“Up and at ‘em Equestria! Open your eyes and prepare your ears for the truth. Before I start, I would love to mention that I have a new base of operations right in our very own Ponyville. Come on by and give a wave, I’d love to get to know all of my listeners. Back to important matters. So I hear that after my departure from Canterlot, there was a string of closures on popular night clubs. Hey Celestia, what gives? Well the details involve a few charges of drunk in public from patrons of the Graze Ballet, and complaints from neighbors that claim ‘The night life is interfering with real life.’ News flash boys and girls, fun is real life. Back to the important matter, Celestia has the gall to flat out close the Graze Ballet and affiliates, when the night isn’t even her jurisdiction. I don’t know about you all, but it sounds like somepony is overstepping her boundaries. Do you feel safe like this? I sure don’t. Hey don’t get your hooves all in a knot over this though. Chill out and I’ll be right back. You’re listening to Skrillox.”
-----
“Everypony take your seats, I’d like to introduce the newest addition to your learning experience!” Cheerilee smiles brightly as she opens the door. In walks a new face to all of the children. An incredibly cultured looking white mare with a neon blue mane. The purple of her retro sunglasses shining the light of the sun on the walls like mini strobe lights. The children look at her in wonder. Some excited to hear about this new and exciting pony, but some are preoccupied with wanting to go home. “This is Miss Vinyl Scratch!”
Vinyl’s cheeks light up brighter than her glasses while she reaches to get an itch on the back of her head. “Aw shi... uh, shucks Cheers, you can all call me Scratch.” she has to catch herself. This was a class of children, profanity would be frowned upon. Well, profanity was frowned upon in pony culture anyhow. “Some of you may know me as DJ Pon-3“
Scootaloo stomps her hooves on her desk and opens her mouth wide. She wants to speak, but the words weren’t there. She then faints, leaving a twitching, smiling puddle on the floor. “I see you’ve got an admirer!” Cheerilee beams with a slight hint of laughter.
“Heh, yeah I guess I do.” Vinyl chuckles nervously. ‘This is so weird’ she thinks to herself as she scans the room. ‘It was never like this when I was in school... Oh wait, I dropped out’. “Hey, I recognize you girls” Vinyl claims, raising a hoof in the direction of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “Yeah, you girls were totally at that big wedding I played at. Yo what’s up?”
“Miss Scratch, are you friends with Pinkie Pie?” Sweetie Belle asks delicately with a hoof raised, as if to ask a question.
“Yeah, I used to party with her all the time! Hell there was this one time where we were at the club, right? And these stallions were TOTALLY hitting on us and...” she silences herself seeing Cheerilee’s disapproving gaze. “Err... Yeah I know Pinkie...”
“Oh, that’s right! I remember you now! You played at Twilight’s brother’s big weddin’!” Apple Bloom exclaims, feeling proud that she knew a pony that had a name for herself.
“Kinda said that already...” Vinyl mutters under her breath. “Yeah, that was me alright! Now um... I guess I’m not really here to make small talk.”
“That’s right, children, Miss Scratch is going to be teaching a new class here for any of you aspiring young musicians. Now then, break it down! Did I say that right?” Cheerilee giggles at the sound of herself trying to be hip. Vinyl Blushes again, not entirely used to the title of ‘Miss’.
“Ain’t no wrong way to say it girl. Now kids, I’m going to be teaching a class on music theory! And yes you will get to play with my records before you ask.” Scootaloo picks herself off the ground.
“You mean I could... and we could... and then I’d... and... and... AWESOME!” Scootaloo collapses once again, giggling on the floor as if her entire life had just been made.
“Uh... Yeah. Hey Cheers, I’m bad at this school thing so...” Vinyl rubs her neck awkwardly and nods towards the door. The forced smile on her face indicated that she wanted to be literally anywhere else.
“Oh, yes of course! You may go.” Cheerilee smiles appreciatively and turns to the class. “Now everypony, give your new teacher a nice warm goodbye!” The class obliges, but most of them sound like drones. “Erm, yes, well we all look forward to seeing you tomorrow!” but when Cheerilee turned to wave, the spot where Vinyl stood was already empty. “Huh?”
-----
“Man, how does a minotaur even come up with beats like that? Secret: horns can scratch like noponies business. Now I hope all my favorite guys and gals are all loosened up, because this bit is a little scary. Ever wonder why you hear things in the night? It’s not all your woodland critters, they sleep too. No, there’s more going on than you think. Back over in Fillydelphia there was a big confusion about a pony who was attacked. The attacker has not been identified yet, but Celestia ain’t gonna sit down and let that pass. She’s trying to find the attacker, but at what cost? Well those disturbances in the night are the princesses personal guard. They’re watching you! Don’t take it from BZZZT......”
“Oh no, what happened? How do I find out who’s watching me?” Fluttershy frantically searches her radio for problems. She then notices the outlet, and a certain bunny standing by it. Angel taps his foot impatiently holding the cord. “Oh my, Angel, would you please plug that back in? I need to know how to stop this.” Angel sighs and plugs the cord back in.
“...hat’s it for the news fillies and gentlecolts. Stay safe, stay cool, and most of all: Watch. Out. DJ Pon-3, Scratching out”
“Oh goodness Angel, I missed it. What am I going to do? What if they’re watching me this very second. EEP!” she cries as the end of her radio cord flies towards her head. Angel points at the radio and swirls his finger by his temple, indicating that the host is crazy. “I hope you’re right about that. Princess Celestia wouldn’t hurt me... Would she?” Fluttershy leans on the window sill and watches the sky. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for Rainbow yelling at something...
-----
“I don’t want to hear it squirt!” Rainbow thunders, uncharacteristically angry at Scootaloo. “After those lies she spread about our Princess, I don’t care what kind of education she’s giving you. She’s not cool, and being like her isn’t cool either!”
“But Dash! She looked right at me! She’s famous and cool and she’s been places! She lived in Canterlot for most of her life, she probably knows a thing or two more than you do!” Scootaloo counters. It was odd for the two to fight like this, but Rainbow was not happy about the things that were said on the air.
“I don’t need to know what the night owls do in Canterlot to know that she’s in the wrong! I’ll bet this Vinyl Scratch is nothing special, and I’ll bet she’s just a giant poser!” Dash crosses her arms in disgust.
“That’s not what you thought when she got you a dance with one of the wonderbolts!” Scootaloo spouts. Rainbow stops and looks puzzled.
“The only time I did that was at... Oh my gosh we’re talking about THAT Vinyl Scratch?”
“Duh Rainbow Dash, what other Vinyl Scratch is there?”
‘Shut it!” Rainbow buries her face in the cloud that previously acted as her bed. “I don’t want to hear it anymore. Go play with your friends.”
“Fine, but I just think you’re jealous because somepony cooler than you moved to town.” Scootaloo turns and motors her scooter down the road.
“What has gotten into her?! I’m so mad I could... Oh, hey Shy” Rainbow takes a couple of deep breaths and looks down to Fluttershy, who has just revealed herself from behind a tree.
“I heard your fight Rainbow... I’m really sorry that happened.”
“It’s fine, she’s just... she’s young. Misguided. You know how that is.”
“Oh yes, but I must say that this Pon-3 is making a big impact on Ponyville.” Fluttershy explains. She seems nervous, afraid that the world is going to pounce on her.
“Oh don’t tell me what she said on the radio is scaring you Shy! Seriously, Celestia isn’t spying on us and there are no royal guards in town. She was just saying that to feel important. Not everyone can be as naturally important as I am” Rainbow Dash says with a grin. A loop of rainbow blasts through the sky and lands just a legs distance from Fluttershy. “Yo, let’s go get some sweets, that’ll calm you right down!”
-----
“Well that was awkward as shit.” Vinyl muses as she arranges her new room. It was small, but she was used to that. Mayor Mare had offered her the old school house, which was located right behind the new one. It was a good place to set up the tower, though the town was a little confused when an entire radio tower manifested over night. There was a mirror on the wall, her bed was pretty rough, and her things are strewn across the floor. Bottle in hand, Vinyl kicks back. The smooth glass was comforting to her, almost like a friend saying ‘It’s ok, you’ll always have me’.
“NO!” She throws the bottle with full force at the wall, causing a wet mess and a swamp of alcohol and broken glass. “I can’t do this to myself! I need to get better and drinking the day away won’t do me any good... But it just sounds so good...” She catches herself daydreaming about how wonderful it tasted, the burn of it as it slowly trickled down her throat, releasing the light from her vision and replacing it with beauty. Wonderful, blurry, beauty. “Wow, Octavia was right... I’m fucked up. Gah what does a pony even do in a place like this?” she throws her head back to allow herself to fall back on the bed. Legs sprawled out, she outlined the wooden ceiling with her eyes. Her vision was clear, almost perfect. Almost too perfect. She removes her glasses and places them on the bedside table. The sharp lines and corners of her vision almost stung. Her head begins to feel light and her stomach churns. “Damn it I need help...”
-----
KNOCK KNOCK
“Argh! I give up Spike, I’ve tried to get through this chapter but every time I do, somepony interrupts! I better see who it is.” Twilight closes her book and practically flings it across the room. Spike spots the words ‘Pirate Radio’ on the book as it whizzes by his face. Out of curiosity, Twilight wanted to know just how it was possible to send your voice as far as Pon-3 claimed.
“You gotta help me!” cries the hot mess on Twilights door step. “You do science right? Give me something, anything! I need something!”
“Oh boy, let’s get you inside.”
After a few moments of sitting and cooling off with an ice pack, Vinyl looks through fogged and tear stained lenses at her new host.
“I’m sorry I interrupted you girl, but I was about ready to kill myself.” she explains.
“Well why don’t you start by telling me exactly what’s going on. Also, your name.” Twilight demands. It wasn’t every day a pony crawls to your hooves and asks for chemicals to drink.
“Right, right... I’m Vinyl Scratch... DJ Pon-3 on the air. And...” she stops. Vinyl wasn’t proud of herself right now, groveling for dangerous chemicals just to try and get a buzz was a little embarrassing to say the least. “I’m... recovering...”
Twilight scratches her head, not quite understanding what the desperate party girl meant. “I’ve heard you on the radio a couple times. If you don’t mind me asking, what are you recovering from that would drag you down like this?”
“I’d rather not...”
“Please, I can’t help you if I don’t know.”
“Ok fine... Here it is.” Vinyl removes her glasses and the glazed, forlorn look in her eyes strikes Twilight hard. It was like staring into the soul of a dying pony. “I’ll start by telling you why I’m here...”
-----
“BY THE SACRED NAME OF OUR FATHER HOW DOST THOU PARDON THE MISGUIDED RAMBLINGS OF THIS PONY?” Luna demands. She was in no way happy about any of what was said on the radio, and it was very apparent to the rest of Canterlot as well.
“Calm down sister, it will be alright. Just sit and we’ll talk” Celestia assures. It was starting to hit her a little harder now that the accusations were more pointed. Not to mention mostly off base. “I understand your concern Luna, and I will say that I’m beginning to feel the same way... But I am a princess and she is a DJ. If I were to silence her it would only reflect poorly on me. I have no choice but to let her go until it becomes dangerous.”
“SHE IS DANGEROUS! SHE WILL ROUTE THINE SUBJECTS AGAINST THEE AND CAUSE UPRISING IN THE STREETS!” Luna protests. “AND... I’m really worried about you Celestia...”
Celestia had to take a moment. Luna not only stopped using the royal voice, but she also began speaking with a more modern, more sincere dialect. “I promise everything will be ok Luna”
“But sister, she doesn’t even know her facts from her opinions. It was I who closed that cesspool, not you. It only proves that she wishes to distort the truth as much as she can to make you look bad.” Luna sighs, feeling almost as though her argument was lost. “Please do not take this threat lightly sister. I fear she has more control than we may give her credit for.”
-----
“Control yourself Vinyl, it’s ok.” Twilight says tenderly. She pats her hoof comfortingly through the tangle of blues and glitter that make up Vinyl Scratch’s mane. Vinyl herself is hunched over on a chair, face covered by two hooves and crying loudly.
“But I lost my bestest friend EVER and now she hates meeeee!” she sobs. It was a rather pathetic sight. “And... and... I’m a useless drunk and I just want something to drink! Pleeease can I just have something I don’t want to remember anything tonight!”
“That’s not true Vinyl, I’m sure your friend forgives you! Just the fact that you’re so broken up over it shows how much you really care.” Twilight assures. It was nice to let out emotions, but they had literally just met an hour ago. “And I don’t have anything alcoholic, not that I’d give you any anyway, but how about I get some water?” Her question is met with a whimper and a pout that could melt any heart. “Ok... Spike, can you get a glass of water?”
“Sure thing Twilight!”
Vinyl wipes her eyes off and sniffles a few times. It hasn’t been a particularly good couple of days, but even then she hated being seen like this. “I appreciate all your help Twilight... And I’m sorry again for doing this to you. I’ll be outta your hair soon.”
“Don’t be sorry. Just get better, ok?” Twilight lifts the glass of water directly out of Spike’s hands and over to Vinyl, who had a blank expression. It was as if she had just lost all of her emotions and stared at the floor. “Vinyl, are you ok?”
“Don’t be, get better.” Vinyl repeats, choking up a bit. Then a mental switch is flipped and she jolts upright. “Well, I really appreciate your help here. Maybe I’ll come by to hang out again soon!” Vinyl trots out the door, seemingly happy, and yet...
“Spike... What just happened?”
“Couldn’t tell you”
-----
Applause fills the arena as the Royal Canterlot Orchestra takes one final bow. A standing ovation, just like almost every night. Octavia recalls her first show, and the applause she got. It was a magical moment that she would never forget, especially since that was when she got her cutie mark. She could remember the exact location and details.
The school for talented young musicians in Canterlot held it’s annual concert the same time each year. It was the weekend before the Summer Sun festival, and everypony who was anypony would attend. This was no ordinary school concert. And there she stood. The most promising young cellist in her class. Octavia’s very first concert, and she was to play in the 1st string ensemble. It was a dream come true. The show went off perfectly. Each note was played to perfection, resonating off of the strings, dancing under her hooves as the bow fled forward and back. It was ecstasy in musical form. The concert finished and she stood to be acknowledged with the rest of her class. Up front she bowed, and next to her was the most amazing young keyboardist she had ever known...
“Scratch...” Octavia whispers to herself, as the memory floods back. That was the night she had gotten her cutie mark, and Scratch was right there next to her, holding her hoof and bowing. Ever since, Scratch had been there for her.
“Where are you going?” the conductor yells after her. Octavia decides not to stay for the applause, and instead gets up from her chair and brings her cello backstage with her. There are a few confused utterances that could be heard from the crowd, but nopony payed it too much mind.
“I’m not feeling well” Octavia explains, obviously with much more on her mind.
“Well I can’t have my star cellist completely disregard the audience like that! It’s disrespectful! What’s gotten into you?”
“That’s none of your business.” she snaps. Far more flustered than she wanted to be, Octavia lets out a long, pained sigh and gallops out the door. The air was cold and the streets were busy. A few clubs were just opening on her way back to the apartment, and it only made her think more.
----------
“Come on girl, you gots to let your hair down once in a while! I’ll buy you a round!” Scratch exclaimed. It was Octavia’s first time at a dance club, but Vinyl insisted on taking her out to celebrate her new cutie mark. “Yo I don’t think I ever really introduced myself. The name’s Scratch”
“Oh... Yes of course... My name is Octavia Philharmonic. An absolute delight to meet you.”
“Damn, you all proper and shit! I’mma buy you a shot and we are gonna party!” Scratch mocked. “Hell if we’re lucky maybe we could score a stallion!”
“What? No! I wouldn’t!... I mean I would but I don’t want... My lord what are you doing?” Octavia scrambled for the words. This environment was far too strange to her.
“See that girl over there? Yeah she’s totally single, and totally awesome. What do you say we, uh, go show her around a little?” Vinyl seduced. It was a larger stallion, His coat was lustrous golden brown and his mane was dyed a greasy black. His cutie mark was that of a disco ball.
“Just got her cutie mark? Sugar, don’t that mean she’s a little young to be here?”
“No no no, we attend the music school. Late bloomers are pretty common there!” Vinyl explained. It was true, Octavia was almost an adult and yet she had only just gotten her cutie mark. And it was in fact a trend among musical ponies, as the opportunity to play an orchestral instrument wasn’t something that most fillies got.
“Miss Scratch I beseech you to stop this at once! I do not want to partake in any... No no let me go! I am not...! What is this?” Octavia marveled at the sight. Vinyl had dragged her to a brightly lit floor, the colors alternated in time with the music, and she had to admit it made her want to dance.
“Yo I was only yankin’ your chain bitch, calm your bits. Just dance. Tonight’s about you Octavia, and we’re gonna party Vinyl style!”
The night went on like that. It was a lifestyle that Octavia could never have imagined, and yet she enjoyed herself much more than she thought she would. The night ended with the two girls laughing, and both slightly intoxicated, on the floor of Vinyl’s apartment. It was a perfect finish to a perfect day.
----------
All that could be heard in the empty apartment was the running of water through pipe behind thin walls. Octavia lets out a long sigh and falls back in bed, holding a framed photo. It depicted a young Octavia and Vinyl. Vinyl held the camera up and stuck her tongue out, but Octavia was taken off guard and looked like she was going to punch Vinyl in the face.
“If only I could have that Scratch back... I miss her...”
The lights in Canterlot shut off one by one, as the neon of the night took over. Luna watched from her balcony, as a scowl crossed her face. Something big was coming. She could feel it.