Vinyl Scratch: Nightmare Hunter
Ch2. A New Adventure
Vinyl sat up in her bed. The light of day filtered through the windows. She could smell Octavia's cooking coming from the kitchen. Toast and Eggs, she guessed. Her mouth watered at the thought of her cooking.
It had been three days since her encounter with the guild, and Vinyl began to think she would never here from them.
"Vinyl! It's time for breakfast!" Octavia called from the kitchen downstairs.
"I'll be there in just a minute!" Vinyl called back. She pulled her blanket off herself and made her way to the kitchen. When she got there, she was surprised to find a small masked pony sitting at the table waiting for her.
"Vinyl!" The foal-like figure cheered when she entered the room. He began jumping up and down in his chair and fell to the ground when the legs broke under his excitement.
"Are you okay?" Octavia asked, helping the foal up.
"I've had worse! Much worse!" he cheered, almost singing, as he stood back up.
"What are you doing here, Rain?" Vinyl asked him.
"Well, we were stalking nightmares in town when I realized you lived here and decided to see if you were going to join the guild and if you had any cookies because I'm really hungry," Rain said quickly as he rubbed his stomach, which decided to emit a loud growl.
"What do you think, Tavi? Should we go with him?" Vinyl looked at her.
"If it means we can help kill nightmares, I say we should go," She said.
"Yay!" Rain cheered, "Now let's go bag us a nightmare!" He led the two mares outside where Stonehoof was waiting with a griffin.
"Vinyl! Glad to see you're still alive. This is Ravage," he nodded to the griffin. "Ravage, this is Vinyl and... Who might you be miss?"
""I'm Octavia," Octavia informed him and extended her hoof in greeting. Ravage backed away and fanned out his wings, hissing at her.
"You'll have to forgive him. He's not very trusting of strangers," Stonehoof explained.
"Well, I can't say that's entirely bad, but still, we're friends," Vinyl said.
"Whatever, let's go. I can hear it getting farther away," the griffin mumbled, ears twitching. He led the group towards the town square where the shops were busy setting up for the day’s customers. Vinyl saw the sun rising over Dragon Mountain in the far distance. Why would they be hunting Nightmares this early? Nightmares would be out when ponies are dreaming, right?
"This way," Ravage led them down an alleyway, his bulk almost touching both walls.
"So, what kind of nightmare are we looking for?" Vinyl asked.
"Just a Bear. Shouldn't be too much work," Stonehoof answered her.
“How did a Bear get into town?” Vinyl asked.
“Little buggers can get anywhere, but if you know where they are, it’s pretty easy to drop ‘em. I'm surprised a hunter like you has never noticed how many are right in front of you,” Stonehoof said. They followed Ravage down even more alleyways until they came to an old abandoned warehouse.
"What the fuck is with warehouses?! Every time. First Phillydelphia, then Manehatten, wherever we go, warehouses! What's wrong with a good old chateau? And it's not just nightmares, but all sorts of villains to. Just a little while ago, a guy named Runner murdered somepony in one. Magnets for evil" Ravage growled as he jumping on some crates to get a better look inside.
"Is the cliche in there, Ravage?" Rain asked.
"He's in there alright. What's the plan Rain?"
"We need bait. Sounds fun, doesn't it, Octavia?"
"What?" She asked, looking around nervously at being the center of attention all of a sudden.
"We're going to be the bait! Sounds smashing, right? Stonehoof, Ravage, and Vinyl, you three stand up on those crates and wait for us to draw him out, then pounce and beat the livin hell outta him!"
"Rain, don't you think it would be better if Stonehoof or I played bait with you? We do have more experience than her," Ravage offered.
"Nonsense! He has magic and you can fly, so it would be better for the two of you to get behind and surprise him! Now get up there!"
"No point in arguing, Ravage. Let's go," Stonehoof instructed him.
Vinyl picked up Rain with her magic, "If she gets hurt, I'll kill you." She dropped him and crawled onto a crate next to Stonehoof. Rain nodded to Ravage to open the door and began to growl at the warehouse. He bumped Octavia and she began to growl too. They stood there for what seemed like years until the Nightmare came charging out of the door at them.
"Run!" Rain shouted, as he pushed Octavia out of the Bear's path and ran around to where the hunters were waiting to ambush it, but before he made it the Bear turned back to face Octavia. Vinyl jumped off the crate and blasted it with her magic, tripping it about halfway to Octavia. Ravage took advantage of this opportunity and sank his claws into its side. The Nightmare bellowed in pain as dark smoke filtered out of the wound. Stonehoof charged from where he was hiding, shaking the ground around him. When he reached the Nightmare, he rammed his horn into its neck, toppling the beast. Letting out one last breath of pain, the bear began evaporating into smoke.
"We did it!" Octavia cheered, "We killed a Nightmare!"
Stonehoof chuckled, "I love it when recruits think they killed a powerful Nightmare!"
"This was just a test to see if you had what it takes to join us," Ravage added. "Now, let's get out of here before the guards catch us!" The three hunters took off running down the street towards the train station. Barely making it to the train in time, they hurried aboard.
Panting, Vinyl asked them why they had to run so quickly.
“Its because the nobles don’t exactly... approve of our activities” Stonehoof asked.
“Does that mean... Does that mean you’re wanted criminals?” Octavia asked in a panic.
“No, no. Not entirely at least. We’re only wanted!” Rain told her in a happy voice to cheer her up.
“Sometimes when we fight Nightmares, things get out of hand. You were there when Rain destroyed most of Dodge Junction,” Stonehoof looked at Rain who was looking at the ground embarrassed. The train came to a stop, as though on cue, as he said this. “Ah! Forest sweet forest!”
“Why are we in the middle of the Everfree forest?” Vinyl asked as they got off. “Are there more Nightmares here?”
“No, but our base is. We need somewhere to train where we won’t destroy public property,” Stonehoof told her as he stepped down from the platform, the train lifting off the ground at the relief of his massive weight.
"So, was it you who caused the destruction of the royal castle last year?" Vinyl asked Stonehoof.
"No, it was me!" Rain chirped.
"That's what I asked."
"No, you asked if he did it, not me, and I suggest you point that spear somewhere else before I shove it up your ass, Crystal Flame," Rain said. Vinyl hadn't noticed the group of ponies who surrounded them as they walked through the forest.
"Sorry, Rain. Saw those two and didn't know if it was you or not," a white pony with fire red hair said. "They the new recruits?"
"No, they're magic fairies that we captured to grant our every wish. Now, about that spear in my face," Rain flipped back, kicking the spear into the air with his back hooves. The spear came down, going through the base of Crystal Flame's tail and piercing the ground.
"Well, that was quite rude. I should rip that cloak off your body!" she snapped at him.
"Then you can explain to Light Star why your spine is sticking out your back!" Rain snapped back and possibly glared at her. They stood there locked in each others gaze until they both burst out in laughter.
"Let's get out of here you cold hearted bastard. Everypony is waiting to meet the noobs." Crystal Flame pulled her spear from the ground and lead them to a small cave. Lights had been strung up to illuminate the twisting path. Countless boulders and stones laid on the path. As they walked along the path, the lights grew dimmer and dimmer until there was no light at all. Vinyl heard rocks tumble and the sound of laughter.
Then she dropped. The ground below her disappeared into the dark abyss as she felt cold air push her down. As she fell, she felt one of the largest adrenaline rushes ever. Another current of air push her up, stopping her Celestia knows how far from the ground. "That was fun" she muttered sarcastically.
She felt herself propelled forward by another gust as a bright light came into view. She was rocketed into the opening and felt an icy spray hit her face just before being submerged in a pool of water. When she surfaced, she saw Octavia on the edge of the pool screaming at Rain, who was laughing at her.
“Were not done yet! We still need to go over the waterfall!” He jumped back into the water and swam to where the water dropped going headfirst. Horrified, Vinyl and Octavia ran to the area around the waterfall. When they looked down, they saw Rain had went face first into a metal pipe with the top cut off and a sign next to him reading “Water slide down for maintenance”.
“Hold on, Rain! We’re coming for you!” Vinyl looked around for a way down. She saw two sets of stairs carved into the walls, one leading farther down the cave and one leading to where Rain had face planted. They climbed down to him and flipped him over.The area around his mouth was turning red. Fast. “We have to find help! And where the hell are Ravage and Stonehoof!”
“I thought they were behind you! This is just great. What if he’s dead? What if he becomes a nightmare? We’re trapped in here with no way back and no idea what’s down this cave! Is it even safe to move him?” Octavia panicked, nearly slipping on the slippery metal.
“Stay here and watch him. Do your best to move him as little as possible. I’m going to see if there is a way out farther down.” She took off down the stairs. There were many tunnels branching off from her path, but she followed the slide. She ran for fifteen minutes before finally reaching the bottom. She heard laughter down a tunnel and followed it. The tunnel opened to a clearing filled with hundreds of ponies, griffins, and other creatures, all of which went silent when they saw her. “You have to help! My friend has been hurt!” Almost immediately, a group of ten ponies ran to her, asking her to lead the way.
She lead them back to the top of the slide where Octavia was sitting by Rain. They all ran to Octavia asking if she was alright. “I’m fine, but he isn’t!” She pointed at Rain. The ponies began laughing at her as though she were crazy.
“I thought it was serious,” one pony said.
“I left my drink for him?” said another.
“Who’s bright idea was it to make the slide out of metal again?” a third asked.
The largest of the group, a red and black griffin, picked him up in his wing. “Let’s get him back,” he sighed. They followed him back to the clearing, where the noise had sprang back to life. The griffin showed them to the infirmary as the group that followed them dispersed back into the crowd. “Hey Hard Sound! He did it again!” He dropped Rain on the ground. A black Pegasus with short spiked gray hair came out from behind a curtain in the back and sighed.
“Has nopony moved the sign so he can see it before he goes over yet? I mean really, he’s done this almost ten times now!" He smiles a little. "And then you just drop him on the ground. You could have at least put him on the table”
“Sorry about that,” he moved Rain to the table then turned to Vinyl and Octavia, “So, who might you be?”
“This is Vinyl and I’m Octavia,” Octavia answered him.
“Ah! So you're the recruits! I’m Daniel. Care for a drink?” he asked.
"Love one" Vinyl replied almost instantly. "So who was that guy?" She asked, talking about the black and grey pony.
"Him? His names Hard Sound, and he’s the head doctor. My advice: don't fuck with him. Incredibly smart, moderately strong, and very determined, you don't want to be on his bad side" he handed Vinyl a glass bottle of cider.
"Thanks. Both for the drink and the advice. But no need to worry, I got my friend Tavi here to keep me outta trouble, don't I?"
"Yes you do, but we all know how you get around big handsome stallions" she said with a playful smile.
"Hoho" Daniel said "You sound like someone I should get to know a little better. You ever feel like hooking up with a Griffin, come find me" he says with a wink.
Vinyl laughed teasingly. "Only in your dreams, big guy"
"See you there tonight?" He said. Vinyl just laughed it off. She looked around at the ponies in the clearing. She saw Light Star and Dark Star standing with a group near one of the caves.
She grabbed Octavia, "Come here. I want you to meet some of the ponies I meet back at Dodge Junction." As they trotted towards them, Vinyl noticed they were wobbling, trying to support them. "Hey there, you two."
"Who the *hic* are you?" Dark Star said with a slur.
"I ain't never seen you before!" Light Star said, also with a slur.
"Are you two drunk? You seem kind of... drunk."
"We're not drunk! You're just sober!" a green and yellow earth pony in a lab coat shouted at her.
"I think we should go now, Vinyl," Octavia said.
"That's right! Run away like the little chicken shits you are!" a silver and purple griffin hollered. That crossed the line. Vinyl knocked him to the ground and started bucking away until she felt magic pull her off.
"We leave you alone for five minutes and you start fighting drunks? You may be more suited for this job than I thought!" a male voice said.
"Stonehoof? Where were you!" Octavia asked him.
"I'm bigger than that cave. I had to come through a different one, why? No, wait. Let me guess, Rain hit the slide, didn't he?"
"You say that like it happens a lot."
"It does," they heard most of crowd that gathered to watch the fight say.
"We've all had worse though. Now, if you two will follow me, we need you to sign your death cer.. er, contracts and get you assigned to a team," He turned and walked towards a large upward slope. When they got to the top, Stonehoof called into a side cave, “I got two more for you, Skyfire!”
“Send them in!” A voice called. Vinyl and Octavia entered the cave. A pegasus with brown hair and a white coat greeted them with a smile. “I’m Skyfire. Sign these and I’ll get you're rooms.” He pretended to write something down before handing them a set of keys, “You’ll be staying in room 626 in Green District, and have a complementary air freshener. You’re going to need it.” He turned and disappeared deeper in the hole.
“What do we need this for?” Octavia asked.
“Who knows, but lets go find our room. I’m sure Daniel or Stonehoof can help us.” They left the cave to find them, but instead ran into Ravage. “Hey Ravage! Can you help us out for a second?”
The griffin flew down towards them, “What?”
“Can you help us find our room? Room 626 in Green District.” A smile crossed the griffin’s face as he tried to hide his laughter. “What’s so funny?”
“Just follow me,” he said, walking past them, letting out a small burst of laughter. They followed him to the room. “Here you go. Enjoy your stay.”
Vinyl pushed open the door, and immediately the foulest stench she had ever had the displeasure of smelling reached her nose. The smell of expired milk, mixed with skunk and death drifted from the other side of the door. Octavia vomiting didn’t help either.
“Why would they have this in a room!?” Octavia screamed. Vinyl just shut the door and walked away.
It appears another hero has returned. What shall we do, Master?
Inform number eleven that she will be next. We shall see how much they like having a thorn in their sides.
Yes Master. I shall inform her at once.