• Published 18th Apr 2012
  • 1,100 Views, 59 Comments

Remix - Ghost Cobbraaa



Vinyl Scratch falls for a musical pony. Now she has to protect the one she loves from the Mafia

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Chapter 1

A long, gorgeous note came from the stereo that sat on the wooden coffee table. The violin note peaked to a soft yet powerful sound, and then subsided into a mellow, fading sound. The music danced with life as the violin playing continued into a mellow tune. A white hoof reached out and clicked the ‘off’ button on the stereo, and the music died.

“Yeah, yeah, I can make this funky. I can remix anything.”

“Yes, Miss Vinyl. We are aware of your talents. We were merely wondering if you would be willing to agree to the contract to use this particular song. I suppose the ones in the suits are trying to give you a challenge; turning classical into dubstep.”

“I can remix anything those muthafuckas throw at me! Any copyright issues?"

“Nope. The musician apparently wasn’t very business savvy; she signed away all the rights to her music to the company. Now they can whore it out however they want, and she can’t do shit about it. Shame, ain't it?”

“Yeah, but that’s what happens with ignorance. I’ll have the remix for you in about a week. I mostly need the time to wrap up all my other projects. What’s this chick's name, anyway?”

“Octavia. She plays down at the art hall down the street often. Here is her latest album cover.”

The silver pony sitting across from Vinyl Scratch dipped his head into his saddle bag. He emerged holding a record case. He placed it on the coffee table and Vinyl used one hoof to bring it closer. Her eyes were concealed under the blue goggles, so her face was unreadable.

The record cover depicted a lonely stage with bright wood floors and red curtains. In the center was a lone, silver earth pony. She had a long and graceful blackish-gray mane that flowed fluidly with her stunning features. The pink bow tie with a white strap she wore around her neck added a very proud and mysterious touch to her looks. She leaned against a violin in the center.

“Damn, this bitch pretty fine!”

“Ya know, we all know about your sexual preference, but why you announce it like so I will never understand....” The gray stallion sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Hehe... because it bothers you.” The white pony flipped her shining blue hair and pulled the goggles down to show her very playful pink eyes.

“You really like bugging me don’t you?” Not giving her time to reply, he continued, “The company also wants you to personally present the finished product to her. I guess they got a sick sense of humor, so they wanna force her to see what they do to her art.”

“My shit ain't any less of an art form then this. And to force someone to hear how her own creation, the music that she spent all her blood, sweat, and tears on, get utterly abused and manipulated into something less? That’s cruel! That’s sick! That’s just plain mean!” A sly smile stretched across the white ponies face, and her pink eyes glowed in the dimly lit room. “And I love it!”

>>>>
Vinyl sat in a soft chair in a blue room. There was a mini-fridge, a phone, a large and expensive looking glass coffee table, and a bowl of snacks and sodas in the center. It had been a week since she was assigned to the task, but she had completed the remix in less than three hours. The remixed song was entitled “Swagger Jams”, and it would be on the album she had collaborated on with deadpon3y, a very famous DJ. She was satisfied with the results. Now she waited for her personal assistant, the gray stallion earth pony, and Octavia to arrive. She smiled at the thought of seeing what she assumed to be an artsy-farty snob get wound up and offended at what she had done to her music.

The assistant arrived first. He took a soda from the coffee table and sat down next to Vinyl Scratch on the green couch.
“Let's get this over with,” he sighed. They both sat there in silence as they waited for their guest to arrive.
The door opened and revealed a very beautiful pony standing in the doorway. Vinyl’s eyes widened. She was struck by the sudden realization that she was more stunning in pony. Somehow, the album cover failed to capture her mystical looking eyes; eyes that were subtle and gentle.

Vinyl’s eyes trailed to her flank. She couldn’t help it. It was rather natural for her. Vinyl was at a level of fame where, in most cases, she could stare at a pony’s flank and they would be more flattered than offended. This was not one of those cases. She forced her eyes to focus on Octavia’s face.

The pony walked in slowly and sat down in a chair across from the couch where the other two ponies sat. She obviously wasn’t exactly thrilled about the whole meeting.

“I received a letter from the Record Label saying that they wanted me to see the newest project they have undertaken with my music. I have a rather ominous feeling about this, since they reminded me of my… contract deal at the end of the letter.”
“You mean the part that says, ‘you have no say in what they do to your music’?” Vinyl said, suppressing a giggle.
“Precisely.” She was obviously very annoyed at that comment. “So what is it, then? I will have you two know that I don’t care very much for surprises.” Vinyl and her assistant looked at each other. A few seconds of taunting silence passed.
Vinyl's assistant grabbed a stereo from behind the couch. He placed it carefully on the coffee table and pressed the 'play' button. A single mellow note of a violin emanated from the stereo. The note continued for a few seconds, gradually getting louder. A one-forth beat began to play and the note started to sound 'wavy'. Vinyl sat back in her chair and began to giggle, forcing back a full laughter. The sound grew choppier and cut up, in an arrhythmic and harmonic way. It was the sort of music you could dance to. Real nightclub-style dubstep. Deadpon3y would be proud of Vinyl; after all, Vinyl had learned all she knew from him. Here eyes were still shut tight from suppressing the laughter. Her head automatically began to go up and down to the beat of the song.

She forced her eyes open to see the expression on Octavia's face. Her amusement died when she saw it.

Octavia sat there solemnly. Not a thing could be read from her facial expression, but a single tear slid down her left cheek. Her eyes told the story. They were shrouded with gloom; with hopelessness and utter despair. Vinyl regretted what she had done. How was she to know that this beautiful pony was so sensitive about her music? It wasn't entirely her fault. Still, she had ruined someone's work. Even if the remix was good as a song, she had made it out of the art born from someone else's conception. That was wrong.

"I-I need to leave. Thank you for showing me this. Tell Granny Smith that I appreciate her keeping me informed as to what her and her company are doing with my...... art." She shut her eyes tight and bit her lip before exiting through the door at a slow pace.

Vinyl pressed the 'off' button with her hoof. The room was silent for a few seconds. Nopony expected such an emotional response, and Vinyl's assistant surely felt just as guilty as her. She decided that she needed to make things right! A blue glow encompassed the 'eject' button and removed the CD from the machine. She used her unicorn magic to carry the CD to her saddle bag and she rose from the couch without a word to her gray assistant.

Where could that pony be? When Vinyl needed to leave a room for emotional reasons, she always went to the bathroom, so that would be the first place she would check. She followed the path to the ladies' room, opened the door slowly and peered in with her vibrant pink eyes. Sure enough, there was Octavia, crying over the sink. Vinyl pushed the door open and entered, ensuring that the door closed softly.

"Uhh, hey." Octavia jumped and turned around quickly. When she saw the white pony, her eyebrows lowered, and her expression quickly soured.

"Oh, it's you. The pony that sodomized my music," she spat.

"Well, yeah. That would be me. Look, I don't know you, but I'm re-"

"No! You don't know me! And you obviously don't know my music."

"I'm sorry! The Company told me to remix it, so I did what I was told. I didn't mean to hurt nobody."

"Anybody. You didn't mean to hurt anybody. Double negatives are improper."

Seriously? She was worried about grammar at a time like this? "Yeah, whatever. But I'm sorry for the whole remix."

"I suppose your guilt seems genuine. But what is done is done. Nothing more to it. That CD will hit shops all around Equestria soon. I may not care for your genre of music, but I already know you are very famous," she sighed.

Vinyl wanted nothing more then to cheer this pony up. She looked so helpless and, watching this stranger like this, and knowing that it was her fault, made her heart break. Suddenly an idea came to her. A blue glow pulled the CD out of the saddle bag and dropped it on the floor. She lifted one of her front hoofs and lowered it with a grin onto the CD. It smashed upon impact into three large pieces and countless smaller pieces.

"Huh, that's funny, I could have sworn that I had that CD somewhere in here." Vinyl was searching her saddle bag with her hoofs. She flashed a wink and a grin at Octavia.

Octavia stood in shock, her vibrant purple eyes wide in amazement. She obviously didn't know exactly how to respond.

"But.... what about Granny Smith?"

"What about the old hag?"

"Yeah, what about me?" Both ponies turned their heads simultaneously towards the door. Standing there was the elderly green pony with Big Mac at her side. "That was a darn-tooten good gesture ya gave there. What with the CD smashen' and whatnot. Hurten' other pony's feelin's is bad apples. But Ah got money that needs to be made. And by my calculations, Ah'm losin' several hundred bits a week that Ah ain't got that CD. Now Ah'm a pony of kind heart and generosity," she said, leaning against her walker, "But Ah can't be havin' no setbacks like this."

"Granny Smith-"

"Quiet, unicorn! Didn't anypony ever tell you interruptin' was rude? Well, as Ah was sayen', Ah'm gunna need that CD back by one week. Big Mac!!!" she called out, almost losing her false teeth in the scream. The big earth pony walked calmly into the ladies' room.

"Eeyup?"

"Give the white one a good lick."

"Eeyup."

A lick? Before Vinyl had time to think, she felt the impact of two back hooves buck into her chest. She hit the ground. Confusion overwhelmed her. What just happened? One second she was standing, and the next, she was on the ground. She curled up tight as she struggled to breathe. After a few fighting breaths, her breathing became slightly easier, although she found that she was spitting up small amounts of blood. She felt hooves holding on to her chest, but she was too confused to know whose, and too confused to know if the hooves were there to hurt or help her.

"Don't fuck with the Apple Family," was all she heard—from the sound of the voice it was Big Mac speaking—before everything turned black.