Why can't I just move on? Why am I so endeared to her? What is so wrong with me that she can't make an exception? Taking another sip of her mimosa the mint coated mare tried to focus on the flavor in an ill attempt to relive her mind of the only thing she loved more than her music, her best friend. The drink's bubbly citrus flavor did nothing to lighten her mood. Nothing in the world could ease her pain. No amount of drink could drown her sorrows.
Looking around the room she found that she was relatively alone. It's not like many ponies drank at four in the morning. The ones that did were much like herself, night owls. Besides the bar keep there were only a handful of ponies in the quaint little pub. Of all the patrons her eye was drawn to a pale yellow coated pony sitting alone in the corner booth wearing a dark green hoodie with the hood pulled up covering his head. Uneven locks of two toned blue haphazardly escaped the confines of the hood. From where Lyra sat she could see a single black wire snake its way down the ponies chest to the little music player the pony held in his hoof.
This was the third time this week that Lyra had seen the pony and she was curious. She had frequented the establishment now for almost two years and she knew almost all of the patrons. Normally new patrons were always brought in by regulars but this pony was different. This pony walked in by himself order a drink and then sat alone. He was followed by an aura that chilled her to the bone. This pony was either dangerous or so incredibly morose that a frosty chill followed him where ever he went. After downing her mimosa with renewed vigor she ambled over to the pony to meet the pony and find out which conjecture held true.
As the pony's face came into view the first thing she noticed was the pony she had thought was a stallion was in fact a mare. Behind her outrageously large shaded glasses were delicate yet high cheek bones and she had the cutest little nose. Aside from that the mare held an edgy look that even sitting completely still made Lyra think of a manticore crouching just before he leaped upon his prey. Standing tall out from her forehead was a dangerously sharp looking horn. She was a unicorn like herself.
"Ahem" voiced Lyra as she watched the mare to see what she was going to do. If the mare heard her she didn't show it. She opened her mouth again but was cut off when the hooded mare spoke up.
"Pop a squat, Babe"
Lyra edged into the seat across from the pony plopping her elbow down on the table she rested her chin on her hoof and waited to see if wild look mare would start a conversation. Minuets passed and neither spoke. The silence was infuriating and Lyra started to fidget.
"Hi, my name is Lyra Heartstrings!" she sounded of trying to break the ice. The other unicorn sunk down in her seat not looking up from her music player. After a moment the mare pocketed the player and then reached up to remove her headphones.
"My name is-"
"Lyra Heartstrings, I heard you the first time." finished the mare as she held out her hoof in greeting, "The name is Vinyl Scratch otherwise known as DJ-Pon3."
Eyeing the outstretched hoof wearily Lyra reached out and bumped hoof with Vinyl. Looking at Vinyl there was no traceable emotion. Her glasses hid her eyes and her face was like looking at a blank page. Vinyl must have sensed that Lyra was having issues with her glasses so she reached up and removed them revealing a magnificent set of magenta eyes.
"Why have been staring at me?" Vinyl asked as she gave the slack jawed mare a quizzical look.
Nervously Lyra brought her hooves together in front of her as she gave Vinyl a weak smile,
"Look of all the other ponies that come in here there are only a hoof-full that come in alone. I'm one of those ponies and from what I've seen so are you. I always thought that drinking is more fun if you have someone to share a laugh with and you look like you could use a laugh."
Am I that transparent? Vinyl wanted to smile but, she couldn't even force it. This was too much, too soon. Feeling the stirring of emotions deep in her well of being Vinyl felt that she had to get out of there. She had to if she was going to maintain her composure.
"Thanks for the offer but I think I'm about to split," Vinyl started to scoot out from her spot on the bench seat, "It's been nice meeting you, babe."
Hanging her head, Lyra felt defeated. The prospect of being alone wasn't that bad before she sat down and had started to introduce herself but, now on the precipice she casted a hook into the water hoping for a bite.
"A DJ never leaves on a down beat song," she said, as she reached out and touched Vinyl's hoof trying desperately to reach out to the pensive acting mare.
The DJ eyed the hoof and then shot its owner a hard look and said with an equally hard tone,
"What do you want?"
Pulling her hoof back as if she had been stung, Lyra's face twisted into a bitter frown.
"I was just trying to be nice," she muttered as Vinyl threw a hoof up dismissively and walked away. Lyra watched the mare leave and couldn't help but feel that Vinyl seemed to be angry but, not at her.
After ordering another drink Lyra tried to get her mind off of Vinyl. Why did she act that way? She thought, as she brought the shot glass to her lips. The vile liquid burned in more ways than one. The first burn, she knew was just the burn of alcohol. Her tired voice, that she had worked so recently, was raw from singing her heart out in a jazz bar a few blocks down. The alcohol wasn't gentle on the delicate folds of her throat and the char flavor that followed was equally harsh.
After tossing back a chaser she decided to head back to the hotel where she was staying. Might as well get some rest. I doubt I get any.
***
The Spritz was one of the few bars in the area that didn't draw any unwanted types, like prostitutes and drug dealers. It was the kind of place a pony could go and not feel like they were in constant danger. If you didn't know why the bar was safe you certainly didn't know its owner; a rough and tumble retired guardspony named Shatter Shield. Unfortunately the safety vanished as soon as you stepped a hoof outside its doors.
"Hey, zat her?" asked the mottled brown coated stallion as he bumped the older stallion beside him. They had been waiting so long that the surly old stallion had fell asleep as he leaned against the wall in wait.
"Hmm," muttered the stallion as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. He didn't have to ask the impulsive pony again about what he was saying as his eyes fell on the shapely form of the unicorn mare as she crossed the street heading away from the Spritz.
The flashing green of the bar's neon sign gave her coat a luminescent glow and her beauty caused the old stallions loins to burn. A faint smile crossed his lips as he motioned for the mottled stallion to follow him.
Lyra walked at a brisk pace, trying to get back to her hotel as fast as possible. She was away from the safety of her Ponyville home and she knew that although uptown Canterlot was one of the safest places in Equestria, where she was it was far from a walk in the park. This was downtown and downtown was dangerous. It was also home to the cities major bar scene and the throbbing heart of Canterlot's night life.
Something was creeping in the night; she could feel it in her hooves. Greedy eyes filled with malcontent were taking in her form. It made her feel uneasy as she passed a few shady stallions loitering on a street corner but, after looking them over she knew that they weren't the cause of the antsy feeling that had descended on her heart. Nor was it the painted up mares whose swaying walk marked them as seducers. It was a roving terror that crept into the back of her mind. She was on edge but she wasn't prepared.
As she turned a corner a flash of brown caught her eye but it was moving too quickly for her to react. The hoof crashed into the right side of her face tearing her off her feet. After striking the hard pavement she slid a few feet before her attacker pounced her letting out a gleeful,
"Yeah!"
His hooves ran over her body and she felt the urge to vomit as his intention became clear. Dazed she couldn't do anything to stop him.
A hoof descended onto the head of her attacker with a loud,
"Crack!"
The hooves left her as the mottled stallion rubbed his sore head giving the older stallion a hard look,
"Wat ya do dat fur?"
The old pale stallion sneered at the other as he clasped a magic repression ring around Lyra's horn. It was followed by a dirty rag and duck tape that he used to gag her.
"You are far too eager! We can't have our way with her out on the street. Do you want somepony to see?"
While they argued Lyra felt her strength return to her and she tried to get up. No sooner than she had a hoof under her the older attacker stomped her ribcage blasting the air out of her lungs. I'm going to die?
Grabbing a foreleg each the two dragged her into a nearby ally way and laid her on her down a blanket. She spotted a length of rope and a few other items. They knew my routine. They planned this. She called out to her magic but it wouldn't respond. She could feel it inside but it was just out of reach. It betrayed her. Even if I could reach my magic what could I do when the pain in my jaw is almost unbearable?
They turned her belly down and pulled her hooves behind her back she struggled and managed to get a hoof free but another hoof rained down on the back of her head and suddenly everything went swimmy. All the fear and disgust she was feeling got the better of her and she shot out a stream of vomit from her mouth. Her nose was overcome with a hot burning as she realized that she must have shut her mouth to soon and the vomit had redirected to an alternative exit.
"Eww! Dat is nasty." remarked the mottled coated stallion as he pointed out the puddle of vomit that had formed just above Lyra's head. After they turned her over they saw that vomit had trickled down the side of her face and bits of it hung in her mane.
"Well, there goes my desire to kiss her," said the elder as he pulled her legs part.
She whimpered as the finality of the situation came to her. They're going to kill me! They're going to rape me!
"Just kill me!" she tried to say through the gag. She could feel his body heat burn her thighs as he drew closer. She screwed her eyes closed not wanting to see what he was about to do. And then he did nothing.
She heard a heavy thud and then a few moments latter another. The scrape of hooves on concrete approached her and she kept her eyes closed in fear. Again she found herself lying on her back as one of the stallions rolled her over. The tingle of magic wrapped around her bound hooves and for a moment the binds tightened. Then the bounds broke free. Opening her eyes she wanted to get up but she was afraid that they would her again so she just laid there waiting for them do something, anything.
"Are you ok, babe?" asked a distinctively feminine voice, unlike the gruff voice of the older stallion or the excited voice of the other. She knew the voice and she gasped in surprise as she rolled over to see the red eyed DJ staring down at her.
She did the only thing she could think of, the only thing that felt natural. Lyra bolted up from her spot on the pavement and wrapped her hooves around Vinyl's neck and started to sob. Vinyl sat back on her haunches and wrapped a foreleg around the mare.
"Shhh," comforted Vinyl, as she ran a hoof down Lyra's back, "It's ok now."
***
Sniffing, Vinyl's nose was infiltrated by the miasma of alcohol and disinfectant. It also left a faint metallic taste in her mouth that reminded her of the flavor of one Octavia's flat cello strings. To others this smell might have been described as the smell of clean but to her it was the smell of pain. She hated the smell of hospitals because she had rarely left the place without experiencing tragedy.
It was the time of night that made the emergency room a lonely place. Usually it was teeming with injured or sick ponies. Initially there were a few other ponies but they had long since been taken back into the inner rooms to see doctor or ailing friends or family. Calm down Vinyl. She is ok. Paramedics said all that she had was a concussion, a few broken ribs, and a maybe a fractured jaw. Don't let this place get to you.
Vinyl didn't even notice the automatic doors open as a pale green stallion entered the emergency room. As usual Vinyl's expression was hidden behind her purple shades, the mask that hid her from the world. He slid into the seat beside her and gently prodded her with a hoof.
Her head turned slowly until she was looking directly at him. A thin smile escaped before Neon let her have it,
"What the buck, Scratch!"
Her smile grew but she decided to play stupid just to get under his skin.
"Wha?" she asked in an innocent tone.
He raised his hoof and rubbed his nose,
"You don't think about what could happen. You never think."
Reaching over she gave him a playful nudge. His expression didn't soften in the slightest as he crossed his hooves across his chest.
"This is serious, Vinyl. You could have been killed," he shrieked.
"You need to chill out, bro." she said as reached over and place her foreleg across his shoulders. He went to push her leg off but before he could she pulled him close and gave him a nuggie.
"Wait! No. Ugh." he squeaked as she ground her hoof into his mane.
A nurse was walking by and spotted the two hoodlums and watched for a moment and then sighed at their antics. She then continued on her way.
After she released him she slunk back in her seat throwing her legs out wide in blatant disregard for the social niceties. She wasn't leaving anything to anypony's imagination as sat there exposed.
Neon blushed at her position. A blue aura wrapped around Vinyl's hoodie that was lying across the seat next to her and was promptly laid across her out stretched legs.
"You don't get the concept of decency? Do you." Neon said, sternly as he looked down at the mare beside him.
"Who cares?" She stated as she matched his hard look, "I ain't got time for decent and besides life's too short not to be a little risqué, babe."
Groaning he had to ask,
"Who did you save this time?"
Vinyl's eyes dropped and her face bled a melancholy paleness. Over the course of her short time working as a DJ she had broken up numerous fights and had bucked the teeth out of more than a few ponies who had tried to take advantage of an inebriated pony. This time was different. The two ponies were different. They weren't just horny ponies trying to take advantage of some drunken foal. They were not a lonesome mare who slipped another a pony a Mickey to get her way with some mare or stallion. Those to ponies were the real deal, hard core serial rapists. Well, the older one was, the younger was just some stupid colt that he conned into helping him.
***
Vinyl watched as the paramedics hauled Lyra off on gurney. Biting her lip she really wanted go with her to the hospital. Not because she really wanted to go to the hospital but because of how Lyra acted. The paramedic's and Vinyl spent more time trying to convince Lyra that she could trust the paramedics then it took the paramedics to check her out and give her something for the pain. And the Vinyl knew that even after the physical damage had healed there would be months, maybe even years of psychological treatment ahead of her.
"Uh, Miss Scratch?" asked the stern faced policepony trying to get her look at him. She didn't immediately respond but she slowly turned her head towards him.
"What do you need, officer?" she asked flatly.
Looking away he kept his eyes on the now restrained suspects. One of them was a mottled brown stallion who was barely of legal age. The other was quite a surprise. When they first arrived he wore the guise of a pale coated unicorn stallion but, after they placed a magical restrain on his horn he reverted to his true from, a changeling drone.
"Well, I would like to know why you stepped in to stop this crime?" he asked without turning from his vigil.
Vinyl sighed and recanted her story,
"I met Lyra in a bar about an hour ago."
The stallion held up his hand wanting to clarify something. Vinyl shut her trap and waited.
"How do you know Lyra?"
"I don't."
Bring a hoof up to his chin he gazed at her and then added,
"If you don't know Lyra why do you say you met her? Do you mean the two of you met there as a planned event or did you actually just meet her for the first time this evening?"
Vinyl let the question hang in the air for a moment as she pawed at the ground. I hate cops.
"I was sitting in a booth drinking by myself and she came up and introduced herself. I didn't feel like talking so I blew her off and started to walk home. I felt bad about doing that because she was just trying to be nice so I walked back."
The stallion nodded as he transcribed Vinyl's words onto a note pad that he had held up in his magic.
"Go on."
Vinyl rolled her eyes at his almost mechanical voice.
"So I was walking back and I spotted her. I started to walk up to apologize to her when I spotted these two shady characters following her, so I followed them. I would have gotten there sooner but another shady bastard thought I would be interested in some of his wares, if you get what I mean. After I blew him off I went looking for Lyra. I was just about to give up when I heard a couple ponies talking in the ally way. I decided to check it out and that was when I spotted two stallions messing with a pony on the ground. I saw it was Lyra so I pulled a loose brick for the wall of the building that made one side of the ally with my telekinesis and bashed them both in the head with it. After that I yelled until somepony decided to run and get some help," she finished.
After finishing writing out the report he reached over and place a hoof on Vinyl's shoulder and giving her a smile all the while.
"Not many ponies in this neighborhood would have done what you did. They are all afraid of some kind of gang retaliation. And not only that, if the DNA checks out you may have captured a pony we have spent two years trying to find."
A surprised look crossed Vinyl's face as she processed what the cop said.
"You mean I actually stopped a hardened criminal? She asked, in a breathy tone.
He walked over to the Changeling and pointed a hoof at him. The changeling growled at the cop before trying to spit on him. The spit wad was caught mid air by the cop's aura and thrown to the side.
"All changelings feed on love. A drone, which there are very few of thank goodness is a male changeling that usually sticks to his queen. Male drones can't feed the way the queen or the workers feed. He has to have sex with his victims for the exchange to take place. They usually siphon what love they need from their queens stores in exchange for their seed," said the cop, sounding more like a college professor.
Screwing up her face in disgust, Vinyl gagged at the thought.
He started up again but was cut off by Vinyl's outstretched hoof,
"Please, don't say any more. I get that you're excited about possibly catching a real bad pony but, I don't want to hear it." she said looking a little green.
"Oh!" exclaimed the cop as he raised a hoof up and scratch the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, Miss Scratch. I just got carried away," he nervously chuckled.
"It's okay." replied Vinyl as she turned to walk away. She took a step and the turned back to the cop.
"Can I go?" she asked lowly.
"Yes ma'am! Would you like an escort to the hospital?" he asked.
Raising an eyebrow she asked,
"What makes you think I'm going to the hospital?"
He smiled and then said,
"You act cool but you're not."
Taking a step towards him she gave him an angry look and growled,
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He chuckled nervously again,
"You act tough because inside you're a softy."
Damn, he didn't make inspector for nothing. Her face soften and she added,
"Yeah, I'm going to the hospital."
***
"Her name is Lyra Heartstrings," she muttered.
Neon's eyes flashed in recognition and then said excitedly,
"I've heard about her," he said as rosy glow crossed his cheeks, "She puts on a wicked show when she sings. She's sort of a pop slash r&b singer who frequents those smoky jazz and blues lounges over on Pecan St."
Vinyl looked over at her love struck friend and shook her head in embarrassment,
"Is it her lyrics or her body that has got you all hot?" His blush deepened as he was hit by her insinuation.
"I am not hot," he said, with a slight break in his voice.
Rolling her eyes she said,
"Would you be quiet so I can get some shut eye."
Reaching over he brushed her mane out from her eyes,
"Don't you want to go home?"
Giving him a half smile she shook her head no,
"I want to be here when she wakes up."
Reaching over he pulled her over towards him getting her to lay long ways across the bench and letting her head rest in his lap. Taking off her glasses he saw the look she was giving him that said in no certain terms, "Thanks for being here for me."
"You just rest, Scratchy." he said softly as he gave her a small smile, "I'll walk you up when they come to tell you she's awake."
Winking at him she whispered,
"I'll hold you to it, little bro."
***
Slowly she stirred from her short rest to find another ponies face just inches from hers looking down. The mare's peach colored eyes held a warm glow that was matched by her equally warm smile.
"Are ya up yet, sleepy head" she said in a tone that reminded Vinyl of how somepony's talked to the foals or their pets.
"Ugh..." grumbled Vinyl as she rose up. Looking around she couldn't find Neon. That big fat liar! Turning back to the bubbly nurse looking rather grumpy she asked,
"What time is it?"
Raising her foreleg up she looked at wear a watch would be and then peaked at Vinyl giving her a goofy smile,
"I don't know. I seem to have forgotten my watch this mornin'."
Vinyl shot her a disbelieving look as she stepped off the hard bench and stretched her sore muscles. Lifting her hoodie up in her magic she rose up on her hind legs and pulled it on. Her eyes then returned to the peach eyed mare,
"Have you seen a pale green stallion with spiky hair?"
Shaking her head no, the mare stepped forward and looked Vinyl in the eye,
"Nope!" she said with gusto and then she added, "Ya friend is awake though."
"She is!" said Vinyl excitedly.
"Yeppers, follow me." The mare turned and led Vinyl away from the emergency room and down a long hall. They came to another hall and they turned right. After passing a few rooms they came to Lyra's room. The nurse opened the door and more or less pushed Vinyl in and let the mares to do their own thing.
Gauze wrapped over Lyra's head and down around her jaw framing face, it would have been a cute look for the unicorn but the lower half of the right side of her face was swollen and heavily bruised. A plastic straw looking thing hung out of the left side of her mouth and she was wearing a blue neck brace. Her lime green gown was open in the front and Vinyl could see the generous wrappings that coiled around Lyra's ribs. She looked horrible but there was something that gave Vinyl hope. Lyra didn't have a dead eyed look. Her sunglow eyes held an inner brilliance that said, "I will not be broken."
The closing of the door alerted Lyra that she had a visitor so she looked Vinyl's way. In her state Lyra couldn't smile, but the edges of her eyes turned up in the best smile that she could manage.
"How are doing', babe," said Vinyl as she walked up to the edge of Lyra's bed.
Holding up a hoof she rotated it back and forth in an attempt to say, "So So."
Before Vinyl could ask anything else a note pad was levitated over to her in a gold aura. Taking the note pad, Vinyl looked over the list of questions that Lyra had written out. A pencil followed the pad and tapped on the first question.
Vinyl read it out loud,
"Why did you come back?" Looking over at Lyra she saw her rolling her hoof as if to say, "Come on, tell me."
Letting out a sigh Vinyl lowered her eyes and then answered,
"I came back to apologize. I was an ass."
Lyra's eyes smiled again as she pulled from under her bed sheet a whole bunch of note cards. She held one up for Vinyl to read.
"You were!"
Seriously, I save this mares life and she is going to criticize me. Vinyl hung her head in defeat. A force pulled her chin up. Vinyl saw that tears were cascading down Lyra's cheeks as she held out a note card that had some sort of glamour on it that made the letters glow like a neon sign. She read it slowly as tears began to fall from her own eyes. Its bold letters that glowed in the shades of Vinyl's mane said,
"THANK YOU!"