//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: And So it Ended, and So it Begins Again // by Wheller //------------------------------// Chapter 9 Princess Luna and Vinyl Scratch had quietly entered the Ponyville Library. Twilight had long gone to bed at this point, leaving them alone in the main room. Ponyville was a relatively quiet, relatively safe town with little crime. Many of the town ponies didn’t bother to lock their doors. Twilight Sparkle had been one of majority, lucky for them, considering that they were stealing the artefact back. “There’s a shipping crate in the middle of the room,” Luna relayed to Vinyl, the blind mare obviously being of little use in the location of the artefact. “That’s it then,” Vinyl said quietly. “Twilight must not have had time to move it yet.” Vinyl heard Luna’s magic flair as she gently pulled the lid off the shipping crate and trotted up to it. “Hey! Don’t touch it with magic!” Vinyl whispered hoarsely. “Too late,” Luna said, she was already levitating it out of the box. This time, however it acted as if it was just a regular old statue. Luna reattached the lid and the two mares snuck back out the front door. Twilight had no intention of opening the box again, and would likely not notice that it had been taken at all. “I don’t understand, when I tried to pick up the artefact with magic, it attacked me!” Vinyl said. “Of course it did,” Luna said slyly. “You didn’t make it.” Vinyl listened as Luna’s saddlebags opened and heard the sound of stone rubbing against cloth as Luna slipped it inside, and the two of them walked away from the Ponyville Library, no one any the wiser that they had been there at all. “Something else has been bothering me,” Vinyl said. “My memories, why me? Why do I remember and not Twilight or Rainbow Dash?” “Simple, you had greater exposure to the artefact than they did,” Luna said. “Hold on! Don’t you even try that with me, I remembered before the artefact even got here, be straight with me Luna!” Vinyl said with an air of annoyance, princess or not, Vinyl wasn’t going to let her drag her around in circles. Luna sighed and stopped walking, Vinyl stopped too and turned to face the Alicorn before her. “The problem with the artefact is that I can’t be straight with you about it... it’s... special. The artefact constantly emits a unique radiation, but the radiation doesn’t affect you linearly. You were hit by a massive dose when you tried to handle it, it robbed you of your eyesight in the present, but it also caused you to remember the old world nearly a day before the actual event happened.” Vinyl raised an eyebrow, her mouth dropped open. She was looking for adequate words for a response, but could find none. “That doesn’t make any sense!” She managed eventually. “I know, why do you think I didn’t want to tell you? Emerald Sparkle and I worked together to create the artefact, she was not only a brilliant scientist, but an incredibly skilled mage. I provided the raw power necessary for the artefact’s creation, she did the fine-tuning. The magical science involved is way over my head,” Luna said apologetically. “I’ve found that it’s best not to think about it.” Vinyl sighed a little in response. Considering everything else that happened to her, it was just insane enough to be completely possible. “What’s the next step?” she asked. “You go get some rest,” Luna said. “I have to make arrangements; I’ll come find you in the morning. Goodnight Vinyl Scratch.” “Goodnight Princess Luna.” Vinyl listened as the night princess spread her wings and flew off into the night sky, cutting swiftly through the still air. She recognised by the sound that her surroundings made that she was in front of Derpy’s flat. Perfect! She was, after all, going to South Island in the morning; she couldn’t very well leave without saying goodbye. Very carefully, she walked slowly up the stairs and knocked on the door. A few moments later, a very sleepy sounding Derpy Hooves opened the door, yawning loudly. “Vinyl?” she asked sleepily. “What are you doing? It’s the middle of the night! Did you walk here by yourself?” “Not entirely,” Vinyl said. “I did get up those stairs by myself thought!” “Vinyl...” Derpy said worriedly. “Come in.” Vinyl smiled brightly at the mare and graciously entered her flat. Derpy shut the door behind her, giving her a small kick while she was at it. “Ow! Hey!” Vinyl cried out in surprise. “That’s for making me worry about you, big dummy!” Derpy said. She promptly followed up by draping her wing around Vinyl’s back, pulling her close and giving her an extremely passionate kiss. “That’s me forgiving you.” “I think I like it when you forgive me,” Vinyl said with a grin. “I think I like it when I forgive you too,” Derpy said slyly. She guided Vinyl towards the Sofa, and the two of them sat down. “I have to go away for a while,” Vinyl said. “There’s something I have to do.” Vinyl could swear that she heard Derpy frown. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, that’s always how it goes for me.” “What?! Hey! I’ll be coming back!” Vinyl said reassuringly. “I’d never abandon the mare that makes me feel alive, never in a million years!” She knew that had gotten a smile out of the Pegasus mare, they leaned in close and allowed one last kiss before they went down that long road. ... Morning came, and Vinyl awoke to find herself having a mild panic attack, forgetting that she had been blinded and it was normal for her to not see anything upon opening her eyes. Maybe she wasn’t as well adjusted as she thought. She felt Derpy’s head resting on her chest, the Pegasus mare’s hooves wrapped around her abdomen, as if she had silently said. “You aren’t going anywhere without saying goodbye to me!” Vinyl Scratch leaned in close, gently kissing Derpy’s forehead until the Pegasus began to stir. “Good morning!” she added cheerfully. Derpy responded with a kiss of her own. “When do you have to leave?” “Probably should be going right now, wouldn’t be right to keep my travelling partner waiting.” “Just... promise me that you’re actually coming back,” Derpy said sadly, she could no longer imagine a world without Vinyl Scratch in it. “I promise,” Vinyl said, nuzzling her fillyfriend, she couldn’t imagine a world without Derpy in it either. Vinyl rose, and Derpy walked her to the door, helping her down the stairs and into the high street. “Are you going to be okay Vinyl?” Derpy asked. “Of course! This is me you’re talking to! I’ll be back before you know it!” Vinyl said, grinning at the Pegasus mare. “Goodbye Vinyl, I’ll see you when you get back,” Derpy said, she leaned in and gave her a quick kiss goodbye, and trotted back up the stairs. “Vinyl?” she added at the last moment. “Yesssss?” Vinyl asked. “I love you.” Vinyl couldn’t help but smile as the words reached her ears. “I love you too.” Derpy opened the door and went back inside, Vinyl stood alone in the street, looking up at where Derpy had been, she couldn’t see it, but it didn’t matter. Love was enough. “You two are really quiet adorable together, you know that?” Princess Luna asked from behind her. Vinyl couldn’t help but grin. “Are you ready to go?” Luna asked her. “Of course!” Vinyl said. She joined Princess Luna at her side, the Alicorn mare extended her wing around the blinded unicorn, and they began to walk. “What are you thinking about Vinyl Scratch?” Luna asked her. “Home,” Vinyl said simply. “It’s not always where you were born. It’s where the people you care about are, and as long as you’ve got them to come back to? Well you’re going to do just fine.” Vinyl Scratch didn’t know how she knew, but Princess Luna was smiling at her. The two mares marched onward, walking east into the rising sun. They had a long road ahead of them. FIN