Freefall (A Vinyl Scratch Story)

by xSorrow

Closing Eyes

8
Closing Eyes

A sign in the door to the Dragon's Claw nightclub announced that the place was closed for a few days in order to deal with a Twittermite infestation. Vinyl didn't know what a Twittermite was, but the words on the sign were written in big, red, blocky letters, so Vinyl assumed they must have been important. The sign went on to say that when Diamond Rough found the pony that had let a jar of Twittermites loose a night ago, they were going to be banned from the nightclub for life.

Vinyl hadn't expected the nightclub would be closed. Still, the note she'd gotten said that Princess Luna wanted to meet with her behind the building, so this wasn't a problem. In fact, it only meant there was nopony around to intrude or overhear their conversation. Vinyl trotted around the side of the nightclub, down a thin alleyway, toward the isolated back of the nightclub. Ponies would stumble out here to be alone so they could a) express excessive public displays of affection with their dates, b) puke after having a few drinks too many, or c) deal/do illegal substances. This never happened during the day however, but Vinyl was still confused about why Luna would want to meet here of all places. She couldn't have gotten a private chamber in the castle or something...?

Then again, maybe Luna wanted a LOT of privacy; this WAS some dark magic they were dealing with after all, especially if it could hurt her in the real world.

She still limped on her leg where the nightmare hound had bit her. It seemed both unreal and absolutely terrifying to think about; her DREAMS could hurt her. Just like something out of Nightmare Moon on Elm Street. Vinyl arrived in the secluded area behind the Dragon's Claw a few minutes before noon, just because she was so desperate for answers, for Luna to somehow make sense of the insanity her life had become.

This area was fairly big; about the size of Vinyl and Octavia's house, really. Other shops and buildings were stacked around it from all sides, making the alleyway and a backdoor to the building the only ways in and out, unless you were a Pegasus. Trashcans were lined in a row by the backdoor to the nightclub, and a large, empty dumpster sat in the back of the area.

Vinyl wondered how Luna would make her arrival. Would she swoop in on her alicorn wings? Teleport in and blow Vinyl's mind with how dramatic she was? Emerge from the backdoor of the Dragon's Claw wearing a pestpony uniform and holding a jar of captured Twittermites? Vinyl giggled a bit at this last thought because of how ridiculous it was.

But her giggles abruptly stopped when the backdoor's knob turned and the door swung open.

Vinyl nearly cried out "Luna?! You have a day job?!", but she fought back the urge to scream when a stern-faced stallion, a Pegasus with a blue coat, stepped out of the building. He was followed by a mare with a cherry-red mane and waaaay too much makeup and another stallion, this one wearing sunglasses.

"Whaddya know. Angel, it worked!"

"Of course it did," the mare said pridefully, "It was MY plan."

"Plan? The buck...? Who are you?" Vinyl demanded.

"Is this her?" Sunglasses gestured toward Vinyl, ignoring her question.

"Yeah. I recognize her hair and the shades," Blue replied.

"Finally! Somepony says shades!" Vinyl grinned, "But you didn't answer me! Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Dear Celestia, she really is dense," Angel shook her head, "Hey genius, who do you think put that note in your mailbox telling you to be here?! I knew you'd want to find out who wanted you here!"

"Oh! You're working for Princess Luna!" Vinyl exclaimed.

"Princess Luna?" Sunglasses repeated, cocking his head to the side, "What are you rambling on about?"

"Um... hang on..." Vinyl started feeling a bit uncomfortable. This didn't feel right anymore... "If she didn't write that note and you aren't working for her, then why...?"

"Are you KIDDING me?!" Angel suddenly shouted, making Vinyl jump, "It's been a WEEK, and she forgets all about him already?! She killed him, and doesn't even care?!"

"What?! I never-" Vinyl stopped, her eyes widening. A week ago. That party. The porch. Primary Alley. The wretched stallion's face flashed into her mind, and Angel took advantage of her silence to further yell.

"We were his friends!" Angel pressed her snout into Vinyl's, who cringed as spit flew off the crazed mare's lips onto Vinyl's cheeks, "I was his MAREFRIEND!"

"He had a marefriend...?!" Vinyl's jaw fell, "But..."

"Word is all over Canterlot," Blue glared at Vinyl, "A few ponies at the party saw him follow you outside, and then he was dead! Wonder why no clubs are hiring you lately? Because you killed him! Why the Tartarus aren't you in a dungeon?!"

Vinyl realized that nopony- not these ponies or the ones at the party that night- knew that Derpy was the one who had accidentally beaten Primary to death. This was good news because Derpy put up with enough already because of her eyes, but it was bad because even as Vinyl realized her friend wasn't under suspicion, she now understood that everypony blamed her for his death.

"Listen, I'm telling you, he was a bad pony," Vinyl began, trying to keep her voice from quivering, "I was nearly unconscious, and he rolled me onto my back and tried to get on top of me!"

"You're lying," Angel grit her teeth. Vinyl wasn't sure if Angel thought she was lying, or if the mare simply couldn't believe it.

"It's the truth! He-he told me to just sit there! He said-"

"You're LYING! YOU'RE A LIAR! LIAR!" Angel shrieked, roughing shoving Vinyl. The DJ stumbled and fell backwards onto her flank. Angel swiftly moved forward while drawing her hoof back, and she kicked Vinyl in the stomach. Vinyl doubled over in pain, and gasped for breath, but it wouldn't come. The two stallions closed in on her from behind Angel even as she wheezed, trying to gulp in another breath.

"We're going to get revenge," Sunglasses said softly, "Revenge for our friend."

"You murderer," Blue growled.

Vinyl closed her eyes, and her unicorn horn powered up. One of the trashcans next to the door was grabbed by her blue magical aura, and Vinyl threw her head back as the trashcan left the ground, soared through the air, and collided with Blue and Angel from behind. Sunglasses was caught off-guard by the sudden attack, and Vinyl seized the moment to climb to her hooves and take off, making a mad dash for the alley that led out of the area. Blue made a grab for her, but his hoof only managed to brush against her tail as Vinyl raced away from them. Angel let out a frustrated cry that sounded like a mixture of a scream and a sob, and Vinyl heard her hooves on the pavement as she chased after the white unicorn.

Vinyl shot out of the alley and galloped down the street at full speed with Angel following closely behind her. Already, Vinyl was beginning to pant and her pace slowed. The adrenaline she had felt when running away from the Dragon's Claw was gone now, and Vinyl desperately scanned the area for another way to escape.

"You know why we chose the Dragon's Claw?! It was HIS favorite place!" Angel yelled from behind her, "This was all YOUR fault, Vinyl Scratch!"

The street was empty. It almost always was during the day, especially if nopony was going to the Dragon's Claw. There was nothing but two walls of shops on either side of Vinyl. For now, it looked like she had no choice but to keep running.

"Face it, Vinyl! You deserve this! YOU DESERVE TO DIE!" Angel hollered as they approached the end of the street. A green stallion in a black hood turned the corner as Vinyl reached it, and she narrowly swerved to avoid colliding with him. Angel, on the other hand, ran right into the stallion, knocking both of them to the ground as Vinyl galloped away, down the road.

"You killed Primary! You won't get away with this! VINYL! YOU MURDERER!"

Angel's voice echoed in Vinyl's ears as she turned down a back alley onto another road and ducked into a bakery where she waited for around twenty minutes just to assure herself that she wasn't being followed. She finally decided to leave when the stallion behind the counter asked her if she was going to buy anything, and she curtly replied that she didn't have any bits before trotting out the door.

~~~~~~

Vinyl opened the front door to the house and trotted inside, exhausted. She was vaguely aware of somepony sitting on the couch, and she cast a tired "I'm home, Tavi..." in that direction as she wandered into the kitchen and got herself a glass of water. As she raised the glass to her lips and swallowed a few gulps, she nearly choked when the pony on the couch replied.

"Vinyl, we know not of this 'Tavi', but it is good to see you."

Vinyl coughed up a bit of water as she turned around to see Princess Luna sitting on the couch. Luna smiled at her as Vinyl trotted back into the living room, staring at the Princess agape.

"You... how did...? You're in my HOUSE?!"

"The door was unlocked," Luna answered, obviously seeing no problem with just walking in, "Why do you appear surprised?"

"Because usually ponies knock before just walking into somepony else's house!" Vinyl sighed.

"Oh. Apologies; we have been gone for 1000 years, Vinyl Scratch. Customs have changed," Luna seemed a bit tired, as though she were used to being told things had changed. Vinyl knew life probably hadn't been easy for Luna since her return, and wondered if she'd been too hard on the Princess, "But as to why we have come here today, we have exciting news! After spending a few hours in the Canterlot Castle Archives, we have discovered the true identity of the pony in thine nightmares."

"Wow, really?" Vinyl said eagerly, "Who is it? Can you tell that creep to get out of my head? Why does he make me think I'm falling? How do we stop him? Will the nightmares stop entirely?"

"The Spirit of Nightmares," Luna began, holding her hoof up to shush Vinyl, "His name is Somex Terribat. In the ancient language of the Omares spoken many years before even the birth of my sister and I, it means 'Reaper of Nightmares'."

"Somex Terri-what?" Vinyl repeated incredulously, "I didn't understand HALF of that! What has that got to do with me?"

"Somex was an entity that existed in the realm of dreams," Luna explained slowly, "Possibly since the beginning of time. When Celestia and I came of age and took control of the day and the night, I encountered him while traversing the ethereal plane. Back then, Somex was... another stallion. He explained that he was the Spirit of Nightmares, much in the way that Discord is the Spirit of Chaos, but to my surprise he wanted to use his powers to defend his sleeping subjects. Somex and I patrolled the dream world together, facing hostile imaginary creatures birthed of unpleasant thoughts in the dreams of many ponies. We believed him to be our best friend, the only one who truly understood our night."

"So... what happened to him?"

"Thou must understand, Vinyl Scratch! He... he was more than our friend..."

"You mean... wait... you two-?!"

"Somex became our lover," Luna nodded, now looking away from Vinyl at the floor, "But only in the dream world, to my dismay. He wanted, more than anything, for us to be able to live our lives together for eternity, but there was only one problem. His magic wasn't strong enough for him to travel between the plane of dreams and the plane of reality. Desperate, he took to consuming the magic in the dreams of ponies in order to strengthen his own power. In doing so, he replaced the magic with the darkness of nightmares, causing ponies to experience the vivid nightmares that haunt you, Vinyl Scratch. We didn't want to believe it was him, but..."

"But you still knew," Vinyl interrupted, "You knew that what I'm going through- you knew it had something to do with him, right? Or at least, you thought?"

Luna opened her mouth as though she were going to say something, but then closed it and nodded. Her lip twitched.

"So why didn't you tell me, Princess Luna?" Vinyl implored.

"We... we were ashamed," Luna hung her head, "What happened to Somex was because of me. It was because of our restrained love for each other. I-I... I did not want you to blame me, Vinyl Scratch..."

Luna's lip quivered again, and Vinyl noticed that Luna was trying not to cry.

"What happened to him, Princess?" Vinyl asked, sitting down on the couch next to the alicorn. Luna took a deep breath and continued.

"Somex was unable to get the power he needed. Meanwhile in the real world, I discovered many ponies suffering from the nightmares and travelled into the dream realm to seek Somex's help in discovering what was causing the nightmares. I never imagined that he..." Luna sniffed, and then wiped her eye with a hoof, "Apologies. I confronted him, and he insisted that the other ponies didn't matter because he almost had enough power. I was disgusted; I couldn't believe that the stallion I'd met had become so corrupt. My heart... I felt it shatter. He was causing untold anguish, but he was doing it for me."

"Sounds like you had to choose," Vinyl said, her voice somber and clear in the ringing silence.

Luna nodded, "Between the stallion I loved and my duties to Equestria? It was a choice, Vinyl Scratch, but it was not that simple. Somex was no longer the stallion I loved, so the choice was obvious. I told him that what he was doing was wrong, and if he honestly believed that it was for a good cause, then I wanted no part of it. I turned my back on him. He tried to stop me from leaving, but I was determined never to see him again. He grabbed me just as I teleported out of the dream world, and the magic he'd stolen all came out at once. Somehow, by some magical accident, his power and mine joined together and brought us both to the real world. I woke up to find him standing in my room, disorientated and confused. Somex was never meant to leave the dream world, you see...

"Celestia found out what happened. To this day, I am still unsure how. Perhaps she sensed a magical disturbance or heard me shouting at Somex, but my sister appeared in my private chamber with a group of guards. Somex felt betrayed for what I had done to him, and he attacked the guards and fought my sister. The guards went down fairly easily, and none of them slept well for a week after this encounter, and even my sister was powerless. In the time he'd spent living in the dream world, Somex learned how to accomplish feats that overpowered even Celestia. That, along with the magic he possessed from the ponies, resulted in my sister almost dying. Somex was really going to do it. He wanted to kill her. He had her on the ground, he was standing over her ready to strike, and then I just... I attacked him. He looked back at me, and I saw in his eyes that he couldn't fight me. Anypony but me. So he ran... and I followed.

"Somex ran across the castle, and I pursued him. This evil could not be allowed to roam unchecked, so I knew the time had come to put an end to my former lover. Finally, he succumbed to exhaustion and fell on the castle balcony. In a dream, nopony ever gets tired, so this feeling was foreign and overwhelming on him. Somex knew he couldn't escape me in the real world, so he took one last look at me and then activated his magic. I do not know if he believed it would work, but Somex's only refuge was in the dream world, so that is where he went. Unfortunately for him, the energy he spent leaving the dream realm and fighting my sister had left him weak, and I thought he lacked the magic necessary to travel between the realms. He vanished in a burning white light, and though I have spent many hours in the dream realm, I have not seen him since that horrible day. I believed him dead... until now."

"So... that's it? He just disappeared?"

Luna bit her lip, "Well... no. Before he vanished, Somex said his final words to me. I still remember his strong, clear voice... so unlike that ghastly hissing noise. You noticed it, Vinyl Scratch, I know you have. One moment, Somex talks normally in that haunting voice I remember so well, and the next he is hissing like a snake made of wind. In his last words to me, he hissed them."

"What did he say, Princess?" Vinyl asked, hoping she wasn't prying too hard. Luna swallowed, and then closed her eyes.

"The last words Somex Terribat ever spoke to me were... 'Ssssssomeday, you will fall... and I will pussssshhh you'," Luna imitated Somex's snakelike voice, and Vinyl shuddered, "I don't know why he chose you Vinyl Scratch, and you have my sincerest apologies for getting you involved in this."

"It's not your fault," Vinyl argued, "You couldn't have known what he was doing."

"I did not stop him when I could have," Luna grit her teeth, "If I had only caught him before he vanished back into the dream realm... how could I have been so foolish? It never occurred to me that he knew how to hide in the dream world someplace where I could never find him."

"Princess, you're doing everything you can to stop him now," Vinyl said soothingly, "None of this is your fault. Did you find a way to defeat him?"

Luna nodded, "We will have to travel into the realm of dreams again-"

"Of course we will," Vinyl sighed.

"-and perform an anti-nightmare counterspell," Luna explained, "Somex is controlling the darker aspects of the dream and warping it to suit his own reality. We need to somehow revert control of the dream back to the dreamer, who in this situation is you."

"So it's gonna be like a lucid dream? Aw yeah," Vinyl pumped her hoof in the air, "But what do I do when I have control again?"

"You'll have to push Somex out of your dream," Luna answered, "Controlling a dream sounds difficult when you are awake, but you do it all the time when you are sleeping, so it should be fairly easy. Because Somex has only affected YOUR dream, I believe he is still weak. If he had the strength to move from dream-to-dream, Somex likely would have escaped when we found him last night."

"Sounds simple enough," Vinyl shrugged.

"Ah... there's one last thing," Luna said somewhat timidly, "Somex's interference has caused your dream to become... unstable. We will need to increase stability by adding to the number of dreamers connected to your nightmare."

"What does that mean?"

"We will need at least two other ponies to sleep and enter the dream with us," Luna grinned nervously, "I can perform the magic to connect them to your nightmare."

"Who are the other two ponies?" Vinyl inquired, a bit uncomfortable with the idea of random ponies running around in her head.

"That is an issue you must solve, Vinyl Scratch," Luna shifted on the couch, "Find two other ponies to enter the dream with us, or this may all be for naught."

Vinyl didn't reply. She leaned back on the couch, staring at the wall in a stunned trance. Two other ponies... how was she supposed to find two ponies she trusted enough inside her head? Octavia immediately jumped to her thoughts, but there was no way Vinyl could put her in danger like facing Somex Terribat.

"I must make a confession," Luna said quietly, breaking the tense silence between her and Vinyl, "I became Nightmare Moon only a month after Somex's disappearance. Since he reappeared, I have wondered... is he the reason that happened to me? The nightmares he filled ponies' heads with in his search for power, I had to trot through that darkness when I ventured through the dream world. Were those shadows responsible for turning me into Nightmare Moon? Or was it my own hatred...?"

Vinyl couldn't think of a reply quick enough, and Luna sighed before climbing off the couch.

"Apologies, Vinyl Scratch. I was... thinking aloud," Luna said dazedly.

"Princess, I was wondering if you could just bring two Royal Guards to stablize my dream?" Vinyl asked quickly, impulsively. Luna looked a bit taken aback at this, and then considered it.

"Well... I do not see why they could not," Luna nodded, "Tomorrow evening at eight 'o clock, I will return with two Royal Guards. This night I will spend preparing to face Somex. I do not believe Somex will trouble you tonight."

"Tomorrow night at eight. Got it," Vinyl agreed.

"I will see you soon, Vinyl Scratch," Princess Luna smiled as she trotted toward the door, "I promise, the next time we meet will be the last time you ever see Somex Terribat."

~~~~~~

Octavia arrived home only an hour after Princess Luna left. Vinyl had been wondering how she was going to get Tavi out of the house the next evening, and finally decided to ask Octavia to dinner at a restaurant on the other side of Canterlot. While Octavia would safely be at the restaurant, Vinyl would be at the house with Luna and the guards.

Tavi opened the door to the house to discover Vinyl waiting for her on the couch. The former-cellist's pink bowtie was around her neck, which Vinyl thought was a good sign; Octavia had noticably not worn her bowtie since she was kicked out of the band.

"Sup, Octy?" Vinyl asked with a grin.

"Hello, Miss Scratch," Octavia said playfully as she trotted over to where Vinyl sat at the kitchen table, "Have you found another job at another nightclub yet?"

Vinyl remembered what one of the stallions who tried to attack her had said about her not getting any gigs because everypony thought she killed Primary Alley, and forced a smile.

"Yeah. What about you? You're in a good mood, which is a nice change from sad Octavia."

"I met with a member of another Canterlot band this afternoon," Octavia revealed happily, "She and I really hit it off, and we scheduled another meeting! It'll be like an interview to see if I can get into their band, and she told me that I'm the finest cellist they have lined up."

"That's... wow, that's great, Octavia," Vinyl blinked in disbelief, and then almost yelped as Octavia suddenly leaned forward and hugged her excitedly.

"It's just such a big opportunity for me, Vinyl," Octavia said, letting Vinyl go after giving her a tight squeeze, "This is the best piece of news I've gotten in a while, especially with everything that's been going on since the party..."

"Sounds like you have a lot to celebrate. Want to go with me to Gustave's tomorrow evening? I know how much you love the éclairs there," Vinyl offered, "Tomorrow at eight? My treat."

"Ooh... eight? That's actually when the meeting with the mare is scheduled..." Octavia said apologetically, "Some other time perhaps, Vinyl."

"Oh, that's okay," Vinyl said, trying to act disappointed, "Some other time."

Octavia trotted down the hall and disappeared into her room, and Vinyl pumped her hoof in the air again. It was perfect. Octavia wouldn't be around, so she would be out of any danger. Vinyl leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. So far, things were going okay. Now all she had to do was face Somex, and the nightmares would end.

Then all of the insanity in her life would disappear.

~~~~~~

Derpy frantically ran around her house, tearing through drawers and closets in search of something, anything, to wear. The Pegasus's mane was disheveled and her house was a mess; but the only thing that mattered right now was finding something to wear. At times like this, she really regretted never spending her bits on clothing, but she'd never had very good taste in clothes.

"Oh, come on, come on..." Derpy mumbled to herself as she raced around, "The Doctor will be here any minute now! I need something...!"

There was a knock at the door, and Derpy almost screamed. Finally, in the back of her closet, she spotted a large, overstuffed coat that made her seem three times fatter than she actually was.

But it was all she had.

The Doctor adjusted his bowtie as he stood on the porch, waiting patiently for Derpy to open the door. The TARDIS rested in front of the house, and the Doctor was absently trying to snap his hooves to see if the doors would open (snapping fingers was possible. Turns out, snapping hooves was impossible). They didn't.

Finally, the door swung open and the Doctor stopped his pointless activity and turned to face the Pegasus in the doorway.

"Ah, Ditzy! I was... um... what are you wearing?"

The black coat restrained her wings and covered most of the mare's body, with the exception of the upper half of her face, the bottoms of her hooves, and her rear end (though half of her Cutie Mark was still exposed). Derpy tried not to blush as she replied.

"I was, uh, hoping we could go someplace cold for a change!" Derpy quickly lied. The Doctor stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You hate the cold," he said.

"What makes you say that?"

"Just last week, you told me that you'd rather jump into a volcano than go to the Frozen North!" The Doctor chuckled, "Ditzy, take that coat off. What's really going on?"

"I, um, changed my mind!" Derpy said, "It's been so hot lately. Let's go someplace fun, like maybe a planet made of ice cream or go back in time to see the Windigos-"

"Even if you were being honest about liking the cold, you still have to take that coat off. I don't think the TARDIS doors are wide enough for it!"

"Let's try!"

The Doctor suddenly moved forward and unzipped the front of Derpy's jacket, causing the mare to gasp. She tried to stop him, but the coat almost prevented her from using her hooves entirely, so the Doctor managed to pull most of the coat off before she could do so much as move.

"What are you hiding, Ditzy?" he asked, looking his companion right in her eyes.

"N-nothing! Stop! You can't take off my-"

The Doctor pulled off Derpy's coat, and the mare yelped as he dropped it to the ground and stared at her in shock and horror. Her forelegs were almost entirely red; there were cuts all over them. Derpy opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The look on the Doctor's face paralyzed her, and then he sprang forward and grabbed her shoulders.

"Ditzy, who did this to you?" he breathed, "Who attacked you?!"

"N-nopony!" Derpy said, her lip wobbling as a tear fell from her eye, "Nopony!"

"DITZY, WHO DID THIS?!"

"I did!" Derpy wailed, now full-on crying. The Doctor stopped, and only stared at Derpy, "P-please don't be mad... I couldn't take it if you were mad..."

"Come on," the Doctor motioned for her to follow him into the TARDIS, "We're going to Vinyl and Octavia's."

"No! I c-couldn't!" Derpy sobbed, "I'm sorry!"

"Ditzy, get in the TARDIS!" The Doctor demanded, "We're going to talk with Vinyl and Octavia! Cutting yourself?! Why would you even consider-"

"It's because of that stallion I-I killed!" Derpy buried her face in her hooves, "I c-can't live with myself after t-that!"

The Doctor let go of her and stood on her doorstep, looking lost for words. Derpy softly cried, letting tears streak down her face. For the first time in days, she was wondering what in Equestria she had been thinking when she had slid the knife across her forelegs. Finally, the Doctor stood up a bit straighter and stared directly into Derpy's eyes.

"Ditzy. Do. Hooves," he said slowly, deliberately, with as much strength as he could muster, "Get into the TARDIS. Right now."

Derpy whimpered as she stepped outside, closed her front door, and trotted past the Doctor into the TARDIS. The Doctor took a deep breath, wiped his eye, and then followed. A moment later, there was a loud whooshing noise as the blue box started to vanish. Finally, the noise faded as the TARDIS disappeared.

It was 7:54. A few minutes earlier, Octavia left the house on her way to meet with the mare from the band. At that moment, Vinyl Scratch was at home, nervously pacing around the living room and awaiting Princess Luna's arrival.