Vinyl was sobbing in her sleep. It had been three days since Pie-a-Palooza, and she was already missing Octavia. In her dream, she was constantly watching as Octavia made new friends, and shunning Vinyl out of it. She screamed and yelled for Octavia to come back to her, but Octavia would give her the cold shoulder in return. She had burst into tears, crying all alone, with no one to play with.
Vinyl sat straight up in her bed, tears flying from her face. She panted, worryingly. Her dreams haven't been this upsetting since the time that Draconequus had taken over most of Equestria. She lay back in bed, calming herself. It was just a dream, She thought. Octavia would never leave you. She looked at the picture she had brought Octavia. She missed her already. She had been away from her many times due to touring and recording, but it felt different when she was on vacation.
She closed her eyes and thought for a while. What could Octavia be doing right now? Practicing her cello? More likely sleeping. She laughed to herself, and turned on her side. I should get her to come here, too. She smiled. Then I wouldn't feel as lonely. And with that, she fell back asleep.
/\ \/ /\ \/ /\
"Excuse me?"
It was summertime, and Vinyl and her friend Pinkie had just finished playing in Ponyville park. Vinyl and Pinkie turned to see another filly about their age, grey toned, with long, black hair. Pinkie perked up at the sight of the pony.
"I've never seen you before!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I know every filly around here, and I mean every filly, and I don't know you! What's your name?"
The filly had been slightly frightened by Pinkie's ecstatic greeting, but nonetheless introduced herself. "Um, well... My name is Octavia, and my father and I are visiting here from Canterlot for a while."
At this, Vinyl became interested and walked over to the new filly. "Canterlot? Why'd you come here of all places? This is just little old Ponyville! There's nothing exciting to see. Well, except that new bakery when it opens." Vinyl pointed her hoof towards a large building in the middle of the square, with a banner stretched across that stated "Sugarcube Corner! Coming soon!".
Pinkie gleefully giggled. "I want to work there when they open! I've heard they're going to sell the best cupcakes Equestria has ever seen!" Pinkie jumped around Octavia. "And cakes, too! Oh, and pie! Oh, what kind of things could they sell?" Pinkie stared at the building. "I'm gonna go see if anybody's there! I want to be the first to see in!" Pinkie bounced over to the bakery.
Vinyl chuckled. "You wanna come? Pinkie's always got something awesome to do."
Octavia looked a bit worried. "I don't know... is she planning on... breaking in?"
Vinyl broke out into laughter. "Break in? Pinkie Pie? Never! She's just curious. She always seems to know what to do when there's nothing going on. Come on, it'll be cool!"
Octavia looked around, warily. "You're sure we're not breaking in?"
But, Vinyl had already begun walking. Octavia ran after her, only just catching up. "So, um. I don't believe I caught your name? I know her as Pinkie Pie, but whom are you, might I ask?"
Vinyl smiled at Octavia. "My name's Scratch. Vinyl Scratch. A lot of the fillies around here call me Scratchy, but I really don't like it all that much." Vinyl kicked a rock, and sighed. "I still don't understand why you decided to come to Ponyville. Can you tell me?"
Octavia happily obliged. "But of course. My father is actually on a business trip, and since my mother was away, I had to come with him. We're staying in the hotel down the street. It's ever so fancy, I adore it!"
Vinyl noticed that Octavia was trotting a little bit more fancily than most ponies. "Why do you trot like that?"
Octavia glanced down, and looked curiously back at Vinyl. "What, isn't this how most ponies walk?" Vinyl shook her head. "Oh, well then, I don't know. This is just how I was taught to, I never really thought it different than other ponies." They were quiet for a while.
Vinyl broke the silence. "So, you like any music?"
Octavia nodded contently. "I love music! A lot of orchestral. Nothing dreadful like that rock of roll."
Vinyl laughed. "It's rock and roll. And I don't like rock n' roll all that much, either. I like techno, it's god good beats," Vinyl stood on her back hooves and punched the air, and fell back on her hooves again. "awesome rhythms," she twirled around, "And just really awesome tunes!" She whistled a quick tune. Octavia seemed impressed by it.
"My goodness, you whistle rather well!" She exclaimed.
Vinyl smiled upon hearing the complement. "Thanks a lot! I do practice a lot. I'm actually known for my whistling around here. Not to sound cocky, but I am a bit of a musician."
Octavia was joyful about this. "Really? Well, I'm learning myself, actually! My father says I should have my cutie mark in no time!" She looked back at Vinyl. "What kind of instruments do you play?"
Vinyl blushed a bit. "Well, not too many, to be honest..."
Octavia nudged her. "Oh, do tell! You've got me interested!"
Vinyl smiled nervously. "Well... I play piano... and that's about it, unless you count the kazoo as an instrument." Both ponies laughed at the small joke. "And, well, I do sing a little bit." By this time the ponies had stopped walking and had plopped themselves at a bench in the square, while Pinkie was over peering into the windows of the bakery.
Octavia clopped her hooves. "Oo-oo-ooh! How cool! Would you mind showing me?"
Vinyl blushed again. "Well, I dunno... I'm pretty rusty."
Octavia shook her head. "Nonsense! I'm confident you have a wonderful voice! You must be good at it, I'm sure!"
Vinyl grinned and blushed hard. "Well, okay. I guess I can." Vinyl stood up off the table. Nervously, she sucked her breath in, and-
"Wow, girls! You should totally see inside that bakery!" Vinyl fell backward, startled by Pinkie's sudden intrusion. Pinkie stood over Vinyl. "It's so totally cool! It's so colourful, and I think I saw the owners in there talking, but I don't really know. Anyways, I gotta get back to the farm." She turned and trotted away. "Those rocks won't harvest themselves, you know!"
Octavia seemed confused by Pinkie's rock statement, but shook it off. She looked down at Vinyl. "Maybe another time?" Vinyl nodded happily.
/\ \/ /\ \/ /\
Vinyl awoke, this time content. Her dreams had taken her back to the big concert from the morning of the Pie-a-Palooza, only with less Pinkie Pie. She got out of bed and opened the curtains to see outside. Only instead of the beautiful view she had of Ponyville, her view instead caused her to fall backward.
She looked up to get a better look at what had startled her, and surely enough, there, flapping her wings, was a cyan blue pegasus. She got up and opened the window, which enabled the pegasus to fly into Vinyl, knocking her back once more.
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" The Pegasus exclaimed. "I heard you were in town, but I didn't believe anyone until after I heard about what happened at Pie-a-Palooza!" The Pegasus stepped off of Vinyl to let her get up.
Vinyl rubbed her horn, out of pain. She looked up. "I take it you didn't go, or else you would've heard my speech." She said, annoyed.
The Pegasus laughed. "Of course not! I don't go to that thing. The only true winner, is me..." The Pegasus straightened out, presenting her athletic build. "...Rainbow Dash!"
Vinyl finally got up, less annoyed after hearing the name. "Rainbow Dash? Hey, I know you! My friend Spitfire's always telling me how you saved her and the rest of the Wonderbolts from falling to the ground one time!" She smiled at Rainbow. "Thanks for that. I don't know what I'd do without Spitfire."
Rainbow was choking on her words. "I-I mean, I-I...Spitfire remembers me? And she talks about me?!"
Vinyl laughed. "Oh, Celestia, yes. Everyday, she reminds me, 'Vinyl, you've got to meet the Pegasus who saved us someday.' I guess that's another reason I'm here. Well, sub-consciously, but I remember it now."
Rainbow was squeeling with happiness. "Oh wow, this is so cool! My favourite musician knows who I am, and my hero remembers me!" Rainbow couldn't keep her excitement contained. She was jumping all around the bedroom, while Vinyl watched in amusement.
Oh well, this was bound to happen, Vinyl thought. Not everyone can contain their excitement, I guess. She stopped Rainbow from prancing. "Hey, my treat. You want to hangout today? I've got nothing planned."
Rainbow's eyes widened. "Hangout with...you?" She grinned ear to ear. "Yes, of course I will! I would love to!" She flew around the room, looping and swerving out of sheer excitement.
"But," Vinyl said sternly. Rainbow stopped, and floated back to the ground, listening to Vinyl. "You have to promise me, Rainbow Dash. You'll be civilized about this hangout. Can you promise me that? Please? I am here on a break, after all."
Rainbow went to say something, then hesitated. She looked back at Vinyl and nodded solemnly.
"Good!" Vinyl said happily. "So, is there anywhere specific you want to go?"
Rainbow thought for a second. "Well, the Ponyville carnival's open today. We could go chill there!"
Vinyl nodded. "That sounds like loads of fun! Let's totally do it. How much does it cost?" Said Vinyl, already rifling through her cash.
"Around 20 bits," Rainbow Dash replied. "Although, I'll have to fly back to my cloud home. I'll be back!" And with that, Rainbow Dash flew out the window.
Vinyl sighed, and turned to see Pinkie standing directly in front of her. "AGH!" She screamed and fell back.
"Hi Vinyl!" Pinkie greeted. "I heard you're going to the carnival with Rainbow?"
Vinyl picked herself back up. "Yeah, I didn't have anything planned... " She rubbed her back. "But if I keep startled like this, I'll end up in the hospital!"
Pinkie laughed. "Oh, Vinyl. You won't end up in the hospital! My friend Twilight gets knocked over on a daily basis, about 10 times a day, and she's always fine!" Pinkie slapped Vinyl's back in a friendly way, hurting the pony's aching back anyways. "You'll be fine, too! Heck, she survived being crushed by the contents of a Pegasus moving truck!"
Vinyl went over and closed her window. "Really? That sounds really painful! Did she recover quick?"
Pinkie giggled a bit. "Are you kidding? Her bones mended themselves in less than a day! Well, mostly because of her magic and Fluttershy's scary mending talents."
"Fluttershy..." Vinyl pondered. "I've been meaning to ask you about her."
Pinkie listened curiously. "Yeah, Vinyl? What about? I can tell you anything! Well, just about everything, everypony does have their secrets y'know! I mean, like one time, everypony was telling Twilight secrets, and boy, did I have to make her watch herself, I mean, she made three Pinkie promises! Well, almost Pinkie promises, she kinda punched her eyeball when she tried to make the oath, but-"
"Pinkie! Can I please continue? Please?" Pleaded Vinyl.
Pinkie nodded. "Of course! Sorry, Vinyl. I get really carried away sometimes. Go on!"
Vinyl breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Pinkie. Anyways, about Fluttershy... what's up with that pony? She seems really quiet, but I swear I keep seeing her everywhere I go... Do you know if she's a fan of me, or if she's actually there or not?"
Pinkie shrugged. "I don't think so! The only music I've ever heard her listen to is her singing birds. And the only times I ever see her outside of her cottage is when she's either grocery shopping or going to the spa with Rarity! She's a really shy pony, so I doubt she'd bother trying to see you. Not to sound mean! She's just, well... shy!"
Vinyl nodded. "I totally understand, Pinkie. I guess I'm seeing things then."
Just then, the windows burst open again, and cyan blue mare once again crashed into Vinyl. "Hi! I'm back. Sorry I took so long. I couldn't remember where I put my bits." She held them up in a jar. "But I got 'em! You ready to go the carnival, DJ Pon-3?!" She grinned widely.
Vinyl laughed softly after getting back up. "Rainbow, yes, I am ready." She looked at the rainbow-maned mare. "But do me a favor? Call me Vinyl, please."
/\ \/ /\ \/ /\
"How many bits did you bring?" Rainbow asked. The carnival was quite a walk away from Sugarcube corner. Rainbow had taken the time to ask Vinyl many questions, which was getting rather irritating.
But, Vinyl kept telling herself, She's a fan, she's only curious. She looked up at the flying mare. "About 70. Why do you ask?"
Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno. I thought you'd get hungry, so I was gonna offer you lunch or something, you know, to be nice." Rainbow grinned widely. It freaked Vinyl out the way she was smiling, but she shrugged it off.
Vinyl heaved. "No, I'm perfectly capable of buying lunch."
They went silent for a few seconds, where then Rainbow once again asked a question. "So how'd you meet Spitfire?"
Vinyl was rather relieved it wasn't a question that really didn't matter, so she answered more politely. "Well, back when I moved to Canterlot as an older filly, I had trouble adjusting to my new school, not having Pinkie Pie around and everything. Octavia went to a much fancier school for just fillies, so I didn't see her until after school. And, in school, I was picked on a lot for not having a cutie mark yet..."
Rainbow was walking now, more in tune to listening to Vinyl. "That sucks. But, go on!"
Vinyl gave Rainbow an amused smile, and continued. "Well, one day when a group of fillies had decided to target me about my mane, another filly stepped in front of them and... told them off, rather... intellectually, we'll say." She laughed a bit nervously. "Well, anyways, it was obviously Spitfire, who I guess got tired of seeing me get picked on. We were friends from then on." She smiled. "She may be more famous than I am, but she still gets time to visit."
Rainbow Dash squeaked. "Wow, that is totally awesome! I bet she fought them all off with her super speedy high kicks, didn't she?"
Vinyl gave Rainbow an annoyed look. "Uh... no, not at all. She just has a way with words."
Rainbow hung her head in disappointment. "Oh. Okay. So, uh, I think we're almost there." She grinned again. "You got any questions for me before we get there?"
About time, Vinyl thought. "Uh, yeah... I asked Pinkie this, but uh, what's up with your friend Fluttershy?"
Rainbow laughed. "Fluttershy? There's not much to say. She keeps to herself, she barely speaks, and has a knack for helping animals." She shrugged. "That's about it."
Vinyl scratched her chin. "I see..."
"Well, we're here!" Rainbow said. Both ponies became instantly excited. They ran up to the entry booth, bought there tickets, and proceeded within.
/\ \/ /\ \/ /\
fwing! Pop! The balloon burst. "We have a winner!" Announced the game host. He gestured to the array of prizes behind him. "Which prize would'ja like, miss?" Vinyl looked around. She thought it ironic seeing the amount of plush toys of her there were, but picked another nonetheless. "That one, please!" she said eagerly. The game host turned and picked up a large plush toy of Mare-do-Well and handed it to Vinyl. She thanked him, and trotted away with Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow was impressed. "You're an awesome shot with a slingshot, Vinyl!"
Vinyl laughed. "Yeah, well, I have to practice something besides spinning records with my hooves, don't I?" She spun the plush toy in the air with her magic. "I don't like using my magic for things that doesn't involve labour." She looked at Rainbow. "What do you want to play?"
But Rainbow was already gone. Vinyl caught up to her at the pig race game. Typical, I guess. Vinyl thought, jokingly. She walked up beside Rainbow, and watched as the game commenced.
"Come on, Ol' Loyal!" Rainbow said eagerly. The game had begun, and the pigs were racing. Rainbow rolled the ball up the mini alley, getting it in the farthest hole almost every time. She was ahead of the rest, eager to win. Then, another pig started catching up to her, and Rainbow began throwing the balls faster. It was a tight stretch, but Rainbow got her pig to cross the line.
"Woohoo!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down on her chair. She looked in the direction of the second place pony. "No one beats Rainbow Dash, not even-" Rainbow stopped suddenly, and her eyes widened. "...you."
Vinyl looked over to the second place pony. Surely enough, the pony was Fluttershy, sitting there blushing.
"Oh, uh, I know, Rainbow, I just thought, you know... I might play a few games, try to win a few...uh..." Fluttershy trailed off. She took one look at Vinyl Scratch, squeaked, and flew off.
Rainbow scratched her head. "Wow. I've never seen Fluttershy fly that fast before. She must've had to really get somewhere."
" 'Scuse me, miss?" Rainbow turned around, the game's host looking at her. "What prize do you want?"
Rainbow thought carefully. "Hm... that one!" She pointed to a doll of Vinyl. The real Vinyl rolled her eyes, but kept quiet. Rainbow gave the host a smile, and walked off with Vinyl. "Isn't it cool?" She showed Vinyl her doll. "It looks exactly like you!"
Vinyl forced a smile. "Yea-a-ah, it's great!" She stopped and pointed at the Ferris Wheel. "Wanna take a ride on it? We could see all of Ponyville!"
Rainbow laughed. "Ha! I do that on a daily basis!" She looked at Vinyl, who was annoyed with the response she received. "But, y'know, since you're not a pegasus and all, we could do that..." They continued towards the Ferris Wheel. They traded their tickets in for seats, and got on.
Vinyl was getting giddy in the seat, while Rainbow Dash thought nothing of it.
"Wow, look, Rainbow! I can see Sugarcube corner from way up here!" Vinyl exclaimed.
Rainbow Dash whinnied. "Yeah, that's really... cool...." She trailed off, taken back by something on the ground. "Um. Vinyl? How long does this ride go for?"
Vinyl shrugged. "I dunno. Probably two or three spins around. Why?"
Rainbow was sweating nervously, but acted nothing of it. "Oh, nothing. Just... sick, that's all. all this turning, you know?"
Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "That's all you ever do, though. Right?"
"Aha, well yeah, but never sitting down! It just doesn't feel right." She looked back down at the ground, staring.
Vinyl knew something was wrong. "Rainbow, what's the problem? You're really on edge."
Rainbow was sweating horridly by now. "Oh, no no no! Vinyl, you see that grey pony down there, with the tie?"
Vinyl looked down, and surely enough, she saw the pony Rainbow was talking about. He had a flat top mane cut, a tie, and a cutie mark that she couldn't quite make out. "Yeah, what about him?"
Rainbow gulped. "He's... my boss at the Rainbow factory. And..." She gulped again. "I'm... not exactly supposed to be taking the day off..." Rainbow grinned worriedly.
Vinyl's mouth was agape. "What? You mean you should be at work right now?! What were you thinking!"
Rainbow Dash put her hooves together and begged. "Please, Vinyl! I got over excited hearing that you were in town! I couldn't help myself! I totally forgot I had work! You gotta help me, please! Just hide me, and I'll get back to the factory." She was pouting. "Please. Vinyl Scratch!"
Vinyl was definitely not impressed. Being a hard worker herself though, she knew where Rainbow was coming from. "Fine. I'll help you. But you have to promise me you'll go back to work as quickly as possible. Okay?" Rainbow nodded. "Alright, then. The rides over soon, anyways. here..." Her horn began to glow. "Being an infamous pony can be hard work, so I learned this illusion spell. It's like transformation, but it just makes you look different to the average pony eye."
In a matter of seconds, Rainbow Dash's mane and tail went grey and black, and her body and wings went tan. "It makes you look like whatever pony you were last thinking about." Vinyl suddenly realized who Rainbow looked like. "And in this case, you look just like-"
"-Daring Do?!" Rainbow interrupted. She looked down. Surely enough, she looked just like book bound hero, Daring Do. Minus the hat and clothing, however. "This is totally awesome! I want to stay like this forever!"
Vinyl shook her head. "It only lasts for so long. And, going at high speeds wipes the illusion away." She opened the seat's door. "Well, time for the moment of truth!" Both ponies stepped off of their seat and onto the solid ground. They walked out casually, trying not to attract attention. They got a few looks, but thanks to Vinyl's recent speech, no pony seemed overly excited.
Just then, a Unicorn being followed closely by a quill and notepad came running over. "Miss Scratch! I'm Daily News, reporting for The Daily News. Might I get a few questions?"
Vinyl pushed him back a bit. "Sorry buddy, but me and my friend here have got to go." Her and Rainbow continued walking, but the reporter was following closely behind.
"Just a few? It won't take long at all! Just a minute, can you spare a minute?" He droned.
Vinyl rolled her eyes. "No, I said no. Sorry."
"It won't take long, I promise!"
Vinyl stopped and turned around. "Hey, listen! I'm not here to get followed around by reporters! I'm here on a break!" She stomped her hoof in anger. "Now, sir, kindly leave me alone before I call security! My friend Rainbow Dash and I-" She covered her mouth with her hooves. She had let out Rainbow's name.
"Rainbow Dash?" Both ponies turned around. There standing there was Rainbow's boss. He was tall, and rather muscular for a pony. Vinyl could see his cutie mark now, and emblazoned on his flank was a rainbow coming out of what looked like a small factory.
Rainbow gulped. "Um, uh... I'm sorry, who?" Trying to mask her voice.
The pony snorted. "I heard the name of one of my employees. Who said it?"
Vinyl Scratch smiled, nervously. "That, sir, was, uh... me."
He looked at her. "And why ever did you say her name? Do you know of her whereabouts? And don't you dare lie. No one lies to Storm Factor."
Vinyl gulped. But just as she was about to explain, Rainbow stepped up. "It's me, sir..." She rubbed some of the illusion off her face, revealing herself to him. His expression didn't seem to change in the least. "I... well, you see, I got overly excited when I found out my favourite musician was in town..." She glanced to Vinyl, and back. "And I thought I'd go see her before work started, but..."
Tears began welling up in Rainbow's eyes. "Please, Mr. Factor, don't fire me! I got carried away, I didn't mean to get into trouble! It won't happen again!"
To her surprise, Rainbow's boss was actually laughing. "Fire you? Rainbow dear, don't be so ridiculous! You're my number one employee! Besides," He got down close to her face. "I was going to give you the week off, anyways! You deserve it after that double rainbow you pulled off!" He started walking away, and then turned back. "But. If you do ever decide to skip work." She gulped. But luckily, he merely winked, and walked off.
Rainbow was speechless. She slowly turned to Vinyl. She began laughing. "Wow... wow! I... I can't believe that all just happened! I thought for sure he was going to fire me!"
Vinyl's heart was beating rapidly. "Yeah, and I thought he was gonna squish us..."
Rainbow giggled. "Storm Factor? He'd never hurt a pony! He seems really scary, but he's one of the nicest ponies I know." Her smile turned into a frown. "But... I'm still sorry about all that. I understand if you won't forgive me."
Vinyl smiled. "Hey, it's fine. I've been through stuff like that all the time, just... not with a pony that big." She patted Rainbow on her back. "What do you say we go back the Corner? This'll be a story to tell to Pinkie."