//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Twisted Shorelines Of The Mind // Story: The Edge of Insanity // by Shadow Wind //------------------------------// Chapter Two: Twisted Shorelines Of The Mind The sun was setting on the beach that Scootaloo was resting at, the sky stained a calming orange and red. The warmth of the sun's rays elicited a smile from her as they struck her orange and purple form. Never before had she felt so relaxed. She closed her eyes as she arched her back in a stretch and let out a peaceful sigh. "Scootaloo..." She opened her eyes at the sound of the strange voice. "Who's there?" She called "Scootaloo..." Scootaloo stood and looked around, searching for the source. Why did somepony have to ruin her peace and quiet? After a long silence she shrugged it off and walked to the shoreline. She had enough of ponies for one day. "SCOOTALOO!" The voice sounded from right behind her. She snapped around and saw nothing but the sandy beach. Panting from her fright she turned back around and gasped in surprise, jumping back. In the water in front of her stood an orange and purple pegasus mare. She wore a black leather jacket, and her eyes were different colors. One purple, one red. On her face was a twisted grin. Scootaloo stood in shock, looking at herself. "What's the matter, Scoots?" cooed the copy of herself. "Haven't you ever seen a reflection of yourself?" When Scootaloo failed to answer, the doppelganger continued. "My name is Misery, I am all of your dark thoughts. I am your other half, awakened to guide you." "My other half? What the buck are you talking about?" Misery laughed as the sky darkened with thunderclouds. "Maybe I should clarify. I was awakened during your short coma. And now I'm released to set you on the right path. I know the things you want most. You want somepony to love." Misery's twisted grin turned into a smirk. "And you want the blood of the pony who killed Rainbow Dash." Lightning flashed behind the clone, and her eyes flashed red. Scootaloo closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them, Misery was gone. She almost let out a sigh f relief when she felt the edge of a knife press against her throat, and felt the demonic pony's breath on her ear. "Don't think this is just a dream, Scootaloo. You're asleep yes, but this conversation is real. We both know that deep down you want to tear the murderer limb from limb. You want to be coated in his blood. You want to see the fear in his eyes as you bring him a slow, painful death." Misery giggled menacingly. "You're wrong!" Scootaloo cried. "I hate killing. I quit working for Pinkamena a long time ago." She desperately wanted to believe her own words, but they seemed frail and insignificant even to her. Everything Misery said was true. She wanted to feel her orange fur stained red in the hot blood of Rainbow's killer. She wanted to feel bones breaking under her hooves. She wanted to laugh at her victim's pleas for mercy. Scootaloo shuttered as raw energy filled her body. She didn't want revenge. She needed it. " I don't even know who it is..." "You'll find out" Came Misery's reply as she lowered the knife from Scootaloo's neck. "But first, you need to live a little. You need to stop clinging to shadows because you're disfigured. Let Ponyville know who you are." "How?" "You'll see." With that, Misery was gone. ================================================================================================= Scootaloo woke with a jolt. She panted heavily as she looked around her black room. It was still dark out. She had only slept a few hours. The mare shook her head, trying to clear it of the memories of Misery. "It was just a dream, Scoots." She told her self. We waited another hour for sleep to overtake her, and it didn't. Bored, she sneaked out of the house to walk around the streets of Ponyville. The town was empty, all the other ponies had closed themselves away in their homes, safe from the chilly fall night. Luna's moon was visible overhead, shining brighter than the millions of stars. Scootaloo almost smiled at it's beauty, but her dream still nagged at her. She shook her head, trying to clear her head of the thoughts, but failed. With an aggravated huff, she walked on. After a few minutes she found herself in the town square. In the middle of the square was a stage, directly in front of town hall. There was a LED light sign above the stage, but it was dark and unable to read. Standing on the stage was a single pony. The pony was a unicorn mare, with a mane of two shades of electric blue. The majority of her mane was spiked on the right side of her face, blocking it from view. She had a pale white coat with a musical note on her flank. On her face were a pair of purple shades, blocking her eyes. How she could see with them on, Scootaloo had no idea. The unicorn seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't place her hoof on it. Then the unicorn turned and spotted her. "Hey!" She called. "We're not set up yet! Will be another hour or so!" The mare grinned at Scootaloo. "Sorry if I interrupted you, I'm just walking around!" She called back to the unicorn. The white mare pushed her bottom lip out in a pout like a filly would. "You're not gonna stick around? That's sad. You look like a pony that likes heavy bass dubstep." Behind the unicorn was a turntable and mixer. All along the stage were speakers that looked like they could shatter windows in a hundred meter radios. "Don't forget it's mixed with classical, Vinyl!" Called a female voice from behind the stage. The owner of the offending voice walked from the left side. She had a coat of pale ash and her mane was sleek and coal black. Upon her flank was a treble clef, and she was burdened by a large black case on her back, which looked to be a cello. "And you mustn't pester ponies, my dear. Let her pass if she is not interested." Her voice was rich with a Canterlot accent, but not too much so. Her eyes were a calm yet playful amethyst color. The unicorn grinned. "Oh, c'mon, Tavi. I'm just playing." The unicorn quickly added, "And I didn't forget about your cello, I just didn't care." Those words caused an angry blush on the earth pony's face, to which the unicorn named Vinyl laughed. "Oh, you're insufferable!" The grey mare barked, but it was only halfheartedly. A playful light burned in her eyes before she turned to address Scootaloo. "Forgive my partner's actions. She just hates it when ponies don't stay to listen to her music. But she's nice once you get past her uncivilized surface." "Hey!" Vinyl complained. The earth mare chuckled. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Octavia. You already met Vinyl, or DJ Pon-3, as is her stage name." Scootaloo's eyes widened at the sudden memories that flooded through her. These two mares in front of her were her music Gods as a filly. She had bought every album they made together, and listened to them religiously. Then another pang hit her. Vinyl and Octavia should be in their middle ages, yet here they were looking only a few years older than herself. "W-wait. You two were big when I was still in school. H-how come you're still looking as good as you did?" Asked Scootaloo. She knew it wasn't a practical question, but she thought back to Pinkamena, who still looked her age as when she took her in. Octavia let out an annoyed sigh, but it wasn't directed at the pegasus as the cellist turned to look at the DJ. "A friend of Vinyl's discovered an age spell and taught it to her. She cast it in the middle of the night and I woke up as I did back in those years, as did she." Vinyl grinned and Octavia rolled her eyes. "But I suppose it was worth it. Now we can make music for others longer now." An age spell! Scootaloo thought. That may explain it. "Forgive me, but you didn't give us a name." Octavia said, shifting her weight on her hooves. "Oh, uh... It's Scootaloo." Vinyl cocked her head to the side. "That name seems familiar. I dunno. I haven't been in Ponyville since after Shining Armor and Princess Cadence got married in Canterlot. I remember playing at their reception with Pinkie Pie. Gosh those were-" "Pinkie Pie?" Scootaloo interrupted. " You're saying that Pinkamena has DJ'd with you?" Vinyl grinned. "Yup. Let me tell you somthin', filly. That crazy mare knows how to party. I wonder how she is after so long. I went to Sugar Cube Corner earlier but she moved out. So then me and Tavi decided we had better set up. Why do you ask?" "Because I live with her. I knew she was great with parties but she never told me about you." She replied in a slight shock. Vinyls ears perked up and she shared a surprised look with Octavia. "Really? Wow. That must be awesome." When Scootaloo only shrugged she said. "Oh, she's calmed down? That's a bummer. But if she likes it, whatever. Anyway. Tell us about you, housemate of Pinkie." the pegasus looked down at her forehooves. "There's not much to tell." She said quietly. "I have nothing interesting to say." As she spoke the wind picked up and blew her mane from her covered eye. She quickly fixed her mane in hope that the musicians didn't see her deformed face. She wasn't so lucky. She closed her eyes and braced herself. For what, she had no idea, just something. When nothing happened, she looked up at them, both of whom were wearing understanding smiles. She gave them both confused looks. Octavia chuckled as Vinyl jumped down from the stage. The unicorn stopped in front of Scootaloo and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Listen, kid." Vinyl started, "Neither me nor Tavi will judge you because of your eye. Scars do not define a pony, nor does the color of one's eye." As she spoke an azure aura surrounded her shades, lifting them from her face. Scootaloo gasped at what she saw. Red. Blood red. The DJ's eyes shone like two fire rubies in the moonlight, both gentle and defiant. Vinyl smiled. " I used to hate my eyes. In school I was always judged because of them. I was called a freak and was bullied a lot. I eventually dropped out of high school because I couldn't take it." Scootaloo just gaped at her. Why was the most famous DJ in Equestria telling her, a simple Ponyville pony, her life story. "After I dropped out" She continued. "I went from one dead end job to another. I hardly had any money to my name. Then one day I walked and found these glasses next to a set of turntables. The store owner was a kind stallion and let me try them. I put those shades on and started to make music." Vinyl's smile turned into a grin. "It came so naturally to me. Not only did I get my cutie mark, but ponies that were walking the street crowed around the store, listening to me work my magic." She jerked her head back to her set. "I still use those turntables. Those and these shades had become my trademark. But fast forward. Tavi managed to get me to take them off. She didn't judge my eyes. She loved them. I learned that they didn't matter." The legendary shades of DJ Pon-3 started to descend from the air, stopping directly in front of Scootaloo. "If you ever think you need to hide, use these. But, let me just say, you won't need them." Stunned. Scootaloo raised a shaky hoof an retrieved the floating shades. She couldn't believe it. She was holding the trademark of a country wide celebrity. Her mouth opened and closed multiple times, trying to form words. Finally she just managed to force out: "T-thank you..." "Don't sweat it, kid. Hey, the party goers are coming soon. Sure you don't wanna stay?" Vinyl asked. Before Scootaloo could say anything, she heard a whispering voice. Go ahead. Have some fun, Scoots. Misery. It had to be her. Scootaloo thought on it for a moment. What's the harm? She asked her self. She looked at the musicians and felt a grin crawl across her face. She put on those legendary purple shades not to hide, but to live. The LED sign flared to life, reading "DJ Pon-3", and the party started.