Chapter 9, To be Heard, The Day that Never Was

Princess Diamrem has succeeded. Her seaponies are ready for war and the planet itself is threatened with change. Not even Luna was capable of defending herself against the army of sea serpents.

Nathan De La Griffon’s fate, as well as the fate of the S.S. Luna Returner, remains a mystery.

As Cogwill turns her eyes away from the world, fighting desperately to keep her tears from falling, the DJ opens her own to the world behind the curtain

***^***

... -Sigh-. I was a simple mare… a modestly epic mare… but a simple mare, nonetheless.

I had simple pleasures. I only really needed four (okay, maybe five) meals a day, some rocking music, and the warmth of friendship in order to be happy. Sure, I might have been lacking in that last department for awhile now, but I was reasonably happy with what I had going for me!

I had Cogy, I had her obvious coltfriend, Natedog, and I was reasonably sure I could win back Octy now as well! After that concert, I felt like I could do anything! Nothing could stop me!

Lines. I freaking hate lines. Lines can kiss my blue tail and my white, music noted, flank. They’re so looooooonnnnnggg and booooorrrrriiiinnnggg! Ugh!

A red furred stallion with a fire red mane and a pair of fireballs as a cutie mark stepped forward from his position in front of me and another mare. With his face stern yet fierce, he approached the endlessly tall gate before us and stared up at the pony addressing the questions.

“… And they appear to be the bane of my afterlife as well…” I muttered to myself, completing my ‘bored-out-of-my-gourd’ thoughts.

As I once more stared out at the blank, colorless, and cloud filled world around me, a single question crossed my mind…

… Oh, that’s right; I was asking myself a question, wasn’t I? Ah yes… ahem... it started with ‘why’ didn’t it?

One moment I was hitting the hay after my show, the next I’m in limbo! How the hay does that work?! More importantly, how the hay did I die?! I don’t remember dying, that’s for sure!

Sadly, that’s the only explanation for how and why I’m suddenly in a line, waiting to enter the most exclusive club in existence.

The Valhalla, the ultimate dance floor, the grand finish line… call it what you will, it all means the same thing to me…

“This freaking sucks!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, once more reminding my fellow spirits about how screwy this whole thing is. While grumbling to myself over how unfair all this was, the cyan blue pegasus in front of me finally turned her head around to face me. Her muzzle was drenched in tears, just like a lot of the other mares around her (and totally not my) age in this line.

I stomped my hoof down angrily on the surprisingly solid cloud beneath me. When I first woke up here, I thought I had simply wound up in Cloudsdale…

Wouldn’t be the first time I ended up there after a gig, after all. Heck, it happened to me just last week! Twice! I’ll never understand how I can cast the cloud walking spell while I’m the closest I can get to intoxicated, yet completely suck at it while I’m sober!

Anyways, it seemed logical at the time that that’s where I was, until I noticed how many earth ponies and unicorns were here along with an army of elderly old farts. That was the first warning sign that I wasn’t quite in Equestria anymore. What really tipped me off, however, was the giant blue sun that hung over us in the air. It generated no heat, wasn’t blinding, and it was actually spitting people out of it! I guess that explains how I got here… but not how I died.

“But I don’t remember dying, lady, do you?!” I asked the mare crossly. I really shouldn’t snap at her at a time like this, but, come on; I woke up to somepony telling me ‘Congratulations! You’re dead!’

The greatest injustice I’ve faced so far, however, was when I woke up dead in an unfamiliar world at the back of a massive line… without my shades! I loved those things more than life itself!

The mare (who I now recognized as that Mrs. Blue lady from the ship) turned her head forward, unable to face me. “I… I actually do, Ms. Vinyl.”

“What?!” I shrieked. We’ve been in line for quite literally freaking forever and she only now tells me this?! “Well spill the beans then, pony! If you and that Red guy are here, that must mean something happened to the ship, right? What happened to us… and why don’t I see Cogy around here? Is she… gulp, in the other place?”

The pony at the front of the line interrupted my question by yelling out once more from his podium. “Accepted. Next!”

Mrs. Blue sniffed one final time. “… I hope not. K-kids like you and her should be allowed to…to... -sniff-, l-l-live your lives..."

The unicorn stallion that had just been ‘judged’ by Gate Keeper (the awesome name I gave the guy guarding the gate in my mind) came floating up to us and down low enough so Mrs. Blue could have a shoulder to cry on.

This seems to be the norm of what I’ve observed so far (and by ‘observed’ I mean ‘had literally nothing better to do’). A pony would approach Gate Keeper (who's this really old looking white earth pony with a beard that reminds me of the one Captain ‘Buzzkill’ Grey refuses to shave), they would get ‘accepted’ and then poof; suddenly they're rocking a new set of wings, a new horn, or a new both along with a shiny halo thingy.

Well, despite how completely messed up all this is, maybe getting wings will make it worth it. Even the halo thingy is kinda tight looking, I guess…

… And I didn’t get to hang out with Cogy some more after becoming her friend again.

… And I didn’t get around to composing the masterpiece that would allow me to live on forever in the hearts and minds of ponies everywhere!

Ah dang it. Now I’m doing it too! There… there was just so much left for me to do, ya know?! I’m too young to die! Oh please tell me that all of this is just one big mistake!

Blue finally obeyed the Gate Keeper’s voice and approached him with the brand new alicorn, Mr. Red, by her side.

“Name?” Asked the Gate Keeper in monotone. Doing the same thing for an actual eternity… yuck. I don’t blame him for his lack of interest.

Looks like I’m next after this… gulp. I don’t even want to think about it. Instead, I decided to hear Mrs. Blue’s judging. Apparently, everpony’s lives are re-observed here and all their sins are weighted against their good deeps and that’s what decides where you go. It doesn’t even seem like you really need to follow Celestia in order to get here either, as there’s a literal ton of different creatures in this line with us. Griffons and diamond dogs and a bunch of things I’ve never even seen before! This one guy in front of us earlier was some kind of thing with these really sweet looking antlers sticking out of his head. I think he’s called a ‘Deer’, or something…

But I didn’t rack my brain any harder than that trying to remember. Instead, I tried to listen in on Blue’s ‘trial’. I haven’t been able to hear any of these testimonials until now, because I was so far back, so I might as well enjoy one before it’s my-

… Turn. Well that’s good. It looks like they have low standards here… either that or Mrs. Blue was a saint. Might explain why Cogy liked her so much...

Before I could take a step forward, the newly alicorned Mrs. Blue held up a hoof to the Gate Keeper. “W-wait, please! I have a question!”

The white pony stroked his beard. “Hmmm… I will allow it. State it please.”

Tears were soaking the cloud under Mrs. Blue as she tried to stutter out her question. “M-my children…”

The stallion didn’t even look up from the giant book as he answered her. “Both become fine pegasi under the tutelage of your husband. You have no need to fear for them, creature of The Maker and child of Celestia.”

Gate Keeper actually showed some emotion as a smile creased his stony face. He even looked up! “Please child, trust in Soarin... he will never leave your children’s side. Never. He will be there for them in this dark hour and, in return, they will be there for him as he comes to terms with becoming a widower. The only thing that will test his faith will be not getting to eat Mr. Red’s pies anymore.” The old stallion’s face dropped again as he returned to the book. “I’m afraid that’s all I’m allowed to give you, ma’am… was there anything else you two wanted to ask?”

Despite me not being the second pony who he was referring to, Mrs. Blue somehow read my mind as she asked the question I was quite curious about myself. “A-about the ship we were on, w-with the little dragon girl…?”

The Gate Keeper’s voice returned to his ‘business’ drone. “I’m afraid all matters concerning the S.S. Luna Returner cannot be discussed at this time. All I can tell you is that you were in the ‘eye of the storm’, as it were, with a historically important event that’s still in progress. Even I lack the vision to peer into it at this time… is there anything else I can do for you two?”

Mrs. Blue slowly nodded her head ‘no’ as she stared miserably at the ‘floor’. Mr. Red looked away as well, like he was too afraid to ask whatever it was that was on his mind.

The elderly, bearded stallion saw right through him regardless. “… Young man, I’ve been doing this job for centuries. I can recognize the face of a child with regret. Although you may fear that you didn’t leave your mark on the world, take heart in this: in your final days you inspired a young griffon to be himself and to become more assertive.” His voice suddenly took on a much softer and sincere tone. “Do not be afraid. That boy will become a fine man using the words you left for him and, in time, he will use those same words to trump the words of his own father. Now; Red, Blue... you two have held up the line long enough. Go now, both of you. Your work in this world is done.”

With that, the two former ship employees slowly nodded their heads in agreement right before they gave me one final smile. They then flew towards the golden gates behind the Keeper as it, little by little, opened up for them. Golden light poured out of the gate, and I witnessed an assortment of flying creatures (I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of a winged diamond dog before!) right before it shut behind them.

I stood there in silence as they left, simply digesting it all. The bits about the griffon kid (which sounds like Natedog) were unimportant to me. What I cared about was the part about the ship. We were in the epicenter of an important event? What the hay could that be? And… what the hay is going on back there right now?

“Eep!” I jumped. Well, looks like there’s no time left to worry about it... this is it. I calmed myself as I took the all-important step forward.

“T-the one and only DJ Pon-3, dude!” I answered timidly. I’m desperately trying to cling to my ‘awesome mare’ image, but I found it very hard to do that while all four of my knees were shaking.

The Gate Keeper looked through the giant book that rested on the equally giant podium in front of him. “… I don’t see you in here, child.”

I rubbed the back of my head with a hoof. “O-oh… s-sorry, I meant Vinyl Scratch… sir. Heh. You go by one name long enough it kinda takes over, ya know?”

He nodded his head in a show of understanding of what I meant. “Ah yes, I do know what that feels like. I’ve gone by ‘Gate Keeper’ for so long that I’ve forgotten my own name.”

I blinked at this. “Oh… so I guess I’m not the first one to call you that, huh?”

“Nor the first and far from the last, young one. Let us see here… aha, here you are. Vinyl Scratch; born in Lower Canterlot nineteen years prior to death… world famous musician… cutie mark represents talent for music… death by drowning…”

That almost caused my shaky legs to collapse in on themselves. “W-what?! I-I’ve done some crazy things in my sleep before, but how the heck did I pull that off?!”

The guy ignored my question as he went on. It was almost like he was reading from a checklist! “… Murderer: Princess Diamrem…”

This just keeps getting weirder and weirder! “Who the hay is that?!” I tried to ask, unsure if I’d even get an answer. I was killed by a Princess?!

“She is the Princess of the seaponies, Ms. Vinyl.” He actually replied, although he did it nonchalantly.

Okay… this is just too weird to be real. Seaponies? Really? What am I? A five year old?

I found it hard to keep a straight face over the ridiculous mental image that was forming in my head. -Snort- "Are… are you pulling my leg, dude? Yeah… that’s it, isn’t it? This is just one big joke!

According to his face, however, he was dead serious (ugh, again; poor word choice, filly). “I’m afraid not, Celestia’s little pony. Seaponies are very much real and their Princess very much killed you during her current bid for power. It was through her servant’s magic that you fell into a deep trance and it was while in this trance that you were thrown overboard. From there you sank like a rock until your body became lodged in the ship’s inactive turbines and… well… ran out of air.

My face dropped… but not before I grimaced at the surprisingly graphic description. Oh Celestia, I think I’m going to be sick! There goes any hope of this turning out to be one big mistake and any hope of me coming back as a zombie pony.

Also, ‘Death by Seapony’… -shudder-, definitely not the thing I wanted on my tombstone....

… Ah crap. Now I’m starting to think about the one thing I didn’t want to think about right now…

I’m… sure ma and dad will be there. That much is guaranteed. My legion of loyal fans will try to get in, but I’m sure my family would want it to be just that: family only. Maybe a few friends but that’s it.

Maybe my manager will get his lazy flank out of that crummy old office of his and show up, just so he can spit on the soil. That colt never did like me, but Celestia knows that if I were to ever die (like… now) he’d have nopony to replace me. So, with that said, let him spit! Not like I can care anymore…

Yeah… no doubt about it. She’ll show up, I just know it. She’ll be there, with her cello, just so she can play my final song. I’d want nopony to do it but her… and maybe Cogy, if she’s still alive. Heh. Maybe in a sick twist of fate, she and Octy will meet over my grave and become friends themselves. Maybe they’ll even do a duet together. Octy always did have a nice singing voice, after all…

Despite my gloomy face, Gate Keeper returned to reading his book. It was then that his eyes shot open in shock. “… Forty-four counts of theft?!”

“…” Sweat starting falling from my face as his gaze caused my self-pity session to abruptly stop. I laughed nervously. “Oh, h-hehehe, that. W-well, you know how it is… I was young and so very, very stupid at the time…”

More sweat began to fall. “Hehehe, yeah, well… one month can really make a difference!”

His silence turned my face into a literal waterfall of sweat. “…Okokok!! I’m a bit of a klepto! I’ll admit it! It was bred into me by my thieving folks, okay?! It’s just in my blood!”

He raised an eyebrow. “But… you’re a musician. A famous one at that, apparently. Why would you stoop so low as petty theft?”

I turned my head away. “B-because I love donuts soooo much, yet I hate Donut Joe’s guts even more! I refuse to support the business of a stupidly proud dubstep hater… but I have no choice if I want the food of the gods! Stealing was the only option…” I pointed an accusing hoof at Gate Keeper. “You try to find a better donut in Equestria! I dare you!”

My hoof, along with my face, fell. “… I-I’m going to the other place, aren’t I?”

At my scared question, GK (Gate Keeper’s new name. Have to be somewhat original) simply laughed me off. “Hohohoh. Have no fear, little one. You are a student of Celestia, are you not?”

Once again I looked away. “Um, well not really. I didn’t do that hot in Magic Kindergarten…”

He waved me off casually. “Not that kind of student. I meant to ask if you paid attention to her teachings of friendship and unity at all.”

GK’s smile returned to him. “Then there’s nothing to worry about! We have not denied a pony into this magical land for many centuries. Here, allow me to simply skip the book and instead join you in the past.”

… I’ve had stallions give me cheesier pick-up lines before, I’ll admit; but that might now be in my top ten.

... Although, something tells me that’s not what the old fart meant. “… Huh?”

As the earth pony got down from his podium, he gripped the giant book easily with his coiled up tail and approached me. “It’s quite simple. Just allow me to enter your mind and relive with you the most important moment of your life. As is the case for all ponies, I will see you at your very best and it is from here that I will allow you entry.”

Oh… oh sweet! I just have to show him last night (or at least I think it was last night. It’s hard to tell time here), where I won back Cogy, and I’ll be set! I did make a life changing vow that day, after all, so it has to at least be in my top ten important moments track… somewhere between earning my cutie mark and tricking Prince Blueblood into eating a cowpie on camera.

I allowed my relieve to overtake me as I told him happily “Okay, that sounds like a plan! What are you waiting for? Fire away!”

The white stallion nodded his head as he opened his book once more with his hoofs…

***^***

We both took a collective step back as the mental manifestation of a flaming ‘H’ came crashing down next to us. I looked up and saw that the giant (mental) sign attached to the equally flaming (mental) building before us now read ‘Canterlot ospital’.

The old stallion was absolutely flabbergasted. “I… I’ve never seen so much evil before… ever! Even dragons and changelings have more decency! H-how could you do something so vile?!”

I tried in vain to defend myself. “I-I swear to you, sir, I was not in my right mind that/this night! I was drinking… kinda, and I was forced to do this against my will!”

“The book recorded you as being a lightweight when it came to alcohol! How could you possibly get drunk enough to do this, Ms. Vinyl?!”

…What is it about that look that stops me every time, no matter who it’s on?

“Well… I can at least assure you that I didn’t enjoy one second of this carnage, sir!”

GK’s stolen ‘look’ intensified as he simply pointed a hoof upwards. I followed it…

… And saw my past self (shades and all), standing on her hind legs on top of the burning hospital. Wind whipped through my mane and tail as my front legs remained crossed over my chest.

Oh crap… I think I actually remember this part. Yeah, it’s all coming back to me now… I was thinking something like ‘Octy’s standing lessons are serving me well this night’ in my head. I also remember my mouth tasting like an ashtray, for some reason. I only remember that last little detail because I shouted something at this time.

Past me helped jog my memory. “Mahahahaha!! Kneel before the DJ Queen, simpletons! You will be baptised through my flames! Burn... buuuuuuuuuuuurrrrnnnnnnn, mahahahahaha!!”

… As horrific as all this looks, I have to acknowledge that the lightning flashing behind myself was a nice touch. How did I do that, anyways? Jeez… I really wish I could remember this night now…

The sound of a book slamming shut. At the sound, the illusion faded and I found myself back in front of the Pearly gates.

With the uttering of those words, the cloud beneath me began to part. All of my legs were stretched out as I hung on for dear li-… er, afterlife. “D-denied?! W-what does that mean?!”

GK returned to his podium. “It means, sinner, that you will be given an eternity to think about what you’ve done in Tartarus. I’m truly sorry.”

“N-no! I’m not evil! L-look again! Look at what I did yesterday with Cogy!”

As the floor beneath me started to disappear rapidly, I began to panic. “I-I mean Cogwill! Cogwill the Dragon! Look her up! She can totally vouch for me if she’s here somewhere!”

GK raised up a hoof, halting the cloud’s process of disappearing under me. As I stood there, stock-still, the stallion flipped through his book.

… No time to worry about that. “W-well, okay, maybe that wasn’t her real name then... but she was on the ship with me yesterday! She sang for the guests last night for crying out loud!”

I felt my knees start to give out. “H-her father’s name is Emeraldgrey the Dragon of the Everfree, or, something! Look him up, please, for the love of Celestia!”

The sound of pages turning rapidly as GK tore his book apart. “Emeraldgrey… Emeraldgrey… ah, here we go. Is this who you're referring to? The daughter of Emeraldgrey of the Everfree and Lady Crackle of the Crystal Palace: a Ms. Fang? Named by her mother while still in her egg?”

I shook my head as hard as I could. “Yup yup! I remember her saying something about not knowing her first name when she met her father a couple days back! I overheard the conversation! T-that means her full name is Fang Cogwill of, like, Equestria… sir!”

GK’s face was scrunched up into a look of confusion as he stared at his book. “… Yes, that would be her full name… if she wasn’t killed during her hatching a month ago.”

Using magic I didn’t know the earth pony guard possessed, the book was levitated towards me with the pages turned forward for my benefit. The words ‘Death through forced hatching’ shined out in golden letters. After a second the words disappeared and the new words ‘Murderers; Apple Flim, Apple Flam’, appeared.

“What this means, Ms. Vinyl, is that this ‘Cogy’ of yours doesn’t exist, and that you are a liar.” His face looked sad as he finished our banter. “I’m so sorry, but this is the end of the road for you, former child of The Maker.”

… And then used as a pommelling weapon as he bashed me across the top of my head. My horn lanced through the book momentarily before he shook me off, sending me falling through the cloud cover.

I heard the Gate Keeper utter out one final “Next!” right before everything went to black once more.

***^***

My eyes remained shut as I sniffed the air from my perfectly comfortable position on the ground. I have no clue when I woke up or how long I’ve been laying here... all I know is that something smells good.

-Sniffsniff- "Hmmmm… that smells like eggs… is Octy making breakfast? Ahhhh… thank you Octy~”

I jumped up and flailed around, desperately trying to shake off the flame that had engulfed my blue tail. “Notthetailnotthetailohfortheloveofallthatisholypleasenotthesweettail!”

After, like, an hour, I managed to shake it out before it could make it to the fleshy part of my flank. “Phew… that would have ruined…” My words started to trail off as I took stock of my new surroundings. “… my… daaaaayyyy?!”

The land before me looked like a dragon’s day spa; full of red brimstone and lava pits everywhere. Multicolored flames erupted out of every hole imaginable. There was no sky. In its place was blackness. The only light source came from these hellish (oh the irony) blue candles that dotted the walls and the glow of the magma. For the second time today, my eyes were assaulted with a plethora of different creatures; creatures with giant ears and hose like snouts, creatures with insect wings and bug eyes, creatures that were snake or fish like in some shape or form, and creatures with crystals for eyes!

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t super jealous of those last guy… gal… things.

Anyways; the heat in here was Celestia awful, in my humble opinion, and the entire place looked like it went on forever...

Oh, and holy (or should I say unholy?) crap, was there a lot of dragons here! So many colors and shapes and sizes…

“Ahhh!” I once again shirked as I rounded a corner and narrowly dodged a funnel of green flames. OhCelestiaohCelestiaohCelestia why is this happening why is this happening?!

Okokokok… calm down Vinyl, chiiiiiillllll... let’s do something you’ve only dared to try before…

Great. Now… let’s see here. So this is Tartarus, the ‘Land of the Dead’. Now… what do you actually know about this place?

Well, one thing I know is that I’ve actually been here before… or, at least as far as the gate. Let me think... that was back during my ‘metal’ phase (which some ponies would argue that I’m still in) where I was looking for inspiration. I took a little trip down here as part of a tour which let us go as far as the gate. I remember there being this sweet three headed dog thingy called Cerberus and that he was ‘guarding’ this gate… or, as much as one could ‘guard’ a door that went nowhere, that is.

Yeah, I remember that detail now. When opened, the gate would only take you to a stone wall. There was nothing on the other side of it in life and the whole ‘guarding it so evil wouldn’t escape’ thing was more symbolic than an actual defense.

Still, the gate does exist in Equestria, so maybe I could just walk out of here? Sounds simple enough…

… But I’m supposed to be dead, right? I can’t just trot up to the gate and leave… right?

I turned my head backwards, and was surprised when I saw a giant door directly behind me. The words ‘Exit’ flashed above it in a sign made of flames.

… But my heart is telling me that I really don’t want to stay here any longer either. As admittedly metal as all this is, the allure of seeing my only two friends again was even more, er, alluring.

~Two seconds later~

“ARRRRROOOOOOOOO!!!” Bellowed the mighty Cerberus as he chased me across this barren wasteland of rock and flames. I rounded a corner and was fortunate enough to dodge the gaze of all three heads. Phew!

I actually saw Equestria on the other side of that exit, but the moment the door opened wide enough for me to trot on out, that big old puppy jumped through from the other side and started chasing me! So he can move between the two realms… that sounds promising. I need to make note of this discovery. I might be able to use this information some time, but for now… what else is there for me to do?

… I can’t believe I’m trying to figure my way out of Hell. This has got to be, like, the second weirdest thing I’ve ever done on a day off-

I jumped again (I’m going to be doing this a lot today, aren’t I?) as a voice almost scared the cutie mark right off of me. I turned around and was greeted by three diamond dogs…

I tried unsuccessfully to cover the smell by covering my snout, but it was no use. Please tell me I don’t have to put up with this for the rest of eternity.

The dark blue furred diamond dog on the right leaned towards me, increasing the smell. “Rover... pony look like pony that yelled at us in life… think it’s same one?”

Rover, the center diamond dog with a red vest, replied with a voice that would have shattered even my gem-glass shades if I still had them. “No, Fido! That pony had purple hair and was clean! This one is blue and dirty!”

I took great offense to that. “Dirty?! I…” Out of curiosity I sniffed myself, and then winced. “… I actually have to agree with you on that one, dude. Thus is the life of a busy musician, it seems… unless you’re a pony named Octavia, that is! Heh, I can’t even remember the last time I got to take a shower… unless drowning in the ocean counts!”

I dropped my (totally fake) friendly attitude as I shot him a glare. “Yeah? Well how did you die then, shrimp?”

The red vested one gave him the back hand. “Quiet, Spot! No need to talk to dinner!”

… What?! I took a fearful step back. “H-heheh, r-real funny there, guys, but you dogs only eat gems… r-right?”

The three took a step towards me. Rover answered. “We eat all kinds of things! Gems are just the most important part of our diets… but there’s no gems here, pony! We’ve dug, and dug, and dug for months now, but we can’t find any! We’re hungry damn it!”

My back pushed up against a stalactite pillar as I was forced to stand up. “T-they don’t feed us here?”

Despite the pits of fire and dragons and lava, this was the thing that finally broke me. “T-then how do we live?!”

Rover roared. “We don’t! We die of hunger then wind up here again! Starve and die, starve and die, starve and die!”

Fido barked as he finished his ‘leader’s speech. “This truly is our hell... but now… we get to eat you, then you come back, then we eat you again. This will make us happy…”

I started chanting a simple mantra in my head, one that went along the lines of ‘D-don’t piss yourself!’

While repeating my new motivational slogan to myself, I desperately tried feeling around for my magic in an attempt to defend myself… only to discover that my magic was gone! Nonononono! “S-stay back, you creeps! W-why don’t you just eat each other?!”

My body was squished up against the wall as far as it could manage. “Oh… oh Celestia. You’ve tried?! I-I was only kidding about that!”

They took a collective step forward. Fido growled. “Being here for so long… you’re willing to try anything.”

How… how is this possible? Even though I’m dead, my life just flashed before my very eyes! A million little moments of my short life started flashing sporadically for me as time slowed down.

I re-watched the event that lead to me to earning my cutie mark. It was a dark and stormy night (all good stories start that way, after all), and my dad had left out one of his old records. After seeing it, I decided to end my boredom by placing it on the equally old gramophone. This action caused my horn to ignite for the very first time, not counting when I was a foal. With my new found powers, I turned on the machine and started playing around with the disk, treating the gramophone like a turntable.

Can you say ‘Best rendition of ‘The Music Mare’ ever’?! Upon hearing my mother applauding my hard work, my cutie mark appeared in a flash and my life was never quite the same again.

I then saw myself during my first day of Magic Kindergarten. My mom wasn’t happy with me for accidentally burning my teacher’s tie… but she forgave me when I gave her his bit purse. We had ice cream later that day, at his expense.

The next scenes I witnessed through the aid of impending death were all dedicated to my time in ‘Celestia’s Band Camp for Gifted Musicians’. It was within this sacred land where many of my first adventures were had; all of which I would later start with ‘This one time…’ as was tradition. I made many friends that summer...

Sadly, all those so called ‘friends’ left me once it was over. Thanks a lot ‘life-flashing-before-eyes-cliché. I really needed to be reminded about that…

Next, I enjoyed seeing my first real concert at a seedy night club in Lower Canterlot, my home turf. Although only two ponies showed up for it, one of them was a talent agent who I would later come to call ‘that one fat flank who sits around and eats donuts all day’, or Toffwsaaedad for short.

Yeah… not the catchiest thing, I know. But all the same; thanks to him, this was the day I became a star.

And finally, the slow motion retelling of my existence came to the part of my life Mr. Gate Keeper should have seen, the most important day of my life…

Heh, I didn’t need this flashback. I could recall this day better than my own cutie mark story. I remembered every little detail of that dusty old ballroom, I remembered every single word we shared, and I remembered how she, fearing for my sanity, asked me if I was ‘on’ something, just like Cogy did!

I also remembered how I chased her across Canterlot and back, just so we could ‘hang out’ some more. At first she was adverse to it and tried to run away, but I pushed harder and harder until she finally relented.

Okay, I’ll admit that was kinda ‘stalker-y’ of me, but I thought she was a really cool mare who needed cheering up! It’s my duty as a party filly, after all!

While I didn’t need the flashback to help me remember our meeting, I was grateful that it replayed for me the best years of my life as the two of us literally did everything together. Concerts, vacations, dinners... you name it! Rumors even started circulation about us dating!

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. All these wonderful, happy moments quickly disappeared and were just as quickly replaced with one single moment, the worst moment of my life…

A-as soon as that was up, however, my mind took me straight into meeting Cogy (maybe to cheer me up?). Seeing my meeting with her right after seeing my meeting with Octy made me realize something… Now that I’ve been given this once in a lifetime (or, at least I hope this only happens once while I’m here) chance to see both of these events flank-to-flank, I can now truly appreciate how similar they were to each other.

Cogy… if given the chance, I think ours could have been the friendship that carried me to my true final days.

I… sigh, I guess all I can do now is be grateful that my final days were spent with a close friend…

… I guess I can also be grateful for the three dead dogs I suddenly find at my hooves.

Finally leaving memory lane, I took note of a new arrival to this neck of the rocky wasteland. She was a blue furred unicorn mare that appeared to be about my age. Her mane was purple with twin pink stripes going through it and she wore a grey cape which covered her flank…

The mare used her orange magic to levitate some kind of cloth to her horn in order to clean it from said gore. As she returned the cloth to a saddlebag hidden under her cape, she turned to look at me. I fell backwards on my flank and again started scooting back up against the wall.

Never before had I felt more defenseless then I did right now. All these shocks to my system I’ve had to suffer today are starting to take their toll on my willpower. “D-don’t hurt me! I’ve had more than enough crap for one day, thank you very much!”

The rather young looking unicorn simple smiled as she offered me her hoof. Her eyes betrayed her age, as they appeared to belong to a very old mare instead of a young adult like me. “Do not be afraid, child. I will not hurt you.”

I attempted to reach for my magic again, in an effort to grip a rock or something, but once again I received nothing. “I-I’m not going to trust somepony who just killed three dogs right in front of me!”

The blue mare tilted her head to the side, allowing her purple and pink mane to fall to the side as well. “But… they were already dead, child. We all are. This is actually the third time I’ve had to discipline them since they arrived here. Do not worry... they’ll be up and about within a day or so with only a slight headache for their troubles.”

The fact that she just made death seem not that big a deal horrified me. I fought desperately to appear unfazed and still in control of myself, but it was becoming increasingly harder by the second. “W-well… I’m still not going to trust somepony who can use magic while I can’t! How are you doing that anyways? I can’t even feel my own right now!”

Once more, she continued to smile warmly at me. “The walls of this land are made of what is known as ‘Arcana, Llepson, Obsidian’. It is a magic draining substance that keeps all us restless spirits in check. If you want to use your spells again, I’m afraid you will simply have to allow your inner mana pool to grow. Have no fear: it only takes an average spell caster one hundred years to build the power necessary to use levitation magic again.”

And that’s when I finally burst into tears, totally ruining my image… but I simply didn’t care anymore.

My image used to mean everything to me! Everything! I would sooner kiss Blueblood’s flank instead of denting it! I used to only do cool things with cool ponies! I used to only eat at awesome restaurants with awesome music…

… But to hell with my ‘awesome mare’ attitude and to hell with my ‘mask’! It didn’t bring me happiness in life and it sure as hell (ugh, why do I keep using that word?) won’t in the afterlife! Everything was collapsing around me. My ‘life’ is over. No more parties, no more screaming fans, no more phat beats…

The mare’s smile faltered for a brief second. “None rarely do, child… come with me please.”

But I didn’t have a choice in the matter, as I was suddenly lifted up to her back with the aid of her magic. Despite us appearing to be the same age, the mare seemed as strong as an adult earth pony and as powerful as one of those snobbish elderly unicorns that run Celestia’s magic school.

“Child…” The mare began to say. “Sitting here crying isn’t going to help you out one bit. Please, come to what I call ‘home’... You look like a pony in desperate need of some conjured tea.”

She continued our conversation as she trotted along. “Because you and I are a rare breed amongst the ranks of the damned. Ponies rarely make it here thanks to Celestia’s guidance. Our punishment for being different is that many here will try to harm us for one reason or another. Again I implore you; please allow me to at least impart my wisdom of this realm to you so that the rest of your stay won’t be as disastrous as what you’ve just experienced.”

“… Thank you.” I replied simply. My head was swimming, so much happened so quickly… do I count this pony as my friend? Do I have to be suspicious of her? I… I just don’t know anymore! What’s good and what’s evil now?! I’m in the place where bad ponies go, yet this mare is being nice to me! W-what am I supposed to do?!

Despite my inner turmoil, the mare kept on talking. “It’s my sworn duty to make sure new arrivals here are made comfortable, child. Under my care, this land has slowly done away with the ‘realm of torture and eternal punishment’ image it once was known for.”

Again her smile faltered. “Well… there is still only so much a single pony can do… but I can at least assure you that I mean you no harm and that I only have your best interest in mind.”

Her smile returned as she turned her head in order to look at me while I was draped on her back. “From what I understand, Celestia now teaches lessons about the joys of friendship along with leading a good life? If that’s true, then I wish to be your friend. Would you allow that, Miss…?” She tried to fish for my name.

-Sniff- "M-my name’s Vinyl Scratch… and sure, we can be friends. I… I think that’s what I badly need right now. I want to start acting like myself again… I’m… heh, usually a lot stronger then," -Sniff- "T-this, ma'am.”

The mare turned her head forward and continued trotting. “Then it’s settled. My name is Starswirl the Bearded. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Vinyl Scratch.”

***^***

My new friend (who I nicknamed Swirly) beamed. “It’s quite nice, isn’t it? It took several hundred years in order to generate enough magic to permanently summon the wood needed to make it, but it was worth it.”

As we trotted through the swinging doors of Tartarus’ largest (and only) building, I was once more assaulted with a mindboggling amount of new creatures. The only one I recognized was the zebra playing on a piano, and that’s only because I used to have a zebra roommate in band camp. I forgot his name… Zerebro, or something. Heh, maybe that’s actually him, being punished for being sexist…

… Either that or for the whole murder robbery thing he attempted a year back… either one would make sense to me.

Anyhow, outside of him I didn’t recognize anything here! I noticed right away that there was some kind of awesome yellow cat thing with black spots playing bartender behind the main stall. He was literally zooming back and forth between customers, to the point where he was nothing more than a blur. Dang! I don’t even think Wonderbolts can move that fast!

Outside of him, there was also a bunch of other neat looking creatures scattered around in their own little groups. There were these black insect/pony looking things buzzing around like flies, these small scaly snake things levitating around glasses with their glowing tails, and these really tall necked and long legged things that took up most of the room. Those guys were interesting, as they weren’t technically in the building. They would either be sitting outside with their necks poking through a window, or their heads would be chilling on the second floor thanks to a hole in that floor’s floor… floor. They seemed to be able to use magic as well… I think they're called giraffes, now that I think about it. Yeah… that sounds right.

Swirly kept smiling. “Yes, like a bar. It makes me feel nostalgic. In my youth…”

She only winked at me in response. “Looks can be deceiving here, child. As I was saying; in my youth, I used to work in my father’s salt saloon in order to fund my early educational pursuits. It was in that same bar where I came up with my ridiculous ‘Starswirl the Bearded’ pen name that I used as my real name for the rest of my life. It was the name of a special drink that we served there at the time.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t, but I needed a stallion-ish sounding name if I wanted my scientific and magical studies publicized. I even had to wear a fake beard the few times I went into public, just to keep the act up! I don’t think even the Princesses knew the truth!" Swirly sighed. "It was a very different world back then, child…” A smirked crossed her face. “Heh. Do they still talk about me up there, Vinyl? I know it’s kind of a vain question, but it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to ask somebody about it.”

My ‘teacher’ nodded her head as she educated me some more. “Well then, the proper term would be somebody. But anyways, yes… do they still talk about me? The griffons around here tell me that I’m still called ‘Starswirl the CooCoo’ thanks to my little slip up with my first, and only, book about dragons. Ugh. The book about training your dragon companion was my greatest failure… Besides them though, no other creature can give me a straight answer. So…” She looked at me hopefully. “Did I live forever like I was aiming to do? Are my feats of magical ingenuity still researched to this very day?”

I was unable to face her. “I’m… sorry, but I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t the best student in school…”

Her motherly smile returned to her. “Oh, I’m sure you weren’t that bad, child.”

“It’s hard to be a good student when you were kicked out of school for using forbidden magic.” I deadpanned. “Teacher was even tempted to place something called a ‘deadlock’ spell on my horn to prevent me from accidentally ripping the fabric of space and time a sunder… again.”

The blue mare only blinked in response, so I kept going. “Yeah... long story short; the jury is still out on whether or not I’m my own grandmother, and whether the captain of the royal guard is actually clone me sent back in time with his/her chromosomes and memories messed up.”

Again, the mare simply blinked in response… right before bursting into a laughing fit.

I snapped at her for this. “Hey, I don’t find it that funny! That last bit still keeps me up at night! Even worst, there are rumblings that he’s engaged! To a mare! What does that say about me, Swirly?!”

Swirly kept laughing. “Hahaha! N-no no, child. I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing because you answered my question!”

She gasped for air as she let up on the laughing. “You sure did, child, for no other pony in my time was capable of time travel! Not even Celestia was able to crack it, so that leads me to believe that those were my spells that you were using.” She looked up into the air dreamily. “The single use time travel spell and its many alterations… hehe. Oh the good times I had with those…” She waved off her own conversation with a hoof. “Enough about that. Let me tell you about this place. This ‘bar’ is an excellent way to meet the few civilized creatures that inhabit this land. Consider it your new home as everyone else here does. Come, let us take a seat.”

Thus we trotted up to the bar stools. The second I sat down, the yellow cat thing from earlier came rushing up to us.

I blinked but Swirly was unfazed. “Two teas, please. Crushed and purified poison joke, if it’s still in stock.”

He zoomed off and reappeared with two glasses full of sloshing blue liquid in his tail. He set them down gently before rushing off again.

My friend giggled lightly. “I’m afraid that’s impossible, Ms. Vinyl. Cheator is a cheetah, and even though our forms are now more energy based than flesh based, we cannot simply become something we’re not. No…” She took a sip from her drink. “… You have to work for it.”

… But I was more concerned over something else. Too concerned, actually, to worry about my new friend’s cryptic words.

She cut me off. “I really wish you had picked a better nickname for me, Vinyl.”

I shrugged. “Sorry, but I’ve got to work with what I’ve got. I have a question. If this is a bar…”

Her head drooped. “There’s no alcohol here, child. I’m sorry. It’s much harder to conjure then it is to conjure simple things like water and a leaf for tea. We’ve tried to make it homebrew, but it always turns out horrid. The same thing happens to conjured salt: it just doesn’t have the same effect here as it normally would! I blame the ‘Arcana, Llepson, Obsidian’s’ draining qualities. Again, I’m sorry, Vinyl.”

“Strange…” She went on. “Usually when I break the news to someone they see it as the end of the world.”

I waved her off with a hoof. “Yeah, well, alcohol is the whole reason I’m here in the first place. If you want to keep this place standing, don’t let me even sniff some of that funky homebrew stuff.”

Swirly nodded her head in acknowledgement. “Ah, I see. Hehe, it would appear that we are both being punished for our addictions.”

I waited until I was done with my sip of tea (I normally don’t drink the stuff, but this was surprisingly good) before I replied. “Well, I wouldn’t really call it an ‘addiction’, so much as I would call it the ‘thing-I-do-every-now-and-then-that-usually-ends-with-things-on-fire’. Out of curiosity, what was your addiction?”

… Something about that smile is giving me the creeps. She answered by simply stating…

It seems I’m doing a lot of blank-face blinking today. “… What? That's it? What’s wrong with that?”

She took a sip from her own tea before replying. “I asked the Gate Keeper the same thing during my judging, only to receive no clear answer.”

Weird. How is knowledge bad? “That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, Swirly. It’s not like you did anything evil... right?”

With that I returned to giving my tea my full attention. After taking another sip from her own drink, Swirly placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Child, something is bothering you, isn’t it?”

That warm smile of hers replaced my mental image of her earlier creepy one. “When you see as many faces as I do on a daily basis, you start to get a feel for these kinds of things. Vinyl, you will find it easier to endure the coming centuries if you get everything off your chest right now. Please, I’ve been doing this for others for a very long time, so I know what I’m saying... get it off your chest right now before the hell hole known as Tartarus turns it against you.”

At the comment, I turned around and observed all the happy faces and the lighthearted laughter emanating from the inhabitants of this bar. “It… doesn’t seem that bad actually, Swirly.”

Swirly’s smile dropped. “No… it doesn’t at first, does it? You have me to blame for that. So great was my drive to better this place, I built this bar without thinking about the consequences of my actions. Heh, that was a key problem of mine in life as well…

“Trust me, this ‘bar’ only gives you a false sense of security of what’s to come. This place will get inside your head at some point, and once it does… it will drive you mad. If anything, in exchange for slowing going crazy over the course of centuries, I have instead made it easier for those unprepared to go insane over the course of months. Just ask the changeling known as Legion. She now thinks of herself as the Queen of a pile of rocks, yet she hasn't even been here for a fortnight.”

“… You know what? I think I’ll just get this problem off my chest like you said I should, and then I’m going to forget we ever had either of these conversations.”

After taking a deep breath, I dug deep inside myself in order to find the root of what was bothering me. I thought about it for a bit before I started talking again. “I… guess my only real problem is that I’m kinda pissed that I didn’t get to hang out with this new friend of mine some more.”

Swirly motioned for some refills to the cheetah. “Ah, regrets... such a common ailment for those who end up here. I understand your pain, for I too have many regrets myself. Please, tell me about this friend of yours, child. Sharing your pain with others lessens it.”

I stared down into my new glass of tea. “… Okay. Well, at first I was looking at her as a replacement for this older pony friend I had. I... 'accidentally' made my pony friend really mad at me over something stupid I did. She left me because of it and I haven’t been the same since. I hid my pain for months behind my ‘mask’ of being this awesome party pony… but inside it was tearing me apart. I was dying… but then I met this dragon…”

Her eyes flickered a bit, but otherwise my new friend seemed unfazed by the fact that Cogy was a dragon, so I went on.

“… I met this dragon who was just like her in a bunch of different ways, so I tried to treat her like the ‘new’ Octy… the name for my old pony friend. This made me really happy, made me feel like myself again! But… then I ended up getting her to hate me just like I got Octy to hate me. Even better, I did it within the same day as meeting her!”

I waved my hoof passingly at her. “Oh, don’t worry. I made it up to her the next day once I finally realized what kind of flankhole I was being. I discovered that she liked singing so I used my connections to give her this chance to show off her talent in front of an audience. Afterwards, while she was still having fun and having a good time, I begged for her forgiveness along with promising her I wouldn’t hurt her again. She thankfully agreed and we became friends again…” I looked down. “… But then I apparently died that same night.”

After placing me cup back down with my teeth, I raised my head up in order to look at Swirly. “Huh? What is?”

Her eyes sparkled as she raised her head as well, but towards the ceiling, not really looking at me. “I just find it funny that it’s possible, in your time, for a pony to be friends with a dragon. It was unheard of in my time.”

I chuckled weakly. “Yeah, well, it’s still kinda rare in my time, actually.”

“Still.” Swirly continued. “The fact that you two were friends amuses me. Quite the odd combination; the monster and the musician… how did such a lovely singer, such as herself, ever put up with you? Ha!”

Her completely out-of-nowhere zinger almost caused tea to come shooting out of my nose. I pounded the counter with a hoof a couple of times until I swallowed my mouthful and gasped for air. Once I appeared calm and collective again, I replied by saying “Heh, well what’s so funny about that, Swirly? I’m friends with you after all!”

Swirly placed her cup down before continuing. “Heheh… in all honesty though; what I truly find funny is that, in my time, we ponies didn’t really know anything about dragons while creatures like the zebras, giraffes, and griffons knew almost everything. Since coming here, however, I’ve discovered history long since forgotten to ponykind... history about a time where ponies and dragons fought alongside each other as allies.”

She downed the last of her drink. “Yes. Our two races, the ponies and the draconics, used to be allies in arms against the ancient evils that once plagued both our lands. Draconequis, centaurs, the raging false gods... we stood together to defend what was dearest to both our hearts.”

As awe-inspiring as this sounded, something didn’t make sense to me. “... Heh. As amazing and totally awesome as that sounds, Swirly, I can’t really picture anydragon acting like that, like a totally boss knight thingy. Maybe my friend, but even that’s pushing it!”

Swirly looked downcast for a brief moment. “Yes… well… this was before a Queen was born… and a war of the goddesses was fought... but that is a tale for another time.”

As I pondered this, she went on. “But what I find the most interesting, in my opinion, is that there were once ponies who could tune their gifted talents with the gifted greed flame within a dragon’s heart in order to achieve great things.”

“… Okay, Swirly? You remember how I said I was a poor student? Yeah… I’m a poor student. Please slow down for me.”

She simply rolled her eyes in response to my plead for help. “Sorry. By ‘gifted talent’ I mean the cutie marks every pony is gifted with during our youth… like your lovely music note mark, Vinyl.”

Out of habit, I gave the mark a couple jabs with a hoof. “Yup yup, pretty sweet huh? My special talent is being awesome.” I then blushed after I realized what I had just said. “Er… sorry about that. Force of habit, hehe.” I then realized another thing. “Say… I don’t think I’ve gotten to see the one you’ve got hidden under that wicked cape yet, Swirly.”

I smirked cheekily at her. Whenever somepony wears a cape like that, it usually means they don’t want ponies looking at their mark. “Want to share with the class~?”

Unfortunately, it was only now that I noticed that she wasn’t paying attention to me anymore. One of those scaly snake things I saw earlier had interrupted our conversation in order to talk to her about something I couldn’t quite pick up. I miss my eavesdropping spell…

By the way... these snake things are really weird looking. This one, at least, was the same size as Cogy… but it was nothing but a tail! At the tip of said tail was something that looked like a unicorn’s horn. It even glowed like one!

Actually, on further inspection, I discovered that he wasn’t so much as flying as he was levitating himself like a unicorn foal does during a magic influx. That’s pretty tight… wish I could do that… or any kind of magic for that matter.

My thoughts were interrupted by Swirly's yelling voice. She shouted something angrily at the creature in a different language and then pointed her hoof towards the exit. Looking crestfallen, the creature scurried away with tears dropping from his (at least I think it was a dude's) face. My friend turned around so she could speak to me again.

“Sorry about that.” She apologized. “That guy has been nothing but a clingy little snake since the moment he got here.” She then huffed. “Landwyrms: the bane of my life and afterlife, it seems. So… where were we?”

That was weird… but I was more interested in the epic dragon/pony war conversation that we were just talking about to inquire. I even dropped the cutie mark thing so we could get straight back into it. “You were telling me that you found it funny that a dragon and a pony could be friends?”

Placing one hoof on the counter and another over it, she brought down the hovering hoof into the cupped hoof in order to make a small clopping sound. “Ah, yes. Thank you. As I was saying, what I find fascinating is that, in ancient times, there were ponies who could tune their cutie marks with a draconic’s greed flame in order to achieve a bond that I can only dare to imagine. It was as if they fused their very souls together in order to become one complete being…”

With the flare of her horn, Swirly transformed our empty cups into tiny figurines of various sizes and shapes.

One figurine illustrated that snake thing from earlier with a rather tiny unicorn riding on its head. The unicorn’s horn, as well as the landwyrm’s (as my friend had called it) tail were glowing orange with the aid of Swirly’s magic.

Another model showed off what I think is called a sea serpent being ridden by an earth pony. Like the landwyrm, this pony rode atop the giant’s head. Illusionary water flowed around the sea serpent’s long tail as he ‘swam’ along, and the tiny spear being held in the earth pony’s mouth shined and glowed as it reflected the light from the bar’s blue candles.

The final figure was of the one creature I did recognize, a dragon. It was flying through the ‘air’ while a pegasus rode on its back. Both the dragon and the pegasus figurines had their wings flared out and teeth bared, as if ready to strike the ‘evil’ forces of the counter’s pepper shakers.

“These ponies…” Swirly went on as she changed the toys back to their original forms. “… were known as Dragoons: the first recorded warriors of ponydom.”

My eyes were glittering. Whoa… that sounds really cool! As I usually do when I hear something awesome, I instantly started picturing myself as the pony riding that dragon. Sure, the unicorn figure was shown as riding the landwyrm, but come on. Boooorrrriiinnnggg! I want to fly, baby!

As Swirly began stacking the empty cups for the bartender, she finished up her tale by saying “The reason the Dragoons died out remains a mystery. I can’t even find a former rider or a former steed to talk to about it! It’s highly likely that this is due to the dangers associated with interfering with a dragon’s greed flame... it’s very easy for the flame to overtake a pony and turn him or her into a mindless abomination or for the flame to accidentally get snuffed out, killing the dragon by extinguishing its soul.”

Thanks to that little addition to the story, I quickly disengaged my daydream of becoming DJ Dr4g00n.

“Who knows, child... maybe in another life the two of you were once Rider and Steed.”

I laughed her off. “Ha! Nice try there, Swirly, but I already know what I was in another life… nothing. You said it yourself, we can’t die here! Since this is the afterlife, that must mean that the whole ‘reincarnation’ thing the zebras like to flaunt on about doesn’t exist!”

At my comment, the zebra playing the piano stopped momentarily before the music picked up again.

Swirly looked down gloomily. “…I wouldn’t be so sure, child… There is a limit to how long these magical bodies of ours can last here. Eventually, you’ll get to a point where there won’t be enough left of you to regenerate after an accidental dip in the lava pools or the boiling sea. When that happens, you’ll simply… be gone.”

“That… is the final mystery I’ve yet to unravel. So, again, maybe in another life you and this dragon were once one in the same, so to speak.”

The blue furred mare’s latest drink remained floating in front of her. She had stopped its command to come closer to so she could think about something. “Cogy… I do not recognize this dragon’s name, Vinyl.”

I tried to summon that Cheetah guy with a hoof so I could get a refill. I wonder what the currency around here is… -shudder-, probably something unpleasant. “Yeah, well neither did that Gate Keeper guy up at the Pearly Gates. I don’t really expect you to know her, but you’d think the guy whose job is to know everypony, er, everyone would recognize a simple nickname. Guy even said she’s been dead for a month now! Ha! How wrong can one colt be?!”

I stared sadly at my empty cup. “Oh, Fang Cogwill, apparently. Kinda lame if you ask me. I mean, her last name is cool but that first name sounds really generic.”

“… I believe she must been named in honor of the mortal Princess Fang of the dragons, who once ruled over them three hundred years ago… but that is not what interests me right now. Vinyl, I think I have something to show you. Please, follow me.”

With that she got up from her stool, threw what looked like golden bits on the counter, and started trotting to a side door. Confused, I jumped down myself and started following her.

“Yo, Swirly?” I tried to stop her. “What’s up? You’ve already dropped way too many cryptic messages to me today! I’d like some clarity, please.”

Starswirl stopped right before reaching the door and turned to me. “Please, Vinyl, this isn’t something I can discuss out in the open… but trust me…”

… My eyes must be playing tricks on me, because I swore her pink eyes just turned into slit dragon eyes for a brief second.

That creepy grin of hers returned with avengeance. “… I’ll make it worth your while, child.”

***^***

Swirly took me down into her private library, conveniently located right under the bar. There were literally thousands of books down here covering every wall and table and bed!

… But Swirly ignored all of them as she went to the furthest book case and started looking for something.

Having been quiet the whole trip down here, I tried to start up another conversation with her. “So… where did all these books come from, Swirly?”

She continued to look through the bookcase as she replied. “I wrote all these myself.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I know, but I remembered that you said that you’ve been here for, what, hundreds of years?”

She started tracing her hoof over the titles of the tomes. “Yes, that sounds about right. I died of old age right around Princess Luna’s ‘moody’ phase. I heard that didn’t end very well, correct?”

I quickly trotted through it. “Haha! Oh wow! Ponies actually do the whole ‘hidden book equals secret door’ thing? I thought that was just an old mare’s taaaaaaaaalllllllllllee!”

That’s when I discovered that the ‘secret passage’ was lacking in stairs… and a floor. Swirly quickly caught me with her magic and dragged me back up before I died… again.

She smiled at me knowingly. “Yes, but I like to add a little twist to everything I do.”

I smiled as well from my position in her magic field. “Nothing wrong with that! But how do you get down there?”

“… You named your creepy basement?” I asked while still floating in the air.

Swirly closed her eyes and chuckled. “No no no, I’m afraid this hole was named long before I got here. It’s the whole reason why I built this bar here, so that I could be closer to... it.”

Thanks to my upside down floating, blood was starting to rush to my head and prevented me from thinking straight. “Oh… but how do we get down there then? Some kind of magic… thingy?”

That question was the one that caused Swirly's creepy grin to get even creepier. After placing me on her back again (really glad nopony I know can see me being carried around like a little filly) she started taking a few steps back. “Like... this.”

“Not again!” I screamed as I found myself, for the second time today, falling.

Swirly laughed during the entire fall at my expense. This was just a trick, wasn’t it?! Yeah... I bet this is how they get their kicks here! By re-killing you! OhCelestiaohCelestiaoh… huh?

After easing myself out of my latest panic attack (it feels so weird to be on the receiving end of these kinds of things. Looks like I have more to apologize to Octy about) I noticed that our fall wasn’t nearly as fast as it once was… in fact, I’d dare to say that we were now gliding. Swirly’s horn wasn’t glowing, so I have no idea what could be slowing u-

And that’s when we landed on some solid surface (guess it wasn’t ‘bottomless’ after all) and I was sent tumbling off of her back. I quickly got back on my hooves just in time to see Swirly without her cape.

The first thing I noticed was that she was a blank-flank. Wha? How does that work? She’s way older than me!

The second thing I noticed was that she had a pair of pink-skinned, blue fingered, bat wings.

Despite my obviously frantic (yet totally justified) question, Swirly simply folded her wings back up under her cape and replied to my question with another question. “… Tell me, Ms. Vinyl... do you know what purpose the goddesses serve?”

I took a step back as she approached me, feeling unsure about my new ‘friend’s’ intentions. “Um… y-yeah? Celestia raises the sun and the moon, er, or Luna actually raises the moon now and Celestia only takes care of the sun… I think.”

Swirly smiled warmly again. “Yes, that is but one of the tasks those two are destined to perform… but what about the others?”

She started circling the dark cavern we were in. “Oh, surely you must know of some of the others that inhabit this planet? Queen Gaia of the Zebras, Griffons, and Giraffes? The one who keeps our planet from growing against our control and whose sister, Princess Silphe, controls the winds?”

She blinked. “Well… what about Lord Asterion of the Diamond Dogs, Gargoyles, and Minotaurs? Surly they still teach you how he keeps the likes of the Ursas, and all the other ancient constellation creatures, at bay?”

I could tell by her tone of voice that my lack of knowledge was starting to annoy Swirly. “Well what about Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings or Queen Ambrosine of the Seaponies? Do they not teach ponies anymore about how the changelings’ very existence controls where the population of the world flourishes and where it falters? And do they not teach you how the seaponies control the very sea, making sure it never floods and that all travel across it is safe?!”

For the second time today, I found myself up against a wall. “H-hey, look, Swirly; I’ve only discovered that seaponies were real after one killed me! I-I’m sorry if ponies of my time aren’t as smart as we used to be! It’s not my fault!”

Starswirl blinked at this and took a step back when she discovered that she was scaring me. “Seaponies… killed you? Hmmm…” she started mumbling to herself, as if I wasn’t here. “That coincides with that. And… if they have become violent, that could mean that the seas are not as safe to travel on as they used to be. This could result in the exchange of information, news, and knowledge between the two major continents to slow down considerably… maybe to the point where seeing a zebra is a rare sight to a pony…”

I felt safe enough to take a step towards her again. “Um… in Equestrian English, please?”

She blinked. “Oh… oh I’m sorry. I was just piecing together a long running puzzle that’s been plaguing my mind as of late. I must apologize again, Ms. Vinyl. It seems I’ve gone a bit off topic. Now… I asked you if you knew what other purpose the goddesses of this world had. Please, look at your cutie mark for me.”

Her smile intensified. Maybe she thinks I’m finally starting to understand what she’s getting at (when in truth I’ve got no freaking clue)? “Yes Vinyl, ‘really’. The goddesses’ other task is to gift their subjects with a piece of themselves in some form or another. This links us to them and thus links us with the afterlife; their, as well as Celestia’s and Luna’s, homeland.”

I did my best to wrap my shortly frying brain around it all. “But… only ponies and zebras have cutie marks. All those other creatures up there were markless! How did they get here?”

“Well…” Swirly began. “First of all, the marks upon a zebra’s flank are artificial. They are known as ‘tattoos’ and, in the zebra culture, their purpose is to show whose family they belong to. It is a right of adulthood for them!

“But yes, you would be correct in stating that only ponies receive these marks, but that does not mean the other races have been forsaken. Zebras, griffons, and giraffes were, at least in my time, gifted by Gaia with a connection to the planet stronger than even that of an earth pony. Whether it was a gift for using magical plants, a gift for hunting down prey, or a gift for medical magic; it all depended on the individual, as it does for us ponies.

“Asterion’s gift was an instinctive connection to others, the ties that bind one to another. This manifested itself into the pack mentality for diamond dogs, the shared-pain blood pack for gargoyles, and a minotaur’s’ ability to ‘feel’ their way through a maze in order to quickly reach someone. All of these were gifted to them by Asterion so that even strangers among their kind could become closer than family. Heh, I remember Celestia always being jealous of Asterion’s gift to his subjects; she even went as far as to emulate it with our own brandings, or so the legend goes. I wouldn't know for sure. I wasn’t fortunate enough to become her student in my life as other unicorns did…" She spat out angrily before moving on.

“Ambrosine’s gift to her seaponies was always a mystery to me, but I knew Chrysalis’ gift all to well… the hive mind… truly a horrible gift…”

As fascinating as all this was, I was not picking up on what the point of it all was. “Um… okay, that’s pretty neat and all... but why did you bring me down here? Just to give me a history lesson? Need I remind you that I am not a good student and that most of what you are trying to tell me is going straight into one ear and coming out the other on fire?”

Swirly sighed. “Oh dear. It seems I have gone off track once more. Let me simply cut to the chase then. I’m telling you all of this because there was one gift amongst the many that I always admired, one that I felt better suited a pony of my tastes more than any silly mark could. Now that I have become a spirit, removing Celestia’s gifted cutie mark from my flesh was a simple task… replacing it was even simpler.”

Her grin strengthened as her eyes turned into pink slits. “A flame, my dear Vinyl. The flame of greed. I simply traded the brand that once represented my gift for gaining knowledge with a flame that feeds my greed for knowledge. All those books ‘upstairs’? Well… they are but a fraction of my hoard.”

Oooohhhh crap, I’m starting to get flashbacks to the conversation I snuck in on involving Cogy and her daddy. Both those two were adamant about their hoards!

A forked tongue slithered out of Swirly's mouth, freaking me the buck out. “More than part, I am whole.”

Suddenly I find myself against the back wall again. “Oh… t-that’s cool, Swirly, real cool. C-can we go now?”

Swirly allowed her wings to stretch out as she stood up on her hind legs. She rested her head on one of her front knees. “Why? Now you have all the knowledge you need for your meeting.”

... Damn it Swirly, why do you have to be so cryptic? “M-meeting? Meeting with who?”

As soon as the words left my lips, flames irrupted all around us. The pit we found ourselves in was suddenly illuminated fully so that I could make out every little rock that made up the walls…

I stared up at the giant… thing that reared up behind Swirly. As I fell on my haunches, Swirly simple stood on the opposite side of the room and grinned at me.

“W-w-w-what is that thing?!” I yelped. Just when I thought this day couldn’t get any more demented…

Swirly finally turned around and beamed at it. “Fascinating, isn’t it? Her body is that of a sea serpent; long and legless with shimmering blood red scales. She possesses the wings of a dragon instead of arms, yet she can manipulate her fingers like a pegasus can his feathers. The tip of her tail is made of the same ivory material that makes up a landwyrm’s magic conducting tail, yet these ‘horns’ are also present on her head, in a formation that makes it appear as though it were a crown. Finally, she neither breathes a dragon’s fire, a sea serpent’s water, or a landwyrm’s magic. Instead, this creature breathes the one thing this land lacks: life.

“She possesses many names in many cultures, Vinyl. The plain’s creatures call her a chimera, the creatures of the Crystal Wastes call her a wyvern, our kind would call her an alicorn… but to the draconics, she is simply known as God.” Swirly then faced me and gave me a grand bow. “Child... please allow me to introduce you to my master, the lord of all dragons and of this realm, The All Seeing One: Queen Lyssa.”

“Eep!” I jumped back, eternally grateful that this thing seems to be chained to the wall. Why? I have no clue, nor do I care!

“We prefer saying ‘what the hay’ around here.” She answered nonchalantly.

“W-whatever! Why did you bring me here?! Why would you think I’d want to see this… this… thing?!”

Swirly’s face was a mask of clearly held back rage. “Queen… Lyssa. Do not refer to her as a thing, child.”

The last of my courage left me after that. “S-sure… um… c-can you please tell me why I’m here now? I’d really like to go back to the bar now, Swirly…”

She huffed. “Well, first of all, it’s in my humble opinion that all new residents to Tartarus should be given a chance to see their Queen. Those in the other realm get to see The Maker, so it is only fair.”

That angered me so I shot her a glare. “Dude... are you seriously comparing her to God?”

Swirly tilted her head. “Oh course. Haven’t you noticed yet, child? Tell me... which creature have you seen the most of since coming here?”

I seriously thought about it, but I was drawing a blank. Swirly helped me a bit. “Think about the first thing you compared this realm to when you entered it.”

“I…” I attempted to answer. “Said that it kinda looked like a day spa…” My eyes widened as I started connecting the dots. “… for dragons”

The round of ‘applause’ coming from Swirly must have meant that I got it right. “Very good, Vinyl! A lot of newbies say the same thing. See? You’re not that horrid of a student after all!”

She waved me off. “Regardless... the major population of Tartarus is draconics. The Queen’s presence attracts them and drags them down here… and they come willingly.”

This shocked me. “What?! How could anyone want this kind of place, Swirly?”

She lightly flapped her wings in place. “Because they long for it in their hearts… their greed filled hearts. Now, I will finally answer your question about why you are down here, Vinyl, but first… Lyssa is a goddess as well. Care to hazard a guess as to what her purpose is?”

I stared up and the mindless beast that kept bashing itself against the wall behind itself. The chains keeping her in place seemed to be holding. Well that’s a relief… but right now, I’m more afraid of Swirly!

Swirly's almost motherly smile reappeared on her face, but the events of the past couple of minutes have tarnished that smile’s effect on me.

“So close Vinyl. So very, very, close. The greed flames are her gift to her subjects. They are what drives a dragon to defend and protect that which is dearest to their hearts…”

As the archmage held her final word, a column of red fire erupted between us. I jumped back but Swirly casually fluttered around it and to my side. With the flare of her horn, an image started to appear within the flame. It was of an orange-scaled, adult sea serpent cuddling a pile of stuffed animals.

Despite the seriousness of this whole exchange, I found it hard to keep a straight face while looking at, snort, t-that.

While I laughed, Swirly continued. “Lyssa cares not for what her subjects fight for, only that they do care for something. Whether it be useless things…”

The flames flickered and the image changed. Now, a purple-scaled, teen dragon could be seen trying to yank a scooter out of some poor filly’s grip. Her two friends tried to help her reclaim the toy, but it seemed that the orange pegasus was losing the battle.

With another spark, the image changed again… but this time I recognized the dragon in the fire. It was Cogy’s daddy, Emeraldgrey, hugging one of his piles of gems as it bounced around the inside of his ‘lair’ onboard the S.S. Luna Returner. He was looking up fearfully at the ceiling as the entire room quaked and his other piles were knocked over. Although it was faint, I swore I heard a blood curtailing roar emanating from outside his walls…

I was suddenly verily interested in what Swirly had to tell me. She just showed me a glimpse of where Cogy is at! Maybe… just maybe… there’s a way to send her a message?

“So what does she care about then, Swirly?” I asked, as I finally found the courage to look her in the eyes.

Swirly smiled at this. “Finally interested now, hmmm? Well, Vinyl... Lyssa only cares about her subject’s happiness, that is all. When one of her precious little dragons is truly happy, their ‘heart’ becomes one with her flame, and this allows her to see. That is her purpose: to watch the world.”

My brain felt like it was about to fall out of my ears thanks to all the vagueness, but I pushed on regardless. “See? See what? Watch what? Equestrian English, do you speak it?!”

The pony with the purple mane feigned shock. “Why, Vinyl! Have you not noticed the Queen’s most important feature?”

Her sudden change into playfulness angered me, and the fact that it angered me surprised me even more. I’m usually all for being silly and having a good time, but this seems more like villain playfulness then good friend playfulness.

I fought my fears as I took another hard look at Lyssa… and discovered that, oh sweet Celestia, Swirly’s right! Lyssa has eye sockets… b-but no eyeballs!

… And Lyssa's head followed me every time, as if she could see me. “H-how...?”

Using a hoof, Swirly pointed to her own eyes. “Lyssa sees the world through my eyes, child… and 'Cogy’s' as well.”

Starswirl shook her head. “No no... Lyssa sees this world, and the world of the living, through all her subject’s eyes... but only if they give in to their flames. Now… it is finally time to shed light on your purpose here, Vinyl.”

I stomped a hoof angrily. “About time! Please stop beating around the bush, Swirly. That poor bush can’t take it any longer!”

In a flash, the column of flame appeared again and an image reformed. The image was of a simple little dragon girl... my dragon girl.

The flames began to dance about as the entire cavern trembled with the force of Lyssa’s cry.

Swirly got back to her hooves as well. “That is why you are here. I am a servant of the Queen now, Vinyl. Her well-being is my priority. About a month back, Lyssa started whispering into my ear about a new addition to her hoard: a baby dragon who she simple referred to as ‘the nameless one’. The Queen could not see through this child's eyes, yet she knew she was there. A few days back, this ‘Cogy’s’ greed flame began to glow and we started getting glimpses… but nothing more.”

Unlike her earlier conversation, this one was the one I paid the most attention to. “A month ago… that’s when Cogy said she was kidnapped from her foster family! She was then forced into labor by these two unicorns!”

The blue mare’s head nodded in agreement. “From the sound of it, Tartarus will be receiving two more additions in the future. Enough about that though... a month ago was also when you said the Gate Keeper claimed she died?”

I nodded my head as well. “Yeah… something about those two flankholes killing her by ‘hatching’ her. That doesn’t make any sense though! She’s, like, eleven years old or something! Kid can’t be any younger then that!”

“… Don’t be so sure. Lyssa watches over all hatchlings, Vinyl, because hatchlings are instinctively greedy. She has no memory of this particular dragon ever being a true babe... it’s as if she simply appeared out of thin air!”

What?! “H-how can that be? Cogy said she was part of this dude named Iron Will’s family! S-she even met her father! She… she wasn’t lying… was she?”

Swirly shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t give you a clear answer. The father comment interests me though, as Lyssa was able to see into parts of this meeting. This ‘Emeraldgrey’ recognized the scales and the breath, and he also felt the many ways her greed flame was similar to his own and her mother’s: Lady Crackle. If she simply appeared out of the ether, it wouldn’t make sense that she was their biological spawn. I do have a theory though…”

The bat-winged pony's words seemed to be stuck on her lips. I rolled my hoof around in an attempt to ‘keep the wheel turning’ “And that theory would be…?”

My questionable friend turned away. “Well… I don’t like throwing baseless theories out there! Never have, never will! If only I had access to Cogwill's memories like I do with every other draconics'…”

Starswirl blinked a couple times, then blushed. “O-oh, right... I forgot to mention that during the ‘sees’ speech, didn’t I? Blast... that’s always the part I forget to mention.” Swirly lowered her hoof, which she was using to scratch her chin, back down to the floor. “Lyssa not only sees the world through her subject’s eyes, but also their minds. Along with their own hoards, every little thought a draconic possesses is part of the Queen’s collection as well. Since I am Lyssa's right-claw mare, I also have access to these memories, as well as the information locked within them. It’s the whole reason I discarded my cutie mark in the first place! All that knowledge… it’s delicious.”

Deciding to creep me out (as that’s the only reason I can see in her doing what she did) Swirly smacked her lips a bit with her freaky tongue.

“That’s the reason why the Queen is so upset right now, Vinyl... because this little dragon might know something interesting, but we can’t ‘reach’ her right now to find out.”

I’m slowly getting a huge headache here. “And why can’t you reach her like a normal dragon?”

As the archmage's horn glowed, the image of Cogy began to rewind itself until it reached a part where the girl was sitting bowlegged on top of the ship. The image was very static-y and would keep flashing from on to off... she also seemed to be talking to herself about something, but I couldn’t make out the words until the light from Swirly’s horn intensified.

Cogy’s words were slow and drawn out, like she was fighting something. “I… am not… monster. They are. I… need power… protect, not kill.”

My heart rejuvenated as soon as I heard her voice. Oh thank goodness, she’s okay!

She nodded her head. “I’m sorry, child, but it is. This is one of the rare instances where Cogwill's greed flame burned bright enough for us to see her like this. It is now forever recorded in the Queen’s mind and can be called upon at any time. Cogwill’s thoughts, however, are still out of reach.”

Hmmm… I have to know… “C-can…can you show me how she’s doing right now, Swirly?”

Swirly looked away. “I… cannot. Unlike a normal dragon, Cogy seems to be fighting against the flame in her heart. That should not be possible, Vinyl. The Queen’s words are supposed to be indistinguishable from a draconic’s own thoughts… yet here she is, yelling at the Queen! She even has the gall to call her by such a filthy name as ‘Greed’!”

My friend stomped a hoof. “Because she refuses to share. Her hoard should be the Queen’s, her thoughts should be the Queen’s... yet she is being selfish.”

…Really? What is Lyssa? A five year old? I returned my attention to the flame, where the image of Cogy was now yelling at the sky.

Even though she couldn’t hear me, I cheered the girl on for standing up for herself. “Whoo! You go girl! Tell that Queen off!”

Swirly shot a glare at me and I blew a raspberry right back at her. Oh, lighten up, Swirly; if she doesn’t want to become a monster, then don’t make her become a monster! So she’s a bit different and slightly mysterious... good for Cogy for being unique! I’m sure Queeny over here can put up with one trouble maker…

Suddenly the image froze as Swirly stepped forward. “And here is where my theory begins.”

I was very confused. Like, really really confused. Guess I might as well start off with what should hopefully be the easiest question for Miss ‘Knowledge Eater’ over here to answer. “… What’s a human?”

She continued to smile. “Yes! I don’t know! How wonderful is that? New knowledge to consume! My inner flame burns so brightly... I want to know! I must know! Queen Lyssa apparently knows, but certain parts of her knowledge is off limits to me. She refuses to tell me herself as well, so I don’t have the foggiest idea.”

“Oh yes, and her words are beautiful, Vinyl. Her voice can even take on whatever tone the listener wishes, easily melding with a dragon’s mental one and becoming unrecognizable. Hmmm… aha!” Swirly suddenly shouted. “There’s a theory! I can tell the slight difference in Lyssa’s voice and my own, so maybe a human mage can as well!”

I tilted my head at her sudden shift from ‘serious business’ to ‘skipping about like a schoolfilly’ mode. “Um… yeah… there’s a thought… but what makes you think a ‘human’ is a creature? It could be a place, a food, or, I don’t know, a thing?”

My question caused Swirly to stop jumping and return to a more casual tone of voice. “Well, my dear Vinyl, it’s because my other theory is that this Cogy of yours is one of them. It makes logical sense when compared to the other evidence I’ve gathered.”

The blue mare simply watched in silence as I fell over and started laughing my flank off.

“Haha… haha…" -Snort- "H-ha. Are… are you seriously trying to convince me that Cogy is some kind of alien?" -Snort- "I-I’m sorry, but I find that very hard to beli-”

The unicorn quickly shut me up by un-pausing Cogy’s image, allowing the dragoness to shout “You know what I am! Who the hell are you?! … You… you’re the one who brought me here, aren’t you?! You're the cause of all of this!"

I sat there in silence, from my position on the floor, as the image was fast forwarded to another bout of Cogy seemingly talking to herself. “… If you turn out to be the cause for bringing me to this sick world… if you’re the one who caused me and my friends so much pain, I will personally rip you out of my body with my own, damn, claws.”

Despite her obviously not quite understanding modern day pony lingo, Swirly dropped her smile and placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Vinyl… I know it’s a lot to take in…”

“… I know it was quite the shock to me as well. A creature from another world… how intriguing.”

I slowly turned my head and allowed my widened magenta eyes to do the talking for me. She smiled, thinking that I was on the same page as her…

“Dude… I’m friends with an alien! How cool is that?!” I shouted excitedly.

The Great Starswirl the Bearded, who had seen many things in her life and in her death, simply facehoofed in response.

I couldn’t understand why. “What?! It’s, like, every little filly’s dream to be friends with a space pony!”

“… Okay, it was only this filly’s dream to be friends with a space pony.” I admitted. I then groaned annoyingly. “Ohhhhhh, why didn’t Cogy tell me?! I could have learned so much about her people’s music! Gasp! I could have remixed some of it! That would have been so cool, Swirly! … Swirly?”

I jumped back in disgust as it almost hit my tail. “Ew! Swirly! What the hay?!”

Starswirl blinked, discovered her mistake, and then quickly wiped her mouth off. “S-sorry. I was just thinking about all the…” She sighed dreamily. “ Knowledge I could gain if only I had access to her memories like I do with the other dragons.”

I sighed as well. “Yeah, well, looks like both of us got the short end of the stick here. Guess all there is to do is to wait for her to die in, like, five hundred years. Honestly, though? I’m kind of hoping that she goes to the other place.”

Swirly looked down at the ground. “Actually… we only have to wait twenty four hours.”

“…N-no. You’re… you’re kidding, right?” I laughed weakly. “H-haha, v-very funny, Swirly. K-knock it off now.”

“N-not funny, Swirly! She… she can’t die! S-she might be an alien, b-but she’s just a kid! S-she’s so young! She’s too young!”

She looked at me with a stony face. “Two eyes… Lyssa possesses two eyes; one that sees through the eyes and minds of her subjects… and the other that sees into their futures.”

Once more the flame flickered as an older image, the one of the purple dragon, reappeared. He was still fighting over the little filly’s toy, but the image didn’t stay on him for too long and instead started moving to the lower left. Eventually, it settled on a discarded newspaper.

“Through Lyssa’s eyes, I can see that we are in November, and that the year is 2012, correct?”

I slowly nodded my head ‘yes’ as Swirly proved that she was capable of seeing the future. “H-how…?”

Raising her hooves into the air and using her wings to steady herself, Swirly made her words seem grand and majestic. “When a dragon’s greed burns, it sets off a chain reaction that causes echoes across time and space. From these echoes, Lyssa receives shattered images of future instances where the flame burns again. This is her true purpose, Vinyl: to watch the world and to safeguard the future. She accomplishes this by watching it through these tiny windows, and by paying attention to the two points in a dragon’s life where their greed flame burns brightest, giving her the clearest of pictures. These two events take place when a dragon is born… and when they die.”

It was with sad eyes that Swirly returned her gaze to the flame. Her horn altered it once more, bringing up a new image. I gasped as the picture became clearer and cleared…

***^***

The sea had been dyed red and blue: the force of two kinds of blood clashing within it.

The great and mighty S.S. Luna Returner, one of ponykind’s largest vessels in history, had been torn in half. White, blue, orange, and red flames continued to burn on what little debris remained above water.

Luggage, empty life boats, and other discarded pieces of the ship could be seen floating amongst the wreckage…

I fought back desperately to prevent myself from puking as I looked at… them.

And two titanic bodies remained still as well, one being of a creature I could not clearly make out… but I recognized the other all too well.

What little scales remained on his flesh had been roasted pitch black, and he was missing an arm. His wings were slashed and his tail had been used to impale himself through the chest. His long neck had been twisted and bent into an unnatural shape, even for a dragon, and blue flames danced along his burnt flesh.

The most shocking thing, however, wasn’t his scars, it wasn’t his blood, and it wasn’t his corpse either.

At first I paid it no mind, thinking that he was probably just holding on to a piece of his hoard…

… But it was not a material good that he held on to at the end of his life, but a much greater treasure, one that caused me to finally collapse to my knees.

In his final moments of life, Emeraldgrey of the Everfree tried in vain to protect his daughter…

… But Cogy remained motionless in his grip as blue flames consumed her as well.

***^***

Swirly gripped me in a tight hug as I continued to weep. “It is okay, child... this event has not yet happened.”

Starswirl sighed. “I have never seen a human here before, Vinyl, but no creature is completely without sin. Cogy will most likely go to whatever form of purgatory her kind possesses. With her death, she will take all that knowledge away from us; the knowledge of how she will come to taint one of Lyssa’s subjects.”

She tightened her arm’s ‘grip’ on me. “She is an enigma, child: one that I do not understand. Her flame can corrupt other dragon’s greed, making them look at their hoards differently over time. They feel inspired to defend her hoard instead of their own! This sickens Lyssa and, as her faithful student, this sickens me as well.”

She went on, unable to see my face. “It will be a great tragedy when she dies, as we will lose the chance to arm ourselves with facts about her people. This could happen again one day after all! Lyssa forbid, maybe more of her kind will start to pop up! So then, Ms. Vinyl, here is where you-”

After breaking free of her ‘hug’, I sent Swirly flying with a good buck to the head. Lyssa roared as her servant flew through the air unnaturally, and responded by breathing a funnel of green… stuff at me. The Queen’s breath wasn’t hot, nor was it cold... it just felt draining.

Pure life… the one thing Tartarus lacks… it looks like its poisonous to spirits.

Swirly returned to her hooves as I collapsed to the floor. “… That wasn’t necessary.” She replied coldly. The black eye I gave her quickly healed up: whether it was a spirit thing or a dragon thing I wasn’t sure.

I gasped for air as my body felt the weakest its ever been. “-Huff-… -huff-… -huff-! Y-you were treating my friend like a thing! She, -huff-, h-hates that!”

Swirly raised her muzzle in the air in an act that reminded me of another blue coated mare: the Great Obnoxious Trixie. “I was not speaking to you, child.” She then addressed the Queen. “Oh Queen Lyssa, please forgive this sinner. She knows not what she does.” The monster then dared to give me that ‘motherly’ smile again. “Have no fear... Lyssa only slightly corroded your soul. It will heal in time.”

I attempted to stand, but I lacked the strength to stay standing. “Y-you… -huff-, you demon! You actual, literal, demon! Y-you don’t care about Cogy at all, do you?! You just want what’s in her head! How can you talk about her death so evilly?!”

The bitch smirked at me. “Again, ‘evil’ is such a broad term. Was it evil of me to save you from diamond dogs? Was it evil of me to offer you a safe haven? Was it evil of me to grant you a shoulder to cry o-”

“No! You were evil when you started treating Cogy like a freaking book that needed to be read!” I retorted. “What did she ever do to you?!”

Lyssa’s henchmare shrugged. “She’s done nothing to me personally, but she will hurt the Queen in the future by stealing one of her subjects away from her. Emeraldgrey will most likely meet The Maker for his ‘just’ sacrifice! That’s unacceptable.”

As if going off a checklist, Swirly went on by listing another one of Cogy’s ‘mistakes’. “She’s hogging her hoard for herself! The Queen cried for bloodshed when she lost two large pieces last night, but the child did nothing but cry!”

“She holds the knowledge of an entire civilization in her head, but she won’t share it with-”

“Starswirl!” I roared. “What, did, she, do, to, you?! Answer me! What did a little, crying, kid do to you to earn such venom?!”

My patience was wearing thin. “I’m still not hearing what she did to you, Starswirl!”

“… She has done nothing to me, child.” The bitch formally known as Swirly finally answered.

“Then why are you only interested in her mind?! Why did you show no emotion over a little girl dying?!”

She went on. “Yes… because I have no use for her. If her very existence hurts the Queen, then her leaving this world should not be my problem.”

“Yes that is also…” Starswirl stopped herself as she realized what she had just said. “Vinyl… I didn’t…”

I cut her off. “Yes you are! You’re evil for being emotionless over a little girl dying! You’re evil for looking at her father’s sacrifice and saying that it was a mistake! And you were evil when you..." -Sniff- "T-tricked me into think that you were my friend!”

My rage was blinding. “You… are not my friend! I should know, I’ve spent a good chunk of my life being a poor friend myself. More importantly, I’ve spend a good chunk of it being around artificial friends! You never cared about me, did you?! Yeah… I see it now. If I didn’t know Cogy, then this would have been the last we ever saw of each other! You would be out there tomorrow, doing the same thing you did for me with another ‘newbie’. The landwyrm from the bar… he was just like me, wasn’t he?! Scared and alone... but you turned him away!” I started to rise to my hooves. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. The smiling, the long speeches, the hidden room… you don’t trust others, do you? When you meet someone new, you simply go through the motions! That’s why it was so hard for you to get to your point earlier! You were going through a rehearsed speech! Well, here’s newsflash for you, ‘Swirly’: I don’t care anymore about whatever it is you're selling, so you can take your plan and shove it!!”

Starswirl's eye began to twitch. “… Well, Ms. Vinyl…” She stated slowly, with each word carefully thought out. “It seems you pay more attention then I gave you credit for. You could have been an excellent student if you had only used that ‘talent’ differently in life. Since I now acknowledge you as a decent scholar, I will impart one snipped of my knowledge to you…”

The winged demon rose to the air and landed harshly only an inch away from my face. Our eyes met as she coldly stated “It’s not wise to tick off the mare offering you a second chance at life.”

Her words cut through me like a razor’s edge as my earlier resolve wavered. “W-what… what was that?”

I couldn’t tell which of Starswirl's grins meant what anymore: all of them now looked evil. “It’s why I’ve brought you here today, Ms. Vinyl. There is very little I know about your little Cogy, but I do know what drives her greed flame… you.”

“… My friends are my strength.” I muttered Cogy’s words to myself. Suddenly, that lame declaration makes a lot more sense.

The evil mage kept flapping her lips. “Yes, she seems to follow Celestia’s new school of thought... the one about friendship. Bleh! In my time, Celestia was more concerned about improving the range and diversity of our nation’s magic. We needed to be prepared for the so called ‘False Elements’ the other goddesses were conjuring! During the great arms race of my generation, ‘friends’ didn’t matter. The ponies of your time have no idea-”

I cut her off. “You're rambling again, ‘teach’! Stop following your stupid script and tell me what the hay you need me for!”

She hissed. “Impatient as well... today’s ponies sicken me more and more. How could I have ever followed such a flimsy goddess as Celestia? Queen Lyssa truly is the mightiest.”

Before my eyes, Starswirl’s rage caused her own form to flicker and change. Wrinkles and grey hair began to appear as her voice grew louder and louder. “Because the other gods couldn’t see that she was the true one! That she was the only goddess that should have existed! She sees all, she knows all! She-”

Using a hoof, I cut the villain off by stomping it on the ground. “Enough! ‘Sane is such a broad concept’... I think I understand your words now, ya nutcase. Spit out your stupid ‘grand plan’ for me already before I lose my patience!”

Our earlier conversation about Cogy picked up again after that, but not before some silent glaring took place between the two of us (and Lyssa). During this stare off, the colors of Starswirl’s coat and mane returned to her and the wrinkles disappeared as well. “… When one of Cogwill’s precious little ‘friends’ gets in trouble, she allows Lyssa’s flame to burn. When one of you dies, she allows the flame to consume her completely like a good little dragon.”

I continued to stare down Starswirl. “Is that why she can turn into a monster?”

She folded her wings back up. “No… that is why she can turn into a true dragon. That massacre you just witnessed? Half of it was done by her in her rage… and it was all thanks to you dying, Ms. Vinyl.”

Starswirl tried to use her motherly smile again, but it no longer worked on me. “You give me too much credit, child. I knew not of the ponies the ‘nameless one’ had in her hoard, only that her hoard was made of ponies. Queen Lyssa and I were only able to see glimpses of her as her flame began to grow and flicker in and out of existence, after all. It was only this morning that we were able to secure a line strong enough to glimpse into her future and witness the events leading to her and Emeraldgrey’s demise. If you hadn’t talked about her fondly back at the bar, I would have never known that you had a connection to her. We did see you once through her eyes, but it was not enough to convince us to add you to our plan.

"But... now you have the opportunity to be part of it willingly... or so I was aiming to do before you decided to rebel.”

I lowered my horn and kicked up some dirt. “Like I’d want to be a part of anything a cultist like you cooked up!”

My devotion faltered briefly, but I continued to hold my ground. “N-not if it lets you steal her mind!”

She laughed me off. “Oh, nothing of the sort, child. I just want knowledge, that’s all! Meanwhile, Queen Lyssa just wants to see her children live on! Can’t you grant a mother her wish, Vinyl?”

I glanced up at Queen 'Eyesore', who kept barking at the image of Cogy’s corpse in the fire. I then returned my hardened gaze at Starswirl. “… So her only goal is to see her live on?”

Starswirl looked at Lyssa as well. “Not her. Emeraldgrey. Lyssa wants to see her true child live on and return to her in death. All she wants from Cogy is for her to leave her children alone. She doesn’t want her dead, she just doesn’t want her to be a nuisance anymore.

“What we’re asking of you, Vinyl, is for you to make sure Cogwill stops fighting Lyssa’s flame, and instead embrace it. Whatever happens after that is up to you. There, simple enough, yes? You’ll even be rewarded with something I can never have: a second chance at life! Isn’t it wonderful, child? To be reunited with loved ones?”

‘T—t-that’s not me… that monster wasn’t me! P-p-please, -sniff-, don’t tell a soul Vinyl… please…’

Greed flame… they want me to make sure Cogy's greed flame burns so that they can get her knowledge.

My hoof quivered. “You… you can take your offer and stick it where the sun don’t shine! I’m not going to hurt my friends ever again!”

Flames erupted around me, trapping me in a makeshift cage. Starswirl approached it and laughed at me through the bars.

“Hehehe. You have no real choice, child! You're our only chance to set things right here.”

I roared through my cage. “Fine! Send me back! I still won’t do what you want me to do! My manager has been trying to do just that for years now, so what makes you think that you’d be any different?!”

Starswirl seems to have had plenty of practice at pulling off evil grins. “What will be different, child, is that you’ll need her to embrace her flame in order to survive the hell we’re sending you back into.”

The Princess of cryptic messages (aka, Starswirl the Bitch) changed the image within the fire again, this time to a completely devastated looking Cogy yelling into the sky. Her scales were slowly turning grey before my eyes.

G-gray? Why… why do I have this sick feeling, in the pit of my stomach, that I’ve seen this before? It’s, like, in the back of my mind, there’s this little voice telling me that something inherently wrong is taking place, but I can’t comprehend what exactly it is. I tried to ask the one mare who might have an answer. “W-why’s her scales…?”

“C-cogy!” I screeched as, with a mighty roar, my baby dragon friend transformed before my eyes into that monster that made her cry two days ago. Once again, tears dotted her face while fully transformed.

“This…” That bitch, Starswirl, went on. “Is what we need you to fix. We should be able to read her mind while the greed flame consumes her, but we can’t for some reason. It’s as if a second power is interfering. Once again, Lyssa is silent on the subject so I’m left with only speculations.”

She sighed. “Stop trying to fight us, Vinyl. You can’t prevent what’s to come. Although I do not understand her current affliction, my theory is that simply seeing you again will help Cogwill to leave this trance, and then after seeing you in danger she will trigger her greed flame once again to protect you. You see, Ms. Vinyl? You don’t have to do anything! We get her knowledge, you get the chance to stay alive... everypony wins.

The flames around me began to burn brighter as I felt magic start to form at the tip of my horn… but it wasn’t my magic.

“W-what are you doing to me?!” I yelled, trying to regain control of my own horn.

With horn burning brightly, Starswirl the bitch replied “Teaching you how to perform my so called ‘one-use’ time traveling spell. It doesn’t work here in this constantly moving land, but that hasn’t stopped me from improving it.”

“Y-your sending me back in time?! Nononono! I don’t want any more clone me-s running around! Last time was weird enough!”

Starswirl raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t push any further. “… Yes and no, child. I will only be sending you back to the exact moment in time that you died. Lyssa is the one capable of sending you back to the land of the living.”

“RRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!” Bellowed Lyssa, as she heard her name called.

Not finding my joke funny, Starswirl kept fiddling around with the room’s flames as well as her spells; obviously preparing the requirements of whatever this ritual needed. “The Queen’s goal is to make sure her subjects are happy, and the mightiest ability she possesses in order to make this happen is her own greed flame. When it burns within the Queen herself, the opposite effect happens. Instead of greedy, she becomes generous. You were a part of Cogwill’s hoard, Vinyl: now that you’re dead, you belong to the Queen whose willing to share you.” Starswirl finally looked at me again. “You’re about to witness a miracle, my little pony. You should be grateful.”

I squirmed around in my fiery cage, but the bars were as solid as a normal prison’s bars (trust me, I would know). “I-I told you I won’t do it! I’ll just r-run away!”

“Do not kid yourself, child. There is nowhere to run on the sea, and even so, you won’t abandon a friend.”

In true villain fashion, Starswirl laughed. “And there’s the beauty of it! This improved spell is actually a charm! A constantly working charm that will reset the moment you die and return to me. Even Lyssa lacks the power to bring you back twice, but if you do fail to give us what we want, I’ll simply activate your charm. You’ll be sent back in order to suffer all over again! You’re only escape from this hell is to complete your given task.”

“…” I remained silent as the walls of my prison, as well as the figurative walls around me, began to shrink.

Starswirl beamed. “I see we are at an agreement, child. Glad to see your coop-”

The one good thing about my death was that it left my shades behind. I whined about it at first, but now I’m grateful I’m not wearing them. This allowed Starswirl to see how serious I am. “I… won’t… die this time. I’ll live on instead. You want to send me back? Fine, I’ll go… and I’ll make sure Cogy never listens to Lyssa again. For my next trick, I’ll save that ship by myself! All that’ll be left after that is for me to reform and make sure that when I do die, I’ll be walking through the Pearly Gates: the one place you can’t touch me!!”

Damn... I don’t think I’ve ever heard such malicious laughter before. Even Donut Joe’s laugh is tamer then this!

“Hahahah! Don’t, make, me, laugh! Trust me, Ms. Vinyl: you don’t want to live through this. The promise I gave you about getting a second chance at life? It was a lie I used to try to convince you to cooperate. The truth is that Lyssa’s miracle will come at a price…”

With what little magic Starswirl could spare, my mane was gripped and I was yanked out of the cage. The witch looked into my eyes.

“Lyssa’s about to bind your very soul to your precious Cogy, child! Every pain she endures, you’ll endure as well. Every scar will become your scar. If she dies, so do you. You’d only be free of magical injuries, but they are nothing compared to injuries of the heart.”

My eyes remained fierce. “Well then… I’ll just have to make sure she never cries again as well! Ha! All in a day’s work for a party pony like me!”

Once again, the blue mare simply laughed. “Your devotion to a child you only met recently is admirable, Vinyl, but… you never got the chance to see her future like I have! Even if she does survive this incident, they’ll be plenty more like it in her future. That girl is doomed to suffer…”

With the wave of her horn, I was dropped back into my cage and the image within the fire changed again. This time it illustrated Cogy, hanging from the wall of some dark room…

The image changed again. The scene this time took place outdoors… in a cemetery. Cogy, while wearing some kind of poncho that covered her wings and possessed a diamond design on it, stood watch over a tombstone. I couldn’t make out the name, but I could make out her tears.

Starswirl concluded her slideshow of the damned by showing me one final image. “…And suffer again.”

The final image of Cogy took place in a pitch black room. The image wasn’t as clear as the others, so clearly it took place in the far off future. Cogy was on her knees, weeping loudly as she hugged what appeared to be a strand of some filly’s mulberry mane. The color looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my hoof on it. On her back, Cogy wore a red cape this time, again obscuring my view of her wings. This cape had a blue emblem on the back, but one I didn’t understand the meaning behind.

Starswirl continued to beam. “You see, child? She is destined for much heart break… and so will you. It will eventually overtake you and bring you right back to me. I will then send you back to suffer through it all over again, and again, and again. Do you understand now, Vinyl? There is no hope of escape.”

“These are the glances I have witnessed from the brief instant the flame consumed Cogwill's heart. These are the shadows of future instances of the flame igniting.” She replied, not sensing what the problem here was.

“So these images are glimpses of a future, where she survives?” I asked cheekily.

I think she was starting to piece it together. “… Are you trying to insinuate that things will be different if you survive as well?”

I laughed at her. “Oh heck yeah it will! They don’t call me the best DJ in the land for nothing! Trust me, ya witch; I’ll remix the hell out of this girl's life until she’s ripe and happy!”

As Starswirl stared at me in confusion, unsure what my words meant, the image behind her began to flicker and change again. I don’t think she was aware of this change, as she jumped back in fright when she turned around once it fully formed.

The image, this time, was of Cogy sitting in a rocking chair. She didn’t look a day older then when I last saw her, but her eyes sure did. Those were the eyes of a girl who had seen a lot. The simple pair of reading glasses resting on her snout helped improve her ‘I’m older’ image. In her lap, while she rocked back and forth, laid a baby diamond dog, sucking away on a bottle. As she held the bottle for the little pup, Cogy smiled and sang softly in order to lull the tiny thing to sleep.

With what little I could make out in the image, I took note that (in the background) there were a good number of cribs besides the one empty one next to her.

Other little children (not all of them ponies) were gathered around her chair as well as she continued her song. So she works with kids... guess this explains her new outfit.

I beamed. “Dressed as a nun? Oh yeah… 'Mother Cogwill’... it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

But Starswirl looked on at the scene with even more confusion. “I… do not understand. H-how can such a drastic change take place?!”

I laughed at her good naturally. “Well, my Mama Scratch always had this saying: ‘Life is like a record player, and ponies are the records’. Each of us has our own little tune that’s nice on its own, but when a second pony steps up, the music either gets more complex or, as I like to think of it, remixed. Sometimes, all you need is somepony by your side to encourage you to do great things in order to actually do great thing! Heh. That last bit was from my BPFF, Octy!”

Starswirl was fuming, and her mane started to grey out again as wrinkles reappeared. “But I was great on my own! My spells are still used to this very, day! This is preposterous! This kind of change, even if it’s all because of you, shouldn’t be scientifically possible!”

I continued to laugh at her. “Says the dead pony about to send another dead pony back in time. Face it Starswirl: the future isn’t set in stone! Heck, and I’m going to say heck because I know it’ll piss you off, I’m willing to bet that this is just one of thousands of possible futures for that girl! She can do anything, even leave Equestria if she wanted! Didn't think about that, did ya?

"You said you only see the future if it involves a dragon being greedy? Well, this one looks like it’s from a future where Cogy's hoard grows to gigantic proportions! Pretty darn sweet, am I right?”

Her body was starting to look more like a skeleton of a pony then an actual pony by this point. “Do you dare suggest that my knowledge is faulty, child?!”

I gave her a hard stare. “No, yes, maybe... I don’t care! What I am saying is that we’re in need of a compromise. Look, I care about Cogy, unlike you. You want knowledge? Fine... I’ll ask Cogy herself if it’s okay for you to use i-”

Starswirl cut me off. “Queen Lyssa doesn’t need to ask! It is her right to own it!”

I groaned. “You’re not going to make this whole ‘negotiating’ thing pleasant for me, are ya?”

“There is no need to ‘negotiate’! Every moment Cogwill fights against her greed flame, the Queen suffers! Every instant I do not get my knowledge, I suffer!”

“… So you’re willing to put yourself and your Queen’s desires first over the life of a little girl. A girl, I might add, who has the potential to be a ray of light in the eyes of sad and lonely children… Are you still pretending you’re not evil, Starswirl?! What’s next? Burning an orphanage down?! Kicking a puppy?! Flooding the world?!”

Lyssa’s servant was now literally nothing more the skin and bones… and the skin was quickly falling off. Her words boomed throughout the room as she used what sounded like to be an ancient dialect. “THE QUEEN HAS COMMANDED FOR HER TO BE NEUTRALIZED! IF SHE DARES TO DENY HER WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY HERS AND MINE, I WILL DO WHAT IS NECESSARY, CHILD!!”

I’m… staring down evil incarnate… so cool! Despite my inner joy, my eyes remained hardened. “… Then I’ll stand by my word… heck, I’ll go even higher than that!”

In my cramp prison, I crossed my heart, flapped my arms, and placed my hoof over my eye. “I will make sure Cogy will never give in to her greed, just to spite you! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my bucking eye!”

As Starswirl silently fumed I attempted to put the final nail in it. “Face it, I’m not going to cooperate with you. There’s… nothing in Tartarus keeping me here, so you can just leave me to rot in this hole if you want. Eventually, I’ll just disappear like you said I would… and maybe that’s for the best…”

Momentarily getting out of my funk, I nodded my head happily. “That it can.”

“… But that door swings both ways, Ms. Vinyl. I’m still sending you back.”

She held up a hoof, silencing me. Her body began to youth-in up right before my eyes as her flesh and fur regrew and hugged her skeletal form. Her purple mane returned, piece by piece, as she explained herself. “Yes yes, I am aware that you just made a Chancellor Puddinghead vow, child. I’m quite surprised that that still exists in your time, for it was only briefly referenced in a book to which I thought I owned the only copy of in life. No… I’m sending you back with the hope of saving Cogwill now, because you have proven that the future can be changed in the blink of an eye. My hope is for you to, sooner or later, slip up.”

With those final words, the cage around me began to swirl and spin around. The floor beneath me stayed in place as the blue mare’s face only became visible through the spinning cracks. “She will be ours, Vinyl, I assure you that. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“… Oh thanks a lot, ‘Swirly’. Now you ruined that promise system for me! Again, thanks a lot.” I complained.

My final words were ignored. “This is goodbye, Ms. Vinyl. I hope to see you again real soon.”

Despite me not having claws, I attempted to give her a griffon’s ‘salute’, if you know what I mean.

“Oh… and one last thing.” Starswirl began to say. “You said seaponies killed you, right?”

She chuckled. “No no, you misunderstand. I’m only interested in making sure you succeed right now... for whose goal, it doesn’t matter. I ask this because I know how seaponies operate: they use their music to drag ponies into a trance… but, only ponies.”

I blinked, unsure what she was getting at. “I… heard bits and pieces of this from the Gate Keeper already, Starswirl. I have to admit, that’s kinda really freaking cheap.”

Starswirl wiped back her mane as it finally returned to its original ‘glory’. “Yes… cheap indeed... I have one final question for you, Vinyl… do unicorns of your time know what a polymorph spell is?”

I shrugged. “Well… yeah. It’s still taught as one of the basic spells next to levitation and how to set things on fire. Why do you ca-”

“No…oh hay no!” I tried to rattle the bars of my ‘cage’, but I forgot they were spinning rapidly so I was sent twirling backwards. I was too dizzy to stand up, so I continued to yell from the floor. “Don’t you dare touch one hair on my head you dragon loving, flank kissing, hoard worshiping, knowledge snorting, blank flanking, egg heading, puppy kicking, skin flaking, dog impaling, black and white lying, bat-winged crazy, piece of horse sh-”

But my words fell on deaf ears as, for the third time today, the world around me disappeared into blackness. Lyssa’s ‘flames’ aided in my exiting of this world, thus ending the most bizarre day of my life... so far.

***^***

From the Darkness, a pair of magenta colored eyes opened. Heatless blue flames erupted from the owner’s mouth as she burst forth from the water’s surface...

… Alive

A Cog in the Machine

by ManlyDerp

Chapter 9: To Be Heard, The Day that Never Was