//------------------------------// // Chapter IV: Out of Time // Story: Three Years Gone // by DeletePlease //------------------------------// Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Philharmonica Manehattan, Present day “Don’t you dare move another inch, Vinyl!” Octavia shouted. “Where the hay do you think you’re going? This night is important to Erik and I; isn’t it important to you? I mean, I can’t-“ “Stop, Octavia,” Vinyl interrupted. “I’m sorry; I need to go help somepony.” “Who could possibly need your help?” “I’ll explain later. I promise I’ll be back before the end. Just go back to the concert hall and I’ll be back with her in a couple of hours.” Octavia’s face grew warm at the word “her”. Vinyl started off again but Octavia ran up and grabbed her. “Who is this mare? Why can’t she get help from someone else? Explain yourself!” “I’d love to Octavia, trust me, I really would. Right now, though, I need to go save my idiot niece from getting killed,” Vinyl said quickly, running off afterwards. “N-niece? You have a sibling? Why am I just learning this now?” Octavia yelled after her. Why do I love her again? She thought. Well, clearly she doesn’t think I can be of any help. Octavia turned to return to the hall. As she walked in the side door she heard Erik finishing up a story. “So after all of this time, the mare says to me, ‘I’m not her sister. I’m her coltfriend!’ Ah! There’s Octavia now, will you be staying for the rest of the show?” The audience laughed a bit. Erik looked as though he had lost a bit of his sanity. Octavia nodded toward him and he continued. “Well, since we can expect that Vinyl will not be returning any time soon I’ll just continue-“A commotion from the back interrupted his speaking. “The princess has been attacked!” Somepony shouted. “Everypony stand back!” Shouted a large guard pony. “Octavia Philharmonica, Vinyl Scratch, and Erik Equineson, come with me immediately.” A roar spread through the audience like wildfire and Erik looked at Octavia, confused. Octavia motioned toward the guard and they both reluctantly walked to him. “Where is Miss Scratch?” He asked. “I have no idea; she left suddenly saying something about helping her niece.” Octavia said. “Well then, we’ll just have to track her down. Come with me, quickly.” He motioned toward other guards who started to peel back the crowd “Sir, where exactly are you taking us?” Erik asked. “We’ll discuss that at the castle.” The guard replied * * * Twilight Sparkle Twilight Sparkle’s Home, Ponyville, Present Day “Twilight! Are you home?” The shouting came from downstairs along with a loud banging on the door. For a moment Twilight had to think, but rushed to the door at the realization of who the voice belonged to. “Vinyl, what the hay are you doing here at three in the morning?” Twilight asked, opening the door. “How did you get here, anyway? I thought you were in Manehattan.” “That doesn’t matter right now,” Vinyl said urgently. “I need you to teleport me somewhere.” “Teleport you? Couldn’t you have just used the transport you took from Manehattan? Even if you can’t, you’re a unicorn, teleport yourself.” “I must have missed that day of class,” Vinyl said sarcastically, pulling an atlas from the bookshelf. She turned to a page and pointed. “There, we need to go there, now.” Twilight looked at the spot where Vinyl pointed. “That’s the middle of nowhere. Why would I take you there?” “Stop stalling!” Vinyl shouted. “Somepony’s life is at stake, now hurry up!” Twilight looked at her a moment and saw genuine fear in her crimson eyes. Her horn glowed and in a flash they were teleported into the woods, a small, metal building in front of them. “You know how to fight, Twi?” Said Vinyl, running toward the door. “I think that’s going to be left to-“ Twilight had followed Vinyl into the building, but the scene inside made her stop mid-sentence. Vinyl’s legs shook as she took it all in; the walls were covered in blood and at the center was the almost unrecognizable body of her niece. Twilight dropped to the ground and threw up, surprised Vinyl didn’t react in a similar manner. Suddenly, as though she had gone insane, Vinyl burst into a maniacal torrent of laughter. What have I gotten myself into? Twilight thought. * * * Octavia Philharmonica and Erik Equineson Canterlot Castle Courtyard, Present Day Octavia and Erik continued following the guard as he led them through the castle. They hurried through a courtyard as pegasi took flight all around the castle, the civilians trying to get a peek at what was happening inside and the guards trying to keep them out of the air. They eventually reached a set of large doors, guarded by two guards on either side, which they were rushed through. In front of them they saw Luna lying on a bed with Celestia next to her, clearly she had been crying. “Has there been any luck with tracking down Vinyl or Raincloud?” She was asking a tall, strong-looking pony. “No ma’am.” The guard replied. “And what of Twilight?” “The team we sent to retrieve her and her friends reported back moments ago ma’am.” “Good.” “Ma’am, they couldn’t locate Twilight.” Celestia’s head dropped at the words and the guard walked off to attend to other matters. Octavia walked forward slowly and sat on the other side of Luna. “Princess, please, tell us what is going on.” “Octavia, we need to know where Vinyl is.” Celestia said, looking up with a new strength. “I’m sorry, your majesty. She left shortly before this all happened. She said something about saving her niece’s life.” Octavia responded. “You don’t know where she went? I guess we’ll just have to wait then.” “Why do we have to wait for Vinyl? What are we even doing here?” Octavia wasn’t used being in emotionally stressing situations like this yet. “My sister, Princess Luna, was placed under a mind control spell.” Celestia said, looking down at the mare on the bed. “Vinyl may be able to help us.” “But how would Vinyl be able to help with mind control spells?” Octavia responded. “Octavia, dear,” Erik cut in. “When you were still sick Vinyl and I had to do many things we may regret eventually, but this is not the time for that.” “You see, Octavia,” Celestia started again. “There are very few ponies in this world that have learned of such things. Vinyl is one of them.” Octavia ran her hoof through her mane. “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about and I’m tired. Is there somewhere I can rest?” Celestia motioned to a guard. “Take Miss Philharmonica to her room, please.” The guard walked over and Octavia stood and followed him off. As Octavia walked away Erik leaned in closer to Celestia. “Be honest with me, do you think Vinyl did this?” He whispered. “Of course not, she couldn’t pull off a spell like that on Luna, but I do need her help. Do you know who this niece of hers is?” Celestia whispered back. “I’ve never heard of her but if she’s anything like Vinyl she can only cause trouble.” “I suppose so, now, down to business. I need to know everything with what happened with Octavia.” * * * Twilight Sparkle and Vinyl Scratch Unknown Location in the Woods, Present Day “What are you laughing about?” Twilight shouted at Vinyl. “This isn’t funny Vinyl, she’s dead.” Vinyl’s horn glowed and Twilight reacted instantly, attempting to teleport out of the area. When she opened her eyes she found she was no longer in the room she’d been in before, it was an entirely different room, but Vinyl was still there. Vinyl winked at Twilight and then turned and walked forward to another door. “W-w-what just h-happened?” Twilight stammered. “Syv,” Vinyl said. “He’s very powerful and in the area. We need to get Raincloud and get out.” “Raincloud? Why are we rescuing her? She’s a complete and total b-“ “She’s my niece and she has some very important information. I didn’t realize you knew her.” Vinyl looked back at Twilight. “Can you get this door open? Precision isn’t exactly my specialty.” Twilight walked up to the door and her horn glowed. “I’ve seen your shows and you show quite a bit of precision there.” “That’s just a lot of practice. Are you done, yet?” “It’s locked, Vinyl. I can’t just unlock doors instantaneously. Now what the hay happened, there was a dead pony and blood, where did it all go?” “That was an illusion from Syv. Dispersing illusions is easy after you’ve learned and it’s far from precise work.” Twilight focused on the door for a moment, her horn glowing a bit brighter until there was a click. “Before we go in, would you mind telling me who this ‘Syv’ pony is?” Vinyl glanced over at the door they had entered through. “He’s a unicorn who could easily kill us if he wanted. He’s toying with us so we need to hurry before he gets bored and does something extreme.” Vinyl opened the door, revealing a long hallway with yet another door at the end. They heard a scream from behind the door and both dashed to the end of the corridor. “Why did you bring me with you again?” Twilight shouted at Vinyl over the scream. “I needed a shield,” Vinyl said jokingly. “This isn’t exactly a time to be cracking jokes,” Twilight responded. Vinyl reached the door and didn’t both unlocking it, blasting it down with a burst of energy from her horn. Inside, a large, overly muscular stallion was creeping towards Raincloud, who was trapped in a corner. It didn’t take more than half of a second for Vinyl to blast him across the room. Raincloud looked up, eyes wide, and then suddenly burst out in laughter. “What took you so long, Aunt Vinny?” “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t call me that,” Vinyl responded. “You might want to hurry up, I only knocked him out for a little bit.” “Why don’t you just kill him?” “You know that isn’t how we do things,” Vinyl glared at the young pegasus. Raincloud stood up and walked toward Vinyl. “I don’t know why you treat me like I’m just a kid, we’re the same age, you know.” Vinyl reached forward and gave her a hug. “I don’t remember me ever saying that I’m not just a kid too.” “I see you brought her.” Raincloud said, finally noticing Twilight. “You’re welcome for the rescue, can we leave now? Something doesn’t feel right about this place,” Twilight said, looking around the room. “You can feel them too?” Raincloud asked. “It’s the energy of everypony who’s died here. This is their slaughterhouse.” Twilight’s horn glowed, and, with a flash, they left that place for the last time. * * * Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Erik Equineson Canterlot Castle, Present Day “It wasn’t long after the wedding, about a year ago, that I heard about a pegasus in Ponyville doing research on a few different spells, one of which interested me in particular. She was going by the name Raincloud, but I never believed it; it was hardly a name fitting of an investigator. I’m pretty sure her cutie mark was fake too, I mean, who goes against their cutie mark?” Erik said. “You know Raincloud?” Celestia cut in, surprised by the connection. “Apparently I should be asking you the same thing,” Erik replied. “She was in Ponyville under my instruction,” Celestia explained. “Well you certainly picked the best pony for the job. I think I still have bruises from the beating she gave me to get me to tell her why I was there,” Erik couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the encounter, regardless of how painful it had been. “That wasn’t why I beat you,” a shout from behind Celestia. Erik and Celestia looked to see Raincloud, Vinyl, and Twilight standing there, looking around awkwardly. “Well, would you mind telling me why you did?” Erik said. “How did you get in here?” Celestia asked. “I beat you because you were a strange stallion in my house,” Raincloud said, beaming at the chaos the palace had dissolved into. “Not many strangers show up to meet me under good circumstances.” “How did they get in here?” A guard asked, walking into the room. “What are you doing here Erik?” Vinyl asked. “Is Octavia here too?” “Yeah, she’s here. I think you might want to talk to her,” Erik replied. “Is somepony going to explain how you three bypassed a multilayer protection spell to teleport in here?” Celestia asked, clearly annoyed at being ignored. “What protection spell, princess?” Twilight asked. “We teleported just outside of the castle first and then blinked in here. There was nothing protecting the castle.” Celestia stared blankly at the three for a moment and then motioned a guard over. “Why is there no protection spell?” “Princess, we applied those spells, multiple times. I saw them go up with my own two eyes,” the guard replied. “Bring Twilight’s friends here immediately,” She commanded the guard, and he ran off. “Erik, Raincloud and Vinyl, explain to me everything that has happened in the last year, now.” Erik took a deep breath and continued. “After Rain finished beating me I explained why I was there. I had heard she’d been studying illegal spells, one of which included a spell to block off memories or functions from being accessed by the brain. The symptoms matched Octavia perfectly.” “I was suspicious at first,” Raincloud cut in. “I had been looking for someone who had experienced the effects of that spell to examine, it was almost too perfect. He brought me to see her and I knew almost instantly that someone had placed a mental block on her to make her forget something.” “She explained to me that a spell like that would cause major imbalances in the energies throughout Octavia’s brain which caused all of her symptoms,” Erik finished “Alright, that makes sense,” Celestia asked. “So if you found that out a year ago why was she just cured recently?” “We didn’t know how to fix it,” Raincloud answered. “It’s a very complex spell and the block on Octavia’s memory was massive compared to anything on record. Nopony had ever been cured of a mental block before.” “Well you obviously fixed it so how did it work?” Celestia cut in again. “I worked with Octavia for about a month before it dawned on me,” Raincloud said. “The block was essentially just a mass of energy so if we poured enough of the conflicting energy into it we could cancel it out. It took another two months to determine the specific type of energy and how much of the opposite type we’d need.” “They figured out that a very rare type of energy was needed,” Vinyl said. “What type of energy was it? Why is it so rare?” Celestia continued to probe. “It’s rare because it’s only found in very few ponies. It’s the type that only alicorns have.” Erik answered. “Well, who helped you out with that? Not many alicorns are ready to help out in situations that complicated,” Celestia said. Vinyl’s vision focused on the still sleeping Luna. “Your sister is incredible and I’m lucky to have met her. Not just because she saved Octavia but because the meeting was so unlikely in the first place.” * * * Vinyl Scratch Club Nio, Manehattan, Eight Months Ago “What can I get you to drink, miss?” The bartender asked in a slightly Indian accent. “The strongest stuff you’ve got,” Vinyl stated. The bartender turned around and reached for a bottle. “I take it you’ve had a rough night, then.” “The last few years have been pretty difficult, actually. I’m doing a show here in a few minutes and I want all of the trouble to go away so I can enjoy myself,” Vinyl responded. “You don’t actually want to hear my sob story though, that’s just your job.” “Generally that’s how it works,” he said, pouring himself a glass of the same drink he’d given Vinyl. “Not this time, though. Your eyes tell a story, and I want to hear it.” “I only date mares,” Vinyl said flatly. The bartender quickly turned around and started washing glasses. Vinyl finished her drink and walked to her equipment to prepare for the show, when, just a few seconds before she was going to begin, a loud crash came from outside. I guess I’d better check that out, she thought. It’s not like anypony else in here is lucid enough to care. She set up a playlist of tracks and dashed outside. There was nothing in the street in front of the club but the crash had definitely drawn attention. Vinyl quickly ran to the alley to the left and started to look. In the middle of the alley, among twisted metal from trash cans, was a dark blue mare. “Well this is a bit of a surprise,” Vinyl said looking the mare over. “Princess Luna, wake up, we need to get you out of here.” The mare shook her head, coming out of a daze. “Where am I? I was flying and then all of a sudden I couldn’t fly anymore.” “Can you fly now?” Vinyl asked. “I fell at least five hundred meters; I may be immortal but I can still feel pain so I’m not going flying anywhere any time soon,” Luna replied, wincing as she shifted to get to her feet. “Alright, we need to get you out of here. Not many ponies in this neighborhood like you or your sister,” Vinyl said, urging the princess on. “If the wrong pony finds you then you won’t last long.” “I take it you aren’t the wrong pony then,” Luna said while standing up slowly. “I ask Celestia for a miracle every night before I go to sleep,” Vinyl responded. “I have somewhere I can take you that will be safe.” Vinyl crept around a corner slowly checking to see if anypony was around, then motioned to Luna to follow. “Where is this place you’re taking me?” She asked. “It’s just outside the city here. I live there with my marefriend, the doctor who’s trying to help her, and my niece,” Vinyl answered, hurrying down the street while being careful to notice anypony who may be around. She heard voices coming from the next street and ducked into the closest ally. “Octavia is your marefriend, right?” Luna asked. “Who are you?” Vinyl turned around looking angrily at Luna. “I met Princess Luna at the wedding and you’re acting completely different from her. At the very least you’re acting much more modern.” Luna sat down and looked sadly at the ground. “I’m trying Vinyl, I really am. It’s just that so much has changed. I suppose I should take ‘too modern’ as a compliment.” Vinyl’s horn glowed and a veil appeared around Luna. “What are you doing Vinyl? It’s me, Luna!” “I believe you now,” Vinyl said. “I had to make sure. I’ll explain that bit of magic later but now we need to get to somewhere safe.” Vinyl peeked around the corner and then rushed between streets with Luna following closely. * * * Erik Equineson’s House, Manehattan, Twelve Hours Later “Erik, Raincloud, get down here now! I need help!” Vinyl shouted. “Vinyl, where the hay where you? I thought you were dead after going into that part of the city,” Raincloud’s voice came from upstairs. “Get down here, now!” Vinyl shouted again. Erik’s jaw dropped when he entered the room from his study. “Sweet Celestia, Vinyl!” He said in disbelief. “I know we need an alicorn to help Octavia but kidnapping a princess is going a bit too far.” “An alicorn for Octavia,” Vinyl said, her voice trailing off. “Forget that, we need to get Luna fixed up and get her back to Canterlot immediately. It won’t be long before they send out the entire Royal Guard looking for her.” Erik ran back into his study to grab a first aid kit just as Raincloud walked down the stairs. “I knew you were a sketchy pony, Vinyl, but kidnapping-“ She started to say. “I didn’t kidnap her, now help me get her up onto that bed,” Vinyl interrupted. Raincloud rushed over and helped to lift Luna who had now fallen unconscious. Erik came back and ran over to the bed. He took out a thermometer and started taking her temperature. “What happened last night, Vinyl?” “I was about to start my show and then she fell five hundred meters into the ally next to me, I had to help her. We got chased a couple of blocks from the checkpoint. I forgot everything that happened after that, I just woke up in front of the house with a few aches. She’s worse off than me, though,” Vinyl explained. “I’d agree. I’m almost certain she has a pretty nasty infection,” Erik said. “She’ll just get better, right? She’s an immortal goddess,” Vinyl asked. “The right infection could still kill her. Generally alicorns have very good immune systems but she spent a millennia on the moon; I can’t imagine how weak hers is,” Erik said. “We need to get her to Canterlot immediately.” “We can’t exactly carry her there and I doubt anypony at the police station will believe us; we’d probably just get arrested for drug possession,” Raincloud replied. “I have an idea,” Vinyl said. “Can you keep her stable for a couple of hours? I need to go to Ponyville.” “We’ll do our best,” Erik confirmed. * * * Ponyville, One Hour and Forty-Four Minutes Later “Twilight, open up; it’s an emergency!” Vinyl’s voice came from downstairs. “I don’t have any alcohol, Vinyl!” Twilight shouted back. A moment later there was a loud explosion from downstairs and a plume of dust rose to the second floor. Twilight jumped out of bed and rushed downstairs. “Why did you blast the door in?” She asked, looking around at the debris. “You wouldn’t unlock it, now teleport us to my house in Manehattan,” Vinyl commanded. “You just blasted my door down so please explain to me why in the name of Celestia I should take us there,” Twilight responded. “Because a certain princess who spent time on the moon needs to be taken to Canterlot castle to be treated for a very nasty infection,” Vinyl said. “You aren’t kidding, are you?” Twilight asked hopefully. Vinyl shook her head and Twilight teleported them immediately. * * * Vinyl Scratch, Raincloud, Twilight Sparkle, Erik Equineson, and Celestia Canterlot Castle, Present Day “That was you who helped her?” Celestia asked. “She said she could never remember the name of the one who helped her. Thank you, Vinyl.” “She remembered, I just asked her not to tell anypony. I don’t need thanks,” Vinyl replied. “Twilight!” A shout came from the doorway. Everypony looked over and saw Pinkie Pie jumping up and down excitedly. Pinkie skipped over to Twilight with her four other friends following, greeting in their various ways. “Why were we brought here, Twi?” Applejack asked. “Everypony outside is panicking and the animals are getting scared,” Fluttershy whispered. “Who cares about that?” Rainbow Dash asked rhetorically. She flew into the air few feet and did a few flips and barrel rolls while continuing. “You should have seen it, Twilight. I performed the most awesome trick, ever! I was flying along and then-“ “Did anypony ever tell you that you remind them of a cat?” Raincloud interrupted, looking mischievously at Rainbow Dash. “Raincloud?” Rainbow looked at her in disbelief. “It’s been a while! How have you been?” “I’ve been fine, although I haven’t quite been able to love anyone the same after that night,” Raincloud said. Rainbow’s eyes grew wide and her face became a bright red as her excitement turned into an awkward grin. “You know her, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side. “Well a couple of years ago I was a bit curious and-“ A scream from behind them interrupted her response. Behind them Celestia was clutching her head in her hooves, screaming in apparent pain. “Princess!” A guard shouted as many rushed into the room. “Get away from me!” She shouted, blasting them away. Her wings opened and she blew a hole in the ceiling with a burst from her horn. “No way,” Raincloud and Vinyl said simultaneously. They looked at each other and Raincloud continued. “It’s impossible, right? There’s no way they could have taken control of her.” “If it wasn’t them then we’re in more trouble than before,” Vinyl said. Celestia suddenly took flight and left the building via the ceiling, still screaming in pain. Everypony looked around in shock, unable to comprehend what happened. Suddenly, Luna awoke, gasping for breath. “What happened?” She asked. ------------------------------------------------------- Author's Notes This was an interesting chapter for me to write because I completely deviated from the plan I had for this story at the end of Chapter Three. I've had everything planned out and right in the middle of the story I throw a ton of it out. It's better this way, though. I don't have these chapters beta/pre-read so if you see anything you think may be a grammatical or spelling or any other kind of error please point it out to me. In addition I'd love to read any other comments on the story, be those positive or negative. Until Next Time, <3 Shae