Sleeping in the Light

by Wheller

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The dust began to clear, and the aftermath of Pinkie Pie’s incredibly unstable dynamite explosion began to take hold. The blast had not been enough to clear away the entirety of the rubble that blocked off the entrance to the cave, but it did create a large enough hole that a pony sized creature could make it through. For certain, nothing much bigger would be getting through it; the blast had another, possibly more severe effect. The white pegasus mare known to Kelso and Company as Surprise was nowhere to be seen.

‘SURPRISE!’ Vinyl Scratch cried out with terror. She ran towards the pile of rocks, using her telekinesis to pull them away. Twilight and Rarity, immediately putting their unicorn talents to good use, joined in and began to pull the rocks away.

As they pulled the rubble away, it revealed the horrific sight that they hid: the horribly twisted, mangled body of Surprise. All of the pegasus mare's legs were broken in multiple places, along with her neck and spine. Vinyl Scratch gasped in shock. Fluttershy couldn’t look, she buried her eyes into Rarity’s shoulder, and Pinkie Pie looked as if she was going to vomit. Rainbow Dash’s mouth was practically on the ground.

Dizzy herself was unable to look at it, and instinctively turned her head and vomited on the ground; she hoped very much that had not translated into the real world.

‘I didn’t even like her... but that’s a bad way to go’, Twilight said solemnly.

‘Give it time... she’ll be fine’, Vinyl said, unsure of herself, more hoping it to be true than anything else.

‘Vinyl... I don’t think she’s getting back up from that’, Twilight said, bitting her lip.

‘Look!’ Vinyl said, pointing at the fallen mare. Surprise’s legs began to move, they twisted, contorted back into their proper shape, likewise, her neck and spine moved back into alignment. Surprise’s eyes shot open and she gasped for air.

Sparky recoiled in shock at the events that had just unfolded before them. This Surprise… she was like Amarilla, and she could only wonder how this mare had become the way she was now. Had she too drank from the legendary lakes of Equestria, the lakes of Origin and Circumstance, of which it is said that those who drink from both will be granted life immortal?

Sparky didn’t know, she watched as Vinyl Scratch threw her forelegs around Surprise in a tight hug, chastising her for her reckless and dangerous action. What Sparky did know was this: Vinyl Scratch, the mare that would someday become her grandmother, cared for the white coated pegasus mare very much, and the fact that she did was problematic.

Grandma V had never talked about Surprise, not once, not even in a passing mention. It was as if her grandmother had been trying to forget about the pegasus mare. Like she tried to erase her from her own memory, and it only brought up another question in Sparky’s mind. Why?

Vinyl Scratch released the pegasus mare, and turned towards the rest of her friends.

‘All right everypony, here we go, we’re about to start exploring a world gone by, so keep an eye out... we don’t know what... or who, we’re going to find in here’, Vinyl Scratch said as she crawled into the opening. Everyone followed her. Sparky had taken her place up front and attempted to climb in the same way. It was mildly disconcerting because she was unable to feel the rocks beneath her as she climbed over them.

Vinyl lit her horn, Twilight and Rarity did the same as they all wandered down the stone paths of the cave tunnels, descending ever so slightly with each passing step. Sparky and Dizzy, too lit their horns, only to discover that they did not seem to have any effect on the amount of light in the cave.

'That was useless', Sparky said with a huff as they followed Vinyl Scratch and her friends as they rounded multiple twists and turns until they found themselves at the pathway’s end.

Before them, was a large room, Sparky looked around at the walls of the cave, and discovered something very important about them. The walls were smooth; they had been dug out by machines. At the far end of the room was a gigantic gear shaped metal door, with the letters ‘EPMB’ printed upon it in white bold typeface, with a control panel next to it. Vinyl Scratch went over to it and threw the switch.

Two hazard lights began to flash. A small buzzing alarm went off, and the air filled with the hiss of steam.

Something from the inside pulled the metal gear back, creating a deafening screech as metal grinded against metal. The group covered their ears, and watched as the large metal door rolled to the left. Kelso and company cried out in pain as the screech pierced their ears. They had not been prepared for it in the slightest.

They all removed their hooves from their ears and Vinyl Scratch turned and flashed a grin at her friends. ‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more’, she said brightly and made her way inside.

Kelso and Company, of course, were quick to follow, and they recognised this place immediately, and now they knew for certain at what they guessed before. The Everfree Plains Missile Base and the FutureTec Whitetail Industrial Complex were one and the same.

‘THAT WILL BE FAR ENOUGH!’ a voice boomed over loudspeakers. Before them, appearing from literally nowhere were three spritebots, the same model of the wrecked one that Rarity had been holding before breaching the cave, the robots were fluttering their wings and pointing attached submachine guns at them.

‘Invisibility spell’, Twilight Sparkle announced. ‘Has to be’.

‘Very good’, the voice said, this time from the lead spritebot. ‘Always knew that you were clever, Twilight Sparkle’.

‘You... you know who I am?’ Twilight asked in shock.

‘Yes, I know who all of you are. I’ve been watching you, all of you, for a very, very long time’, the spritebot said.

‘How long is a long time?’ Pinkie Pie asked suspiciously.

‘Let me put it this way... Pinkie Pie, have you ever felt like there was a time when you were by yourself, that you felt so incredibly alone? That you felt like the world was going to come crashing down around you? That you wanted to scream, but didn’t, because you knew nopony was around to hear you?’

‘Omnipresence’, Viola said, cutting through the tension in the room like a hot knife through butter.

Pinkie Pie looked at the spritebot nervously, like she had a secret that she didn’t want anyone to know about. ‘Y... yes’, she stammered.

‘Well, to put it simply, you weren’t alone during that time, I was there. Watching, waiting, and making sure you were safe. That goes to all of you. There has never been a time, in any of your lives that you were ever truly alone’.

‘What a wonderful world the Old Monarchy was’, Viola added with a frown.

‘Shut up!’ Kelso said, prodding her with a hoof. ‘We’re going to miss something!’

‘So you’ve been spying on us’, Vinyl Scratch accused, scowling at the lead spritebot, and tensing her stance. ‘Why?’

‘Because all of you are far too important to let anything bad happen to, besides, it’s not just you, others too’.

‘Who are you?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

‘Well, now that would be telling! I think it best if we continued this conversation in person. Follow the spritebots’.

The spritebots turned and lead the way, Vinyl Scratch and company, begrudgingly, followed them through the twists and turns of the missile base, and then they soon found themselves in the launch control room. Sparky recognised this room as being the command and control centre for the Discovery Project at FutureTec. If anything, this gave them insight into FutureTec, telling them something that they had not known before. FutureTec were scavengers, they hadn’t built the Whitetail Industrial Complex. They just picked the bones of what had come before, just like a buzzard.

In front of the glass windows looking out into a loaded missile silo, was an extremely large computer screen, green in colour, and displaying the image of a unicorn mare that bore a resemblance to Twilight Sparkle. Every passive observer in the room’s jaw dropped wide open.

‘Ah, yes, this is much better’, the same voice that they’d heard from the spritebots said; only this time, it was coming from the large computer. ‘Well, come on now, don’t be shy. I am very pleased to finally make your acquaintance. I’m Doctor Emerald Sparkle, and we have a lot to discuss’.

‘No way…’ Sparky said quietly to herself. It wasn’t possible, the unicorn mare that they had known from the very first memories that they watch was seemingly still alive. Her insane plan to extend her life and build an army to overthrow the princesses was working.

She had told Oberlander Cromwell that she needed exactly one thousand and two years to build her army to what she needed to overthrow the princesses. Sparky turned to her friends. ‘Who wants to guess that we’re exactly one thousand and two years from the memory of Emerald telling her plan to Oberlander Cromwell?’ She asked.

Kelso, Hopely, and Viola glanced at each other and grimaced, they had a feeling that Sparky was absolutely right.

…

The memory changed, and Kelso and company found themselves standing next to Vinyl Scratch and the rest of her friends in the middle of Ponyville. Hopely’s eyes widened and she turned her head to the sky. ‘Hey! No! Go back! Where’s the rewind button!’ she cried out, glancing around frantically, feeling as if they had just missed something important.

Sparky and Dizzy glanced around, Ponyville looked nothing like they remembered, but of course, that was something to be expected. Ponyville in this time was a rural town, after all.

‘VINYL SCRATCH!’ a mare’s voice cried out at the top of her lungs. Kelso and company turned their heads as a grey coated earth pony mare with a chocolate mane and violet eyes stormed towards them. On her flank was a cutie mark of a treble clef and around her neck was a pink bow tie. Viola couldn’t help but smile, as she knew who this pony was in an instant.

‘Hello grandma’, Viola whispered quietly to herself.

‘Oh... hey! Octavia what’s...’ Vinyl Scratch began to say as Octavia Auditore approached her, she did not finish her sentence as Octavia delivered a backhoof across her face. ‘Hey! O... what are...?’ Vinyl Scratch cried out, taken by surprise by the mare’s action.

‘You come to me’, Octavia seethed, interrupting the unicorn mare. ‘You tell me you’re sick, you tell me you’re DYING, you’ve got a month to live. I make love to you! I grieve, I make peace with myself, knowing that you’re going to be going to a better place, you never come back, I grieve some more! And then, two days ago, I’m in my flat, watching television, and who do I see on an international newsreel?! You! Not only are you alive and well, but you’ve also caused four thousand pounds of property damage in Trotterdam!’

'And a hundred years from now, that'll be a hundred thousand pounds after adjusting for inflation', Sparky mused quietly.

Vinyl Scratch grinned widely. ‘That was a fun night,’ she said, prompting another smack across her face.

Octavia’s scowl turned to a sadistic smile. ‘I am so happy that you’re alive... SO I CAN KILL YOU MYSELF!’

‘She is your grandmother’, Kelso said as she turned her head towards Viola.

‘She most certainly is’, Viola said with a grin. ‘Grandma Octavia never let anybody push her around, I remember that she used to tell stories about Vinyl Scratch all the time, this was one of them actually’.

Octavia bit down hard on Vinyl’s tail, causing her to yelp in surprise as Octavia began to drag her away.

‘Somepony help me!’ Vinyl cried out in fear for her life. Twilight and the rest of her friends glanced at each other momentarily and quickly made a plan of action.

‘Yeah we think we’re going to sit this one out, good luck Vinyl!’ Rainbow Dash proclaimed. They weren’t going to get involved.

‘Good plan’, Viola said, grinning from ear to ear and nodding her head.

Vinyl looked to each of them, bitting her lip as Octavia dragged her towards the Library. ‘Et tu Surprise?’ she asked, looking directly at the white pegasus mare.

‘The mean bowtie lady is scary...’ Surprise said quietly, pointing a hoof at Octavia.

The door to the Library flung open and then quickly shut behind them again as Octavia dragged her captive inside, clearly, there would be no escape for Vinyl Scratch.

The library door flung open again, and running out from it was an odd purple reptile creature, the likes of which Kelso and company had never seen before. He was running as fast as he could away from the tree and stopped just short of Twilight and the group.

‘Spike?’ Twilight asked.

‘Dude... I have no idea who that was... but she’s scary!’ the creature identified as Spike said, panting heavily.

Viola Auditore couldn’t help but smile; it had been nearly twenty years since she had last seen her grandmother. Octavia Auditore, her role model, her inspiration, had died when she was young. She had forgotten just how much she had missed her. ‘I love you Grandma Octavia’, she whispered to herself as the scene faded once more.

Comments

[KaijinZero]

ah yes. that was hilarious. but that brings a question from me.

whatever happened to the dragons?

[Ravenmoon05]

Another chapter

[Dralen]

*reads discription*
"well, our worst fears are realized. She is immortal ."
"lets see whet kind of hell she gives to the OC"
*reads*

[Dralen]

In the first chapter, third paragraph (forth if that one line as a paragraph) am i the only one that saw the reference to AC?
It may be because they weren't expecting it and just read it differently or they didnt think it was spelled that way, but i looked it up an it is spelled that way!

[Wheller]

674953

The name is not a reference to Assassins Creed. It's actually a pun on Auditory, Viola's grandmother (who was the original character in the stories written by me with the name). was a musician.

[Wheller]

674973
This story is a sequel to another fic, the Parliament of Dreams. That's why you've not seen them.

[Zervziel]

Is it sad I just now linked Surprise to your avatar, Wheller?

[Dralen]

674977 well for me it was seeing a name i recognized, typing it on google, and coming up with what i thought it was. coincidence just struck again! well, in the original story did you make a reference there? or just a play on words of audio?

[Wheller]

675075

The original story pointed out the pun.

[kladdos]

another chapter!
keep up the awesome work! as i loved this chapter as well

[KingOfTheMuffins]

Was that gear-shaped door rolling to the left a reference to a Fallout: 3 vault? Reminds me of one...

[Wheller]

675282

Great-granddaughter, actually.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

I think Vinyl was drunk when she said all those things, and again just what is suppose to be happening, we need MORE!!

[Meta Knight]

is spike still alive?

[Rainboom_Saturation]

.674977

even so, I still scream, "ASSASSINI," every time I see that name lol

[Low-quality memes]

Oberlander Cromwell. It took some time of thinking, but is he based of Oliver Cromwell? The man from 17th Century England, who after beheading King James I, became a ruthless dictator for 11 years? Am I foreshadowing something because of my history knowledge?

[Spiffers]

Ponyville in this time was a in the rural town, after all. - "a in the" needs to be changed. Probably just a.

[Themaskedferret]

Shibby story but Octavia's mane is black not brown...