It began just like any normal day with Vinyl Scratch. She would wake up, say "Good Morning" to Octavia, eat breakfast with her, then go about her own day. But today, Octavia asked, "Vinyl, what do you plan on doing today?"
Tavi had been quite busy for the past week or so, so Vinyl was surprised.
" Umm... nothing too important. why?"
"I've some time to myself for awhile, possibly a few days." She smiled. "We could finally go do something just you and me for a change."
Vinyl liked the idea. It had been some time since the two got to do something together. Vinyl then sprang up,
"Yeah! Lets go out today! I could use sometime off from the studio."
"Really? I wasn't expecting that much of an exciting reaction," Octavia giggled to herself. They finished breakfast, then headed out.
While they were walking down the streets of Canterlot, Octavia became curious.
"Vinyl."
Vinyl seemed deep in thought.
"Vinyl..."
A moment later, Vinyl noticed Octavia calling to her.
"Oh, yes Tavi?"
"Are you okay? you seem a little... how do i put it... not like your normal self."
"I don't?"
Vinyl tried to make it seem like nothing was on her mind, but Octavia could tell she was thinking hard about something.
"Vinyl, you do know you can tell me anything you want."
"Of course I know. You know I trust you more than anypony else I know."
Octavia smiled. "That's good to know. But can you tell me what is on your mind?"
Vinyl looked down. "Can it wait? I'd rather enjoy the day with you then get into my dilemma here..."
Octavia nodded. "As long as you will talk to me about it later."
"Sure, Tavi," Vinyl said. Many hours passed. Octavia and Vinyl had quite the day. They were both relaxed and let off plenty of steam during their day out. As they drew closer to home, Vinyl had forgotten about what she was thinking so intently about.
As they opened the door to their home, Octavia asked again about Vinyl's thoughts.
"Oh, right. Well I was thinking how I can make more mixes. I'm a little low on ideas lately..."
Octavia said, "Well there are plenty of old records in the basement. you could go check in the boxes I suppose."
"Yeah. Good idea Tavi. I'll go see what i can find!"
"Well while you are doing that I will turn in for the night. See you in the morning Vinyl."
Vinyl waved as she headed down to the basement. She hit the light and quickly found the box of records. while she was rummaging, she came across plenty of records she knew of. But there was one record that caught her eye. One she hadn't seen before. It had a certain pattern, or etching in the face. The marking appeared to make a star. Ignoring what was on the face of the record, a glimmer of excitement came over her. She was wondering what could be possible with this "new" record she had come across. Even though she had absolutely no clue what could ever be on this strange disc, Vinyl couldn't help but want to listen to what was on it. But she would soon regret making that decision, and letting her curiosity get the better of her.
Vinyl had trouble finding the record player. But since she had spent about a half hour in the basement after Octavia had gone upstairs to her room, Vinyl figured she had fallen asleep by now, so she didn't bother thinking of asking her. Vinyl wouldn't usually spend so much time in the basement with just one record. And there were plenty of other records that she definitely hadn't listened to. But there was something about this specific record. She couldn't exactly put her hoof on it, but she was trying desperately to find the record player. Then just when she was about to try a different room, she spotted the old record player. A squee of joy burst from her. She blew the dust off of the player, as it obviously hadn't been used in a long time since Octavia had been so busy. Vinyl using her magic, pulled the player closer into the light in order to get a better look at it.
She didn't think that it had been so long since Octavia had used this old record player. Regardless, Vinyl made plenty of room around herself and the record player. She placed the strange record on the base and began playing it. It wasn't what she was expecting. It wasn't anything she had heard before. Not even something Octavia would listen to. Vinyl laid down on the carpeted floor of the basement and began to dose off. She did have a long day out after all. But the longer she listened, the sleepier she had become. Not that she found the record dull, just simply tired. As she slowly started to fall asleep, the record kept playing. The records "music" began to sound more... eerie. More evil. It was nothing like Vinyl had ever heard in her life. The sounds that came from the record started to distort. Making what sounded like a nails on a chalkboard type of sound. But still the record played. Trying as much as she could not to, Vinyl ended up falling asleep. Unaware of what she was about to see. Unknowing of what her dreams would bring to her mind.
Vinyl began to dream. But nothing like her dreams would ever consist of. The music of the record had made it into her dreams. Making everything very out of the ordinary. Vinyl became worried. She knew she was dreaming but everything seemed so real, so vivid. She wasn't in her home anymore though. she was by the fountain Canterlot royal gardens. She didn't know how or why she was there. She looked up and noticed the sky was a deep blood red, with thin yellow streaks that were very spaced between each streak, but what looked like stationary lightning. Vinyl for the first time in a long time, was very scared. she had no clue what was happening. She could feel her heart race. But she felt like she needed to explore more of the dream to try and get a better idea of what she was seeing.
As Vinyl had gone exploring this place, this "dream," things began turning much worse. She notice strange creatures, which resembled other ponies, lurking about. Vinyl had done her best to avoid most of them, and made her way down to the castle fairgrounds. Since she was very aware this was a dream, though nothing about it felt so. she began to ask questions to herself.
What is going on? There must be an explana--
She was cut off when she had looked up at the castle. On the banners were the the very same engraving on the record she played. She forgot about ever playing or seeing that record though. After seeing the pentagrams on the banners, she couldn't help but let a shocked look overcome her face. She completely lost the urge to explore her surroundings and just wanted to leave right then and there. But how could she? She immediately made a break for the castle gate. Anywhere she could go to get away from the castle was better than there. crashing through the gate, she felt safer. Still afraid, but safer. Then she noticed one of the creatures had spotted her, but not fully. She did her best to stay hidden. Watching it skulk around the place nearby, beads of sweat started to bead on her. She had no idea of knowing what would happen if she got spotted.
Just then, when she looked back to where it was, it was gone. Just plain gone. No trace or sight of it anywhere. Vinyl hadn't let her guard down. It could still be close by. Suddenly, she felt a weight drop down on her back, causing her to fall. She rolled over and saw it. Seeing it close up... she was speechless. The creature was a pony, but nothing other than the shape said so. It appeared to have its skin turned inside-out. She could see the blood inside its veins moving and dripping off of its body and legs onto the floor, and onto her. As she looked into its pitch-black eyes with yellow pupils, it looked down at her and called her name in the most horrifying, demonic voice.
'Viiiiinylll..."
Vinyl had cringed that it knew her name. It brought itself closer. As it did so, she felt very uneasy. Its eyes slowly started to melt out its sockets. It repeated her name again. Eyes completely gone. Then right there. It all went black.
"Vinyl? Vinyl! Wake up!"
Vinyl had looked up and saw Octavia standing over her.
"Vinyl are you okay?"
Octavia seemed very worried.
"Tavi..."
She hugged Vinyl.
"I didn't know what to do! I came down here and saw you lying on the floor, sweating and trying to run on your back. What happened? Is everything alright?"
Vinyl didn't really have an answer. She wasn't sure what happened. All she knew was she had a VERY messed up dream. As Octavia released her grip on Vinyl, she said,
"Can you tell me anything?"
Vinyl looked up at Octavia.
"I... I honestly don't know..."
A sudden flash of that demon pony replaced Octavia for a brief second, causing Vinyl to jump a little and move away from her.
"What ever is wrong? You're not afraid of me are you?"
That was one of the last things Octavia had wanted. She was very curious and worried about what was happening to her friend.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
Vinyl stopped. She was still trying to piece together what happened to her.
"Tavi can we leave this place? Like get out of the basement?"
"Of course."
Octavia seemed a little puzzled but once they were out of there, Vinyl looked somewhat better. Like she was starting to revert back to her old self slowly but surely.
I had... such a horrible dream," Vinyl began. "Everything looked like Hell had run through the whole city."
Octavia looked with surprised eyes.
"What? Why would you happen to dream of such a thing?"
"I really can't say... but my head is killing me..."
"When I came downstairs I saw that you had moved the record player and had a record in. But, the record wasn't playing. It did have various scratches and such though..."
After she said that, it all came right back into Vinyl's mind.
:"That record... Where did it come from?"
Vinyl had a very serious look on her face.
"I'm not sure. I really haven't seen such a record before. So I wouldn't be able to tell you..."
"The scratches... aren't scratches, Tavi. Those are there on purpose. Did you look close at it?"
"No," Octavia said. "I just removed it and dropped it into a box that I guess you were looking through."
Vinyl had a small sense of relief. But one thing didn't make sense... Why wasn't the record playing when Octavia came downstairs?
