It had been about three days since Vinyl had gone with Rarity to the spa. during those three days, she had been trying her best to stay in her room and sleep, trying to relax. Of course, 'trying' is a key word in this instance. She got about an hour of 'Vinyl Time' every day.
The rest of the time was her and Pinkie Pie cooking and playing board and video games. Pinkie didn't have a lot of games that Vinyl played. She had tons of board games, like 'Monopony' and 'Connect 8', and video games like 'Battlefilly' and 'The Element Scrolls: Equestria'. Even then, Vinyl was still wanting to do something more. That's when Pinkie had given her the idea.
"What?"
Pinkie giggled. "A farm! Do you not know what that is?"
Vinyl rubber her neck. "Well yeah of course, I'm not that big a Canterlot pony. But, working on one? That's too far for even me."
Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Scratchy! You said you wanted to try something different for a change! Sitting here taking turns on Super Mare-io isn't a very big change for you, I'm sure."
Vinyl blushed. "Ehehe, yeah... You have a point."
Pinkie smiled. "Of course I do! Besides, farming is true work. I'm not saying you don't work hard, but farming is way different than what you do."
Vinyl huffed. "But I hate doing so much work... isn't there anything else you can think of?"
Pinkie laughed. "I've thought of thousands! But I'm only telling you one." Pinkie winked. "Come on, Scratchy. It'll be a totally cool experience for you!"
Vinyl looked out the window. It was always beautiful outside, and it had been since she arrived. She sighed. "Alright, I'll do it. It's been nice outside every day now, so tomorrow, I'll go."
Pinkie grinned. "I win!"
Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Pinkie. It's not a competition to make me do stuff."
Pinkie giggled. "Not that, silly!" She pointed to the game screen. "I just beat the level!"
/\ \/ /\ \/ /\
Asleep, once again. Dreaming, once again. Vinyl was dreaming every night since she arrived in Ponyville. She dreamed in Canterlot, but usually of concerts and new, sub consciously made songs. But, ever since she arrived in Ponyville, her dreams had been focused on much different things. She dreamed of when Princess Luna had returned to Canterlot. She dreamed of her own personal spa. But, most of them focused on one thing.
How much she wanted Octavia to be with her on vacation.
She had sent letters to Octavia countless times, but not once did she get any reply. It had saddened her deeply. She prayed everyday that she would get a letter back, but none came.
it's Canterlot, it's a long way away for the postal service. She would tell herself. She'll reply. She's your best friend! Why wouldn't she?
Telling herself that was the only way to keep her from breaking down entirely. This was her vacation, she wanted the most of it.
It was almost midnight, when something outside made Vinyl jump out of her slumber. She tiredly looked out the window. Nothing but the tree at her window stood there. She shook her head, and fell back onto her pillow. Just as she did, she heard a small sound hit the window. She shot straight up, annoyed. She got out of bed and threw open the shutters.
She couldn't see anything over the rooftops of Ponyville. So, she looked at the ground. Surely enough, there was somepony standing there, just at the foot of the tree by her window. But, she could not make out quite who it was.
"Hello?" Vinyl whispered.
"Hey, Vinyl..." Vinyl recognized the voice as Rainbow Dash's.
"Rainbow Dash?" she whispered. "What're you doing here? It's midnight!"
Rainbow quietly floated towards the window sill. "I wanted to apologize again about the carnival thing with my boss..."
Vinyl laughed tiredly. "Rainbow, I told you, it's alright. I know you feel bad, but I don't think it was necessary to tell me at-"
Rainbow cut her off. "I know, I know... That's not all I wanted to say, though."
Vinyl cocked her head. "Oh? Sorry, go on then."
Rainbow sucked in the air around her, and let it out. "The Wonderbolts just confirmed they're doing a show here in Ponyville at the coliseum in four days and that buying two tickets on the first day would be cheaper and I couldn't contain myself so I flew over here and wanted to ask you..." She let herself breathe. "...If you would go with me?" She grinned fearfully, hoping Vinyl would say yes. "Please! I'll buy your ticket and everything!"
Vinyl smiled, still groggy from her sudden waking. "You must've been really excited if you decided to do this at night."
Rainbow nodded quickly. "I couldn't help it! I have so much trouble sleeping."
Vinyl laughed, then considered Rainbow's offer. "Well..." She said, as Rainbow leaned in close. "...I would love to! I love seeing Spitfire and the others in action!"
Rainbow squealed in happiness and did several flips in the air. "Yes yes yes yes yes! Thank you so much!" She latched onto Vinyl, hugging her tightly. "This is gonna be so awesome! Thank you!"
Vinyl gently pried Rainbow off of her. "you're welcome, Rainbow! But, could I maybe..." She gestured to her bed. "...Get back to sleep, maybe?"
Rainbow blushed, embarrassed. "Oh, uh, yeah! Sorry, I'll let you go." Rainbow flew off. "Thanks again, Vinyl! Woohoo!"
Vinyl laughed, and then remembered how tired she was. She shut the shutters, flopped under her blanket, and fell back asleep within minutes.
/\ \/ /\ \/ /\
The next morning, Vinyl got up and packed what Pinkie said she would need. Sunglasses, water, sun screen, the works. Vinyl was well prepared for anything in her way.
Pinkie bounded into the room, bouncing up onto Vinyl's bed and jumping up and down. "So you ready, Scratchy? I'm sure you'll have tons of fun, because although working is hard work, you should still try to have fun!"
Vinyl nodded. "I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle it... although, I am still sort of worried I won't." Vinyl put her glasses on and slung her bag over her back. "Hey, did you talk to Applejack at all? Let her know I'm coming?"
Pinkie nodded. "Yup! I sure did! She was sort of surprised that you were going to go help her out, but she was still happy to hear she'll have a few extra hooves for the day!"
Pinkie pointed at the door. "In fact, it was just now! She's downstairs waiting for you! She was here to get a few thing for her sister's birthday coming up, but now she's here to get a few things and you, too!"
Vinyl's eyes widened. "She's here already?! Why didn't you tell me sooner!" before Pinkie could answer, Vinyl rushed down the staircase. Surely enough, Applejack was downstairs sitting at a waiting table.
Applejack looked up and smiled. "Well howdy, Miss Scratch! Pinkie told me that'che wanted teh' help me out tuh'day."
Vinyl smiled. "Yeah, she gave me the idea last night. Although I will warn you, I didn't sleep too well last night, so I might be a little sleepy."
Applejack nodded. "That's fine, I won't overwork yeh'." She looked at Vinyl's bag. "Whatche got in there?"
Vinyl looked at her bag. "Oh, my bag? Nothing really, just sun screen and some water in case in gets hot. Pinkie told me it'd be a good idea."
Applejack smiled. "She was right to! All that hard workin' can get a ton tirin'. A've always got a good amount of water with me. Sun screen don't get necessary fr' me, though. After all," She gestured to her large cowboy hat. "This thing keeps me out'uh the sun!"
Vinyl laughed. "That's cool. Shall we go then?"
Applejack nodded. "in a few, Ah still've got tuh' get Applebloom's birthday cake."
"Applebloom?" Vinyl asked. "She was at the Pie-a-Palooza, right?"
"Mah lil' sister, Yup!" Applejack replied. "Her birthday's tuh'morrow, n' Granny Smith wanted me tuh' go n' get'r a genuine Cake fam'ly birthday cake."
Vinyl nodded. "Pinkie sent me a piece of their cake in the mail once... I have no idea of how she managed to preserve it... but, it was really one of the best cakes I've ever had." Vinyl trailed off, thinking back to the cake. "eeheehee... I could use a piece right now... I haven't had anything from the bakery, and I've been here for a while now." She looked over at the counter. "I'm totally buying one when I get back."
Within a few minutes, Mrs. Cake brought out a large box with the words "Apple Family" stricken across it. Applejack took the box, payed and thanked her, and gestured Vinyl out the door.
Both mares walked out the door, and into the sunny village that was Ponyville. It was a magnificent day, perhaps better than yesterday. Vinyl breathed in the air around her. She caught the scent of the bakery, and Applejack's trademark smell of apples. A pleasant mix of smells.
Applejack turned to Vinyl and grinned. "Y'ready fr' workin'?"
Vinyl nodded. "Yup! I'm totally looking forward to it. I'll try my best to keep up."
Applejack nodded, and they began to walk. The streets were bustling with noise, the sounds of ponies at work, fillies at play, and the occasional sound of a distant animal. Even the flowers seemed as though they were making sounds.
They were quiet for a while, when Applejack spoke up. "So, y'lived here in Ponyville as a filly, right?"
Vinyl nodded. "Sure did. Why do you ask?"
"Well," Applejack started. "With'n you bein' you n' all, how come nopony ever noticed when ye' lived here?"
Vinyl laughed. "Well, you see my mane?" Applejack nodded. "Well, this isn't how I styled it as a filly. It looked way different."
Applejack was taken back. "That much that nopony noticed you? Ma' gosh, Ah'd like tuh' see that."
Vinyl blushed. "I still do it from time to time... I dunno, it was nice. And nopony knew what my cutie mark was, I didn't get it until after my move to Canterlot."
Applejack looked interested. "Would'je mind tellin' me how? Ah'm mighty interested."
Vinyl grinned. "Well, then. Since we have the time..."
/\ \/ /\ \/ /\
"Vinyl?"
Vinyl turned around to see her father standing in her bedroom doorway. Or at least, her new bedroom doorway.
"Yeah dad? What is it?"
Her father grinned. "How do you like your new room, Vinyl?"
She shrugged. "I dunno, I guess it's alright." She turned and furrowed her brow out of her father's sight. "It's nowhere near as good as my old bedroom." She mumbled.
"Well, your mother and I thought that, once you're done, we'd go out to dinner, the three of us." He said. "Would you like to?"
Vinyl's mood rose. "Yeah I would love to! Can I pick where we go? Please, please, please?" She used the pony-eyes on her father, even though she knew she didn't have to in order to get what she wanted. She just liked doing it.
Her father laughed. "of course, Vinyl!" He reached into his bag he had slung over his back and pulled out what looked like a travel magazine. "You feel free to flip through this, and tell us when you've found a place you might want to go." He turned back to go into the hallway and looked back. "love you, honey."
Vinyl smiled appreciatively and said the same. She immediately started flipping through the book. She loved going out for dinner, not just for the food, but for the atmosphere and to see what kind of music they would play. She saw all sorts of places that looked high end and fancy. Then, one restaurant caught her eye: The Spinning Carousel.
She stopped flipping pages and read the article. the Spinning Carousel, It began. Is the best family and interactive restaurant in all of Canterlot. With a five star rating, this restaurant will have you coming back with it's alluring music, dance parties, and of course, food. The rest of it trailed off into the menu, but Vinyl wasn't interested in the food anymore; she was more interested in the photographs.
The restaurant had an appropriate blue coloured tone to it. The floor sat in a white and blue checkered patten, and the tables were laid out in a rather nice looking way. What caught her the most was the dance room; an entirely sectioned off area meant for no sound disruption into the actual restaurant itself. It was very much a dance room, but more for fillies and colts. Or at least, that's what the picture showed.
Another picture showed the dance room's DJ: A unicorn mare who went by the name 'Hoofmaster P'. What kind of name is that? Vinyl thought to herself. But that didn't matter. The mare had a very interesting look, though. She had a bright blue coat, and a dark red mane. She had a very straight mane, but a very unkempt tale. She had a pair of bright purple sunshades, and a cutie mark that looked like a black disc.
Vinyl was more interested in the music of this place than the food, so she thought; why not ask to bring Octavia? Octavia liked music too, and she lived in Canterlot.
Vinyl had really begun to miss Pinkie Pie, though. They were both crying pools of tears, not wanting to let go of each other as they cried. She promised to write to Pinkie every moment she could, and Pinkie had promised the same.
Vinyl liked Octavia all the same as she did Pinkie, though. With the exception that Octavia was much more classy than Vinyl, they had much in common with each other.
She called out for her father. "Hey, dad?"
His head popped in through the door. "Yes, sweetie?"
She pointed at the restaurant in the magazine. "Could we go here please? And can Octavia come?"
Her dad walked over and read the article. 'Hm... the Spinning Carousel, hunh?"
Vinyl nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! It looks totally cool! And..." She pointed to the picture of the dance room. "They've got a place for fillies and colts so they don't get bored waiting for food!" She was jumping up and down. "Could we go, please please please?"
Her father looked at the article warily, but then smiled. "Of course we can. I did say you could pick where we go." He thought for a moment. "But I'm not sure about Octavia... more or less her parents. They are pretty uptight about these sort of things."
Vinyl grabbed her father's leg in a begging way. "Aw, but dad! I've been so bored ever since we got here! Can I please go get her, ple-ea-ase?"
Her father pondered for a moment. "Well, I suppose we can go over and see. I'll take you, Canterlot's much bigger than Ponyville."
/\ \/ /\ \/ /\
Ding dong!
Octavia stopped playing her cello -still much too big for her, but oh well- and went to answer the door.
"Who's at the door, Octavia?" Her mother called from her room.
"I'm about to find out, mother!" she called back. She opened the door to see Vinyl and her father standing in the doorway. "Hi Vinyl! Hello, Mr. Coltwell."
Coltwell smiled. "Good evening, Octavia! Are your parents at home?"
Octavia nodded. Yes, they're upstairs. Would you like me to go get them?"
Coltwell nodded. "Yes, that would be great, if you could."
Octavia ushered them inside and went and fetched her mother and father.
Coltwell raised a hoof to wave hello. "Mr. and Mrs. Note, how are you?" He asked.
Mrs. Note smiled. "Good afternoon, Mr. Coltwell. we're quite fine, fine indeed."
Mr. Note nodded. "Yes, we've just finished writing the final symphony for the performance we have in a month. It's truly a masterpiece!"
Coltwell smiled. "That's wonderful! I still have yet to purchase a ticket for me and my wife." He shook his head. "But, anyways, I meant to ask you: are you busy this evening? We were wondering if you would all like to come have dinner with my family and I for our first night in Canterlot."
Mr. and Mrs. Note looked at each other, and then back to Coltwell and Vinyl. "Where abouts were you planning on going, might we ask?" Asked Mr. Note.
"Oh," Coltwell replied. "Just a place called The Spinning Carousel." He rubbed Vinyl's hair. "We let Vinyl here choose where we went. Are you interested?"
Mrs. Note shook her head. "I'm afraid the Mister and I think the music and atmosphere there is... much too out of our style." She looked at Octavia. "However, Octavia seems to enjoy it. Don't you, dear?"
Octavia nodded. "I'm not much for the music really, but I love the style of the place! Could I go, mother? Father?"
They both smiled. "Of course, Octavia." Her mother responded. She looked at Coltwell. "We'll send you some bits equal to whatever she gets. The place is a tad expensive."
Coltwell nodded. "That'd be great, thank you." He looked at the two girls. "Well, are you ready to go then?"
"Yeah!" Both fillies exclaimed.
Coltwell laughed. "Alright then, let's go! I'll have her back around 8:00, depending on how fast dinner goes by. Is that alright?"
The Notes nodded.
"Then let's go!" He announced.
/\ \/ /\ \/ /\
The place looked just like it had in the picture. Blue and white floor tiles, blue walls, white tables, a well lit atmosphere... Vinyl already loved it.
"It's quite something, don't you think, Vinyl?" Octavia asked.
Vinyl nodded happily. "It sure is! It's so cool in here! Look around, I mean, don't you think the blue is so cool? It reminds me of my mane!" She brushed her mane back as she said it. "Ugh. I need to get a new hairdo."
A waiter welcomed and seated them as they came in. They were sat somewhere in the middle area of the restaurant, with a great view of the surrounding areas. Vinyl noticed a wall of fame on one end of the restaurant. She looked at her mother.
"Hey mom? Can I go look at that?" She asked.
"Of course, honey, go right ahead!" She said back.
Vinyl took Octavia by the hoof and dragged her over to look. It was a very big wall, with all sorts of famous musicians. Vinyl recognized some of them, like Daft Ponies (Whom she was glad to see was there) and Deadmare, while some of them-
"Ooh! Look at all of them!" Octavia exclaimed. "There's Haytoven, Manezart... ooh! Colt Mansell! Oh, and here's a group photo of the Canterlot Symphony Orchestra! Goodness, look at all of them..."
Vinyl's attention trailed off to a nearby glass door. She walked up to it, and the sign on it said "Dance room- Tonight's DJ: Hoofmaster P!"
She looked at Octavia, who was still looking at the wall of fame, then back to the door. She hesitated for a moment, thinking she should ask her parents if she could go in. Then she considered, They wouldn't mind. I hate waiting, after all. and walked through the door. What she didn't realize was that the sign above the one she read has said closed for the night.
She stepped into the room. It was dark, and all the lights were off. Where is everpony? She thought. And why is it so dark? She used the little unicorn magic she had to illuminate her surroundings. It hurt a bit, as she was still young and not used to magic, but she could tolerate the pain.
The walls were made of white panels with small, coloured bulbs inside them. Must be for rave lights. She thought.
The floor beneath her was the same. White panels with the faint glow of bulbs inside them. She looked at the ceiling, expecting the same. But, in it's place, was a regular blue ceiling and a magnificent disco ball. Her horn's light refracted off of it once she looked at it, and saw light spots show up around the room. It was a magnificent sight. Of course, the ball wasn't spinning, but it was still pretty cool.
She then started to bob her head, pretending the lights were going on and off on the disco ball. "Rave, rave rave!" She exclaimed.
"Hello?"
Vinyl stopped bobbing and froze. She turned around, and there standing was a unicorn. She recognized the unicorn as Hoofmaster P.
"Um... hello." Vinyl stammered.
Hoofmaster raised an eyebrow. "You do know the dance room is closed for the night, right?" She asked.
Vinyl blushed. "Oh, um... no, sorry. I didn't. I guess I missed that."
Hoofmaster smiled. "It's alright. They put that closed sign up way too high for little ponies to see." She trotted closer to Vinyl. "My name's Spinner, but I'm Hoofmaster P when I'm doing my show. What's your name?"
"Uh, Vinyl Scratch." She said warily. "I...I really like your dance room."
Spinner smiled. "Well thanks! I'm pretty happy with it, too. You wanna tour since you're here? I don't get a whole lot of company. Not counting the crowd, of course."
Vinyl's guilty emotions were wiped away by the instant glee that overcame her. "Would I! I would love to!"
Spinner laughed. "That's the spirit I like to see! Come on, I'll show you the back room."
Vinyl followed Spinner behind the stage to the backroom. It looked so high tech, this room. Cords and all sorts of machinery crowded the room, but Vinyl didn't care. In fact, she was filled with glee seeing all of the sort of things that DJ's use in their work.
Spinner saw Vinyl's eagerness. "I take it you like music too, eh?" Vinyl simply nodded, making Spinner laugh a little. "Well then, why don't we see what you can do? I still haven't taken any equipment apart. You want to?"
Vinyl looked at Spinner and stared. Spinner just asked the one question Vinyl's always wanted to hear. "I... Yes. Yes please. I would love to!" She hugged Spinner's hoof. "Thank you thank you thank you! But, uh." She got off her leg. "Why are you being so nice?"
Spinner laughed a bit. "Well, to be honest, I like seeing others happy. I really do. I guess I get it from my cousin Cheerilee in Ponyville. She wants to be a teacher when she's older."
"I know Cheerilee!" Vinyl exclaimed. "I went to school with her! I used to live in Ponyville, but I moved here to Canterlot."
"Really? That's really cool!" Spinner said. "She's a great filly." She took Vinyl over to her turntables. "Have you ever seen one of these before?"
Vinyl was speechless. She was standing in front of the thing she considered to be most sacred. A dual turntable. She never thought she'd even use one, let alone see one, but here, in front of her, stood a turntable.
Spinner noticed Vinyl's awe and switched the equipment on. "Here," she said. "I've got a bunch of my samples set up on my computer here. Why don't you arrange them in a way you want, and then use the turntables to see what you can do?"
Vinyl looked at Spinner. "Wouldn't that wreck your song though?" She asked.
Spinner shook her head. "Nah, I've got it saved on a separate hard drive. Here," She sat Vinyl in the chair. "Go ahead!"
Vinyl looked at the screen. She had read up tons of times to know how to use these kind of systems, and now that she was using one, she dived right into it. Arranging, rearranging, moving, separating... she knew all of it.
Spinner stood there, watching intriguingly.
Wow, She thought. This little filly knows her stuff.
Vinyl continued doing so for a bit, when someone called her name.
"Vinyl Scratch!"
She stopped what she was doing and turned around. Standing in the doorway was her father, with Octavia by his side.
"Uh... H-hi, dad." She stammered.
Her father walked over to her. "Where have you been? You asked to see the wall of fame with Octavia, and instead you wandered into the closed dance room!" He then noticed Spinner. "May I ask who you are?" He demanded.
"My name's Spinner, sir." She replied, calmly. "Your filly here didn't know the dance room was closed, and I noticed her standing in the dark, so I decided to look after her until someone came along."
Coltwell nodded. "Thank you very much, I appreciate that." He looked back at Vinyl. "But you, young filly, you are in big-"
"I think you ought to listen to what she's made, sir." Spinner interrupted.
He looked at her. "What did you say?" He asked.
"Sorry, that was kinda rude of me, but..." She looked at Vinyl. "You should hear what she's made. It's really something for her age."
He looked at Vinyl. "...Fine. Show me what you have, then. If it's so important."
Vinyl gulped, and stepped off of the seat and went over to the turntable. She put her hooves down on it, and instantly got a thrill. She looked at Spinner and nodded.
Spinner nodded, and pressed play. The sound that came out was the best thing Spinner had ever heard.
Vinyl got right into it. She spun the discs when she thought appropriate, and let her music flow when she thought to. She fell into an almost trance-like state; letting the music flow, and letting her mind work. She'd never gotten such a joy out of anything like this. It was a perfect feeling.
Finally, the music stopped, and Vinyl opened her eyes. Spinner, Octavia and her father all stood there with their mouths agape.
"Um..." Vinyl started. "What did you think?"
Spinner was the first to talk. "Vinyl," She started. "That was better than anything I could have ever made. I've never heard anything like that."
Octavia nodded. "Even I admit, I enjoyed that quite a bit. I've never heard something so loud be so... entertaining!"
Vinyl looked at her dad with pleading eyes. "Dad? What did you think?"
Her father stood there, mouth still open. Finally, he gave in. "Vinyl, I...I don't know what to say. That was even good to me. No, not good, grand! Magnificent! Amazing!"
Vinyl was beaming. "You really think so?!"
Her father nodded. "I do! It was absolutely incredible! And for such an age, too!" His eyes widened. "Honey, look..."
She looked behind her. Her flank was glowing. Within seconds, the glow was replaced by a pair of eighth notes conjoint together; It was her cutie mark.
She began jumping with joy. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh!" She exclaimed. "My cutie mark came! My cutie mark came!" She leaped onto Spinner, hugging her tightly. "Thank you so much! I would've never gotten it if not for you!"
Spinner laughed. "Wow, I've never done anything like that before! I helped someone get their cutie mark... Wow!" She looked at Vinyl. "I'm really proud of you, Vinyl Scratch. As a congratulatory remark, and to show how proud I am, I want to give you these." She used her magic and removed her purple glasses, and landed them on Vinyl's face. "You've got talent, Vinyl. I urge you to keep using it, and to someday go for the big time." She winked at her. "Just don't forget me when you do."
Vinyl's eyes teared up a bit. She was so happy. She finally learned what her talent was, and that was music. She earned a new friend, someone she felt she could easily connect with. Someone who just gave Vinyl her most prized costume attire.
She looked up at Spinner. "Thank you so much, Spinner." She hugged her again. "I'll never forget you, ever."