I woke up covered in cold sweat. It took me a moment to remember where I was and, more importantly what happened last night. I’ve had that nightmare before. The problem is I don’t remember when. I don’t think I’ve ever had a more vivid dream, something was telling me it was something more. I probably shouldn’t be dwelling on it. There are bigger things to worry about right now.
I decided to look outside to see if we were in for another storm. The sky was clear leaving no sign of last night’s gale. The farmhouse was now nothing more than charcoal, broken glass and the twisted remains of Rachael’s DJ equipment. The cellar was the only place left relatively untouched by the inferno. However, there might be something in there that could be salvaged.
I opened the door and walked in. It was very dark in the cellar, the only source of light are beams of sunlight flowing through holes in the ceiling. There were some old camping supplies, sitting in a corner. They had been spared from the flames. Unfortunately there wasn’t all that much. All I found were 2 army-tents, an old propane lantern and a bottle of water filtration tablets. Our future became increasingly grim.
As I was pulling our now meager supplies out of the cellar, my ears picked up a sound coming from the barn.
“Hay Tavi, Where’d you go?” Asked Rachael
“I’m out here.” I said glumly, though loud enough for her to hear
She poked her head out of the barn and started prancing towards me. I swear I will never understand how she’s been able to remain so chipper through all of this.
She looked at me and mimicked the grimace I had on my face. I cocked an eyebrow, and she did the same, Though it was hard to tell with her sunglasses on.
“Stop it.” I said
“Stop it.” She repeated.
I knew she wasn’t going to stop this until I tried to trick her into saying something ridiculous I figured I might as well get it over with.
“My face looks like death warmed-over” I said.
“Well at least you have the courage to admit it” she replied smugly.
“I hate you” I muttered, glaring at her.
“I love you too Octavia.” She said smiling.
ooOOoo
When Jed woke up I told him about our situation. He shared my grim expression.
“You know, you guys really need to cheer up.” Said Rachael
“Our only safe haven got burned to the ground Vinyl! We have no food, no water, and no place to stay.” I said, not noticing that I was raising my voice, or that I had yet again called her Vinyl “How are we supposed to act?”
Her face looked shocked. She didn’t say anything else to us as we prepared to leave. I think I might have I overdid it with the yelling. I tried to console her but she stuck pair of headphones over her ears. I hope she came around soon… She wouldn’t listen to me but Jed was able to tell her our plan.
Our plan was simple enough. We were going to head to the nearest town which was about 50 miles away, about a day’s journey on hoof. The town was mostly abandoned with nothing but a few small corporate outlets, gas stations and families who were too stubborn to leave town after everyone left. Most of the empty buildings were still standing and would allow us to hide during the day. At night we would raid what we could from the stores, but we would only stay in the town for a few days before moving on.
Jed and Rachael talked for a few moments. I couldn’t make out what was being said but when they were finished Rachael was sobbing and Jed wasn’t speaking to me either. I felt truly horrible. I had let my temper get the better of me and I hurt my best friend. She had merely been trying to keep our spirits up and I had shouted at her. I knew how to make it up to her but we would have to reach town first.
We left the ranch in a very dismal mood. We had divided up the supplies between us so that everypony was carrying almost an equal amount of weight. As we traveled, every now and then I received a glare from the two ponies walking next to me. We had to stay on the road because there were canyon walls on either side of us. Fortunately, hardly anypony ever travels along this route.
We got about 35 miles out by the time the sun had begun to set. We dropped our packs on the side of the road, and Rachael used her magic to set up the tents. She immediately claimed one and Jed took the other. I was left to sleep outside that night, alone with my thoughts. I lit the lantern to stave off the cold. It wasn’t much but it would be enough.
ooOOoo
I saw nothing but darkness. I heard laughing, but it wasn’t cheerful. It was a cold, mocking laugh that chilled me to the bone.
“Who’s there?” I asked
“Poor, poor Octavia” Said an ethereal voice “She doesn’t even remember our names”
The darkness lifted and I was in a white room strapped to a table, Fiddlesticks and Vinyl Scratch appeared on a TV monitor.
They looked different from when I’d last seen them. Their colors had washed out to shades of grey.
“What happened to you?” I asked
“This is what we became when you drove us away.” Growled Vinyl “This is the result of your plan because you only thought of yourself”
“You let this happen to us and now it’s what’s gonna happen to you” said Fiddlesticks in sadistic glee
Tendrils of darkness began to wrap around my limbs, I felt a chill start to spread from my limbs to my body. A mirror appeared on the wall. What little color my gray body had was fading. My eyes, cutie mark and even my bowtie were now a only slightly darker shade of gray than my fur. Then the tendrils that bound me had disappeared and my color was restored. I looked around quizzically.
Everything around me was fading and the last thing I heard was a voice saying “Now now… it’s too early to put you under my influence Octavia. I want to see how far I can bend you before you break."