Vinyl heaved a sigh as she walked along, her legs getting tired. "Isn't there any way we can move around faster..." She complained as she stopped for a moment to stretch her knees. "Can't you just fly us around with your magic?" She asked Octavia.
"I don't want to waste my magic if I can avoid it. What happens if we get attacked and I'm out of energy?" Vinyl sighed again at her response. "Come on, it looks like we're almost there." She urged Vinyl on.
"Yea and it's looked that way for like fifteen minutes now." Vinyl continued to complain as she started walking again.
"Sore legs are a small price to pay if it means we can find a clue on how to fix all of this. Try and be more serious about this."
Vinyl grimaced at Octavia's comment. "I know it's a small price to pay, but we can rest if we get tired. I mean, we aren't running out of time or anything... seeing as how it doesn't appear to be around anymore."
Octavia stopped and turned to look at her. "And how do you know that? What if we ARE running on limited time? What happens if things are getting worse while we sit around resting? We can't see the effects of this all over Equestria, only what's in front of us. What if things are getting worse somewhere else?" She looked angrily at Vinyl, apparently expecting an answer.
"Do we even know if we're still IN Equestria? I'm pretty sure that wasn't Manehattan we were at before, and I'd never seen the town before that. And if that's not enough, then how about the fact that we haven't seen so much as another pony, frozen or not, ever since we met at that town." Vinyl countered. "Look around! We haven't seen ANYTHING except fields, trees, and this damn road!" Vinyl kicked at the ground.
"And that makes our situation any less dire? Even if we aren't in Equestria, that doesn't mean we know Equestria is okay, or that we aren't moving on borrowed time." Octavia argued before turning back around and walking again.
Vinyl sighed for the third time in the past few minutes. "The discussion isn't over just because you walk away you know!" She called.
"Well then I refuse to take part in the rest of it." Octavia replied coldly, not slowing her pace. Vinyl shook her head before walking after her, making sure to keep some distance between them.
Several minutes passed in silence, tension still lingering in the air. After a while however, Vinyl spoke up again. "I'm sorry okay? I'm just still trying to wrap my head around all this and you seem like you have it all figured out already."
This time Octavia was the one to shake her head. "It's okay. Trust me, I have no more of an idea of what's going on than you do. What I DO know is that we can't just sit around and not do anything. If we do that then we'll keep getting attacked and eventually we'll probably be killed... or maybe worse."
"But we haven't even seen another monster ever since Manehattan... and before that it was only in that town. So maybe they only come out in places where buildings are." Vinyl tried to reason.
"I already told you. I was attacked on the road before I got to the town. Maybe you got lucky. Maybe they only target magic which means they come after me. I'm not sure why they're attacking us, but I DEFINITELY know that they aren't limited to appearing around buildings."
Vinyl had no response. While she could just chalk Octavia's story up to lying, there was no reason for her to do so. Even if there was, Octavia didn't seem like the kind of pony to tell a lie. To Vinyl she came across as more of a "hit you with harsh truth even if you're down and out, simply because it was the truth" kind of pony. They continued on in silence until finally they both came to a stop and looked up ahead.
"Well... it looks like we're here." Octavia said, taking a deep breath.
----------------------
Vinyl and Octavia stood outside the ruins, taking in the sight of the enormous structures before them. They definitely made up a castle at some point in time, the walls and stones being much larger now that they saw them up close. Vinyl laughed nervously. "Here I thought it looked big from far away... You sure about this?" she asked the mare beside her. Octavia responded with her usual silent nod before walking inside. Vinyl sighed and followed her, looking around cautiously.
Walking into what they assumed was the main hall, the two ponies looked about their surroundings. The interior seemed to be in better shape than the exterior and some furnishings still adorned the room. There was a large staircase that split to the left and right at the top along with two doors on either side of the ground floor. Vinyl scratched at her horn, the slight pain still bothering her. Walking further into the room, she finally realized just how big the hall really was.
Vinyl sighed. "You aren't going to say we should split up, are you?" she asked Octavia, looking up at the ceiling that she couldn't see due to the darkness.
"Absolutely not." was the answer. With a sigh of relief Vinyl took a few cautious steps up the staircase so as to make sure it wouldn't fall out from under them. Looking back behind her she was surprised to find that Octavia hadn't moved an inch. "Well, are you coming?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Octavia swallowed audibly before giving her usual nod and following up the stairs. Vinyl had taken notice of this but decided it was best to leave it be for now. "So... right or left?" she asked, looking to either side once they reached the top. Octavia stayed silent as she thought for a moment before apparently deciding on left, walking up the next set of steps without a word. Vinyl continued to take note of her odd behavior as she followed behind.
Finding themselves in a long hallway with a few doors here and there on either side, Vinyl squinted her eyes. "Geez, wasn't it dark enough already outside?" she spoke up, walking slowly to make sure she didn't trip over something which she couldn't see. There was no response from Octavia though. She then attempted to open a few of the doors but none of them seemed to budge. With a huff of annoyance, she scratched at her horn again, harder this time. "Geez, why are you starting to hurt again... you were fine enough ever since Manehattan." she spoke to herself before trotting back up to Octavia who hadn't stopped walking.
They continued walking for a few moments before Vinyl bumped into the gray mare who had apparently come to a halt in front of her without warning. "Woah! Mind telling me before you do that?... Octavia?"
"This way." Octavia said suddenly, turning and walking down another hallway to their right which Vinyl hadn't noticed.
"Hey! Wait up!" Vinyl called out, following after her. "What's going on? You've been acting weird since we came in here." Vinyl finally asked, unable to let it slide any longer. After not receiving any response, she pushed further. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" she tried to get the gray pony's attention, getting annoyed when she still received no response. Having had enough of being ignored, she trotted ahead and stopped in front of Octavia.
"HEY! Hold on a second!" She commanded, blocking Octavia's path. The other mare stopped but still refused to say anything, instead staring at Vinyl coldly. "What's your problem?! Why are you ignoring me? Did I piss you off again somehow? And how do you know this is the right way? At least talk to me. You kno-" Vinyl stopped when she saw an orb of light appearing at Octavia's side. "Woah, woah, woah! What are you doing!" She dropped to the ground just as the orb moved. Instead of being launched at her however, it crashed into the wall to their right. After the dust cleared and Vinyl managed to stop coughing, she saw a hole and staircase leading downwards into darkness where the wall used to be.
Octavia looked at her for a moment before saying "let's go." and beginning her descent down the stairs, a small orb of purple light clearing the darkness in front of her. Vinyl looked on in disbelief for a moment before following behind.
"What the hell was that all about?!" She demanded as she caught up with Octavia.
"I was trying to focus." Was the quick response.
"Focus?! That's your response after ignoring me and nearly blasting my head off?!"
"You weren't in any danger, and yes that's my response. I've had this feeling since we entered this place. Like my magic is pulling me in a certain direction. But I have to focus or else I won't know which way to go."
"Well you could have said that earlier!" Vinyl complained, still upset at Octavia's behavior. The gray mare just rolled her eyes and kept going, earning a glare from Vinyl. As they reached the bottom of the staircase, they found themselves at another pair of hallways to the left and right. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a few moments, Octavia decided on right. With a "tch" Vinyl followed her.
After a few more minutes of walking, Octavia came to a stop and turned to face a door on their right side. With another deep breath to focus herself, she pushed the door open cautiously. Taking a few short steps in, she motioned for Vinyl to join her before walking towards a bookshelf at the other end of the room.
Looking around, Vinyl saw a number of very old, torn and ragged books scattered across the floor as well as a large desk on the left side of the room. "So what are we doing here?" She asked, trying her hardest to ignore the seemingly growing pain she felt in her horn.
After a moment, Octavia looked back at her and responded. "This is where the magic was guiding me. There's something in this room somewhere, but even if I try to focus I can't figure out where. So I guess we just have to find it the old fashioned way."
"Well that sure is helpful." Vinyl said sarcastically as she picked a book up off the floor before dropping it with a thud.
"We could do without the attitude." Octavia commented, looking through the bookshelf for whatever it they were supposed to find.
Vinyl scoffed. "You're one to talk. Five seconds and you could've explained what we were doing. But instead you ignored me and left me thinking you were possessed or something while I thought we were walking around blindly!" Vinyl responded angrily.
Octavia sighed. "As I said, I had to focus or I might've lost the feeling. Do you really think I would have led us here if I didn't think it was safe? And if something DID happen then I could've just protected us with my magic."
"Well hooray for you, you can still use your magic. I bet you feel so strong and important." Vinyl said, her words practically dripping with venom now.
Octavia turned around, a confused look on her face. "Why are you getting so angry? If it really upset you that much then I'm sorry alright. I just thought that-" Vinyl cut her off.
"Thought what?! That I was just being an annoyance? That me wanting to know where we were actually going was too unreasonable? Or maybe you thought you'd be better off without me!" She shouted, becoming more enraged by the second. "That's it isn't it? You think I'm just slowing you down. I'm not good enough to keep up with you, right?!"
"Vinyl what-" Octavia stopped herself as something alarming caught her attention. Starting from a small spot on her horn, Vinyl's coat was slowly blackening until it matched the darkness of the room around them. The formerly white mare continued to seethe in anger as the darkness continued to engulf her until even her hooves and tail were covered. Octavia was about to speak but had to dodge to the side after a blast of dark energy was suddenly hurled at her. Looking from the impact point of the blast to Vinyl, she saw a darkened glow emanating from Vinyl's horn. "Vinyl stop!" She called out, dodging another attack.
It was no use. Vinyl couldn't hear her anymore. Something had taken hold of her and directed it's rage at her companion. Shouting in anger, she continued to fire off dark blasts at Octavia. As the gray pony continued to dodge the blasts, she found the condition of the room becoming progressively worse for wear. Thinking fast, she activated her bracelet and blasted the ceiling with a wave of energy before quickly levitated herself up through the hole it left. As she reached the other side of the long impromptu tunnel, she found herself back in the main hall, moonlight pouring in from a hole in the ceiling where her blast had continued on.
Hearing a rumble from below, Octavia quickly flew herself onto the staircase, just barely dodging a huge beam of black energy. As she coughed from the mass amounts of dust flown about, she saw Vinyl ascend from a large hole left in the floor. Octavia gasped in horror as the dust cleared. Vinyl was now completely consumed by the dark energy. Her hooves looked cracked and bloodied, her mane and tail resembling shadows more than hair, and her eyes darkened and filled with anger. Most strikingly though, was that her horn was now less of a horn and more of a spike bursting out from her skull through her forehead.
"Vinyl please stop!" Octavia pleaded, dodging another blast. Vinyl paid no attention to her words though, continuing the assault without letting up for a second. Octavia found herself galloping down the hall they'd traversed previously, unable to see Vinyl behind her yet still able to hear her screams of rage. "Why is this happening?!" Octavia shouted, as she neared the turn they'd taken before.
As she continued galloping, she tried to think of a way to bring a stop to this. She didn't want to hurt Vinyl but that was quickly becoming a moot point. Vinyl was slowly destroying the castle by blasting walls, doors, and anything else within reach as she chased after Octavia. At this rate the entire castle was going to come down on both of them. In an attempt to buy herself some time, Octavia tried something new.
Envisioning the main hall in her mind, she closed her eyes and summoned up her magic. "Please let this work..." she whispered quietly before releasing her magic. She felt a strong force pull her suddenly and when she opened her eyes she was floating above the large hole in the main hall that Vinyl had left.
She had little time to celebrate though. Hearing an ear piercing scream followed by the crashing and banging of ruins being destroyed, she went straight back to thinking as Vinyl began zeroing in on her.
Coming up with the best course of action she could, she prepared herself as Vinyl crashed through the wall at the top of the staircase. She looked even worse for wear than before. She sported several cuts and gashes about her body, and her horn was twisted into an even crueler looking shape. Octavia knew that if this kept up then Vinyl would most likely die of blood loss from self inflicted injuries due to her apparent disregard for her own well being
"Okay Vinyl... let's try this out." Octavia spoke to herself as she summoned her magic and formed it into two orbs at her sides. Vinyl rushed straight at her, throwing a blast along the way. Octavia formed one of the orbs of light into a wall a few feet in front of her, blocking the blast before it was broken by Vinyl crashing straight through it. She then jumped high in the air over Vinyl and landed behind her. As Vinyl turned to rush her again, Octavia released the second orb which she had left floating in the air above. Quicker than Vinyl could react the orb crashed down on top of her, engulfing her in it's purple tinted light.
As Vinyl desperately tried to break free Octavia summoned up another orb and launched it. The orb crashed into the makeshift prison causing it to explode and send Vinyl flying back. Octavia quickly summoned another wall of light behind Vinyl so that she didn't smash into the stone walls of the castle. Continuing to act without giving Vinyl time to counter, she reformed the wall into a cube, trapping Vinyl within before it also exploded.
Panting heavily, Octavia took a deep breath and steadied herself. Watching as the dust from the explosions and crashes settled, she was caught in the face by a sudden left hook. Thrown to the side, her imminent crash into the wall was stopped by Vinyl quickly floating behind her and catching her with a kick, flinging her to the floor.
Coughing as she got up, Octavia looked back just in time to dodge a blast of dark energy and put up a shield as Vinyl crashed into her again. Both ponies were thrown back from the collision, Octavia catching herself with her magic and Vinyl slamming into the wall she previously kicked Octavia away from.
Octavia's dress summoned by the bracelet was damaged and torn, showing off her various cuts and bruises similar to when she fought the shadow in Manehattan. On the other side of the room, Vinyl continued to look worse and worse every time Octavia caught a glimpse of her. The dark energy engulfing her was quickly taking it's toll, and Octavia knew she had to end this soon or Vinyl wouldn't survive.
As Vinyl readied herself for another charge, Octavia closed her eyes and focused. Hearing the sound of Vinyl taking off towards her, a tear fell down her cheek. "I'm sorry for this." She whispered.
Just before Vinyl collided with her Octavia released all of her magic at once. Vinyl was caught in a massive blast of focused energy which slowly formed into a giant ball of purple light with her stuck in the center. The orb took up most of the main hall's space and began to slowly crush itself into Vinyl's body as it attempted to forcefully exterminate the dark energy that had corrupted her.
Octavia fell to the ground and turned her head away. With tears in her eyes, she covered her ears as she heard Vinyl's screams of pain and anger. Slowly but surely the ball shrank in size as it was absorbed into Vinyl, alleviating the corruption bit by bit until eventually only the mare was left. As Vinyl began to fall, Octavia managed to summon up just enough magic to catch her before she smacked into the ground.
Rushing over as her outfit disappeared and her bracelet lost it's purple glow, Octavia felt a wave of relief when she found Vinyl laying on the floor, white coat and multi-colored hair intact. Her horn had returned to it's original shape and many of her injuries had disappeared, though she retained some bad cuts and bruises here and there.
With a final sigh of relief the last of Octavia's strength left her. She fell down beside Vinyl, unable to keep herself standing any longer. Trying to catch her breath, Octavia was unable to stop her tears of relief from flowing down her cheeks. Weakly embracing her unconscious companion, Octavia thanked her lucky stars and just about any other thing she could think of thanking. Vinyl may be a handful and occasionally frustrating to deal with, but Octavia knew now more than ever that she needed Vinyl just as much as Vinyl needed her, perhaps even more. As Octavia let herself rest she noticed a small light. Looking down, her eyes widened as she saw it's source.
Around Vinyl's front leg was a bracelet much like her own. Instead of a purple light however, this one was glowing a soft blue. Unable to focus any longer despite her new discovery, Octavia closed her eyes. Not once did she ease her embrace, even as she passed out.