//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Vinyl Harmony // Story: A Vinyl's Last Scratch // by Shadowflash //------------------------------// Chapter 1: Vinyl Harmony Harmony is a distillery of reminders and intriguing desires. Enjoy your final harmony as it's the last piece of thing that you'll ever see. The meadows of the valley lit up brightly as the sun slowly rose above the horizon. The leaves of every tree and blade of grass sparkled from last night's rainfall and created a bright rainbow in the mist of the lower ground. The sun started to emit an array of light onto a small town in the distance of the valley. As pegasi started to move clouds for the light to continue to shine on the earth of Equestria, ponies started to wake up. Yawns were heard all around the town as doors started to creek open. Ponies started to open up their market stalls, placing down their food, their wares, their apparels, et cetera. The bakery, Sugar Cube Corner, lit up brightly as a pink pony started to prance around outside, smiling as she looked at the sun. Other ponies started to greet each other. A friendly wave, a friendly 'hello'. A friendly... Everything. Smiles glistened across all the faces of each pony. Happiness was in the air of the egalitarian society, It seemed far too perfect, As if it was a phenomenon. More ponies started to emerge from their residences and started to get ready for work: Selling, bucking, farming, cleaning, cooking. Everything a kingdom needs to survive. What made this town so unique was that Canterlot laid just above it, in the distance, on a mountain side. It gave ponies hope and built warmth in their hearts. It created true inner piece. Harmony. What a funny word; Harmony. A pleasing combination of elements in a whole. Elements; another intriguing word. Elements of Harmony is what built this entire kingdom: Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Trust and Magic. The most important and the binder of all these elements was Magic. The true, heart and soul of Equestria. Because of Magic, the binder of things, it creates one special bond. A thing that'll never stop this society. A society of ponies. A society of prosperity. A society of... Friendship. This town, is Ponyville. This country, is Equestria. This world, is everything that is ever desired in life. But, we don't find ourselves in the hand of Twilight Sparkle, or Rarity, or Applejack, or Pinkie Pie. None of the 'mane six' that you are all attached to. No, today, we're in the hooves of Vinyl Scratch. DJ-PON3: One of the best DJ's in all of Equestria. She was in a bit of a rut, having trouble thinking of what to do with her life. The fame she has, the fortunes she holds, the fan-base she has created. It was all in Vinyl's hooves. But, every fame monster has a breaking point... A point we all have... "UHG!", Vinyl Scratch slammed through the door of her large house. The exterior was plain white, with red shingles. The interior had brown, hardwood floor, with blue painted walls and a white ceiling. To the left of the entrance was stairs leading up and to the right was a marble table top, supported by metal beams. To the four sides of the table was couches. They were supported by small wood beams and were covered in red velvet, as soft as snow. The walls were decorated with many pictures of a grey pony. Octavia was her name. One of Vinyl's best friends and close music partners. Next to the pictures were also many records. Labelled with cliche names: First record, First broken vinyl, First record with Octavia. They were all framed, as well. Along with all these pictures and framed records, there were crystal windows beaming a light prism of light onto the couches, making the red velvet shine like silk when it's exposed to radiant light. But, that's aside the point. Vinyl threw herself onto one of the velvet couches, landing hard onto the soft surface. The sun beamed onto her bright blue and baby blue mane, making some glitter, from a previous event, sparkle lightly; reflecting an array of colours sporadically. "Why can't I be left alone? I mean... UHG!", Vinyl Scratch rolled over, resting the base of her jaw on the arm of the couch. She ruffled her hooves through her mane, and started to rub her scalp, digging deeply into her 'skull'. Vinyl was trying to think deeply of everything she was doing. All the fame was getting to her. The stress was too much. She loved being cheered on for, loved enjoying the highlights of her career. But, she needed to be alone. Vinyl had enough of the world around her. All those screaming ponies never let her have alone time with Octavia. Never alone time with her family. Never any alone time with herself; the most important thing to her life. To be discrete; she was highly independent. The only other pony she trusted was Octavia. She didn't even trust Princess Celestia, goddess of the sun. Vinyl always wants to be alone and can't handle so many ponies screaming her name. Everyday, a new pony is at her doorstep, asking for an autograph. She can only oblige. "Damn my parents and treating me good manners!", Vinyl yelled to her thought. "Why can't I just be alone? Why can't I go see new places without some pony going nuts?", Vinyl rolled over again, resting the back of her head on the arm of the couch. Her red eyes looked upward at the ceiling. White as snow, just as her coat was. It reminded her of winter. A terrific part of her life. When true independence took place for her. She could always fake a flu, or say she was snowed in. It was the best part of her life... Besides Octavia. She placed a hoof in the air, pretending to feel the ceiling. "Oh... How I lust the winter...", She sighed, putting her hoof on her chest. "I want to be alone. There's nothing I can do. After everything I've done, I can't get an entire day alone!", She looked out the window to her left, seeing some fillies and colts jumping around. This made her sigh deeply. It built butterflies in her stomach, as if you just listened to a heart-shattering song, or see a bad mark on a test. Perhaps hearing something bad happened to a good friend. The butterflies grew, flying around in her stomach deeply. It made her close her eyes, trying so hard not to feel those butterflies. Funny, isn't it? A strong mare feeling these emotions? There's always something deeper to the core of a mare. Any mare has that core. Layers. Onions have layers. Mares have layers. Everything has layers. But, deep in the core of Vinyl Scratch, there is a part of her that is locked behind the strongest of psyche locks. It's a part of her she tries to hide away. The children's laughter only made it worse. The butterflies pierced her stomach more, making her feel sharp pains. Her hooves were on her stomach, rubbing in a circular motion. Vinyl's stomach refused and the rubbing only made the butterflies pierce into her esophagus. She was ready to vomit. Vinyl opened her eyes and flipped off the couch. She ran up the stairs that were left of the doorway that she entered in and flew up the hardwood stairs. They were layered with carpets with a checkered style. Black and white. The walls were yellow, which only made her stomach churn even more, and the thought of vomiting was ensuing in her mind. She reached the top of the stairs quickly, holding back her urge to vomit. There was only two ways to go. One was a closed, brown and white Victorian, door labelled 'Vinyl's Room'. The other was the bathroom. Vinyl shot right in, leaned over the toilet and let out a large, belching and squishy, vomit into the bowl of the toilet. The water mixed with the vomit and made the yellow and green, messy, chunks float deeply into the bowl. She gagged and let out another vomiting belch. Her mane was going from its spiked look, to a flat one and Vinyl's face was white and green. Another belching, gagging, vomit left her mouth. Vinyl's mouth was salty and acidic now. The stomach acid was burning her mouth and she spit into the toilet bowl to rid the contents out. She sat there, for several minutes, looking deeply into the sloppy mess. "This... I... Eurgh...", Vinyl tried speaking to herself. It failed. Her mouth was sour, she was dehydrated, she was now tired and her stomach and body felt weak. Vinyl's bones felt soft and she felt light-headed, as if you just spun around in a circle one hundred times. "I think maybe I need to lay down... Glass of water... Oh, Celestia.", Vinyl slowly stood on her four hooves. She directed her body to move out of the bathroom. It was a gruelling process. Anypony could barely handle something like this. Vomiting over psyche problems? It's horrible. No pony knows about this, though... Not even Octavia. Vinyl paced down the carpet steps of her staircase, creeping slowly to the base. She turned the slight corner and bended around to see the entrance of her kitchen. Although not mentioned before, the entrance was bordered with Victorian decorate design. Octavia made her get this design. She never knew why. Vinyl entered the kitchen and paced over to the sink. The counter tops were marble and the cabinets that overhang were another brown-Victorian design. There was a larder -- Fridge like storage -- that was sitting next to the counter, at the far right. To the far left, there was a round table with a basic design: four legs and a table top. The chairs around it were also basic, and brown. Very bland, right? The tiles on the floor were a checkered design, like the carpet on her stairs, and the walls were a beige colour. Vinyl pulled out a glass from the cabinets above the counter, and flipped a switch on the sink. The water gushed out with a loud hiss, and it filled the cup in about ten seconds. Vinyl held it with her forehooves and tilted it to her lips, lifted the bottom of it and drinking slowly. It felt amazing for her. Like when you forget to drink something for two hours, or ate a lot of salt crackers and have a large gulp of soda or juice. The H2O re-hydrated her immediately and it helped cleanse the horrible taste that was stuck in her mouth. Vinyl constantly filled the glass again and took the occasional sip; rinsing out her mouth ever twenty seconds. After about ten minutes of doing this, she proceeded to the living room. The sun had moved onto the marble table, making the rainbow-flakes that were blended into it reflect around the room like a disco ball. "I really need rest... I really need a break. I need a place to go where I'm not bothered... If only I could live in a different world...", Vinyl sighed, looking at her cup. "Wait...", She took a deep look at the bottom of her cup, eyeing the rippling water. "Different world...", Vinyl sat down onto the couch, pondering her words. The words floated in and out of her ears. It was building in her mind. The illusion of a different world she could live in. A world she could get away to. A place to call... Her own. "Maybe... It's... Possible that there... Is other worlds?... Those.. Brothers...", Vinyl thought back to a event three months ago... Flashback The party raged as Vinyl spun the record around constantly. It made a loud screech and then reversed, making a loud whirring noise. Everypony there was cheering in the establishment. It was Sugar Cube Corner. The walls were pink and covered in confetti, silly string and many banners. They had the words "To the Brothers!" on it; signifying those brave heroes that were in the centre of the shop. Vinyl was standing at large speakers and record players, not paying attention to them. But, eventually, she grabbed a microphone that sat next to her, and spoke loudly into it. "Everypony, are you ready to cheer?!", Vinyl yelled into the mic to the crowd. "Hip hip!", The crowd yelled. "Hooray!", Vinyl yelled back, as the two heroes were lifted on hooves and carried out of Sugar Cube Corner. Vinyl turned off the music, not wanting to miss the event, and shot out of the pink shop with extreme speed. She found herself in a large crowd of ponies and Celestia next to the purple and yellow hero. They were on a large stage, Luna also on the stage as well, to the right of her sister, the ponies to her left. She was speaking, but, Vinyl was only focused on the two. As Celestia lowered her horn to the ponies, and placed medals around their necks, they were warped into a vortex of purple and black spirals, and carried away. It was astonishing. Two ponies; that were 'humans'. From another world... And Celestia could warp them here and back... Present "That's it!", Vinyl praised her memory, but then fell to the couch as a quenching feeling was in her stomach. "Erg... Woops...", Vinyl took a sip of water slowly, and then started to speak to herself again. "I'll ask Celestia to teleport me there. Bring me to those humans. I don't want to be here for a while. Maybe about a month?", Vinyl started to ponder a bit, sipping her water. Those thoughts from before were completely obliterated. And she had a lot more thinking to do now...