10 - Case 05: Vinyl Scratch Trial One
It was a late night. He had been asked to work, alone, as usual. That was alright, it was his evil lair and he was lord and master of that warehouse. He would watch over his dominion and keep it safe.
His eyes darted to the screen as it dinged softly. A pop up had appeared on FimFic despite running an ad-blocker.
Would you like to be Vinyl Scratch?!
“Huh,” the shaggy haired man behind the screen grunted. “Vinyl… I do like my loop mixing… Yeah, could see me being Vinyl. Maybe talk more…”
He hesitated a moment… this machine was his livelihood, did he want to take a chance on corrupting the company server over some random clickbait? He then decided “What the hell, that’s why I have good virus protection.”
The dialogue box vanished on clicking, revealing a site that seemed all about Vinyl Scratch. It showed her in full three dimensions. Sure, she looked a little pixelated, like good sixteen-bit art, but a wiggle of the mouse made her spin around, and clicking her made her wave ahead.
Words on the bottom explained that she had a coltfriend that wanted to love her very much, despite her not being Vinyl Scratch before. The coltfriend apparently was aware that a human was coming and would become Vinyl. Ideal candidates could cook and clean and weren't heavy into making music, but having fun, listening to music, and having a good time with her coltfriend is all great.
“Oh gods in hell, it’s a hookup site! Of course it’s a hookup site.” The man behind the screen laughed to himself. “You get what you get and it’s worth what it’s worth.”
He clicked yes with a chuckle expecting a very fast descent into hilariously awkward “yeah I’m not…” conversation.
The pony on the screen spun away, becoming a little dot before a new pony appeared. It was a mint-green pegasus pony with multi-colored mane in bands. He smiled and waved at the human. Text under him explained that was who the coltfriend would be, described his position as a record store clerk. There was even a little note under it.
Desperate for love. Please don't abuse him. Will be loyal to you if you return the favor.
“Yeah, likewise. Weird that you gotta say it. Also kinda refreshing. The third person is weird. Don’t do that.” He clicked the send and the final confirm.
The world faded away with a pixelation filter until there was nothing but a single grey block consuming all of everything. It fell over onto the human, engulfing them in the grey.
“I’m not going to give up me!” the man shouted.
There was little to give up, at least yet. Suddenly there was a snout in front of him. It was Vinyl, smiling coyly. She reached out and pulled him closer. She said nothing, but the impression was hard to shake off. She was inviting him, showing him what he would become and with each gentle brush of her hooves, asking him to accept it.
He embraced the phantasm, showing her what he had done and promising to continue her work.
With acceptance given came pain. His right arm twisted and broke, then broke again, visceral, loud, and painful. Vinyl nuzzled gently through it, offering her presence and little more as he began to be reworked, forged in that crucible of grey. His hair began to creep and spread across his form, becoming white across his body while his ha--mane became more colorful.
“One chance. One shot. That’s all any of us ever got.” The defiant mare stepped forward.
Without resistance, the changes came all the more quickly, all the more viciously. It was terrible, but so fast. All was agony. Was Vinyl even there anymore? They couldn't tell anymore. Forever and in an instant, their eyes blinked open in the middle of a glowing circle of light amid complex patterns in a smallish room.
A unicorn stood there, dark with stripes in her hair. She looked a little gothic. She blew that hair out of her face softly. "Marvelous… Vinyl Scratch, how do you feel?"
“Newborn! I’m still warm!” the pony danced happily. “I’m naked in the rush hour and I’m dancing in my gutter!”
Dr. Fetlock raised a brow at him. A curious dialect that was… "You are now Vinyl Scratch, you understand this, correct?" She ran her tongue over her lips, barely visible. "There is… a little catch."
“Yeah sure,” The mare flashed a grin. “And if you wanna find me I’ll be far from the bar an' guitars and everybody. I remember ALL the lyrics. That is SO cool.”
Fetlock pointed to the door that led out of that place. "Out there, Miss Scratch, there is another. You should avoid her. It would create… complications. She has the career and musical talent." She leaned in. "Which you do not, correct?"
A loud thud shook the room from the front. Fetlock jumped in surprise, mane falling in front of her eyes. Her horn glowed as she quickly pressed a button on the wall. "Gudrun?"
"The client attempted to enter the room before you gave the word, doctor." came a tinny female voice.
“What the bloody hell?” the unicorn that would never be DJ-Pon3 scowled.
Dr. Fetlock blew her mane free of her eyes. "Ignore that. Your coltfriend is eager to meet you." She leaned in closer. "How does that make you feel?"
“I see what you’re doing,” New-Vinyl scowled. “He’s just some fucked up putz with a hoof-full of scratch isn’t he? You know what you’re doing.”
She rolled her eyes. "I wish." She reached out and poked the new Vinyl in the chest lightly. "He's a poor soul that I think is trying to fix things. I think he's very bad at it." She calls the pot black, ignoring her own dark color. "He saved voraciously to afford you. If you treat him well, I don't think he'll betray you. Maybe he'll even calm down and realize he has something worth being proud to have." She sat down, looking Vinyl up and down. "Now does that sound interesting, appealing, distasteful, or repugnant?"
“Him, or you?” The doctor’s prospective monster raised a critical eyebrow.
“I’m going to walk through that door.” Vinyl nodded. “One chance. One shot. Like I said. But what are you looking for?”
She seemed to consider that a moment. "You're a curious one. However, that pony has become important, at least at this moment. Right now, I want him to be happy. You don't have to live with me, Vinyl." Her horn glimmered as the button was depressed. "Send him in."
The door swung open and a talon waved inside. There was a delay before a pegasus crept in, constantly peeking over his shoulder as if worried, at least until the door closed behind him and he let out a sigh of relief.
“So you...want me here? Why?” Vinyl demanded of her potential mate.
Robert reared up at being addressed, then saw who it belonged to. An uncertain smile spread over his face. "It's you! I mean… Wow... " He walked closer, his eyes wandering over her. "You're... perfect." An ear lifted. "Oh! Geeze, I'm being rude. Hello, marefriend, I'm Robert. Nice to meet you."
“Hey, Bob, wassup?” Vinyl grinned "They are totes not see us comin?” Vinyl smirked.
Robert blinked. Bob? Was that how Vinyl sounded? Of course it wasn't. The real Vinyl didn't really talk at all. His Vinyl was better, and did. "Hey. Who, the ponies?" He glanced over at Dr. Fetlock, who was watching the two quietly. "Nope, but forget them a moment." He waved towards the front door. "What do you want to be called? I mean… marefriend's nice and all, but I'd be annoyed if some’one just called me boy, er, coltfriend and nothing else."
“You're Bob and I’m Vinyl. I like music. I used to like to make music. I liked to make art too. I failed at that.” The blue-maned unicorn turned away.
Robert looked pained. Failing to do something he could empathize with. "Hey, sorry." A smile burst free of his expression. "Tell ya what, since we're roomies now, right? I'll get you some art stuff." A thought hit him suddenly. "Can you use your horn?"
"I doubt it," spoke Fetlock, ruining her silence. "That will likely require practice, unless she's truly settled into her new purpose so readily."
A sputter of sparks answered that question. “I guess... ‘No’ is the answer to that…”
Robert spread his wings. "It's alright. It took me a while too. Hell, I just learned these things double as hands." He reached with those wings to brush at Vinyl's cheeks gently. "I'll help."
“It takes time to adapt. You brought me here, right” Vinyl grinned, “So you’re not half bad so far. One chance. One shot.”
Robert blinked at that and took a half step back. "Huh? That a motto or something?" He glanced around, nervousness building. "We're gonna fuck up more than once you know."
Fetlock snorted. "Many times, at a guess."
“One chance, one shot. That's all I ever gave and more than I gave to most “ Vinyl’s face broke to a brief scowl.
With a sudden clop and a flash of unicorn magic, the frowning Vinyl was banished, simply gone.
“I WILL break your little world, doctor. Remember this moment when it happens,” The pony that should have been Vinyl Scratch screamed as she ceased to exist. "You will watch it fall! I promise!”
Robert was left, stunned and staring at the empty spot a moment before he wheeled on Fetlock. "What'd you do?!"
"She was a poor match." She raised a brow. "She would have hurt you."
Robert sputtered and shook. "Y-you don't know that! Jesus Christ on a stick… Did you kill her?!"
"Don't be absurd." Fetlock blew her mane free of her eyes. "I gave her a little push."
A little push? Robert paled as the idea of what happened became clear. "You put the fish back in the water."
"You remembered our lesson." Fetlock nodded. "She's in another Equestria now, one very similar to this one given the tepid nudge I gave her. Maybe she's even facing another me, and another you. Either way, she has ceased to be our concern. I will summon another mare for you, free of charge."
Robert crashed to his haunches, dazed and horrified. "You can't just… She didn't do anything wrong!"
"She did." Fetlock pointed to the door. "Wait outside, we'll start from the top."
Fetlock's eyes were on the retreating Robert. She pressed the button with her magic. "Gudrun, do be sure the client is comfortable and does not leave."
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Well, that was... semi-incoherent. Why did the guy shout "I’m not going to give up me!" anyway? In any case, this really didn't accomplish much besides cementing how ruthless Dr. Fetlock is. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see what Robert makes of this revelation.
Also, apparently two authors increases the typos exponentially:
Missing "the"?
Doubled end punctuation.
Excess capitalization.
Unless we're talking about Sisko's tough little ship, excess capitalization.
This sentence isn't a question.
And.
Missing "a".
Ellipses have three periods.
How'd those get in there?
Unfortunate line break.
Pretty sure that should be "You brought me here, right?"
Missing apostrophe.
Something needs to go after "fall," be it comma, period, or exclamation point.
forged on - forged in
blue maned - blue-maned
What voice?
Since I was late to the game today, FanOfMostEverything picked off the lion's share of the typos, but that's cool.
Dr. Fetlock seems to think that making her problems someone else's is perfectly ok. And we have a clear definition that Gudrun isn't just another pretty face there for appearances.
It's funny, I knew it had to be Kiki even before I reached the end of the chapter.
Uh that little epiphany came at a really awkward moment. Does he even know that's at risk at this point? At least a "what's going on?' would have made more sense. Or maybe "Wait I changed my mind!"
I think if you give someone the benefit of the doubt, when they go out screaming “I WILL break your little world," you might not be headed for a healthy relationship.
I like this chapter. Drama Llama would be proud!
7801015
7800860 Typos hacked apart into little pieces to be tossed into neighboring causalities.
7801047 The human who answered was both evil and insane. But all he wanted was to be a pony and to have a minion. Given time he would have become a typical minor pony villain. but Dr. Fetlock, sensing something was off, bumped him into a nearby parallel universe Where he kinda doesn't exist because there's no place for him. I'm sure there have been no problems caused by this at all. In fact, I predict sunshine and rainbows.
7801015 What gave me away? Was it the madness? Or the fun? Or the super-fun madness?
7801638
This bit for me.
7801633
Yeah that was baldly obvious. I was just surprised that Robert didn't pick up on it.
7801836 Desperation has blinded better men to larger problems.
7801869 I don't care if I'm a 40yo virgin, when a mare screams, "I will destroy you and all you hold dear!" while being banished, all I'd think is, "Woah, dodged the bullet there."
Maybe my standards are too high?
Oh dear, we felt he had some evil before, but that last spat... It really sounded like he was a bona fide BOfH...
Springing him out to another verse was also a poor reaction, but nothing to be done now. Keep going! ;)
Well, at least Fetlock is really trying to make ponies happy, and not just score a quick fortune like the flimmy flammy corny barkers.
The whole "forget who you once were" thing in the first chapters was a bit darker than I like. Death without dying. I'm glad to see that's been toned down a bit.
Now if only there was a tier for "summon a random pony who likes X" and let the Summoned fill in the details. I'd click that bait...*checks his screen for popups*
7803685 There's no given reason a pony couldn't ask for that. Gimmie a pony that'll play some hoops with me!
Kind of an immature request, since what do you do with the hoop playing pony after the game's done?
7801633
In the adjacent universe, an evil Vinyl Scratch appeared before Dr Fetlock, who promptly nudged her out into another universe. The process repeated until a much different Equestria was reached, one where there is no Dr Fetlock there at the time.
that... was fucked