//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Love Sick // by Mr. Self Destruct //------------------------------// Much time passed. The two had spent many, many months working together in the studio. She spent quite a few nights, some sleepless, as they worked on Love Sick. Vinyl Scratch took time during the project as well to ask questions and absorb the words that Soul shared with her on her music and how to better herself. Over the time, four parts of the Love Sick series were created. As for Vinyl Scratch’s music, with a bit of help from Soul, she refined and created some wonderful tracks herself that even Soul himself felt proud of. During this period, Soul had seen Vinyl Scratch grow into an incredible musician before his very eyes. He knew she had potential and felt extremely proud to be apart of helping her become so experienced in the art of music. After a while, he didn’t feel like she was a student; He never felt superior to her. With that demeanor, it created a mutual bond felt between the two of them. They cared for each other, even in a personal sense. They moved past the connection of just being a fan of his celebrity and created a close relationship. They obviously shared the love for music and enjoyed creating music together, even if they had to take breaks periodically. They spent time going out and having lunch or dinner with each other, going out for walks and just enjoying the scenery, or checking out local events that were put on by the town including celebrating holidays together. They always had plenty of time to just talk about each other, whether it was about their past, present, or future. Vinyl Scratch, by this time, probably knew more about Soul than most others. Soul really thought that Vinyl Scratch was going to go all the way with her musical career and wanted to help her take advantage of that. With all the time he has spent helping her in the studio, it was only right to get her some stage time and let her finally create a true onstage persona. He had planned a few local shows in different venues, just to have a little fun and play some tracks for the fans. Normally, he wouldn’t unveil anything new in shows like this or do anything major; as that was for the large tours of shows. However, he was going to let Vinyl Scratch open for these shows and play the music she worked so hard on. A week or so before the show, the two sat in the studio discussing the plan and set list. He hadn’t broken the news to her, he wanted it to be a surprise. As they sat side by side, he snuck it into conversation. “Alright. Well, the show is going to be a blast for the both of us. For the songs, I’d like to play a lot of my older stuff, from back when I first started. I figure I’ll play a lot of the music I usually miss out on when I play the larger shows.” DJ soul said. “Sounds awesome! It has been awhile since I’ve even had the chance to hear some of the original stuff. I’m excited to just see you on stage again, even though I’ve pretty much been here the whole time. I just can’t shake the emotions that come with being in that sort of atmosphere of everypony in a trance from your beats.” Vinyl Scratch replied. She leaned over to nudge him, winking, as she followed up with her next statement jokingly. “Does this mean I get to watch for free, eh, eh?” Soul laughed and held a smile as he gave a retort. “You really think I’d make you pay to come to the show. Of course it’s free. Because you’re in it.” She stopped and looked at him, perplexed. “Wait, how can I be in it? Am I mixing with you?” Soul shook his head. “No, no. You’re getting your own set. I want you to open for me.” She was nervous yet thrilled to hear that. At first, her apprehension spoke for her. “But my music sounds different compared to yours… Besides, the crowd is there to hear you! Do you think the crowd will respond well to me?” Soul stood up and stood in front of Vinyl Scratch. He placed his hooves gently on her shoulders as he spoke seriously.” “Your music is some of the most amazing music I have ever heard, and I say that with all my heart. You have a ton of potential to be a great musician; to be better than me. I know you’ll do it. These ponies need to hear what you have created. Your music is so energetic and upbeat that, with my music to follow, it is sure to bring them down from the adrenaline rush and into a relaxed state, creating a combination of bliss. In other words, don’t stress it; Things will work out.” Soul smiled then kissed Vinyl Scratch on the forehead, before looking her in the eyes. As she looked back up at him, she began to tear up and smile before sinking her face into him and hugging him as tight as she could. She was ecstatic and wanted to give him many words of gratitude but her emotions only allowed her three muffled words. “Thank you, Soul.” The night finally arrived, for her first performance on stage. The venue was small, much more personal, but a great place to start for Vinyl Scratch. They stood behind the curtain before it was time to start the show. Vinyl Scratch was nervous but she knew that it would go away when her music filled the room. Soul then spoke some final words before she took the stage. “Hey, don’t be nervous. Just make the stage yours, own the crowd, and the rest will follow. I know that you’ll do well, so don’t worry about it, Also… I got something for you.” He revealed a pair of glasses that were different than the ones he always wore nowadays. They had a much more spherical shape to the lenses unlike his which were much more rectangular. He place them on her head, resting just above her eyes, then continued. “A good luck charm. These were the glasses I used to wear when I first started playing live shows. Maybe they’ll serve you well like they did me.” She smiled then turned, about to take the stage. Before she did, Soul tugged her slightly and gave her one final remark. “Also… Knock ‘em dead.” Soul smiled with Vinyl Scratch nodding and taking stage. As she took the stage, the crowd continued to chatter, giving a light form of applause. A lot of them were just wondering who was on stage. Vinyl Scratch walked up to the turntables and got ready to start her set. She pulled the microphone in closer so she could introduce herself and get on with the set, but she was momentarily stopped by her own slight anxiety. She slowly eased herself into an introduction. “How is everyone--” A heckler in the crowd took advantage of her shyness and rudely cut her off. “Where’s Soul? Who’s this, another wannabe ‘DJ Pony’?” Vinyl Scratch was taken aback by the comment. Her attitude changed with that comment, however. She recovered from the surprise, then what aggravation she built from the comment allowed her to reply. In her head, she thought. ‘DJ Pony? I’m an electric artist. DJ P0N3 is more like it.’ Though it seemed a bit irrational of a name at first, she would use it as fuel in her follow up statement. She looked back at the heckler and decided to single him out. “You were pretty close, but DJ P0N3 is what I go by.” She knocked her glasses down over her eyes and put her headphones on. “Now it’s time to rock this damn place!” She accidentally created her name and with that brash display of character, she spun the tabletop and let the beat hit. The crowd was just as taken aback to the change of pace as Vinyl Scratch was to the comment earlier. She started to bob her head with the beat as well. The crowd slowly started to take to the music; though it was much different to the slow, nostalgic, and natural sound of Soul, this still hit all the right feelings and created a very upbeat and invigorating atmosphere. The beat continued, speed building up. Everyone started to feel the electricity and really connected to the music; bobbing their heads faster and harder with the beat. It was then that the beat dropped and the bass pounded the chest of everyone, forcing them to jump and grow into a controlled chaos. Even Vinyl Scratch couldn’t help but jump and feel the beat. She looked back at the crowd, who were not too sure who this pony was, as they welcomed her with open arms when they realized the talent that Soul first saw. Through all of the pulse pounding adrenaline, Soul stood by and watched. He looked almost out of place as he was only bobbing his head and smiling. He was just as into it as everyone else, however he was such a calm pony, that he was easily keeping his physical composure. Inside, however, he was overwhelmed with the majestic sight. Vinyl was a hit for her debut. Vinyl knew she had time for only a couple more songs, since she was just an opening act. She made sure not to lose momentum and made sure that each of the songs faded into one another. The party was nonstop and many ponies were enveloped. She played to the crowd and the energy was at it’s peak. She managed to keep it there for the entirety of her set. Once it was over and the beat dropped out into utter silence, the crowd showed their thanks for such a hell of a show with the biggest applause they could muster. Vinyl Scratch stood there, throwing her hoof in the air to return the gratitude that they crowd had shown her. She mouthed ‘thank you’ to the crowd, forgetting she had a microphone, though it was pretty much impossible for anyone to have heard her over such a rapturous crowd. She then walked behind the curtain to Soul and hugged him before he then made his way out to the crowd. Just when the crowd was about to close their cheering, they steadily kept it up with the appearance of DJ Soul. He smiled to the crowd and yelled in respond. “How are you guys tonight?!” The crowd tried to scream louder though it was already at the peak. He chuckled to himself as he realized he was going to refer to Vinyl Scratch as a name he had only just heard her make up. “DJ P0N3 everybody!” He paused before continuing. The crowed quieted down, allowing DJ Soul to speak. “I want to thank her so much for opening the show tonight. She is just too amazing…” He turned to look at her as he spoke the end of his sentence. As he looked back at the crowd, he opened up a simple beat to start his set. As the set progressed, he managed to take everypony from the fast paced mood that Vinyl Scratch created down to the slow euphoria that Soul was known for creating and perfecting. They were now stuck in the atmosphere that Soul would usually create in all of his shows, the crowd back to slowly moving with the blissful beats. Once the set was over, and the mood finally settled, ponies were joyously lined up to see Soul who was with this up and comer known as ‘DJ P0N3’. They both were mingling with the crowd. It was weird for Vinyl Scratch as she started out being the one pushing through the crowd to meet Soul and now, she was creating a name and they wanted to meet her to remember it. By no means was she as big as DJ Soul, but it was really humbling to be a notable pony; more so, to be well-known along side DJ Soul. As the crowd left, so did Soul and Vinyl Scratch. Being local, they began to walk home together. “You know, I told you that you would do well. The crowd loved you; I mean it, you were simply incredible up there. “ Soul said. “Thanks! Don’t discredit yourself though; you were great as always. That was really intense. I’ve never felt anything like that!” Vinyl Scratch replied, thrilled in her response. “Well, if you want to give it a shot, would you like to open up the other couple of shows as well? It’d be really mean a lot to me if you did, honestly. It’s so refreshing to see such a pumped up crowd like that from the point of a fan. I don’t get to attend other artist’s concerts since I’m constantly busy on my projects.” Vinyl Scratch giggled slightly before responding. “You know I would be honored.” As the next couple of weeks went by, so did the performances. The performances sold out and lived up to the expectation of greatness. The fan base of DJ Soul started to recognize a new name in town: DJ P0N3. Many ponies rushed to meet her to see just who this new DJ was. People also started to recognize that this duo would go on to do something great, very soon. After the shows were done, they were back in the studio and ready to work on the next project. It hadn’t been very long since their last few shows when somepony contacted Soul at the studio and spoke with him about a charity event for the underprivileged. They asked about having him not only play, but do so for free. However, this show was far out of the way and he had to travel out to see the venue and how he would set up in advance. As he returned back to the room with Vinyl Scratch, he told her about the event. “So, how does it sound? I am extremely excited! You definitely have to be there as well!” Soul spoke with his unwavering attitude as always. “You know I support you all the way! Of course I’ll be there. When do they want you down there?” “Well, the event is a month or so off but I’m going to leave in a couple of days by train to go ahead and see the venue. I need to know just how much equipment to bring and what I can actually fit into the venue. I figure I’ll just head down in the morning and come in late at night. By train, it shouldn’t be too long if I leave early enough. Is that okay?” Vinyl Scratch hugged Soul affectionately. “Yeah, yeah.” She gave a quick chuckle before continuing. “Just promise to be careful and be back home soon.” “Hey, don’t worry about me. You’ll barely notice that I’m gone.” Finally, the morning of Soul’s departure arrived. The sun barely peaked the horizon, leaving a grey morning sky when Soul decided to get up to leave. Vinyl Scratch stayed the night in the guest room of Soul’s home that night, like a lot of nights. Soul slinked into her room quietly, though she had opened her eyes slowly to see Soul. Tiredly, she gave a bright smile as Soul went to her bedside and leaned in to speak. “It’s time for me to go. Like I said, I’ll be back soon… I’ll miss you, though.” Soul whispered. Vinyl smiled even more at the comment, slightly blushing as well. “You know I’ll miss you… Hey, like I said. Be careful okay? Hurry back.” She responded, still a bit groggy. They continued to look at each other, Soul leaning down into a hug. Instead, he met her lips, kissing her gently. Vinyl Scratch was surprised but not unhappy with him. Instead she let her hooves grasp his shoulders, as the kiss lasted moments longer. As they came apart, they didn’t speak. They shared a comfortable moment of silence before their smiles spoke for them. Soul turned, then left the home on his trip out of town. Vinyl Scratch figured that she would have the whole day to be lazy since Soul was going to be gone. Instead of being up early to work, she turned over and slowly drifted back into a tranquil sleep. It was almost the afternoon when she finally woke up. Vinyl Scratch sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes and stretching with a morning yawn to relieve some of the fatigue of sleeping in. She walked into the kitchen, preparing some hot tea. She had spent so much time around Soul and his home that she was drinking a lot more tea with him. More so, she was used to the habit of one of them making it and it being ready for the mornings. She always felt it was so overly formal to drink tea and used to laugh at the idea, but thanks to Soul, it was something that very quickly grew on her. She took her tea with her to the studio and leisurely laid back in one of the chairs, sipping away and playing back the Love Sick tracks in order. They blended beautifully and made a great sound to wake up to. After some time had passed, she finished the music, finished her tea, and soon afterwards, left the studio to stroll around the town to enjoy the beautiful day. She usually was by the side of Soul, but wasn’t worried since she knew he’d be back soon. There was a couple times where she replayed her morning when she saw Soul and couldn’t help but crack a smile to the thought which kept her feeling bubbly throughout her day. As day turned to night, she had a lovely dinner out by herself at a local place that Soul took her to a while back. When she arrived, the staff remembered her and treated her by name as they did Soul. She was somewhat known locally now, which had people greeting her when she was out every now and again; some people bringing up how her performance was great or how they can’t wait to see another. It really boosted her confidence and definitely made her day much brighter. By nighttime, she was back at the home of Soul. She was expecting that he’d be home soon. However, time passed and it became later into the night. She didn’t think much of it. In fact, she figured he got caught up and stayed in the other town and would leave in the morning. She woke up to a knock at the door. She abruptly opened her eyes and sat upright. However, she figured that Soul would answer since he was usually up early anyhow. That wasn’t the case, as the knocking continued. She then got up and worked her way to the door. As she opened the door, she saw two well dressed stallions with a serious demeanor on both of their faces. One of them cleared their throat and spoke. “Hello. You must be Vinyl Scratch.” At first, she was surprised. A moment of silence passed before she could retort. “Um, yes sir…” They looked at each other and then back at Vinyl Scratch. “Well then. We work with local law enforcement and they sent us over here to speak with you. May we come in?” “Of course.” Vinyl Scratch said, stepping aside. They entered, seating themselves in the living room of the home with Vinyl Scratch following suit. She was the first to reengage the conversation. “Is everything alright?” The two stallions looked down, dejected from what they were about to tell her. “No ma’am. We have some unfortunate news about Soul…” Instead of letting them finish, she was quick to respond with a worrisome “What do you mean?” They realized the distressed state they were beginning to put her in. They quickly followed up and continued. “Early yesterday morning, there was an accident. Soul took a train which was making it’s final stop into Canterlot. However, it never made it. On the outskirts of the one of the smaller outlaying towns, a few of the rear cars of the train derailed from a turn. The equipment that hitches the cars was faulty, thus causing the accident. Since it was early, not many people were on board and those cars specifically were nearly empty. They tumbled down the embankment and initially, everyone survived the ordeal when local law enforcement arrived. However, they were unable to receive additional transport in time and Soul passed away on the scene. They stopped the train very quickly and came back to help those injured. Officials on the scene were surprised that Soul was able to survive after the impact, much less stay conscious.” The two stallions paused. For several seconds, Vinyl Scratch was in complete shock. As the two went further into their statement, her eyes started to well up before she could no longer hold back tears. She looked down to try to cover her face as the two stallions finished. She was in utter disbelief; almost denial. She certainly didn’t want to believe it was true. “I’m so sorry ma’am… Do you have someone you can stay with?” The two stallions spoke. One of them leaned in to rest his hoof on her shoulder, which Vinyl Scratch just ignored. She didn’t look up at first as she spoke, but tried to wipe her tears and look up as she responded. “No, I’ll be fine here.” The two faltered. They had more they were supposed to say but didn’t want to hurt the mare anymore. Despite that, they had obligations to continue. “Ma’am, Soul did have some final words with one of the passengers.” Vinyl Scratch just sat there, trying to compose herself, though she could feel herself losing the ability to. “He said, ‘Just tell Vinyl Scratch that I’ll always watch over her and that I love her. It’ll all be okay, so don’t feel down. I’m sure the view will be beautiful on the other side.’ before he finally succumbed to the injury. The passenger said that he could tell Soul didn’t think he was going to make it when he helped pull him from the car.” Vinyl Scratch cringed up in the chair and openly began to weep when she heard that. She was much too overwhelmed by what he said. More so that she had to deal with the fact that she wouldn’t see him ever again. She didn’t hold back as she cried. The stallion that had his hoof on her moved to her side to try to calm her down and comfort her. The other that sat across from her looked away, feeling woeful for having to be the one to deliver the news. No one said anything, as she needed to let it out instead of a simple sorry. “If I may, can I be alone?” She said. The two stallions then stood. “Of course, if that’s what you would like. We will have information sent to you on the funeral. Will you still be staying here or at your residence?” “I’ll be here.” Normally, she would go home every now and again, but she wasn’t ready to let go and wouldn’t be for a while. When the two stallions left and she closed the door behind them, she went back to bed, tears still falling down her face. As she crawled back into her sheets, she wrapped her arms around a pillow as tight as she could and started to force herself back to sleep. She whispered to herself aloud, as though Soul could hear her. “Soul, I love you too. I wish I could of just said goodbye…” As a week went by, many grieved. Ponies that were fans of his music periodically stopped by to drop flowers by his front door. Vinyl Scratch soon vacated the home and went back to hers, as it was starting to effect her to stay in his home. She was already depressed and she didn’t want the good memories to be tainted by the bad ones in that home. Despite her emotions, she wanted to attend the funeral. It was set to be a private funeral for friends and family. She pulled herself together, dressed well and prepared to go to the funeral. Within the church lay the casket, which was closed, as family and friends adorned in black began to enter and take their seats. Vinyl sat on the second row, behind some of the ponies that were very close friends to Soul and Vinyl knew as well. One of them specifically turned and pat her on the shoulder with the look of empathy before turning back in their seat. A few people cried through out the program and a few people spoke. It wasn’t until the end of the speakers when Vinyl Scratch was invited up to speak. She wasn’t informed that she was going to be asked to do so but wasn’t against it. She stood slowly, doing everything meticulously in such a fashion that her emotions were showing. She walked upon the podium, looked up the grieving ponies, and gave a moment of silence before she made her statement. She exhaled, which could be heard through the speakers before leaning into the microphone. “Soul was an incredible stallion. Simply put. He meant so much to me personally, not just as my favorite artist, but as the stallion that-…” She paused, as what she would say next would bring tears to her eyes once more. “… as the stallion that I fell in love with. He taught me so much about music and the way he felt about music in general was just so inspiring that he couldn’t help but fill the darkest room with the brightest light. He was just so positive and he emulated that positive vibe to everypony he came in contact with. The last words he spoke, he said that he’d always be watching from above and if that’s the case, I just want to say one more thing to him…” She stopped once more and looked back at everypony with tears still in her eyes. Though her lips quivered, she found the strength to compose herself and continue. “Soul, I just want you to know that we all love and miss you. If you are watching over us, which I’m sure it really is a beautiful view, I just want you to know that from now on, I’ll take the stage only in honor of you. Just know that you were one of a kind and you will always live in our hearts and I must tell you Soul. You really did live beautifully. Again, I love you Soul.” She turned away and started to tear up more, but left the podium and started to return to her seat once again. Despite it being a private funeral, outside the visitation and burial was a large group of ponies all showing their respect for Soul. Though they weren’t allowed to attend the viewing or the burial, they stood by quietly through the entire service. Some of them even held flowers to place upon the grave, even though there was an ensemble of flowers to adorn his front door. Vinyl Scratch learned that the studio would be put in her name, as it was the wish of Soul. Even though she spoke of taking the stage in honor of Soul, she never stepped back on stage after his funeral. Much less, she never even returned back to the studio. She couldn’t bear to keep being reminded of all the great things that took place in that house between the two of them. She stayed at home each and everyday, trying to block it all from her mind. Usually, it didn’t work and she would find it extremely difficult to sleep or to do so without crying. Unfortunately, she was taking his death the hardest. She was so used to waking up and seeing him there, sharing tea with him in the mornings, strolling around town with him, making beautiful creations of music with him, having a lunch at a local restaurant with him, and most importantly, she was used to having the one she loved around. After all this, music was the last thing on her mind. She felt as though her music career was over. Months would pass before something amazing would happen. Vinyl Scratch decided that she wanted to see Soul once again. She left one morning to visit Soul’s gravesite. As she approached the tombstone, she sat beside it, instead of in front, and leaned against it. She lifted the glasses that Soul gave her from her eyes and rested them on her head. Looking at her, you could tell that the depression was eating away at her. She looked fatigued and feeble. She wasn’t sleeping as much, and her appetite was nearly gone. She spent most days just staying inside, only barely getting by. As she sat by the tombstone, she spoke directly to Soul. “How have you been?” She paused as though she would get a response. Soon after, she just continued speaking. “I miss you so much… I just wish you would come back. It’s so different without you here. I haven’t really been able to accept it, you know? I don’t want it to be true, like this is some sick nightmare. That maybe I’ll just wake up and everything will be back to normal. I just don’t know what to do now. I just want to be able to see you one more time, hug you one more time… kiss you one more time. I should of went with you…” After that, she just sat there. She stayed there, leaned up against the tombstone. Eventually, after an hour or so, she started to slowly doze off. It was then when something happened. She started to hear something- no, someone. It was a voice, one that she recognized. “Vinyl… I can’t stand to see you like this. I know it hurts but you’ll be okay. It was just my time to move on from Earth. However, you’re a strong girl. I know you can overcome this. Just because you can’t see me day to day or spend time like we used to doesn’t mean that I’m not here, and it doesn‘t mean that our times together are over. Remember, I said I’d always watch over you and I’ve held up my side of the bargain. Please, just pull yourself together.” Vinyl Scratch tried so hard to wake herself up, yet she was in too deep of a sleep to force herself awake. “Finally, I can sit at your shows as a fan and listen. After all, I was right. This really is the best seat in the house. Promise me that you’ll continue to make music. You shouldn’t throw everything away, you’re better than that. Like I said, I’ll always be here watching over you. Remember, I love you Scratch. With all my heart.” A jolt shot through Vinyl Scratch’s body, waking her up and making her jump just a bit. Reflexively, she looked around. It sounded all too real for him to not be here. She didn’t know what just happened. Was it just a dream? Was all of that in her head? Was he really just there? It was somewhat of a shock to her. She didn’t know what to do. All she did, however, was sit there and wait.