//------------------------------// // Indecisive Matters // Story: Music To Our Ears... // by Prorook363 //------------------------------// Today has started out slow and tiring, because I spent up all night trying to make myself a mix tape for my new music player the Cutie Mark Crusaders found for me. I don’t know why I feel so compelled to this thing. I mean it’s just another ordinary music player. But maybe because it’s pretty old, I considered it to be valuable. Also, they look pretty clean with my headphones, so that was another benefit. For now though, I got other big things I’m planning up for. I am in the center of Ponyville now, gathering supplies and other items for my gig tomorrow. I am so excited to plan another party out in my yard. That was a reason why I lived on the far end of Ponyville. There was enough space to have any gig! Out here in the center of Ponyville it’s usually crowded but the people are nice. Well most are. With my headphones blasting and me rocking to The Neigh, Neigh, Neighs, I walked on down through the houses of my neighbors, basking in the warmth of the sun, and allowing the bright rays to envelope me. Wait the suns never looked that bright to me… Aww snap. I forgot my shades! No wonder people were giving me weird looks all day. I don’t usually go around without them and even the three little fillies were shocked to see my eyes. At first I thought they were looking at me because of my headphones or my cassette player. Now everyone was catching a glimpse of my eyes and the thought of that left me a little uncomfortable. I’ve always been subconscious about my eyes ever since I was a little filly. I don’t know why, all my friends have complimented them, but they always made me feel odd. So first on my list for necessary items were the beverages and I wasn’t talking about milkshakes or smoothies. It was a night party; I just wanted some beverages that would be suitable for the guests tonight. I know one pony that always helped me supply my guest with the beverages. She also helped me with catering at times and right now I was making my way to her house. The sun’s rays were beginning to get to me so I decided to quicken my pace until I reached my destination. My music kept me occupied the whole way I knocked on the door, eager to be out of the rays of the sun. I waited for quite a while and looked back at the town behind me, wondering what was taking her… My thoughts were quickly cut off as the front door swung open before me and was tackled by a pink pony, which was really happy. I was a little worried that the impact of my fall will damage my gadgets. My earphones were knocked of my head by the impact. If any of them did, that would totally suck! “OH WOW, VINYL SCRATCH!” Pinkie shrieked, clenching her hooves around me tighter, holding me like a plush doll. Any harder and she would’ve probably broke my back. “I miss you too Pinkie…” I managed to squeak through the earth pony’s grasp. “How’ve you been Vinyl? What’s new? Can I help you…” “Pinkie...” I muttered. She glanced over at me and smiled. “I’ll be able to answer your questions…if you let me breathe…” I continued. Pinkie loosened her grip and looked at me blushing. She let me regain my footing from the ground and she looked a bit embarrassed. I would be too if I tackled someone in broad daylight. “Oh I’m sorry Vinyl” Pinkie said, with a pouty face. I simply laughed at her and placed my hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t sweat it Pinkie. It’s been a long time since the Canterlot Wedding.” I told her. “You’re right! Well come on in, I don’t want to keep a friend waiting” Pinkie replied, motioning her hoof into her house. I thanked her for inviting me into her house, picked up my Headphones, and stepped inside to begin discussing the plans for tomorrow. Her place was pretty cool because it always had a lot of colors and that shouted Pinkie. Her place was bombarded by flour and icing all the time because she was always brewing up a batch of the sweetest cupcakes in Equestria. I’m not lying. I travel a lot, and out of all the cupcakes I’ve ever tasted, Pinkie’s are still up top in my list. Pinkie closed the door to her house and trotted over to the oven, waiting for her fresh batch of cupcakes to finish. Maybe Pinkie’s cupcakes were the best tasting because she gave it a little bit of her love every time. Pinkie looked over at me as I trotted over to where she was. She looked at me curiously and after moments of tilting her head and me giving her confused looks, she gasped. I got a bit scared and froze. “Vinyl, you’re not wearing your glasses!” she shrieked, still shocked from that discovery. I finally relaxed after hearing that and giggled. Pinkie has a habit of overreacting. “Oh, wow Pinkie, it’s just one time without my glasses it isn’t that odd” I told her, smiling. Pinkie continued on though. “It’s just weird. I don’t really get to see your eyes a lot…” Her voice began to fade off. “They’re so…so- pretty...” she said, shocked. She began to approach me. “I always wonder how they could be that color…” I didn’t wear my shades that often. Everyone makes such a fuss over that. I covered my eyes to prevent Pinkie from trying anything mischievous with them. “Pinkie, you’ve seen my eyes before stop making a big ol’ deal out of them” I pleaded playfully. She laughed and I drew my hooves from my face. Pinkie gave me a playful smile and was about to say something until the oven let out the sound of a bell. She turned her look over to the oven and attended to the cupcakes, while I pulled my headphones from the side pouch and placed them on my head for a quick song. It wouldn’t hurt to listen to one. While my ears were occupied by my headphones, my eyes were still able to watch Pinkie as she attended to each cupcake with a coat of frosting and a dash of sprinkles. Seeing the little cakes made me hungry, especially since I missed breakfast. Apparently she could read my eyes, for she simply smiled and handed me a plate of her cupcakes. I looked hungrily at the plate as she put it in my hooves. I looked up at her and I could see her only mouthing words. I took off my headphones to finally hear what she was telling me. “I baked that batch up for your party tomorrow” she repeated, frosting covering bits of her face. I lifted a brow at her, confused on how she knew I’d ask an offer from her beforehand. Eh, whatevas, it was at least five dozen cupcakes in this plate and I’m sure not everypony is going to eat. “Thanks Pinkie Pie, I really appreciate it” I told her softly. She only giggled and pranced around. “Silly, that’s what friends are for. No need to thank me.” She replied. Well if she puts it like that… “In that case Pinkie I am going to have to thank you a lot if you can do me this tiny favor” I said, trying my best to emphasize on the word tiny. She merely nodded her head and turned her head over to some cabinets on the top right corner of the oven. “I got that taken care of too Vinyl, don’t worry about it” Pinkie explained. I wondered how many bottles were in that cabinet… “Thank you so much Pinkie, I can’t tell you enough” I said, praising Pinkies customer service. Or friendship service, either one. “No need Disk Jockey…” I blushed. ‘’…When I make my way over to the party tomorrow I’ll bring the drinks and cupcakes. I got it under control”. She gave me a wink. Pinkie was just too good at what she did, but I had to ask her this question. “Pinkie how’d you know I’d need these things?” Pinkie laughed and shook her head. “Seriously Vinyl? What kind of gig does not have food and beverages?” she said standing on her hind legs and shrugging her shoulders sarcastically. I laughed at her charade, and realized she was right. I nodded and set the cupcakes on the table. It’s been a long time since me and Pinkie had a nice good talk with one another and I would appreciate to have another one. I waved over at Pinkie to follow me and started to make my way to her kitchen table. Pinkie looked up at me and tilted her head to the side of me glancing at my side pouch. Before I could tell her about a chance to bond, she immediately says some random name out of the blue. “A cassette player that thinks?” “What?” I glanced over to my music player in shock of what she said. Is Pinkie losing her mind? “Yeah he always talks to himself about weird things in first person…” “How do you…” “He’s been thinking in the first three parts” Parts? What parts? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No .Slagging. Way. The pink horse began to giggle. “He sounds really surprised”. ... …I HOPE I’m becoming as insane as Straxus because if not, that horse is going to bring me a lot of trouble. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Umm Pinkie, what are you talking about?” I asked with a bit of worry. Pinkie just stood there, looking at my cassette player. Finally she snapped out of her trance and shook her head. “I’m sorry did you say something?” she asked, looking around nonchalantly with her happy smile stretching across her face. Ok, I will admit, I was kind of scared of but in all honesty I would have a lot more time to talk to her about that later. I just decided to ignore it, but it will bounce in my head for a long time. For now I simply sat down next to Pinkie and told her. “Let’s talk, we kind of have a lot of catching up to do”, I told her, sitting her down on her seat. I probably felt like i was going to talk to a mental patient. The pink mare adjusted to her chair after a while of squirming and bobbed her head down in a nodding motion. “Oh Vinyl, I have been wondering how long it was until you came back” she said, slamming her forelegs on her knees. “But now that you’re here I can tell you on all that you’ve missed out on!” Knowing Pinkie, this would take a while, but I still had the whole day to care to these chores. It shouldn’t take that long to catch up… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Aww Man, four hours passed by. Four! And I still needed supplies for the party. Pinkie was still ranting about what I missed though. “…and Twilight accidently crashed into Rainbow Dash, oh you should’ve seen it Vinyl” she said, giggling and excited. I mustered up a smile for Pinkie but I was not really in a good mood. I needed to hurry up and finish my to-do-list before it got any darker. It will be dark in about three hours, and shops usually closed around then. Pinkie opened her mouth to start another story. “And another time, me and Applejack…” “Pinkie”, I said cutting her off. “…Thanks for having me over, but I got to go.” Pinkie laughed. “Oh silly me, I forgot you had to get things for the party!” She got up from the table and led me to the front door of her house. Once we got there I thanked her everything and told her if she ever wanted to talk she can drop by my house anytime. “Thanks, Vinyl I’ll keep that in mind”, she replied, closing her eyes and giving me a warm smile. After that I made my way outside to continue on with the rest of my day. When I walked out, the streets seemed much clearer. There were still people outside, doing their own business and running about in the streets, while the sun was beginning to set. It turned the sky into a light red shade which was a good and bad sign. Good, because it was quite a nice sight and bad, because that left me with less time to get all the items I needed for tomorrow. Well, a little music will lighten my mood. I put the headphones wrapped around my neck over my head and pulled out my cassette player to start up the cassette again. I hunched on my hind legs, pressed play, and closed my eyes to hear the soothing rhythms of music. It never came though. I opened one of my eyes and glanced at my cassette player. What happen? I pressed the play button repeatedly but I still couldn’t hear anything. I know it didn’t break when Pinkie tackled me because I was listening to music not long after with no difficulties. Well it may not be broken but there’s something wrong with it. Did i leave it on and drain the battery? Ehh no problem, Twilight might be able to fix it when I ask her to modify it later. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Stick it up your exhaust port you walking glitch!” a red cybertronian spat at me. He has done nothing but waste his breath on unnecessary babbling. I put an end to his rambling, when I picked him up off the floor and jammed my arm through his chest, extinguishing his spark instantly. The damage dealt to his chest made it much easier to break through. I pulled my arm out of his chest and let his lifeless body slump to the ground. Just another dead body for the Pits of Kaon. “This match is over my fellow cybertronians. What a show I must say” said the announcer. He was barely audible through the shouts and shrieks of the audience. This match ended before it even started. My odds were against his. He probably would’ve actually stood a chance if he actually focused on his opponent instead of wasting his breath the whole thirty nano-clicks. Most of my opponents never focused on the fight though. Instead they focused on the attention of the audience. An act they had to pay for with their sparks. My arm dripped with raw energon as I stood in the middle of the arena, listening to the roars of the audience, and recharging my stamina. My time in the arena is far from over, and that’s why the crowd is wild. They demand more bloodshed, and I’ll be more than happy to oblige. I shook the fluid off my arm, and turn my visor to the arena gate, waiting for my next opponent. I block out the sounds of the bystanders and run an analysis on the probability of me defeating my next opponent: 50% chance probability. Then again I haven’t even seen my opponent so that’s one reason my chances are 50/50. I stood there waiting, glancing around at the citizens of Kaon. They’re all riled up, drunk on the rush of their primal instinct. They grow frenzied at the sight of blood; shrieking and shouting for their animal desires are being fulfilled. I also have the same primal instinct as my fellow citizens but we are far from the same. While they let their urges control them, I have control over my desire, which allows me to be a more advanced predator amongst unskilled prey. For that I have never lost a match in these pits for deca-cycles… The sound of the gate opening brought my mind back into the arena. I readied myself for any form of assault. Everyone’s fighting preference was different here, so in the pits it was either adapt or die. A simple concept supported by a theory known as natural selection. There is no place for the weak. In Kaon, natural selection was an overall concept. The gates opened, inviting me to ponder on who I will be facing in my next match. I scanned the gates for vital signs and picked up one frequency. I readied my body into a fighting position and stood there waiting for him to appear from the shadows. “Citizens of Kaon” the announcer boomed, his voice echoing through the arena. “We’ve come here to share with you a gift bestowed upon us, the people of Kaon…” I did not let my guard down, but I was intrigued by this bot. It did not sound like the original announcer. It sounded less energetic, but failed to let down the charisma. “These gladiators before us fight amongst one another to show you their strengths; physically, mentally, and emotionally. They fight to please you, to keep you moving on through your miserable lives. Yet, you repay these valiant warriors with a stronger demand for their blood…” Wait that voice. I know it from somewhere. No it couldn’t be… “You waste these warriors, reducing their numbers, when you…we…could use them to our benefit” It was him. The bot that saved me the very night I was close to being terminated. What's he up too? “My fellow citizens, we are tired of being walked over by the higher classes of society. They babble about equality, yet they let us rust and die in our own filth…” It was Megastronus. His words made that clear. “…What if I told you all, that there is a way to change Cybertron, a way to allow us to be all equals…” I get it now. I lost contact with Megastronus after that night. He took me in as an ally for this. For the Revolution. He continued speaking, choosing his words wisely, and using syntactical tools wisely to appeal to the broken and dimwitted citizens of Kaon. He was too smart for a gladiator. He was building the crowd’s credibility for him. His charisma was a skill I both admired and feared. And those two aspects were that of a leader. “…Cybertronians, I come to you, not only as a gladiator of the pits, but as a victim of arrogance and intolerance. Together my comrades, we can change this place, restart it anew, and lead Cybertron into a new era!” The audience began to mutter amongst themselves, discussing about the various subjects Megastronus mentioned. I heard a shuffle in the ground in the gate where my opponent was. I turned my attention over to the gate only to see a huge figure walking out, straight into the highlights of the stadium. It was Megastronus, but it didn’t look like him. He was heavily damaged; energon leaking from variable gashes on his body, and dents littering every part of his body. His helmet was a different shade now, a silver shine riddled with dents, unlike his black shaded pigment from before. I gazed down to look at him in the face as he walked towards my direction. He seemed to be smiling. Everyone in the stadium began to notice his presence, for the arena fell silent. All their eyes were trained on me and Megastronus. “Cybertronians!” he shouted with pride. “Let us fight the injustice and corruption that has tarnished our precious home world!” He was addressing to everyone personally, moving his arm in a charade to act out his words. I only waited for what he would say next. “Let us start the change for Cybertron. Let us to be the first to revolutionize this world. Let us be known in history for the ones who justified our society. Join me my comrades and we shall brand us a name that will be known throughout the remainder of history” The audience began to get riled up once more. They cheered and applauded at the idea of a Cybertron where everyone could live in harmony. They don’t know the whole picture though, and Megastronus knows that. They speak out of fear, arrogance, and maybe even desire. I support the idea for only one desire: the desire to kill. “We shall be known throughout Cybertron as the Decepticons!” Megastronus proclaimed his arms wide in the air. The audience shouts and chants were enough approval for their -our- new leader. Megatron looked high up at the podiums, and then turned his gaze back at me. “I told you there was going to be a storm my friend. I hope you are ready for it.” He told me, the audience shrieks still in the air. I glanced back at the grinning figure and merely nodded my head. I knew the pits won’t be used for any more bloodshed after this. Megastronus grinned and waved his hand out once again, much like the first night we met. “Allow me to introduce myself”, he started. I brightened my visors, wondering if he was mad. “I am Megatron. And you are...?” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Systems Reestablishing … What…wait…no…. Scrap I fell into recharge again? …well I’m not that surprised considering she used me for her torturous method she called entertainment. She drained me of most of my energy using me to blast that filth into her ears. Being retained in my alt mode has left me weak, limiting my skills, and rendering me practically useless. Last thing I remember before slipping into recharge was Vinyl and her pink friend discussing about random nonsense. The whole time, my servos tried to stay online. I did not trust the pink horse. How the scrap did she know what I was (in a sense)? I just couldn’t get that out of my mind. It was just absurd. What she was capable of defied the boundaries of science and life itself. Unless…she was a Pretender…. No, that’s not possible; the physique of her body doesn’t match that of a drone. I discard the tasteless idea from my mind and try to regain back my senses. The longer I stay in my alt mode, the closer I am to scrambling my processors. This place was doing me no justice and these memories of my past are leaving me to question who I really am. The day Megatron organized the people of Kaon into freedom fighters, I questioned his logic. He was too cunning, and I did not know what to truly think of it at the time. He was much like Ratbat, except more organized…and cunning. I still remember the times he would encourage the rebels to take back what was once ours. In reality it seems as if those goals were hardly accomplished. His true antics were brought out to the light and many did not know what to make of it. He became a strict, cruel tyrant, pushing boundaries to get what he desired. He considered me a valuable asset so he never dared challenge me. Then again it was unnecessary because without me, they’ll be no leader to challenge. Eventually though, I put the pieces together and realized he only boasted what the broken people of the pits wanted to hear so they would not deny his offer of a new glorious Cybertron. I did right to place myself close to his side. No one cared though. Not even me. We did not care. We proclaimed ourselves to be an army but we were nothing more than bloodthirsty vengeful bots. And we all took a liking to that. I enjoyed the freedom that came with taking ones spark. It helped me ease my tensions, and in war, there was never any shortage of information leaking through the cracks. I let my interest shield me from what was happening to Cybertron, but I did not care. I only worried that by the end of the war, they’ll be no enemy left to fight, and soon we would eventually turn on ourselves, leading ourselves into our own extinction. All because of our broken form of logic. I realized it now. I wished not to say it, but my very thoughts considered me a traitor. And a traitor had no business amongst those he is beginning to despise. These very thoughts left me with a hollow feeling. It’s not as if I have the slightest chance of returning to my home world but disregarding what I was not too long ago does not happen often, especially in two days. If there was ever the slightest chance of me returning what can I do? I most certainly won’t go crawling back to the Decepticons and ignore these very thoughts pestering my mind. I will always share their hatred of the Autobots though, without a doubt. What has become of me? I bet Shockwave is laughing at the thought of me dwelling in my own thoughts and analyzing every little detail in my life, finally coming to a conclusion that made me cringe. It pained me to say this and a flare of rage welled up in me. Shockwave was right. He knew what I knew. Only difference is he acted upon the idea while I skulked in the shadows, trying to stop a plan I might have constructed a millennia ago. The darkness in the horses’ pouch helped me continue my train of thought, but at the moment that was the last thing I wanted. What I really wanted though, was a shot of nice brewed energon… ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh man I’m getting really tired. I spent the last few hours gathering the supplies and it was just way too much to carry. Thankfully, most of the merchants were awesome enough to ship them there by tonight. I thanked them so many times and felt the imaginary load of all the items I bought thrown off my back. It was really dark now and many ponies were beginning to close up their shops. I realized I had no business out here in night, so I decided to make way to my home in silence. Without music all thanks to my old music player. I sighed at the thought, and walked down the streets of Ponyville lit by the street lights and the moon. The moon looked so cool; honestly it looked like a giant disco ball. I giggled at the idea and continued passing by shop after shop, looking around at the ponies going back to their comfy little homes. The thought itself made me tired and didn’t help the fact that I was still a couple of blocks away from home. Then I froze in my tracks. I felt like I was missing something. I didn’t know why but I did. I scratched my head trying to think what I missed out. I remember getting everything I needed: Beverages, Food, lights(my old ones broke),tables (No chairs; no one would isn’t going to be sitting in my party!), and Napkins; I’m talking about cleaning napkins because some people don’t know how to clean up. I stood there lost in through under a street light trying to think what I could’ve missed out on. It was getting really quiet now- oh wait, now I remember! I had to go make a stop by Twilight’s so she can help me with my ‘idea’. Hopefully she won’t be asleep by the time I get there (this is Twilight though she never sleeps)! I turned back around to make my way to Twilight’s house but then found myself gazing at a dark street. I guess the lights turned off. “Okay- whatever you do, don’t panic. It’s just the dark” I muttered to myself, trying to back up into the street lights behind me. I then heard a snap to my left and decided to haul my flank out of there to Twilight’s. No way I was going to stick around outside in the dark alone. Nu-uh! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dum Dum Dum! “C’mon Twilight…” I heard Vinyl mutter to herself. She seemed frightened judging by the tone of her voice. What does she have to be frightened of here? The whole way here she was muttering to herself things I could not hear but I was sure she was paranoid. I honestly wondered how the scrap she would react to the things I saw. The thought of her reaction put my mind ease, for it looked funny picturing the moment. I then heard a door creak open and a tired voice address to the frightened horse. “…Vinyl?” The voice said tiredly. “What happened? Is everything okay?” I was shaking in the side pouch. Oh I’m sure she’s okay… “Yeah I-I’m okay” Vinyl stammered back. Yeah I’m guessing she’s not okay. “Are you sure?” The voice said, urging her on for the true answer. “Yeah, I’m good Twilight. I just came to ask you for a favor.” Vinyl answered. The other voice stood silent for a second and finally spoke. “Well, okay just come on inside.” The voice said, possibly leading us into her house for I felt my host shifting her body in a walking fashion. She was still a little shaky but her body finally calmed down. I heard the door shut and a shuffling of steps. “Would you like anything Vinyl?” the voice (Twilight) asked. I heard a rustling of objects and the sounds of objects sliding. “No thanks Twilight,” Vinyl replied humbly. “Sorry for the mess,” Twilight spoke as if it were struggling with something. “I’ve just been doing a lot of research lately on some stuff. You know, testing and all” “Oh I see, it’s alright” Vinyl replied. These horses make such small talk; I swear it could bore Lugnut to death… “So where have you been Vinyl?” Twilight continued. “I haven’t seen you for around week!” “Oh I just came back from a trip to Manehatten to talk to an old friend about DJ-ing for her little brother’s birthday!” “Aww that’s sweet how old is he?” This sweet talk is going to kill me. No spot left in my spark for softness. Well, except for the spot that’s already turning me rogue. “He’s around 5. I’m sure I’ll find a song for the kiddo!” Vinyl answered. “You should do a birthday song remixed, that’ll be good!” Twilight pitched in. “Oh I’m sure it would…” Next was giggling. Oh Primus, seize the torture already. I honestly feel like slipping back into recharge so I can slowly lose my sanity instead of hearing them enjoy themselves. “So what do you need Vinyl?” Twilight asked after their giggling fit. “Oh well, what I’m asking you may seem a little bit much, but you are the only unicorn I know that is capable of amazing spells” Unicorn? Wait a minute…Unicorns were mythic creatures that were a breed of horses with horns. I remembered this from human mythology. Vinyl had a horn. So in that case my host was a unicorn. Maybe this world is making me insane because insane is the norm here… “Why thank you Vinyl but I might need to know what kind of spell you’re asking for before I think about doing it” Twilight responded a bit informatively. I felt the unicorn’s body shifting and noticed a light shining down on me. Not long after I felt myself clenched between teeth and being placed down on a table in a well lit room. What I saw next was very unexpected. Books. Everywhere. I can literally scan this room, and I think I’d rule out more than a thousand books. Is this Twilight a librarian or a data clerk? Possibly a scholar? The way these creatures’ lifestyles are so organized always manages to leave me stunned. I saw this Twilight figure across from my path gazing at me with curiosity. She was a purple toned horse with a horn…ok she was a unicorn who also had a streak of dark blue hair in a straight formation (sort of). It suited her character kind of right. “Well Twilight”, Vinyl Began. “I was wondering if you can help me modify this cassette player” Hold your horses (cheesy drum roll…...oh Primus I miss Frenzy and Rumble) you’ll have to modify me over my cold lifeless carcass. The purple unicorn looked at me with curiosity, almost as if she was ready to perform surgery on me. She shifted her head from side to side, analyzing every aspect of me. “Hmm, I don’t know Vinyl. I’m not very good with electronics…” Twilight started. Looks like I won’t be a lab experiment then. Okay Vinyl you pathetic excuse of a life let’s get… “Well Twilight I was actually kind of thinking if you can modify it without changing its parts” Vinyl pleaded. You couldn’t let it go could you? Twilight shot her eyes optics open. “You want me to jinx this?” she asked, her mouth agape. Vinyl Protested. “No not jinx it. Just modify it to have a longer battery and able to play music without a cassette…” So they’re going to use some form of sorcery on me. Well, all I can do is hope for the best of luck…oh wait that’s right my lucks on vacation! “Vinyl I don’t know if that’s a real good idea…” Twilight retorted, still speaking nicely yet trying to drive her friend from the idea. “Pleeeeeeeaaaaaasssssssseeeeee?” Vinyl exclaimed. She was persistent. Twilight stood glancing past me (Vinyl was probably behind me), and scratched her head to give it some thought. It was a really long silence and it left me to think on whether I was actually scared of dying or not. In a sense it did but in a sense it didn’t. I think it’s the thought of dying now is what left me uncomfortable. I’ve dodged, evaded, and terminated assassins and warriors of the highest factions, yet here I was helpless and bound to die by the hands (I might start saying hooves) of these two unicorns. “…Fine but I don’t think I have an exact spell to help make your music thingy do all the things you want” Twilight said breaking the silence. Vinyl squealed with joy and ran to hug her purple friend. I just waited for whatever was going to happen and let this torture finally come to an end. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Okay Vinyl I got the spell ready to go” Twilight told me. Oh man this was going to be super rad! I can imagine my music player going day and night blasting an endless supply of music. I just can’t wait. “Yay!” I squealed prancing up and down. “This is so going to rock!” Twilight looked at me and chuckled but immediately returned back to business. “Okay Vinyl, I got the liquid substance here in the instruments” she told me pointing at the glass containers on her table. They seemed to glow with a vibrant blue. “The spell I created should be able to enhance your music player’s abilities by two to three times.” I was so happy; I was just waiting for the fun part to happen. I guess Twilight saw I was eager too. Smiling, Twilight told me “Alright bring me your thing” I looked back at the table where I placed my cassette player and went to go retrieve it. I got on my hind legs and held the music player in my fore hooves. I dashed to Twilight’s side and placed the music player on the table next to all the lab equipment. “Let’s hope it doesn’t explode” Twilight muttered. I heard her though. “I totally agree” I said back. Twilight did not look at me, for she was focusing on her equipment, but I saw her smiling and blushing. “Okay hand me the toy…” Twilight started. “Music player!” I corrected her as I place the item of interest into her hooves. I saw Twilight abstract amounts of the strange blue liquid out of the instruments and ready them on top of the Walkman. “Alright, here it goes” Twilight said cautiously. After that, she dropped the liquid substances over the musical gadget. WOW! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I feel much more energetic. I feel as if I just had a sudden surge of energon burst through me. Wait, the feel of that liquid…and the color…by Primus it was energon! But how can energon find its way into a world like this? How did she know about this substance and how did she create it? Well these questions will have to wait. I’m in a more relaxed mood now. “It didn’t explode!” I heard Vinyl shriek. I saw the two unicorns gazing down at me as if the expected me to automatically combust. I kind of hope I need to be ‘modified’ here constantly. “Well what do you know, it didn’t” Twilight said oddly. She was thinking about something but as of now I had no evidence of what was on her mind. I was automatically lifted off the table into the air by Vinyl as I was once again gazing into her purple optics. By Primus not now… “I’m going to test it out Twilight” she said to her friend and placed her headphones back over her head. She held me up and forced the audio output into my shoulder (a process I never felt comfortable with). She readied herself for she shifted her body playfully and brought her hoof down on the play button. The music started blasting through into her headphones but I could only tell by her excitement. The sounds of the song she was listening to was flooding my circuits and began to interrupt my peaceful mood. Well they do say every benefit has its downfalls. Vinyl finally pressed the stop button and the music flushed away from my circuits thankfully. She pulled the headphones around her neck and turned to her friend Twilight who was now cleaning up her lab. In a sense, she reminded me of a miniature shockwave, excluding the one eye, arrogant demeanor, and psychotic mind. “Thanks Twilight for helping me with this” Vinyl said cheerfully. Twilight gazed at her curiously for a while and then regained her senses. “Oh, no problem Vinyl, it was the least I can do for a friend. And sorry for staring, it’s just; I haven’t seen your eyes for the longest!” The unicorn shouted waving her hooves up in the air. Were Vinyl’s eyes that big of a deal? If you find them attractive I’m sure her species would most definitely find her attractive. I hated myself at the moment. “Thanks a lot Twilight” Vinyl returned blushing. Her blue streaked hair seemed to wave over from one side of her head to the other. “I kind of forgot my glasses as you can see...” “Oh you don’t say?” Twilight shot sarcastically. They both giggled. “Well Twilight, you’re not studying tomorrow are you?” Vinyl asked, hoping for a ‘no’ as an answer. “I heard about the party, only everypony is talking about it” Twilight beamed passing Vinyl a smile. “You think you’ll be able to come?” Vinyl said eagerly. Twilight nodded her head and smiled. “It’s getting a tad bit late Vinyl. I think you should be heading home” Twilight informed her. “What time is it?” she asked quizzedly. “Why it’s going to be midnight soon” Vinyl immediately turned around grabbed me and pressed play. She then immediately threw me into her side pouch. Well that was unexpected. I could hear Vinyl frantically trying to wrap things up before the cycle of the day ended. “Thanks Twilight for everything” I barely heard her say. The music muffled out most of their words. “I need to get home to prepare for tomorrow. I hope I see you there tomorrow” “Bye Vinyl, have a good night” I heard the purple Unicorn say followed by the sound of a door closing. What followed immediately after was running. How do I know? Ask my bruised circuits… --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Vinyl finally arrived to her house she immediately threw herself onto something soft and stood there for a while motionless. She slipped into recharge, with me still blasting the music she forced me to play. If I could turn it off I would but I don’t think… Zzzz Silence. The music stopped. What happened? Was I going to slip back into recharge? Did I stop the music? I didn’t feel tired nor fatigue so I don’t think I could be slipping into recharge. I did feel an urge to stop the music, but this event is probably coincidence. Well whatever the case was, the music stopped, and I’m grateful for that. Now all that’s left is me and the inner sanctum of my thoughts. … I think I was better off with the music.