//------------------------------// // Screaming Soundlessly // Story: Freefall (A Vinyl Scratch Story) // by xSorrow //------------------------------// 5 Screaming Soundlessly Vinyl's body easily went through the clouds as she fell. When she had first begun to have the nightmares, her heart beat rapidly and she panicked hopelessly. Now, all she felt was numb. It wasn't the terror that was hurting her, it was the mental strain of feeling herself fall from unimaginable heights, slam into the ground, and die every night. Often, Vinyl tried to stay awake throughout the night, just to put off sleep as long as she could, but she felt herself more tired than usual as of late. Maybe it was a side effect of being in the hospital, or maybe it was the hallucinations. As she fell, limp as a doll, Vinyl realized that she needed somepony to talk to, even if Octavia wouldn't be that pony. Vinyl reached top speed as she rapidly approached the ground. The familiar fears were starting to return, that vertigo she got whenever she looked from a high place made her stomach churn. She only prayed for it to be quick and painless, maybe even a clean death- Suddenly, she wasn't falling anymore. Just like that, one moment she was falling and then she was standing on all four hooves miles above the ground on thin air. Vinyl looked around, and lightly stomped with her hoof. Whatever she was standing on didn't give way. Vinyl looked up to see the clouds separating to reveal the once-blue sky was now dark and dotted with stars. The moon loomed over her, and then a dark form began to take shape on the glowing lunar surface. Vinyl watched as the dark form began to grow as it came closer. Soon, she was able to see a dark blue coat, a shimmering blue-and-purple mane, and a black tiara over her unicorn horn. Even before the pony landed on the invisible surface in front of Vinyl and folded her wings, Vinyl already knew who it was. "Princess Luna," Vinyl breathed, falling to the ground in a respectful bow. Dream or no dream, Vinyl wasn't going to risk insulting the recently-returned Princess of the Night. "Rise my subject," Princess Luna spoke in a clear, echo-y voice that somehow enhanced the dreamy quality to Vinyl's nightmare, "We are grateful for the show of respect, but now is a dire time." "A dire time...? Wait, what are you doing here?" Vinyl asked, looking around, "Don't you have royal duties in the castle or something that's more important than me?" "We are thy Princess of the Night!" Luna replied. Vinyl noticed for the first time that Luna was speaking as though it were 1000 years ago... which made sense, seeing as Luna had just returned from her imprisonment in the moon a few months before she began having the nightmares, "It is our duty to patrol the dreams of all our subjects to ensure they remain peaceful and magical! Art thou, perchance, troubled as of late, Vinyl Scratch?" "Um... kinda," Vinyl admitted, "For some time now, I've been having these... nightmares." "Ah, yes," Luna said thoughtfully, "We have been watching thou's dreams, only to find misery and despair." "Do you know anything about the nightmares?" Vinyl asked eagerly, "Like a solution? Some way to stop them?" Luna shook her head, "Alas, thy dreams are filled with a certain... dark magic. We have never seen anything like this before, that is why we have kept our distance until now." "A... dark magic? What do you mean?" Vinyl asked, unsure. "It is... difficult... to describe," Luna thought for a moment, "We do not know where to begin. What most troubles us is that the dark magic is much more powerful than the dark magic which transformed us into Nightmare Moon a millenium ago." "...oh," Vinyl blinked, "But... but I'm not that kind of unicorn! I don't know a whole lot of really cool magical spells or anything! The coolest thing I ever did with my magic was levitate myself outside Tavi's window one time in the middle of the night and knocked on it. It was pretty funny, until I laughed so hard that I lost control of my magic and fell two floors down. Then Octy was laughing at me..." "We do not believe thou art the cause of the magic, merely the source," Luna specified, not seeming at all interested in Vinyl's story, "It seems as though something has latched onto thou and is manifesting itself through dreams. Perhaps thou are being visited by an incubus...?" "As cool as that would be, I don't think it explains the dreams," Vinyl shrugged. "Maybe it is a rogue form of a wild Tantabus," Luna mused, "We have been longing to see a Tantabus..." "Princess, it isn't just my dreams," Vinyl said quietly, "When I'm awake, sometimes... sometimes I can still feel myself falling. I'm having, like, hallucinations." "Did any of them appear to be glimpses into another world?" Luna asked eagerly. "Uh, no? Why?" "At this moment, there is an unknown force trying to withdraw thine physical form," Luna explained as though discussing the weather. "What does that even mean?" Vinyl inquired, confuzzled. "Thy dream self is a spiritual form," Luna explained patiently, "When thou heart, soul, mind, and essence take on their own form and construct a body that is neither real nor unreal, not flesh and bone, yet not entirely imaginary. Thou physical form is the keeper of your spiritual form. As thy Princess of the Night, we have control over a pony's spiritual form while they travel in our realm, the realm of dreams. However, we also possess a limited control over thy physical form. As we speak, we sense something magical attempting to move thy physical form someplace I know not." "Wait, you mean every time I've been having one of these nightmares, something has been trying to take my body?!" Vinyl shivered, "Gross! That's disgusting! Totally pervy, y'know?" "Thy outrage is justified, yet we sense something amiss," Luna's eyes began to glow white, "It would appear that whatever it is, it is trying to take thou from this plane of existence." "Wait, plane of... that sounds familiar..." Vinyl gasped as a memory came to her, "That pony! The one on the porch the night Octavia disappeared! He said that she was taken somewhere..." "Vinyl Scratch, thou must not allow this mysterious pony to take you," Luna warned, her eyes continuing to glow as she presumably used her cool alicorn magic, "His powers are fascinating, yet evil. Even now, we sense him growing angrier. We cannot say why he has chosen you as his prey, but we will try to find more information. In the meantime-" Luna's face went pale. "What? What is it?!" Vinyl asked nervously. "Too late...!" Luna stammered, "He comes! Vinyl, flee! You must-" And then Luna was gone, and Vinyl opened her mouth to shriek as she found herself falling once more, but now Equestria was gone. The grass and the sky faded away around the white unicorn as she fell, yet flew. She plummeted, yet soared. The world was gone, and Vinyl was alone in an abyss of darkness. "Luuuuuuunaaaaaaaaaa!" Vinyl screamed, but then there was a flash of white light and Luna's echo-y voice resonated around the walls of the endless abyss. "Be safe, Vinyl Scratch." And then there was nothing. ~~~~~~ Vinyl awoke with a gasp, immediately sitting up in her bed and twisting around to spot any dark intruders. Unfortunately, when she twisted, the blanket had come around her and Vinyl instinctively tried to pull away. The mare didn't realize her hooves were caught in the blanket however, and she lost her balance and fell face-first out of her bed onto the floor. "Ow!" Vinyl pulled herself free from her blanket and rubbed her face where she had made contact with the floor, "Note to self: put pillows on the floor. That sounds smart." Vinyl climbed to her hooves and glanced out the window to see that it was dawn; Celestia's sun was only just beginning to rise, but Luna hadn't lowered the moon yet. Was the Princess delayed because of her interference in the nightmare? Vinyl wondered. Vinyl quietly trotted out of her room and down the hall, toward the porch. She slid open the door and stepped onto the porch. She had always liked watching the sunrise from here. It was an excellent vantage point, and often allowed her a calm, scenic atmosphere to think. Vinyl sighed as she leaned against the railing and then slumped, resting her head on the railing. First Primary Alley, then the cloaked figure, then Octavia, and now Princess Luna warning her about dark magic. When had life become so hard? Maybe it's because I pissed off that gypsy in Ponyville... Vinyl thought to herself as she sighed, still resting her head against the railing as her eyelids began to flitter closed, and then she fell asleep, still leaning against the railing. ~~~~~~ "...Vinyl...?" "Mmm..." Vinyl stirred, waking up. Surprisingly, she hadn't had another nightmare... or even a dream at all, for that matter. Had the Princess cast a spell or...? "Vinyl," that voice again. "Tavi...?" Vinyl murmured, realizing she was lying on her side on the porch. At some point, she must have fallen off the railing. It looked to be late morning now. Vinyl pushed herself upright into a sitting position and then she looked over her shoulder to see Octavia standing in the doorway. "Vinyl, wake up," Octavia called to her. "I'm awake..." Vinyl yawned. "Come inside; you'll catch a cold for sure," Octavia gestured toward the house and Vinyl clumsily climbed to her hooves and trotted into the house as Octavia slid the door shut behind her. "Didn't think you cared," Vinyl said before she could think about it, and then she silently cursed herself for speaking without thinking. Speaking without thinking was how she had somehow ended up buying an Orthros once... and that hadn't ended well. Behind her, Octavia took a deep breath. "Vinyl, look," Octavia winced, "I'm sorry for last night, okay? I just... I shouldn't have snapped at you. Can you please accept my apology?" "No, it... it's fine," Vinyl didn't turn around, instead staring straight ahead at the kitchen. One of Octavia's mugs sat on the table next to a small plate with crumbs on it, presumably from a bagel, "And it wasn't cool of me to storm off like that and knock over your hot chocolate either. I need to apologize for that." "I deserved it," Octavia said with a light chuckle, "So... friends again?" There was a pause as Vinyl still refused to turn around, and then the white unicorn whirled around and reached out with her hooves. Tavi yelped as Vinyl pulled her closer, and then she realized that it was a hug. "Best friends," Vinyl smiled as Octavia awkwardly hugged her back, and then Vinyl gave her a final squeeze before the two separated. "And, um... if there's anything you need to talk to me about, Vinyl... I'm here," Octavia promised, "I thought you'd be a lot more shaken up after that dreadful Primary Alley... but you and Derpy seem to be recovering from it fairly well. Even so, if you need to talk..." "I don't have anything to talk about right now, Octy, but I'll keep it in mind," Vinyl lied, forcing a grin to cover it. She started trotting out of the kitchen back toward her bedroom, glancing at Octavia's mug as she passed only to see it was empty, "You gonna go play your cello now? Or- no wait, band practice today, right?" Octavia always liked to practice her cello after breakfast even on days she didn't have band practice, but today Tavi bit her lip nervously, "Um, actually Vinyl... I don't really feel like playing today, and I don't have band practice." "Oh! Okay," Vinyl shrugged, not noticing Tavi staring at the floor miserably behind her as she left the room. ~~~~~~ Derpy Hooves stared down at Equestria below miserably, almost mirroring Octavia at that same moment perfectly. The mare hadn't eaten anything for breakfast; not even her "morning muffin" that she had eaten every morning for years; she simply felt too sick to eat. She remembered that night. It felt like an eternity ago, but it still stuck out in the normally-featherheaded Pegasus's mind unpleasantly. The memory of it was enough to cast a dark thundercloud over her for days, but Derpy thought that she had moved on with her life remarkably well... then again, she had the Doctor to thank for that. He was such a strange stallion, really, but Derpy found herself drawn to him in a way she couldn't explain. And their travels... they were the best time Derpy had ever had. Now, as she leaned against the railing separating Canterlot from the endless sky, Derpy felt like crying. The mare was currently in a plaza in the famous mountainside city, standing beside a table. There were a few tables scattered around the street, and Derpy had been sitting at this one by herself before she found herself drawn to the railing. One noteworthy feature of Canterlot was the railings; because most of the city was built to jut out the side of a mountain, safety railings had been built to prevent clumsy ponies from accidentally falling to their certain deaths off the enormous platforms. Everypony seemed to adore this feature of the royal city; the porch at Vinyl and Octavia's house was just like this, Derpy remembered. But the thing was, if somepony were to jump over the railing, they would fall hundreds, if not thousands, of feet (hooves?) to the ground below. This was the tallest mountain in Equestria, and the fall from Canterlot was a great distance. As Derpy stared out to the land below, however, she only saw her own memories. The dark alley that night. The rain. The movement in the shadows before... before he had jumped out and thrust a hoof over her mouth, grabbing her even as she tried to struggle and scream. She had put up a fight, but he had... hit her. Derpy's lopsided eyes welled with tears; that stallion had taken something from her that night. Something that she could never reclaim. He had taken her very essence. That had changed when she met the enigmatic Doctor though. Inside the TARDIS, all the adventures they had... meeting Lyra, Bon Bon, Octavia, Vinyl... having friends... she had never made friends easily because of her eyes and with the lack of confidence she had. Slowly, she could feel herself becoming whole again, and Derpy had moved on with her life. She was happy... ...until she had beaten a stallion to death to protect her friend. From there, things had worsened. She had no remorse for saving Vinyl or ensuring no mare had to worry about Primary Alley ever again, but that was the worst part. Was she becoming as unfeeling as the stallion who had taken her from herself so long ago? She hadn't even known the stallion's name when she saw Vinyl faint, or when he climbed on top of her. All she had known was that she could stop it. She could've done what nopony had done for her that night. Without realizing it, Derpy's wings began to flap and carry her up into the air. The mare's hooves barely grazed the top of the railing as she flew over it, away from Canterlot and into the openness of the sky. She looked down; not even Cloudsdale had a fall this high. She glanced behind her to see three ponies sitting at a table, not even looking at her. A few other ponies trotted by, some of them not wasting a look in her direction. A Pegasus pony flying; what was more usual than that? Her wings slowly stopped flapping and keeping her airborne. Derpy turned her gaze back toward the ground below, and wondered how long it would take to hit the ground. She wondered if it would hurt. She wondered where she would land. She wondered if anypony would find her. Derpy was gradually beginning to descend as her wings flapped slower... and slower... and slower... and- "Ditzy!" Derpy cried out in surprise and she raised herself a little bit higher, now flapping her wings again. She turned around to see the Doctor standing against the railing, frantically waving his hoof at her, an excited smile on his face and his usual red bowtie on his chest. She had never understood where this mysterious stallion got all his energy... or why he insisted on calling her by her proper name "Ditzy Do Hooves" rather than her popular nickname "Derpy". "Ditzy, come see!" the Doctor gestured for her to come with him, and Derpy flew back to Canterlot, "Get in the TARDIS; you won't BELIEVE what I found on the outskirts of Equestria!" "What? Why were you out there?" Derpy asked curiously. "Never mind that," the Doctor dismissed, "I found this HUGE flower! I think it had traces of magic on it! We're going to use the TARDIS to pick it. Maybe there's a powerful magical artifact buried beneath it! How else could a flower grow so big?!" Derpy giggled at the Doctor's astonishment, and he extended a hoof to her. "What do you say, Miss Hooves?" the Doctor asked with a sly grin, "Want to come?" "Always," Derpy smiled, taking his hoof and following him toward an inconspicuous blue box waiting for them down the street.