Nearly two months had passed since the Night Mare Night celebration and the official debut of P-Unit.
Pinkie Pie and Vinyl Scratch were sitting in the dining room of Sugarcube Corner.
"I'm ready to make something new. It's been weeks!" Pinkie sighed.
"Me too, but Zecora has gone back to the Everfree. I haven't seen her since the Night Mare Night celebration. Where do you reckon she is?" Vinyl asked
"I don't know. We need to go check on her. She could be sick," Pinkie suggested.
"Yeah, you're right. We should have already done that," Vinyl agreed.
"Let's go," Pinkie beckoned her to follow and out the door they went. Their next stop was the Everfree.
Upon arriving, they noticed an eerie silence at Zecora's home. They knocked first before entering.
They didn't hear an answer and entered the house anyway. It was spotless. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, yet Zecora was still nowhere to be found.
"Where is she?" Vinyl asked.
"I found a note on her nightstand. It's really brief. She didn't even sign it or address it to anypony," Pinkie said.
Vinyl took the note and read it aloud. It said:
Gone to Spin Records.
Please come as soon as you can.
Trust must be measured.
"That was a haiku. It has a syllable count of 5-7-5. She is really creative and articulate with everything she does. It's incredible," Pinkie giggled.
"I don't know why she didn't tell us she was going to Canterlot. We could have all gone together," Vinyl appeared to be disappointed.
"At least we know Zecora is okay, let's go catch a train and find her," Pinkie exited.
Vinyl followed closely behind. It wasn't long before they were at the train station. Conveniently enough, the next train to Canterlot was boarding when they got there. They acquired tickets and then boarded it. Off to Canterlot they went.
They got off the train and immediately took off toward downtown. They were sure that they would be able to find Spin Records. They took off down the length of Restaurant Row and took a right. All the way at the end of that street was a tall building with a vinyl record sign outside. Spin Records was written in a sprawling red font.
"This has got to be the right place, it's the only Label in town," Vinyl pointed out.
"Let's go find Zecora," Pinkie said, entering the building.
The secretary greeted them when they entered, "Hello, can I help the two of you?"
"Yes, we're P-Unit. Zecora said she was here," Vinyl answered.
"Oh, she's with the owner on the top floor. I'll let him know you're here," she said, paging the top floor.
"They're all here? Great, send them up!" Rain Mane's voice called from the other side.
Pinkie Pie and Vinyl Scratch made their way up to the top. Rain Mane was waiting at the threshold of his office, beckoning them to enter.
"So glad you two could make it, I wasn't expecting Zecora to come by herself like that," he said.
"Neither did we," Pinkie and Vinyl said in unison.
"Peculiar. Come, we have much to discuss, I'll give you both the same rundown I gave Zecora," he entered the room, sitting down in his swivel chair. He rested his front hooves on the desk.
Pinkie and Vinyl sat down next to Zecora. Zecora greeted them, "Good to see you again, my friends."
"You as well, why didn't you tell us you were coming here?" Vinyl asked.
"He seemed like a strange man, I wanted to know his plan. Without putting you two in danger, if I can," she explained.
Pinkie giggled, "What's a man? I feel like you're making up words just to get them to rhyme."
"Hard to explain, different food chain," Zecora shrugged.
Rain Mane nodded, "Anyway, what she's saying is she found out that I have a very high price for fame and fortune here in Equestria. Some are smart about it, others end up losing everything. How the three of you go about it is entirely up to you. My price is, to put it simply, your soul. You cannot put a price on that, so it's the most important thing you have. What I mean by that is, I want to know you three have the time, the willpower, and the dedication to become the greatest rap group in all of Equestria. You may even be the first and only rap group right now. I have only seen a few ponies take part in this genre of music, it is still relatively new."
"So we don't have to sell our actual souls?" Vinyl asked to clarify.
Rain Mane hesitated for a moment, "No, you don't."
"Why did you stop?" Pinkie picked up on that immediately.
"It was just a weird question, it kind of caught me off guard," Rain Mane answered.
"Fair enough," Vinyl extended the olive branch.
"So, do we have an accord?" Rain Mane asked.
The three mares looked at each other and then nodded in agreement.
"We'll go along with it, but if we don't like our terms, we can terminate the record deal, correct?" Pinkie asked.
"Absolutely. We here at Spin Records take our artists needs and concerns very seriously," Rain Mane said.
"He seems genuine. I think we can work with him," Vinyl gave him the benefit of the doubt.
"Very well, but the stench of evil looms in this city. I cannot tell from where, however," Zecora reluctantly agreed, making it a unanimous decision.
"Excellent. Let's head to the studio, you three can decompress with some music. I have an adequate system for producers such as yourself, Vinyl Scratch. I think it will give you a lot more options than a turntable," Rain Mane smiled, gesturing to the room across the hall.
This piqued her interest, "Let's go check it out."
Pinkie and Zecora entered a small room with microphones hanging from the ceiling. Vinyl sat down pushing the dials up and down to test each sound.
"This is awesome," she laughed.
"Hey, let's spit something to that, it sounds good," Pinkie suggested.
"Oh, okay," Vinyl left the beat running and entered the microphone room. Rain Mane sat, making sure the instrumental didn't mess up.
The beat sounded like this:
Oh, turn this up, I'm gonna snap on this beat," Vinyl smiled.
Rain Mane obliged and turned up the instrumental. He also turned the volume of the microphones up. Unbeknownst to the mares, he also hit record.
When the beat dropped, Vinyl started her verse:
All these wack rappers just obstacles.
I am unstoppable, don't call me Ron.
I'm Kim Possible, what's the sitch?
Ride or die for ohana like Lilo and Stitch.
Keep messin' with me, I'm grabbing a switch.
I see you're dreaming of streaming on Twitch.
I'm squashing bugs like I just found a glitch.
P-Unit's unnerving, we deem you unworthy.
We see you sent shots, but we're swerving and curving.
Had to turn back, cuz we see you ain't learning.
On the attack, fool, we will be returning;.
I got friends who defeated Discord.
Keep messing with me, you'll get choked with this cord.
Here in Spin Records, PC is my shepherd.
Shall not want fame, but I need it.
We run the game, we're untame.
We claim the green like our pastures.
Messin' with me's a disaster.
P-Unit's faster, you're gonna be plastered.
Take off in full gallop, you're still gon' be captured.
It's me, Pinkie P, and the Spellcaster.
In case you can't tell, I'm a rhyme master.
Turn all these rappers to ghosts like Casper.
I cause disasters, I'm rolling with laughter.
Leaving bodies hanging from the rafters.
I crush self esteems, watch them scurry and scatter.
Better hurry, I'll put you in the ground.
Let the beat pound, TKO in one round.
Smack em around, vision's blurry thereafter.
Rain Mane was noticeably impressed. Zecora took a few seconds to gather her thoughts. The beat dropped again and she began spitting her verse:
Four legged devil like Tirek.
You kids do not know what fear is.
Lookin' disheveled, delirious.
There is no way that you're serious.
Taking it to the next level, it's really simple.
Go off the temple, I do not need a pencil.
Using my enemy's blood as a stencil.
Ain't no defending against me, I'm vengeful.
It's clear that I'm evil, what should I repent for?
Can't handle me, I'm dismantling beats.
Accept defeat, submit to these remarkable feats.
Making playlists on a daily basis, no time to be wasted.
You cannot face this, best in the business, I can't be replaced.
Sherlock Hooves cuz I'm cracking the case.
Zecora ain't playing, I'm bout to lay waste.
Lit like menorahs, can't follow this pace.
You have a bad taste, got no time to make chase.
Jumping on tracks, I just blaze.
Main one causing the craze,
My coat's pearly white like it's glaze.
Don't wanna stop, I can do this for days.
Third eye wide open, I see through the haze.
Know where to go cuz I'm building this maze.
Don't like your style, it's corny like maize.
Here comes Zecora, she's saving the day.
Zecora smiled, satisfied with her verse. Pinkie Pie prepared for hers. The beat dropped a final time and the third verse sounded like this:
Crash through the building, my skills too fulfilling.
You know the drill, filly's always been killing.
Spilling guts, bloody raw. I'm willing to go far.
Cutting lives in half like Gordon Freeman with the crowbar.
Rookies better stay back, they don't know who the pros are.
We the stars out here, scar lives with fear.
Here one minute, then we disappear.
Music industry, we will commandeer.
Freeze you in place common deer.
Seize you, we chase like comets here.
Knowledge is power, let me steer your train of thought.
Enemies wimper and cower with fear then get plastered.
The beat ended and Rain Mane hit stop on the recording device.
"That was phenomenal, listen to this!" Rain Mane played it for the mares.
"You recorded it? I thought this was just a practice," Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow.
Rain Mane shrugged, "It was. I just thought you would've liked to hear how it sounded from my end since I was just listening."
Vinyl approached Rain Mane, "Fair enough. I dunno if we wanna release anything yet. We're still relatively unknown to the rest of Equestria."
"That's true. Our anonymity remains an issue," Zecora concurred.
"If I drop this track as a single, I guarantee at least all of Canterlot will know your name. Then everypony will want you to perform here. It's an everything to gain and nothing to lose situation. Are you mares in or out?" Rain Mane coaxed.
"Guess it won't hurt to try. We will see where opinions lie," Zecora conceded.
The other two nodded in agreement.
"We won't know if we don't try," Pinkie said.
"Alright, I guess it's unanimous, Rain Mane. Make it happen for us," Vinyl was the last to give in.
"Good. If you're unknown locally, how do you expect to be known nationally or internationally?" Rain Mane provided a valid point.
"Yeah, that's true," Vinyl nodded.
"I'll handle this, I just need you three to trust me. I'll get to work on making these copies of singles to put on sale. We'll split it into quarters. We all get 25%," Rain Mane offered.
"Yeah, that way you can get a cut for helping us. That's fair," Pinkie agreed.
The other mares nodded.
"Pleasure doing business with you all. I'll make P-Unit a household name, you can bet bits on it," Rain Mane promised.
The three mares left to head back to Ponyville. Rain Mane turned his attention back to the song. He began burning the track onto a bunch of blank CDs he had sitting on the computer desk. He was determined to keep his word. He would not let them down.