapsed back into sleep.

The others exchanged looks, unsure of what had happened. “I’ll head over to Ponyville and see what Twilight can tell me,” Raincloud said, turning to leave.

“That isn’t exactly a good idea,” Vinyl told her. “She doesn’t exactly like you. Go to Canterlot and get Luna, she’ll be able to help.”

“Is a nightmare really worth disturbing one of the rulers of the entire land?” Raincloud asked.

“She said if anything weird happened to tell her immediately,” Erik said. “White eyes and the words she spoke aren’t exactly normal.”

Raincloud nodded and ran off. Vinyl turned to Octavia and touched her mane gently. “Why can’t we just have some peace for once?” She asked.

“Cheer up, Vinyl,” Erik returned. “At least we’ve gotten over the hard part; Octavia is back now.”

“I hope so,” Vinyl said, quietly.

* * *

Raincloud didn’t exactly hate the open air, she just preferred being in cover. She liked being able to weave in and out of the smallest spaces. That took longer though, and she needed to get to Canterlot as quickly as possible. Suddenly, it was as though there was a brick wall in front of her. She couldn’t see anything in front of her but she had crashed into something. She put her hoof out to feel it; it appeared to be round. All of the air left her lungs when she looked down. Among all of the trees and lakes was a stone tower with a distinct glow coming from inside.

There’s no way that I’m that lucky, Raincloud thought. I’d better get Princess Luna anyway. She took a wide arc around the tower and flew on to Canterlot faster than she had ever flown before

* * *

Vinyl awoke with Luna next to her, watching over her with a sad look in her eyes. She shook her head and looked away when she saw Vinyl open her eyes. “Good morning, Vinyl.”

“Good morning, Princess,” Vinyl said in response. “Is everything alright?”

“I was just thinking about somepony you remind me of,” Luna replied. “It’s nothing, really.”

“Okay,” Vinyl was didn’t quite believe her but she didn’t want to pry. “If you ever want to talk then just know I’m ready to listen.”

Luna laughed. “Wouldn’t it make a bit more sense for me to talk to the psychologist?” She asked looking over toward Erik who was engrossed in various books and maps.

“You’d think so,” Vinyl laughed too. “But you know how uptight and psychologist-like he gets when you talk to him.”

“Maybe we will talk sometime,” Luna said, a faint smile growing on her face. “I’d like that.”

“So has anything new happened since I went to sleep?” Vinyl asked, breaking a moment of silence.

“A lot has happened, actually,” Raincloud said, stepping into the room. “We know where the tower that Octavia mentioned is.”

“I’ve got it!” Erik shouted suddenly. “I know who they are!”

Vinyl tilted her head. “What are you talking about?”

“That tower that raincloud ran into is occupied by nine individuals,” Erik said. “I believe they are the same nine that Octavia mentioned after her mental block was broken. ‘The Nine’ are mentioned throughout history, although they aren’t always called that and the members have changed. They were a force for good for a long time but they went bad a few hundred years back.”

“How far back can you trace their existence?” Luna asked.

“The oldest writing discovered by scientists mentions them. They’re nine extraordinarily powerful unicorns and rarely alicorns. They go by title which is passed down. The leader is called ‘Fyrsta’, the second is called ‘Doi’, the third is called ‘Tre’, the fourth is called ‘Patru’, the fifth is called ‘Fem’, the sixth is called ‘Sase’ the Seventh is called ‘Syv’, the eighth is called ‘Opt’, and the ninth is called ‘Nio’. In addition they elect a sort of soldier to do their bidding whom they call ‘Soturi’.”

“What connection do they have to Octavia?” Raincloud wondered aloud.

“I don’t know but we do know where they live; we could just ask them,” Luna stated matter-of-factly.

“Somehow I doubt we’ll get in, given Rainclouds description of the tower’s defences.” Erik said

“I have an idea,” Vinyl looked up suddenly. “The night I found Luna I was supposed to do a show at a club called ‘Nio’. It isn’t a common name so we might want to check it out.”

Erik thought for a moment. “I don’t know what a thousands-of-years-old cult would be interested in a night club for but it might be worth a look. Vinyl, you go there with Raincloud. Luna and I will go to the tower and see if there’s a way in. We’ll meet back here at dinner time.”

They all nodded and set off for their destinations.

* * *

Vinyl Scratch and Raincloud

Club Nio, Manehattan, Three Months Ago

“Why do I always end up going to the seedy parts of town?” Raincloud asked ash she walked through the city with Vinyl. “I’ve never been sent to a fancy restaurant or gone on a cruise or anything like that.”

Vinyl laughed. “Maybe you should book a trip after this is all done.”

They paused at the door to Club Nio. “What are we looking for in here, anyway?”

Vinyl thought for a moment. “Let’s try talking to the owner.”

The first thing they noticed when they entered was that the club was empty. The second thing they noticed was an almost unbearable scent of decay. Raincloud staggered and vomited on the ground. “Something isn’t right here,” Vinyl started. “Other than the obvious, I mean. I’m getting this sudden feeling of, well, I’m not quite sure.”

“I know what you mean,” Raincloud concurred, steadying herself against a wall.

Vinyl walked forward tentatively, making sure to take in everything in the room. Every sight, sound, and taste was being processed for the sole process of detecting any traps. Suddenly, the doors behind them shut and locked, seemingly of their own accord, and an ominous laugh echoes throughout the room.

“Who’s there?” Vinyl asked with as much false confidence as she could muster.

“Don’t act like an idiot,” A voice came. “You should be able to put it together.”

“She was just being polite,” Raincloud said. “I’m assuming you’re Nio.”

“Assumptions are a dangerous thing, my dear,” The voice was a medium pitch and spoke at a fast pace with more air than necessary. “But yes, that is my name.”

“Well would we be correct in assuming that you won’t be showing your face,” Vinyl asked.

“Not today,” The voice replied. “Although one day I intend on revealing myself to you.”

Vinyl leaned back against a wall and breathed deeply, trying to calm down and take a hold of the situation. “There isn’t much hope of us getting out of here, is there?”

A moment passed. “One of you will die.”

Raincloud looked scared and Vinyl was afraid that she’d do something that would escalate things. “I’m just a bit curious,” Vinyl chose her words carefully. “Which one of us would you rather have die?”

“Vinyl,” The voice said, sounding a bit shaky. “One day I intend on having Raincloud as my queen.”

I small grin spread across Vinyl’s lips and she took a few steps forward until she was in the center of the room. “Raincloud, why don’t you come on over here?” She said, motioning to her. Raincloud started walking toward Vinyl, who continued speaking. “You see, I don’t think it would work out between you and her, Nio.”

“No!” The voice had entirely lost its calm. “We are destined to be together. They told me I could have her if I joined them!”

When Raincloud reached Vinyl, the white mare suddenly began dancing slowly, as though to song in her own head. Raincloud wasn’t sure what was going on, but she saw the look in Vinyl’s eyes and followed her lead. The two of them, in the center of the room, dancing to a song that only they could seemingly hear. “There are two reasons why it wouldn’t work out, Nio,” Vinyl started, her voice challenging his with a new found confidence. “The most important is that you’re a psychopath who works with very bad people. I know what you and your friends do, and none of it is good. She doesn’t date bad ponies.”

The voice was silent as they continued dancing. It seemed to Raincloud as though they were a world away. She’d never told Vinyl how she felt, it was just plain wrong, and she knew that. But in that moment she felt whole, the entire world felt right. Vinyl would never know, but what she did know is that there was a jealousy rising from the pit of the stomach of the stallion keeping them there. It was a jealousy that he wouldn’t be able to resist, it just need the right amount of time to ferment. “Stop!” The voice shouted. “Stop it right now, just don’t do that. Not with her! I should be there; I should be the one dancing with you!”

“Then come to her, Nio!” Vinyl shouted back. This has to work! “Show her you don’t need them or she will never love you.”

Nio screamed in apparent pain. “They need me though, without me the shield collapses and they will be vulnerable.” He screamed again, louder this time as though a war was being waged inside of him. “I love you, Raincloud!”

“Then let us go,” Raincloud said coolly. “Let me go so that we can stop them.”

The wait seemed like an eternity and then, with one last scream of pain, the doors opened.

* * *

Erik Equineson and Luna

The Tower, Near Canterlot, Three Months Ago

“We couldn’t have teleported closer to the tower?” Erik asked as they walked through the forest. It seemed like they had been walking for hours when it had only been a few minutes.

“It would have been too dangerous,” Luna explained. “The way Raincloud described the shield made it sound like it could have been a Sacarett’s Shield. About twelve hundred years ago an alicorn with the last name of Sacarett created a shield that distorted and cancelled unicorn and alicorn magic. If I’d teleported us closer we could have ended up anywhere and I would be able to teleport for a few days at least.”

“So is it safe to get close?” Erik asked, stepping around an unusually large tree.

“Oh yeah,” Luna said. “Perfectly safe. I’m going to try and see the exact makeup of the shield which should let me disable it and teleport out. It should also allow me to teleport in and out without it having any effect on me.”

The trees where growing larger as they got closer to the tower. “How far is it now?” Erik hadn’t done much exercising in his adult life and was already getting tired.

“It should be just a few more feet until we can see it,” Luna wasn’t completely sure. For all she knew the shielding could have changed. In fact, the tower may not even look like a tower anymore. It might even be one of the trees near them and they’d never be able to tell. She didn’t have time to mention any of that though, as they walked into a clearing with a massive tower rising above them, into the sky.

“Let’s see how close we can get,” Erik said, stepping forward with more bravery than he actually possessed.

Luna expected him to run into the shield but he just kept walking. “Wait a minute!” She exclaimed. “Where’s the shield?”

“I don’t know,” Erik said, still faking bravery. “But we still have a while before we’re supposed meet the others so we might as well go inside.”

Luna ran to catch up to him. “Stop,” She put a hoof in front of him. “I’ll go first.” She took a few tentative steps inside. The room contained a flight of spiral stairs going up with no apparent way to a lower floor. The room was barren except for a torch mounted on the side of the stairs.

“This doesn’t really look like the home base of a cult,” Erik commented. “Should we head up?”

Luna peered up the stairs, revealing more sets of stairs. “I’d rather go to a magic show,” She replied. “But there’s no discovery without risk, right?”

Erik took the lead this time, Luna following close behind. The second floor of the tower revealed nothing, the third continued the pattern. “How high does the tower go?” Erik asked.

“Likely just another three or four floors,” Luna answered. “It looks taller on the outside but that’s likely just another spell.”

They continued on to the fourth floor. It wasn’t until they reach the fifth floor that they encountered anything. When they reached the top of the stairs they found that the fifth floor was bigger. In fact, it was as though it was a building completely separate from the tower. There were actual hallways and rooms. The second thing that happened on the fifth floor was that it stopped being the fifth floor, or at least appeared to. The stairs behind them disappeared and the room changed from stone to metal. “Don’t be concerned,” A voice came. “I brought you here. I’ll save you the trouble of guessing; my name is Fyrsta, your master of ceremonies.”

“Well then, where are you Fyrsta?” Luna demanded. “I don’t see you anywhere!”

“Of course not,” Fyrsta said. “You aren’t in the Tower anymore. You’re in the slaughterhouse.”

“So you’re going to kill us, then?” Luna asked, already knowing the answer. Erik had nearly fainted at the word ‘slaughterhouse’ and was now frantically looking for a way out of the now enclosed room

“Not me,” Fyrsta answered in an annoyed tone. “Soturi will take care of that, Syv will oversee. I must get going now; I have the matter of adopting a new member.”

Something clicked in Luna’s mind. “Why do you need a new member?”

“If you must get an answer,” The voice was even more annoyed. “It’s because your friends killed Nio and we need someone to fill his spot in the cycle. You’re lucky to have gotten in, not many have seen this place. Any more questions?”

“Now, you can go and attend to your task,” Luna said. A hatch opened in the ceiling and a massive stallion fell into the room. The stallion was an earth pony, but resembled nopony that Luna or Erik had ever seen. His eyes were pure white and he seemed to be made up of only muscle. “What did you do?” Luna was shocked.

A new voice came into the room. “We gave him the ability to take what he wanted.”

“Are you Syv?” Erik asked, faking bravery once again.

“You just be quiet you scared little foal, and let the princess talk. I am Syv, the one who gets to oversee this guy here.”

“And this is Soturi?” Luna, once again, knew the answer.

“Of course,” The voice replied. “Lucky us that your friends killed Nio; We were fresh out of candidates for Soturi for when this guy died. Nio had so much he wanted so badly, he’ll be perfect.”

“We’re going to stop you,” Erik said.

“The cliché is killing me,” The voice responded sarcastically. “And didn’t I tell you not to talk?”

“What did you mean candidates?” Luna asked.

“We pick a dead pony that had something they strived for and reanimate them,” The voice explained as though it were obvious. “We give them strength and sap all self-control from them and then trick them into doing whatever we want. For example: Soturi, kill them both and I’ll get you that toy you wanted.”

“What stallion is motivated by a toy?” Luna asked, her voice sounding slightly less confident.

“Stallion? Who said anything about him being a stallion?” The voice asked rhetorically. “I found this lost foal that was looking for a Daring Do toy and killed him. It was so much fun, and so easy draining every last bit of his soul out of that body of his. It took a bit more magic than usual to beef him up, though.”

Luna fell backwards a step. “You monster,” Was all she could manage, her voice was shaking. She turned to the distorted colt. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry, but you can rest now.”

Luna lowered her horn at the chest of Soturi and fired a burst, a tear dropping from her eye. When she raised her head her eyes shot fully open. Soturi was still standing there, unfazed by the attack that would have felled even the strongest of dragons.

* * *

Vinyl Scratch and Raincloud

Erik’s House, Manehattan, Three Months Ago

Raincloud still wasn’t sure how she felt. It was awkward thinking of Vinyl as her aunt when they were the same age, but wasn’t it bad to actually want to be with her? She thought she had given up feelings like that months ago but lately she had had such urges. It wasn’t just that she was interested in Vinyl, she had actually thought about forcing herself on Vinyl, but could she really do that? She knew she could, it was just a matter of if it would come to that.

“Are you alright?” Vinyl asked, walking in with her mane still wet from her shower.

“I’m not sure,” Raincloud responded, staring at the floor. She looked up at Vinyl and faked happiness. “Where did you learn to dance like that?”

Vinyl laughed. “In schools down here they made us learn. Did I ever tell you that Octavia and I where the first two mares to dance together at our school?”

“How did that go?” Raincloud asked with a large grin on her face.

“Everypony got all ticked off about it,” Vinyl explained. Raincloud could almost see the memories in Vinyl’s crimson eyes. She had to resist another urge, and it was almost painful.

“It’s nice to know they were forward thinkers,” Raincloud remarked sarcastically. “What did you do?”

Vinyl burst out in laughter. “It was great. They told us we couldn’t dance together at the big end of the year party. So we decided to not dance. Instead we started making out. No one noticed at first but they everypony looked up to me when the music stopped. I’d forgotten to queue up some music. Well, we almost got kicked out but then Celestia walks in. Of course the school board tried to spin things their way but Celestia has this way of always getting the truth. When she found out what had actually happened she had a big laugh with everypony except the school board members and we got to have a real dance.”

“That’s nice,” Raincloud said softly. “Wait, why was Celestia there?”

“I never asked,” Vinyl replied. “Sorry, I kind of trailed off there.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Every cell in Raincloud’s body was crying out for her to do something with Vinyl, but none of the cells seemed to know what they wanted done. It was torture; Raincloud couldn’t resist any longer. “Vinyl,” She said.

“What is it?” Vinyl looked over at Raincloud. Raincloud reached forward and kissed Vinyl.

* * *

Erik Equineson and Luna

The Slaughterhouse, Three Months Ago

“I missed?” Luna asked. Nothing could have withstood that attack; it was strong enough to make an entirely new crater on her moon.

“Of course not,” Syv said. “You hit him square in the chest. He doesn’t feel pain, his blood isn’t his life-force, and your attacks will do nothing unless you can cut off his head.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to do that,” Luna replied fiercely.

Erik stepped in front of her. “No, you find a way out of here,” He said. “You aren’t a murderer and I won’t let you become one.”

“Oh, shut up,” Luna spat. “Chivalry is dead. He isn’t alive anymore, it’s torture to let him live.”

Erik turned to her. “How do you intend on killing him? You didn’t even make a scratch.”

“I’ve got more than one trick, Erik.” Luna pushed him out of the way. Her eyes and horn glowed brightly. “I’ve been around a while so I’ve learned my fair share of spells. There was always one I never wanted to learn but ‘Tia made me.”

Suddenly, everything around Luna stopped moving, sounds ceased to exist and everything lost its physical constraints. For that time, no objects existed, only particles, except for Luna. She wouldn’t have known though. “What just happened?”

Luna walked to Erik and circled him. He seemed whole, but he wasn’t moving, nothing was. It was like the world had frozen. “Did I do this?” Luna asked, regardless of the lack of somepony to answer her.

“No, princess,” the voice of a child came from behind her. “I did it.”

Luna turned around and saw a transparent, blue shaded foal standing in front of Soturi. “Who are you?”

“I don’t have a name anymore. They took it from me,” The foal said. “You have to stop them, princess! Before they do this to somepony else!”

“You’re Soturi,” Luna realized. “How did you do this?”

“They trapped me, princess. They took me in the middle of the day and they stole everything I was. Please, princess, let me go.”

“I don’t know how,” Luna said, sadly. “I was thinking an old spell would work, but I know it won’t”

The foal began to fade away. “I can’t hold it any longer, princess. You have to break their hold on my body!”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Luna asked frantically.

“You can do something your sister never could,” the foal said. “Form a connection.” And the colt was gone.

“What the hay?” Erik shouted from behind her. “You just skipped suddenly, like a few frames were missing from a movie.”

“Forget that, Erik,” Luna looked into Soturi’s eyes. “Syv, you can’t hold him captive anymore. I won’t allow it.”

Luna lowered herself into an offensive stance. “I’ve seen him; I know his pain and I can feel it now. You don’t get to control him anymore.” Luna’s horn and eyes glowed again, brighter now than before and she spoke with a strength which surpassed anything even she could have imagined. “Herald, you are released.” And everything went black.

Author's Notes

So if you read my blog post titled "The Journey" then you'd know I said this would be a short chapter. It's the longest one yet. Whatever

This is only really part one of this chapter but it's getting too long to post as one whole thing. I'll release the next part later today or tomorrow. That chapter will be chapter VI and will be about 2000-3000 words long.

After that I'm going to write chapters VII through IX and release those around the same weekend. That will happen eventually. After that, Three Years Gone will be done. As usual, please comment with your negative and positive and neutral reviews, and get ready for chapter VI because it's going to be good... I hope.

Until Next Time,

<3 Shae

Chapter VI: The Hard Part

Vinyl Scratch and Raincloud

Erik’s House, Manehattan, Three Months Ago

Vinyl blinked. “What are you doing?” She asked awkwardly.

“I love you, Vinyl,” Raincloud responded.

“That’s great and all, really it is, but I’m your aunt,” Vinyl blinked a few more times.

“Well inbreeding isn’t exactly an issue, now is it?” Raincloud asked rhetorically and leaned in to kiss Vinyl again.

Vinyl pushed her away gently. “Also, I have a marefriend.”

Raincloud looked away. “I know,” She said quietly. “I know and this is wrong and I’m sorry and-“

“Stop, it’s okay,” Vinyl cut in. “I know how you feel, but we can’t do this.”

“I know,” Raincloud shook her head. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this. Ever since I’ve met you I’ve felt this way. I thought I could suppress it but I guess not.”

Only a few seconds of silence passed but it seemed like forever. “I’ll be honest,” Vinyl said. “For a while there I was thinking of going after you, too.”

Raincloud looked up, tears in her eyes. Vinyl continued. “I love Octavia, though. I intend on marrying her soon, when everything is cleared up.”

“I still love you,” Raincloud said.

Vinyl breathed and closed her eyes. “That’s okay, Rain. One day you’ll find somepony you love more, though. Make sure you go after them.”

Raincloud was about to respond when Octavia entered the room. “Vinyl,” She said, swaying slowly to her right. “I saw them, we need to go help.”

Vinyl ran up to her and grabbed her. “Come sit down Octavia, it’s alright.” Vinyl laid Octavia down on a couch. “Who did you see, Octavia?”

“The doctor and the princess,” Octavia said slowly, breathing deeply and blinking her eyes more than usual.

A frantic knock came from the front door. “Go see who it is, Rain,” Vinyl said and turned back to Octavia. “Tavi, tell me exactly what you saw.”

“I saw Erik and Luna, they were fighting this stallion. I don’t know who it was but there was a flash and then everything was gone,” Octavia’s eyes were wide and her hooves were shaking.

“Vinyl!” Raincloud shouted, running into the room. “We’ve got to go, now! That was somepony from the police. He said there was a fire that started in the woods and its coming right for us.”

Vinyl looked down at the floor. “Something tells me we’ll be fine. How fast do you think we could get to that tower?”

“It would take a couple of hours, but that’s going the wrong way,” Raincloud said. “We need to leave, now.”

“Octavia, you’re coming with us,” Vinyl said. “Rain, you lead the way. We need to get to that tower as quickly as possible.”

Raincloud shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, Vinyl,” She looked up smiling. “But it sounds like you know what you’re doing.”

“That’s exactly why you should be scared,” Octavia said sarcastically.

Vinyl turned around. “Was that a joke?”

Octavia smiled. “I’m think I’m starting to get used to this. Allons-y, Raincloud!”

* * *

Unknown Location, Unknown Time Period

What happened? The last I remember is the light. But where am I now? Everything is dark. Am I dead?

No, I can feel, taste, and hear, I just can’t see. But what is there to feel? I can’t hear anything but I know that sound is there. Besides, I can’t die, can I? Something brushed against her chest, then her back, and then all over. Sensation was returning, but the only feeling was a crushing pain.

* * *

Vinyl, Octavia, and Raincloud

En Route to the Tower, Three Months Ago

“Vinyl, look at the smoke over there,” Octavia pointed at the sky, barely visible due to the density of the trees.

Vinyl tilted her head. “I see it, but why is it yellow?”

“I’ll fly up and check it out,” Raincloud leaped into the air, maneuvering skillfully through the trees and flying high into the air.

Octavia turned to Vinyl. “So who is she? You never told me.”

“She’s been doing some research for Celestia, which somehow led to her helping us out,” Vinyl explained, only telling half of the truth.

Raincloud circled back and landed next to Vinyl. “We might want to head over there. There’s a massive crater in the ground and I think there are ponies trapped in it.”

Vinyl and Octavia nodded and they started walking in the direction of the smoke.

* * *

How did I know that colt’s name?

There’s power in a name. But what power is it? Who’s power? Was it mine or was it his? Maybe neither. Perhaps there’s more to this world than I can see, feel, sense. What if something was looking out for me? But how am I to know. I am dying.

* * *

“Vinyl, you can’t go down there,” Octavia shouted. “It’s almost straight down and we can’t even see how deep it goes because of the smoke.”

“I have to,” Vinyl said. “I have a feeling that I need to be down there and I can’t just ignore that.”

“Then let me come with you!” Octavia had fear in her eyes. “Please, Vinyl, don’t leave me!”

“It’s too dangerous Octy,” Vinyl said, preparing to jump into the crater. “Raincloud, keep her here, if I’m not back in half an hour then get out of here.”

Raincloud nodded and grabbed Octavia. “She’ll be fine, Octy. She knows what she’s doing.” Raincloud wasn’t so sure. Vinyl jumped into the smoke, there one moment and gone the next, as though removed from the world entirely.

Vinyl fell for a small amount of time before landing in a pool of water. She swam out of it, spitting water out of her mouth, and looked around. “Hello? Is anyone there?” She shouted into the darkness.

“Vinyl?” A familiar voice called. “Vinyl, it’s me, Erik. I’m over here!”

Vinyl could barely make out his figure, waving just a few meters away. “Erik, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, but Luna is trapped under the rock over here.” He shouted back. “Get over here and help me dig!”

Vinyl ran over to him. “Get out of the way.”

* * *

The night is mine, so why does this darkness scare me? Perhaps it’s that my nights have beauty, but this place, this is hell.

A shout came, and then there was more sound. Then there was light. It wasn’t bright, but it was the absence of darkness. “Luna? Are you alright?” A voice asked.

“Ow,” Was the only response she could manage.

Another voice spoke. “She’s immortal but she can still feel pain. Luna, you should start to heal soon and you’ll get better. We need to get you out of that hole, this might hurt a bit.” And there was pain, but a different pain, a glorious type of pain. It was a pain not of despair anymore, but of hope. It didn’t take long for the pain to begin to fade and for strength to return.

“Luna, are you alright?” Vinyl asked.

Luna blinked. “I think so. I’m still a bit disoriented.”

“Can you get us to the surface?” Erik asked. Luna nodded and her horn glowed.

* * *

“You know, you really have trust issues, Octavia,” Raincloud said.

Octavia glared at her. “I’ll indulge your insanity; what do you mean?”

“You don’t actually believe anything Vinyl says. You think she’s all talk and can’t back it up at all,” Raincloud explained.

“How could you possibly know what I think?” Octavia turned away.

“You’ve been out of it a while, so maybe that’s what Vinyl was like before, but not anymore. She’s the most passionate, idiotic, and hard-working pony I know,” Raincloud said.

“If she’s hard-working then she’s definitely changed,” Octavia closed her eyes and smiled. “She hasn’t really changed though. She’s still the same idiot I fell in love with.”

A flash came from behind them. “That’s nice to know because I try so hard to be an idiot,” Vinyl said.

Octavia and Raincloud turned around. “I told you she’d do it.” Raincloud jumped up and ran to hug the trio, although secretly it was just an excuse to hug Vinyl.

“It took you long enough,” Octavia said, trying to hold back her emotions. She couldn’t though, not any longer. She ran to Vinyl and held her tightly. “Don’t you ever leave me again.”

“I won’t Octavia,” Vinyl smiled. “I promise.”

“I hate to interrupt this love festival,” Erik said. “But we really should get going.”

“Where are we going?” Raincloud asked.

“Back to the tower,” Luna answered. “I have some business to take care of there.”

Vinyl laughed sarcastically. “Are you kidding? If we go there now then we’ll be slaughtered. We need to regroup and give us all some time to cool off.”

The entire group of ponies looked at Luna, who finally relented with a bow of her head.

* * *

Vinyl, Octavia, Raincloud, Erik, and Luna

Near the Tower, Thirty-Six Hours Ago

“Are you sure you can get us past that shield, Luna?” Erik whispered.

“Of course I can,” She responded. “The question is more of what we’ll do when we get there. Is everypony ready?”

They all nodded. Luna crept forward and her horn glowed. There was a flare in front of her. “We’re in.” They all rushed forward into the tower and made it without difficulty. The tower hadn’t changed at all. The first four floors were still empty, and they knew the fifth floor would be different. It was different, but not different like before.

They entered the room and found themselves in a room that appeared to be taken from a dungeon. There were torches mounted on the walls and there was a door way in front of them. “Enter,” A voice came from the room ahead.

None of them wanted to go into the room, but they couldn’t resist. They all walked forward at the same speed and entered the room single file. Inside the room was a stallion, chained to the wall. He stared directly at Octavia. “You poor foal,” he whispered. “What did he do to you?”

“Explain yourself,” Luna commanded.

The stallion turned to her. “I have no name anymore. They call me Fyrsta. I know what you’re thinking, but I’ve suppressed him. Please, stop him now, while you can. Kill me.”

Vinyl walked up to him. “What do you know about Octavia?”

“I’m sorry, I really am,” He wheezed. “They made me do it.”

“What did they make you do?” Vinyl grabbed him and shook him.

“When we took that child’s soul to create Soturi, we found something unexpected. For years we’d tried to find a pony like him, one who could see. We had to do something, so we stuck his ability in another, a filly named Octavia. It was unstable in a child; we never should have done it.”

“Fyrsta, tell them what happened. Stop telling half-truths,” Luna looked straight through his eyes into his very soul.

“It made her kill them,” He whispered. “That cursed ability made her kill her entire family.”

Octavia’s eyes went white and she collapsed. Vinyl ran to her and held her. “What are you talking about, Fyrsta? I’ve seen them just recently at a party in Canterlot,” Luna said.

“I felt, responsible,” Fyrsta responded frantically. “I regained emotion because of it. I made her forget and made a pair of changelings to take their place.”

Everyone stared at him as if he had gone mad. “I can’t hold him back much longer. Please, kill me while you still can,” Fyrsta screamed out in pain. Luna lowered her horn at him and ended his life.

“We need to get out of here!” She yelled. “This chamber is starting to lose support and it’s going to collapse.”

“How can you tell?” Raincloud asked.

“There’s this sudden absence of energy, I can’t explain it,” Luna answered. “Is Octavia alright?”

At the sound of her name Octavia shot upright, her eyes were wide open, still pure white. “An eclipse is coming, a signal for the end of days.” She collapsed again.

“Can you get us all out of here, Luna?” Vinyl asked.

“I’m going to have to,” She said, and her horn glowed.

* * *

Canterlot Castle, Present Day

Erik looked around at the few of them that were there. He took a deep breath and continued. “Luna did some checking and Octavia’s parents were indeed changelings. We found that the memory block went so deep that Octavia would never remember killing her family, if she actually did.”

“So that’s it, then?” Twilight asked. “Their leader is dead and so they’re just done?”

Vinyl walked into the room with Octavia. “We thought so,” Vinyl said. “But only they could have taken control of Celestia like that.”

“Well, it looks like we’ll have to use the Elements to-“

“I’ll stop you right there,” Luna interrupted. “It won’t work. I’ve seen their magic and they’re way to strong. They’re just going to be an ever-present force in this world as far as I can tell.”

“What about Celestia?” Twilight asked, concern showing through her eyes.

A guard came running into the room shouting. “Everypony out, now!”

“What is it?” Luna asked.

“Part of the castle is melting, literally turning into lava, and it’s getting closer,” He ran out of the room without any more explanation.

Everypony exchanged looks and then ran outside. When they reached the courtyard they saw what the guard had meant. One of the towers of the castle was melting, turning into lava and flowing down upon the lower castle. Vinyl’s eyes had to work hard, but they saw it. There was a beam leading from the tower to the sun, or vice-versa. “I think I know why they took Celestia,” She said. Everypony looked at her. “And I think I know why Octavia saw an eclipse, too.”

Author's Notes

I've written about 7000 words in the last 48 hours, and that's a lot for me. I used to write short stories and I'd never have written this much back then. If I could get some support in the comments then that would be awesome. I'd even take someone yelling at me for grammar or spelling mistakes.

I'm gonna start working on Chapters VII, VIII, and IX soon. I'll write all of them and then release them over the same weekend because I want to make sure everything falls into place. I can't thank the people who read this story enough, it really does mean a lot to me.

Now that I think about it, this will probably be the second to last author's note for this story. I can feel it all coming together in my head, every piece of the story. It actually makes me a bit sad, but everything, good or bad or in between, must come to an end.

Until Next Time,

<3 Shae

Chapter VII: The Eclipse, Part One

Outside Canterlot, Present Day

The entire city was gone, either melted down or covered in lava. How many had died? Luna couldn’t wonder about that now, she had to worry about the rest of the kingdom. Vinyl walked up to her and whispered in her ear. “Princess, do you trust me?”

“Of course I do,” Luna whispered back. “Tell me what you know.”

“Octy figured it out too. They’re making Celestia focus the energy of the sun into a directed beam of heat,” Vinyl explained.

Luna looked at her. “How do we stop it?”

“We need to interrupt their spell and make them stop controlling her,” Vinyl looked nervous.

“What’s wrong?”

“The beam is getting hotter and it’s moving faster, at this rate we won’t last ten minutes.”

Luna ran a hoof through her mane and sighed deeply. “I’m assuming you have a plan.”

Vinyl smiled. “Octavia’s vision or dream or whatever it was. She saw an eclipse; you need to make that happen.”

Luna looked up at the ruined city. “How much time will that buy us?”

“Enough, I hope,” Vinyl didn’t seem very sure but Luna knew it would have to work. Vinyl turned to the others. “Alright everypony, listen close and do what I say. Raincloud and Rainbow Dash, fly over the forest and try to find a stone tower, come back as soon as you can find it.”

Rainbow Dash stepped up to her. “Why should we listen to you, anyway?”

“I’ve dealt with these ponies before, now hurry up! Time isn’t on our side here.”

Rainbow was unconvinced but took off anyway. Vinyl continued. “Twilight, you stick around here, we might need you. Erik and Octavia stay with me and the rest of you go and spread the word, get everypony as far away from Canterlot as possible but make sure you stay within Equestrian borders.”

They all ran off quickly to do as they were told. Vinyl turned to Luna. “Can you do it?”

Luna was looking up at the sun. “I think so, but it’s going to be difficult. The moon and the sun aren’t even in the sky at the same time, anything could happen.”

“You can do it, Luna,” Vinyl looked into the princess’s eyes. “I know you can.” Luna nodded and took flight. The moon quickly began to rise, but slowed as it neared its position between them and the sun. Wind blew through the trees around them as the moon struggled to the height of the sky. A shadow began to descend over Equestria, a shadow on which everypony’s life rested.

Twilight walked up behind Vinyl and tapped her on the shoulder. “So what’s the plan?”

Vinyl turned around and shrugged. “Do you have any ideas, Erik?”

Erik, Twilight and Octavia stared blankly at her. Octavia took a step forward. “You mean to tell me that you have no plan at all?”

Vinyl shook her head. “No, but Erik knows what we can do.”

Erik’s eyes grew wide and he took a couple of steps back. “What are you talking about? I have no bloody idea of what we can do!”

Vinyl laughed. “Think Erik! You really can’t see it, can you? They can replace members of their group, can’t they? But only when they die!

“What are you talking about, Vinyl? We have no evidence of that,” Erik said.

“Yes, we do!” Vinyl exclaimed. “They didn’t like their last Soturi, they wanted him gone but they couldn’t just replace him!”

“But Soturi isn’t a regular member of the group; he’s just a servant.”

“Based off of Luna’s encounter with Soturi and our encounter with Fyrsta they’re pretty similar. Besides, it’s the only chance we’ve got.”

“How does any of this help us?” Octavia asked.

“That’s the best part,” Vinyl was beaming now. “We can give them a taste of their own medicine! We get off a mental block on one or more of them and they won’t be able to do anything about it!”

“That’s brilliant, Vinyl!” Erik started to smile, but then his face contorted into a frown. “One problem though, from what I can tell they’ll have at least one alicorn in their group. An alicorn would be able to fix the block fairly easily.”

“Alicorns can cancel out blocks created by unicorn and alicorn magic, but not by earth pony magic.”

“Earth pony magic? Vinyl, an earth pony wouldn’t be able to create a block.”

“Of course not, but a pair of unicorns could. It’s just a theory, but I think if Twilight and I focus our energy through Octavia into one of the nine then we could create a block with earth pony energy,” Vinyl took in a breath and looked back at the others with a grin on her face.

Everyone just looked around at each other for about a minute and their gaze finally settled on Vinyl. “Was it really you who thought of that?” Octavia asked.

“I’m not as stupid as everypony thinks I am, Octy,” Vinyl replied.

Erik started laughing. “But you’re definitely just as loud. Now we just have to wait for our pegasi to find the tower.”

“Also,” Twilight cut in. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”

Vinyl motioned for Twilight to follow her and the two walked off to a distance. Erik trotted up to Octavia and the two stood watching the unicorns. “I can’t believe she figured that all out,” Octavia said.

“I can’t either,” Erik responded. “But she’s had to grow up a lot because of what happened to you.”

Octavia looked down at the ground sorrowfully. “Do you think I actually killed them?”

Erik put a hoof around her shoulder. “No, it wasn’t you,” He looked into her eyes. “You couldn’t do something like that, Octavia. It wasn’t you, it was the nine. They did all of this.”

Octavia turned her gaze away. “I think it’s starting to come back, Erik,” she said.

“That’s impossible, Octavia. Those memories are blocked off forever.”

Octavia turned to him and looked hard into his eyes. “Back at the castle I saw them. I saw my parents, coated with blood and bruises all over their bodies. I could feel the heat from the fireplace and I remember tasting their blood. I remember I deliberately drank their blood, Erik.”

“Listen to me, Octavia,” Erik shook her. “That was not you. You could have done nothing to fight it.”

“I know, Erik,” Octavia sighed. “I know.”

Twilight and Vinyl walked over to them, smiling. “She did it!” Vinyl exclaimed. “She actually managed to make me forget the first time I met her.”

“Well, my special talent is magic, after all,” Twilight said.

Vinyl turned to Octavia. “When we get in there, Octavia, you’ll just need to stand still.”

“That’s all?” Octavia wasn’t sure. “I don’t have to yell some catch phrase or anything like in the movies?”

“You can if you want, I guess,” Vinyl smiled. “Maybe we should go on vacation after this is all over, Octy.”

“I don’t think now is the time to discuss our personal plans, Vinyl”

“I guess so. I suppose we just have to wait now,” Vinyl leaned back against a tree as her mind drifted off.

* * *

Vinyl Scratch

Manehattan Elementary, Thirteen Years Ago

Vinyl’s heart was pumping blood perfectly in time with the beat of the music. This was her “quiet” time, although the sound coming through her headphones was far from quiet. She didn’t care that the school had called an assembly, she came here every day at this time and she wouldn’t let them spoil it. Somehow her hearing was impeccable, good enough to hear somepony approaching the room through the song she was mixing. Well, I guess the game’s up. I might as well give ‘em a show, she thought. She unplugged the headphones and the sound blasted through the speakers, filling the room.

Vinyl had expected a teacher to walk into the room, but instead a gray filly entered. Vinyl turned the volume down and stared at her. She looked to be rather posh which led Vinyl to wonder why she was here. “What is that noise?” The filly asked.

Vinyl took her glasses off, revealing her crimson eyes. “A new song I was working on,” Vinyl said, knowing what came next.

The filly blinked. “That was a song?”

“Oh, you’re so funny,” Vinyl retorted. “What are you doing here?”

The filly rolled her eyes. “For some reason my school wanted me to perform here. Apparently they think they’ll find talent in this place.”

Vinyl leaned back. “Well, I’m probably the most talented pony in this school!” She bragged.

“That’s unfortunate,” The filly replied looking around the room.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Vinyl asked.

“What is your name, dear?”

“Vinyl Scratch.”

“Well, Vinyl, you’re a DJ. All you do is push buttons, which isn’t a real talent,” The filly was clearly serious.

“And who do you think you are to say who’s talented?” Vinyl was getting angry.

The filly gave a short laugh. “You honestly don’t know? Well, I suppose they don’t have much culture in the alley you probably live in.”

Vinyl stared at her and gave a strangely menacing growl. “I am tired of ponies like you,” She shouted. “What makes you better? My parents died! Yeah, I’ll admit it, they’re dead! I don’t care though, it was their fault.”

“I’m sorry,” The filly stammered.

“No you aren’t!” Vinyl continued. “You think you’re so much better than everypony else when you’re just a spoiled brat.”

“Vinyl!” A shout came from the hallway. A teacher was standing there. “Not only did you miss the assembly but now you’re yelling at our guest? This is the last straw, get out!”

“Fine! I don’t need your stupid school!” Vinyl screamed and stormed out of the room.

The teacher turned to the filly. “I’m sorry about that, Octavia. She’s deeply troubled.”

“That passion,” Octavia said quietly. “That fire and soul. She’s like me. Go, stop her and don’t let her get away!” Octavia ran off in the direction of the auditorium.

* * *

“Alonso, just give her one chance,” Octavia pleaded.

The tall stallion turned to her. “If she got kicked out of this school what makes you think she’ll do any good in our school.

Octavia stared him in the eyes. “Give her one chance. If you don’t then I’m leaving your school.”

“Alright Octavia, but a DJ is going to have to be pretty impressive to get in.”

“No, stop it!” The screech came as Vinyl was dragged into the auditorium in front of everypony. Alonso looked down at Octavia with a stupid grin on his face.

Octavia ran up to Vinyl. “Listen, I don’t have much time to explain. I’m going to play the cello and you’re going to do whatever it is you do to the sound, live.”

Vinyl tilted her head. “There are two problems. First, we haven’t practiced at all. Second, I hate you.”

Octavia looked into her eyes. “I can see it inside of you, Vinyl. You’re driven and feel that you’re meant for something greater. This is your chance Vinyl, to do something great.”

Vinyl looked up at the foals in the seats, looking down at them. “I don’t know why but I get the feeling I should trust you. But something like this would require practice.”

“Not for us,” Octavia said. “We’re different.”

Vinyl looked at her for a second and then nodded. They ran up to their equipment, which had been placed at the center of the room. They looked at each other, and then Octavia began. The sounds of her electric cello carried throughout the room, untouched for a moment. Vinyl looked over her equipment, closed her eyes, and started doing what she did best. Alonso’s mouth dropped open when the sound coming through the speakers changed. Octavia’s beautiful, perfect playing had become something more, something he couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams.

Everypony in the auditorium listened as the story of the song unfolded. It told a story of lost hopes, desperate pleas and suffering being overcome and a story of the odds not mattering. It told the story of two musicians who hadn’t met, transcending expectations and entering into a relationship that neither understood nor could they question. Alonso’s plan differed from the universes, though. “Octavia, you played beautifully as usual,” His gaze rose to Vinyl. “As for you, I don’t quite think you’d fit in.”

* * *

Mareiott Hotel, Manehattan, Later That Night

“Alonso, that was the best I’ve ever performed,” Octavia complained. “Vinyl is amazing, why won’t you let her in?”

Alonso turned to Octavia. “I’ve had quite enough of your whining. She isn’t coming, that’s final.”

Octavia ran to the door of the hotel room. “Then I’ll go see my parents and they’ll make you let her in.”

Alonso grabbed Octavia and threw onto the bed. “You aren’t going anywhere, you brat! Day in and day out I have to deal with you complaining about something and I’ve had it with you—“

“Alonso,” a stern shout came from behind him.

Alonso spun around. “Headmaster? What are you doing here?”

“I came by to take Octavia to her parents because they happened to be in town today,” The headmaster stared at Alonso. “I’d recommend you run Alonso, because you never want me to catch you.”

Alonso dashed past the headmaster and out of the room. The headmaster walked up to Octavia. “I’m sorry Octavia, I really am. You won’t have to deal with him anymore.”

“Forget about that, headmaster,” Octavia didn’t even seem fazed by what had happened. “There’s a filly named Vinyl, we need to take her back with us!”

“I know about Vinyl,” the headmaster said. “She’s on her way back to the school as we speak. Now how about we go and see your parents.”

* * *

Rainbow Dash and Raincloud

South of Canterlot, Present Day

It would have made sense for the two pegasi to split up and cover more ground, but they both thought they were going to die regardless. Raincloud figured the odds of running into the tower again were fairly low and Rainbow Dash didn’t have any faith in Vinyl and so they had simply become ready to give up. Raincloud looked over and Rainbow. “It’s been a while,” She said.

They kept flying without another word and Raincloud wondered if Rainbow had heard her. She came out of a daze when Rainbow tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the tower. They smiled at each other and turned around, flying back as quickly as possible.

* * *

Vinyl, Octavia, Twilight and Erik

Present Day

Octavia walked slowly over to Vinyl. Something felt right about the day, regardless of what had happened. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought that she could relax soon. “What are you thinking about?” She asked Vinyl.

The white mare sighed deeply. “I was thinking about when we first met,” she said, looking up at Octavia. “I don’t understand something about us, Tavi.”

Octavia sat down next to her. “What don’t you understand?”

Vinyl closed her eyes and leaned back against the tree. “How did we get to this point?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Octavia tilted her head.

“I mean how did we get here?” Vinyl began. “You and I, the odd couple, we hardly fit each other and yet it’s like there’s some invisible thread tying us together. I almost get this feeling that our entire lives have been planned out in advance.”

“Really? Because sometimes I feel that way t—“ Octavia began but was cut off by their two pegasi returning.

Raincloud whispered something two Twilight who motioned them over. When everypony was together Twilight began. “They found the Tower. I can get us there but there will be no coming back once we’ve arrived. We either end this or we all die.”

Everypony looked at each other with confidence, all of them except Vinyl. She turned to Octavia. “We don’t have to do this, Octy. We can run away and live our life together if that’s what you want.”

Octavia stared back at her. “Trust me, Vinyl; I wouldn’t have things any other way.”

Vinyl tilted her head. “Really? That’s a strange fantasy.”

“Let’s go, Twi,” Octavia said. With a flash, they were gone.

Chapter VIII: The Eclipse, Part Two

Vinyl Scratch, Octavia Philharmonica, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Erik Equineson and Raincloud

The Tower, Present Day

The air was unusually cold. Perhaps it was an omen, but they couldn’t think of things like that now. Not one pony said a word to another as they walked into the tower. The path was familiar, they walked, one-by-one, up to the fifth floor. The fifth floor was larger and more ornate than ever before. The walls appeared to be made of gold and seemed to extend infinitely into the heavens. Massive stained glass panels where spread across the walls, depicting wars and peace, death and life. In the center of it all nine ponies stood, an orb of light held above them by an invisible force.

None of those things were the most shocking though. Behind the nine figures was the most breathtaking scene that had ever been. The sun and the moon, engaging in a dance of power, were only a few meters away. They all watched in horror as the moon shifted and began to move away; the eclipse was ending. Octavia moved into position in front of Vinyl and Twilight, whose horns glowed. A beam of energy left the two and joined at Octavia’s back. The nine turned and watching in horror as the beams left Octavia, joined, and traveled for the nearest alicorn.

The beam hit him square in the chest, but the result was not as expected. He began laughing, the energy traveling over his skin in arcs. “Your magic does not work here,” a low growl came from his body. He turned back and focused on the orb of light once again.

The six stared in horror as a beam left the sun and grew in intensity to the point where they had to look away. Behind them they heard a loud thud. Standing at the back of the room was a massive stallion whose soul had been taken. Vinyl and Raincloud said his name together. “Soturi.”

The stallion charged at them full speed. They all jumped out of the way but he caught Octavia on the side, creating a large gash. Her eyes went white and she fell unconscious almost immediately. I’ve got to do something! Erik thought. He looked at the orb of light suspended in the middle of the nine. Maybe if I can get to that I can stop all of this.

Erik ran forward, past Soturi, straight toward the center of the nine. He never made it, though, as an arc of lightning shot out from the orb. The bolt of electricity went straight through his head, creating a hole that could be seen directly through. It seemed as though it had worked, though. The orb dimmed and the moon shot up in front of the sun again. The nine bowed their heads and Soturi collapsed. The alicorn that had spoken before turned around. “Equestria will burn, that is my promise. You, however, will never see that promise fulfilled, any of you. You will die here.”

His horn glowed and an arc of lightning shot out, striking Vinyl and knocking her back with a hole opened in her chest. “It is truly unfortunate that you resisted. I actually thought you would stay out of the way. Poor Vinyl and Octavia, the two joined by fate, but at least they die together.”

He turned toward Rainbow Dash. “You, who wanted to join the Wonderbolts so much. That was all time wasted. If you had practiced a bit harder instead of settling for your natural talent you might just have lived.” Another arc shot out, burning Rainbow’s wings until they were no more.

“Twilight Sparkle, the faithful student,” He said, turning to the purple unicorn who was struggling to rise. “Don’t bother trying anymore. Your teacher has failed you, all of you. You can die with the knowledge that your friends actually save you in the end.” A lightning bolt struck Twilight on her horn and smaller bolts exited all over her body as she collapsed.

“And finally, Raincloud,” He said with a hint of sadness in his voice. “I’m almost sorry to have to kill you; I actually kind of enjoyed your antics. You tried so hard to be good but you were so clearly cut out for evil.” A final arc shot out from his horn, striking Raincloud on the head.

He turned and walked to rejoin the other eight. “Let us begin, once again.”

The orb rose and began to flicker with light again. Then, just as quickly as it had begun to grow brighter, it shattered into a million billion pieces. The alicorn’s eyes grew wide in shock. “You will pay for your crimes,” a voice came from above them.

The nine looked up to see Luna and Celestia descending. “You murdered thousands of innocents,” The spoke in unison. “You brought harm to our land and rose up against our throne. For thse things you will face punishment.”

The alicorn smirked. “I see you regained your free will. It’s a shame, but Equestria will burn without you.”

“No, it will be the nine of you that will burn eternally, bound by the chains of our ancestors,” The princess’ horns began to glow brightly and flashed with a blinding light which filled the entire room. When the flash cleared, the princesses saw what they could have never dreamed would happen. Their ace-in-the-hole that they had reserved for just such an occasion had failed. A spell which could never let Equestria down had done just that.

The nine spoke in unison, their voices filled with hatred. “We are too powerful for you. You two thought that love and friendship would be an invincible defense against forces such as us, but you were wrong and now you and all of your subjects pay the price.” A pillar of fire shot up from the center of the nine and enveloped Celestia and Luna, turning them to ash.

“Now, let’s do that to this entire land,” the alicorn said.

* * *

What is destiny? Is it an invisible hand of a greater good or is it an evolutionary instinct? Does God exist? Do angels watch over us? It is the ultimate secret; the one that no one lives to tell. What about those of us that nearly die? Are our visions of heaven or hell just the final synapses of a desperate organism or are we really getting a preview of the greater things to come?

Maybe there is no fate, no driving force. Perhaps nothing happens for a reason and it really is all random. There’s no denying the facts. We are made of particles, which make up chemicals and tissues which make up organs which make up us. Why is it, though, that these facts can’t be pointing to something greater? It is our nature to stride forward and bear witness to new, amazing things. It is our purpose in this universe to figure out as much as we can.

But the question still remains: Is there more?

I don’t believe destiny is an evolutionary imperative or a plan from something transentient.

I believe destiny is what we choose for ourselves. Now, out of all of the options, I choose life over death. I choose to fight on and fulfill my purpose so that others may fulfill theirs. Today I choose my destiny to be the savior of everyone I love.

* * *

“Let’s start with Ponyville,” the alicorn said. The nine’s horns all glowed brightly in different colors, but then gave out as though they no longer could harness their energy. In fact, they couldn’t anymore.

None of them noticed the figure rising behind them, covered in her own blood and the blood of those she held close. None of them saw the aura that surrounded her. All they saw, for the rest of eternity, was darkness.

And there was darkness. Darkness accompanied by the pain and suffering of everypony in Equestria. It was all there. All of the pain, sadness, joy, excitement, suspense, and every other emotion and feeling were there. And there were particles and chemicals. There was indescribable energy and things which could not be seen.

Above it all, there was an invisible thread.

Chapter IX: An Invisible Thread

Three Months Later

Canterlot Castle

It seemed impossible that everything had been rebuilt so quickly. When the word came that the horror was over the rebuilding began almost immediately. No one looked for the Princesses because they knew that they were alive. Somehow, they had come through fire into a brave new world. Almost all of them had. Of the ponies present, there was one casualty. He had been an interesting stallion that had studied the arts of pony psychology. If it hadn’t been for him the land would be gone.

Only Octavia remembered what had happened. It had been her choice, and she had chosen well. It would never be explained though, how any of them had survived. It didn’t need to be. After three months, none of them had forgotten a single detail of what had happened with the nine. Today, though, a choice was made that they thought would change that.

Octavia, Vinyl, and Raincloud sat with Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. A moment of silence passed just like all of the other silent moments had. It was Luna who spoke first. “It’s best that we forget what has happened.”

Vinyl’s eyes shot wide open. “What do you mean ‘forget’? How can we possibly forget?”

“Luna and I and going to let everyone forget today,” Celestia said. “It’s generally an illegal spell, but we are going to make everypony in Equestria forget that any of this business with the nine ever happened.”

“Almost everypony,” Luna cut in. She looked at the three in front of her. “We tried to make you three forget last night. We poured all of our energy into it but we couldn’t erase a single memory.”

Octavia held tightly onto Vinyl. “Why do we need to be here then?”

“We need to know you can keep the secret,” Celestia said. “What happened, all of the ponies who died, no one should have to remember this. We’re sorry we can’t make you forget.”

Octavia laughed softly. “I don’t think I’d have it any other way. I’ve had enough memories wiped for a lifetime.”

The princesses nodded and smiled. Their horns flared and visible energy shot out through Equestria, wiping the minds of every memory of what had happened. Three months were erased from history.

* * *

"It has been said that time heals all wounds. I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens, but it is never gone."

-Rose Kennedy

Author’s Notes for Three Years Gone

Why are we here? I ask myself this more than any human should. I’ve thought about it and thought about it but there’s no sensible answer.

I wrote Three Years Gone with no meaning in mind, but it developed meaning. It actually means something to me now. I’m not done, not by a long shot. I have many more stories to tell. This one, however, comes to a close.

The story of Vinyl and Octavia has been told far too much but that won’t stop me from putting in my two bits.

I want to thank everyone who liked the story, favorite the story, or who even gave it a chance. I’m far from deserving anyone being a fan of my work, but the idea that even one person liked this story is exciting to me. If you enjoyed this story then please click the “Watch” button next to my name so that you can read my other stories.

I hope I did this story justice.

Until Next Time,

<3 Shae

Now I leave you with the end of “Three Years Gone”

P.S. Make sure to check out the sequel story, Brave New World.

Vinyl and Octavia walked together along the Canterlot streets. They were one of very few who knew these streets were freshly completed. Vinyl spun around to face Octavia from the front. “So, Miss Philharmonica,” She began in the most regal sounding voice she could muster. “We’ve inherited the vast fortune of a psychologist and we’ve been working so hard lately. I think it’s about time we go on vacation.”

I’d love to, Miss Scratch,” Octavia responded. “But I have concerts I must perform at. It’s been a while since I’ve put on a show and I want to very badly.”

“Alright,” Vinyl rolled her eyes. “How about we go in three months to anywhere you want.”

Octavia nodded. “It sounds like a plan.” Vinyl hugged her tightly. “Oh come on, Vinyl. I think we have some things much more interesting we can do at home.”

* * *

Raincloud watched the two from high above in the clouds. A tear came to her eye but she wiped it away quickly and regained her composure. “One day, Vinyl,” she said to herself. “One day soon you’ll be all mine.” She turned and flew off to what used to be Erik's home to begin her new life.

* * *

The cool night air made her shiver as she flew through the sky. It seemed like forever since she had flown. It had been a while for a pegasus, though. The only time she had ever flown was when she was a little filly. A few months after she was born a terrible accident happened and her parents were told she would never fly again. The night air wasn’t nearly as bad as the damp streets had been. She would always wonder how a filly less than a year old had survived on her own in a place like Manehattan.

It wasn’t like she was used to having feeling in her wings. One moment she was no different from an earth pony and then suddenly she could feel again. She was still only a child, and now that she had been tempted she wanted more. There would have been no way for her to know that seeing what the blinking light below her was would be the worst mistake she could make.

With this, it begins.