To Feel the Music

by Secret Pony

Finding Inspriation

The sun was on the horizon when Scratch finally came to.

"Ugh... my head…." She mumbled, while holding her head and attempting to sit up, only to discover how much stronger gravity had gotten whilst she slumbered.

This was not the first time she had woken up in a strange place with no idea how she had gotten there.

“W-wha?” Was all she could muster.

She remembered leaving the club, heading home to finish the bottle of Jura that was so kindly given to her, going out to get more and then...nothing. Vinyl knew she wasn’t going to remember anything more than that, especially with her grade of headache. Not that she minded, some things were just better left forgotten. At the moment, she knew that the best thing to do was to stay where she was and try to sleep it off. She closed her eyes and took in her surroundings. She could tell she was on a roof somewhere since she felt a cool breeze blow over her. The faint smell of fresh laundry being hung out to dry just barely hung in the air. She loved the smell of fresh laundry, it reminded her of her fillyhood, back when things were so much simpler.

A single tear streamed down her cheek as she felt herself become lost in the past. A faint glimmer of a time long gone, a time where she enjoyed life like she was enjoying herself right now. Well, would have enjoyed had her stomach decided not to empty itself right then and there.

After a few minutes of vomiting, recoiling and repeating, Scratch decided it was time for her to go home, or at least get away from the smell. Her first attempt at standing on anything but her knees was met with a jarring crash that only served to worsen her headache. A few more led to the same result. However, slowly but surely, she eventually found herself upright. She ignored the wave of pain that washed over her as the blinding light found its way into her retinas. Surveying her surroundings, she found that she was indeed on a roof, but judging by the neighboring buildings it was nowhere near her apartment. Sighing, she walked over to the rooftop garden and looked around for a watering hose. While she found none, she did spy herself a bucket of rainwater which she happily drank from.

By now it was night, the sun having been setting when Vinyl awoke, the DJ having decided to spend the rest of the day right there on the roof. It wasn't like anypony needed her right now. Finally gaining her coordination back, she made her way over to the edge and looked down. For a major city, Canterlot certainly was different. Unlike most cities where everything continued to happen be it day or night, when the moon rose in Canterlot, everypony slowed down and rested. Construction stallions would go to the local bar and have a drink. Business mares would close up shop for the night and head home. The whole city had a surreal feel to it.

‘Almost like it's part of a dream....’

Any confidence she had found yesterday suddenly vanished as she was hypnotized by the alien city. As much as she wanted everyone to think she was tough, and could handle everything that came with her life style, she was still just a regular pony at heart. A regular pony could only handle so much, and Vinyl was at her breaking point.

She looked up at the summer night, her memories of the past few months in Canterlot rushed back to her like tidal wave. At first, everything had been going great. After living in Manehatten for 3 years, she had finally saved up enough bits to move to Canterlot. A few weeks later she had landed a reoccurring gig at a local club where she had been a smash hit. Her beats were new, her sound was clean, and Scratch herself overflowed with enthusiasm. But as the months slipped by, the numbers in the club began to dwindle, growing tired of the same material each and every night.

"I guess even drunks have some sort of taste." Vinyl chuckled to herself, unconsciously trying to perk herself up, before returning to her thoughts. What came next was much fresher in her memory...

Soon after, she had tried to write up some new material. She spent weeks writing and mixing new songs, day in and day out, until she was finally ready. The club even advertised the night as a special event. Scratch remembered the size of the line outside the establishment. It was huge! The inside was packed, even more so than it had been since she had first started working there. Ponies of all kinds filled the dance floor, some already drunk and happily dancing to the opening DJ. Vinyl couldn't remember being more excited in years when she walked into that booth and popped on her first mix. The crowd roared with excitement. But it did not last, as the night wore on and Scratch continued through her set, the crowd steadily became more and more disgruntled. Fearing that her new stuff wasn't good enough, she switched to some of her most popular work, but that only made things worse. Finally, the crowd started booing and filing out of the club. She was devastated, and when the night was over, Vinyl could only look on in abject horror as the security attempted to subdue the unruly mob. The following weeks leading to the present were a haze, it was like she had lost part of herself, like she had lost her music.

Scratch climbed up to the top of the ledge and looked down.

"One step...." She whispered to herself, not sure what was happening anymore. A gentle breeze blew through her hair as it wrapped itself around her. The warm sensation reminded her of her mothers long forgotten loving embrace.

"One step...." She whispered yet again, this time leaning slightly forward. She gazed up at the sky. It looked so clear. An endless expanse shimmering with the brilliant glow of an equally infinite amount of stars. Vinyl blinked out a tear as she remembered a summer long ago when she told her dad that she could count them all.

"One step...." She whispered again, quieter than before, tears now flowing freely from her closed eyes. The choking silence of the night suddenly became absolute. Vinyl’s mind locked up as the haunting images of her parents graves flickered through her mind. She felt herself caving in as she leaned forward to take that step.

Or would have when she was suddenly snapped from her reverie. Something had caught her ear. Like someone had said something. She turned around and looked at the roof.

”Hello?” she called out, but her voice simply faded back into the pregnant silence from before. She knew something was there, she could feel it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before stepping down off the ledge.

'Great, now I'm hearing things,' she thought to herself, but she couldn't shake that feeling. It kept growing stronger and stronger....

And then she heard it. There was the faintest of melodies being carried across the breeze. A song that just was out of her grasp.

Vinyl bolted down the staircase to the street below. She closed her eyes and listened, waiting to pick up the melody again. Finally she heard it, and bolted off in the direction of the song. She was determined to find that music even if it killed her!

Comments

[Fox-Sama]

again the story is good, but the chapters are on the short side, you could have had her find the source of the music then cut the chapter for a little cliffhanger

[ScootaLewis]

A bottle of Jura, huh? I'm trying to remember which fic it is where that's Tavi's favourite drink...