//------------------------------//
// Dreams and Truth 
// Story: Bloodlines 
// by Zeck 
//------------------------------//

“I have told you before that I have…issues with Vinyl. I have kept my opinion to myself regarding that waste of fur, but no longer! She is nothing but trouble, Octavia. She cares nothing for your heritage or your reputation. All a pony like that cares about is what is between your legs. You are a prize to her, a conquest. You are nothing more than an exotic jewel, and once your shine is gone, she will leave you. I had hoped you would realize this on your own and end this ridiculous farce, but that does not seem to be the case. Tell me you disagree. Say so, and I will take it all back...Hmph. I thought not.”
—Octavia’s mother, after discovering the robbery 

Octavia dashed down the dark streets of Manehattan. Everywhere she turned, glowing eyes glared out at her from the shadows. Purple smoke flowed from their edges, choking the air from her lungs as she ran. Long black tendrils reached out for her, grasping at her legs as she drove her body beyond its limit. She screamed, but the sound that escaped her lips was a laugh, and it was not her own. Panic flooded her mind as she looked over her shoulder.
Manehattan was gone, replaced with nothing but blackness. Two giant eyes stared at her, and then a mouth formed beneath them. It curled into a wicked smile, lined with teeth sharper than any sword. It opened, and purple smoke spilled from it, threatening to overtake her.
Octavia poured on more speed and whipped around a corner. Home! There was her home! She would be safe there. Mother and Father would protect her from this monster. 
She ran up to the door and pounded on it with her hooves. She banged and banged, tears streaming from her purple eyes, but the door remained closed. She looked over her shoulder and saw the smoke closing in. She turned back to the door and kicked it with her hind legs. It shattered liked crystal and she rolled inside, the smoke and eyes right behind her. 
Octavia stood and turned, slamming the new door in the hideous monster’s face before it tainted the safety of her home. Relieved, she slouched against the door to catch her breath for a moment. 
“Mother,” she whispered as she tried to fill her lungs with air. “I…I do not…know how, but…he is back…” When she heard no answer, she turned around. “Mother? Father?”
The living room was dark. Not only that, but it was uncommonly cold, and not just in terms of temperature. The color in the home was dimmed. The couch was covered in a fine layer of dust. The candles that her parents always kept lit looked as though they had never been touched.  The bookshelf was empty and the flower vase on the coffee table was missing. Her childhood home had always been crisp and clean, but it had still felt like home. This place felt more like a display, as if the house was still on the market and no one lived in it. 
A clang came from the kitchen. “Mother?” Octavia asked as she carefully made her way through the disturbing living room. She walked into the kitchen and relief flooded her body. Her mother was by the stove, no doubt cooking something for dinner. Which meant that Father would be home any minute and the three of them could sit down and have dinner together. Just like when she was little. 
“Mother, I am home,” Octavia said.
“Home?” her mother replied without turning around. “Whatever do you mean?”
Octavia stopped. Mother’s voice sounded wrong. It was like the living room; cold and lifeless. “Mother?”
“You keep calling me that, but I am no longer your mother.” The mare by the stove turned around and Octavia froze. Her mother’s face was gone, replaced with the glowing eyes and wicked smile that had chased her home. “I have no daughter.”
“No!” Octavia shouted, taking a step back. “That is not true! I am your daughter!”
“No you’re not,” Mother said in a dark voice. “No daughter of mine would disobey me like you. You brought him back. You ruined everything our family has worked generations to build.” Mother drew closer with every word until Octavia found herself pressed up against a window. “You have doomed all of Equestria for that Unicorn.”
“Do not talk about Vinyl like that!” Octavia shouted back. She felt fury beginning to build up in chest. “Father did not leave you after he found out! Vinyl is no different!” 
“But she is,” Mother replied, her voice suddenly soft. “She is, and you know it. That is why you haven’t told her. Because deep down, you know she doesn’t really care about you.”
“No, you are wrong,” Octavia whimpered. 
“After all, if Father left you and me,” Mother pulled out a family photo, but the image of her father had been savagely torn out, “why in Equestria would a whore like Vinyl stay with a monster like you? She can have anypony she wants.” 
“That…that is not…” Octavia swallowed. “You are lying!” 
“Then go see for yourself!” Mother lunged forward in an instant. Her hooves slammed into Octavia’s chest and shoved the cellist out the window. Octavia cried out in horror as she fell down into the darkness, her eyes looking up at the laughing image of her twisted Mother. 
Octavia slammed into the ground and covered her ears, trying to keep the tormenting laughter of her Mother out of her skull. Mother was wrong. She had to be wrong. Vinyl loved her. Octavia would prove it. She would go get Vinyl right now and bring her to Mother. That would silence her cursed laughter. 
The Earth pony stood and ran through the darkness, heading straight for Vinyl’s apartment complex. 
“Run, daughter, run,” a voice boomed from the darkness, causing her to run faster. She feared that if she looked back, the wicked face would swallow her whole. 
Octavia reached the D.J.’s apartment and flung the door open. She stumbled into the living room, her mane falling in front of her eyes and her bowtie sagging from her neck, and desperately called Vinyl’s name.
“Uh…s’up, Octavia?” Vinyl asked.
Octavia brushed her mane from her eyes and pure joy flooded her body. There was Vinyl, lounging on her couch with a soda halfway to her lips. Her glasses were resting comfortably in her blue mane and her red eyes were full of energy like always. Her blinding white coat beamed in the room, chasing away every speck of darkness and bringing warmth to the cellist. 
“Vinyl, please,” Octavia began, trying to catch her breath. “You have to come with me. Right now.”
“Uh, okay?” Vinyl said. She set the soda down and stood. “Where are we going?”
“To my parents’ house,” Octavia replied, stepping forward and taking Vinyl by the hoof. She began to walk, but Vinyl did not budge from her spot. “Vinyl?”
“Look, Octavia, we’ve been over this…” Vinyl said, her eyes narrowing. 
No…
“No matter how many times you keep coming back, my answer hasn’t changed.”
No! No, it is not true! She would never…!
“Hey babe,” came a voice from the kitchen. “Who’s out there?”
“It’s just Octavia,” Vinyl called back. 
“Stop calling me that!” Octavia shouted, fighting the despair in her heart. She recognized that voice! “My name is Tavi! You always call me that! I am your Tavi.”
“Yeah right,” Vinyl said, yanking her hoof out of Octavia’s. “As if.” 
“Vinyl’s mine now, Octavia.” Blood drained from Octavia’s face as Spitfire walked out of Vinyl’s kitchen. “Why would she choose to stay with a monster like you when she can have me?”
Octavia’s legs collapsed and she fell to the floor.
“She’s right,” Vinyl said with a shrug. “I mean, all you do is treat me like dirt. Everything’s always my fault, isn’t it? You wouldn’t even tell me your secret.”
Spitfire walked forward and slipped her hoof around Vinyl’s neck. “You can’t really blame her for that, Vinyl. I mean, after all, she knew you’d never want to be with her if you knew. Poor, wretched thing.”
“Vinyl…please…” Octavia whispered. 
“Save your tears, freak,” Vinyl said. The look of disgust on her face tore Octavia’s heart in half. “Get out of my home! Spitfire and I were in the middle of some…alone time.” 
“Indeed.” Spitfire used her wing to turn Vinyl’s head. The two locked lips and Vinyl wrapped her forelegs around Spitfire’s back. They fell back onto the couch, still locked in a kiss, and Spitfire’s hoof worked its way down Vinyl’s stomach. Vinyl let out a gasp—a gasp that Octavia very familiar with—and then grabbed the Pegasus’ mane with her magic. She yanked her head back, kissing gently down her neck while Spitfire continued to grind on her.
“Get out,” Vinyl said as she licked Spitfire’s neck. “Your ride’s waiting for you outside.” 
Spitfire’s wings fluttered as she let out a moan, but then the door slammed in Octavia’s face. Tears streamed from her eyes as she beat on it, screaming Vinyl’s name and begging her to forgive her and take her back. She hit the door until her hooves bled, but all she heard were the sounds of Vinyl and Spitfire. 
“It is no use, daughter,” the darkness boomed. “You have no place left here.” Octavia turned around and screamed as the face grew in size. “Your only place is with me!” 
The mouth opened and rushed forward, swallowing Octavia and her screams. 


*                                                  *                                                  *


“Wait…you can’t mean that, Octy.” Vinyl stood in Octavia’s living room, a forced smile on her face. “You’re…you’re just kidding right? Ha ha. Yeah, that’s it. Ha. And ponies say you don’t have a sense of humor.”
Octavia rolled her purple eyes, her face a twisted mask of disgust. “There you go again,” she said with a huff. “You never take anything seriously. Life is just one big game to you, isn’t it?”
“No!” Vinyl said. She reached out with her hoof, but the grey mare slapped it away. “I can be serious! I’m serious about us! I…I’ve never been more serious about—”
“Don’t make me laugh,” Octavia said as she held her hoof up to her mouth in a mocking gesture. “You’re only with me because Spitfire got tired of you. Well guess what, little noisemaker. I’m tired of you too.”
Vinyl’s ears fell and tears filled her eyes, but she kept smiling. “Okay, Octy. Joke’s not funny anymore.”
“And stop calling me that!” Octavia spat. “You and your stupid nicknames. I am not some little filly. My name is not Octy, or that stupid Tavi one. It is Octavia. O-C-T-A-V-I-A. I’m probably wasting my breath spelling it for you.” 
The first tear slid down Vinyl’s cheek. “But…but…”
“Aw, are you going to cry now?” Octavia mocked. “Spare me. My mother was right about you. You’re nothing but a waste of fur. I cannot believe it took me this long to realize it.” Octavia stomped toward her, growing taller with each step, until she stood nearly a head taller than Vinyl. The Unicorn cowered beneath her, looking up into eyes filled with rage. “Get out of my home and out of my life!” 
“But…” Vinyl whimpered. Her legs were shaking so bad that she could barely stand, and every second she looked up at Octavia’s face, the weight on her shoulders increased. “I…I love you.”
“So what?” Octavia roared. “You think that makes me love you back? How stupid can you be? I never loved you! I can’t even stand you! That stupid mane style, those freakish red eyes, and the noise! You call what you do music? It makes my skin crawl. Do you know how many nights I stayed up just wishing I could smash your stupid turntable to pieces?”
“But…you said you liked my music,” Vinyl protested. 
“I lied,” Octavia responded. She leaned forward and slapped Vinyl across the face so hard that the Unicorn fell onto her back. “I can’t stand it. I can’t stand you!”
“But…” Vinyl’s mind raced. There had to be something! Something, somewhere that would remind Octavia how much Vinyl cared for her. “But what about making love?” she asked desperately, making sure she used the term that the cellist favored. She remembered the look in Octavia’s eyes every time. There was no way that was fake. A pony couldn’t fake something like that. 
“Love?” Octavia asked with scorn. “You think love had anything to do that? I used you, just like you used me. Not that it was that hard. Getting you to finish was a piece of cake every time. You get this pathetic little lip quiver whenever you’re close. Honestly, it makes you look like a little girl, and it’s nauseating. I mean, I was banging a little girl!” She threw her head back and laughed. 
“But…but you—”
“But. But. But,” Octavia spat the word over and over. “Is that all you can say? I mean, don’t get me wrong. My plot is pretty damn fantastic. Too good for you, actually.” 
Vinyl covered her ears and closed her eyes. “You said you liked it! You loved the way I made you feel. The way the blood rushed to your head, the way you got excited whenever you tied me up, the way you—ugh!”
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Vinyl,” Octavia said in a quiet voice as she stomped her hoof down on the Unicorn’s throat. “You were amusing, for a time.” She pressed down harder and Vinyl pawed at the hoof, struggling to breathe. “And boy oh boy, could you hit the right spot sometimes.” She quivered with delight, her mane spilling down over her shoulders as she continued to press down. “But you know what really turned me on?” Vinyl felt her tongue being forced out of her mouth as she slammed her hooves against the hoof on her throat. “This. Watching your eyes slowly roll into the back of your head. I can’t tell you the number of times I almost got off just thinking about the idea of choking you to death. And now,” the pony leaned in close and licked Vinyl’s tongue, the look in her eyes cold and evil, “I’m going to do it!” 
Octavia pressed down as hard as she could on Vinyl’s throat, crushing the last air from her lungs. As Vinyl’s mouth shot open in a silent gasp, Octavia pressed her lips against the Unicorn’s. Her eyes glared down at Vinyl and laughed, holding her in place as her lungs burned.
“ENOUGH!” 
A flash of blinding light tore through the living room and suddenly Vinyl could breathe. She rolled over on her side and coughed continuously. Her sides hurt and as she brought her hoof to her mouth, she saw that she was spitting up blood. Octavia had really tried to kill her! Tears streamed from her eyes, and she couldn’t tell if they were from the agony in her body or her heart. It was over. It really was all over.
Vinyl curled up on the floor and sobbed quietly in a ball. Wherever Octavia was, no doubt she would be back to finish the job in a moment. Vinyl supposed she could run, but what was the point? The love of her life had just tried to murder her. What was the point of going any further? 
“Rise, Vinyl Scratch.” 
“Just get it over with, bitch,” Vinyl whispered. It felt so liberating to call Octavia that. All of her frustration, all of the anger that had been building in her since this entire affair had started, came pouring out with that one word. 
“You would do well to remember to whom you are speaking.” Vinyl’s eyes popped fully open when she realized she wasn’t hearing Octavia’s voice. “It is not wise to address your Princess with such a term.” 
Vinyl rolled over and gasped. There stood Princess Luna, looming over her even more than Octavia had. Her teal eyes were narrowed as she looked down her nose at Vinyl. Her starry mane flowed behind her in a gentle breeze, and every bit of her screamed royalty. 
“I-I-I’m…” Vinyl stammered, trying to stand. 
“Dreaming?” Luna offered. She smiled and the royal air about her immediately diminished. She shrank in size until she was her regular height and offered her hoof to Vinyl. 
“I was going to say sorry,” Vinyl said, taking the hoof and standing up. “But yeah, dreaming works too.” 
Luna looked around and Vinyl did the same. They were no longer in Octavia’s living room. Instead, they stood in the middle of a star-filled sky. It was actually a little disorienting for Vinyl, because there was nothing but blackness beneath her hooves. 
“I do not think I would call that a dream,” Luna replied. “I have seen many nightmares in my time, Vinyl. But that one was…intense.” 
“Yeah, thanks,” Vinyl said, forcing a smile. Her legs were still shaking. Or, her dream legs were still shaking. “I’ve been dealing with a lot lately.”
Luna looked down at the Unicorn and offered a soft smile. “I can imagine. Both you and Octavia were having very vivid nightmares.”
Vinyl’s ears perked up immediately. “Octy’s having nightmares? Did you already help her?”
Luna hung her head. “I…am afraid I was unable to. Her mind is closed to me while you are out in the maelstrom in the Crystal Empire. There is powerful magic out there, and Octavia’s mind is especially sensitive to it. However, I can assure you that she has awoken.”
“That’s good,” Vinyl replied. She stared down at the abyss beneath her, losing herself in her thoughts. Soon it felt like she was falling into it, but she didn’t care. Odds were, when Vinyl woke, Octavia wouldn’t even acknowledge the fact that she had had a nightmare. She would just shut Vinyl out just like she’d been doing for a while now.
Suddenly, a marble floor appeared beneath Vinyl’s hooves. She jumped and let out a small gasp. 
“Better?” Luna asked. 
“Yes,” Vinyl said. She was amazed at how soothing just having a floor to stand on was. 
“You are still troubled,” Luna said. “I trust it is not because of Octavia?”
“Well, sort of,” Vinyl replied. 
“I must confess, I am a bit disappointed to hear that, Vinyl,” Luna replied. The tone in her voice cut through Vinyl’s depression with such force that the Unicorn’s mouth fell open. “I had thought you above such things.”
“Excuse me?” the Unicorn shot back. On a saner day—or night—she would have picked a better tone to address the Princess with, but right now she was pissed. The memory from the nightmare was still in her mind. “It’s not my fault she’s being all mysterious and distant!”
Now it was Luna’s turn to be shocked. She pulled her head back and blinked twice. “She shut you out?”
“Okay, yeah, it was my fault that the thief stole that family bow, but I told her I’d get it back! And I’m doing my best. I’m not used to questing across Equestria, okay?” Vinyl dug her hooves into the floor and narrowed her eyes at her reflection. “And then…what her mother said about me…”
“Bow?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow. “What bow?”
“Some family heirloom,” Vinyl replied. “It’s been in her family for generations. I guess it’s really valuable.” 
“It is,” Luna said and a smile came to her face. “It was a gift from my sister and I. Its strings are made from our manes. We gave it to her ancestor to show that we carried no ill will for what had transpired.”
Vinyl looked up at the Princess and made a face. “What are you talking about?”
Luna’s eyes went wide and her face paled. “You…you do not know?”
“Know what?”
Luna lowered her head and scratched her chin with her hoof. “I cannot believe it…” she said to herself, and then she looked up at Vinyl. “Octavia has not told you?”
“Told me what?” Vinyl demanded, stomping his hoof. “Why is every pony keeping things from me?”
“I am sorry, Vinyl, but it is not my place to say.” Luna unfolded her wings just as Vinyl felt the vague sensation of something poking her shoulder. The Princess began to drift up into the sky. 
“Wait!” Vinyl cried, running across the floor in a vain attempt to catch up with the Princess. “What do you mean? Come back!”


*                                                  *                                                  *


“COME BACK!” Vinyl sat up in her sleeping bag, her hoof outstretched and her heart pounding. 
“Easy there, Vinyl,” said Glint, the Crystal Empire scout who was accompanying them. His brown eyes looked at her with concern. “You were having a nightmare, that’s all.” He pulled his hoof away from her shoulder and stood up. 
“I…I was…Princess Luna?” Vinyl looked around the tent as her mind began to wake up. A dream. It had really all been a dream. 
“The Princess came to visit you?” Glint asked, surprised. “That is a very rare thing. You must have been in serious trouble.”
“Yeah,” Vinyl said, remembering her conversation with the Princess. Her eyes narrowed and she kicked her way out of her sleeping bag. She stood and looked at the scout. “Where’s Octavia?”
“Already awake and dressed.” Glint nodded to the side of the tent. A small plate with two muffins and a cup of milk was resting on a bag. “Breakfast is ready. Eat quickly and then get dressed. We’re only traveling until midday. If we haven’t found any sign of the expedition by then, we’re heading back.”
Glint left the tent without another word. Vinyl watched him go, her eyes trying to burn holes into the back of the head. She wasn’t going to turn around. She wasn’t going to stop until she found that thief. The only way Glint would get her to go back was if he killed her and brought her back in a sack. 
The Unicorn ate the muffins and found that they had crystal berries in them. They were delicious, but she couldn’t help but feel like she was eating rocks. She downed the glass of milk in one swig and then rolled up her sleeping bag. She stuffed it into her pack and then walked outside.
And immediately became aware of just how valuable Glint’s spell had been. 
The scout had said that all Crystal Empire Unicorns that chose to serve had to learn an advanced protection spell. It was like the sound-muffling spell Vinyl used on her room when she was practicing music—or when Octavia was over—but instead of cancelling noise, Glint’s spell cancelled cold. The three of them had spent all day yesterday marching through the snow, to the point where Vinyl’s hooves had started to ache. When Glint had said that they had gone far enough, Vinyl had collapsed, but Glint had dragged her up, saying that she would be dead within an hour if she stayed there. The three of them had found a small cave and pitched their tents, and then Glint had cast the spell on each one of the tents.
“Hey soldier boy,” Vinyl called as she pulled the hood of her coat up over her ears. “Any chance you could cast that spell on us?” 
Glint pulled his goggles down and shook his head. “Sorry, Vinyl. I’m not that skilled. Casting it and maintaining it on a moving object, much less a pony, is high-level magic.”
“Right,” Vinyl said. She turned around and used her magic to quickly break down her tent and rolled it up. She placed the tent on her back, thankful that it wasn’t heavy, and moved to the mouth of the cave. Glint was waiting for her, but Octavia was nowhere to be seen. 
“She’s over there,” Glint said with a nod of his head. Vinyl looked out into the snow and spied what she assumed was Octavia. The white coat she wore made her hard to spot in the snowstorm, but as she drew closer, Vinyl was able to see her more clearly. 
“Good morning, Vinyl,” Octavia whispered. 
“Hey,” Vinyl replied. She was about to say more, but then she remembered her dream and came up short. 
“Find anything?” Glint asked. When Octavia shook her head, the scout nodded. “I didn’t think so. No traces of a campsite here, but it was worth a shot. Okay, let’s get moving. We’ve only got a few hours before we hit the deadline and turn back.” 
Without another word, Glint walked out into the constant snowstorm. Octavia took one look at Vinyl and then quickly followed. Vinyl’s eyes narrowed at little in spite of herself, and then she slipped her own goggles on and followed the other two ponies out into the storm. 
The trip today was no less trying than the one yesterday. The wind constantly beat against Vinyl, its chill slowly eating its way through the thick white coat she wore. Her hooves still ached from yesterday, and each time they sank into the snow, it was a struggle to pull them back out. Her nose was so cold that it burned, and even though she was wearing goggles, her eyes still stung from the bitter cold. But she trudged on, keeping her eyes focused on the two ponies in front of her. She had to keep going, even if she began to realize that their quest was hopeless. 
Her mind began to wander as she trekked through the snow. What was going on? She had thought Octavia’s behavior had just been because of how bad Vinyl had screwed up. She had been positive that was it, but now she wasn’t so sure. Luna had implied that Octavia was keeping something from her. But what could it be? She at least she had a clue. It had something to do with Octavia’s past. Princess Luna had mentioned that the bow they were chasing after had been some sort gift to show that there were no hard feelings.
“What the buck does that mean?” Vinyl asked herself as she walked, growing even more frustrated with each step. Hard feelings about what? Had Octavia’s grandmother done something embarrassing? Pulled a prank on Princess Celestia? Used the wrong fork at a royal dinner? Sneezed when some foreign dignitary had been giving a speech? She knew Canterlot put a much bigger emphasis on appearances than where Vinyl came from, but she was having a hard time coming up with something that would warrant the Princesses to give Octavia’s grandmother a special bow. 
Vinyl stopped in the snow. Something about that thought wasn’t right, but she couldn’t quite place her hoof on it. The Princesses had given Octavia’s grandmother the bow…
“What is that?” Glint asked over the roaring wind, derailing Vinyl’s train of thought. She looked up and saw something sticking out of the snow ahead. It looked like jagged mountaintops, but without the rest of the mountain. 
“Lost civilization?” Vinyl called over the wind.
“It’s not on any of the maps,” Glint said as Vinyl walked up to join him and Octavia. She was careful not to look directly at the cellist, but she studied her out of the corner of her eye. “And the snow level hasn’t changed enough for something like this to be uncovered. Which means…”
“It is recent,” Octavia said in a quiet voice. 
The fear in the cellist’s voice made Vinyl colder than the snow around her.
“Stay close,” Glint said. The three ponies began to make their way toward the strange formations. 
The first thing Vinyl noticed as they neared the formations was the weather. The constant snowstorm that surrounded the Crystal Empire had hounded them for the entire journey. It had been such a constant that she had grown numb to it, both physically and mentally. Her body and mind had just accepted that it was cold and moved on. So when the wind suddenly stopped and the snow stopped whipping in her face, she froze too. 
“Either of you—” 
“Yes,” Octavia replied without looking back. 
“Probably not a good sign,” Glint added, but he kept moving and so did Vinyl. 
As the trio walked, Vinyl grew more and more uneasy. The formations no longer looked like jagged mountain peaks. As she got closer, they reminded her more of dead, twisted trees. They looked like claws reaching up for the sky, each bone in them broken in a horrible way. As she stared up at their tips, she noticed that one of them seemed to have a flag attached to it. It hung there limp, with a fine coating of ice on it. 
“What do you—” Something crunched beneath Vinyl’s hoof. It was too loud and firm to be ice, so she looked down. It appeared to be some sort of black crystal. Confused as to why such a strange stone would be out in the middle of nowhere, she bent down and looked at it more closely. 
“Vinyl?” Octavia asked as she looked back over her shoulder. “Did you find something?”
“I don’t know…” Vinyl reached out and brushed some of the snow off of the crystal. 
And then the Unicorn felt all the blood drain from her face and a scream tear through her mind. 
A face was staring back up at her. The eyes were wide open, locked in a dead stare at the sky. The mouth was forever frozen in a silent scream, and a giant crack ran from the forehead to the chin. The look of fear on the crystal face etched itself into the deepest parts of Vinyl’s mind. 
Horrified, Vinyl stumbled backward as fast as she could until she fell into the snow. Octavia and Glint rushed to her side, but all she could do was point at the spot. Glint walked over and looked down, and then frantically started digging, but only for a moment. It soon became clear why he had stopped. He pulled the crystal face from the snow, and that was all he had. The rest of the body was nowhere to be found. 
“What the buck is that?!” Vinyl shouted. She was vaguely aware that Octavia had a hoof on her shoulder, but she shoved it away and stood up. 
“Looks like one of the ponies from the missing expedition,” Glint replied as he stared at the head. Carefully, he set it back down on the snow and looked at the formations. “Which probably means…”
Without another word, the scout made his way over to the formations. 
“Come on,” Octavia whispered, gently tapping Vinyl on the shoulder before following the scout. 
Vinyl was about to say something, but then she caught the look on Octavia’s face. It wasn’t a look of horror like it should have been. It was a resigned look; the look of a pony who knew that something was coming and there was no way to stop it. 
She knows! Princess Luna’s words came flooding back into Vinyl’s head. Octy knows about this! 
Vinyl’s red eyes narrowed behind her goggles as a simmering rage began to build in her chest. Silently, she followed the other two ponies, careful not to glance down at the severed crystal head as she passed it. 
When Vinyl caught up to Glint and Octavia, it was all she could do to not throw up. The strange formations were all giant spikes of black crystal. The bodies of ponies hung from many of them, impaled. Their faces were a mix of horror and shock, with some gripping the rock plunging through their stomachs, while others had apparently be caught in the back when they had tried to run. 
Other bodies had suffered the same fate as the pony that Vinyl had stepped on. All around were bodies made of crystal and all of them were smashed in some way, with a head missing on one or a leg on another. Some were no longer even bodies. Just pieces of crystal scattered in the snow. Vinyl couldn’t help but wonder if they had still been alive, been able to feel, when they had been destroyed. She hoped they hadn’t. 
After what felt like a lifetime of standing in the middle of the frozen display of death, Glint finally stirred. He shook his head and began to walk around the area, occasionally pausing to examine the shattered remains of a pony, or to look up at the impaled form of another, or sometimes he simply stood and stared at the giant crystal spikes. Once, be began to reach out to touch one, but he stopped just before his hoof made contact with the crystal, as if he suddenly realized that it wasn’t such a good idea.
Evenutally, Glint turned to Vinyl and Octavia. Neither had moved or said a word the entire time he had inspected the scene. “We need to head back immediately,” he said, his voice small and quiet. “This…this is bad.” 
Vinyl’s mind suddenly snapped back to reality and she began to search the area herself. Her stomach churned as she drew closer to one of the crystalized ponies, but she forced the bile down and looked at the shattered remains. This wasn’t the one. Frustrated, she moved on to the next body. 
“Vinyl, what are you doing?” Octavia asked, but Vinyl simply looked up at her for a moment, and then went back to searching. 
“You’re wasting your time, Vinyl,” Glint said. “He’s not here.”
“How do you know?” Vinyl demanded, thankful for an excuse to look away from the mare impaled above her. 
“Because you said your thief was a Pegasus, right?” Glint asked. “These are all Earth ponies.” 
Vinyl stopped, but not because of Glint’s words. She admitted that his statement made this situation even more unnerving, but she didn’t care about that right now. Instead, she was starring at what was laying in the snow directly in front of her, as if it had been left specifically for her to find. 
Several crystalize feathers had been left laying in the snow in the shape of an O. Two pairs of hoofprints trailed away from the feathers and off into the distance. Vinyl wasn’t sure how, but she knew that she was looking at a message that was meant for her. The thief was still alive, and he was taunting Vinyl by leaving the feathers behind in the slaughter. 
Without a word, Vinyl began to follow the hoofprints. How they had managed to stay visible, she had no idea, but she hoped that they wouldn’t disappear when she got further away from the bloodbath. 
“Vinyl, where are you going?” Octavia called, but Vinyl ignored her. If Octavia wanted to keep her secrets, fine. Vinyl still had a mission to complete. 
“Vinyl Scratch!” Glint yelled. “You will stop right there!” 
Vinyl stopped, but she didn’t turn around. “No. He’s still out there, and I need to find him.”
“Are you mad?” Glint demanded. “Look what’s happened here! Do you seriously think the three of us can stand up to this? We need to go back to the Empire and get help.” 
“Then go,” Vinyl said, still not turning around. “I’ll track him down for you guys.” 
“Vinyl, you can’t—”
“Go back, Glint,” Octavia said suddenly. 
“But…but I have orders!” the scout said, stunned to find that Octavia was siding against him. 
“Your orders were to find out the fate of the expedition,” Octavia said. “And we have.”
“Octavia, you can’t be serious!” Glint said, his voice staggering a little from disbelief. “Look around you! You know what this means!”
“I am aware,” Octavia replied coolly. 
Of course you are, Vinyl thought bitterly. But Celestia forbid you tell me any of it! 
“Then you can’t expect me to just leave you two out here!” 
“Calm yourself, Glint. You have a duty to report this to Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. You should not concern yourself with two ponies. Besides, Vinyl and I will be behind you shortly.”
Vinyl still didn’t turn around, but she could tell that Glint was thinking it over. Finally, she heard the scout speak. “I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?”
“We will be along in a moment,” Octavia reassured him. “I just need to speak with Vinyl. Alone.” 
Glint sighed. “Very well. I’ll make my way back to the cave, but if you two aren’t there within an hour, I’m heading back to the Empire. Because you’re right; I need to report this.”
“We will be along shortly.” 
Vinyl heard the sound of Glint walking away, his hooves crunching in the snow. The sound slowly dimmed, until all Vinyl could hear was the sound of her own breathing. She stood there and waited, staring at the hoofprints in front of her and refusing to turn around. 
“Vinyl,” Octavia said finally. 
“What?”
“What are you hoping to accomplish?” 
“You know damn well what I hope to accomplish!” Vinyl shouted. Tears blurred her vision, but she refused to turn around. “I’m going to get that bow back.”
“Why are you so determined to get back my family’s heirloom?” Octavia asked. “Are you trying to prove yourself? Do you feel responsible for the actions of a thief?”
“No!” Vinyl said. 
“Then why?” Octavia shouted, using a tone Vinyl had never heard before. “Why are you insisting on risking your life over and over again? You nearly got beaten to death in Hollow Shades, and then you go and get yourself captured by a gang that clearly did not have your best interests at heart.”
“And you do?” Vinyl shot back, whipping her head around to glare at the cellist. 
“How could you even ask that?” Octavia asked, stunned. “Of course I do!”
Vinyl finally turned fully around and laughed. “You got a funny way of showing it.”
Octavia’s face twisted into a mask of anger. “Oh, I am sorry,” she said, her voice so sarcastic that Vinyl blinked in surprise. “I did not realize that saving your life was not good enough for you!”
“I never asked you to!” 
Octavia stomped her hoof in the snow. “ Do you know what that pony was going to do to you while you were chained to the floor?”
“Please,” Vinyl said, waving her hoof dismissively. “Those Bat ponies were right outside. They were all geared up to save me, and then you came trotting along.”
“Because I was worried about you! You were being reckless.”
“AS IF YOU CARE!” Vinyl shouted so loud that her lungs felt like they were about to tear out of her chest. She gasped for breath over and over, but the pained look on Octavia’s face only fueled her rage. She had hurt Octavia, and she found that she liked it. 
More. She wanted to hurt her more.
“What…what do…?” Octavia stammered, but Vinyl jumped on her words.
“Don’t give me that crap!” Vinyl bit her lip so hard that she felt it split and blood began to trickle down her chin. “If I’m so important to you, why are you keeping secrets from me?”
Octavia looked a knife had just been thrust into her chest at the question, and again, a primal part of Unicorn relished the agony, but it still wasn’t enough. She needed more. 
Octavia chewed on her lip for a moment and then forced a weak smile. “Vinyl, please. I…I am not keeping any secrets from you. You are my marefriend.”
Vinyl threw her hooves up in the air. “Hilarious! So I take it I’ve just been imagining all the times you’ve been hiding something? Back at the Crystal Empire when the guards showed up. You sure didn’t seemed shocked that the entire army was ready to murder us. Or how about when you left me at the city gates to go do…whatever it was you did.”
“That was…a private matter.” Octavia took a small step back.
Vinyl pressed forward. The knife was in now, but she wanted to drive it deeper. 
She needed to. 
“Riiight. Private,” she mocked. “So private that Princess Luna knows about it?” 
Octavia’s eyes widened in horror.  “She…she told you?”
“Told me what?” Vinyl yelled, the blood flying from her mouth as she spit the words. “All she did was make me feel like an idiot. Something you’ve been excelling at lately, by the way. Every pony we’ve come across seems to be in on the joke, and somehow I feel like I’m the butt of it. Even freaking Glint, a pony we just met yesterday, knows whatever it is you’re hiding.”
“He doesn’t—”
“Oh really? ‘Look around you! You know what this means!’” Vinyl said, mocking Glint’s voice as she rolled her eyes and then narrowed them at Octavia. “Sound familiar?”
“He was talking about the crystals!” Octavia shouted back. “He is a Crystal pony. He is well aware of what these rocks and bodies mean for the Empire.”
“Then why the buck do YOU know what they mean too? And don’t tell me you don’t, because I saw you. I saw how you looked when I found that pony’s head.”
Octavia’s eyes went as wide as Vinyl had ever seen them. Her mouth opened for a moment, but then she covered it with her hoof. She simply stared at Vinyl in silence, her eyes looking like they wanted to jump out of her skull. She took several steps back, her eyes never breaking contact with Vinyl’s. Finally, she closed them and took several deep breaths before opening them again. 
“Vinyl, can we go? Please?” she asked, blinking her eyes several times. Pain was building in her eyes.
“Buck you,” Vinyl said, twisting the knife. It felt good making Octavia hurt like this. “If you want to keep your secrets and play your games, fine. But I won’t. I promised you I’d get that stupid bow back, and I will. But after that, I never want to see you again.” She turned and began marching through the snow, her eyes blurry with tears as she tried to focus on the two sets of hoofprints before her. Part of her was disgusted with how much pleasure she was getting from raking the cellist across the coals so violently, but the rest of her didn’t care. 
“No!” Vinyl felt a hoof on her shoulder and she stopped, allowing Octavia to slowly turn her around. “Please! Please, do not leave me. We can go back home and forget all this. Forget about that bow. We can…we can go clubbing.  We will go to that nightclub you like in Manehattan. I…I will let you play your music as loud as you want.” Tears were streaming from her purple eyes and Vinyl’s fury swam in them. “We can…”
“What?” Vinyl scoffed. She couldn’t help but notice that nowhere had Octavia offered to tell her what she was hiding. 
“We can…call Spitfire. You…you can have both of us at once. You would like that, right? I mean, I know you think she is—”
Vinyl moved before she even knew what was happening. A roar escaped her throat. It was so loud and primal that she wasn’t even sure it was hers until she felt her throat go raw from the rush of rage. Her foreleg came up and slammed into Octavia’s face, sending the cellist crashing to the snow-covered ground. Pain erupted in her hoof from the blow, but she didn’t care. She jumped forward, raising her hoof to bring it down on the cellist’s face a second time.
Octavia believed it! She believed everything that mare had said!
BITCH!
Octavia reacted instantly. She brought her hind legs in and slammed them into Vinyl’s stomach. The Unicorn coughed as the wind was knocked out of her, and suddenly she found herself flying through the air as the Earth pony flipped her. She slammed into the snow. Her pack and tent scattered across the snow and she lay there for a moment, her wrath cooled but certainly not calmed, and tried to catch her breath. 
“I…I knew it,” she laughed as she struggled to stand. Her stomach felt like it had been split in half. Celestia, she knew Earth ponies were strong, and she had seen Octavia take out an entire gang, but she had no idea that she could hit so hard. “You…you agree with her.” Tears fell from her eyes and splashed against the inside of her goggles as she tried to raise her head. 
“What are you talking about?” Octavia demanded. She looked horrified by what she had done, but she made no move to help Vinyl stand. 
“Your mother!” Vinyl lunged forward, trying once again to land a punch on Octavia. The cellist simply stepped to the side and tripped Vinyl, causing her to face-plant into the snow a second time. 
“What does my mother have to do with anything?” Octavia asked, but Vinyl could hear the fear in her voice. The Unicorn had found another her opening to stick a knife in, and she was going to exploit it.
“I heard your little conversation,” Vinyl said as she slowly picked herself up. “I was in the hallway, and I heard it all. Your mother thinks I’m trash. And you know what? I am. Compared to you, to her, to all those fancy ponies in Canterlot, I’m probably nothing but something you’d scrape off the bottom of your hoof. And I’m fine with that. I don’t need them, and I sure as buck don’t need their damn approval. But you…I thought you were different.”
“Vinyl…I…”
“But you’re not, are you? Did you come to my rescue? Did you tell her she was wrong? Did you say anything? NO!” Vinyl was furious with herself when she realized tears were filling her eyes. “You really think the only reason I stay with you is because I like screwing a high-class pony?”
“Vinyl, I did not—”
Vinyl shook her head and laughed. Her stomach ached, her hoof was throbbing, and her body felt like it was slowly turning to ice, but her anger burned hotter than Luna’s stars. “Well, you’re right. It wasn’t the fact that I felt like I could be myself around you. It wasn’t the way you fell asleep in my hooves while writing music. And it certainly wasn’t the damn bucking fact that you wanted to be with me in spite off all of the scandal and shame it brought you. No, the only reason I wanted to be with you was because you could eat this” Vinyl stood on her hind legs for a moment and gestured between her thighs “soooo much better than Spitfire!” 
Tears streamed from Octavia’s eyes, and for a brief moment Vinyl wondered if she had gone too far, but she squashed the thought with as much force and anger as when she had punched the cellist. She felt great! Seeing the cellist completely broken down in front of her was cathartic, but it still wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted the pony to break down so completely that she was sobbing in the snow on her knees.
And so Vinyl pushed even harder. 
“Well Spitfire’s not half bad, let me tell you. And she can go a lot longer than you. And the things she can do with those wings? Celestia, you can only imagine it. All you have are your hooves and a tongue. And honestly, you’re not even that good with either. I have to do all the work.” 
“You…You…” Octavia swallowed several times “You don’t mean that.” 
“Well, your mother thinks so, you clearly do, so I guess I do too.” Somewhere in the back of Vinyl’s mind, she realized that Octavia had used a contraction in her speech, but she didn’t care. “Every. Bucking. Word.” 
“Liar!” 
Before Vinyl knew what was happening, Octavia was in front of her. The mare’s hoof slammed into Vinyl’s chest. She crumpled forward, but a moment later Octavia’s other hoof slammed into her chin, launching her into the air. She landed on her back, hard, and stared up at the storm clouds. 
A moment later, Octavia was standing over her. Tears flowed from her eyes and fell down onto Vinyl’s face, but the Unicorn felt no sympathy. She simply glared up at the grey face and purple eyes, coughing occasionally, and allowing the pain to focus her mind. 
“You…don’t mean it…” Octavia whimpered, wiping her eyes over and over and sniffling as she towered over Vinyl. “You…can’t mean it. You just…can’t…”
“Bitch,” Vinyl said. She spat up at the Earth pony and took a sick pleasure when it landed on the mare’s cheek. “I meant every word. You don’t care about me. You keep secrets, you pushed me away, you—”
“I NEVER ASKED YOU TO DO THIS!” Octavia shouted. Spit, snot, and tears fell onto the Unicorn’s face as the words came out. “I didn’t ask you to get the bow back! I didn’t ask you to go on this stupid quest. I didn’t ask you to leave me with only a stupid promise that you’d get it back!” 
“Tch.” Vinyl rolled her eyes. She could tell that she had stuck the knife in too deep, and twisted it more than enough, but it still seemed like it wasn’t enough. All she wanted to do was hurt Octavia as much as she could. She was relishing the pain in those purple eyes. “Bullshit. You cut me out of your life the night that thief broke in. You put a wall between us that’s thicker than when we first met. You let your mother say—”
“I didn’t want you to find out!” Octavia pleaded, her eyes desperate. “I didn’t want you to leave me!”
“Find out what?” Vinyl demanded. She tried to get up, but Octavia pinned her shoulders in the snow. “Celestia, Octavia! I thought you trusted me! I thought you loved me! But you’re still playing you bucking games! What in Equestria could you possibly tell me that would make me leave you, you stuck up, snobby, prudish, bucking Canterlot bitch?”
Octavia stared down at Vinyl for a long time. The tears never stopped, and her nose continued to run, ruining her beautiful face. Her lips quivered constantly and her eyes were that of a lost filly too frightened to move. Her mane hung around her head in a ragged mess and her breaths came in hurried, shallow gasps. 
Eventually, she lowered her head until her forehead was resting on Vinyl’s chest. For another lifetime, she said nothing, simply sobbing silently into Vinyl’s fur, until finally, she spoke in a voice so quiet that Vinyl had to strain to hear her. 
“Don’t you get it? Don’t you see it every time you look at me? My mane, my coat? My eyes?”
Vinyl simply blinked and remained silent. Her fury had left her, and now she felt like she was on the edge of a knife. 
“Sombra,” Octavia whispered. “I am a descendant of King Sombra.”