//------------------------------//
// Part 2: The Crack 
// Story: Broken Ambience 
// by Xantha 
//------------------------------//

	The world was cold, and by cold, Vinyl means in every way possible.
A blue and white speck could be seen in the middle of a vast plane of nothingness. A chill blew through this empty world, as it was completely dark. No sun, no moon, not even a single star. You couldn't see the horizon, even if you tried. The ground just molded with the sky; it was a mystery as to why Vinyl wasn't falling into a never-ending abyss. It was surreal, feeling weightless and numb in the middle of no where.
The white mare curled up in a ball on the floor, shuddering from both the cold and her sobs.	
Why? Why me?
She raised a hoof in the air and slammed it down with so much force, echoes answered back from no where. Huffing, tears streaming down her cheeks, she sat up with a hoof under her for support.
"Damn you!" She screamed.
"What did I do to deserve this?!"
She continued ranting and raving for quite some time, walking to and fro. Cursing whatever put her in this state; not considering all the possibilities. Was she dead? Was she alive? Where is she? Who was she?
Is the world she knew before; was that world even real?
Echoes bounced from the darkness, "Dammit!" "Where the hell am I?!" "Hello?!"
Vinyl choked on a sob, as she screamed at the echoes in desperation, "Octavia?!"
Octavia's name swirled all through the darkness, daunting and serene. The DJ plopped onto the floor in agony as she cried. Sobbing for Octavia to come rescue her, to come find her, to take her away from this Hell. Her body convulsing from the internal struggle of her emotions; she felt confused, angry, mortified, and grieved all at once. 
This might even be the first time in her life that she could say that she felt this hopeless. She's never been alone, so it was a new experience to feel this way. When Mom left, Alabastar was there to quiet her fears and to wipe away her tears. He was there when winter came and made her sick, he was there when she had no other pony to cry to, and he was there when every Mother's Day came and went, even when there wasn't a mother to kiss, hug, or love.
"Dad!" Vinyl sobbed.
Echoes kept taunting her; calling back, asking where Alabastar was with each repeated "Dad".
The chill got even colder, and the echoes started to change. Instead of bouncing back whatever she screamed, she heard a soft laugh growing more intense.
Ears perking up, she struggled to stand as a shrill laughter got even louder. No, not louder, just closer...
Squinting in the dark, she trotted a bit closer to the sound. The closer she got to the laugh, the more frightened she became. If ever in her life she had heard this laugh, she was sure she would have been in an insane asylum or some sort of movie. It was a manic, hysterical laugh, sounding as if a rasping mare made that hellish cackle.
That was when Vinyl saw her.
The white Vinyl.
Stumbling away, she ran from the white copy cat. Away from the fangs and the red aura, running from the fears she has harbored since she was just a filly.
Fears that grew when Mom left, when Alabastar died, when she married Octavia, when Octavia asked about adoption. Haunting her day and night, from weeks to months to years. Every fall she saw her mom leave, every winter she watched Alabastar on the hospital bed dying, and every spring she reinacted the fears she felt when she made her vows. For all that it was worth, it broke her. 
Was living even worth anything, anymore?
Running made her even less sure of herself; soon she was panting and could feel burning in her legs as she has been sprinting for far too long.
She shrieked when her front hoof twisted beneath her, slamming her face into the ground as her hoof gave way to the weight of her body. Blood spurted from her mouth and a few teeth popped from place, skittering across the floor.
Moaning, she got up and began to limp, trying her hardest to get away from her adversary.
Laughing filled her mind, and the world morphed into the old apartment she used to live in with Alabastar. The walls were yellowed with age and the floor was made up of cracked tiles. Rips could be seen on the couch, with stuffing coming loose. Her old bedroom door faced the couch, along with the vast rows of vintage vinyl records and old stereo equipment.
The paint on the kitchen counter was peeling, but it wasn't all bad. A neat little dinner sat on the counter, consisting of a daisy garden salad and stuffed mushrooms with a gooberry sauce.
Alabastar made dinner for Vinyl's birthday, and he was really a good cook. He did his best, with what little they had. He made a small amount of money working at a radio station, trying to earn a wager. Mom worked at the grocer's, but apparently it was never enough for her.
Today Vinyl was five, which was a big number in her eyes. They waited for Mom to get off her shift and come home, while Vinyl sat on the couch and Alabastar finished making the little blue cake. He told her to go sit because she kept trying to lick the cake, but that wasn't her fault! It smelled too good not to lick.
Mom ended up being very late, long after the food got cold.
Even so, Alabastar wouldn't let his little filly eat a single bite, because it was proper to wait for Mom to come home. Something about good manners and what not, because it was never nice to eat without a lady.
When the door finally opened, she came in and it all happened.
Another stallion followed closely behind her, watching both Vinyl and Alabastar with a glare. Mom's face was indifferent and her voice sounded angry.
Before long, she was throwing things at Alabastar and he was screaming at her, all the while the big stallion just watched and looked intimidating; almost as if he dared one of us to touch Mom.
Things were said, like "You never get paid enough!" and "You don't even care about Vie!" or even "That little rat shouldn't have ever been born!"
On and on, vases were smashed and walls were cracked. Until finally, Mom left.
She just glared at her filly, and spit in Alabastar's face before hissing, "Go to Hell." The door opened, and it shut with a big boom. Pictures that were lucky to have not been thrown, shook on the walls.
Alabastar slumped to the ground and stared at the door for a while, and little Vinyl snuck up under his arm into his lap, crying softly.
Never before had Mommy been so scary, and she still didn't understand any of it.
It still surprises her to this day what happened next. Alabastar got up, carried Vinyl on his back, and plopped her down on a kitchen seat. Lighting a candle on the cake, he used his magic to wipe tears off her cheeks and put the cake in front of her face.
"C'mon Vie, make a wish," He smiled and rubbed her mane with a hoof. "Love you, my little filly."
Snuffing out the candle, she didn't know what to wish for, because it was not the kind of time you wish for things. If anything, she wished that Alabastar never left her like Mom did. Long after her birthday, Mom never came home, never sent a letter, and never saw them again.
For the longest time Vinyl was confused, trying to figure out what her reason for leaving was.
That's when she determined that it was all her fault; if she wasn't born to such young parents, maybe life would have been better for them. Alabastar would still have a pretty wife, they might have both gotten better jobs, and maybe a better filly.
At least, in all that's happened, Alabastar acted like the father figure anypony could've wanted. He supported Vinyl in her crazy ideas, in her choices, and in her marriage. Never did he once stop loving her.
But this, this was where the nightmares started.
Inside the room something apart from the real memory happened; Mom came back through the door, and her body became rigid as her fur began to fall off. A chesire smile stretched across her muzzle, turning into fangs. Pink skin began to show as more fur fell off, and Mom crouched on the floor, almost as if ready to pounce. Hoofs oozed off and eyes slowly turned black, before her skin began to flake and fall off along with the puffs of pale, sky blue fur.
"Mom..." Vinyl whimpered, blood and tears dripping from her chin to the floor.
In response, her tongue lashed out of her fanged mouth, scratching at the floor with bloody, hoofless legs. Snarling and gnashing teeth, she charged at Vinyl.
Screaming, Vinyl ran from her Mom, but was slammed to the ground by the albino copy cat. Hissing, the white Vinyl latched onto the Dj's neck and crushed her windpipe. Mom slammed her legs on Vinyl's ribcage and she felt the bones implode. She coughed and blood flew out in a spray of saliva, speckling Mom's pink skin.
Eyes wild, Mom ripped open the white fur and the skin in one tear with her teeth. Sinking them deep, Vinyl's body tensed as she felt blood gush out from her side, and everything became cold and numb.
Red eyes stared at her from the side, a happy, content stare.
Darkness flooded the white mare's vision as cold seeped into her body, drawing out the pain from the blood loss and the teeth biting into her.
It almost felt, peaceful.

*	*	*

"Listen, I need an actual answer." Octavia demanded, coming in through the door and stomping to the bed.
Vinyl's body finally stopped convulsing and her heart rate came back online, her breathing labored. Octavia had to be escorted out of the room by force when Vinyl went into another crisis. The Cellist was screaming to know what was happening and why she was being kicked out. She needed to know what was happening to the love of her life.
The brown stallion in a white coat glanced at the bedridden DJ. Sighing, he replied, "I know you're upset Miss, but I'm not sure what is happening to her. We've ran tests, we've induced drugs, we've contacted the higher ups; all we can say for sure is that Vinyl is in a comatose state."
The grey mare slumped in the seat next to the hospital bed. Beeping from the heart monitors rang in her ears as silent tears ran down her face.
It sure as hell wasn't fair, all she wanted was her mare back. Was that too much to ask?
She sat in there while Dr. Hofen did his daily checks on Vinyl. Checking the monitors, taking blood samples, opening her eyelids and inspecting her ears and nose. She felt that he wasn't even doing his job, he was just there to ridicule her emotion suffering.
"Doctor," Octavia began, her accent interrupted with sniffles. "Is there an estimated time she might come back to us?"
Propping his glasses up with a hoof, he stared at Vinyl and replied, "It's hard to say, because I am going to contact someone who is very good with this field of work. He's a unicorn and may be able to do more diagnostics than me since I am merely an earth stallion. However, we might be able to pull her from it."
Clearing his throat, he looked at the mare warily. 
"But since you are her partner, I can tell you something we have found out." Grabbing his clipboard, he flipped through his pages to the very last sheet. "We have found traces of a mystery drug in her blood stream. It is very powerful and it seems to linger for a very long amount of time. Because of her profession, she either has taken this drug out of consent or she may have been drugged during one of her performances. But considering the outcome of this drug, I'd say that this isn't consent.
"We have a medical team who are very skilled in botany searching for the main ingredient used to make the drug as we speak. When we find this ingredient, we may have found a cure as well. For the time being, this nameless drug will have to be identified soon or Vinyl may never wake up."
Octavia sat in shock, her mind reeling from the sudden bought of information.
Dr. Hofen left the room, quietly closing the door behind him. She sat there completely silent, before collapsing out of the chair and onto the floor, her face buried in the side of Vinyl's hospital bed.
No it couldn't be, how could she do this to herself? She knows drugs are dangerous. Vinyl swore she never would do it, and the farthest Octavia ever let her sink was a hangover. Vinyl knew that there would be a long and very tedious argument should she every take drugs, and she knows what kinds are bad. Fine, take prescription and shelf drugs when you're sick, but anything at the night clubs were strictly forbidden; Octavia made sure she knew it.
But what if it was someone else? The doctor may be right, that sounds like it wasn't consent. Vinyl doesn't do drugs and it sounds like she never has done drugs, but it would be simple if...
Oh.
That's what it was.
She remembered Vinyl came home one night from a local club in Manehatten, it may have been the Steel Reign Night Club. Vinyl didn't feel good at all, so sick it was almost like she had a sudden case of the Hay Flu. Vinyl had told her that she went out for a few drinks with a competing DJ that went up against her in a Dubstep battle. She described him as those dangerous types, the ones you really shouldn't be caught alone with.
Octavia wasn't all that worried, since after all, Vinyl was obviously not very interested in stallions.
It makes sense! She thought at the time that she was just so sick from drinking too much, but maybe it wasn't the alcohol at all. A big time club star like DJPon3 would definitely be hard competition, so maybe the competitor DJ that took Vinyl out for a drink actually slipped something in her glass, hoping to knock out the biggest DJ in equestria; bringing him closer to being number one!
Fame and fortune in the kind of business Vinyl was queen of, was actually very dangerous, now that Octavia thought about it.
It sure would have been simple for him to mix something in her drink while she was ordering something to eat or even using the ladies room.
What the hell kind of drug did he give her?

*	*	*
The door opened and Octavia started from her sleep. It was dark in the room, so it was probably nighttime. She must've slept for a little while longer than she had expected.
Expecting to see Dr. Hofen, she sat up straight and waited for him to turn on the light.
When the light didn't come on, she became confused and hurried to Vinyl's bed. Grabbing the nurse call button, she braced herself for whoever might be in here to do harm. Panicked, she looked around the dark room, waiting for whoever it was to show themselves.
"Be calm, Octavia." A voice ordered.
Listening intently, she heard it from the left. Slowly, she sat down on the edge of the bed and hid the call button behind her back. Staring towards the curtain, she saw a large figure moving behind it.
"Good, now I haven't much time." It said.
That's when it hit Octavia that it was a female voice. It seemed so very strange to her, because she could've sworn she knows that voice. Was it a party? Yes, she knows it was from a party she helped host. A musical number fits that voice... Which one though? Cello strings and viola tunes, with a little piano and harp on the side. The theme of the music was a regal one. She remembers! It was Moon Heights No. 16 by Harper Strings, which she played at the Star Stream Grand Ball for the princess of the night.
"Princess Luna?" Octavia whispered in awe.
The royal mare stepped away from the curtain and came closer to the bed, her mane billowing with stars and shimmering dust from the night sky. A small smile adorned her face, along with a simple silver tiara and approachful eyes.
"Yes," She answered, concern flowing from her voice.
"I have heard of your plight, and it pains me to see what harm this has done."
Approaching the side of the bed, she observed Vinyl as she lay limp in her sleep. "This has been done once before," Her horn glowed in the darkness, enveloping Vinyl in a dark blue aura; causing the room smelled like a summer night next to a lake, or even a garden. Octavia felt an alarming sense of calm invade her as the princess' magic filled the room.
Luna closed her eyes and concentrated. "Yes, as I thought." She murmured, opening her eyes before continuing. 
"A blossom called Winter's Night grows in the Everfree Forest in the midst of a black lake, where it feeds from the nourishment of the cold and the darkness. It seems as though if she has been tainted with the white blossom, because one petal alone can cause so much suffering. I couldn't imagine if she were to be infected with that of the entire flower."
Stepping away from the bed, the princess stared at Octavia, holding her gaze.
"This flower causes nightmares to become a reality within a pony's mind, almost like a sickness is real but can't be seen. Even though we can't see her nightmares or fears, it is there. Unlike any sickness, it cannot spread, it stays in it's host until the host is gone."
The grey mare's breath caught as she listened to the princess' explanation for Vinyl's sleep. Both awe and anger flowed up through her at the thought that this was so serious, that someone would go through so much trouble to cause her this much pain.
"What happened to the last pony?" Octavia whimpered, fearing the response.
Luna sighed, "Over a century ago, the pony wasn't able to reverse the symptoms and just fell deeper into their fears and depressions. A cure was never found and before long they were gone. The fears ate them from the inside out, shutting down their body. They didn't make it past a month; deceased on the sunrise of the third week."
Her heart dropped, and tears flowed down her face. Pain and grief shot up Octavia's body as she recalled when Vinyl had collapsed in the kitchen. That moment where life changed in little to no time at all, shattering all her hopes and dreams that she knew Vinyl would one day be a part of.
Her life has been crushed, cracked, just like the bathroom mirror at home.
It was too much for Octavia, because the realization was too harsh, a reality that came too quickly. Vinyl's life should never have had this piece, because it brought them both a personal Hell.
Becase tomorrow will be the third week she's been in this hospital room.

"Some things we can't change. Who will be born tomorrow, who will die today, or the past from yesterday. It's better just to go along with the flow of life, because in all reality? Not a lot can change. However, we can choose what we'll do tomorrow, who we will love today, and what we will cherish from yesterday." -Vinyl

(Continued in the final, Part III: The Broken)