//------------------------------// // Foals // Story: The Science of Music // by Majin Syeekoh //------------------------------// Vinyl Scratch thought she was a smart pony. She had deduced that when she figured out how to get ponies to pay her to listen to music. No longer was she known as Vinyl Scratch, but DJ-PON3, professional disc jockey, able to supply musical accompaniment to birthdays, weddings, and cute-ceañeras. But looking at the checklist Twilight had provided her with and the three fillies looking expectantly at her, it suddenly dawned on her how little she knew. Vinyl had offered to do whatever it was Twilight did with the kids so that Twilight could have more time to catalogue the torrent of books the castle was receiving. At hearing her offer, Twilight hugged her, gave her a checklist, and hurried off to do her thing. She had not thought to ask for clarification, being woefully unaware of how much information one could pack onto a piece of parchment if it was written entirely in arcane notations not meant for equine eyes. So she did the next best thing: used her social skills. She smiled at the yellow filly while rolling up the checklist and placing it on the table behind her. “So, Apple Bloom, right?” Apple Bloom nodded. “Yes, Miss Scratch?” “Vinyl’s fine,” Vinyl said with a snicker. “Alright, what were you planning on doing with Twilight today?” “She was going to help me devise a potion that would increase the strength and stamina of a pony by ten times!” Vinyl pursed her lips. “I, uh, don’t know the first thing about that. Sorry.” “Oh,” Apple Bloom said as a neutral expression crossed her face. The orange pegasus standing next to Apple Bloom stuck her tongue out at the filly, then addressed Vinyl. “Maybe you can help me!” “Sure… Scootaloo?” Scootaloo nodded. “Alright, Scootaloo, what were you working on?” “Making a propulsion system for my scooter so that I can be fast as Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said with a determined expression. “That’s,” Vinyl said, sucking in a breath through her teeth, “also out of my area of expertise.” Scootaloo frowned as Vinyl faced the unicorn filly. “And that must make you Sweetie Belle.” Sweetie Belle nodded. “Uh-huh! Twilight was going to help me with my magic.” Magic. Now that is a thing I can do. Vinyl grinned. “Alright, show me what you got.” Sweetie Belle nodded as she concentrated and grasped the list behind Vinyl in a green glow, levitating it in front of Vinyl. Vinyl smiled. “That’s great, kid! You seem pretty set.” Sweetie Belle looked up at Vinyl with a doe-eyed expression. “But Twilight was going to teach me advanced magic.” “Well, I hate to break it to you, but that’s about as much magic as I can do,” Vinyl said. Sweetie Belle put the list back on the table, her expression now downtrodden. Apple Bloom marched up to Vinyl and stared her square in the sunglasses. “Well, if you can’t teach us what Twilight could, then what good are ya to us?” “Yeah!” Scootaloo echoed. Vinyl bit her lip. She wasn’t used to being put on the spot like this. On her own terms, sure, but not by a bunch of foals who knew more than her. And here she was supposed to teach them something. She looked at the three fillies, all displaying various levels of disappointment. After a moment, she smiled as an idea came to her. “Hey, girls, what if I teach you something that Twilight can’t teach you?” The three fillies snapped their heads towards Vinyl. “Like what?” Apple Bloom asked. “Music History!” Vinyl declared. The three foals looked amongst each other, then back at Vinyl. “Sure,” Scootaloo said as she took a seat in front on Vinyl, the other two following. Vinyl looked at the fillies sitting in front of her, all of whom displayed various levels of attention. Alright. Here goes. Vinyl cleared her throat. “Well, then, equine music. The first instances of equine music are hypothesized to have been wordless songs, which some equinologists believe led to the development of speech…” I’m a little worried about Vinyl. I really hope I didn’t foist too much responsibility onto her. I know they can be difficult to handle, but I’m sure Vinyl can manage them. She’s a smart mare. Twilight grew increasingly concerned as she hurried back to the throne room and heard only silence. She picked up her speed and entered the throne room, only to find three sleeping fillies and Vinyl lounging in one of the chairs, sipping on a drink. Vinyl smiled and waved at Twilight. Twilight glared at Vinyl and opened her mouth to say something when Vinyl shushed her and motioned for her to come closer. Twilight collected herself and trotted over to Vinyl. “What exactly happened here?” Twilight whispered. Vinyl sipped on her drink. “I taught them music history,” she whispered back. “You’re terrible,” Twilight said,  shaking her head. “Well, I couldn’t exactly teach them what you wanted to teach them, so I improvised.” Twilight studied the sleeping forms of the Cutie Mark Crusaders in their slumber, a smile working itself onto her face. “They’re really cute, aren’t they?” “Sleeping kids? Yeah,” Vinyl said as she took a sip of her drink. “You know, I’d like to have foals.” Vinyl spat her drink, spraying it everywhere upon hearing that.  Twilight giggled. “Not now, of course,”  she said as she kissed Vinyl on the cheek. “Someday, though.” “Yeah, someday in the future.” Vinyl chuckled nervously as she took another swig. “By the way, were you really going to put an engine on a filly's scooter, and teach another filly how to make a superpony potion?” “Yes,” Twilight simply replied. “What the hay is wrong with you?” Twilight giggled as she leaned onto Vinyl’s shoulder. “I wanted to challenge them.” Vinyl shook her head as she took another sip of her drink. “You’re insane.” “I’m simply promoting creative solutions.” “Whatever.”