//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Shared Thoughts and Understanding // Story: In the Background // by Harold_Genhi //------------------------------// The swamp. I had never imagined that it looked this bad even if I was given pictures. The land stretched out, flat and barren as sulking trees hung over the green pools of slime as if in a depression. Bubbles bubbled and gas pockets hissed, as I grew increasingly bored with what I was seeing. The danger was enough to keep me on the tips of my hooves along with the confusion of the voice that had so softly whispered in my ear. At first, it had sounded familiar. I quickly associated it with Discord and tried to fight it off, but doubt had set in to my thoughts. The doubt quickly festered into believing the prying logic given to me, but just as quickly as I believed him, he finished his thought. Could I possibly save her? I stared at the ground in my usual thought process of “moping about”, as Tavi put it. I called it Attentive Thinking Stance Omega Series A while Tavi called me ‘special’. I hadn’t given much thought about her ‘special’ comment, but it felt there was much more strain than there should have been when she said it. Was it the twinkle in her eyes? No. I flushed the thoughts from my head. I was sick of looking into the past; I had to focus on the present. I always knew Octavia had some sense, no matter how polite she tried to be about it, of me having a lower intellect. In more recent times, I believe that she stopped believing that about me. It was always a joy to see ponies realize that there was a powerful working brain behind my crimson eyes. It was just a bit lazy and enjoyed its fair share of indulgences. Octavia drank wine and soft beverages as I typically became hammered, but I saw it as exploration. Strange enough, I could make the comparison of the smell of rum to the smell of the swamp. I poked my nose over the side of the embankment to see the greenish, shadowy outline looking back at me. It popped with swamp gas right in my face causing a commotion that I would have found funny. The thought of seeing my own misfortune still managed to get my funny bone working. Through coughs and chortles, I managed to make out through my tears that everyone was staring at me. I stubbornly tried to explain what I found so funny, but trying to talk while doing everything else, left a jumbled mass of words vomiting from my mouth. “Geez, Vinyl. You shouldn’t be trying to breath in the swamp fumes.” Lyra stared at me. I chuckled and patted her on the back. “Please, a little swamp gas won’t stop me from helping Tavi get to the end of this journey.” The false bravado worked to ease my anxiety. I could only stare at the gray pony taking the front of the pack. All of her tiny details of her mood were still present in her gait, details I wished I hadn’t seen. Each step moved with slow deliberation with a drag on the back of her hooves. She wasn’t her classy self, but was hiding behind it so that her depression wouldn’t break through. She had been happy, even when she was afraid at the beginning of the journey. I would think she found an almost enjoyable excitement of facing her fears. She had lost whatever was driving her through the forest before. Maybe she had made some song of courage. I looked out at the trees that hung low into the water. They appeared as depressed as Tavi. The atmosphere slowly descended into one that I loathed. How dare they be depressed? I had to let out a grumble as I stepped into the ground that gave a soft squish. “It could always be worse. I mean you could have to live here.” I heard a voice from behind. “Yeah that would suck… wait.” I turned around startled and wide-eyed. I came face to face with a chest of an alicorn. I fell backward in shock and looked up into the large shroud of the robes that were worn by him. Beneath the darkness that obscured his face, I could see the soft glow of white where his eyes should be. The stare was cold and overlapping on many levels as if he was seeing into my very soul. “Victoria Clarabell Scratches,” He tilted his head with a slight look of intrigue filling his eyes. “Vinyl Scratch, I’m sorry for the mistake. Such a change from your heritage and family.” “Who are you?” I could only stare at him. “How do you know my full name?” “I know a great deal about you. It was surprising by how much you try to hide from yourself and how much you try to hide from her.” He nodded toward the gray pony in the front. I stared longingly at her. My stubborn bravado began to return to me as I turned my attention back to the large alicorn. “You never answered me. Who are you?” “Me? Why would you want to anything about me…?” He phased from existence as he stepped forward, but his voice never faded. “I’m just an outcast, a forgotten being of truth…” He phased just inches from ear, circling me slowly. “Why would residences of the kingdom even dare to come into my forest and then ask me who I am?” “You can’t be…” Bravado faltered quickly as the realization that he was real. “Your thoughts are correct. I am the one you were expecting, though I can say I wasn’t expecting you. I could feel your intentions and inspired you to cure your lover, but I have no control of which direction you took, and what do you know… the universe is a funny place isn’t it?” His voice was calm and filled with charm. He appeared again, mere inches from Lyra who didn’t flinch or even notice him. I could only watch as he reared his head back revealing the jagged broken horn that had been snapped from his head and the hiss of his right foreleg, which consisted of a sophisticated array of machinery. What happened and what was he doing? I could only watch as he brought his head down, stabbing the jagged edge into Lyra’s side, tearing her open and sending her off to the side in a bloody heap. “It would have been daft of me to actually do that…” He spoke looking back at me. I locked eyes in disbelief in those softly lit white eyes. “But you just…” I turned back to see Lyra completely unhurt and continuing on her way without even a flinch. She turned back to me, her eyes still playful and holding a happiness to it. Our adventure was going right inside her head, yet in mine I had a large shadow standing over her, one that she looked right at, but never looked at, instead she looked through him at me. “Talking to yourself? That is a new one Vinyl.” She chuckled in hope of breaking the dreary mood of the swamp. “Do you know why I like the swamp?” the mysterious alicorn asked. “Why?” I asked. “Why? I’ve never seen yourself talk to you before that is why.” Lyra responded. “It’s as dreary as the hole I’ve been living. The hole that your fair and loving princess put me in all those years ago, but that is beyond me, all now has been forgotten of my existence. The mind is a quite the busy office and some things get misplaced as I brought out the misplacement of the memory of me.” He chuckled to himself. “How?” I felt paralyzed by that stare of his. It burned inside of my head, aching and grinding at my thoughts and my motivation to pursue knowledge, yet his eyes were completely unchanged, unblinking. “With my eyes? What is wrong with you? You are acting really weird.” Now the whole group had stopped and stared at Lyra and then to me. I wasn’t even aware of neither the sweat that covered my body nor the fear in my eyes. It felt too real, too unlike me. “They already think you are crazy… just sitting in the mud… talking to yourself. I’m sure you have noticed that I don’t exist as much as I can make you see anything I wish for you to see.” He walked forward, walking up Lyra and walking in front of her, her nose still sticking out of his chest as he matched her pace. “And the kicker…” “Is there something wrong, Vinyl?” Lyra and the alicorn asked in unison. “I’m fine…” I spoke, listening to the same tone of the alicorn. I felt my heart skip a beat as I slowly backed away from the Lyra and alicorn combo standing in front of me. “What is this?” I asked as the hooded pony spoke. “Stop it!” Again, my voice was joined in perfect harmony with his voice. “What’s wrong, Vinyl? Stop what?” Lyra’s and the other pony’s voice were filled with concern. “I can even control your emotions, your fear… who you are? How does it feel to be her? How does it feel to be Octavia?” He ground into me. I never felt such a stark, irrational fear course through my blood. I shouldn’t have felt that way, I forgot who I was and stumbled over a rock, knocking the glasses off of my face. The ground quickly fell away from my feet as I fell backward, Lyra and the rest of the group’s face, broken in shock as I watched them fall under the sky and the sun. Gravity pulled on me, trying to return my thoughts and body, back to Equestria, but instead a pool of realization filled me that had never allowed my stubbornness to see. I saw how Octavia acted around me; the look in her eyes when mine met hers, and how she mumbled to herself after leaving my rooms on occasions. She had the same feelings for me as I did her, and suddenly I knew exactly what was taken away from her. It stung my lungs as the air was pushed out of it by the cold water of the pool I fell into. I was surprised by how deep it was, and strangely how clear it was. I knew I had to swim up and out, but quickly realized that I couldn’t move. Looking down in the darkness of the water, I could make out only a slight movement. My horn filled with light and revealed an entanglement of evil eels ensnaring me. I almost coughed out what little air I had in a scream, but found that my stubborn bravado had returned as if the pool had cleansed me of that walking nightmare. The water above me was suddenly disturbed as I kicked and squirmed against the eels. My heart began to race as drowning quickly showed it to be quite the anticlimactic end to me. Another, larger shadow swam around me. A sharp pain filled my back as something hit the eels hard causing their grip to loosen giving me enough time to electrify the water with my only-meant-for-visual-effect lightning. It worked as I watched the eels disappear into the void. I turned quickly to see the piercing eyes of Octavia staring into mine. She grabbed my mane in her teeth and dragged me to the surface. I never knew she was that strong. I broke the water as my lungs were about to collapse to see the others standing on the shore, concerned and in shock at the events. He was also standing there, a smirk spread across his face, invisible to everyone around him. I tried to talk, but found that I couldn’t. The smirk widened on the alicorn. Rage filled me at how he was controlling my body. I shot another bolt of lightning where he was standing and watched him disappear. “You son of a mule!” I yelled. I couldn’t even describe the pleasure of being able to hear my own voice again or the sensation of my body and hooves. He was gone. Swimming to the shore, I caught sight of Octavia climbing out of the water. Her wet mane blocked her face, but she seemed miserable though something about her was different. She turned to me and gave me a smile, her eyes glittering with her striking purple eyes. “You had me worried, Vi.” My nickname rolled around in my head like an orbital rave ball. I couldn’t help, but smile at the mention of it. “In my domain… my brother’s tricks shall not reside.” The alicorn’s disembodied voice spoke. “Come to me at once, the future awaits.” I looked back at Octavia. Her pain and fears were still fresh in my mind, though something had been lost, and I could feel it. Before I had hit the water, I had realized something, but it always seemed to be behind party fog. I wondered if it was this masked alicorn’s doing. I wondered if I had stumbled into the legendary Eyn Spyyr. There were too many questions and too little amount of time to enjoy any of them. Turns out my previous actions and ‘talking to myself’ hadn’t been forgotten. “What’s wrong with you?” The Doctor asked. I opened my mouth to tell them of what I saw and heard, but a soft voice behind me spoke first. “She’s just tired, and the swamp fumes are getting to her. Let’s go back to the mountains and make camp there. We can try and get our bearings there.” Octavia spoke. “I don’t know if you realize this, but Discord destroyed our tents and camping gear. We have to press forward and get to the bottom of this. We have to save Ponyville and Canterlot.” The Doctor mustered in a nice speech. “Dinky needs me.” Ditsy added. She stood next to her own body and looked down at herself. “Plus, I want my wings back.” “We won’t get anywhere if these fumes get to us and we go insane. We need to guarantee that everyone is fit to continue. We have already seen the effects that it had on Vinyl.” She continued. I watched as the Doctor began to realize what I had seen. “You… your color. How did you break Discord’s curse?” The question seemed unlike him. “Curse? What curse?” The look on Octavia’s face was both cute and concerning. She had no clue as to what he was talking about. “The one that Discord put on you? Does that ring a bell? It was an overwhelming sadness or depression that took you over? Nothing?” He seemed shocked at the lack of memory. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” She shook her head and that was when another difference revealed itself. In her slight movements, I saw that her color moved slightly faster than her body. At first, I believed her about the swamp fumes, but this was real. She turned back to me, the sun catching her eyes just right and revealing a soft glowing white undertone to them. My heart sank as I stared at her in disbelief. She smiled, at me, the grin implying more than just being friendly, but of a devious manner. “I will guide you to me. When I have released your Octavia… you must tell her and let go. This is the only way to cure her curse. The timing shall be perfect.” Eyn spoke directly into my mind before turning Octavia’s body around and walking her back toward the mountains. Everyone followed as I stared at Octavia. How could so much go wrong with her on this journey? Was she just a magnet for danger and disruption? I knew her sister normally ruined every party that she was hired. Yet, she continued. She had forced herself to go into the Everfree with me. She had forced herself to continue even when Discord made the journey bleak. I knew she wasn’t the one to give up, but this surprised me. Everything about her character only began to glimmer more, I only wished she was herself again. We did what we could with what we had in the mountains. Octavia managed to scrounge up some soft moss for us to lie down and try to get some sleep. I had to admit that I wasn’t tired nor did the swamp gases that exploded from those nasty bubbles intoxicate me. Instead, I found myself resting on my moss, looking at everyone else try to sleep. Thankfully the random moonrise and sunrise granted us with a night in which the others to rest their eyes. I saw Ditsy shiver as a cold breeze blew over the mountainside. Taking my moss, I moved over to put it on her, but found The Doctor was doing the same. Surprisingly, he didn’t see that I was up as well. I watched him cover her and more surprisingly, I watched him join her, sharing their body heat. Something in those two had clicked and it had clicked quickly. I didn’t know if it was The Doctor feeling bad for her, or if in this short amount of time, he had grown feelings for the clumsy pegasus. It could have also been the fact that they were stuck in each other’s bodies. Meanwhile, Lyra was lying on her back, legs spread out and mouth hung open, snoring and scratching her stomach from time to time. I don’t think I could ever understand how a pony could act as strange as her. In minutes, I heard the soft breathing of the sleeping ponies around me, except for Tavi’s. I poked my head up from my soft moss and looked around for her. I was thankful that the moon was full out glittering brightly in the sky casting the ground in a transient twilight. It gave everything a strange color, which would be quite the conversation piece if I could replicate it at my next rave. My thoughts ceased as I saw the dark outline of Octavia sitting on a large rock, staring up at the moon. I rose quietly and approached the shadow. I felt playful as I snuck up the rocky hill, silent like those fabled eastern ninja ponies. I managed to get behind a rock right next to her without arousing any suspicion from her. “Beautiful isn’t it?” Eyn asked in his voice, but through Octavia’s body. “Join me. I wish to discuss something with you.” I cursed under my breath, but walked around the rock and sat next to her, staring at her, as she never broke her gaze from the moon. “Why are you holding Octavia captive?” I demanded. “I’m not… She needed guidance. She was lost… This was the only way to prevent her death.” His words bit into me as the last words echoed in my mind. ‘…to prevent her death.’ “Have you ever simply stared at the beauty of the moon?” Eyn asked. “On occasion… why?” I wondered, trying to make heads or tails of why he would change the subject so quickly. “I have my reasons. There isn’t a night where I don’t look up at it and know…” He trailed off, hiding his next words. “Well that is for another time.” He spoke instead. “I normally have such clear thoughts about what to say, but the moon has always made my mind go blank. It is such a relieving experience from my daily chores and magic.” His voice sounded softer, less harsh, and not as bitter. It almost felt as if the alicorn that gave me quite the stark reality shock was faded from a full rave to a trance lounge. His thoughts were collected and his mood seemed carefree. Slowly I began to hear Octavia’s voice harmonizing with Eyn’s. It tickled my heart and made me smile as the words expelled from her lips. “I wouldn’t have had this journey any other way, just as long as I had you.” It made me blush harder than I had ever had before. The tone sounded friendly, but the meaning came off as romantic and beautiful. I couldn’t even bring myself to care if Eyn had controlled her to do it, but I still had to ask. “Did you make her say that?” I asked, the suspense of the answer almost stopped the question before I could finish asking it. “She can still hear you. She has a strong will.” He turned his attention to me, locking me in place with those purple eyes. I couldn’t tell if it was the color of her eyes or how her eyelids had fallen or simply the shimmer of the moon in them, but there wasn’t a stronger time that I wanted to let my heart bleed for once in its life and spill all of the beans to my cell loving roommate. “Octavia, I-“ Eyn placed Octavia’s hoof on my lips to silence me. “Not yet…” Sighing softly, I decided to just enjoy the sight and remember it. Eyn turned back toward the moon and gave his own sigh. “I’ve been reading through all of your friend’s thoughts and memories. You have quite the herd with you. There is much love between all of you including the Ancient and the muffin lover. Lyra Heartstrings misses her Bonbon more than you can believe, though she puts on a nice face to hide her worry. You and Octavia are quite a different story.” He chuckled to himself. “Best to play your cards right on this one…” “What do you mean?” I asked. “You’ll know.” “Come on! Why are you holding back?” He hushed me. “You don’t want to wake the others now do you? I am holding back because destiny needs to find itself. Yours and Octavia’s fate is on the bar and either outcome could exist. This all relies on what Octavia decides and also when you decide. You will have to know and feel when it is right.” “So you are Eyn Spyyr?” I wanted to hear it from his… Octavia’s mouth. “It has been a long time since I’ve heard that name…” He paused in careful reflection of it. “Yes, I do believe I was called that a long time ago.” “Are you one of the good ponies or are you like Discord?” I had to ask again in reference to how our first meeting had played out. “I am no way like my brother…” He simply stated. “Brother?” He never stopped staring at the moon. “That would be another story, Vinyl Scratch.” “So you are good then?” I felt a bit better about him not being on Discord’s side. He broke his view from the moon and stared at me again, his eyes bore a harsher hole this time. It scared me slightly for the answer that lay just beyond them. “I am good to some, though some have some explaining to do. Now let me be…” He looked back at the moon, never blinking and looking around as if to see something that wasn’t there. “Goodnight, Octavia.” I ended. “Goodnight, Vinyl.” Only Octavia’s voice spoke without the harmonizing Eyn. It warmed my heart to hear that she was still inside of her body. Too many questions filled my head, but with my warmed heart, it was easier to let them go so that I could properly rest. When I arrived back at the makeshift camp, Ditsy had cuddled under the Doctor’s chin. Thinking about the situation between the two, I found them cuddling with their own bodies to crack a smile. I searched the ground for the dark spot to mark my moss clump. I found it just as I heard a muffled snore. I turned my attention back to Lyra to see her still sleeping. Drool had made its way down the side of her mouth as she continued to sleep and murmur to herself. “Bonbon… quit tickling me… twit.” I could just make out the slight crack of a grin spread across her face. I think we all wanted to think of better times. I just wanted to wake up from this nightmare of a trip. I missed listening to my music heavily. Slowly, I made a beat in my head and bobbed my head silently to it as I curled up on my moss and closed my eyes to the world around me. I sat in the darkness and waited for the spotlight. The final song was right around the corner.