"Vinyl Scratch, open this door right now!" called her mother. Her words were immediately followed by a loud rapping sound on the door.
Vinyl groaned loudly and stomped up to the door, undoing the latch and throwing the door open. Her parents stared back at her through the now open doorway, positively livid.
"What was that?" growled her father slowly, through gritted teeth.
Vinyl shrugged. "Just taking out the trash."
"That mare is going to be your sister in law soon. Would it really kill you to try and stay civil for once?" asked her mother, disappointment clear on her face.
"I'll behave when she does," said Vinyl angrily. "It was her who started off insulting me."
"But you have no excuse," countered her mother. "You should have known better. We can't blame the poor filly for where she grew up and what they taught there."
Vinyl let out a hollow laugh. "So it's all crap then? All that stuff about you not caring about their background that you have to constantly tell them. From what I've heard about your conversations, those have to be the most insecure ponies I've ever heard of."
Her mother was about to reply when her father cut her off. "That's different Vinyl. We're not saying we're better than them just because of their background, it's just that poor Octavia hasn't had the opportunity to learn to behave properly. Miss Ruby Slippers on the other hand, is a model of good behaviour."
Vinyl shook her head and gave an exasperated sigh. "Look, what did you come up here for? I'm not apologising to that mule, not unless she does first."
Vinyl's mother grimaced. "I assumed that you'd say that. Still, try to rise above such a petty feud. One of you has to eventually."
"Why do you even care about this so much?" said Vinyl, gesturing at Steady as he came up the stairs with a sullen look on his face. "You never get like this with Steady when he gets back from cheating on his marefriend for the hundredth time."
Steady's ears flattened and he looked down to the floor mumbling something Vinyl couldn't hear. She didn't care. "What he's doing is way worse and hurts a lot more ponies. I'm just being a mule to one pony that none of us like anyway."
"That doesn't make it acceptable!" yelled her father. He took a deep breath and continued, more calmly. "I think the looks on their faces are punishment enough for him. It really is something I hope you never see, my daughter."
"Well, obviously not or he'd have stopped by now, don't you think?"
At these words, Steady's head drooped, and he turned and began plodding back down the stairs.
Vinyl's mother shot her a scathing look and said, "Now look what you've done." She turned and started down the stairs after him, calling for him to wait. After a few seconds, she left Vinyl's view and her voice faded, leaving Vinyl and her father alone.
An awkward silence reigned between them, broken only by the muffled sounds of Steady and Perfect Portrait on the bottom floor. Vinyl shuffled her hooves and looked up at her father. He sighed and shook his head. "Vinyl, some day you will have to learn to take others into account. I don't care how much it may seem like the world revolves around you when you're on stage, it's not just the other pony's responsibility to change. It's a two way street, you also need to put in an effort."
She nodded blithely and, with an air of finality, said, "Yeah, yeah, good talk," before turning around and slamming the door shut in his face with her magic. She cocked her head and listened to the silence for a few seconds before she heard her father huff and trot angrily down the stairs.
"Change," she muttered as she tossed her shades onto her desk. "Because I haven't changed enough yet." She plodded over to her bed and keeled over on top of the sheets. As soon as her head hit the mattress, she was asleep.
After what seemed like a just a few seconds, Vinyl cracked her eyes open to the sound of pounding on her door. She groaned and rolled out of bed, landing on the floor with a thump. She rubbed her head and hissed in pain. Looking up, she saw sunlight streaming through her window. It was morning and her hangover knew it.
"Who's there?" she groused, unsteadily rising to her hooves.
"Sis, it's me, can we talk?" called Steady from the other side of the door.
"You don't want me to apologise, do you?" she asked suspiciously.
"Well, it would be nice, but that's not the reason I'm here," he said sardonically through the door. "I just wanted to ask you some stuff."
Vinyl looked at herself in her desk mirror and grimaced. "Fine. Give me a sec." She floated over her shades and set them on her face and ran her magic through her mane. Satisfied that she no longer looked like she had been on the wrong side of a belt sander, she called him in.
He opened the door and looked at her. "Shades already, huh?" he said as he stepped in.
"Hangover. Headache. Light bad."
Steady nodded unsympathetically. "Well, I'll say you deserve it."
"Shut up," said Vinyl through gritted teeth. "What'd you want to talk about that's so important?"
"Well, I just wanted to ask why you were so angry last night. I know you like to fight, but you just seemed..." he paused, searching for the right words. "I don't know, extra pissed or something."
Vinyl stared at him through the purple lenses for a few seconds before answering. "I was tired and drunk, and she got in my face. That's it."
Steady shook his head. "No, that's not it. I've seen you drunker, tireder, and getting way worse insults. You just laugh 'em off."
Vinyl shrugged. "I dunno, she just got under my skin. She's a very aggravating pony to be around." She giggled. "Maybe she's a better match for you than Ruby."
Steady rolled his eyes. "Fine, if you don't wanna talk about it, I'll stop. But I do know something is wrong, so if you ever want to talk or anything, I'll be here."
"Look at you trying to be all like a proper big brother now. I feel so loved," said Vinyl sarcastically. She sighed. "Just go away. You never cared before, why would you start now? Go back to only thinking about yourself, it suits you better."
Steady's lips tightened and he turned to go out the door. He paused and, without turning, said, "You know, I haven't actually seen you without those glasses on in a long time. You wear them everywhere, even at night. You have some problems and I just..." He stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. "I just don't want to fight like this anymore."
With that he walked out and slammed the door behind him. Vinyl stared after him for a few moments before she shook her head and groaned loudly. "Why can't I do anything right?"
She trotted sullenly back to her bed and flopped down on top of it again, her glasses falling off of her face and landing next to her bed. This time, however, she stayed awake. She tossed and turned but her pounding head wouldn't let her sleep. She rolled over, burying her face in her pillow, and groaned into it.
"He was trying to be nice, even after I was that much of an ass to him last night. Sure, he was terrible at it, but he was trying." She rolled over to the edge of the bed and stared down at her glasses.
They lay on the floor, large purple lenses staring back up at her. She cocked her head, as if mesmerised by her reflection. "It has been a while since I went out without these on," she murmured to herself.
She floated them up with her magic and lay on her back, holding them above her head. "At this point, more ponies know the glasses than my face." She giggled. "I'm like a superhero. Nopony knows me until I have my disguise on."
She held her hoof out in front of her as if giving a speech. "With the mask on, I am DJ Pon-3. Fearless, sexy, confident, and fun." Her smile faded, and she continued, "With the mask off, I'm Vinyl Scratch. Just," she sighed. "Just Vinyl Scratch."
She dropped the glasses onto her face and they settled onto her nose. "I should just use the mask all the time," she mumbled. "It's not like there'd be anypony who'd miss the real me anyway."
She lay on her back, looking up at the ceiling through the purple lenses for an interminable amount of time, before she heard a rumble coming from her stomach. She placed a hoof on her stomach and sighed before hauling herself up and plodded towards the door.
"Okay, shower, then food, then..." she paused in front of the closed door, staring ahead blankly for a few seconds before shrugging. "I'll figure that out later."
She opened the door and took a deep breath before stepping out, putting on her confident smile, ready to face her parents again. Sure, she was a little messed up, but she'd bounce back. She always bounced back.
Right?