I'll be One Beat Away

by wizard32363

Shopping For Wubs

Vinyl woke up to water dripping into her eyes. Holding back a yelp, she sat up, almost colliding with the figure in front of her.

“Oh, calm down, crazy, you just passed out for a few minutes. It’s nothing too big.” Vinyl couldn’t say that she wasn’t relieved to hear Mike’s soothing voice. She knew it was wrong for them to be talking, but she couldn’t help herself -- she needed to feel Mike’s comfort.

Before he could stop her, Vinyl threw her hooves around Mike’s shoulders. “I’m sorry I ran away, Mike! I won’t do it again, I promise!”

She felt almost...safe, holding him there. He hadn’t lifted his hands back up to reciprocate her hug as before, but she knew he wouldn’t let her get hurt. He would be her passage back to Equestria.

“Vinyl,” -- he gave her a slight push, moving her away -- “it’s fine to go and spend some time alone, but why in the world would you think it was okay to run off like you didn’t want to be there?”

Vinyl didn’t know how to sugarcoat it for him, and she didn’t want to make him sad, but she wasn’t going to lie. “Mike, I didn’t want to be there. I may have fun doing one activity, but my life is in the music business, and if I keep spending time on the farm, I’ll never have a chance at getting back to my home. I think music is the key. Where’s your bass, Mike?”

Michael went silent -- Vinyl knew he didn’t have anything more than a couple of country CDs stored away.

“Mike, I need to go into town. Whether you want to come or not is your own choice, but you can’t stop me.” Vinyl was praying dearly to Celestia that Mike wouldn’t see through her statements. Mike had already proven that he was stronger than Vinyl, and who would she go to if he was to chase her?

Mike sighed, closing his eyes for a minute. “Fine, Vinyl. We can go into town, and I’ll accompany you, but if you drag any unwanted attention behind you, you can consider yourself a farmer, got that?”

Vinyl was nodding before he even finished his sentence, the smile on her face spreading over to Mike. ‘What are we waiting for, then!?”

Once again Vinyl ran off, her tail floating in the air behind her. Michael scoffed, jumping up and running after her.

---

“So, what exactly are we looking for?” Mike seemed almost confused. They had been walking around the same circle of stores for about an hour.

Vinyl didn’t seem to find any trouble in answering him, though she did seem a bit sarcastic. “Well Mike, we’re looking for a record store. They have plenty in Manehattan, but I doubt you’ve ever seen the wonders of one.”

Mike shrugged, sticking a hand out in front of Vinyl. “And what if we don’t find one?” This stopped Vinyl in her tracks, the air from the nearby clothing store chilling her.

“We’ll find one. I’m sure of it.” That was all she would say. Accelerating her pace once more, she finally broke free of the trap they had walked into, turning a corner past the sign that welcomed all to “Main Street.”

As soon as they had rounded the bend, a large board blocked their path, Vinyl hiding a small smirk meant for Mike. The sign read “Daryl’s Delicate Disc Dome.”

“Wow…” Michael almost felt a twinge of anger towards Vinyl -- she had been right the entire time.

Vinyl didn’t bother rubbing it in Mike’s face -- instead, she turned and stepped inside, the glorious sound of an upbeat bass filling her ears. She closed her eyes, softly moaning at the feeling in her body. Bass lines always seemed to find a warm place in her heart.

“Vinyl, let’s get in and out -- I can’t stand this…” Vinyl felt a scowl creep up on her face. He wasn’t going to interrupt what she had been missing out on for so long. She was going into shock from wub loss!

“I said you can go if you want, Mike. I will spend as much time as is needed, but I will need to borrow some bits from you to purchase what I need.” She knew that she was playing Mike along. The only way to get back would be through the same pony that had sent her here, not music itself. Even so, she needed to get her hooves on something instrumental before she snapped.

“Bits? What are...bits?”

“Money! Don’t you all use bits here?” Mike shook his head, pulling out his wallet and showing her the bills and coins inside. Disappointed, Vinyl looked up to Mike in desperation.

“Can I please take some of your delicious looking paper for wubs? I promise I won’t purchase it all at once…” She added in a whimper for effect, watching Mike’s face turn to one of what seemed to be love.

His pitch was higher, his eyes narrowing to match his smile. “Why should I give you anything, Ms. Scratch?”

Vinyl looked up to him, concealing her laugh behind a hoof. Without warning, she grabbed his wallet, running off into the store. Mike kneeled over, placing a hand to his forehead. Sighing, he chuckled. “Does that creature ever learn...?”

---

When she was positive Mike wouldn’t go after her, Vinyl stopped to take a quick breath. Spitting the wallet out from her mouth, she lowered her horn to it, expecting a faint glow to open it for her. When none appeared, she shook her head, hoping to, at the least, get a spark.

“C’mon, you stupid horn...work!” Her magic seemed to be off today. Groaning, she grabbed the wallet in both of her hooves, trying to pry it open. Inside, she was secretly hoping it would open itself, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen.

Grabbing it in between her teeth, she tried ripping it apart. When it wouldn’t open, she threw it against the floor.

Leaning her head up, she heard a small crack. “Ugh! This human stuff is impossible!” Looking back down, she realized her brute force against the ground had cracked it open a bit. That was when she got an idea.

Leaning her horn down once more, she poked at the wallet, using the tip of her horn to lift the cover. Chuckling, she turned it over, watching the money pool out. Looking over it, she went wide-eyed.

How is he carrying so much...he’s just a farmer...right?

As she looked up to go and get Mike, a store clerk came over to her, looking down and reaching a finger over. At first, Vinyl had no idea what he was doing.

“Boop.” When his finger hit her nose, she scrunched up, trying to lick the part where he had touched.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing, pal?” The clerk jumped back, obviously surprised at her sudden voice.

“Y-you can talk!” He seemed almost as surprised as Mike did on his first day with her.

“Yeah, and? So can you.” What seemed like a joke to her was taken as an insult in his eyes. Giving her a sneer, the clerk walked off, putting on a wide smile for the next customer.

Celestia...why are these people so rude…

Before she could think it over, a large box landed in front of her. She jumped back, a small scream escaping her mouth. These people just didn’t know when to give up.

“I know who you are, Vinyl Scratch. They’re already bought, on the house.” On the house? They were right in front of her! Looking up, she was almost startled to see Pinkie Pie staring down at her, only...it wasn’t Pinkie Pie. “C’mon, then, take a look!”

Slowly tilting her head back down, Vinyl read the words across the box. “For the DJ who wants to look cool while making quality dubstep! From Fazed Records“

“Those headphones you usually wear seem to be wearing out, so enjoy your new ones. Oh, and if you didn’t know yet, you’re all over the news…” Vinyl? News? She was in the papers!?

“Miss, what did they s-” Springing up, she was alarmed to find that she was the only being in the area. “That’s...weird…”

Using her horn tactic, she cut the tape from the box and opened it, reaching her hooves in and pulling out a ball of bubble wrap.

The first pop made Vinyl jump back. Staring down at the large mass, she gently reached her hoof down again.

POP!

Finally beginning to understand the concept, Vinyl began to giggle, breaking more and more of the bubbles until she couldn’t find one she hadn’t burst open. Vinyl was cracking up, her curiosity peaked when she realized there were more things inside of the fun wrapping.

Pulling it apart with her horns, she began to drool, the contents inside marvelling her. Wrapped neatly inside of the bubble wrap was a pair of headphones, lightning blue and white with a musical note etched into the side. For some reason, she felt that she had seen these, or something like it, somewhere before.

Slipping them onto her neck, she stood up, posing for all to see, although nopony was around to watch her strut around in her newest accessories.

When she was done prancing around, her heart skipped a beat, her voice dropping. “I look like a princess!”

Dropping the act, she marched outside, head held high. “Mike?” Looking around the corners and into the alleys, she wasn’t able to find the man who had brought her into the town, and she had no idea how to get out. “C’mon, I was only kidding about the farm thing!”

The sounds overhead seemed unalarming to her, the sudden voice in her head pushing her back. “Run, you idiot!”

Vinyl had no idea what she was doing, but she felt her hooves start up, the blurred figure of cars trailing by her eyes. Before she knew it, the sound of sirens blasted into her ears, the deep voice seeming to come out of nowhere.

“Vinyl Scratch, stop now, in the name of the law!” Looking up, she was surprised to see a floating object hovering above her, the men inside covered in dark blue suits. Vinyl was ready to follow their commands, right up until she saw the gun. She had no idea what it was, but it was pointed straight at her, and she wasn’t going to stick around to find out how it worked.

“You can’t make me!” She was screaming, forcing her hooves to move faster. Closing her eyes, she focused her mind on her horn, but yet again it elicited only sparks, a sudden pain sweeping her body.

She stopped for one second, only to check and see if she was injured, but in that second, she felt a large pair of icy hands sweep under her, a cool liquid falling into her mouth. Spitting it out, Vinyl could feel her jaw begin to tighten, her eyes starting to droop.

“You can’t fall asleep now! Do you want to die!?” She couldn’t help herself. She tried to fight the drowsiness that had suddenly overcome her body, but only found another yawn responding to the pleas she had sent to her mind.

As the world went black, she saw Mike running after her, his screaming slowly fading away.

Author's Note:

I wish I didn't have to, but this would definitely come off as a filler in my eyes, wouldn't you say? Either way, I'm quite excited about the next chapter! Stay tuned :)

Comments

[wubtasticalMLP]

Hmmm... why do I get the feeling there"s something that Mike is hiding....

[wizard32363]

5476774 Large amounts of cash in his wallet, his sudden nervousness and secrecy...I don't know why, maybe you're just paranoid XD