When the Moon saved the stars

by kittypetro

The Pan flute of laughter

Chapter 7
The Pan flute of laughter

Every now and then Vinyl stopped, turned her head from side to side before deciding wich way to go. After nearly 10 minutes she had lead her friends to a cave, everypony rushing in away from the cold.

“Somepony… please light a fire” Derpy managed to get out, her teeth shattering like crazy.

Zecora nodded in agreement, the zebra being too cold to actually talk. A laughter was heard behind them, all 9 faces turning to a blue see through Diamond dog.

“You ponies are funny” he giggled, scratching the back of his grey head. “Why are you all here in this cold if you can’t handle a little wind?”

“I’m here for the artifact” Vinyl said stepping up.

The dog’s laughter died down. “Ohh. You are the new holder of the element of laughter then?”

“Well no, but I am the substitute.”

“And where is the real bearer then?”

Vinyl held a hoof up towards the sky.

The dog frowned. “Well that’s no fun place to be. Who put somepony up there?”

“Starvoid the cold.”

“That meanie pony? Well now that’s no good… but I can’t just give you my artifact, that wouldn’t be fun or fair.”

“What do I need to do?” Vinyl asked.

“First off you can tell me your name pony.”

“I’m Vinyl Scratch, also known in some circles as DJ Pon-3.”

“And I am happy Jack, the original carrier of the element of laughter. Now then, now that we know each other a little better I am allowed to give you a small clue. What you are looking for is through that cave over there, but only one who can have fun will get to it. Be careful or else everything will crash down on your pretty pony head. Good luck pony, and remember to have fun.”

And with that Happy Jack faded to nothing, leaving only the 9 others behind.

“Right, I’ll be back soon” Vinyl said turning to the rest of the ponies gathered. “You try to calm down and get some warmth in you.”

“We’ll be fine” Luna said nodding. “You just concentrate on your mission.”

Vinyl tuned and walked into the hallway, getting further into the mountains. Getting out on the other side Vinyl blinked. “Woah” she said, her voice echoing through the entire mountain.

Everything was bright. From the ceiling and on the walls huge bluish and greenish crystals shone, blinking and lighting up the room. The floor itself looked pretty strange to vinyl, it was almost like it was ice but… she frowned.

Right in front of her a light blinked as if something from under the ice lit it up. Stepping on it Vinyl almost jumped back in shock as a musical tone was heard out over the entire place.

Looking up in worry at the ceiling she sighed as the crystal still hung without moving. Looking down again she frowned as the light had moved to another place on the floor.

‘No way I’m stepping there again’ Vinyl thought to herself. ‘Last time almost killed me.’

With that decided she placed her hoof on a part of ice that did not glow. Once again the white unicorn snapped, this time as the sound that rang through the cave was horrible and out of tune.

Looking up in worry, all the while covering her ears she yelped and rushed back as one of the crystals got loose from the ceiling and fell to the same spot she had stepped on.

Vinyl took a deep breath. Damn… that was close. Vinyl looked to the floor wich still lit up.

‘Of course’ she thought to herself. ‘Princess Luna said that Happy Jack loved music and always thought that anything could be better with music… so if I only step on the blinking parts of ice…’ Vinyl stepped on the blinking light, a calm soothing tone being released.

She looked around searched for the next light, seeing one a little further ahead however she blinked as the tone she released was starting to get a tad pitched. Horse apples she thought and jumped. ‘I can’t stand still long, or the tone will distort and cause another crystal to fall.’

Vinyl landed on the new blinking square, spun around, found her new waypoint and leaped again. After having done this a few times she smiled.

This was like playing and dancing all at once, this was so much fun. The rest of the way was almost a cakewalk, Vinyl had so much fun that she stopped worrying and simply had fun.

Finally she stopped and blinked, wondering where to go next. Looking around she noticed that the place she had last stepped on wasn’t making any sound. She also noticed a small pedestal. Laying on top of it were a pan flute, decorated with wooden carvings of gems, with a string on each end so one could carry it around one’s neck.

A cackle made Vinyl look up, seeing happy Jack dance in mid air.

“That was fun to watch Vinyl Scratch pony. You have made my wait worth it. That there is my flute. It was the only thing I took with me from my home when I left. Play it and any foe that stands before you will start dancing and laughing and listen to any word you say.”

“Sweet” Vinyl Scratch said with a grin lifting the flutes and placing it around her neck.

Then she frowned and turned to Happy Jack. “Are you going away now?”

“With my flutes in the right hooves I have no more reason to be here… I’ll go back to my friends side and party with them until the end of time.”

Vinyl smiled. “Then what about one more song for the road?”

Happy Jack grinned. “I’d like that very much.”

Vinyl put the flutes to her lips and started to play. It came easy to her, like most music did, playing her tune until Happy Jack had completely faded away. As he did Vinyl smiled, stepping back onto the ice and back to her friends.

Author's Note:

This isn't the longest chapter but damn if it wasnt a fun one

Happy Jack was so amazing to imagine in my head, kinda like a satyr/elf hybrid in the body of a diamond dog

Also this was one of my favorite trials to write, because it came so natural to what Vinyl could do and what the element of laughter is all about, bringing joy to all around you. It was also hugely inspired by the BIG piano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAB_4OJvkbk