Vinyl materialised in a clearing in the Everfree forest, an unconscious Octavia beside her. The clearing was at the base of a small mountain with a cave entrance; it was here that Vinyl had created a sanctuary of sorts, protected by powerful wards to keep away Everfree’s more dangerous inhabitants. Vinyl sighed and levitated Octavia on to her back as she walked into the cave, the entrance extended into a tunnel that travelled upwards before emerging into a large cavern that had been carved out by Vinyl. She created it many years before hand, just in case she ever needed a place to flee to, or simply a quiet place to think, right now she needed both.
Vinyl took a moment to admire her handy work, the cavern had a hole at the top to let sun and fresh air in, the cavern itself had been built in a circle shape around the hole, the water streaming down creating an indoor waterfall that fell down onto a private pool, complete with table and chairs, at the base level. She had spent eighty years getting things just right, she had carved three levels, the base level housed the garden, training rooms and a music room. The second level housed the two bedrooms, the bathroom and a small kitchen. The top level housed only one room, a large study, filled with books, charts and various instruments. Vinyl was very proud of her collection because it was a repository of all the knowledge she had accumulated from her travels, it was rivaled only by the collection at the Canterlot royal library. Each room was built into the mountainside, arranged in a circular pattern, with guard rail on the second and third levels. The light would stream in through the hole during the day and the moon would illuminate the cavern on a clear night. When it rained, the water would flow into the pool and join the reservoir stored under the mountain.
The entrance emerged out on to the second level, Vinyl slowly trotted over to the bedroom; the room had a simple double bed with white sheets and two pillows on it in on left hoof wall and a chest of drawers on the far wall. There was a magic lantern hanging from a torch bracket on the right hoof wall and a painting depicting a wheat field ready to harvest, the wheat being gently blown in the wind. Vinyl placed Octavia on the bed, she was mentally tired, and the sight of Octavia running from her had been playing itself in her mind over and over. She eventually crawled on to the bed wrapped her fore legs around the mare she loved and cried herself to sleep.
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The morning sun streamed down the hole, illuminating the cavern with its warm glow. Octavia woke first; she sleepily opened her eyes and saw Vinyl in front of her, embracing her. For a few seconds she closed her eyes, feeling safe and happy, and then the memories of the previous night crashed into her mind. Her eyes bolted open and she successfully resisted the urge to scream, she slowly rotated her body to see where she was. She was in some kind of stone room with no door, just an arch way; she could see sunlight coming through the arch… She slowly turned back to the slumbering pony next to her, examined her features, they were still the same ones she had been waking up to for a year, but every time she looked at the mare next to her she saw the bodies of the stallions she had killed. She gently lifted the arm that was on top of her, and taking care not to rustle the sheets she quietly walked out the door. She stopped, the cavern was unlike anything she had seen before, it was a work of art, she stared at the waterfall as it cascaded down into the pool below.
“I know its beautiful isn’t it.” Octavia spun around to find herself looking at Vinyl, her purple eyes meeting Vinyls red ones, she noticed that Vinyls eyes had red rings around them, like she had been crying. “Octy please let me explain.” Vinyl looked at her with a pleading expression.
Octavia’s fear turned to anger flaring at the use of her nickname “When were you planning on telling me, were you ever planning on telling me.”
Vinyl looked at the ground ashamed, “No, I wasn’t.”
“Then what was I to you, some kind of game.” tears were streaming down Octavia’s face at the thought that it everything she had felt had just been entertainment for Vinyl. “Were you planning on toying with me and when I no longer amused you, kill me, discarding me like a broken doll.”
Vinyl looked up, her face wet with tears “No, I would never do that to you Octy…” she was cut off by Octavia.
“Don’t call me that!” she shouted, “Tell me, are you Vinyl or Vincenza, who is real, and who was made up.”
“There is no difference, I am still me Octy.” Vinyl pleaded.
“I said to stop calling me that!” Octavia yelled. “Now give me a straight answer, who are you.” Octavia’s voice had gone hoarse from all the shouting.
Vinyl opened her mouth then closed it, struggling for words, “I guess….I guess that I have always been Vincenza…” she confessed, hating the words, but knowing they needed to be said.
Octavia looked down…”Then the mare I loved is dead.”
Vincenza looked hurt, “Octy…”
Octavia’s head snapped up “Stop it, just stop it!” She screamed, her voice horse, tears streaming down her face. “Stop messing with me, stop calling me that name. Only she could call me that, you are not her. Vinyl was a kind pony, she never lied, she never hurt any pony, she had a passion for her music that I loved, you are not her. You are a liar and a killer, every time I look at you I see her, you…you are a mockery of everything I thought I knew and loved.” She hung her head again “Just finish what you started, and kill me already, I don’t care anymore.”
“Please Octy…Octavia, please let me prove to you that I am still me, that Vinyl and Vincenza are just names. Let me show you that the names are just labels, that I have always, and still do, love you.
“There is nothing you can say or do that will change my mind Vincenza. I have seen you take a life, and yet you don’t regret it. I’m sorry, but nothing you can say will make me change how I feel about you Vincenza.” Octavia looked away trying to hold back tears. “Nothing you can say can bring Vinyl Scratch back.”
Vincenza hung her head and after what felt like an eternity “Then let me help you understand me.”
“Understand you?” Octavia tilted her head to the side “Why the hay would I ever want to do that?”
“Because Octavia, I am far more than a killer, what you saw when I was with you was part of me. While it’s true that I did hide many things about myself to become Vinyl, I always loved you; I don’t want to lose you. The good times we spent weren’t faked, they were real.” She looked Octavia in the eye “Because if I was still able, you would have been the mare I would have grown old with. So please give me a chance, there is so much about me that you don’t know, so much I have wanted to tell you but couldn’t.”
“Like what?” Octavia was looking uncertain, moved by the strength Vincenza’s emotions
“Well the biggest thing is that I have always wanted to play for you…”
“Play for me? But you’ve given me concerts before.”
Vincenza chuckled “As much as I love my turn tables, my true love has always been the violin, but I could never play for you with out raising questions, so I kept it hidden; now at least I can play for you.” Her eyes lit up “And cook, oh how I’ve missed cooking, you haven’t tried anything until you’ve tried my cooking. So what do you say, will you give me a chance, for old times sake?” she looked at Octavia, hoping against hope that she would say yes.
Octavia looked away, memories of all the good times she had spent with Vinyl surfacing, “Okay, I’ll give you your chance but on one condition.”
Vincenza nodded eagerly “Yes anything.
Octavia let out a breath of air, “If I’m going to do this, then I want you to use your real voice and wear your hair in its true form.”
Vincenza looked puzzled “Why.”
“Because, if I’m going to know the real you, I want to see and hear the real you.” Octavia stated her earlier anger and hurt set aside, for now.
“Well…okay then.” Vincenza’s horn glowed white, her mane and tail turned light brown, her mane going straight. “Beh Octavia. Cosa Pensi?” She laughed at the look on Octavia’s face “Qual e la questione. Ha chiesto per la mia voce reale.”
Octavia was stunned, “You speak Istallion?”
“Si, I wasn’t born or raised in Equestria so my native tongue is Istallion, over time I learnt to speak Equestrian and hide my accent. You have idea how buona it feels to speak it out loud again.”
“So…how old are you really Vincenza, I assume that you aren’t twenty eight.”
“I am three thousand seven hundred and fifty one years old.” Vincenza casually remarked like it was nothing.
Octavia gapped, she was older than the banishment of Luna, “I guess there is a lot I don’t know about this mare then.” she would of asked another question but her stomach grumbled loudly, she hadn't eaten any thing since the dinner at Fancy's last night, “Umm you wouldn't happen to have any food around here, would you?” she asked.
Vincenza chuckled, “Si I do, I’ll make us breakfast, after that I’ll give you the grand tour of Il mio piccolo pezzo di paradiso, my little piece of paradise.” She walked of towards the kitchen, “take the steps down to the base level, I’ll bring you your prima colazione.” seeing Octavia’s clueless expression she rolled her eyes “Breakfast.”
Octavia turned to walk away, remembered something and turned back to Vincenza, “Where are we Vincenza, we can’t have gotten far from Ponyvill since last night.”
“We are currently in the Everfree forest, roughly two days as the Pegasus flies from Ponyvill.”
Octavia looked up at the hole in the roof, half expecting a manticore to poke its head in, “The Everfree forest...aren’t we in danger to be in this deep?”
“Nope this whole place is warded to keep out intruders, that includes the inhabitants of the forest you can go outside if you want, just stay in the clearing…you know I’ve never understood why you ponies fear the forest.” Vincenza inclined her head in a thoughtful pose
“Because it’s unnatural that’s why.” Octavia stated in a matter of fact voice, only to have Vincenza start rolling on the floor laughing.
“That’s why?” She broke into another fit of laughter, “This unnatural, that’s just absurd, this IS nature.” She broke out into another laughing fit.
“What!” Octavia exclaimed looking at the laughing mare in front of her like she had gone mad “But the clouds move with pegasi and the plants and animals fend for themselves.” Octavia had a strange look on her face as she tried to process what Vincenza was telling her.
Vincenza stoped her laughing fits, though she still chuckled a bit “Exactly you silly pony, how do you think they got survived before we got here?”
Octavia’s mouth opened and closed, “I guess I didn’t think of that, I’m just so use to everything being so calm and nice that the thought that it’s not how things should work unnerves me.”
Vincenza smiled, “Whilst I do love a good philosophical discussion, I think it’s about time we put this one to the side for the moment and have breakfast. You should freshen up first though, the bathroom is the far door on the ring, past the kitchen.”
“Thanks.” Octavia started to walk towards the bathroom, when Vincenza came in for a kiss on the cheek. Octavia leaned out of the way, causing Vincenza to pull back in confusion.
“What’s wrong Octavia?” she asked a puzzled expression on her face.
“I’m sorry but if I’m going to learn about you all over again, you’re staring from square one.”
Vincenza face fell, “What, so cold turkey square one…that’s just vendicativo.”
Octavia scowled “And so is killing a pony with an exploding coffee table.”
Vincenza looked down “I guess that makes sense then.”
As Octavia walked past her she tilted her head and not unkindly said “Remember just because it’s hard for you don’t mean it’s not hard for me. We’ve been together for a year, but things have changed. Until I can be sure of who you are and until I can be sure of my feelings for you I have to say no. I’m sorry but it just has to be like this for the time being.” and with that she headed off to the bathroom.
Vincenza walked into the modest kitchen, disappointed that Octavia had effectively reset the relationship but was glad that she was willing to give it another chance. She levitated a bowl and various dressings for a light salad, whistling a tune she walked down to the garden and picked some lettuce and cherry tomatoes. She wished she had some feta cheese, but living in a cave in Everfree didn’t exactly allow for the best of trade with the goat tribes. Using her magic she quickly halved the tomatoes and shredded the lettuce. She then added the dressings and some salt. She smiled; the act of making the salad was comforting. She levitated the bowl and a pair of small plates with salad forks down the stairs on to the table. She served up the meal and waited for Octavia to finish up in the bathroom. She didn’t have to wait long, Octavia walked out of the bathroom soon after looking refreshed. She walked down the stairs and sat down to the table and looked at the salad, “This looks delicious, you made it?” she asked eyeing the food.
“Yip, whilst it’s nowhere near as saporito as Dandelion Pop-Tarts,” she levitated a forkful into her mouth, “I have to say it comes a close second.”
Octavia gripped the fork in her hoof and tried a small amount of salad, “Wow this is really good, I had no idea that you could cook like this.” Vincenza smiled at the compliment, “So if you don’t mind me asking, how did you know about this place?”
“Because I made it.” Vincenza replied with a smug grin.
“What you mean you carved this whole thing out of a mountain by yourself?” Octavia asked, a sceptical expression on her face.
“Si, I am far more powerful a unicorn than you give me credit for, not as powerful as Twilight of course but being a vampony means I’m not restricted to spells relating to my cutie mark.”
“So how long did it take you make…this.” Octavia gestures to the cavern around her taking in the view.
“Oh about…eighty years.”
Octavia blinked, “That’s a long time. How long have you been in Equestria any way?”
“Around five hundred years now.”
“Wow, so you were here for the founding of Ponyvill then.”
“No, I believe that I was some where in Briddleton around those years, I would have mostly been travelling around Equestria during that era.”
“Oh. “ She paused, thinking of another question, “Earlier you mentioned that Istallion was your native tongue, I can assume that you were born in Isatila then?” Octavia looked at Vincenza expectantly.
“Correggere, correct I was born in Istalia in a little port town called Palmareo, my father was a city guard and my mother was a net weaver at the docks. I was an only child, which would normally be an issue for families living in the city, but because my father was a guard our family had immunity.”
“Immunity?” Octavia questioned.
“From feeding.” seeing Octavia’s confused expression she face hoofed “Octavia how much do you know of pre fall Istalia?”
Octavia looked sheepish, “I didn’t even know there was a fall to begin with.”
“Okay, I’ll give you a brief history lesson then. Istalia used to be run by vampony families, these families would oversee the villages, protecting it from bandits, wild animals and other villages. Over time as the villages became cities, the vampony families became something akin to your noble class; they ruled the cities and made laws. Each city was a country in its own right; a city would have its own laws, boundaries and militia. The only times the cities would band together were if Istalia was under attack from an outside nation, or if one city tried to take over another and its allies became involved. Over time the vamponies needed a way to reward the loyalty of their citizens, so they collectively created the immunity law. The vamponies would give certain ponies they deemed worthy a necklace, and one for each member of their immediate family. The immunity law meant that any citizen that was wearing an immunity necklace was exempt from feeding. The best way to get immunity was to join the guard or militia, if you made the cut then your family got immunity, this ensured that lots of ponies would apply for the militia and guard. There were other ways though; the next fastest way was to win a competition. Some of the cities would hold competitions for sporting or musical talent, the prize, depending on the city, would either be immunity or immortality.”
“Wait so these families ruled all of Istalia, and used the ponies as a food supply, why did the ponies put up with it?”
“Well not all did, many a young filly or colt would run away into the forest to join a bandit gang. Preferring to chose when and where they were going to be killed than sit around in a city waiting for a vampony to kill them at any time. As for the rest of Istalia, not all the cities were ruled by the families, there were villages located in the alpine hills that had refused the offers of aid from the families. These villages were predominantly earth pony with very few unicorns or pegisia willing to make the trek up the mountains and the few that did would be turned away unless they were accompanied by somepony from the village who gave their permission for the pony to enter. Over time the families ignored the (what they called them) mountain tribes, with only a few of the smaller families willing to trade with them, this left them to their own devices and subsequently their freedom. The funny thing is, the mountain tribes also had some low land settlements by the ocean, this gave them trade with other countries as well. The tribes did not like or dislike vamponies, they didn’t care what happened to the rest of Istalia as long as they were unaffected. This made the mountains a constant neutral ground, perfect for peace talks or trade negotiations.”
“So why did the families not just take over the mountain tribes instead of leaving them where they were?”
“There was three main reasons, one the tribes were neutral, they didn’t care so long as they were unaffected so why make more enemies? Two, the tribes’ exposure to harsh temperatures had hardened them, making them strong, they were fearsome fighters with hay loads of endurance. Three, the tribes had nothing to give that they weren’t already trading.”
“Oh, so what was this fall you were on about earlier?”
“Just getting to that, as trade with Equestria grew, so did the tales brought back by explorers and merchants of a pair of beautiful living goddesses that raised and lowered the sun and moon. These princess goddesses ruled Equestria with grace and fairness and they actually cared for their subjects. Over time this lead to discontentment in the cities and vamponies enforcing their law, it was only a matter of time until the first civil war erupted. During the first war all vamponies helped to enforce their rule, whilst the rebels sent cries of help to the Princesses who sent aid but held back on troops, not wanting to get involved. The result was the vamponies won, but they had to commit terrible acts of violence to do it.”
“Were you involved in the war?” Octavia asked
“Yes, I was and before you ask yes I did do bad things, and you will hear about them shortly just let me finish this tale first. Well after the first civil war the vamponies were forced keep their subjects on a tight leash. They cut all trade agreements with Equestria and deported any pony that was Equestrian born, married to an Equestrian or born of an Equestrian. Even though they had lost the war, the rebels had shown the families that their control was not as thorough as they had hopped. The first century after was…tense, well for me at least.”
“Why?”
“Lets just say I earned a reputation that I’m not all to proud of. After another few centuries had passed and things quietened down, Istalia once again opened it’s borders to Equestria. Over the centuries however, not all of the rebels had been killed, some had survived the war and had planed for this day, they had passed the plan down the generations, waiting for the borders to Equestria to be opened. They sent messages to the princesses, envoys in the guises of merchants and whilst trade and tourism flourished between the two countries, the rebels and the princesses began to formulate plans to overthrow the vampony families. Only one century gone and Istalia found itself in the grips of another civil war, the people wanted the same freedom offered to the citizens of Equestria and this time they were supported not only by Equestria troops but by rebel vamponies. In order to counter act this influx of soldiers the families sent in agents to Equestria under the guise of refuges, these agents would settle down in towns and cities across Equestria and proceeded to cause mayhem. The attacks on their own people forced the princesses to withdraw a large number of their own troops in order to monitor the refuges. It was a stalemate, with neither side able to overpower each other.”
“So how did it end?” Octavia was sitting up; fascinated by the history she was hearing.
“At the time I was in the mountains and I was Lady of a small mountain town called Solis. I had declared myself neutral and many of the families were shocked, even more were outraged that I had turned my back on the country. Eventually one nobleman decided he would force me to fight; he arrived at the gate of my town and in no uncertain terms demanded that I come and fight for my country or be branded a traitor and be sentenced to death. When I didn’t reply he burnt my town to the ground, killing everyone. The worst part was the fool hadn’t even checked to see if I was in the town or not, at the time I was meeting with the mayors of the other mountain tribes to talk about the bloody conflict. So I came home to find my entire town ransacked and burnt, an Istaillion flag hanging from the walls of the castle. That night paid I a visit to Canterlot and told the princesses that I would join the war on their side. Not long after I joined the war it was over, my arrival had heralded the arrival of the mountain tribes, one of their own had been attacked and the neutrality that had lasted do long had been broken.”
“So what happened after that?”
“I decided that I had spent enough time in Istalia and took to wandering around Equestria. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only vampony to survive, a few of the rebels and noble had made it through and the also moved to Equestria. Some of them decided to blend in, some decided to take their revenge and wreck as much havoc as they could, in the end it was only a matter of time before hunters from Istalia migrated over here and tracked them down.”
“Hunters?”
Vincenza stood up and levitated the dishes “I’ll get into that latter, for now though I think we should put the past to one side and get you acquainted with your surroundings. We’ll talk more later, okay?”
Octavia would have replied if a purple portal hadn’t appeared underneath her, swallowing her. “Octavia!” Vincenza rushed forward and jumped into the portal after her.
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Earlier that morning
The sun rose over Ponyvill and ushered in a new day, rousing ponies from their bed. One such pony lived in tree that doubled as a library and had stayed up all night reading, only going to bed a couple hours prior. The pony groggily opened one eye and looked out the window “Note to self, ask Princess Luna to extended night time.” the pony jammed the eye shut and rolled over trying to go back to sleep. She was Twilight Sparkle prized protégé of Princess Celestia herself and bearer of the element of magic. And despite her best efforts she could not get to sleep so she decided to get up, she attempted to rise from her bed only roll out onto the floor with a thud. Suddenly a wail broke through the air “AHHHHHHH SOMEPONY HELP PLEASE HELP!” Twilight bolted straight up, her earlier drowsiness dispelled, and galloped out the door. She looked around for the source of the cry and saw many other ponies running out their doors looking around as well. Twilight was walking down the street asking confused ponies what direction the cry came from, when Lyra burst round the corner at full gallop, colliding with Twilight.
Twilight shook her head and got up, she looked at Lyra “Lyra what’s wrong?” she said in her most comforting voice.
Lyra was a mess, her mane was uncombed and she looked like she had been crying, she looked up and recognized Twilight “Oh Twilight, it’s horrible, just horrible.” she burst into another round of tears.
Twilight put a comforting hoof on the distraught mares shoulder, “What’s horrible Lyra, does it have something to do with the cry I heard earlier, is somepony hurt?”
“No…not hurt…dead.” Lyra burst into tears.
Twilight went cold “Who?”
Lyra held down another sob, “I don’t know, Bon Bon and I went over to Octavia and Vinyl’s place to see if they wanted to get breakfast together and and and….” she broke down again.
Twilight had gone stiff at the mention of the couple “Surely nopony would want to hurt them, it could have been because they were both mares, but if that’s the case why would the criminals go after them not Lyra and Bon Bon?” her mind started going through all the possible scenarios “Lyra, I’m going to need some more information, what did you find?”
“The door was open so we went inside; we called their names and walked into the living room…that’s when we found them.”
“Found who Lyra.”
“The bodies, there was five of them, blood was every where I I I I’ve never seen so much blood.”
“Six bodies, interesting”
“Lyra, did you identify the any of the bodies as Octavia’s or Vinyl’s?”
“N no.” Lyra sniffed.
“Could be a chance they are still alive.” a thought occurred to her. “Lyra where’s Bon Bon?”
“She ran in the opposite direction to go get help.”
“Okay I want you to go find her, I’m going to go investigate the crime scene then I’m going to inform the Princesses all right?”
“Okay Twilight.” Lyra picked herself up and started walking towards the town square.
Twilight lit her horn and disappeared in a flash of light, she reappeared out side the residence of Octavia and Vinyl. The door was open, Twilight walked in and quickly made her way to the lounge, she stoped and resisted the urge to throw up. “No I have to do this, as Ponyvill's representative of the princesses it’s my duty to do this.” her mind slipped into analytical mode. The coffee table was destroyed a corpse riddled with wooden shards was lying in front of her, tattered remnants of what used to be a robed hanging of it’s body. To her left was another body, this one looked like it had been stabbed in the chest, it was also wearing robes. Moving on to the next body Twilight noticed that something had taken a bite out of it’s neck, severing the spine, she cast a spell to improve her eyesight and examined the wound “Bite mark indicates that the victim was killed by a being with long canine teeth, possibly fangs.” she ended the spell taking note that this body was wearing robes that matched the others. The next victim was slumped on the floor nothing appeared to be wrong but a quick diagnostic spell showed his neck had been broken by a blow from the front, possibly by some kind of blunt weapon or hoof, this one was also in a robe “Interesting.”. Twilight moved to examine the fifth body, she didn’t need to cast a spell to see his throat had been ripped out how ever; this one wasn’t wearing a robe. She walked over to examine the hole in the wall and discovered a sixth body inside, it was obvious that the pony had been killed when a blow sent it through the wall, what caught her attention was that the pony was wearing robes as well.
Twilight swept the room thoroughly, searching for evidence, a rope was found in the middle of the lounge, close the fifth victim, a quick spell revealed hair on it to be Octavia’s “So Octavia was here.” Twilight searched for evidence of Vinyls presence but could not find any “So were is she?”
“Okay lets see, we have six corpses, none belonging to Vinyl or Octavia, five are dressed in white robes, one is not. This concludes it was some sort of initiation ceremony for a gang or cult. Two were killed in a manner that is evident of beast attack, three were killed through use of strength (killed by blow to neck, killed by impalement, killed by being kicked or hit through wall), the other was killed through use of magic to cause a coffee table to explode. Evidence points to all victims being killed in a very short time span of each other as each is to far from the other. Suggests that at least two magically capable beings were involved, and at least four beasts. What raises questions is the locations of the residents, rope found in lounge has hairs that match Octavia’s yet no body is found. Also highly improbable those six creatures would be able to quietly kill of six ponies with out a struggle. First priority find Octavia, she was here so who/what ever killed these ponies will also have her.”
Twilight teleported back to her library, Spike was nervously pacing in the upstairs bedroom when he heard the tell tale crack of a teleport, he rushed down the stairs “Twilight what’s going on, I heard a scream earlier and you rushed out the door.”
Twilight held up a hoof, “Spike I needed you to take a letter to Princess Celestia, it’s urgent.”
Spike retrieved some paper and a quill, “Okay Twilight, ready.”
Twilight cleared her throat
Dear Princess Celestia
I am in urgent need of your help, six unknown ponies have been murdered and two mares are missing. I have examined the scene already and believe that finding the mares would be best. One of the mares (Octavia Philharmonica) is a friend of mine and was tied up at the crime scene, however she is no longer there and I believe that finding her first would be the most wise course of action. Please send what help you can.
Your most faithful student
Twilight Sparkle
Spike quickly rolled up the scroll, opened a window and sent the letter on its way. Twilight was nervously pacing around the room waiting for a reply. She didn’t have to wait long, Spike burped and a green flame quickly turned into two scrolls and a badge with the crown symbol on it. One with Celestia’s seal, the other with Luna‘s. Twilight opened it and read it, she then reread it to make sure she read it right the first time.
To my most faithful student Twilight Sparkle
This is indeed sad news, I am sorry hear that your friend is missing however I may have some thing to brighten your day, or rather Luna does. I have asked her for a spell that she created sometime ago to locate lost socks. She has agreed to modify the spell for your use, enclosed in this letter are the instructions. As my representative in Ponyvill I hope that you will do your best in solving this case so I have included a royal inquisitorial medallion. Should you require any materials or assistance, you need only to show the medallion and the will be granted. I will leave the case in your capable hooves, best of luck.
Your steadfast teacher
Princess Celestia
Twilight quickly levitated the other scroll over and read it.
Dear Twilight Sparkle
Tia has informed me of your plight, I understand that you need to find a pony. I can do one better, as a filly I was always losing my one of socks, so I created a spell to find and bring them to me. All it required was the other sock to work; I have modified the spell so that you may find any pony, so long as you have an item that they cherish in your possession. Due to the ramifications this spell could have, I request that you burn this paper after committing the spell to memory.
Good luck
Princess Luna
The rest of the letter was a complex diagram for a spell that Twilight was greedily devouring with her eyes; she was holding a spell crafted by the Princesses. She scanned the diagram, once she was certain it was committed to memory she lit her horn and destroyed the letter with a quick burst of flame. Twilight smiled “Spike I need to go and retrieve something I’ll be back soon.” She disappeared in a flash of light, she reappeared levitating Octavia’s prized cello.
“Twi what are you doing?” Spike asked as Twilight walked into the centre of the room and sat down.
“Spike I need absolute concentration for this spell, so why don’t you take the rest of the day off?” Twilight waved a hoof in the air.
“Hey are you saying that I distract you, cause I can be real quite if you want.” to elaborate on his point, the baby dragon comically drew in a bug gulp of air and puffed out his checks.
Twilight looked at him and raised an eyebrow, smiling a little “Well you can stay if you want but Rarity did mention that she wanted some assistance last time I saw Rarity, it’s awfully nice that you would rather stay here and watch me than spend the whole day with Rarity.” Twilight put emphasis on Rarity’s name every time she said it.
Spike released the he was hold breath and was already bounding to the door, as he passed Twilight he quickly hugged her and said “Hopeeverythinggoeswellwiththespellbye.” and he was gone.
Twilight smiled, looking at the open door the dragon had forgotten to close, she quickly shut it with her magic shacking her head a smile on her face. She focused her concentration on the spell, the cello glowed purple and began vibrating, the glow intensified until it suddenly vanished. Twilight looked up “That can’t be right I followed the instructions to the letter.” She began pacing reviewing the steps of the spell. Suddenly a purple portal opened in front of her, causing her to jump back in fright, and out fell Octavia. She was soon followed by a unicorn with light brown hair who leapt out of the portal as it closed.
The unicorn rounded on Twilight fangs out, Twilight stepped back in shock. The unicorn instantly recognized her and stepped back as well her fangs retreating. “Twilight?”
Twilight recognized the voice immediately “Vinyl, is that you?”
“Actually her name is Vincenza.” Octavia stood up brushing herself of as best as she could.
Twilight was confused, “Vinyl, Octavia, can someone please tell me what’s going on, the town woke up today to find you missing, six dead stallions in your lounge, Lyra is in hysterics and Bon Bon isn’t far behind.”
Octavia raised an eye brow and looked at Vincenza, “Ask her.”
“Well Vinyl, what the hay is going on?”
Vincenza sighed, “Okay Twilight for starters, my name isn’t really Vinyl Scratch, it’s Vincenza Nightingale. I am three thousand seven hundred and fifty one years old, I am a vampony and have been living as Vinyl Scratch for ten years now. I have lied to you all and those ponies in Octavia’s house were there to kill me then Octavia, one of them was Pebble Shifter an ex of Octavia’s. Also I’m not a native of Equestria, io sono originario di Istalia”
Twilight stood their with her mouth open, she blinked twice and looked at Octavia “And you knew about this.”
“No I only learnt about it last night.” Octavia scowls at Vincenza who looks away in shame. Octavia looks back at Twilight, “So Twilight, what now?”
Twilight looks at Vincenza “I assume it was you that killed those ponies.”
Vincenza looks directly at Twilight, “Yes I did.”
Twilight looks Octavia “You were tied up?”
Octavia looks Twilight in the eye “Yes and the were going to kill me after they had killed Vincenza.”
Twilight nodded her head “And I assume that Vinyl killed the ponies in defence of herself and you?”
Octavia looks at Vincenza then looks back at Twilight “Yes she did.”
“Vinyl you killed them in self defence and in defence of another, in accordance with Equestrian law you have committed no wrong and this case is formally closed. I will however be forced to give you a years worth of community service?”
Vincenza tilts her head, “Community service I thought you said that I had done no wrong?”
Twilight smiles, “You have been living under a false alias for ten years, every time you filled out a form or applied for a housing permit, you falsified official documents. So as punishment and are to come to the library every day for the next year to assist me and my assistant Spike in my studies.“
“I can live with that” Vincenza nodded her head.
Twilight chuckled “You aren’t getting of that easy however, you also must make a public announcement to the residents of Ponyvill revelling your true nature.”
Vincenza stepped back in shock “Like fieno I am!”
Twilight’s chuckle died down at Vincenza’s outburst “Why not?”
“Well for one it probably cause a mass panic, you know with me being a blood sucking vampiro and all.” Vincenza gave Twilight a glare.
Twilight flinched under Vincenza’s gaze “Your right, after the way the town went crazy over Zacora, the whole town would probably run all the way to Applelosa if you told them.” Twilight looked uneasily out the window, thoughts of a mass pony stamped flashing through her head.
Vincenza breathed out a sigh of relief “Thanks Twilight, so what now?”
“Well I am not all to happy that you kept something this big from us Vinyl, were your friends you should be able to trust us.” Twilight face showing genuine hurt at the thought that one of her friends didn’t trust her.
For not the first time that day Vincenza felt shame, “I am truly sorry if I hurt your feelings Twilight but I couldn’t risk you reacting badly, I would of hated to kill you.”
It was Twilight and Octavia’s turn to be shocked, “You would actually kill her?” Octavia was disgusted and scared at the same time “But she’s our friend.”
Vincenza nodded a grim expression on her face “Yes Octavia I would, my continued existence is of greater value to me than hers, the only pony who’s life I value greater than my own is yours.”
Twilight was disgusted “That’s horrible, how could you live with yourself afterwards?”
Vincenza narrowed her eye lids “You talk as though I have not done so before, and before you ask I live with it day by day but the matter of fact is that I am still alive to berate myself over it.”
Twilight was horrified “You’ve killed your friends before?”
“Killed, betrayed and lied to. I have done everything you can think of to ensure my own existence.” Vincenza looked directly into Twilights eyes her red meeting Twilight’s purple ones. “I have done evil deeds and my soul is so stained that I don’t know if I can ever redeem myself, I live with the knowledge of what I’ve done and I whilst I do grieve for them I do not regret it. But know that I would only ever harm you or my friends if you were to ever to try to harm me or Octavia.”
Octavia shuddered at the use of her name and Twilight calmed down a bit “Thank you for being honest with me, I suppose there is more to you than we all thought.”
Vincenza nodded “It’s quite alright Twilight, it’s been many years since I’ve made any true amici. If it’s any consolation, I would have probably spent decades in hyper depression over it.”
Twilight was slightly unnerved by this “Umm thanks I guess?”
Vincenza flashed her a big smile, “Don’t sweat it Twi.” Twilight couldn’t help but smile back with Octavia some where between a smile and frown at seeing Vincenza act so much like Vinyl. Twilight took notice of Octavia’s expression and how Vinyl…Vincenza hadn’t even touched her in the whole time the couple had been in the room “This can’t be good.”.
Vincenza had also noticed Octavias face and quickly jumped in front of her “Come on Octavia smile a bit.” and with that she pushed Octavia’s face into a smile. Before Octavia could help herself, her left forehoof was swinging towards Vincenza’s head, Twilight noticed the reaction “Maybe she’s coping better than I thought.” and prepared for the thud. Vincenza saw the incoming hoof in her peripheral vision like she always did, but this time she could do something about it. Her mind flicked through all the options before settling on one of the less violent and more funny ones. The hoof swung through the air…and kept going Vincenza had simply dogged it by lowering her head and snaping it back up, she leaned into Octavia’s ear “Your going to have to do better than that now Octavia.” Octavia simply smiled and brought her hoof back up in a vicious backhand…that kept on going back, causing her to lose balance and fall over. Vincenza had seen the incoming retaliation moments before it connected “Clever Octy clever…definitely going to get a laugh out of this.” and stepped backwards, the hoof missing her snout by millimetres. As Octavia got up she could hear Vincenza laughing on the other side of the room “Your definitely going to have to do better than that.”
Octavia huffed a strand of her mane out of her face and looked at Twilight only to find the lavender unicorn was giggling as well, she scowled at the pair of them muttering something about just waiting till they went to sleep. When the pair regained control of themselves Twilight looked at Vincenza then Octavia, “Okay I’ve decided on our next course of action girls, Vinyl I would like you to tell our friends about yourself. They deserve to know the truth, I think it would be best if we tell them as a group, that way you only have to explain it once.”
Vincenza simply nodded, her humorous mood quickly fading as she envisioned her friends reactions. Octavia looked at Twilight a thought had just occurred to her “What are we going to tell everypony else when they ask what happened?” a worried look on her face.
Twilight froze in place, her mind frantically trying to think of an answer. It was Vincenza that replied for her “Simple, we were attacked by a gang that had managed help from the griffions, when I desperately teleported myself and Octavia out of the house and into the countryside the griffions turned on the ponies and quickly overwhelmed them.”
Twilight looked at her with a confused expression on her face, “And when ponies ask why the didn’t hear any thing?”
“Muffle spell cast by they unicorn.” Vincenza rolled her eyes at Twilight.
“Okay that might just do it, I‘ll go and contact the newspapers immediately…wait how do I explain your arrival, I can‘t tell everypony about the spell I used.”
Vincenza frowned and looked at the floor, her head snapped back up “I’ll teleport Octavia and myself outside the town, we’ll walk in and let things run their course from there.”
“All right then I’ll be seeing you two soon.” Twilight smiled.
Vincenza smiled in return “Arrivederci” and with that she put a hoof on Octavia’s shoulder and the pair vanished in an implosion of darkness.