Vinyl Scratch’s phone let her know it was four in the morning. She grinned. The night couldn’t have gone better. All night, DJ Pon3 had been rocking the party at the best club in Mane, The Underground Lair. She had started slow at around eight. The usual crowd wasn’t there that night; being replaced by a room full of stallions and mares who had probably just entered adulthood. From the way they were all dressed, she guessed many of them had never been seen the fire of a real nightclub. She put on a lively dance track to begin; noticing that the crowd was a little slow to get loose. She smirked and laughed to herself. This was going to be fun. It wasn’t often that she got too see a crowd of noobs go wild.
As time wore on, the clubbers started to have a bit more fun. Gradually the mesmerizing music was wasting away their petty nervousness. While they had originally formed two mobs on either side of the main floor separated by gender, the crowd was now beginning to intermingle. As the next track was drawing to a close, she decided it was now appropriate to bring all the foals out of their comfort zones and put on something a bit more intense. She skipped to one of her personal favorites and let it run. The speed of the music changed the mood in seconds. The noobs at least now were head-banging.
All night she gradually brought up the intensity; slowly working her audience out of their little shells. Within two hours, she had finally succeeded in robbing the whole crowd of any concern for their esteem that they had left. Not only that, but some of her acquaintances and regulars of The Underground were finally starting to show up. Seeing that she had reached the point of zero-restraint, she finally dove into her supply of hardest music and the chaos had been engaged. Then she slowly but steady cranked up the intensity until the rave had begun.
It was now four and the end of her second favorite track was pounding rhythmically in her ears. She only had to stay until two to get paid, but she was having way too much fun to stop now. When the next DJ had arrived, he gladly relinquished a portion of his time for her. The party had passed the zenith of its energy and was now beginning to die down. She guessed it was about time to head out. But she wasn’t going to leave before she had the enjoyment of seeing the reaction to her personal banger. She was going to end her performance with a bang, one that she had personally done.
As the current track began to die out, she couldn’t help but get chills as she found her creation among a pile of trash music, a pearl among the swine, the best that she had yet. She savored the moment and looked out at the crowd. Half of them had had too much cider. It was fine. There was no kind of intoxication that could distract them from what she had ready. She looked at the time remaining on the present track and began to count it down. Thirty seconds to go and every one felt like an eternity.
29 …
28 …
27 …
26 …
25 …
“Hey DJ! You've gotta know something.” Yelled a voice over the music next to her. Vinyl looked up from the clock to see her friend, Aurora Blast. The mare was yellow and had pink hair with black highlights.
She shouted back, “Hey Aurora, can it wait? I’ve gotta finish with this!”
“Sorry, there’s these guys outside that say they’ve been waiting for you.”
“Yeah, them and a hundred other fanboys!” She looked back. There were fifteen seconds left on the clock.
“That’s not what I mean. It’s McCullen and his guys.”
Vinyl suddenly felt like she had been hit in the head with a lead pipe. “What?” She shouted in surprise. “For the love of Celestia!” This, unfortunately, could not be ignored. She looked down and sighed. “Alright, Aurora, do me a favor and hit play for this last song.” The one she was referring to was a cool-down track; not what she was hoping for. She would have to wait for her hard work to be shown off.
Aurora complied. “You got it DJ, but just be careful out there. Do you owe them money again?”
Vinyl was already headed for the door. Reaching the back exit, she pushed it open and stepped into an alleyway. It was dimly lit; the only light coming from a single bulb lamp above the exit and the street lamps on either side of the alleyway. No sooner had she walked out did she find four tall, muscular earth ponies waiting for her. They stood in a semi-circle. Two blocked the left end of the ally, one was on the right, and one was in the center; directly facing Vinyl. The one in the center didn’t appear to be on steroids like the other three, but was nonetheless the talker. His coat was blue and his mane was brown. On his flank was a cutie mark that resembled a cash register. With that accent that she knew all too well, he addressed her. “Ah, here she is, little Vinyl Scratch. But today she’s called DJ Pon3 isn’t she?”
Vinyl knew she had better not waste any time. “Look McCullen, I know it’s been a while, but I can get you your money by next Tuesday.”
“Oh, skippin’ to business already ma filly? Aren’t ye at least glad to see me?”
The white mare didn’t like this. She had known him for a long time and McCullen never made small talk unless he was looking to collect immediately. “Alright, how about this: I’m just about to get paid. Why don’t I give you what I have now, and I’ll give you the rest Tuesday.”
The stallion’s expression changed. He was grinning amiably before, but now his smile was sly. “All right lass, since you're so fixed on talkin’ business so early, I think I might be able to oblidge ye. I’m gonna be real honest with ye lass, I was pretty darn angry at ye for skippin’ town at first. In fact, I got so focused on catching ye, that I spent a load o’ money to do it.” At this, Vinyl was starting to become uneasy. She really didn’t like where this was going now. “But I gotta tell ye, after six months of lookin’ I finally stopped bein’ angry. I just realized that I was gettin’ worked up over nothin’.”
“So why are you here then? You aren’t the type to catch up with old friends.”
“I’m gettin’ to that, me filly. If ye’ll just hold on to your saddle for a second.” He started to walk in a fluid motion back and forth as he spoke. “So, like I was sayin’, out o’ the goodness in me sweet heart, I decided that I’d just forget all about that bygone debt from a year ago. Does that make ye happy?”
This beating around the bush was making her too anxious. “I’m jumping for joy, but that doesn’t explain why you’re here in Mane.”
“Well lass, I forgave your principal debt all right, but there’s just one small problem. Ye see, after the heat of the moment, I looked at all the expenses that I spent tryin’ to track ye down. –Ye should be proud of yourself too. You’re quite a hard filly to catch, ‘spite bein’ so popular- And what I found made be a bit upset. What I discovered was that I spent over thrice the amount tryin’ to get ye, as ye owed me in the first place.”
Vinyl thought, So that’s what he’s here for. This is where I need to start thinking about getting out of here. Her first inclination was to run back through the club. She turned her head slightly to look behind her with her peripheral vision and cursed as she saw that while she was paying attention to McCullen, one of the thugs on her left had moved behind her to block the entrance.
“But don’t go gettin’ all riled up just yet. If ye’ll stand there and listen like a good filly, we won’t have to do anythin’ rash.” She knew he was lying, but she didn’t have much of a choice at the time. She couldn't act immediately. A single unplanned move could spell her doom. “Like I said, I've got a big heart, and I’m willin’ to foget about that money ye owe me ‘cause I've known ye since ye were ten. Even more, I wanna help ye out of this little situation your in.
“When I finally found ye, I asked meself, ‘How can I help out this lass o’ mine?’ So I looked at all ye problems. I remembered all the times that ye’d not paid me back on time, and all the times that ye still came back to me; beggin’ for more even when ye were overdue. And then I said to meself, ‘I think I’ve figured this filly out.’ Ye see I figured out how I can help ye never have this problem again.” Vinyl now had started to form an escape plan. A hundred different ideas were racing through her head, but none of them seemed to work in her situation. “Ye see, since the day your mum brought ye kickin’ and screamin’ into this world, ye’ve been given everythin’ but a good dose o’ discipline.
“Ye can’t hold onto a single bit te save your flank. Ye go on around partyin’ and revlin’ without a care in the world. And ‘cause o’ that, you're never gunna do anythin’ with yer life. And I said to meself, ‘I can’t have this filly runnin’ around like a hoodlum all her life. That would be just insensible.' So then I got to some more thinkin’ and did a little lookin’ around, and to me delight, I think I’ve found a solution that can benefit both o’ us.” Vinyl was running out of time. She had to think of something fast.
“Ye see, I found this good ol’ mare up in Prance, the fancy country. She’s a friend o’ a friend with too much money on her hooves named Madame Domina Trixie and she has a reputation for bringin’ unruly mares such as yerself into line. It was a stroke o’ good fortune that just now she just happens to be lookin’ for a “new toy” like ye as she called it. She also said that if I sent ye to her that she’d give me double the amount that I spent tryin’ to get ye.”
The DJ reeled back in revulsion. “Good Luna,” she said in her head. “I knew this guy was sick, but this takes him to a new low.” Her voice came out low and steady. “All that stress must be going to your head if you think that I’m going to put up with that. You can take your offer to some slut down the street if you’re looking for that kind of mare.”
McCullen grinned wider; showing his teeth. “Sorry lass, Trixie jumped at the chance when I said I had some leverage against ye, and said that she’d only pay me that much for ye, being such a special case, and nopony else.” He took a step towards her. “But don’t ye worry your pretty little head about it. I thought ye might be a bit reluctant to take me offer so easily, despite it being good fer ye. So, I came up with a plan for that too. Ye see if you come quietly now with me and me boys,” He gestured at the muscular stallions who now seemed even bigger than before. “I’ll do ye a favor and send ye to Trixie. But if ye wanna make this difficult on all o’ us, I found another one, a stallion in Germaney who’s not so gentle with his clients. They call him “the mare breaker” and he’ll give me just the same amount for the famous DJ Pon3. I’ve met him in person, and let me tell ye me filly, ye don’t wanna go to him. That’s a mean fella, that one.” He said this with a particularly horrid voice, and then paused. Once more, he spoke with his sly grin. “So, my filly, what’s it gonna be?”
Vinyl looked to the left and right. She was going to have to make a break for it now, but she didn’t like the idea of trying to brush past either of the stallions. They were too big. Maybe she could get around them if she was quick enough, but there was too low of a chance. Her heart started to race, and a drop of sweat appeared on her forehead. Seeing that she had no intention of answering, McCullen finally frowned, and with a sigh, said, “All right boys, looks like she doesn’t wanna do this the easy way. Let’s go.”
At that moment, the thugs which were already close enough to Vinyl moved towards her. Having less than a second to react in time, Vinyl did the only thing that she could think of. She shouted, “Keep back.” She closed her eyes and channeled energy to her horn. A millisecond later, the thugs would have reached her, but even through her closed eyes and heavily tinted sunglasses, Vinyl could see clearly the bright light that emitted from her horn. The four ponies all yelled and staggered backward; blinded. Seizing her chance, Vinyl took off to her right; easily bypassing the senselessly flailing pony. Within two seconds, she reached the end of the alleyway and made a hard left turn.
A moment later, she heard the vile pony yell, “Get after her ye lazy good for nothin’s.” It was late so the streets were completely empty. No chance for help then. She had to gallop fast. She didn’t know how fast those massive guys were, but she didn’t want to take a chance and look back. She could hear the sound of the heavy hooves slamming against the ground; racing towards her with reckless speed. At some points, she feared that she could hear their huffing breathing. Every chance she had, she rounded a corner and cut off their line of sight. She ran as hard as she could for about five minutes.
Finally, she found a cleft around one of the corners of the closely packed buildings in the urban part of Mane. She whipped herself around inside it and crouched against its innermost wall. Having a second to spare, she whipped off her sunglasses with magic and thrust them into her saddlebag. Then she covered her mouth to minimize the noise she made. Within seconds, through the crack of space in front of her, she saw two of the big ones rush past her hiding place. She dared not sigh yet though. She wasn’t in the clear yet. She continued to crouch in the cramped cleft for an agonizing three minutes. She strained her ears the whole time; listening for even the slightest noise. When she experienced silence for three full minutes, she sighed with relief.
Carefully she peaked around the corner. Seeing no sign of her pursuers, she stepped out of the cleft and took a left. As quietly as she could, she stepped nimbly down the streets; doing her best to avoid well lit areas. The entire time she kept vigilant for any sign of life. A few times a bird flew by; causing her to nearly scream, but she was able to remain silent the whole way.
There was no sign of McCullen when she at last approached her apartment, but she still remained stealthy. She didn’t know if he knew where she lived, but if he did, this was where he would expect her to go. Reaching into her saddlebag with her magic and unlocking her door with as little noise as possible, she crept in and shut the door. She didn’t turn on any of the lights yet, but peeked around each corner and looked in every room. The kitchen, bathroom, den, and music room were all clear. Breathing out another sigh, she walked into the den and flipped on the light switch and lay down on the couch.
It had been a rough month for Vinyl Scratch. Though she kept a low profile; finding work where she could without the club announcing her presence, it was difficult for her to remain incognito. That was the third time this month somepony she owed money to had tracked her down. As much as she hated to admit it, McCullen was right: she couldn’t hold onto money for more than a day. Tomorrow she had in mind to either head to a bar and drown herself in cider or buy some new software or equipment for music composition. Either way, the money that she would have made from that night would have been spent in a matter of hours. She sometimes thought about changing her lifestyle. Her constant desire for more action, more fun, had not served her well. Now for a split second, a feeling of regret and longing came over her. The idea came to her that the reason she was living such a lifestyle was that she knew something was missing, and she habitually turned to wild partying to suppress that desire.
Yet quickly she had to bring herself out of the introspection. She didn't have time for self-discovery. It looked like she was going to have to move again. She didn’t know how long it would take for any of her creditors to find her, but she was losing valuable time by the second. She had to grab what she could and move as fast as possible. As much as her tired body protested, she got up and grabbed her mp3 player. She turned it on low volume so that she could listen for any intruders and looked around for her suitcases.
The carefree beat wasn’t calming, but it certainly was diverting. As she packed, the music drained away her troubles. She couldn’t take anything too big with her. She needed to travel lightly. She grabbed some toiletries and cosmetics from her bathroom and then went to her music room to grab her laptop and a couple external hard drives with music and programs on them. She didn’t bother to grab anything more to wear. She could get her saddle and socks later if she needed them, but now she didn’t have time to look pretty.
Pulling one ear bud out, she picked up her cell phone and dialed. She was going to have to call up her only other acquaintance in Mane. After three rings, a male voice answered, “What’s up Vinyl?”
“Hey Midnight, I’m gonna need some help moving my stuff.”
“You feeling like a spontaneous change of scenery?”
“No, McCullen found me and I have to get to Manehatten now.”
There was a pause. “That’s quite a ways to go. How much money do you owe him?”
Vinyl ignored that. “It’s a big city, and it’s far away. No one’ll think to look there for me.”
“You’re gonna move all your stuff across regions in a single night with no movers?”
“I’ve only got three bags, the essentials, which I can carry on my own, but I don’t want to have to fight off more goons and levitate my stuff at the same time. That’s why I need you.”
Midnight sighed. “All right Vinyl, if you really think this is best, I’ll bring you to the train station.”
“Thanks, Midnight.”
“But just don’t go digging yourself in any more holes when you get there.”
“I won’t. How soon can you get here?”
“Ten minutes.”
“Thanks. I owe you one.”
The pony on the other end laughed. “Nope, this is payback for June.” He hung up.