//------------------------------// // 21. Vinyl Scratch // Story: X Steps Through The Portal // by Tennis Match Fan //------------------------------// As usual, Vinyl Scratch was groovin' it. She walked down the halls of Canterlot High one day just before lunch. With her headphones on, Vinyl felt invincible. She pushed open the doors of the cafeteria and marched in. She waved to her friend Octavia, who sat near the wall. They would sit together once Vinyl got her lunch. Headphones still on, Vinyl marched up to the lunchlady, Mrs. Smith, who happened to be Applejack's grandmother. Mrs. Smith ladled soup into a styrofoam bowl for Vinyl. "Thanks!" Vinyl told her, moving down the line to grab a bottle of water. Techno music still blasted into her eardrums. She scooted past students to the table where Octavia sat. "Hello, Vinyl." Octavia said something that Vinyl couldn't hear or lip read. She switched the music off and slung her headphones onto her shoulders. "I'm sorry, what was that, 'Tavi?" She asked. Octavia rolled her eyes, well aware why Vinyl hadn't heard her the first time. "I said, 'Hello, Vinyl,'" she repeated. Vinyl grinned and waved a fork in the air. "Hello to you too! So, are you digging this soup or what?" "It's rather enjoyable," Octavia agreed, taking a polite sip. Vinyl rolled her eyes from behind her glasses. "Octavia, you don't sip soup. That's just uncool!" Octavia rolled her eyes yet again, however, she wore a small, amused smile. "So what is cool, Vinyl?" She responded. "Ma-usic!" Vinyl proclaimed loudly. She patted her headphones affectionately. "I just love this stuff!" "Mmhmm," Octavia answered. "So instead of sipping soup, I should listen to techno music and therefore starve myself." "What? No! I didn't say that!" Vinyl protested. Octavia smugly leaned back. "But that's what you implied." "Jeez, Tavi, sometimes I feel like you're my mother!" Vinyl joked. "I choose to take that as a compliment," Octavia responded. She took a sip of her water. "So, Octavia, you never did tell me about your adventure through the mirror," Vinyl ventured after she had slurped down her soup. Octavia dropped her spoon. Her mouth formed a tiny o of surprise. "How did you know?" She asked. "I mean, you were out there and such, but I never told anyone where I went..." Vinyl smirked. "Let's just say I had a hunch," she replied. Octavia tilted her head. "Alright," she agreed after a moment. "I fell through, was turned into a pony, nearly experimented on by Twilight Sparkle, and then I jumped back through because that girl was crazy." Octavia twirled her finger around her head, an unsophisticated move Vinyl had never seen Octavia use before. "Sounds cool. So 'Tavi, I as thinking I'd like to pay a little visit!" Vinyl grinned. Octavia's face went into her hand. "Go if you must, Vinyl. I won't try to stop you." "Really?" That surprised Vinyl. "Yes." Octavia's mouth curled into a smile. "I'm sure it'll be enjoyable for you." "Aw, thanks Tavi!" Vinyl's hands flew around her BFFs neck in seconds. Octavia's cheeks turned red. "Suffocating!" She gasped. Vinyl realized what she was doing and released Octavia. "Sorry," she apologized. "Forgot you're a sensitive person. Well, I'm off!" Vinyl picked up her glorious artifact gifted to her by the gods and slapped them on her ears. The bass dropped just as Vinyl stood up. She waved to Octavia and bolted off down the hall. Pushing the door open, Vinyl was greeted by a blast of frigid air. She didn't pay attention to the temperature; the cold didn't really bother her anyway. She marched, right in time to the rhythm, up to the portal. Without missing a beat, Vinyl stuck her hand out. She grinned in delight when her fingers went straight through, creating a ripple effect on the marble column. Without hesitation, Vinyl jumped straight in. "Siiiiick!" She yelled, hands instinctively reaching for her headphones. Vinyl grabbed them just as the force from spinning pinned her legs to her sides. Colors swirled into her vision through rose colored lenses. "Woooah!" Vinyl cried as she was flung about through space and time. Suddenly, the forces stopped and Vinyl hit the floor. "Woah," she said again, recovering almost instantly. Her vision was, thankfully, still tinted red, and although the sound had been toned down, the beat of music still drummed in her ears. Vinyl immediately looked at herself. She was a pony. "I can't say I'm surprised!" She laughed, kicking a white hoof in the air to test reflexes. "I mean, duh, Octavia already told me!" Vinyl used a hoof to push her glasses onto her forehead. They bumped into something hard that definitely wasn't her blue streaked hair. "I'm a unicorn!" Vinyl realized, tilting her vision as far as it could go. Unfortunately, she couldn't see her horn, but what else could that hard thing be? "Whoa," Vinyl said yet again. She carefully removed her headphones and placed them next to the mirror. The music went away, and Vinyl's brain could focus on other senses besides hearing. The room Vinyl was in was made of some translucent stuff that reminded Vinyl of rock candy. Vinyl turned to see a large bookcase towering over her. "Now there's something scary!" Vinyl stuck her tongue out like she was ridding her mouth of a bad taste. Unless it was song lyrics, she wasn't into reading. "Whoops!" Vinyl realized she had been sitting down for the past several minutes. "Better put these kickers to good use, huh?" She raised her hind legs and stood up. Taking a step forward, Vinyl wasn't phased by this new gate. "So, what to do first?" Vinyl mused. Inside this room, there wasn't much. Just that icky bookcase and a flight of stairs leading down. And a window, but who cared about a window? "I guess there's only one thing to do!" Vinyl decided. She walked up to the top of the stairs. Then she walked down. It was too bad she had left her headphones up there for safe keeping. Vinyl knew the best song ever that would play in sync to her hooves touching each step. When her hooves touched down on the next floor, Vinyl looked around. "So, what epic things can I do here?" Her smile widened into a rather sinister grin as ideas flooded her mind. A short while later "Mmph! Mmmmph!" An ivory unicorn with a shaggy blue mane struggled against her rope bonds. Vinyl shrugged. "Look, it's not you, it's me. Which means it's you also. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Can't have you running around during my assault, can I?" Vinyl patted a hoof on her double's head before wheeling out a large dark rectangle. "Citizens of Ponyville!" She shouted. Ponies of all color stopped to look at Vinyl, standing in the middle of the quaint village. "What's up, Vinyl?" questioned a tan pegasus with a mop of orange hair (which made him resemble her friend Valhallen at CHS). "This place about to blow!" Vinyl shrieked, hitting a red button on the machine. It unfolded to its full glory. The bass canon. Vinyl almost drooled, it was so awesome. She suddenly shook her head. "Welp, gotta bolt! Been fun, ain't it?" She zoomed off, not wanting to be around when-