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// Rotten Music 
// Story: The Record Of Rotting 
// by Wendigo Studios 
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The streets of Las Pegasus were busier than they usually would be on a Saturday night, hell even the most popular attractions the city of craziness and fun have to offer to the ponies who lived and were simply visiting because they had family living there or simply wanted a vocation didn’t have many visitors. In fact, many ponies who were strolling down the streets were all going in the same direction, but not to the busy attractions, but to a bar. 

There was a very good reason for that, as the citizens were gathering around the Lit Hoof Of Wonders, the most famous bar in all of Las Pegasus, the sight of a white unicorn with an electric blue mane and dark purple shades covering her magenta irises was taking the center stage. Just the sight of the unicorn would be enough to create a crowd of excited fans, but this mare wasn’t one for making subtle entrances, not like her roommate Octavia.

If one came closer to the bar, they would probably be blown away by the thumping beats and strong winds that came blasting out from the large speakers that were attached to the wide turntable the mare was standing behind. The beats were turned up by the volume dial on the turntable, blasting the music so loud that nearly the entire city could hear it even from a distance. The speakers thumped so violently, they nearly fell over onto the ground or busted from how loud the music had gotten. Music at this volume was sure to blow everypony’s ears out or completely drown out words that somepony or another was trying to say if they weren’t screaming at the top of their lungs.

By this point, the ponies in the crowd were raising their front hooves into the air and screaming at the top of their lungs as they chanted the front mare’s name: “Vinyl Scratch! Vinyl Scratch! Vinyl Scratch!” Vinyl Scratch or Dj Pon-3 or more unknowingly Valentino as she was only known by Octavia Melody and the very few friends who knew her full history and where she came from, gave a smirk to the crowd of ponies who had gathered around to hear her beats this night. The dj pony slipped her headphones over her ears and started jamming out behind her turntable, her electric blue mane and tail and purple shades bouncing in response to her movements.

Behind her shades, her magenta irises were shut tightly and the rest of her facial expression of pure joy and excitement, the feelings she would usually get when at her concerts, unlike the serious, more boring concerts her roommate Octavia would host at Ponyville from time to time. Yes, Vinyl might’ve loved Octavia and was her roommate for life, but there were times that the dj pony needed a break from Octavia and life in general such as right now. While the gray mare was performing her concert In Ponyville, Vinyl was having the time of her life like she usually did at her concerts, never a dull moment in her life. 

When the playlist finally ended, Vinyl lifted the record from the turntable and pulled out her latest one she had gotten from a nearby record store in Las Pegasus just for this occasion, she set it on the disc player and dropped the needle on it, fully prepared to start the rave party up once again, eat, sleep, rave, repeat or at least, Vinyl thought it was going to be another rave party in Las Pegasus. However, when the song started up, the crowd of ponies including Vinyl herself became instantly confused when a soft music box song played from the speakers.

Vinyl turned her gaze to the turntable, took a good look at the disc she had placed on the turntable just to ensure the needle was fully on it. Once she was sure, Vinyl reached over to the volume bar and turned it up to the max, yet despite that, the song was still hard for everypony to hear. The crowd stood in place at Vinyl’s speakers, some were huddling together in little groups, muttering to themselves about the strange music while others simply stared up at the bar stage watching as Vinyl paused her show to fiddle with both her turntable and the new record, wondering if the record was scratched or damaged in some way before or after she bought it and probably fussing over the fact that she had wasted her well-earned bits on a scratched record as well as muttering to herself about getting a refund if it were possible.


Yet as the white unicorn set her hoof on the needle to lift it off the record so she could remove it, the music suddenly stopped. The ponies of Las Pegasus all stopped muttering to each other at the sudden change of events, tilting their gazes up to the stage and Vinyl herself struggling with everything going on. Vinyl Scratch almost paused in her removing the record when her ears picked up on the music stopping, an eyebrow raised underneath her shades but after a few seconds, she continued at her task of removing the disc.

This night was confusing enough already, but Vinyl became even more confused when the damn needle wouldn’t come up. Taken aback by this but slowly growing more frustrated by her night slowly turning to shit, the dj mare tugged at the needle a little harder, thinking the thing got stuck somehow which sure as hell didn’t make any damn since as Vinyl swore the record wasn’t sticky when she bought it, did something happen to it in her supplies when she came out to Las Pegasus for her concert? She didn’t know and she didn’t think so.

Now completely frustrated like she never had been before in her life when the needle didn’t budge, the white mare gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes in frustration under her shades, grasping the needle with both of her front hooves and tugged at the thing with all of the strength she had. After what felt like a few minutes of just simply the needle, Vinyl’s horn lit and in seconds, the needle was engulfed in pink magic. Vinyl gritted her teeth further and focused all her concentration on pulling the needle off the record.

The result was the same, the needle didn’t budge an inch but that didn’t stop the stubborn mare from continuing to try. That was her horrible last mistake, as Vinyl’s magic became even stronger, the music started up once again but without Vinyl’s command. However, it wasn’t the type of music one would expect from the dj mare, instead everyone’s ears were assaulted by the sound of what sounded like somepony banging on a piano with both front hooves mixed in with a haunting music box slowing down and decaying. Pain racked moans of what Vinyl and the other ponies could assume to be from other ponies and creatures soon joined the haunting melody as it filled everypony’s ears.

At the first sounds of the piano, ponies in the crowd nearly jumped out of their skin from surprise and fear. Several of them got smart and took off running for the hills, others stayed frozen in place like an unknown force was keeping them in place. Vinyl, despite herself, decided it was time to pack up and retreat. Her horn ignited in an intense glow, her magic grabbing everything she could gather before she started to bolt. However as the white unicorn raced to the exit, the hell song had finally but abruptly stopped.

In seconds, the white unicorn stopped in her tracks and turned her gaze back to the stage, her horn still glowing as her telekinesis had finally managed to lift the needle off the record and removed it from the turntable, bringing the thing over to her at last. Vinyl would’ve breathed a sigh of relief, however the unicorn suddenly paused as her nose caught the smell of rotten decay hit her like a truck and her magic nearly died on her. Vinyl lifted her gaze to below the stage and wished she didn’t as her wide eyes caught sight of several rotten bodies of her former guests lying on the ground of the bar.