//------------------------------// // The Transformation // Story: A Streetmare Named Desire // by Fat_Zack //------------------------------// The squeaky door Of "Vinyl's Vinyls" record shop opened with a clinking of the bell, signifying that a customer was entering. Scootaloo had her bitpurse in her saddlebag from school. She had saved up a lot of bits to repair her banged-up scooter and had a little surplus, and you know what money does to your pockets. She glanced over the store with much interest in her eyes; she took in the scents of the vinyl, the sight of different colored record covers in their multi-hued milk crates, the sound of DJ PON-3 scratching blank records in the back, waiting for customers to buy something; she loved it all already. She perused the shop with feigned interest at all of the records, concealing the fact that she didn't know where the punk albums were. She went down the genres; Alternative, Blues, Classical (Her view of these records crowded by a mare with a musical note for her cutie mark), Dubstep (which had it's own section to itself), Electronica, Grunge, Light rock, Rock, Pop, Punk, Rap... She paused a moment. PUNK! She had found her destined section, but she was disappointed to find that it only spanned a milk crate and a half, while most other sections had five or six crates. She figured it was because of the massive twelve crates of Dubstep crowding the store that punk was so little at the time, but she wondered to herself if the music was as good as Rainbow Dash made it sound. It could be possible that many ponies didn't like punk because maybe it was bad music...Or maybe it sold so many records that they didn't have that many left. Either way, she still HAD to give it a try. She decided to rifle through the contents of the one and a half crates, finding a record by Baaaad Religion called "Suffers", depicting a pony standing on fire, looking at her normal street. She thought it was weird, as the symbolism didn't sink in. She picked up the vinyl with her teeth, setting it on her back as she looked for more. She found an album by the Rampones, the cover art of the record showcasing the four stallions that made up the band leaning up against a wall in black and white, all wearing the same clothing, yet they didn't look like a boy band.The album didn't have a name on it, so she guessed it was a self-titled album. It was interesting, and she thought the stallions weren't that bad looking, so she snagged it and threw it with the other record. She delved further and flipped through many albums that didn't catch her eye until she came upon a record from a band with a blasphemous name, The Dead Princesses. The album's name was "Give me choices or Give Me Cake". Scoots wondered if that was a jibe to Princess Celestia's cake obsession she wrote about as Gabby Gums, but dropped the thought and looked at the art on it. It showed a pony's floating head with barbed wire over it's smile, wrapping around it's face. The background showed a barren, broken street of Canterlot. It was an eerie album, but she decided to buy it anyways, to get a feel of the extremities of punk. She reached the end of the first crate when she pulled the record out, so she looked ahead at the half-crate. Nothing interested her of the ten or so there but the last album, a record by the Everfree Misfits. This album, "Famous Creatures", showed the band looking menacingly at the viewer in full Nightmare Night costumes and makeup. But there was something weird about these costumes, Scootaloo thought; they look a lot scarier than the regular ones ponies wear. And their manes were weirder than buck, too! Two of the band-mates had their manes pointed to a spike and falling over their faces like a ridiculously thin ponytail, but in the front. The overall creepiness of the ponies made her want to buy the album for some strange reason. She placed it back with the others and trotted briskly to the counter where Vinyl Scratch sat, snoozing on the job. She quietly placed the records on the counter and cleared her throat to rouse the sleeping disk jockey that served as the check-out pony. As she did not stir Scootaloo cleared her throat again, but louder. Failing this, she bellowed, "Wake UP!!" She woke up with a start," Hummina Whuh?" she asked blearily, rubbing her eyes open with her hooves. "Oh, Scootaloo, hey kid. Whatcha buying?" Scootaloo pointed out the albums on the counter, "Uh, just these," she said, returning to her regular demeanor. "Aaaaalirght, Scootaloo, nice choices..." She bounded, pulling up her sunglasses while scanning Scoots' selected items with her Red eyes. "Hey, you know we have a deal today on first-time buyers, right? " Scootaloo shook her head no in response, so Vinyl smiled and said, "Well good news for you, we got this deal going on today, and only today. If you buy three records, you get one free!" Scootaloo quickly counted the records she had and gave a mini-squee in her head. 'I have four, today is my lucky day!' She spouted, "So i get a free one? Alright!" Vinyl chuckled as she looked at the prices on the three records that she'd have to pay for, and she told Scoots the price of 12 bits. She pooled out half of her saved up bits and gave the DJ pony her fare for music. Scootaloo left the establishment with a bag in her mouth, a smile in her face, and hope in her head. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been two hours since Scootaloo had gotten to her foster home, she greeted all of the fillies and colts that lived with her, and busily completed her homework while waiting for her turn to use the record player. The two older colts, whom she despised, usually hogged it with their rap music. She thought that it was a good thing that they were nearly adult stallions and would have to leave, and she cursed Celestia that they were twins. She absent-mindedly started doing her arithmetic homework, solving simple equations while trying to keep her eyes off of the clock. Finally, curiosity got the better of her. She looked up at the wall and saw that it was 6:29 PM. Come on, she thought. Just one...more...minute... Tick, Tock. Tick, Tock. Tick, Tock...Bing Bong! The clock had finally chimed for 6:30! Scootaloo closed her book and rushed downstairs. After many disgruntled complaints an, "Just one more minute!"-s from the twins, she had the record player all to herself and away from the rap-lovers. She had set the records out underneath the record player's table, and she pulled them from their spot. She considered each of them thoughtfully and decided to start out with the Rampones record. She slid it out of it's sleeve and placed it gently in the contraption. She adjusted the needle and sat down in front of the record player expectantly. The first sharp chords came up, and Scootaloo closed her eyes and was whisked away by the first song Blitzkrieg Boop. Her mind was in a whole other place, taken away by the music. She rocked her head with the music and by the second verse she started singing along with them, "I! Oh! Let's go!" She was disappointed that the song had to end, but she listened to the rest of the album and got a few more songs to like. She was surprised that by the time she had gotten done listening to both sides, only 30 minutes have passed. She only had her turn on the record player for another half hour, so she had to make a decision on what to listen to. The Dead Princesses or Baaaad Religion? She chose Baaaad Religion. She popped in Suffers and sat back down. This band was a lot faster and the singer had a rougher voice, and to her it sounded awesome. She could tell by the lyrics that this band was into politics, because they were always referencing how nopony sees the corrupt side of Equestria, and that life is worse here than it seems. She especially liked the song "1000 More Foals". She was about three quarters of the way done with the album when her turn ended and it was time for dinner. Her first act of rebellion was ignoring the dinner bell and listening to the rest of the album. * * * * * A day had passed, nothing unusual had happened; Scootaloo told Sweetie Belle and Applebloom about the music she was listening to and they gave her funny looks but that usually happened when she brought up weird things. Jaxx wasn't at school today, the word going around was that he had played hooky. Scootaloo had skipped her usual walk home, her scooter now fully repaired and slightly shinier than usual. She had another destination in mind...A certain Boutique she wanted to visit.