The Winning Failure

by marley

Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Fluttershy was up in a tree with some birds when Rainbow Dash arrived. After the weekend, Rainbow Dash thought she looked odd without her flight suit. Fluttershy saw her friend and waved so Rainbow Dash waited for her to come down.

“Hello Rainbow,” said Fluttershy, “Did you have a good practice yesterday?”

“Yeah,” said Dash, “it's really starting to come together, thanks to Mr. Immelmane and Spitfire. I just thought I'd stop by and let you know what we'll be doing this week.”

“Oh good,” said Fluttershy, “I can hardly wait to see Firewing again and I'm looking forward to doing more sky dancing.”

“We'll be doing a lot of that,” said Dash. “Frost will be here tonight so we might do a little tomorrow but she'll try to avoid it if she can. It's okay if we still practice out here isn't it?”

“Sure,” said Fluttershy, “if you want to. It will make it easy for me to practice and keep an eye on my critters.”

“Good,” said Dash, “we'll stop by but I don't know if we'll do much flying. Windy and Firewing will be here sometime tomorrow so Wednesday will be the first day we really get to practice. The next two days we'll do a lot more and then fly to Cloudsdale on Saturday.”

“I won't be going to Cloudsdale this week,” said Fluttershy. “Rarity is sending me to Canterlot to line up some shops there. There are quite a lot of pegasi there you know. More than I thought there were anyway. Twilight had Princess Celestia send her the last census records to help Rarity do her marketing. We're, we pegasi I mean, we're all over the place.”

“Sounds like you'll be as busy as me,” said Dash. She sounded sad.

“What's wrong Dashie?” asked Fluttershy.

“Nothing really,” said Dash, “I just feel like I won't be seeing you as much as before, not to mention the others. This traveling business is kind of a pain.”

“Yeah, it is,” said Fluttershy, “but it won't last forever. I think that once Rarity gets established in the different cities, I won't be traveling as much. You probably won't be gone as much either once you get your routines down.”

“Yeah!” said Dash brightly, “you're right. We just have to get through this rough time and things will get more normal. Listen, I'll drop by tomorrow with Frost and we can plan a little practice session. I've got to go see Pinkie Pie and see if she knows where I can find that DJ so we can have some music.”

“Oh, alright,” said Fluttershy, “I'll see you tomorrow then. I'll try to get things straightened up a little so we have some place to rest between practice time.”

Rainbow Dash lifted off as she said goodbye and headed back to Ponyville. She landed in front of Sugar Cube Corner and went in. This time Pinkie Pie was there and she greeted Rainbow Dash happily.

“Hi Rainbow!” she said, “it's great to see you again. Are your friends here yet? You ought to get something for them while you're here and don't forget I have a party all planned out for Wednesday night out at Applejack's farm. Are you going to put on another show with the other Wonderbolts? What did you do this weekend? Did you have fun? I hope you did...”

Rainbow Dash found it necessary to interrupt or she feared that the store might close before she got to buy anything. “Pinkie!” she shouted, “It's great to see you too. No, they aren't but Frost will be here tonight. I bought some things this morning. I didn't forget the party. No show, sorry. I practiced, went to a couple of clubs and a sky dancing show and yes, it was fun.”

Pinkie looked at Dash as she digested this information. A few seconds passed and her face broke into a smile. Great!” she said, “So what brings you to Sugar Cube Corner?”

“Pinkie Pie, do you know where I can find that DJ that helped out at the celebration?” asked Dash.

“Sure,” said Pinkie, “go to the train station and follow the tracks towards Canterlot. It's the last house at the edge of town. Easy peasy. She lives out there so her music doesn't disturb the neighbors.”

“Thanks Pinkie,” said Dash, “I need to talk to her about some music for my routine.”

“I'm sure she'll be able to help you,” said Pinkie, “She did a great job at the celebration.”

“But we gave her the music,” said Dash, “all she had to do was tweak it a little. This time she has to come up with about ten minutes of some really special music. It's worth a shot though. If I can't come up with something on my own, Immelmane or somepony will choose for me.”

“Either way you should have some good music to fly to,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Maybe,” said Dash. “I still want to see what she can do for me.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” said Pinkie, “Be sure to bring Frost by tomorrow so I can meet her.”

“I will,” said Dash, “maybe we'll stop by for breakfast. See ya.”

Rainbow Dash lifted off and took aim on what she guessed was the DJ's home. Flying in a straight line, she was there in less than a minute.

Hearing music coming from the house, Rainbow Dash assumed that she was at the right place. She knocked on the door but there was no response. She knocked again with more force but still no pony answered. Looking down she noticed that the door had a lot of dents in it, no doubt due from other ponies repeatedly knocking harder than should have been necessary. There was a lull in the music and Dash quickly knocked as hard as she could. The music stopped.

Rainbow Dash heard hoof steps from inside the house and soon the door opened. It was the DJ pony that Rainbow had been looking for. She squinted her already half closed eyes and quickly slid a pair of sunglasses into place.

“Yeah?” she said.

“Hi,” said Rainbow Dash, “you played music at our victory celebration and show a couple weeks ago. I was wondering if you'd like to do something like that again.”

“Maybe,” said the unicorn, “c'mon in and lets talk.”

The unicorn left the doorway and walked to a beat up sofa where she flopped down. Dash followed, closing the door behind her. There was an overstuffed chair near the sofa and Dash took a seat there. The room was messy even by Rainbow Dash's standards and was very dark.

“My name's Vinyl Scratch but call me Vinyl,” said the DJ, “so what's up, Rainbow?”

“Well, I need some music for my routines when I perform at the Wonderbolt shows,” said Dash. “You did a great job at the show Firewing and I did here in Ponyville and I thought maybe you'd like to do the music for my routine.”

Vinyl raised her sunglasses to the top of her head and looked at Rainbow Dash. “That show was nothing,” she said, “any decent DJ could have done that. I only did it because it was short and a way to make some easy bits. That was some cool flying though. You're good.”

“Thanks,” said Dash. She wondered if she had made a mistake in coming here. Vinyl didn't seemed to be very enthusiastic. “This is for a longer routine; about ten to ten and a half minutes. It's also going to be in Canterlot in front of the Princesses.”

“I'm interested,” said Vinyl, “what kind of time are we talking about and how much does it pay?”

“I'll need you to practice with me a few times this week here in Ponyville,” said Dash. “This weekend we'll need to go to Cloudsdale and I'll also be practicing there most of next week. We'll go to Canterlot for the party that weekend.”

“I might be able to do that,” said Vinyl. “I'm burned out with the gigs here in Ponyville and wouldn't mind branching out but it would have to be worth my while. I'm not really into the kind of music they usually play at upper class parties.”

“Neither am I,” said Dash, “that's why I'm here. I want something that rocks and I'm afraid if I let the Wonderbolts or my choreographer chose I might get stuck with something lame. What do you charge for that kind of thing.”

“The practice stuff here in town won't cost too much,” said Vinyl. “I figure about ten bits a day should do it as long as you don't want me to work too early or all day long. Cloudsdale huh? You have noticed that I don't have wings, right?”

“Not a problem,” said Dash, “the practice field is on the ground. There's a hotel near the train station too. Practice sessions there will be all day though or at least half a day.”

“Okay,” said Vinyl, “I'll want travel expenses and some bits for meals. Fifty bits for a half day session and seventy five for all day. I'll want fifty for the real gig in Canterlot too and some help setting up my equipment.”

“I think the Wonderbolt support ponies will be able to help with that,” said Dash. She did some calculations in her head. This was getting expensive. “Sounds like you're looking for about a thousand bits for two weeks work,” said Dash.

“Yeah,”said Vinyl, “about that. I'd do it for a thousand. You're not just paying for me though, it's also my equipment.”

“Couldn't you use the Wonderbolts equipment?” asked Dash.

“Maybe,” said Vinyl, “I'd have to check it out and if I could use that I'd cut down the price some. If you're worried about the cost, you could just pay for a recording and use that. I'd work with you this week and I could have that ready sometime next week. That would only cost you about a hundred or so and you could use it as much as you want.”

Rainbow Dash thought about Vinyl's offer for a while. She knew that good music could really make her program special but the cost was something she couldn't absorb on her own for every show. A recording would be great but what if she was asked for an encore? How would she handle that?

She expressed her concerns to Vinyl who told her that the Wonderbolt DJ should be able to handle encores and play the recordings and even extend them to a degree. She also pointed out the advantages of having her there to do a live show such as being able to ad lib if the situation called for it or fix equipment should it go down.

“I'll tell you what,” said Dash at last, “how about we call this a trial run. This is my first show and I want it to be perfect. It's also for the Princesses, especially Princess Luna, so it has to be great. I'm willing to work with you on this and maybe do a combination of what you suggested. Let's do the recording thing and you work with me daily on that for this week. You'll also travel to Cloudsdale this weekend and check out the Wonderbolts stuff and see if you can use it. Whether you can or not, I want you in Canterlot for the party. You do that and I'll pay you six hundred and pay your expenses to Cloudsdale and Canterlot. How does that sound?”

“You're close,” said Vinyl, “as long as I don't have to haul my stuff around. How about six fifty if I use the Wonderbolts stuff and seven fifty if I don't?”

“I can live with that,” said Dash. “Remember, if this works out you can count on more work from me. Probably three or four recordings a season at least. I figure I'll have to change up a little every time I do a show. They'll be longer too. I have to do the opening act and the intermission and they're each about fifteen to twenty minutes.”

“Not a problem,” said Vinyl, “remixes are pretty simple depending on what you want. If it's not too hard I'll throw those in for free.”

“You know, I'm getting a discount for my home in exchange for advertizing,” said Dash. “What would it be worth to you to have your name or maybe even an ad in a Wonderbolt's program?”

Vinyl raised her eyebrows and looked at Rainbow Dash. “Might be worth something,” said Vinyl. “I might be able to give you a discount for that.”

“And what if I introduce you at a few shows that you could do live?” asked Dash.

“Yeah, I could seen that being worth even more. It doesn't hurt to get my name out there,” said Vinyl. “I'm surprised that the Wonderbolts don't just pay for this themselves.”

“Well, I'm sort of a new case,” said Dash. “They've never had a featured soloist before so we're all just figuring things out as we go. I think that they want to have me use their music but I need something special since I'm up there on my own. Maybe later they'll chip in or something. I have to buy my own outfits and pay for my own living space too. The others live in a compound in Cloudsdale.”

“I don't know if I could live like that,” said Vinyl. “I like my privacy.”

“It's pretty cool,” said Dash. “Every pony has their own room and the foods terrific. There's a gym and a pool, a spa and masseurs. Everything you could want is right there. Cloudsdale is a great place to hang out too, if you're a pegasus.”

“What do you guys do besides fly anyway?” asked Vinyl. “Is Cloudsdale like any other city except up in the air?”

“I guess it is,” said Dash. “Pegasi do pretty much what other ponies do. Friday we went to a club, danced, drank and sang karaoke. Saturday we went to a sky dancing show or ballet and then to a high class club after that.”

“Ballet?” said Vinyl with a shudder, “I'll pass on that.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “It was my first time to one and it was actually pretty cool. Awesome flying even if it was a little slow. I was never that interested in it before but it's kinda fun. I sky danced later that night with a very handsome stallion.”

“Oh ho!” said Vinyl, with a laugh, “yeah, it sounds like you pegasi are like other ponies all right.”

“I think so,” said Dash. “We might be a little rougher. I considered Friday night a victory because we didn't get into any fights.”

“I think I'm going to enjoy working with you, Rainbow Dash,” said Vinyl. “When do you want to start?”

“I'll definitely need you on Wednesday,” said Dash, “but why don't we meet up tomorrow and I'll run through my routine real quick so you have some idea of what I'll be doing. I have some friends coming in this week and we'll need some music for when we practice. I think we can get by with just doing the afternoons.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Vinyl, “mornings aren't my favorite time. Where should we meet?”

“We'll be practicing out at Fluttershy's place,” said Dash. “Why don't we meet up at the cafe around noon. I'd better get going. My friend Frost will be here in a couple of hours and I have some things to do first.”

“I'll be there ,” said Vinyl. She didn't get up and let Dash find her own way out. She picked up a magazine from the floor. It fell open to a page that displayed a rather high priced mixing board. “Soon, my pretty, soon you will be mine.” She started to laugh in her best imitation of an evil scientist but it soon devolved into a hacking cough. She grabbed a bottle of cider from the end table and chugged the contents. It had only been there since the previous night and she didn't think it would kill her.

Author's Note:

Who doesn't like a little Vinyl?

Comments

[moguera]

Who doesn't like a little Vinyl?

It depends on how little we're talking. Is she filly-sized or pocket-sized?