//------------------------------// // Music to Her Ears // Story: My Little Background Pony: Friendship is Magic // by comicfan616 //------------------------------// There was no need for light this time. With the trees having separated into a rather straight path with only the odd turn here and there, the moonlight was shining through much better than before. “So what did you mean by ‘associates?’” Vinyl asked suddenly. “Come again?” the Doctor asked. “When you were talking to that dryad back there,” Vinyl explained, “you introduced us as ‘associates.’” “Not only that,” Bon Bon added, “but it sounded like you didn’t know what to call us.” “I don’t know how things work on this Gallopfrey planet,” Vinyl said, “but I’m pretty sure ‘friends’ isn’t exactly inaccurate.” The Doctor didn’t respond. “Doctor?” Derpy asked. “I suppose we’ll have to get back to that story now, won’t we?” he said at last. “On my last adventure, I was forced, to put it lightly, to come before the High Council. They said that I was flaunting my rights by traveling through space and time, or some such drivel. Like I said, we don’t always see the universe from the same perspective. And for my trouble, I was exiled to Equestria.” “But what does that have to do with the whole ‘associates’ thing?” Lyra asked. “I wasn’t alone then,” the Doctor continued. “I had two companions with me, Bright Bulb and Flashing Steel. We’d been through so much together up until that point. But the Time Lords decided to make my punishment more crushing. They sent them back to their own homes, alive and well, but without their memories of our time together.” He paused for a short second. “Even if I could see them again, they wouldn’t know who I am.” “That’s it?” Vinyl asked. “You had a lousy last day with your friends?” “They weren’t the only ones,” the Doctor said, a little more forcefully. “I’ve had many friends before, but I’ve had to part from them time and time again. Sometimes the circumstances behind our partings made Bright and Flashing’s seem like a simple good-bye. No matter who I meet, no matter what we do, eventually, even the ones we care about the most will have to leave us.” “Is that why you wanted to do this on your own?” Octavia asked. “I didn’t know if this would be dangerous or not, but I just can’t afford to take the risk anymore.” “Doctor…” Derpy said sadly. “But enough about my troubles,” the Doctor said. “We have more important things to think about.” “Like what?” Lyra asked. “Mainly that castle in front of us,” he answered. Everyone looked ahead and saw a rope bridge over a steep canyon leading up to the entrance of a castle. “We’ve found it,” Octavia said in awe. “Come on, then!” Vinyl said excitedly. “The sooner we get the sun back, the better.” She started running toward the bridge. “Careful!” the Doctor called out. “One false step on that bridge, and you’ll be a white and blue stain on the rock walls.” “Hey, that should be the title of my next composition,” Vinyl said. “Thanks, Doc.” Despite her carefree attitude, she did slow down once she actually set foot on the bridge. The others followed her, albeit with more caution. Fortunately, they all arrived on the other side safe and sound. “Come on!” Vinyl said. “Last one to the elements is a rotten hay bale!” She ran toward the castle entryway… …And was immediately knocked on her back. Everyone ran up to her to see what was wrong. “Vinyl, are you okay?” Octavia asked. Vinyl grunted as she got up. “What is it with me and getting knocked around today?” They all looked at the portal that Vinyl should have gone through. It was covered in a strange blue field that almost looked like the brightest night possible. “A force field?” Derpy said, giving voice to everyone’s thoughts. “How are we supposed to get past that?” Bon Bon asked. “Let me take a look,” the Doctor said. He took out his sonic screwdriver and ran it back and forth across the barrier. “Well, the good news is I can identify what this is. It’s a force field projected by powerful unicorn magic; in fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s actually alicorn magic.” “And the bad news?” Lyra said. “I can only think of one alicorn that would be here of all places.” It didn’t take long for everybody to get the hint. “Now what do we do?” Bon Bon asked. “Right now, Nightmare Moon suspects that this barrier is impenetrable and that it’ll be enough to make us give up. But what she doesn’t suspect is that I’ve got a plan. Or half of one at least, but it’s better than no plan, right?” “Care to fill us in?” Vinyl asked. “Alicorn magic is powerful, but not infallible. In a shielding spell as big as this one, there are bound to be small fault lines along it. Normally, even for a unicorn, they don’t really matter unless pushed to the brink, which by itself could take hours at the very least. But, all I have to do is find the right spot and it should weaken it long enough to slip inside.” “Then what are you waiting for?” Lyra urged. “Do it!” “But this is where things get complicated,” the Doctor continued. “If it were just me, I could slip in and this would already be done. But I can’t afford to leave you out here; between the creatures and Nightmare Moon, anything could happen at this point. And that’s where we run into a slight problem. When I weaken the barrier, there will only be enough time for just one of us to get through. What we need to do is open from the inside, where the barrier is weakest. And to that, we need a shield spell of our own.” He looked at the two unicorns. “Leave it to me, Doc,” Vinyl said, putting her hoof to her chest. “I’ve had to use a sound barrier to, uh… How did you say it, Tavi?” Octavia hummed in thought “I believe I said, ‘to keep the peace and protect you from being charged with murdering everypony’s eardrums.’” She finished her quotation with a smirk. “But what about your magic?” Lyra reminded. “You said it was drained.” “Well, not having to use our light spell for so long made it easier to heal,” Vinyl pointed out. “Sound barrier,” the Doctor repeated. “Perfect! Vinyl, stand here please.” Vinyl walked up to the portal. The Doctor started waving the screwdriver again. “As soon as the fault line appears, head on through. After that, you have a very limited time to get your shield up.” “Piece of cake,” Vinyl said with confidence. They stood there for more than a minute before something finally happened. A small wave appeared, almost as big as an average pony. “That’s it!” the Doctor nearly shouted. “Go!” Vinyl immediately jumped through. To everyone outside the barrier, she had disappeared from sight. Vinyl landed on all fours into the castle courtyard. She lost no time in turning around back toward the force field. The wave was still there, albeit smaller and with less motion. Her horn lit up as she prepared her spell. As she was charging, however, she heard something. “Vinyl…” It was very low and whispering; she almost couldn’t hear it. “Vinyl Scratch…” Vinyl turned around slowly. “Who’s there?” she called out. At first, nothing happened. She was about to turn back, but a soft blue light stopped her. She stood her ground, ready for anything but never resting her shield spell. The glow started to take on a solid shape: a stallion made of light who looked right at home in a museum of classical portraits. “Are you Vinyl Scratch?” the figure asked. “Who wants to know?” Vinyl returned. “I have been waiting a long time for a musician who is worthy,” the ghost-like figure continued. Upon hearing this, Vinyl relaxed a little. “Worthy of what?” “My secrets. You probably may not recognize me, but I was once one of the great composers of the Romanetic period.” “In that case, you’ll be wanting Tavi, not me.” The ghost chuckled. “Your modesty amuses me, young one. But Octavia is a musician of the classics. For music to thrive in Equestria, it needs to grow and evolve. You understand this better than anypony.” Vinyl thought for a quick moment. “What do you want from me?” “I was engrossed in my compositions, always perfecting them, always coming up with the next musical classic. But in my passion, I had forgotten something important: to teach the next generation of musicians. I have been here for a long time, watching and listening to the music of Equestria change and grow. But my soul will not rest until my lessons have been passed on to one who truly knows how to harness the new and even future music.” Vinyl started taking the ghost’s words into consideration. This was the chance to truly make her music more than it was now. “Vinyl!” she heard, snapping her out of her thoughts. But it wasn’t the ghost. It was almost muffled. She realized it was the Doctor speaking. “What’s taking so long?” “Oh, uh, yeah, I’m almost ready!” she called back. She was glad she didn’t stop charging the spell. “Well, you better hurry up!” the Doctor replied. “The fault line is almost repaired.” “Vinyl!” the ghost said firmly, bring her attention back to him. “I do not have long. I can only maintain this form for so long. If you choose to help them, it will be a long time before we can meet again like this. It’s either them or me.” Vinyl didn’t have much time to think it through. The wave was even smaller now, almost the size of her horn. “If I go with you,” she thought aloud, “I could be the best musician in Equestria.” The ghost was smiling. “But what good is that when the world’s in eternal night?!” She turned back to the barrier and fired her spell. The wave separated into a small hole that got bigger and bigger. The only indication that it was an actual shield was water-like effect on the air nearby. Once the shield was big enough, the other ponies quickly ran through. They all looked at the ghost in front of them; his face was now contorted with anger. He made a move for Vinyl, but the Doctor held out his screwdriver and turned it on. The ghost stopped and started to shake violently until his gaseous form broke apart. “What was that?” Derpy asked. “Will-o-the-wisp,” the Doctor answered. “They take the form of somepony you care about and then lead you astray. This one must have been really powerful if it could take on the form of Clopin, who, by the way, no one has seen alive for almost 200 years. Guess Nightmare Moon wasn’t so unprepared as I had thought.” He turned to Vinyl. “You all right?” “Yeah, totally,” she replied. “That willy wisp thing was just trying to talk me into abandoning you guys.” She scoffed. “As if I would.” “You sure took your time,” the Doctor pointed out. “Give me a break!” Vinyl said, affronted. “You expect me to deal with a creature that can convince you to follow it? Besides, despite what you may think about friends, Doc, I’d never leave mine.” “We can discuss this later,” Bon Bon said. “The Elements of Harmony are almost ours!” she and the others followed, leaving the Doctor behind for a few seconds. Even after all that’s happened between us, he thought, Vinyl Scratch, of all ponies, called me a friend. He found himself smiling a little. “Doctor!” Derpy shouted from up ahead. “Are you coming or what?”