You awake and Vinyl was gone. Her glasses were still on the desk. You look around the room for any signs as to where she went. You sigh and stand. You lazily trot out the door and down the hall towards the kitchen. You see Vinyl making some coffee.
“Morning.” You say as you sit at the table.
“Morning.” She responds.
You lay your head on the table, recalling the shared dream. What could it mean? How could we have shared the same dream? You think to yourself.
“Hey Vinyl, do you remember that dream?” You ask.
“How could I forget?” She replies.
“Right, do think it meant something? It’s not every day you have a shared dream.” You say.
“Maybe, could be nerves for the battle.” She says. She turns and her horn glows. Two cups levitate to the table, both filled with coffee.
“Thanks.” You say. You take a sip of the coffee.
“Two days bro. You ready for this?” She says sitting across from you.
“Yeah, I’m ready. Are you?” You ask.
“I don’t know. I’ve been working on a new mix, but I don’t think I’ll have it done in time.” She says.
“You can do it Scratch. I believe in you.” You say.
“Oh save the cheese.” She says laughing.
You laugh with her. You look at her. The stress is really getting to her. Her eyes looked heavier and her coat doesn’t seem as white as when you first met. The meant a lot to her and it would be the death of her. Not to lie, it was straining you as well. Your voice was being push to different levels; you strained to keep it the same. All the stress of the upcoming show also made feel physically weak and sick. But you had to stay strong for her. For Scratch.
“Okay come on. We should get an early start.” She says.
“Agreed, we’re going to have to get a ton practice in the next two days.” You reply. She simply nods and walks out of the kitchen. You sigh and take another sip of your coffee.
“Okay, we need to nail this.” Vinyl says over the intercom. You nod back. She turns the beat up and you start to sing along. The beat fast, your rhymes faster. You closed your eyes and kept on driving it.
“Okay, that’s good dude. One more time and we should be golden for that song.” She says. You nod and do the process over again.
Hours upon hours of the same routine. You nail all the beats. Things are looking good for you.
One day left, and you’re on the verge of having a full blown breakdown. Your nerves are on overdrive. The stress is seeping into your soul; it’s hard for you to find pleasure in anything now. The only thing on your mind is the show. With the songs all nailed and ready to go, you had to work on showmanship. How to act on stage, and how to entice the crowd.
“Do you have any idea of what we’re dealing with venue wise?” You ask.
“Yeah. It’s the Chaos Theater. Five stages, one triangle stage on each wall, and a circular stage hanging in the middle. I’ve been to the venue a few times, but I’ve never performed there. The crowd will be down below the stages.” She explains.
“Why is the crowd below the stages? Seems impractical.” You say.
“It’s not, it actually works well. You see, if the crowd is visible you’re going to try and get them riled up, taking focus off your performance. If you don’t see the crowd you can focus on your performance. The stages have cameras set up all around them so the crowd can see what’s going on. It’s actually really cool. There’s a stage layout down below and the performances are projected onto them. I like it, it looks so sick. Basic layout is DJ booth in the back and mics set up along the front. The booth is elevated for better acoustics. One last thing. We’re all going to be playing at the same time. I don’t know how it works, but whoever is leading their volume gets pumped up. So the key is having the loudest booth.” She explains further.
“Why not just turn up the volume at the beginning?” You ask.
“Because we don’t have control of that, the crowd does. Like I said, I don’t know how it works. It’s probably magic, but whoever the crowd likes more gets louder.” She says.
“Okay. So what tips do you have for showmanship?” You ask.
“Seeing as you don’t have to worry about the crowd, just do an arm pump here and there. I think the music should take care of the rest.” She says.
“Got it.” You reply.
“Okay, grab your stuff we’re heading over to the theater.” She says.
“But the show’s not until tomorrow.” You rebuttal.
“I know, but we have to set up and check levels. Plus it’ll give you a feel for the stage.” She says. You shrug and sling your saddlebags over your back. Inside are a few wires and mics. You follow Vinyl out of the studio. The two of you trotted through the city. The theater came into view. It was a giant pyramid. It was solid black and had an almost scary look to it. It was very tall as well.
“Well there it is.” Vinyl sighs.
“You okay Vinyl?” You ask.
“Yeah I’m good, it’s just nerves.” She says. You nuzzle her.
“It’ll be fine.” You say back, your tone soft and kind. She smiles at you and continues to walk. She walks the front of the club and opens the door. You follow her inside.
Your jaw instantly hits the floor when you step inside. The club felt bigger on the inside. The décor was very dark, consisting of blacks and reds. You looked up and saw the five stages; they were smaller in your head.
“This place is huge.” You say in awe.
“Yeah it is. But no time to admire the place, come on we have set up.” She says. She trots through a door labeled Stage Access. You follow her through.
At the top of the stairs you see doors, all were labeled. You find a door with your name on it. You trot through. It was a control room. There were some ponies sitting at the controls.
“What’s this room for?” You ask.
“Lighting controls. We make the magic happen.” One of the ponies responds.
“Alright lads, make us shine.” You say. The other pony waves a hoof dismissively.
You continue through the room onto the stage. Vinyl was up in the booth hooking up her turn table. You trot ahead to the mics. There were three, all looked the same. You then question why you brought yours. You look back at Vinyl and she’s waving you over.
“What’s up?” You ask as you walk over.
“I just hooked up one of the mics to a distorter. Can check which one it was?” She asks.
“Sure thing.” You say. Walk over to the first mic and speak into it, sounds normal. You walk up to the second mic and speak into it, sounds normal. You walk up to the third mic and speak into it. Your voice comes out distorted. You look back at Vinyl and she nods. You walk back to the booth.
“So what now?” You ask.
“You need to get used to this stage, so go up front and we’ll practice some songs. It won’t be as exciting as the actual show, but it should work.” She says. You walk to the first mic and get ready for the beat to start.
After that practice you and Vinyl head back to the studio. Once inside you feel the mood drop. Both you and Vinyl start to freak out. The nerves became way too much. Vinyl began to cry. You pull her into a hug.
“Vinyl, we’ll be fine. If we don’t win we’ll still have each other.” You say. She wraps her arms around you and hugs you tightly. She’s breathing heavily. “Now come on. We should get some sleep before tomorrow.”
She looks up at you and nods. She releases you from the hug and walks to the bedroom. You follow her. The two of you cuddle in the bed and fall asleep.
You open your eyes to a familiar sight: White. Once again you’re in your dreams. But this time it’s loud. It sounds like hundreds of ponies yelling and screaming. It’s defining. You look down at you hooves and notice there’s a tiny bit of color under them. You raise one hoof to look at the color. As you lower your head for a better view the sound gets louder. It’s not coming from a specific direction, it’s coming from everywhere. Suddenly the entire environment bursts into color.
You knew the new sights. It was the Chaos Theater. Was this the show? You look around; there are lasers and lights shining everywhere. You don’t see the crowd though. Suddenly a wave of sound hits you and knocks you down. You look at the other stages. All have ponies on them, but you can’t see who. All you see are silhouettes.
You hear a cracking noise and look down at your hooves. There’s a large crack spreading across the stage. You feel the stage shift. Suddenly the stage collapses.
You gasp as your eyes shoot open. You’re breathing heavily. You look at the clock on the wall. It was time to get up anyway.
You walk into the kitchen, but Vinyl’s not there. There’s a coffee cup and a note sitting on the table. You trot over and look at it. It reads.
“Couldn’t sleep. I’m at the theater now trying to finish the new song. Come find me when you’re up.” You read the note and look at the coffee; it was cold. You decide to go find Scratch.
You walk into the theater and head up to your stage. There she was. She had her headphones plugged into the turntable and her head was bobbing. You walk up beside her and put your hoof on the turntable. She looks at the hoof and follows it up. Her eyes meet yours. They look heavy and worn out.
“Oh, hey. Looks like you’re awake.” She says while lowering her headphones.
“Yeah, how long have you been here?” You ask.
“Not too long, maybe an hour… Or three.” She says.
“Come on Vinyl, you need sleep. At least get an hour or two in before the show.” You say.
“Yeah, alright. I just need to finish this track, it’s almost done.” She replies.
“Okay, but don’t be too long. I’ll be at home.” You say.
You turn and leave the stage. You feel bad for Vinyl; she’s really wrapped up in this. How could you take some of the pressure off? Nothing came to mind.
When you arrived at the studio you see a massive black vehicle pass by, you’ve never seen anything like it. It was headed in the direction of the theater. You shrug it off and head inside.
A few hours pass before Vinyl gets home. She looks completely exhausted.
“Ah, Scratch you’re back. Good, now you need to sleep. I’ll wake you two hours before the show. Okay?” You say.
“Y-yeah, sounds good…” She trails off. She slowly walks past you, dragging her hooves along the way. You follow her, just to make sure she doesn’t pass out in the hall. She reaches the bedroom. She bumps her head into the door and it opens. She walks in and falls face first onto the bed. As soon as she hits the bed you hear snoring. You chuckle lightly and head back to the kitchen.
After about two hours you hear Vinyl wake up. She walks down the hall and into the kitchen. She looks at you and smiles lightly. You return the smile.
“So it’s about four hours ‘til the show. What do you want to do?” You ask.
“First, wake up. Then it’s all on you.” She replies.
“Sounds like a plan. We could spend some time in the booth and rehearse.” You say. Vinyl just nods and rubs her eyes. She yawns and heads for The Pit. You follow her.
When you get to The Pit you head for the booth and Vinyl heads for the controls. Your usual practice begins.
This was it. It’s now or never. The time has come for you two to head over to the theater for final sound check. Your stomach was in the tightest knot, your breathing became heavy and you broke out into a cold sweat. Vinyl seemed to feel the same, even though she had her glasses you see the nerves taking over.
The two of you now stand in front of the black pyramid that is the Chaos Theater. You hear Vinyl gulp. You can’t help but do the same. On the outside you were calm and collected, but on the inside you were tearing yourself apart. You look over at Vinyl, she looks back at you. You nod at her and head into the club.
When the two of you get to the stage you can see all the other performers. On the stage to your right was AlexS and Omnipony, on the stage to your left were Mic The Microphone and JackleApp, and on the stage directly across from yours was H8_Seed and General Mumble. But the hanging stage was still empty. There was equipment on the stage, but no ponies could be seen. Your heart skips a beat when you notice everyone looking at you. All these musicians you adored and never dreamed of meeting looking at you, it’s a surreal feeling.
You cock your head, cracking your neck. You walk up to the mic and begin sound checks.
After the check you can hear the other ponies talking. You head back stage with Vinyl. While waiting back stage you peek outside. With just under two hours till the show you notice a rather large line gathered outside. It seems to wrap around the building.
You notice a black and white griffon with a top hat walking towards you. It stops in front of you and looks down. A very intimidating sight indeed.
“Hey, name’s JackleApp.” The griffon says. He holds out his claw. You raise your hoof to meet his claw.
“Really? JackleApp is talking to me? It’s an honor sir.” You say, your voice laced with awe. He shakes your hoof.
“Heard of me? I’m no one special.” He says.
“No one special?! You’re one of my favourite musicians! In fact all my favourites are here tonight.” You say. He laughs at that.
“Well thank you, I see you’re performing with Vinyl. You new to this?” He asks
“Yeah, I’ve been to clubs but I’ve never performed.” You say.
“Ah, well it’s really simple. It’s better here because you don’t see the crowd. Just keep your head clear and don’t second guess yourself. If you mess up, who cares? Just remember to have fun.” He explains.
“Thanks for the tip. Good luck out there.” You say.
“Likewise. Now, where’s Mic?” He says before walking off.
Did that just happen? You think. You look over and see Vinyl staring off into space.
“How’re you holding up?” You ask her. She looks at you.
“I’m doing fine. I’ve calmed greatly.” She says.
“That’s good. Not much longer.” You say.
“Yeah, they’re opening the doors now.” She points out a small window. You look and see the line slowly moving forward.
After a few minutes of meeting all the other musicians you and Vinyl head out onto the stage. With only a few minutes before the show you have to get ready. You notice the middle stage now has a heavy black curtain covering it. You can’t see through it. You look at the other stages see everyone else getting ready. You limber up and take a few deep breaths.
The house lights turn off. It’s damn near pitch black now. Only a little bit of light is leaking up from the dance floor below. You look back at Vinyl; she seems to glow from the lights on the turntable. She was in her show form: Glasses on, main gelled forward, large smile on her face and her headphones around her neck.
You hear the crowd burst into cheers as you hear somepony announcing the performers. You see bright spotlights shine on AlexS and Omnipony. The crowd screams. You can’t see past the middle stage but you hear General Mumble and H8_Seed get announced. The crowd screams again. You see the lights shine on Mic and Jackle, and once again the crowd screams. Finally it was your turn.
The lights burst to life and shine upon you. You hear the crowd cheer, not as loudly, but still cheering. You see the cameras moving along a track, trying to capture every inch of the stage. You smile and wave. The crowd grows louder. You notice one of the mics starting to glow. It floats over to Vinyl.
“Let’s spin this shit!!” She yells into the mic. The crowd explodes into screams and cheers.
Suddenly a beat blasts out of your stage. You look around at the other stages. They too are playing music, but yours is loudest. That’s a good sign right?
Lasers and pot lights blinked and flashed to the beat. It was a weird feeling. You couldn’t feel your body anymore. So much adrenalin was pumping through your veins, you felt numb. Your beat started to fade, AlexS’ beat grew louder. As you all battled, bright spotlights shone on the middle stage.
You looked at the stage. The black curtain fell. As it got below the stages it turned into confetti and rained upon the crowd. You could only see a silhouette of two ponies. A wall of sound came from the center stage, overpowering all the other stages. The lights shine upon the stage. They light up two ponies.
It was Tombstone and Glaze. You hear Vinyl gasp over the music. You look back and see that she has a furious look on her face. You look back to the center stage. Tombstone is staring at Vinyl; a shocked look adorns his face. You feel your stage start to shake; Vinyl is turning every knob on the turntable to full, trying to overpower Tombstone and Glaze.
You hear your beats clearly; it’s your time to shine. You walk up to one of the mics, close your eyes and start to rap. Your stage lights up and grows louder. The increase in lights means you’re getting more attention, meaning you’re in the lead. You can’t hear anyone else anymore, just you and Tombstone. You’re living in the moment. You can no longer feel anything; it’s as if you’re floating on adrenalin. Your song ends, nothing following it. There’s just silence.
You hear Vinyl grunt before she blasts her new song. It’s pretty intense. You look over to the other stages. They’ve given up. It’s now a one on one battle. You have to do this, for you and for Scratch.
Tombstone nods at Glaze and an equally intense beat starts. You hear the crowd going nuts below. Your volumes are equal, that’s not a good sign. You need this to be louder. You step up to the mic and start a rap, pulling the lyrics from the top of your head. Your beat grows louder and louder.
It’s an orgy of sound at this point. The other musicians trying to gain a little ground now. You’re on top now, a far lead over Tombstone.
A few heart stopping hours later the show is over. The stages lower, fitting into the place where the projections were. You can see the crowd now, hundreds maybe even thousands of ponies are staring at you now. You look out over the crowd and wave. They all cheer and applause. You hear the announcer once again.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, we have seen these performers fight tooth and nail tonight. Let’s see who the victor is.” The crowd begins to scream and cheer. It was a little too much for you. You backed up a little, but stopped when you bumped into something. You look back and see Vinyl standing there. She smiles at you and pushes you back to the front of the stage. She stands beside you and waves at the crowd.
“Okay, starting at the bottom and working up the ranks. In last place we have General Mumble and H8_Seed! In third we have AlexS and Omnipony! In a very very close second we have Tombstone and Glaze!” The crowd gasps and goes silent. You look beside you and see Vinyl with her mouth agape. She looks at you and throws her arms around you. You wrap your arms around her too.
“That’s right folks. In first we have Vinyl Scratch!!!” The crowd erupts into cheers and applause. You hug Vinyl tightly; you can feel tears running down your back. You release her from the hug and look at her. You can see tears coming from behind the glasses.
“Vinyl, are yo-” You’re cut off when she put her hoof on your lips. She just nods and looks out to the crowd. She waves and smiles.
After the show you and Vinyl were backstage with the VIPs. Mostly just ponies that spent way too much bits on a backstage pass. You couldn’t help but notice all the other performers watching you. You break away from the crowd and trot over to the group of other performers. As you approach them they all wear smiles. They pull you into a group hug. You can’t help but smile.
“Good job out there.” You hear. You look over and see Glaze looking at you.
“Thanks, you guys did great as well.” You say. Glaze just nods and walks away. You continued to get showered with praise from the other performers.
You look over and see Vinyl and Tombstone in a heated argument. You think it’s better for them to work it out alone. You continue to hang with everyone else.
After an extra hour of signing autographs you and Scratch head home. When you get to the studio, both you and her freak out.
“Holy shit dude! We did it!” She yells.
“I know, I can hardly believe it myself.” You say excitedly.
“I couldn’t have done this without you.” She says. She turns and faces you.
“Yes you cou-” You were cut off when her lips touch yours. You close your eyes and enjoy the moment. She breaks the kiss and looks into your eyes.
“No I couldn’t.” She says. She wraps her arms around your neck and pulls you in for another kiss. You happily accept.
You’ve never been happier. This incredible mare has made something out of you, and you liked it. She was the one, the one you wanted to be with. You loved her with every fiber of your being. She touched something inside of you. She tapped into your pure untouched love.
“Vinyl. I love you.” You say. She looks at you and smiles playfully.
“I wub you too.”