Her eyes flickered open, the sudden rush of urgency sweeping the relief of waking up away.
“Don’t kill me!” her voice rang across the room, bouncing back into her ears. Sighing, she lowered her hooves, which were raised in defense against her attackers.
Looking around, Vinyl saw darkness. It wasn’t like the room was pitch black, but only a small lamp in the corner gave any luminescence and leeway to her limited vision.
Looking down, Vinyl was relieved to find that she wasn’t strapped up, and even more ecstatic that no harmful tools were visible, at least to her eyes.
“Hello?” she called out.
The room was devoid of life, the only sign of life ever in here being a small tray of food set against the back wall.
Standing up from the bed, Vinyl’s back made a large cracking sound, her mouth releasing a small moan.
This place is surprisingly lonely...where is Mike? Did they get him too?
From the moment she had woken up, though only bare seconds earlier, Vinyl’s first thoughts were of Mike. The last thing she saw before those...things...took her away was Mike. If they were holding him captive, she needed to go and get him!
Reaching her hooves up to her head, Vinyl groaned, the sudden realization hitting her that her neck was void of all accessories. “Damn humans…”
Taking a quick trot around the enclosed space, she was almost unsurprised at the lack of a simple door.
“That would be too easy, wouldn’t it?”
Shaking her head, she turned to the wall, lowering her head as she had at the store before this incident. Stepping towards the wall, she was under the impression that her magic would not work. Pushing her horn against it, she twinged at the cool metal, nearly chilling her coat over.
Grunting, Vinyl pressed harder, hoping that, beneath the hard shell, there was something soft to penetrate in the wall, something to poke a hole through so that there was at least a glimmer of hope in the thought of escape.
The harder she pressed, the angrier she felt. Just as before, flashes of everything flashed past her thoughts until finally, the teapot of anger she kept inside bubbled over, a giant energy surge bursting through Vinyl’s body and up to her horn, which gave off a huge shockwave of power that covered the room in a blue light.
“Do not try that, Ms. Scratch. I think you will find that, in this room, you will only hurt yourself.” The voice caused her to jump back.
It had obviously come from the ceiling, or a corner, but it sounded like it could’ve been everywhere. Turning around, Vinyl searched every nook in the room for the speaker that bore the voice.
“W-who are you?” Vinyl screamed out, “And where is Mike?”
“Ms. Scratch, I assure you, your Michael is safe. This is a simple observation room.”
“Observation...why do they want me…”
Taking a step back, Vinyl took one final look around the room, finally coming to the conclusion that the voice was coming from inside of her head. “Well, why do you humans need me? I haven’t done anything to you! Get me out of here!”
A slight chuckle came through the static. “Heh, Ms. Scratch, that would be nearly—”
“And how do you know my name!?”
Cough. “Well, you are all over the news. If the bronies had not already told us who you were, then I’m sure Michael would have given us your name for the usual price.”
“He said...price. Is Mike...no…”
“I refuse to believe you! Bring him to me. NOW!”
But this time, no voice came through the invisible speakers. Vinyl stomped her hoof to the ground, once again trying to summon magic through her horn. This time, at the exact moment her horn lit up, the floor dropped out beneath her.
A mix of both excitement and fear washed over Vinyl. Did she make the floor disappear? Where would she land? She had no time to think about it before she felt the hard ground rise up to meet her plot.
Vinyl help in a scream, the pain shooting up into her brain. “Celestia! Buck…” Taking a glance down, Vinyl was relieved to find that her plot was free of lacerations, but it was bruised like nothing she had seen before.
“Well, I guess it can’t get much worse…” She didn’t know how to check for broken bones, and since she saw none, Vinyl assumed that she was perfectly fine.
Before she had time to get a good sense of her surroundings, a light above her blinded her eyes. She raised a hoof to block the light just enough for her to see, but found a hand grabbing her hoof instead.
Pulling against the force, she grunted, a tear beginning to fall down her cheeks. “Let go of me!”
The grabbing didn’t stop. The more she struggled, the harder they seemed to grab onto her before she saw something coming from the darkness in front of her. It had a light blue color, but it was crackling, crackling like a bonfire.
“What the—” her sentence was cut off as the blue light was jabbed into her side, a sudden shock running up her side. Vinyl felt her body stiffen up. She couldn’t move.
She watched, paralyzed, as the two humans on either side of her held her down. In front of her, a figure stepped out of the darkness.
He was tall, heavy built, but Vinyl was more mesmerized by his mask. In Equestria, whenever a fire broke out at one of her concerts, mainly due to faulty wiring, these fireponies came in wearing the same thing. They called them “gas masks,” but Vinyl thought they were the creepiest things a pony could wear.
Stepping up to Vinyl, the man reached out a hand and rested it atop her horn. Vinyl tried to turn her head, but he just gently held her in place.
“You are quite the thing...magic, huh? And you can talk! It’s a miracle...I never thought it would work.”
“What are these things talking about!? They didn’t bring me here! It was that damn Luna...or ‘Nightmare Moon,’ as she calls herself.”
Vinyl rolled her eyes. It obviously wasn’t the first time somepony else had wanted to inspect her, but it was definitely the first time she had been held down while they did so.
“Bring in Doctor X.” That was the man’s final words. He stood up and turned around, his rigid legs almost in a march as the door closed behind him.
Vinyl felt the weight on her hooves lift. Without second thoughts, she jumped up to her hooves, slightly wobbly as the blood rushed back into her body.
Turning around, Vinyl nearly gasped. The rest of the room was empty. No people were there, and the only escape was through the door from which the mysterious man had come through.
“Don’t mess with me! I will use my magic on you!”
No response.
“And who is this ‘Doctor X’ you mentioned!?”
Still, the air rang silent. There was no more voice, just Vinyl’s own echo in the room.
Sitting down, Vinyl closed her eyes, hoping that she could work her magic to provide an escape out of here. She had never studied portals, but if she could imagine one, conjuring it would be easy, or so she thought.
Every time she had a good idea of what escape would look like, her horn lit up, but as soon as she started to feel confident about herself, her magic would malfunction, and once again she would find herself back in the dimly-lit room.
Very faintly, Vinyl heard the soft creaking of the door behind her.
“Hey…” she knew that voice. It was unmistakable.
“MIKE!!!!” she turned around, the smile widening at the sight of his face. “How long have I been here? What do these people want? Are you here to rescue me?”
“Well…” he seemed nervous, his voice shaky.
Vinyl stopped, her mind screaming at her once more.
“Get away! He’s going to hurt you!”
She wasn’t going to listen. After all they had been through, Mike wouldn’t hurt her, no matter what.
“Mike,” she began, not sure what was going to come from her mouth, “I’m sorry. This entire time, I feel like I’ve been a bother. You’ve been saving my plot all of this time, and I’ve been super lazy, but I also need my bass, and I thought that I would never find it. But with you, my bass starts up. My head booms with music and it’s all caused by you. I think I want to stay in this world with you, but Luna has to bring me Tavi, because you two mean so much to me. Please forgive my laziness; I’ll do my best to make you proud of me while on your farm!”
By now, the tears had automatically started up. Back in Equestria, she rarely ever cried near another, but now she found it common. She actually started to wonder if she was becoming a human just by being in their homes.
“Vinyl—” He paused, almost as if he was trying to think of what to say as well, “I...thank you, Vinyl Scratch, but that’s unnecessary now. We have all of the info we need.”
“Vinyl, I never meant for us to gain such a horrendously strong bond. The deal was simple: if I got you to this point, they would pay me, and I would go on as usual…”
Vinyl felt the tears change from those of happiness to waters of despair. Had this entire relationship been a lie? How did they get to her so fast, then, if he was hired?
“Mike, don’t lie to me...don’t play with me! All of this time, all of the games and laughs, it couldn’t have been a lie!”
Vinyl refused to believe it. Mike would never betray her. They had...she slept in a bed, he laughed with her! If everything they had done was a lie, then why hold her tightly when she has a nightmare? Why tell her she was special?
Vinyl watched Mike look down, a tear going down his own cheek. At the same time, it almost seemed like he was...smiling.
“You don’t understand, Vinyl! I tricked you, all right!? They told me the portal was going to work, but I didn’t expect you to just fall through!”
The words burst out of Vinyl’s mouth, her screams echoing all around. “Then tell me! Exactly why am I here, Mike!? How did I get here; why not just study my actions on the farm? WHO ARE YOU!?”
Mike sighed, standing up and stepping away from Vinyl. “Well, I guess it all started a couple of months ago…”
“Hurry up! I can feel it, this time it’s going to work!” Mike got closer to the crowd, the endless stream of people in pony costumes, smiling intently at them.
They were all staring at the large object on the stage behind Mike. For months they had heard rumors of an actual portal to Equestria, but it was a ludicrous thought. Every brony from around the world would be coming from around the world to see it.
Mike smirked down at the crowd. “Are you bronies ready to see a once-in-a-lifetime thing? Are you ready to have your minds blown!?”
His earpiece started pumping static into his ears, followed by the deep voice of Doctor Tjaden. “If this doesn’t work, X, we will find you.”
Mike shuddered. He had been in the labs; he knew what they did with all of the screw-ups. He was sure he didn’t want that.
“Then let’s do this, folks!” He took out a small device with a button in the center. Taking a step away from his “portal,” he pressed the button.
The crowd cheered, all in anxious anticipation. The lights on the portal flashed up, a spark flying into the air and exploding into colors.
A swirl started in the center, slowly spiraling outward until a clear picture could be seen.
Equestria was on the other side.
The bronies cheered, and Mike grinned, the newfound thought of money fresh in his mind. After working underground for years, he was finally going to be known, even if it was just for these...people.
Sometimes he didn’t even know if he would call them “people.” Anybody who dressed up like a TV character like they actually were that character doesn’t deserve a place in the world. At least they would all be gone soon enough, and Michael would be rich.
“And there you have it, folks! A portal to Eque—” Michael was interrupted by the screams of the crowd. He couldn’t even hear his own thoughts.
“Now all, I know this is exc—” Once again he was cut off by shouts from the crowd.
“Vinyl Scratch!”
“It’s a pony!”
“They’re real!”
Mike looked down, an angry scowl across his face. “What are you dimwits talking about!?”
Stepping down from the stage, Mike pushed aside the other people to get to the center of the crowd.
After shoving the rest of the bronies away from his path, his eyes went wide as he looked to the center. Standing there in the center was an actual pony!
His earpiece rang once again, an angry voice filling his ears. “What in the world is that!? Get that pony out of there now before she comes to her senses!”
Mike knew he had to follow orders, but when he took a glance back down, he was almost surprised to find that the pony had gone. Taking a glance up, he saw her scurrying off.
“Don’t worry, sir, I’ll get that damned thing in due time.” Putting a smile on his face, he ran off to find out where the mysterious equine was heading off to.
“So...you’re part of an organization for ponies?” Vinyl was still confused. Obviously Michael was some sort of evil person, but exactly what did he do?
“N-NO!” he screamed back at her, “I’m part of a secret gathering of scientists testing for transportation between universes. I was picked to create a working portal to another world in hopes that we could discover other life forms. For years we have been trying, but finally decided that working for one universe rather than simultaneously switching between them was the best option. Unfortunately, yours was picked first. I didn’t even want to bring you here! You must have just fallen through...but it’s different now. I’m your friend, we’ve had our good times, right?”
By now, Vinyl couldn’t control herself. The anger had welled up to an unbearable amount. Without much hesitation, she started to buck her hooves back and forth, all shots directed towards Mike. “This was all a silly game!? I could still be in Equestria with Octavia, Mike; or whatever the buck your name is!”
She wasn’t going to hold back. He had given her feelings; feelings that she would never find in somepony else. If he was just going to let her cry, he was going to know what it felt like to be broken.
Nearly every kick missed Mike’s figure, but one lucky buck landed square on his chest. The odd thing: he didn’t seem to care. Mike had let Vinyl sock him to the floor.
For a second, Vinyl hesitated, a twinge of regret in her eyes. Then she remembered why she was here, and kicked at Mike one more time, only near his head to scare him.
“Nopony messes with me...I will get you, Michael.”
Looking down at Mike, Vinyl snarled at Mike, but Mike was still smiling. Faintly, almost out of breath, he whispered up to her.
“Trust me, Vinyl, I will get you out of here. Our research is done, but you’re still my friend, and I would never let them hurt you. You just have to trust me.”
Vinyl opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it in fear that anything she said would be heard. She just shook her head, trying to make a nodding motion to show that she understood what he was saying.
“I’m sorry for hitting you, Mike. Just get out of my sight before I do it again…”
The loud voice came over the speakers once more. The man, now known as Doctor Tjaden, boomed loudly into the room. “All right, X, I think we are done for the day. Give her the shot, and we can call it a finished session.”
“S-shot!? Please...no…”
Mike stood up, nearly falling over. Blood was dripping from his nose. Reaching in his back pocket, he pulled out a tiny needle.
“Don’t worry, Vinyl. This is mandatory. It will only give you nutrients and slowly put you to sleep. I promise that is all it will do.”
“I won’t.”
His answer was so blunt, Vinyl wondered if it was safe to let him do anything to her.
Before she had a time to tell him to be careful, she felt the needle poke into her neck. Mike was rubbing Vinyl’s mane delicately.
“Sleep well, Vinyl Scratch,” he whispered, almost silently.
Just like Mike had said, Vinyl started to feel drowsy. Seconds passed, and she could feel her head pounding, the room beginning to spin. She felt like she could throw up, her eyes going off in all of the wrong directions.
Her vision became white, and she felt the energy from earlier slowly slipping away from her.
Before Vinyl knew it, she fell over, Mike’s hands grabbing her before she hit the cold cement beneath them.