Freefall (A Vinyl Scratch Story)

by xSorrow

Reaching Bottom

9
Reaching Bottom

The sun was beginning to disappear over the vast horizon, sending beams of yellow light in every direction and bathing Equestria in the light of the sunset. The air was cool and crisp, and Vinyl Scratch inhaled deeply through her nose before exhaling through her mouth. Her eyes were closed behind her purple shades as she savored the time of day when the afternoon turned to evening: dusk.

In a way, this was so utterly perfect. Vinyl hadn't confessed it to Luna the previous day, but after finding the bite from the nightmare hound on her foreleg even after waking up, she worried that facing Somex Terribat in her dream may not be as safe as she once believed. Now, the sun was setting on what could possibly be her final day... and here she was where it all began: the porch.

When she and Octavia had been looking for a place to live, they had both mutually agreed that it should have a pool. Octavia had presumably looked forward to serene nights that she could spend lying on an inflatable pool bed with flickering candles carefully positioned on the side of the pool, setting a hypnotic atmosphere over the still water as she elegantly floated across the water. Vinyl had looked forward to making wicked cannonballs into the water, maybe splashing Tavi's mane and getting her all wet... Vinyl giggled at the thought.

In the end though, a Canterlot house with a pool had proven too expensive, even for the two musicians who were splitting the cost straight down the middle. At the time, Octavia's band hadn't been getting paid as much as they did now, and Vinyl was still struggling to make a name for herself as DJ-P0N3, so they didn't have as many bits as they made now, but Vinyl thought those pool houses were still too expensive with the money they had now.

After realizing there was no way they could get a pool, the two ponies had looked at other houses, and found this one. Octavia had immediately fallen in love with the open, yet modern feel to the house, and Vinyl had admitted that the porch was no pool, but it would do just fine. The realtor mare had commented that no other house on the market came with such a "scenic" view of Equestria from the porch, which was perched precariously over the side of Canterlot and hung straight over the rocky slopes of the mountain. When Vinyl had agreed to buy the house with Octavia, she never imagined the many nights of standing out here, hooves leaning against the rail as she stared off the side to the ground far below, yawning widely and forming a horizon as if it awaited her to make her descent.

In time, the porch became her refuge. The one place she could go to be alone, and sure, Primary Alley had almost ruined that, but Vinyl wouldn't let the spirit of the porch be tainted so easily. Perhaps she had come out here tonight to spite his memory after those three ponies had tried to attack her earlier, or maybe she came out here because this was where the hallucinations from her nightmares had started... and tonight, it would end.

Inside, Octavia was fumbling with her pink bowtie as she trotted over to the sliding glass door that led out to the porch, and then she slid it open before poking her head outside.

"Vinyl, I'm leaving now," Octavia informed her. Vinyl turned around and forced a wide grin.

"Good luck tonight, Octy," Vinyl said playfully before reaching out for her roommate with her hooves and pulling her into a hug. Octavia gave her a tender squeeze back, and then tried to pull back, but Vinyl held on for a few extra seconds before letting her go.

"Thanks Vinyl," Octavia smiled, and then she shivered, "Ooh... I'm so nervous."

"That's good. Use that nervous energy to be the awesome cellist I know you are."

"You know Vinyl, you really are my best friend," Octavia said sincerely, her purple eyes staring past Vinyl's shades, and even past the unicorn's red eyes right into her, "Now I really must be going. Would you like me to pick you up anything for dinner after my meeting?"

"Nah, that's cool," Vinyl waved her off, "Just leave already, would ya? Wouldn't want to be late!"

Octavia chuckled, "No, I suppose I wouldn't. See you later, Vinyl."

"Goodbye, Octavia."

Octavia trotted toward the front door, leaving her friend and counterpart on the porch, staring at the door as it swung open and then shut. Outside, Octavia reflected on the hug Vinyl had given her. It was rare for Vinyl to even consider being so affectionate, let alone to cause the hug to go on for as long as it had. Perhaps it had only been that Vinyl was displaying her support in the best way she could think to do so... or perhaps there was some deeper meaning that Octavia wasn't seeing...

Octavia shook her head and tried to turn her thoughts elsewhere as she trotted down the street toward All Of Garden, Canterlot's trendiest restaurant and where the mare from the band was going to meet her. Now wasn't the time to get worried about Vinyl, and yet... she had seemed so... so...

Octavia kept trotting. It was 7:51.

---

Vinyl took one last glance over the side of the porch, and then trotted to the sliding glass door before reentering the house. Her hooves clacked against the hardwood floor as she looked around, making her way to the living room. Her eyes lingered on the couches for a moment, and then she placed her hooves on them and grunted as she began to push. If Octavia had been here, she might have scolded Vinyl for scratching up the floors with the legs of the couches, but Octavia wasn't here, and soon Vinyl had managed to clear out a large space in the center of the living room. Big enough for her, Princess Luna, and two Royal Guards to lie down. Heck, it was even bigger than that.

She sighed, reaching two hooves up to her face. She pushed her glasses up over her unicorn horn and rubbed her eyes. There was a nervous knot in the pit of her stomach, and she felt like she had to puke. This was worse than waiting backstage in anticipation for her first time onstage as a DJ. Still, she knew she could at least chalk up a few symptoms to sleep deprivation. She hadn't slept at all the last night, instead listening to loud music through her headphones to keep herself awake. Vinyl briefly wondered if Luna had; what did the Princess of the Night do during the night? Or during the day, for that matter?

"Well, if I live, I'll have to ask her," Vinyl said aloud, and then snickered as she went to her room and got her pillow and blanket. She found a few spare blankets in Octavia's closet, and tossed the decorative couch pillows onto the floor to create four improvised cots. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to happen; were Luna and the guards going to lie down in these little beds and go to sleep like it was some kind of slumber party?

Suddenly, there came a loud whooshing sound from outside. Vinyl's eyes widened and she was immediately snapped out of her thoughts. Though she hadn't heard that sound since the night she spent at Canterlot Hospital after the party, Vinyl recognized it. Without hesitation, she darted toward the front door and pulled it open just as the noise faded. A blue box sat in the front yard, and as she stared in horror, the two doors on the front opened and a stern-faced Doctor and crying Derpy stepped outside.

"What the Tartarus are you doing here?!" Vinyl hissed through grit teeth, "You two need to leave! Now!"

"Vinyl, we need to speak with you for a moment-" The Doctor began, but Vinyl darted forward and pushed him back, "Hey, what-?"

"You two need to leave! Come back tomorrow!"

"Vinyl, what's going on?" Derpy asked, concerned, noticing Vinyl's face turning red as she frantically tried to push the two ponies back toward the blue box. Vinyl cast her a look, and her eyes were drawn downwards to Derpy's forelegs where she froze upon noticing the lines of cuts.

"What... what happened to you?" Vinyl asked quietly.

"Ditzy has been... well, you must understand, Vinyl! She-"

"I've been cutting myself!" Derpy interrupted loudly. The Pegasus squeezed her eyes shut in humiliation, but after bottling up her emotions for so long, a wave of fear, anguish, and pain all came out at once, "I-I can't live with myself after killing somepony! Even if he was trying to... to..."

"Derpy... he was going to hurt me," Vinyl said, stunned. She had no idea that Derpy was having a mental breakdown, but there had been the little issue of being preoccupied with an interdimensional entity haunting her nightmares with magic dark enough to scare the Princess of the Night, so she could understand why she'd been too distracted to pay a whole lot of attention to Derpy.

The Pegasus licked her lips, and then took a few deep breaths as she carefully considered what to say next. Finally, she turned her lopsided gaze to Vinyl, "If I was in danger... would you do anything for me?"

"Well, yeah. Of course I would," Vinyl agreed, "But what-"

"Then it was all worth it," Derpy shrugged, "But still... Vinyl, I-"

"No, okay? Just stop," Vinyl interrupted irritably, "Look, we can talk tomorrow, but for now, both of you need to get out of here."

"Why?" The Doctor spoke up in an inquisitive tone, "What are you doing?"

"N-nothing, you just need to go-!"

"Would it happen to involve Princess Luna?"

Vinyl's jaw fell, and it took her a moment to recollect herself before she replied, "How did you...?"

The Doctor nodded at something in the street, and Vinyl turned to see Princess Luna trotting toward the house from the street with two guards in tow. When Luna had said "guards", Vinyl had imagined the white stallions in golden armor that she had often seen around Canterlot, but these ponies were different. They resembled bats, with leathery wings and tufted ears, and their armor was a dark purple to reflect on the whole "Princess of the Night" theme Luna obviously worked hard to maintain.

Of course Luna arrived a few minutes before eight. Not like Vinyl expected anything different with her luck, but at least Octavia was gone.

"Many greetings, Vinyl Scratch," Luna addressed the unicorn as she approached, coming to a stop in front of the blue box. She glanced at Derpy, and then at the Doctor, and Vinyl could have sworn that she saw a spark of recognition in the Princess's eyes when she looked at the Doctor, "And these are two friends of yours, I presume?"

"They were just leaving," Vinyl replied.

"Leaving? Oh, but it's just getting good!" The Doctor looked from Vinyl to Luna excitedly, "What's going on? Someone clue me in!"

"They do not know?" Luna rose an eyebrow.

"No, because they weren't supposed to be here!" Vinyl sighed.

"Perhaps it'd be best if you explained it to them inside," Luna suggested, and Vinyl reluctantly motioned for the Doctor and Derpy to follow her into the house. Once they, Princess Luna, and Luna's Guards had entered the house, Vinyl took one final look around the street to ensure nopony else was around before she went into the house and closed the door.

---

Octavia always thought that the streets of Canterlot during the evening were rather portentous. The everyday hustle-and-bustle gave away to a wistful night haunted with a certain ominous undertone. The sound of her own hooves clacking on the solid ground beneath her sent echoes across the empty pavilions and squares as she passed, and everything glistened with a faint blue tint acquired from the gloomy night sky above. This was another side of Canterlot, Octavia realized. The side that was always present, yet constantly remained invisible. Without all of the posh, elite covering that masked its true form, this was Canterlot. This was the city's true face.

Octavia hated it when she saw things poetically.

She tried not to think of Vinyl. She really did. But there had been some small, subtle hints in her behavior that Tavi couldn't ignore. There was the hug, yes, but that was nothing to really be concerned about. Yet, despite Vinyl's friendliness, the unicorn had seemed to be in a hurry to get Octavia out of the house. Could it have been that Vinyl was worried about her missing the appointment, or was there some other motive that Octavia was too blind to see?

What if... what if she was thinking about doing something... drastic?

Octavia wasn't stupid. Completely oblivious and inconsiderate at times, yes, she admitted to that, but she was no idiot. She had seen Vinyl's behavior becoming increasingly more erratic and difficult to explain in recent days, and though she had chalked this up to a troubled mind after her friend had lost consciousness at the party and then spent two nights in Canterlot Hospital, she suspected there was more going on than what appeared to be.

There had been that whole ordeal where Vinyl had tried to confess something to her, but Octavia had refused to listen. She looked back on this with shame, and though she and Vinyl had patched things up, she wondered if this confession was going to be something horrible. Was Vinyl in debt with dangerous ponies? Had she robbed the castle? Had she been diagnosed with a debilitating, fatal disease and was producing drugs in order to earn enough money for her family after she was gone?

Whatever it was, Vinyl probably felt guilty about it. Octavia had noticed the growing bags under her eyes that implied Vinyl wasn't sleeping, and when Vinyl DID sleep, she had nightmares that were presumably about whatever trouble she was in.

Octavia stopped trotting and turned around, now galloping back toward the house at twice the speed she had been going. She wasn't going to blow off the meeting with the mare from the band completely; she was just going to go check on Vinyl and make sure everything was okay. She just felt like something wasn't right.

But really, it was probably going to be nothing, Octavia assured herself. When she got to the house, Vinyl would be just fine.

She hoped.

---

"So! What's going on? What are we doing? How'd you two meet?" The Doctor asked in a barrage of question marks as he laid down on one of the cots Vinyl had prepared. Derpy leaned against the wall, unsure of what to do, as Vinyl stood over the Doctor and glared down at him.

"If I answer all the questions, will you leave?" Vinyl asked impatiently, "This is important, and I don't want anypony getting hurt because of me!"

"Agreed. It is important that you two are aware of the dangers present in our ritual tonight," Luna added, "We will want to avoid any unnecessary casualties."

"Ah, Ditzy and I can take care of ourselves," the Doctor said, putting his hooves behind his head and getting comfortable on the cot as he stared up at Vinyl with a grin, "So tell us. What ritual are you referring to?"

"Princess Luna, her guards, and I are going to go to sleep, and she's going to cast a spell to send them into my dreams," Vinyl explained, expecting the two to be surprised. Sure enough, Derpy gasped, but the Doctor's grin didn't even waver.

"Interesting, I'll admit, but why?" he asked, "That's the question you aren't answering, Vinyl: why?"

Before Vinyl could reply, the front door opened, and she froze. This was bad. This was really bad. This was really, really bad. This was really-

Vinyl turned around to see Octavia standing in the doorway and looking very apalled by all the ponies in the house. She had been expecting Vinyl by herself, not THIS. Her eyes swept through the room, examining everypony in turn until finally they locked onto Vinyl's eyes, and Vinyl stared back. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room as the two mares looked at each other, both of them expecting the other to speak first. Finally, Vinyl cleared her throat.

"I swear to Celestia, this isn't another party, Tavi," Vinyl assured her.

"Vinyl... what in Equestria is going on here?"

"I... I really didn't want you to find out... um, hey, have you met Princess Luna?"

"Hello again, Octavia Melody," Luna smiled.

"An absolute pleasure again, Princess. I only wish we met under less awkward circumstances," Octavia greeted the Princess of the Night, and Vinyl looked from her to Luna in disbelief.

"Hang on... you two know each other?!"

"Of course, Vinyl," Octavia answered, "Princess Luna and I met at the Grand Galloping Gala, in the courtyard."

"I detest the Grand Galloping Gala," Luna sighed, "I only get to greet, I never get to meet anypony. 'Tis the same for my sister, though she does not mind it. I met Octavia completely on accident."

"I bumped into her," Octavia admitted with an embarrassed smile.

"What...? Why didn't you ever tell me you met the Princess of the Night?!" Vinyl exclaimed.

"She likes her privacy," Octavia shrugged.

"Our reunion will have to wait; there are more pressing issues concerning us right now," Luna grit her teeth.

"Pressing issues?" Octavia repeated, turning to Vinyl, "Vinyl, what's she talking about? What's going on?"

"Octavia, listen," Vinyl pleaded, "You have to get out of here-"

"Vinyl Scratch, you listen to me!" Octavia shouted, causing even Luna's guards to jump, "I will NOT leave you. Not here, not now, not for any reason. I am supposed to be your best friend... and I've failed at that. I'll admit it. You... you've needed me these last few days, you've needed somepony to talk to, and I wasn't there for you... but I'm here now. I'm here for you now, Vinyl, and I'm not going anywhere, so stop trying to push me away. It's time for you to tell me what's been going on... so I can help you."

Vinyl stared at the floor for a while. Octavia finished and left the room ringing with an unnatural silence, but Vinyl refused to break that silence without carefully considering her next few words. She looked up to see Octavia's eyes were still on her, and she sighed as she closed her own eyes and buried her face in her hooves.

"I've been having... nightmares," Vinyl finally said.

"...nightmares," Octavia repeated.

"Yeah, but the thing is... these aren't just nightmares, and I didn't just pass out at the party," Vinyl finally looked back up at Octavia as she told her story, "That night, the night Derpy saved my life-" Derpy covered her mouth with her hoof, "-I was hallucinating. I was seeing things from the nightmare and I could feel things in real life. That's why I fainted; because of the nightmares."

"What happens in the nightmares?" Octavia asked in a hushed voice, almost a whisper.

"In my dreams, I'm falling," Vinyl revealed to everypony, "I'm falling from so unbelievably high up, and then I hit the ground. Every night, it's the same thing. I didn't think it was anything serious until Princess Luna found me and told me that my dreams contained dark magic.

"There's somepony in my dreams. Somepony evil. We're going to stop him."

"His name is Somex Terribat," Luna explained to everypony, "He's the Spirit of Nightmares, and he has made it his goal to steal magic from sleeping ponies in order to escape the dream world."

"Wait, but Vinyl..." Derpy spoke up for the first time, "What about that one night when you came home from the hospital? Remember? Octavia disappeared and that thing was on the porch? Was that... Somex?"

"I believe that was an etheryl projection of him," Princess Luna replied, "He wasn't actually there, but his magic was. If he was strong enough to escape the dream world, we would know. Listen, the only way to stop Somex is to defeat him. Vinyl and I are going into her dreams, but we need at least two other ponies to accompany us."

"That's what the guards are here for," Vinyl quickly added.

Octavia looked down at the carpet for a second, carefully running through the situation in her mind. Finally, she looked up at Luna with determination in her eyes.

"Send me into the dream too. I want to help Vinyl."

"Octavia, you can't!" Vinyl gasped.

"And we'll come along as well, isn't that right, Ditzy?"

"Uh... yeah!" Derpy nodded.

"Stop! No! I don't want any of you getting hurt because of me!" Vinyl all but shouted, "It means a lot to me that you all want to help. Really, it does, but this is dangerous. A few nights ago, something hurt me in the dream world and the mark from it was on my body after I woke up!"

"It is worse than I feared," Luna murmured, "Somex is gathering power at an alarming rate. We must leave to stop him at once."

"She's right, Vinyl," the Doctor agreed, "We're coming with you."

"You can't!" Vinyl protested, "I told you, it's dangerous-"

"Oh, SHUT UP!" Derpy exclaimed heatedly. Everypony turned a surprised eye toward the Pegasus's sudden outburst; even Luna's guards seemed a bit startled. Vinyl's jaw fell as Derpy seethed, practically radiating frustration.

"D-Derpy...!" Vinyl stammered.

"You think we don't know it's dangerous?!" Derpy demanded, stepping closer to Vinyl and forcing the unicorn to slowly move back, "Princess Luna is here! Of COURSE it's dangerous! But we're your friends! We don't care about that, because we want to help you! Vinyl, you're pushing us away because you think its right... and I know what that's like. Believe me, I do," Derpy lowered her head solemnly, "After accidentally killing Primary Alley that night, I thought that the only way to make sure you all were safe would be to lock myself away. When that didn't work, I resorted to... cutting myself. Every time I bled, I thought things were getting better... but they weren't."

Derpy looked back up at Vinyl unwaveringly, "Thanks to the Doctor, I can see that that wasn't the answer. The answer would have been to come to my friends, and I know that if I had... you, the Doctor, Octavia, Lyra, Bon-Bon... you'd all have been there for me, so I'm going to return the favor whether you like it or not. And Celestia help me, Vinyl, if everything I've said hasn't convinced you, if you still don't let us come with you, I'll knock you out myself so you can't stop us when the Princess sends us into your dreams!"

Derpy finished with a confident, determined expression on her face, and Vinyl could only stare back at her. Finally, Vinyl looked away and shook her head, moaning as she did so.

"Fine," she forced a smile, "At least now we're all in this together."

"That's more like it, Vinyl," Octavia put her arm around her roommate, "We'll be by your side the whole way."

"Thank you," Vinyl smiled, and then she looked back at Princess Luna, who was trying to look regal, but dabbed at her eyes when she thought Vinyl wasn't looking, "But you said only two ponies can come with us."

"I said at LEAST two," Luna reminded her, "The more the better because it means the dream will become more stable."

"Guess we're gonna need another pillow then," Vinyl glanced down at the four cots on the floor.

"No need," Luna waved her hoof, "While I appreciate the gesture, I will not be requiring a place to lie down when I perform this spell. Echo, Nocturn, will you watch over their sleeping bodies?"

"All night, we'll stay awake," Echo nodded, "Especially if it's for your sake."

"Thank you," Luna motioned for Vinyl, Octavia, Derpy, and the Doctor to lie down on the improvised cots Vinyl made, "Now we must begin. If all of you could lie down and fall asleep, I can begin the spell."

The four ponies complied. On the row of four cots, Vinyl lie between Octavia and Derpy, and the Doctor was on the end by Derpy. Each of them shifted and got comfortable; Vinyl realized that she would be able to fall asleep rather quickly considering that she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in months.

"Ooh, this is so exciting," Derpy squealed excitedly, "I don't know how I'm ever going to fall asleep! I mean, Vinyl did a great job with these; they're really comfortable. Maybe more comfortable than the couch! What do you think, Doctor? Will you be able to sleep? I probably won't-"

The Doctor reached up with his hoof and poked a certain spot on Derpy's forehead. The mare instantly went limp and her head fell against the pillow as she fell asleep. The Doctor chuckled and laid his head down on the pillow. Vinyl glanced over to Octavia, whose eyes were already closed.

Vinyl took a deep breath, and then closed her own eyes.

Magical, sparkling dust, expelled from Luna's alicorn horn, drifted down on the four ponies to help them fall asleep more quickly, and soon all four of them were snoring and muttering in their sleep. Vinyl twitched uncomfortably, and Luna knew the nightmare was starting.

Her eyes began to glow white as the alicorn princess's hooves left the floor. Her horn began to glow with a vibrant blue color that flashed over the four sleeping ponies. A loud hum of magical energy sounded out before being unleashed with a loud CRACK. Four tendrils of white magic from Luna's horn curled from Octavia's, Derpy's, and the Doctor's foreheads into Vinyl's.

"Time to finish this, Somex," Princess Luna murmured to herself before she disappeared in a flash of cerulean light into the nightmare.