Chapter 3: This is Vinyl Scratch
[v]
Vinyl looked out her window into the rain. She hadn't meant anything she'd said earlier; not a single cruel word. Her empty house only seemed emptier on a cold night like this one. Nothing could undo what she had done; in one swoop, Vinyl had turned her own life upside-down. Octavia had left. She’d be getting on her train to Canterlot any minute now.
Staring out at the rain, Vinyl silently steeled herself and decided to go to her friend. She'd try to talk her out of this... If she couldn’t convince her, she would at least go with her until she could get her back to Ponyville where she belonged. She didn’t need to go to Canterlot to be famous. The place shouldn’t make the pony, the pony should make the place – or something like that. She turned and started towards the door with a confident stride, but just as she reached to open it, there was a knock.
She opened the door with a curious eyebrow raised and was greeted by a shower of confetti and a horn, blown by the party pony of Ponyville, Pinkie Pie. No doubt, Pinkie was inviting people to yet another party, not even letting the rain stop her from delivering invitations. She was wearing a rainbow-colored umbrella hat and was bouncing in place. Normally, Vinyl would have loved to listen to Pinkie’s hair-brained ideas, but right now she needed to hurry to Octavia.
“Sorry Pinkie, but I don’t have time to chat right now.” Vinyl kept her voice calm, even though she wanted to bolt right past Pinkie and not look back.
“Well, I wanted to talk to you, so you don’t need to chat, just listen. I’m throwing another party soon,” Vinyl rolled her eyes at the redundant statement. When wasn’t Pinkie partying? Not that Vinyl didn’t appreciate that. “It's gonna be huge and I wanted you to be the DJ for it.” That made Vinyl pause for a second. She’d never been asked to DJ before; it was always her dad's thing.
“You sure?” Vinyl tilted her head a bit. The idea sounded really fun to her. “I ain’t my dad. I don’t have his experience.”
“Pffffff.” Pinkie waved a hoof, as if Vinyl’s statement was pointless. “It’s in your veins. You and Octavia always make awesome music.” Leave it to Pinkie to hit the one sour note in all this. Vinyl twitched as she remembered Octavia, alone at the train station. She had completely forgotten for a second there, with the offer to DJ.
“Sorry Pinkie, I can’t… I need to be somewhere.” She stood there, not sure if she should close the door or go outside with Pinkie. The whole situation was getting more and more awkward by the second.
“Is everything okay, Vinyl?” Pinkie sounded worried, something Vinyl hadn’t witnessed too often. She wasn't really in the mood to appreciate the rarity of it though. “I don’t want any of my friends to be sad.”
Vinyl felt a little warmer inside, hearing that. She briefly summarized Octavia’s ultimatum and her own decision. “I don’t plan on making her face this alone. I think she’s making a terrible choice and I gotta help her.”
“Why?” Pinkie asked only a second after Vinyl finished talking. Vinyl, to her dismay, found the answer not as simple as the question.
“Because I… I just don’t think… Ugh!” She shook her head, as if trying to rattle an idea into her head. “I have no idea! I just don’t want her to go!”
“Vinyl, if she wants to go, it’s her decision. You can’t tie her to your flank and drag her around forever, can you?” Pinkie paused. “Can you?” After another second to contemplate the idea, Pinkie continued. “Well, it’s her choice and you can’t really stop her. If it’s a mistake, she’ll learn for herself and come back, right?” Pinkie, ever bubbly Pinkie, was making a great deal of sense right then; right when Vinyl wished she hadn’t. Slumping in defeat, Vinyl sighed.
“… So, when’s this party?” She asked, not sure if she should feel happy for Octavia or miserable for herself.
“I’m so glad you asked!”
The party was the next day and had ‘Pinkie Pie’ written all over it. It was at Sugarcube Corner, with tons of balloons, cake, and half of Ponyville, if not more, in attendance. Now that the party was stretched out in front of her, Vinyl felt bolder. It was too late to stop Octavia – she was probably in Canterlot by now – but Vinyl wasn’t about to give in to despair.
Taking a deep breath, she levitated the microphone headset up and put it into her ear. “Yo, wazzup Po-ny-ville~!” She dragged out the word for effect and was greeted by a roaring cheer from the crowd. “You all know me! Vinyl Scratch is in the house! Now, let's kick it with the next track!” Another cheer. This felt awesome; nothing like the practice concerts she and Octavia had held. This was less formal – wild and free. What did Octavia say? Invigorating? That’s how this felt; invigorating.
“Alright, all you ponies!” Vinyl spun a record on her hoof, a trick her father taught her. “I’m here to rock your world. Who’s ready to par-tay~!”
The music was a loud techno remix of an old song she'd played, one of her attempts to mimic her father’s style. It wasn’t as good as his music, but it had its own charm, she supposed.
The thrum of the crowd hit her like a wave. Soon, she was caught up in their emotions, pumping her hoof into the air and tossing the ponies into a frenzy. So this was how her father felt, DJing all these years. The beat of the music pounding in her chest was more than enough to make her troubles soar away.
“Come on, ponies! I wanna let Celestia hear this party all the way in Canterlot!” And Octavia too, Vinyl added silently to herself.
Wrapped up in the chaos of it all, loving every second of it, Vinyl leaned up onto the turntable to shout out to the crowd. She stood above everypony, like a ruler over a kingdom – a kingdom of sound. And Vinyl was the cause of it all. With a loud cheer, she leaned too far in one direction, accidentally shifting the bass on the turntable up to ten.
Blood boiled in her veins. The pounding bass ripped away everything but the music, matching the beat of the song with her heart. It was like a geyser of pure power had burst from the speakers and shot straight into her brain. She had to look absolutely silly, because everypony at the party was staring at her, even as she fixed the settings back to where they were supposed to be. The bass faded, lifting the cloud from her mind. It was only then that she heard Pinkie.
"— stupendous, amazing, astounding, cool, crazy, awesomeness!” Pinkie bounced among the crowd, who were starting to get their senses back. “Do it again! Do it again!” Eager eyes surrounded her. Everypony wanted to see what happened next.
Not wanting to disappoint her audience, she cranked the bass back up, playing her song again. And then again. It was hardly perfect. There wasn’t enough attention on the bass and some notes sounded wrong with all the distortion, but it was enough to light a fire in Vinyl’s mind. She could finally say she had found her calling; she was certain of it. All along, her music had been one dial-turn away from perfection and she’d never known.
The party continued, but frankly, Vinyl was only half there. She couldn’t wait until it was over. No offense to Pinkie, but she had to get home and start working on this, as soon as possible. This was how she could live up to her father’s legacy; build a legacy of her own, just as big!
That night, Vinyl’s home was a cacophony of sound. She tested the sound of something she was calling a ‘bass drop’ in her music, a loud explosion of blood-boiling sound. The buildup to it was the key; hyping the listener up, making them both dread and anticipate the drop. She began composing, but not in any way Octavia had. Sounds, everyday sounds, mixed into her music; her own personal calling-card to this genre.
She spent weeks, delving into her creations. It was about two weeks when the food ran out and she had to venture back out into Ponyville to buy more. It was only after the first month that she actually paid attention while she was while out wandering.
The letter had been left on her front step, unusual to be sure. Curious, Vinyl opened her mailbox to find it completely filled. She was a little embarrassed; she had been so absorbed in her music that she’d neglected to check the mail. With a bit of guilt, she pulled a letter out of the mailbox and turned it over to see the sender.
Octavia Melody.
Vinyl’s heart skipped a beat, then sped up. She snagged another letter from the mailbox at random. Octavia. Another. Octavia. After four letters, she finally found one not sent by her friend. How long had they been here? What did she say? She hastily opened the first letter that she grabbed. Silently, a ticket fluttered out of the envelope. Vinyl blinked down at it. “Uh oh.”
It was an invitation to one of Octavia’s concerts, about a week late. Opening older letters she found scores of similar tickets, along with letters written in Octavia’s style. The letters were polite – not surprising – but seemed a little sad. Vinyl grimaced when she realized they had gotten shorter and shorter until the last few letters had nothing but the ticket, a date, and location inside. Vinyl knew she had to be furious. Though, if she was already playing concerts, she must be popular. Vinyl immediately began to feel insecure. Had Octavia been right?
Guilt clawed at Vinyl and she pushed away the letters. She couldn’t reply to them. She just couldn’t. She felt absolutely terrible, but what would she say? With a hoof, she split the letters by who sent them. She would… deal with Octavia’s letters later. She’d feel better about it then, she was sure.
Flipping through the stack of letters, she found most of them were from Octavia, with a few from her father, some invitations from Pinkie Pie, and one letter offering horn extensions. She grabbed one from her dad at random, opening it with a smile, hoping to clear her head.
The letter was simple enough. The Griffon Empire had been a harsh place at first. Griffons were bossy, loud and demanding, but once they'd heard Echo’s music, he'd managed to sway them. They took to his new instrument, the electric guitar, wholeheartedly. They played them like the instruments were made for them. Perhaps they were. But Echo had a long way before he finished building his new genre.
His note went on to ask how she was and why she hadn’t written. She had plenty of things to tell him, but it became clearer and clearer that she wasn’t sure what to say. A lot had changed since he'd left; from Octavia leaving, to discovering her own genre, to Princess Luna returning. She had a lot of work to do before she could send him a proper letter, but she knew when she did, she would make him proud.
Vinyl made her way around Ponyville, stocking up on everything she’d need for the next few weeks, from food to electronics. All thoughts of Octavia's letters had been pushed to the back of her mind and chained there for the time being. But, whenever she didn't think too hard, they'd pick the locks and climb to the forefront. How was she supposed to handle something like this? Octavia had left with smoke practically coming out of her ears – now this? How was she supposed to fix this?
She pushed those frightening and confusing thoughts away and started by looking for appliances she needed to alter some of her father’s hardware – the expendable stuff at least. She finished by swinging by the market for food, drinks, and maybe a cupcake or three. On her way back to her house, she stopped at a store window bearing a sign reading ‘The Seeing-Eye-Glasses,’ her worries about Octavia forgotten in the bustle of shopping.
A pair of glasses matched up with her reflection, a pair of purple-tinted glasses that were a familiar and much-loved color; the same color as Octavia’s eyes. Yeah, they were a little gaudy – no doubt Octavia would scoff at them hardcore – but Vinyl walked right into the store and purchased them on the spot. Looking in the mirror, she couldn’t help but grin. She was looking wilder every day, just like her old man.
“Watch out, Equestria. DJ-Pon3 is in the house!”
Weeks bled into months, and Vinyl was watching the spread of her first CD. The CD, titled ‘Wubpocalypse’ was the first dub-trot CD to hit the market, and hit it hard it did. Ponies all over Equestria, especially in cities like Las Pegasus, adored this powerful new genre. It took the modern style of techno, slapped a new rhythm into its soul, and cast it back into the sky as a heart-pounding, spine-shaking thump of bass. Vinyl climbed the charts swiftly, just like her father, rivaling even his first-year sales in no time flat.
She spent week after week holed up in her studio, a new expansion off her father’s store, creating new albums and sending them out to the world at large. 'Refined' cities, like Canterlot and Manehattan, were slow to embrace the new sound, but Vinyl knew it was only a matter of time. Fame came to her like the rising of the summer sun, stealing her breath and blinding her with glory.
DJ-Pon3 was a star.
Vinyl Scratch was a star.
And yet, she was missing something. Constantly, she would stop and stare at the cello hanging over the fireplace. Her father had agreed to give the cello to Octavia once she was on her way to stardom, but she’d left before that’d happened.
Vinyl missed Octavia so much and made more than one song that pounded out her sorrow though the bass, wordlessly screaming her loneliness to the world at large.
When the letters from Octavia had stopped, Vinyl had been heartbroken, but had expected it. She wasn’t just limited in her time, but her emotions as well. When she tried to write back, she found herself just staring at the blank page, afraid to write anything that might upset her old friend; like mentioning the concerts she missed, her newfound fame, or even their past together. She wasn’t sure if there was anything she could safely say now. So instead, regret poured from Vinyl as she ignored her desire to see her dearest friend and drown herself in her work. Octavia was happy in Canterlot – famous even – and it was far beyond Vinyl to take her from that happiness, even if she’d found her fame despite her. Fame could be found in Ponyville, even if that fame was filled with regret.
Time pressed on, a year swiftly approaching. Vinyl heard of the chaos that enveloped the Grand Galloping Gala. Ironically, Vinyl was more than pleased to know the ponies that caused the supposed "disaster" in Canterlot. In her opinion, the whole idea of the Gala was a little boring. She thought a bit of excitement would give that party an ounce of life.
Over the past few months, Vinyl had honed her talent into an art, making music that didn’t sway the hearts of Equestria, but made them beat harder than ever before. She had gone so far as to develop new magical spells with some help from Twilight Sparkle, the local magical prodigy, to loosely control and conjure electricity to power and augment her instruments. She also made a spell to help her harness and alter sound waves, letting her amplify her voice and songs while playing at a concert to give the bass that extra kick.
She had played concerts in Las Pegasus, Fillydelphia, and – much to her surprise – Manehattan. The normally stuffy city had actually been her most profitable concert ever, in an interesting twist. The turnout grew more with every day and soon, even Canterlot was under her spell, though reluctantly. Vinyl even heard rumors that Princess Luna had purchased all of her albums and was an avid DJ-Pon3 fan. The praises warmed Vinyl, aiding her belief that she’d made the right choices in her life.
She sent out a proper letter to her father that night, better detailing the events of the past year. She had sent him several letters, hinting at wild changes and a big surprise that would make him very proud. Nothing made her feel better than to finally tell him about dub-trot. As she slipped the letter into her mailbox, she sighed to herself. She had one last big step to take if she was going to ground herself into musical history. She needed to find a way to premier publicly in Canterlot.
For the next day and a half, Vinyl pondered this question: how would she bring the bass to a place so stingy and uptight? Would her crowd be nearly big enough to justify the expense and effort it would take? Or did she dare try to do something drastic and extreme, something to blow the lid off Canterlot and catch the legendary city off guard? As she paced in her home, she thought hard about the questions swimming in her mind. She stared at her father’s albums, silently praying for his advice. Interestingly enough, she got it in the form of a trophy. A trophy Echo had created to help spread DJing all over Equestria and beyond. A trophy for a contest held between two or more DJs. A grin spread over Vinyl’s face as she muttered to herself.
“I think it’s time for DJ-Pon3’s first scratch-off...”