Vinyl closed her eyes and let a heavy sigh escape her lips as the soft glow of her horn enveloped her headphones, setting them down on the turntable. She shut off the music and looked down at her ‘audience’ hoping to see at least a few more ponies than usual, but the club was just as sparsely populated as it had been for weeks.
Gathering her things, Vinyl made her way backstage, her mind blank as she went through her post-show ritual of cleaning up. She was tired, but not quite ready to call it a night. She wasn’t even surprised when she suddenly found herself sitting at her favorite seat at the bar in the back of the club. She set her head on her hooves dejectedly and thought about the nights performance. ‘Same as always, I guess.’ She sighed before placing her glasses on the aging bar, revealing her tired crimson eyes to anyone who bothered to look. She glanced in the direction of the tan stallion minding the bar, ready to call him over only to see him already walking over with a bottle of her favorite whiskey. He set the bottle down in front of her, “Whats wrong, Scratch? Still down in the dumps about the other day?" the older pony asked, sounding genuinely concerned about her.
For a time, Vinyl just sat there looking at the bottle, turning it over with her magic, toying with it almost. She set the bottle down and sighed inwardly, it wasn’t just the incident that was bothering her, it was her own attitude. She just hadn't been feeling right lately. She felt sad and alone, like she had lost her only companion. Ever since her poor performance a few weeks ago, her ability to make music was just not there. Everything she produced now seemed to come out sloppy and hashed together, nopony but the most loyal of the bar’s usual patrons even seemed to tolerate her anymore.
The DJ popped the lid off the bottle with her magic and proceeded to chug it. She welcomed the burning feeling of the alcohol as it flowed down the back of her throat. Its fiery sensation was the only thing she felt anymore. Somewhere near the halfway point she was forced to stop as the need for air became too great. "AHH!" She slammed the bottle down on the table harder than expected, earning her few odd looks. Vinyl just ignored them as usual. She was used to getting strange looks.
"You know," the bartender spoke again, walking back over to her after serving another customer, wiping his muzzle on his white apron. "Maybe you should take a break? Last time you did, your music sounded great! Don't let those lunkheads from before get to ya." His rough voice had a kind almost fatherly sound to Vinyl. "I can always hire a temporary to fill in for you while you're gone."
Vinyl looked up at the aging stallion, his stone grey eyes twinkled with concern and a wisdom that only came with age. Sure if he had said that to her a month ago she would gave him a good hoof to the face, but now she was beginning to see some merit to his words.
Minutes passed by until finally she spoke up. "I-I can't do that to ya, old man, I know the place hasn't been doing too hot, you couldn't afford it..."
“Nonsense!" the old stallion cried out, surprising a few guests that had fallen asleep. "The place has been doing fine. I've made it through worse, and I can certainly outlast a little dry spell."
Vinyl laid her head back down on the bar table. She knew she was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. The place just hadn't seen enough business lately to be doing very well. Then again, maybe he was right. Maybe what she needed to do was take a break. Get out and see something new. Refresh her creativity. Start over, almost. Whatever it was, she certainly wasn't doing anything to increase the clubs regular attendance in her current state. A change of pace sounded like just what she needed. She took a quick sip from her bottle before speaking again.
"Ya know what? Maybe you’re right, old timer, maybe I need a little break is all," A familiar smirk returning to her face after so long. She slid off her stool and looked back at the old bartender. "You think you can find someone for tomorrow night?"
The stallion chuckled. "Oh I'm sure I can find someone, now you go and figure out what the hay is wrong with you, it's a shame to see someone so young looking so demure."
Scratch blinked at that last word. "Uhh...come again?" she said in confusion, causing the bartender to chuckle a bit.
"Go fix your music, Scratch." He waved her off and began pouring a drink for another patron.
For a moment, she didn't know what to say. She just stood there staring at the old stallion, he seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. With every second that passed one thing became more resolute in her mind, one thing that had to happen before anything would make sense. She had to fix her music, plain and simple. On that note, she turned and walked out of the bar into the dimly lit street, her signature grin plastered across her face.