Dead Air
“What’s with the face Vinyl?” said Pinkie. I was unable to reply to her for a moment due to my pulse still hammering from the shock of waking right next to her.
“Uh… what happened?” I asked meekly. I had no idea what I did or if I would regret it or not.
“Oh! Right! This is awkward isn’t it?” said Pinkie Pie with a sheepish grin as she bit her lower lip and… did she just ‘squee’?
“Well… we had our first round of drinks and I guess I got just a little bit tipsy,” she said as her cheeks became increasingly flushed.
“And?” I prompted, trying to fix my mane.
“And uh… I tried that dance move I tried with Rarity.”
I facehoofed. “AND?” I was getting frustrated with her lack of answers.
“Aaaand it turned out the same as last time except when you hit the speaker, the speaker won.” The pink pony gave a nervous laugh.
I didn’t really think that it was possible for her to ‘accidentally’ fling two ponies into two completely different speaker systems in one night. However I did have a lump behind my left ear and a particularly bad headache that seemed to support her claim.
That thought was interrupted as something dawned on me. What if she did something to me while I was sleeping? I didn’t wait very long before attempting to pry an answer from her. “So what happened then?” I asked shakily.
“I wanted a slumber party! So I dragged you back home.”
“Dragged?” I exclaimed, holding my head in my hooves.
“Well of course I didn’t drag you silly. Scootaloo and I carried you!”
Oh Celestia… Scootaloo!
“Where’s Scootaloo?! I need to find her!”
Pinkie Pie flashed a nervous look, and then clapped her hooves together as she remembered something. “Follow me!” she said with her usual peppy voice as she hopped off the bed and darted out the room.
I quickly followed behind her but continued to look around worriedly. I was quickly relieved as we walked downstairs into the shop.
Oh yeah… That’s where I am.
I smiled as I tapped on the glass of the display cabinet where a certain pegasus was passed out after eating through half a cake.
“Hrmm” I heard through the glass. I giggled as Scootaloo slowly freed her face from the remains of a ravaged cake. Her head shot up in surprise as her eyes regained focus, followed by a loud crack as it hit the worktop above. The gray filly slumped back onto the shelf of treats holding her head in her hooves.
She slowly pulled her head out of the case, brushing the icing from her muzzle in an attempt to compose herself... her frosting covered limbs afforded little purchase on the floor, sending her crashing to the ground in a tangle of hooves.
Pinkie Pie and I were laughing our flanks off as Scootaloo kept trying and failing to get herself back upright. Eventually she managed to correct herself, stomping a hoof down next to my head as Pinkie and I were rolling around on the floor.
“You think that’s funny, huh?” Scootaloo said irritably.
The two of us continued to laugh until we saw the filly spread her wings and shake the icing and crumbs off her, which covered Pinkie Pie and I from mane to hoof with the remains of what Scootaloo had decided to devour last night. “That’s what you get!” the pegasus yelled triumphantly as she started laughing.
Her laughing was quickly interrupted by Pinkie Pie sticking her tongue out and spinning around in a blur. Scootaloo and I exchanged glances as the pink pony came to a stop clean as a whistle with a mouth full of icing.
“I thought only Spike could do that?” Scootaloo said curiously as she wiped some splattered icing from her eyes.
“I was the one who taught him, silly filly!” Pinkie said as she patted Scootaloo on the head.
I saw Scootaloo begin to boil with rage “What did you just call me?”
Pinkie didn’t seem to notice the building rage in the small pony, so she continued her bubbly conversation, “Oh but you’re so cute! Of course you’re a cute little filly willy woo!”
I knew what was coming so I flattened my ears and backed away slowly as I heard Scootaloo begin to scrape her hooves against the floor. Followed by a thump as she pounced onto Pinkie’s head.
“Hey! Wait- Ow! Stop that! That’s my ear!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she was tackled to the floor and pummeled by the little pegasus. I tried to conceal my laughter but it was simply too much. I fell to the floor and let loose.
Scootaloo, however, would have none of this. “What do you think is so funny, huh?!” she yelled as I tried to hide my laughter once more.
“It’s just so... cute!-” I gasped as I said that last word knowing deep down that I would regret it.
Scootaloo leapt up into the air and I braced myself, expecting a face full of hoof.
Still waiting...
I opened my eyes wondering where Scootaloo went, only to find her flapping her wings in my face.
“Look! I might still be small but I’ll be growing soon! And when I do-”
“But Scootaloo! You’re-” I was abruptly interrupted by her tirade.
“I’m talking to you! Listen! I have had it with you full grown ponies messing with me just because I’m small! I... I...” She finally realized that she was floating a short distance above me with an odd sensation coursing through her wings.
“I’m... flying? Hey, I’m flying!” she hollered as she beamed at Pinkie and I.
Pinkie was still rubbing her head from being tackled to the floor but still seemed to be happy for her. “Wow! Way to go Scootaloo!” she said while beaming at the flying pegasus. After gazing at her for a moment she gasped as an idea struck her. “Hey! This calls for a party!”
“Not now Pinkie! I want to test these bad boys out! See you guys later!” Scootaloo said as she took off through the window and into the new morning sun.
“Aww, but I haven’t had a party in a days!” Pinkie said as she sat on her flank and pouted.
Apparently she had completely forgotten about the massive party that she had thrown last night.
I looked at her for a moment until an idea popped into my head, “Hey! I know what will cheer you up! How’d you like to come with me to work and watch my show?” I said as I was trying to straighten my hair with my hooves.
Pinkie gasped, “Really?! That would be so super duper awesomely fun! Let’s go!”
She began to drag me out of the door until I realized something. “But Pinkie, my show isn’t for another three hours! How about a little bit of breakfast?” I suggested hopefully. Considering I hadn’t managed to find time to eat since yesterday, I was doing pretty well. Usually at this point I’m ready to eat my own mane but for some reason I didn’t feel famished. Did I do some late night snacking with Scootaloo?
“Sure! Let’s go to The Hay Bale!” she said as I shook the thought from my head. She grabbed her saddlebags from the hook by the door and we went out into the world for the day.
Ah, right. That lovely cider was now not so lovely... I tapped the side of my goggles with my hoof in gratitude for having something to shield my sore eyes from the sun.
Since I was feeling in high spirits that morning, I decided to start up a conversation. “So did you have fun last night?”
She flashed a rather seductive gaze at me and replied, “Oh yes. It was very fun. It’s a shame you don’t remember any of it...” She moved closer to me as she finished her sentence. I promptly gulped as more thoughts raced through my head as to what happened last night.
“You wanna know what happened? It was soooo fun!” she said as she turned us into an alleyway.
“Uhh... okay?” I said. She had made me nervous enough this morning and I wasn’t sure if I could take any more of it. Before I knew it I was up against a wall while she stood in front of me with a romantic, loving look on her face.
“Well, we got back to my house and lay by the fire for awhile until you woke up. Then we just talked about things, then Scootaloo looked hungry so I let her have some sweets from behind the counter, and after a few minutes she was fast asleep!” She said as I continued to look at her nervously, my mane grew damp as the beads of sweat slipped down onto my face. “So then, I asked if we could go to the kitchen to do something. So we got up and went into the kitchen and I pulled some things out of the cupboard.”
She continued to taunt me with her long pauses. So I decided to interject in a blunt manner. “And?” I exclaimed.
“I pulled out some pan grease, some whipped cream, and some strawberries! And you wanna know what we did next?...” she whispered as she leaned in close to me.
Oh Celestia, here it comes...
“We made extra delicious cupcakes! They were soooo good!”
Oh why me... why can’t I just hold my cider like every-... wait, what? Cupcakes?
“Uhh, what?” I said, my worry easing slightly.
“Oh it was so amazing! We added strawberries, blueberries, and lots of cinnamon sugar! And you helped make them the best cupcakes I have ever had!” she said with a rough, breathy tone in her voice.
“Well I’ve never tried my hoof at cooking before but I’m glad that-” I stopped mid-sentence due to the sudden proximity of Pinkie’s muzzle to mine. Before she managed to get close enough to do anything, I slipped away from between her hooves.
“Oh well will you look at the time! I should probably be helping CDs sort some Skippy- err, uh. Yeah. I’ll see you around!” she was getting to the point of creepy with her obsession with sweet treats and I knew that if I stuck around then my worries would become a reality. I decided to get to work early after all so I could do some mindless office work.
I was dragging my hooves as I walked through town towards the radio station. I hadn’t gotten much sleep and this hangover wasn’t helping at all. I was considering calling in sick for the day until I remembered something, “Oh! Right! Dash 182!” I cantered towards the station so I could check and make sure that I was right. I was almost certain that I was supposed to have Dash 182 on the air with me today for an interview and live performance! I had loved their work for several years and everypony who is anypony has been to at least one of their concerts.
I rushed up the staircase to my office and fished around for my key.
“Oh horse apples...” I had left my key at home when I dropped off my trailer last night.
I thought for a moment about running back to my house, but I was too impatient for that. If I did have them coming into the studio today I had a lot of preparation to do.
“Ah!” Remembering a spell that Twilight taught me a few months ago that might help me with this. I put my horn next to the door handle and concentrated on the tiny parts that were in the lock, I was hoping that I would be able to pick it. To my surprise, however, I ended up causing the whole mechanism to burst into pieces, sending the door knob flying.
“Well... that works,” I said, deciding to remain positive as I entered my office. The lights flickered to life as I sat down at my desk. “Now where is that darn calendar!” I muttered while shuffling through the piles of CDs, one sheets, and miscellaneous papers that were strewn across my desk.
I was about to give up my search until I noticed the blinking light on my office phone. “Ah! Their manager!”
I set my horn aglow and concentrated on the miscellaneous buttons that sat in front of me.
*Welcome, Vinyl Scratch! Please enter yo-* I quickly entered my password to end the nasally voice that was coming through the speaker.
*You have one new voice message!*
“Hello Vinyl Scratch! Just making sure that we are still confirmed for today’s interview. I’d prefer not flying the boys in only to have them turned away... I’ll see you soon.”
*End of new messages*
Right. Time to make a few calls...
First I needed to call the manager back to let him know that I hadn’t forgot about him. Then I needed to call Trixie Records about that new album from Fleet Dragons. Then... I should probably call Pinkie Pie to apologize about earlier.
Right then. Dash 182’s Manager!
I began to dial his number but was interrupted as I was deafened by a horrid screech from my window.
“YOU PINKIE PROMISED!” screamed the enraged pink figure that was floating outside. She appeared to have tied some balloons around her waist to float up to my window.
How did she know where the station was? How did she know which office I was in? Did I really Pinkie Promise something?
I opened the window without thinking about how much of a horrible mistake it was. She calmly floated in and yanked all of the strings from her waist, her coat appearing a darker shade of pink than usual along with her hair being oddly straight instead of its usual craziness.
“You Pinkie Promised to me that you would bake with me forever!” she said as her eyes twitched and her ears flopped. “Come on lover boy, let’s go bake a big warm cake!”
I decided that now would be a good time to freak out. “Okay first off I’m a mare, and secondly-”
“Don’t you interrupt me! You said you lov-” she tried to say before I abruptly interrupted her. In a brief moment of clarity, it became apparent that I needed to fight fire with fire. I pressed my muzzle against hers and she flailed her arms in the air for a moment before giving in.
Wow. For a somewhat crazy mare, Pinkie certainly was a passionate one. I was just about to release her from my embrace when the door behind us flung open.
“Vinyl! What in the hay is-” Octavia had stormed in with Skippy close behind, only to see the horror that was me being with another mare.
“Vinyl! In your office?” exclaimed the perturbed mare that stood before us.
I separated myself from Pinkie Pie who appeared to be caught in a state of euphoria. Her mane was poofing out as it should, and the color was coming back to her coat.
“Woah...” was the last thing I heard as the bliss struck mare floated back out of the window.
Right then, I’m going to completely ignore her defiance of physics once again and face the vultures.
“How could you act like that with one of my best friends Vinyl? What the hay?” Skippy said as he whipped around and walked out with a huff.
Octavia had nothing to say, instead she just sat there with looks of hate and sorrow on her face.
Hmmm... words. Yes I think I should use words now. Words are good.
“Octavia... I was just about to call Da-”
“Save it!” she exclaimed, a tear glistening from her cheek as she yelled.
Okay, words are bad. Words are very bad.
It seemed as if an eternity had gone by before Octavia finally got back up and turned away, pausing for a moment to wipe the tears from her muzzle before walking out.
I had so many things that I wanted to say to her, so many apologies left unsaid, so many things that I wanted to take back. I kept thinking about everything I could have said to her in an attempt to make everything better again... everything I didn’t do. I broke into tears as the echo of Octavia’s office door slamming reached my ears.
Resting my head on my desk, I let my sorrow drip onto the papers that lay in front of me. The memories crept back to the forefront of my mind as my eyelids grew heavy.
I didn’t want to fight any more, so I let my eyes close and went to sleep as the warm sensation of tears running down my muzzle faded away.
-End of chapter 3
Author’s notes-
How sad! Poor Vinyl...
Sorry for the long wait everypony! My editors and I have been going through the past two chapters with a fine tooth comb to bring them to their maximum potential! And wouldn’t you know it, all that work paid off! This story is now happily featured on Equestria Daily!
Now that i've finished all of the editing of the previous chapters, I hope to be posting one chapter each week, most likely on Monday nights.
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!