//------------------------------// // The Skipping CD // Story: Hooves And Dials // by That Awesome Brony Guy //------------------------------// The Skipping CD “Vinyl! We need more of your awesome music!” a cheerful voice said right next to me. Pinkie Pie had hopped up into the booth and was staring at me with puppy eyes in a vain attempt to make the music resume more quickly. I quietly grumbled and got settled at my consoles, having just resolved the mishap with Pinkie hurling somepony into my valuable equipment. I was trying to get the dance floor going again now that my speaker was repaired, but it was made quite difficult by the poor mare still sobbing nearby. I decided to hold off on the music for a few minutes and tend to the poor pony. “Hey Vinyl,” she said in a shaky voice. “Hey Scootaloo.” I sat down next to the distressed pegasus and slid my hoof around her neck in a comforting manner. “Why didn’t you fly after him? You have wings…” I bit my lip after realizing what I had just said. Scootaloo hadn’t exactly been one for flying… Even though Scootaloo was quite a bit older than she looked, she was still a little scared of flying, favouring her scooter to get her from place to place. Come to think of it, she and Skippy would be about the same age. The embarrassment of still being ‘small’ and ‘cute’ didn’t help her self-confidence. The thought was bucked out of my head as the air was filled with a sorrowful cry. Great, Scootaloo was going back into dramatic mode. I really shouldn’t have said that… She continued sobbing on the ground as I went back to my booth. I figured there was nothing I could do to console the crying filly so I decided to just head back to work. I fired up my consoles again and looked for another record to spin. Still looking… “Ah!” I found my old dance mix that I had lent out to Twilight a couple months ago. I figured that if it made Twilight smile when she was down on her luck, it would definitely make Scootaloo smile. I loaded it onto the turntable and moved the needle to track two. The memories of it came flooding back…Pinkie’s jam song. It would make Nightmare Moon herself crack a smile. I flicked a switch on my amplifier to bring the power back on for the speaker system. It didn’t blow up, so Skippy must have done a pretty good job on the repairs. I lowered the needle and the speakers crackled to life with music. Everyone rushed to the dance floor immediately, except for Scootaloo. Her frown was slowly lifting as she began to get up and slowly walk to the dance floor. By the time she reached the crowd her smile was in full swing and she flapped her wings happily, dancing away. “How in Equestria does Pinkie Pie pick such good music?” I said to myself, scrambling to find the next record to play. I had been so busy watching Scootaloo magically go from depression to all smiles that I forgot to find the next song. Luckily, I found some Rainbow Spektrum before the song ran its course. I dusted it off, loaded it onto the second turntable and let it roll. I managed to play nothing but upbeat music for several hours. All the ponies were happy, the party was moving, and I hadn’t seen Octavia yet! Maybe I would be able to have an easy night after all… After loading the next track and lowering the needle, I heard a soft voice from behind me. “I need an XLR cable if you have one.” I whipped around in shock, forgetting that I was still in the process of lowering the needle onto the next record. A deafening screeching was heard across the entire park as I tried to lift the needle back up. But with my hooves shaking I just caused more scratching noises and induced angry yells from the ponies in the crowd. I finally kicked the power switch on the amplifier to shut off the speakers. With my ears no longer under attack, I whipped back around to say hello. “Hi Octavia!” I said, my voice louder and more unnerved than intended. I was staring right into the face of the mare I once loved and she was acting as if it was nothing. “Yes, hello,” she said. I looked at her awkwardly for a moment as I tried to gather my thoughts. The slate grey pony broke the silence first. “Uh, so about that XLR cable? I am supposed to perform tonight and I need to plug my Cello into your speakers,” she remarked in an almost bored tone, looking around as if to clearly exhibit her disinterest in our conversation. I looked at her for a second in shock. She really pushed that ‘nothing ever happened’ get-up... so why did I keep treating her so nicely when she remained as emotionless as the floor I stood on? I racked my brain to find an answer but came up with nothing. Right, decision time. I leaned in close to her, being careful not to make a scene. “No.” My voice was in a low, commanding tone. The shock and confusion on her face was palpable, so I decided to elaborate. “I would never… ever have my speakers used in any way by you. Enjoy trying to play tonight.” I snorted hot air and whipped back around, lashing my tail into her face in the process. I had dealt with her long enough and was sick of the attitude. I can handle the idea of working together but what I can’t handle is the idea of her constantly pretending that nothing ever happened between us. Yes I did still like her, maybe more than I would care to admit... but really, this has gone far enough. I was done being played with. I fired up my amplifier again and started the song I had attempted to load earlier. The needle was down and music was playing once again. I decided now would be a good time to run to one of the booths and grab a drink. I walked past Octavia as she sat in the grass behind my equipment. Ignoring her burning eyes, I walked away, my blood still boiling with anger. I was just about to reach the booth and order a nice big glass of cider when I heard my record stop. I galloped back to the stage and realized that Octavia had taken the opportunity to plug her Cello into my board and was beginning to play. By the time I got back she was already well into her song. She was in front of the speakers playing for all the ponies that were slowly dispersing from the dance floor. She was ruining the night of up-beat music with her slow, dreadful music… My mind raced as I tried to think of the quickest way to deal with her; I was already at my wits end and wanted her gone. Perhaps I could raise the volume on my speakers and cause a feedback loop? That won’t do it… maybe just lower the volume until she’s muted? But then she’ll just come back up here and raise it up again… Aha! Phantom Power! My XLR overloading friend of mine. It would cause some serious damage to her cello and she wouldn’t be able to play for the night… I flicked the switch to bring the Phantom Power online. I had customized it so I was able choose how much power I could send through it, which in this case was the maximum amount. A small high-pitched noise began to build up in the speakers as I saw her entire Cello begin to warp. She was screaming and trying to unplug her Cello, but it was too late. I had overloaded her transmitter and caused a fire to break out inside the instrument. She continued to wail as she sat next to the writhing piece of wood and metal, watching the strings break one by one. Okay, so I felt a little bad… she deserved it though. I turned down the power so I wouldn’t blow out my board while the transmitter inside the cello turned into electrical mush. I heard her sobbing stop and a pair of eyes started burning holes into my head. I was trying to focus on what to play next instead of ac a fire mare and putting her Cello out of its misery. I didn’t want to have any contact with Octavia after what she just did. How in Equestria could she EVER bring herself to touch somepony’s personal sound board? That was my stuff! I continued to have hatred boil inside of me until I heard a quiet shaky voice for the second time that night. “I was playing our song…” she said. I lifted up my goggles and looked at her. “W…What?” My mind began to race as I wondered what she was talking about. “That was the first song I ever played in front of you. We were together out in a field on our first date. I… I wanted to remind you that I haven’t forgotten about you…” She broke into tears again as I got out of my booth and walked over to her. I sat next to her and cried with her after realizing what I had done. I loved her, I still did, but I had just destroyed something she holds dear more than anything... “We can fix this!” I said, looking at the charred pile of wood and then back at her. “You think this is a joke? It’s gone! You can’t fix this!” she began to hold her bow as if she was going to whack me with it. I backed off and gave her space. “Look, you have music to run. Just go,” she said, her voice shaking. “But I…” “GO!” “I’m sorry Octavia... really I am,” I whispered, trying to hold my tears back. “You will never be able to fix what you have done... now leave before I do something I will regret.” I broke into tears, galloping back home leaving my equipment behind. I was just about to make it out of the park when a pink blur suddenly stopped in my path. I skidded to a stop mere inches from her face. “What’s wrong Vinyl? It’s a party! Be happy!” “Look, I did something stupid and I have to go. I’ll pick up my equipment tomorrow.” Pinkie looked at me confused, but then smiled. “Hang on, I’ll be right back!” She became a blur once more, and a few short seconds later she appeared next to me again. “Here! All packed!” She had somehow managed to pack up all of my gear in the blink of an eye. Every ounce of distress and sorrow was knocked out of me as I looked at her with an extremely puzzled expression. “How did you… what?!” I continued to look at her as my jaw dropped. “Hee hee! It’s a secret, silly filly!” She left me with the trailer and slowly trotted off. My brain hurt after that. I looked at the trailer and everything was as it should be, but how the hay did she manage to pull that off? “Hey! Pinkie!” I didn’t know why I was going to do what I was about to do, but I was doing it anyway. She turned back to me with a big knowing smile. She zipped back over until she was right in front of me again. “Uh, Want to go for a couple ciders? My treat.” Her constant grin broadened as she fluttered her eyes at me. “Okey dokey!” She moved over next to me as we began to walk off. “Oh wait, my trailer!” Before I could turn around, Pinkie Pie had pulled the trailer up next to me with the bridle in her mouth. “How do you keep doing that?” I smiled as I put the bridle on and walked next to her. “Oh, I might tell you later if you’re good,” the pink pony giggled. I have no idea what that means… but it sounds painful. I nervously chuckled and kept walking along with her until we both stopped. Our ears perked forward as we heard a rather familiar sound. “Scootaloo?” I said in a worried voice. “Y-yes?” I could tell from how hoarse her voice was that she had been crying for a while. She only stopped when Pinkie and I discovered her hiding in the bushes. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.” The pegasus came out of the bushes her fur wet with tears. I lifted a hoof to her face and tried to help dry the tears away. She put on a weak smile while we walked to my house. I wanted to drop off my trailer before I went out to the tavern, and my house was on the way anyway, so why not? “So Scootaloo, when did you dye your fur?” I had many memories of the orange filly buzzing about on her scooter, but I hadn’t noticed her new look. Now she had a powder blue mane with a silver-gray coat and contacts that changed her eyes to a pretty ice blue color. “I’ve looked like this for at least six months Vinyl…” she said with an aggravated tone. “Ah, well… silly me.” I blushed, realizing that I must sound pretty stupid right now. Scootaloo had been going to a lot of parties to dance and run around, but I hadn’t registered her change in style before now. “So where are you and Pinkie going?” I looked at the bouncing pink pony for an answer, but she was just trotting alongside me with no comment to make. So I decided to answer, “we’re going out… somewhere”. I realized that I was making it sound suspicious. I knew we were going to the tavern down the street from Sugarcube Corner but I was hoping Pinkie would have a more positive way of saying it. “Oh really?” Scootaloo smirked and gave a quizzical look. “Where is this ‘somewhere’ of which you speak?” she said in the geekiest voice she could muster. I swallowed hard after hearing that question. Does Pinkie Pie have more plans for me than I thought? Were we going to go over to the tavern or does she have other ideas? I began to think about all of the possibilities, some of which ended up sounding pretty good in my mind. Then I heard a voice speak up that dispelled my reverie. “I have no idea Scootaloo! You can come with us though!” said Pinkie Pie. Before I could say otherwise I heard her bounce in front of me. “Ooh! There’s your house! Come on let’s go let’s go let’s go!” Well. Someone was impatient. I rushed ahead, pulled my door open, stuffed my trailer in, turned around and rejoined the two ponies that were now looking at me in curiosity. Pinkie, of course, was the first to speak up. “Why aren’t you using your magic? You are a unicorn after all…” I could explain that in two ways… both of which would alienate them and make them never talk to me again… Plan C! “Oh, I just like to keep my hooves active. Keeps me in shape.” They both kept a puzzled look on their face, but I quickly broke the ice. “Come on! The cider won’t stay cold forever!” I cantered off in front of them as they tried to keep up. Strangely, Pinkie wasn’t bouncing or hopping in her usual manner; instead she was just walking next to Scootaloo a few paces behind me. After a couple minutes I slowed down and trotted alongside them again. “So Vinyl, what do you wanna do after grabbing some ciders?” Pinkie said as she leaned next to me and wrapped her neck around mine. She was calmly fluttering her eyes and giving me a cute smile that I hadn’t seen on her before. “Uh, let’s just grab some ciders and hang out,” I said nervously. I didn’t really like the idea of getting too comfy with Pinkie Pie, plus Scootaloo was with us and I couldn’t leave her. There was no way that I’d ever include Scootaloo in any of “Pinkie’s mischief.” Hmm… Pinkie’s mischief… good name. I walked into the tavern with Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo right behind me. I gestured to a waiter who was standing next to the door. “Hi! Two ciders and a juice box please!” Pinkie said as she bounced in front of the waiter who looked worried with the bouncing pony in front of him, but he soon put on a smile and gestured to an empty table. “Come on!” said the pink pony as she trotted over to the table and sat down. I flashed a worried glance at Scootaloo, to which she had a similar reply. I decided that there wasn’t much that could still go wrong after the night I had, so I trotted over and grabbed a seat. We got to our table and soon had two fizzing drinks in front of us and one apple juice for Scootaloo. She was annoyed about not getting to have any cider but I felt that nopony should let a young filly drink something so powerful. I had only taken a few sips from my drink when Pinkie Pie looked into my eyes, “Let’s dance!” she said as she grabbed my hoof and dragged me over to the dance floor. A calm song was playing so luckily, I wasn’t flung across the room from her reckless dancing. Instead she held me close as we slowly danced and twirled around the dance floor. The nice slow song slowly faded away as a much faster beat kicked in. Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened as she quickly sped up our dance and twirled me around. Then everything went… fuzzy… “Hrrrmmm...” Was the next thing that I managed to iterate from my mouth. Dawn had broken and my head felt like Rainbow Dash had just made a rainboom right next to me. I put my hooves over my eyes to try to stop the searing pain of the sun’s rays coming through my eyelids. At least I had a soft bed to bury my face in. Wait... what the hay happened last night? I don’t remember ever seeing this ceiling... where am I? A familiar voice spoke next to my ear. I turned my head in surprise to see Pinkie Pie lying next to me... in the same bed. “Hey there, cutie face!” she said brightly. What in the name of Celestia happened? Author’s note- Chapter two came out quick, I know!! What is the real reason for Vinyl not using magic? What is Skippy’s real name? What happened last night? All this and more coming soon! I’d like to thank my pre-readers and editors Dawn Fade and Frozenpyro for making sure that this chapter wasn’t one big Derp’D mess!