Part 2
Chapter 6: First for Everything
It has been one week since Vinyl and Dash began seeing each other. They mainly hung out at Vinyl’s house, talking hours on end about everything in their life. Dash usually was the one talking though, and Vinyl would sit back and listening, smiling the entire time. Dash’s wing was still injured for the entire week, but instead of going away from the subject of flying to not sadden herself, she dived into more so than ever before. If Dash ever ran out of things to say, Vinyl would play one of her own songs to keep her going but instead made Dash give out uncountable amounts of praise. Vinyl has yet to publish any of her personal works but she is being encouraged to.
This morning, they were headed for Sugar Cube Corner to eat and talk like usual, but in public to hopefully run into one of Dash’s closest friends. They have just entered when a hot pink mare jumped in front of them, bouncing in joy.
“Oh my gosh! Dashie! I haven’t seen you in, like, an entire week! Hehehe! I haven’t spoken to you in longer! I did see you a week ago but you were leaving Sugar Cube Corner with the mare next to you and I saw the big old meanie Gilda on the ground and I was like, ‘Ooooooh, what did they do?’ and I heard later that the mare next to you beat her up and I’ve been meaning to say ‘Wow, awesome!’ but I haven’t seen you until so I have to say it now! I heard it was awesome!” Pinkie got right into Dash’s face, giving a huge smile and then letting out a laugh.
Unable to react, Dash and Vinyl looked at each other questionably. Practically like a guardian angel, Rarity stepped out from behind the restaurant counter, giving her most prissy pout look while putting her hoof against her forehead. “Ooooh, Pinkie dear. Would you please stop talking so much. You’re giving us all such the headache.”
“Oh, don’t be like that Rarity! I haven’t seen Dashie in fooooorevvvvvver! Oh! And who’s your marefriend?”
Dash flared up like a fireball, blushing dark crimson. “What? N-No! It’s not l-“
Vinyl interrupted by laughing, starting to walk past Pinkie to get to her booth. “It is like that, and my name is Vinyl Scratch. I’m, yes, the rainbow ball’s marefriend. Pleased to meet you.” She sat down in booth, propping her legs on the table and leaning back as much as she could. Dash continued to blush but happily instead of embarrassingly. She quickly followed behind, sitting right next to the unicorn, pushing her playfully.
Seeing the goggled unicorn, Rarity ran up to the table, smiling. “Oooh, a marefriend? Well, I have to say, although they’re not exactly my style, those goggles actually quite compliment your mane. I love those cool colors.”
Pinkie bumped into Rarity, getting into her face also. “Oh, silly! Goggles can’t compliment a mane! They can’t talk!”
In response, Rarity merely placed her hoof against her face, sighing. “Oh my, dear, you have so much to learn.”
Vinyl swung her legs back under the table, sitting up right. “Glad to meet you two. How about we talk with some treats? I’m hungry. Do you have s-“
“Coming right up!” Pinkie zoomed into the kitchen and came back with a platter of cupcakes in less than two seconds. “Wupwakes! On ve vouse!” she yelled with a the platter still in her mouth. She set it down in the middle of the table, Rarity and Pinkie sitting down across from the couple. Everyone except Dash grabbed a cupcake, quickly starting to munch on it.
Nudging Dash, Vinyl pushed the cupcake towards her. “Why aren’t you gonna have the cupcake?”
“Oh…Not really in the mood for it right now.” She pushed the cupcake back again, sinking into her seat.
“How come, hun?”
“Well, just something I read a few days ago…” Dash winced a bit. “I’d rather not get into it.”
“Oh, come on, Dash. What could ever be bad about a cupcake? Pinkie Pie probably made these cupcakes just from us.”
Dash winced again, sinking lower. “Yeah…or from us.”
“What do you m-“
Rarity interrupted loudly, pointing at Dash’s wing. “Oh goodness! What happened to your wing, dear? Was it from that air event? Some ruffian push you into the ground?”
“Weelllll…” Dash’s voice went extremely quiet, barely louder than Fluttershy’s voice. “I fell asleep while flying…”
“What Dashie? We can’t hear you! You need to speak louder, like me!”
“I fell asleep while flying…”
“Y’know, dear, it would help if you spoke at your normal speaking voice,” Rarity said.
Vinyl blurted out, grinning mischievously. “She fell asleep while flying because she was thinking of beautiful old me.”
Dash’s cheeks turned to the darkest crimson possible, popping herself into an upright position. “I did not!”
“Ooooh, Dash! I think that’s the darkest blush I’ve seen you ever turn. You’re adorable blushing! You’re even blushing more than when I found out you use tongue!” Dash couldn’t speak now, simply sinking into her seat, pouting.
Rarity blushed a bit also, chuckling before saying. “Now, girls. Don’t give us too much information, alri-“
“OOOOOOOH MY GOODNESS! Tell us ever detail!” Pinkie was now hopping with so much excitement, she couldn’t contain herself (although she didn’t exactly try).
Vinyl couldn’t help but start uncontrollably laughing, Rarity trying to contain her laughter the best she could while Dash continued to pout. Vinyl hit the table, trying to let out all of the humor. Pinkie Pie looked at the three of them, chuckling innocently. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh…Oh, nothing, pink one,” Vinyl said. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Pinkamina Diane Pie! Pinkie Pie, for short!”
“And why do you always yell?”
Pinkie gasped loudly, getting a surprised look. “I’ve been yelling?! Goodness, I’m sorry! I’m gonna try to stop yelling, but it’s so hard for me because I love to have fun and yelling is part of a party and-“
“Pinkie?” Rarity interrupted.
“Yes Rarity?”
“You can be quiet now, deary.”
“Oh! Okay!” She pulled a zipper out of nowhere and pretended to zip her mouth close…Well, she actually did. Somehow.
Snorting a bit from laughing, Vinyl took another bite of her cupcake, wiping away a tear from her eyes. “Oh, you guys are great. And don’t worry, me and Dash here haven’t even kissed. She isn’t exactly the smoothest pony around.” She chuckled, taking the last bite of cupcake she had.
Now it was Dash’s turn. She sat up right again, grinning as mischievously as ever when she wrapped her forelegs around Vinyl, pulling her into a deep passionate kiss in front of Dash’s two friends. She intended for the kiss only to last a second…but they both were caught in the moment, their forelegs wrapping around each other tightly. And Vinyl was right. Dash didn’t mean to, but she started using tongue. They kissed for what seemed like an hour, but really was only about 20 seconds before they pulled away from each other, blushing and smiling.
Rarity couldn’t help but watch and blush, putting her hooves to her mouth before saying, “Oh my…”
Pinkie stared wide-eyed, unzipping her mouth before practically shouting, “Holy guacamole!”
The two lovers realized they weren’t alone again, smiling at the other two innocently. “Well…Now we have, apparently,” Vinyl said. The table grew quiet, everyone just looking at each other, waiting for an ice breaker before Vinyl made the break. “And I was totally right about the tongue! Haha!”
Rarity giggled, turning her head away. “Oh, you two are a good couple. Your colors so do not match, but who am I to judge something like that?” She began pushing Pinkie out of the booth, scooting our herself. “Well, if you do excuse me, I have to get back to my work. Duty calls!” She trotted off, probably off to spread the gossip. Before she left, she peeked through the entrance and called over. “Oh, and dearest Rainbow? Go over to Twilight, she might be able to help you with your wing.”
“Oh good idea, Rarity! Thanks!” Slipping out of the booth quickly, she slid a few bits on the table. “Thanks Pinkie Pie for the cupcakes and all. I’ll see you around.” Vinyl slid out of the booth as well, placing a few more bits next to Dash’s.
“Thanks Pinkie. And don’t worry about those bits. I want you to have them.” She took Dash’s cupcake off of the table, biting off a bit before levitating it with her horn. “See ya around.” Vinyl and Dash trotted out of the store side by side.
Pinkie waved goodbye before yelling, “Bye Dashie! Bye Dashie’s marefriend! Oh, I meant Vinyl. Bye Vinyl!”
Chapter 7: Time Heals all Wounds…And So Does Magic
The two were walking together again towards Twilight’s house, practically touching each other’s sides. Like usual, the streets were moderately busy. Ponies leaving and entering various shops, visiting friends, colts trying to pick up the mares. Everyday life.
“So…Dashie,” Vinyl said inquiringly.
“Oh, geez, not you too. Pick that name up when Pinkie said it?”
Vinyl giggled innocently, pushing Dash with her hip. “Oh, it’s not that bad. But, yeah, what was with that kiss? I’m not implying you’re not one to make quick decisions, but that was unexpected.”
“Oh, that? It was nothing. Just thought I’d play a small joke on ya,” Dash replied triumphantly.
“Joke, huh? I think it was more than that. You’re tough on the outside, Dash, but you’re all flowers and rainbows in the inside. You’re not fooling me.”
“Pfft. You can think whatever you want, but I know what was up. It didn’t mean as much as you want it to.”
Vinyl giggled again, walking slowly away from Dash with a grin. “Oh, phooey. I guess I won’t make sweet, sweet love to you like I was going to tonight.” She could hardly contain her laughter, but she kept it in to see Dash’s reaction.
Her color nearly drained completely out of her face, stepping away just as much as Vinyl did. She didn’t know exactly what to think. “W-Wha? I meant…I mean, I didn’t- There was no way-“
“Oh, stop, you smooth pony. You’re making me blush.” Vinyl gave out a hearty laugh, bumping Dash again. “Dash, you’re waaaaay to easy to mess with, you know that? You’re like a big bowl of jello.”
“And you’re nothing but a tease! If I was so easy to mess with and I were you, I would totally, right here, right now, do-“
“VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINYYYYYYLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!” Dash was interrupted, looking the direction the yell came from, only seeing three small clouds of dust running towards them. The clouds got close and ran into Dash, one in front of the other. As the dust cleared, near her hooves were Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, in order.
“Oh, hey Crusaders. How do you know Vinyl’s name?”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo covered their ears and Applebloom inhaled loudly before speaking. “We heard about ‘er earlier today from some other pony and we heard she was a DJ and that was cool but then we learned later that our DJ fer our school dance got sick and won’t be able ta come and Vinyl is cool and she DJs so we were thinking that she could DJ for us and we need ‘er NOW!” She panted a bit, looking down at the ground trying to get her breath back.
“I think that was a record, Applebloom. Maybe you’re Cutie Mark is yammering.”
“Of course it’s not, Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “What would a Cutie Mark for yammering be?”
“Considering Applebloom, a pony in pain.” She let out a small laugh.
“’Ey! At least I’d get my Cutie Mark!”
“Hold up, now, little ones,” Vinyl interrupted. “Okay, so you want me to go DJ at your school dance?”
The three nodded, each of them responding with their approval.
“…Who has a dance at school in the morning?”
“Who cares? Let’s go!” The Crusaders grabbed Vinyl by the hooves and began dragging her back to their school as Vinyl turned back and called out.
“Hey, Dash, I’ll meet up with ya later! I’ll see you at Twilight’s!” Upon finishing the sentence, she was dragged around a corner and out of sight.
Dash merely sighed, turning back around to head for Twilight’s house.
Knock knock knock.
Dash was in front of Twilight’s library, it looking a lot bigger from her lack of flight. The unicorn quickly opened the door with a book levitating beside her and a smile on her face. “Hey there Rainbow. Surprised to see you use the front door. You usually come on through a window at your leisure.”
“Thanks, Twi, but I’m not in for jokes at the moment. I have a favor to ask.”
Twilight set down her book, looking at the shelves of the countless others. “Oh? What is it?”
Dash sighed and sat down, looking at her wing. “If you didn’t notice or hear already, I broke my wing during the air show. I was hoping you could do all your fancy magic stuff and fix it.” She shuffled her wing a bit, wincing in pain.
“I heard. How’d it happen?” She pulled a book of the shelf, dusting it off.
The pegasus kicked at the ground shamefully, looking away. “Rather not talk about it, Twi. Just can you fix it or something?”
“I’m afraid it won’t be that easy. I’m not a medical unicorn, you know that. I know some things about it, so I’ll try. Is that okay?”
Dash just responded with a swiping hoof motion, saying, “Sure, whatever, let’s get on with it. Anything I need to do?”
“No no no. Just stand still. I don’t want to hit the wrong bone and oversize that one, causing the problem to get worse.”
Dash quickly jumped away a bit. “What was that?”
“Oh, nothing! Nothing at all. Now just stand still. It’ll all be okay.” Twilight walked to Dash’s side, levitating a book next to her. “Now, let’s see here…Bomb wounds, no…Brony attacks, too far. There we go, broken bones. Now let’s see…Oh, okay, simple enough…Oh my.”
“What is it, Twi?”
Twilight slammed the book closed and set it down on a far away table, forcing herself to smile. “Nothing! Simple task, no possible negative consequences that may end up with you never flying again, nope!”
“WHAT?!”
The unicorn’s horn started glowing already, quickly making Dash forcibly fall over onto her side. “Just stay calm. Alright Dash?” Dash continued to struggle a bit, the thought of losing her flight forever more frightening than anything else she’s ever thought of. She couldn’t move under Twilight’s spell though, so she quickly stopped struggling, realizing the futility.
The violet unicorn’s horn began flowing more vibrantly, closing her eyes to focus on Dash’s wing. A small purple aura appeared beneath Dash’s wing skin, making the pegasus flinch. The aura grew brighter and larger until nearly the entire wing was enveloped. Dash closed her eyes tight, afraid of what was going to come.
All of a sudden, her entire wing erupted in pain. It felt as if 1000 needles penetrated the skin and was probing at the bones. She tensed up, grimacing and grinding her teeth together to stop from screaming in agony. This was worse than breaking the wing. She knew never to break her wing again from this experience alone. The pain increased, feeling as if it was set on fire.
And as quickly as the pain came, it passed by. Dash quickly opened her eyes and looked at her wing, the aura subsiding. She looked up at Twilight with a look of desperation. The unicorn shrugged, unsure of what to think. “I’m not sure if I was able to do it. I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
Dash nodded, lifting herself onto her feet shakily, still shocked from the pain. She managed to wiggle off the cast with a small amount of effort, although the stiffness in her now self-supported wing managed to make her wince a small bit. Backing up a bit to get a clean take off, she inhaled and held her breath, unsure of what to expect. Either she’s going to fly or she’ll never fly again. That’s not exactly the ideal conditions.
The pegasus began to trot forward, her heart beginning to beat faster. Her hooves sped up, the distinct clop clop on the hard wood floor. This was either a make it or break it moment, almost literally. Dash closed her eyes tight as she jumped off the floor, managing to open her wings…
And fly. She felt the weightlessness she so adored for her entire life. The air blowing on her face, the breeze under her wings. It all came back to her as quickly as it left. She immediately did a loop in joy, laughing with happiness. “Twi, look! You did it! You fixed my wing! I can fly again! Hahaha!” She continued to do spins and twirls in the air, welcoming back her ability of flight. In her excitement, she swooped down and playfully tackled Twilight, hugging her tight. “Thank you, Twilight! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
The flying pegasus flew out of the library at full speed, hollering to her heart’s desire. Twilight got back up to her feet and said to herself, “Eh, now get out of here, rascal.”
Chapter 8: Cutie Crusaded
Vinyl was finally dragged to the small school gym, decorated with streamers, lights, speakers, and numerous other kid friendly decorations. No glowsticks, unfortunately, as the lights were still on. Balloons were already being deflated and kicked around by the kids, all of them eagerly awaiting some music to accompany their dance.
The Crusaders quickly pushed the unicorn behind the turntable, the plates both lacking of any disc. There was a small box of vinyl under the table, but a quick glance proved it was all classical or boring stuff. She didn’t learn much about magic, but the one thing Vinyl did learn is how to be prepared. Her horn began to glow and her private flight case appeared beside her, stuffed full of 8-tracks, CDs, and other things of the sort.
Bringing her mouth close to the mic as the Crusaders got on the dance floor, Vinyl yelled, “YOU READY TO GET DOWN?!” It was much louder than expected in the small gym with the plethora of speakers, but this is what Vinyl was used to. The crowd of easily less than 50 ponies, excluding the teachers, shouted back with excitement. “Let’s get it started then!” The shout reverberated through the gym again, causing Vinyl’s table to shake.
She quickly turned to her box of music, shifting through the cases. “Baby Got Flank”? No, not filly friendly. “Pony Swag”? Definitely a no. “Equestrian Idiot”? Again, nada. “Ah, here we go”, she said to herself. “Flutterwonder.” She slapped the vinyl onto the platter, spinning it for a second to test if it worked. It spun with some resistance, probably because of the date on this ancient craft. Flipping a switch and bringing the stylus down as the record began to spin. “We’ll start off a little slower, everypony, to get those muscles worked up.” The music began playing and some of the fillies started dancing slowly to the music.
The unicorn began shuffling through the music again as that music played as a distraction. “Ah! Here we go!” She slipped a copy of Pinkie’s Lie out from its case and scratched Flutterwonder, making a nice stereotypical DJ screech. “Nah, I’m just kidding, fillies. This is a party.” She put Pinkie’s Lie onto the other platter, turning on another switch and bringing down the stylus on it also. The crossfader glided to the right over to the new track, bringing the nice bass into the noise.
All of a sudden, it was like a light bulb appeared above Vinyl’s head. She stuck the crossfader in between the two tracks, causing both to play simultaneously. At first, the beat sounded horrible, but Vinyl tuned the pitch control and the beats began to match, the sound of Fluttershy’s voice contrasting with the Pinkie’s Lie strong bass and kick. The result was phenomenal and everypony was up and dancing with moments.
“And that’s how, little ones, you get your Cutie Mark!” Bobbing her head in her own signature style and finally slipping her goggles over her eyes, she spotted the three Crusaders congregating in the corner. Speaking to herself, Vinyl said, “Hmm…Maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did.” Everytime Pinkie’s Lie was about to get to the vocals, she spun the record back to the beginning where the bass began.
A concerned teacher quickly began walking her way through the crowd up to the turntable, talking away. The music was much too loud for Vinyl to hear what she was saying, so she motioned to speak louder by raising her hoof up. Barely audible over the music, the teacher said, “I WOULD LIKE TO TALK WITH YOU OUTSIDE!” Vinyl nodded, switching the crossfader to just Pinkie’s Lie until she got back as she started to walk away.
Now in the light of the day, it was apparent the teacher wasn’t only concerned but worried. She closed the door to the gym mostly, but it was open enough for Vinyl to see inside to her turntable. The music was much quieter out here, also, loud enough for you to hear the bass but quiet enough to have trouble hearing the words.
“Hello, my name is Ms. Cheerilee. I heard your name was Ms. Scratch. I’m pleased to meet you.”
Vinyl began sticking out her hoof for a shake and said, “Pleased to meet you t-“ before realizing that the teacher didn’t want a hoofshake at the moment.
“Yes. Well, as you heard, our last DJ got sick and Applebloom and her friends said they knew someone. However, even if you did come at such short notice and such innocent little girls know you…Someone said you may possibly have some…well, substances.”
The DJ’s ears perked up. “Substances? Like what?”
“Well, I’m not sure, but I’m guessing you might have drugs.”
“Drugs?! Miss, I have never…” Peeking inside for just a moment, Vinyl could see Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all heading over to the turntable, looking through the case of albums. “Oh no…”
“Oh, why’d you say oh no? Realize that you do have drugs?” The teacher cocked her head suspiciously.
“No, miss, I have to-“ Vinyl tried to walk past the teacher to get inside, but she quickly blocked her path.
“Oooooh no. You’re not getting away from this one that easy. Where are they?” Looking over Ms. Cheerilee’s shoulder, Vinyl could see Applebloom taking off Flutterwonder and Scootaloo managed to switch the crossfader to that side. Sweetie Belle picked one disc at random and put it under the stylus, the song instantly starting to play. “Uh…word…adjective…pronoun…adverb.”
Before the next part of the song, Vinyl managed to whimper out, “Oh, sweet mother of Celestia…”
“You let them put on WHAT?!” Ms. Cheerilee screamed. Hours after the dance, the school was still getting tons of calls from angry parents after hearing about one song the “DJ” played.
Vinyl sighed in response, burying her face in her hooves, her goggles still on to hide her angered expression. “I didn’t let them put it on. Apparently, the three that put it on told some other pony to tell you that I had “substances”, although they meant a drink or something because having drinks in there is against the rules. I don’t think the fillies even know what drugs are.”
“That doesn’t excuse from the fact that you left the table where they could’ve got a hold of a song like that!”
“I understand your anger, miss, but you brought me aside to ask me about the “drugs”. They heard me mention Cutie Marks and that’s when they got this idea. They tried to DJ to get their Cutie Marks.” Vinyl continued to bury her face, getting slowly pushed over the edge from this one-sided teacher.
“Why did you even have that song?!”
Vinyl sighed again, picking her up to look at the teacher. “I’m sorry. I’m a DJ and sometimes, I get called to places that like music on the more wild side. Wild meaning dirty. I have no control over that, and if I knew I was going to a school, I would’ve taken it out.”
“Then why did you sign up for being a DJ for a school?!”
Vinyl’s last straw broke. She seemed like a nice lady, but way out of shape when it came to real situations. “Look! I didn’t sign up to be your school’s DJ! I was nice enough to take off time from my day to come to a school that help and help them!” Vinyl got up, taking off her goggles to show her fiery ruby red eyes. “The fact is I tried to help and be a nice pony, and yes, I understand that was a sad mishap back there. But it wasn’t my fault! Kids tried to get me out of the booth to see what they could do, and they used you as a middlemare! If you’re going to let that simple fact fly over your head so you can put the blame on someone else, so be it! But at least you’re getting paid!”
With that, Vinyl snapped her goggles back on and trotted out the door, slamming the door hard and making sure it was as loud as possible before galloping away. She went over to the gym and closed her flight case after sticking her albums back in. Her horn began to glow as did the case before it vanished in midair. “Maybe she’d like it if I stuck some speakers in her bedroom and I played that song when she slept…”
Chapter 9: Rearrangements
The sky was absent of any clouds, unlike earlier, the sun shining on every inch of Ponyville. A few pegasi were flying around, but one rainbow streak was destroying every trace of cumulus that appeared.
She soared full of passion, the wind gently gliding around her as her wings helped the pegasus defy physics. Doing spins and rolls and flips all around the sky, her lungs yelled out with joy and excitement. Even after a small week of no flying, Dash missed it more than anything else in the world right now.
Well, almost anything else. If it for more than a week, flying might be at the top, but not seeing a certain mare for only a small bit made Dash long for her. Flying up above the entire town, she looked below at the ant-sized ponies. Like every other time, ponies were walking around, entering and leaving shops, etc. Everyday Ponyville. But even from the height she was at, Dash could see two streaks of dark and light blue moving about below.
Dash reared back in the air, spreading her wings wide before diving towards the blue-maned pony, quickly gaining speed. Definitely the fastest she’s gone all day, the pegasus attempted to go faster, Everything around her began to blur as her eyes began to water from the velocity. The blue-maned pony managed to look up, unmistakable DJ goggles on her forehead. Vinyl watched as Dash continued to approach her at high speed, the unicorn straddling the ground as if bracing for impact.
Dash playfully tackled Vinyl into the grass and dirt, causing them to tumble a bit before rolling together to a stop. The two were giggling up a frenzy, their coats and mane littered with blades of vegetation and chunks of dirt, but they held each other close anyway. For Vinyl, this was a reawakening in her life, and Dash had a new thing to work for. They brought happiness to each other in the most unexpected way, but life has its way to even the field.
“You’re what now?!” Vinyl yelled as her belongings were thrown out the doorway of what used to be her house. Tune, the actual owner of the house, was proceeding to throw out all of her possessions into the yard without any regards to who might be in front of him.
“I’m kicking you out. I’m pretty sure that was pretty clear.” Vinyl was staying side-to-side with him, attempting to stop Tuner from just chucking her equipment. “I know you’re a smart unicorn, Vinyl, figure it out.”
He hung on to some integrity as he just set the large coffin of DJ equipment onto the ground, beginning to walk back inside the house. Quickly blocking him from the house was a cyan pegasus, her head dipped low and wings spread out. “Tell us why you’re kicking her out, or I’m going to have to punch you out!”
Tuner, unperturbed by her aggressiveness, stomped the dirt in front of her, causing dust to rise between the two. “You better not talk to me like that, you little runt! I’ve known Vinyl my entire life, and I’ve only heard about you. Don’t think I won’t tramp you into the ground.”
Verbally butting heads with Tuner now, Dash got as close to his face as she could without touching him. “Did you just call me a tramp, chump?! If you don’t tell us why RIGHT NOW, then I’m going to have to shove my hoof SO FAR-“
“DASH!” Vinyl yelled as loud as she could, exasperation in her voice. “What is this solving?”
The pegasus stepped away from the short earth pony, bringing her head down. “Sorry, Vinyl.”
“I get where you’re coming from…Although, Tuner. I don’t know what to think about you at the moment.” The unicorn lifted her goggles off her eyes, looking at Tune with a hint of hurt. “I don’t get why you’re doing this. If you’re making me go, at least tell me why.”
Tuner sighed, getting noticeably more tense under the stress. “Because of that mare right there.” He pointed to Dash accusingly. “Ever since I knew you, Vinyl, I liked you. You know that. We became friends, that is obvious. But as we got closer, I asked you out on a date or two, and you always said that you didn’t want any kind of relationship. You never explained why. You just said you never wanted to date anyone.” Putting his hoof back onto the ground, Tuner scowled at Vinyl, digging his hooves into the dirt.
“And then here comes Rainbow Dash, she’s so cool! One day. ONE DAY! You start dating her like you’ve never had a problem with it. To others, it seemed like a good sign. But to me, it seemed like you’ve been avoiding me for the longest time. I tried to cope with that, but it’s hard to see you everyday and think that you may not even believe I’m a friend. So, Vinyl…I should be asking you why.”
Vinyl stood motionless, a concentration in her eyes, not responding. The earth pony continued to dig his hoof farther into the dirt. Dash stood on the sidelines, looking between the two glaring ponies. The absence of sound hung in the air for what seemed like an hour. Tuner began to pant with frustration, expecting an answer. Rearing up on his hind legs before slamming his hooves into the ground, he yelled, “WHY?!”
Again, the silence washed over the three, causing Tuner to tense up even more. Vinyl sighed, looking down at her hooves. “I shouldn’t have lied to you. I see that. I never thought of you as anything more than a friend. You supported me and I supported you. Nothing much other than that. I’m not the right one for you. I guess it’s my fault.” The unicorn shrugged. “I’m sorry, Tune. Not much of an apology, but I can’t say anything else.”
Tune didn’t waste any time on the situation. He side-stepped Dash to get back inside the house, grabbed the last piece of her belongings in his mouth, walked it back outside, and set it in front of Vinyl. “Even after hearing all of that…I don’t care. I was hurt and that’s that. Maybe we can be friends again someday, but for now…get off my property.”
An hour passed of moving luggage and numerous discussions before Vinyl set her last bag into Fluttershy’s hut, sighing contently. Dash and all of her friends, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and even Rarity, helped moving in. Everypony except for the three unicorns were panting, smiling as they saw the last bag.
Vinyl put it down next to the wall, her new temporary home welcome but definitely not something she is accustomed to. The hut had a tall ceiling and bright colors throughout it, along with multiple locations for small animals to sleep and eat. It almost seemed like Fluttershy took part of the forest and put walls around it.
Stepping up onto a nearby side table, Vinyl stood now a head taller than any other pony in the room. “Thanks everypony for helping me move in! And sorry for the short notice. Didn’t exactly plan any of this.”
Pushing a small box aside, Applejack walked up, grinning. “No problem, sugarcube. Any friend of Rainbow’s is a friend of ours.” Like a small filly in a classroom, Twilight whispered into Applejack’s ear. “What’s that?... Hm… Well, so? Oh, we’re not here ta judge, Twi! Now stop whispering!” Twilight jumped back, getting a loud earful.
“Heh. Sorry. Habit on the subject.” Looking back to Vinyl shamefully, she mustered up a (obviously) fake grin. “Anyway, it was nothing, Vinyl. I don’t think anypony would’ve expected to be kicked out by their best friend.”
Raising an eyebrow and stepping down off of the table, the DJ turned to Twilight. “Yeah, thanks. Feeling better already.” She rolled her eyes, walking towards the front door. “But thanks again. Would’ve taken forever without you ponies.”
The various ponies began to filter out of the hut, saying their farewells (Rainbow’s being a little more physical) as they left Vinyl and Fluttershy to themselves. Vinyl sighed in relief. That could’ve gone a lot worse than expected, she thought to herself.
Fluttershy, with an ecstatic smile on her face of being able to talk with a new friend, asked, “So…Um, Vinyl. I heard you were a DJ? What kind of music do you listen to?”
Vinyl replied by turning towards her with an evil smirk as she pulled out her iPod, iPod station, and began scrolling to the loudest, most vulgar song on her playlist…
Chapter 10: ForestShy
“Hey, Fluttershy!” Vinyl was at her turntable, two discs spinning against the rubber platters as music erupted from the nearby speakers, uninhibited by the fact that there are no longer houses anywhere near them. Chain Algorithm’s “Little Girl on a Scooter” was playing loud as the unicorn practiced using her hooves, scratching the disc of “Avast Your Ass”, catching the beats against the two like a butterfly net.
The buttery pegasus peeked out from behind her bedroom door, her head low. Just barely audible over the music, she replied, “Y-Yes, Vinyl?”
The off-white pony quickly put her hooves against the two discs, making a loud screeching noise before turning off the table. She turned to Fluttershy with concern, putting her goggles on her forehead. “Why are you back there like you’re scared of something?”
Looking down at the ground timidly, Fluttershy sunk back into her bedroom a few inches. “Well… I don’t really like loud music… Or that kind… Eep.”
Walking a few steps forward, pushing some of her records out of the way with her hooves, Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with electronic?”
Only the tip of the pegasus’s nose was visible now, replying in a tiny voice, “N-Nothing…”
Vinyl couldn’t help but chuckle at the pony’s shyness, walking up to the door and swinging it open fully, revealing the cowering Fluttershy. She quickly put her hooves over her head in protection. “Fluttershy, no need to worry. Not like I’m gonna hurt you or something. Everyone has their own opinion.” Vinyl placed her hoof on Fluttershy’s head gently, sighing contently. “By the way, just for future reference, I’m probably the least violent pony you will ever know.”
Upon saying that, images of many past situations at her gigs rose out of their deathly graves and began haunting her memory again. Even with somepony that’s against violence, when you put her into a gig that has a bunch of drinks and a lot of annoying ponies, it tends to get messy. Messy as in Vinyl’s drunken stupor of hitting her attackers with a bottle of Colt’s Light until it broke, then resulting in her fleeing the scene.
The pegasus managed to shake those thoughts quickly away, returning to current reality. By this time, Fluttershy had pushed Vinyl’s hoof softly away and gotten back onto her feet. “You mean that, Vinyl?”
The off-white pony nodded, smiling at Fluttershy. “Of course. I wouldn’t kid about something like that. Besides, you’re a really gentle pony, I would never mean to hurt you.”
The pegasus smiled back, saying, “That’s… Nice of you. If you would be so kind, could you help me today find some stuff for the sweet little animals I have here? I mean, if it isn’t interrupting anything you’re doing…?”
Vinyl looked over at her turntable, and then back at the grinning, goofy pegasus, letting out a long, exasperated sigh before looking at her optimistically. “Sure, why not? I would love to help out a bit.”
“Great! Let me just go get my forest equipment!” Fluttershy quickly trotted off before Vinyl could respond.
With a blank look on her face, Vinyl stood motionless, questioning, “…Forest equipment?”
“Eh, what are we supposed to be doing out here?” Vinyl and Fluttershy were standing in a loose thicket of trees, the sun at high noon and the light managing to light the forest floor easy enough to read. Various plants lined the trunks of the thick trees, although most were typical green plants that were difficult to distinguish between each other. A few flowers bloomed from the bases of the forest, usually residing on one side of the path made by ponies or the other.
Although it took much persuading, Vinyl managed to be convinced to leave her goggles at the hut, her eyes now at full mercy of the relentless UV rays.
“Well, it’s not complicated,” Fluttershy responded. “We’re just out here to gather some food for the precious animals. Now, there are a few things you need to remember… Well, if you can… When you’re collecting the plants.” The pegasus breathed in, proceeding with the next statement rapidly. “Just keep in mind that there are plants you must avoid, such as the tree nettle and poison ivy. I would prefer you to grab the plants for the bunnies that are lower in cellulose than the rest, because otherwise it’s hard to digest. Get some grit for the sparrows while you’re at it, and don’t get any fungi. Maroon hates those, and I mix the ingredients to get the birds’ food. The rodents are fine, I have enough nutritions for them at the establishment. And if you find any small dead prey, would you be kind enough to fetch it for my ferrets?” The yellow pony then shivered, her pace of speaking returning to normal. “… Although I hate that last part. Got all of that?”
Once again, Vinyl stood there for a moment, expressionless, trying to process all of the rapid data. Satisfied with contentment, Fluttershy grinned and began to turn around, already heading off to a different direction. “Good! I’m glad you could help. I’ll see you at the hut later.” With a small hop to her trot and Angel to her side, the pegasus proceeded into her family of trees.
Alone in a foreign nightmare, Vinyl’s mind quickly got the better of her as the lack of anything modern consumed her. She has lived her entire life in a city or large town, and hasn’t even set foot into a forest. Every single story she heard when she was a filly with a monster in it was placed in a forest. Heck, she even heard that some of her classmates were taken by some of the monsters. Her lack of goggles to cover her fear in her eyes further drove her off the edge.
The DJ swallowed her fear, though, beginning to trump forward into a path next to the one Fluttershy entered, determined to do her best. “Ha! Forest… Pfftch. Doesn’t scare me anymore. All those stories are just foal stories. Like I would be scared of those!” Small leaves of a flower brushed against her back leg, causing her to jump and produce a loud, high-pitched scream for a split-second. Quickly realizing her “attacker”, she flushed red with self-embarrassment. “Heh, yeah. Nothing scares me now.”
~{One Terrifying Hour Later}~
“Vinyl, what happened?!” Rainbow Dash came trotting into the hospital room at full speed, skidding to a stop next to the unicorn’s bed. Vinyl has been at the hospital for about 5 minutes now, and Rainbow was informed immediately. Windows may have been broken on Rainbow’s journey there. A few machines were hooked up to the off-white pony as well as a few scratches and marks were present on her body.
“Oh, Dash… It was horrible. There were… Plants… And bugs… EVERYWHERE!” Vinyl flailed about a bit as if she was in a foal’s tantrum. Panting and turning away from Dash, the unicorn curled up into a ball.
Nurse Redheart walked up to Dash calmly, tapping her shoulder before stating, “Don’t worry. She’s completely fine. She actually ran in here a few minutes ago, wanting immediate medical attention. She said, ‘I now have 10 different forest diseases and a parasprite in my stomach. I need your help.’ Or something along those lines at least, and much more frantically. We checked everything on her.” She paused, looking at her clipboard to double-check. “And she’s all good. Vinyl just is apparently deathly scared of nature.”
Sighing with relief, Rainbow smiled at the nurse, chuckling a bit. “Thanks, Redheart. She had me worried.” The nurse nodded, turning around and beginning to search through her papers on her board again.
“Sorry Rainbow.” The pegasus looked back over her shoulder at Vinyl, seeing the unicorn still curled up.
“W… What?”
“I’m sorry. I know I probably made you worry about me, and I didn’t mean to. Just, y’know… Fears and all.”
The pegasus quickly walked right up to the bed, bringing her head down and nuzzling Vinyl’s neck, laying it in her hair. “I’m just glad you’re alright. You’ve got nothing to worry about, I’m not mad or anything.”
“You… You sure, Dashie?” Vinyl blushed a bit, sighing contently and closing her eyes gently.
“Of course I’m s-… Did you really just call me Dashie?”
(OKAY! This is NOT what I expected Part 2 to be like at all. Gonna be honest, I’ve been lacking in my writing. Not to mention, I’ve been slow as hell. For anyone waiting for part 2, I’m REALLY sorry for the long wait. School is a killer. Anyway, yeah. I agree, the beginning is the best part and it slowly degrades. But oh well. So, yeah. I’m HOPEFULLY going to continue and get better and more enriching stuff next time. If I stop writing it all together, gonna be honest, don’t be surprised. I’m getting more and more busy by the day. But, anyway…THANKS FOR ALL THE FAVORITES AND WATCHES!)