February 3: Stars
“Here, beginning for end,
When it's all gone
Why should I pretend?”
- Ulrich Schnauss
It was a quiet afternoon in the True Brew Café. The owner was out of the shop, having left it in the more than capable hands of her part-time employee. Four customers, all girls, sat at one of the central tables, homework and backpacks strewn all over its surface. Outside, a gentle snowfall dusted the ground in late winter bliss, giving the cityscape a soft, dreamy look. All in all, it seemed as though nothing could go wrong this blissful February day.
However, Cloud knew, there was this slight problem that she had currently. She had it for the past few days, with no sign of it stopping.
“BB, would you please let go of me?” Cloud groaned.
“You’re my bestestestsetest friend eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever!” Bon-Bon cooed while having a death grip on Cloud’s arm.
“Yeah, but I gotta clean the tables, and I need both arms for that.”
“Oh. Sor~ry!” Bon-Bon said, a massive smile on her face.
Meanwhile, seated at one of the tables in the True Brew, Vinyl tried not to laugh. “It’s a good thing that Kicky’s got eyes only for me, or I might be jealous,” she said with a grin.
Nova set down her coffee, lest she spill it from her laughter. “Vi, you know that the only thing BB is in love with is sugar, dancing and her plushie – and I’m not even sure what order that’s in.”
Satin sighed. “Must be nice to know what love is,” she murmured, slumping down on her textbook.
Countryside looked up from her tablet. “Oh, I think someone forgot to tell us how her date went. So spill, Satin. How’d things with Surfrider go?”
“It didn’t,” she moaned, her hand moving in a careless motion that almost knocked over her mocha. “We met at the movie theater, and just before we were going to go out to dinner first, he got a text and had to cancel the date.”
Vinyl asked before she lifted her caramel apple cider to her lips, “What, he had an emergency of some kind?”
“No, he was rather blatant about it: we’re all apparently on the DNDL – Tequila’s ‘Do Not Date List’.” A lock of her ice-blue hair fell into her citrine eyes. “And it looked as though he had worked forever to work up the strength to ask me out – and in one fell swoop, Tequila shut that down.”
Nova’s eyes narrowed. “That bitch has breathed one breath too fucking many,” she snarled. “Why hasn’t she been permanently hospitalized yet?”
“Awwwww, don’t be such a sour puss, Nova!” Bon-Bon bounced up and without further ado, dropped plates in front of her friends, each bearing a very delicious cake. “C’mon, girls! You gotta try my new recipe! It’s reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally—” Vinyl continued to drink silently while Bon-Bon was trying to set the world record for how many times you could string “really” together in a sentence, until about two minutes later, she finished up with, “—reallyreallyreally gotta try my new raspberry shortcake! It’s good! I mean it’s re—”
“We get the point, BB,” Countryside said, cutting her friend off gently and picking up a fork, then speaking the confection before taking a bite. “Wow, you really out did yourself! This is great!”
“That’s our BB, always making some seriously awesome treats!” Satin said, taking some comfort in the delicacy on her plate.
Back at the counter, Cloud had to control herself from grabbing another slice. “No kidding, girl. You plan to be a pastry chef or something?”
“No….” She blushed. “I just, um, I just want to help Prae and Frenchie run the café. I really hadn’t thought beyond that.”
“You should think about going to a culinary school, BB! Seriously!” Satin insisted. “I mean, it’s really none of my business, but I think you really should consider expanding your horizons and succeed.”
“Well,” she said softly and mournfully, “I did think about it once, but Tequila laughed in my face about it, said I was a loser who couldn’t even make chocolate chip cookies.”
“Trust me, BB, she really doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Vinyl insisted.
“Hey, we’d better get this homework done if we’re going to the movies tonight,” Countryside reminded them. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be up at three in the morning inventing answers and hoping it sounds good. My parents’ll kill me if I do that again.” The others agreed and turned to their respective tasks.
However, Vinyl and Cloud shared a brief look, and in that glance, a plan was set in motion.
Sitting on the couch, his guitar in hand, Long was playing his guitar and writing down some notation when both girls came into the house.
“Hey, you’re running home a little late,” he commented, looking at the clock against the wall, which read just past midnight.
“Tell me about it,” Cloud muttered as she stumbled through the door. A little too exhausted to think straight due to working out and the movie, she immediately made a beeline for the stairs and their bedroom just beyond. However, she unconsciously began undressing on the way, pulling off her bra and t-shirt as she walked through the living room past Long.
“You would flash me, wouldn’t you?” he asked as he looked up from his guitar.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it,” Cloud said automatically, too tired to even think of a wittier repartee. Vinyl, meanwhile, plopped onto the love seat adjacent to the couch.
“Your girlfriend just flashed me, you know,” he told his sister.
“Yeah, well, she does that. What, were you expecting me to flash you too?” Vinyl teased. When Long rolled his eyes, she said, “Got something to ask you, if you don’t mind. With Dad being in New York until tomorrow and I’m not sure Clover would give me the answer I need, I turn to you, o wise sage.”
He set down his guitar. “Hey, giving advice to little sisters is supposedly a big brother thing, so fire away.”
“What can you tell me about a girl named Tequila Sunrise? And you know I’m not talking about the bullshit they’d mention on MTV. I need some real answers.”
The look on Long’s face was thoughtful, Vinyl noted, but concerned. “I’m guessing you’re talking about Rhythm Beat’s little sister, right?” He drew a blank stare from her, and he continued. “Yeah, I’m going to guess so. I’m writing a song for Rhythm right now, since we’re old friends, so I can answer some things. Their family is legacy at the D, just like ours is, and Rhythm and I were in the same circles, more concerned with our music than the politics of the cafeteria, for the most part. Let me guess: her little sister’s trying to run the show?”
“Tequila’s using her power to lord over everyone, and she’s making my friends miserable. Plus, given that we’ve joined their circle, it’s only a matter of time before they go after me and Kicky, and you know what that means.”
“Wow, just two weeks and you’re already making enemies. You move fast, Vi.”
“Ha. Ha,” Vinyl grunted. “The others already had a history with her, and Kicky and I got dragged into that, fast. My friends need help, and I’m not going to let them down – I already learned that lesson the hard way, and I don’t intend to repeat the same mistakes.” She grinned. “I’ll just fuck up in an entirely different way instead.”
“Well, if you’re going to do that, then you’re going to need to find out how to beat her at her own game. But before that, you have to start taking out her minions. They’ll be just as dangerous and will come with their own tricks. I remember when Rhythm finally got the quite negative attention of the alpha bitch at the time, a girl named Strawberry Basil. Basil thought it was her right to go so far as to decide who got to date who.”
“That…sounds entirely too familiar,” Vinyl admitted. “How’d that get nipped in the bud?”
“Wow, glad to know some things never change – note sarcasm,” Long replied. “At least Basil didn’t copy anything from her predecessor’s notebooks. Maybe Tequila isn’t as bad as you think, if she’s that unoriginal?”
“You could’ve fooled me.” Vinyl then explained Tequila’s do not date list, and the result it had on Satin’s long-planned date. She also commented about the manliness (or lack thereof) of Surfrider, as well as a few other choice retorts about some of the other boys there, including Rusher, the boy she’d kicked in the nuts after he’d destroyed Bon-Bon’s plushie.
For his part, Long’s eyes widened slightly. “Enforcers? Actual do not date lists? Okay, I take it back – sounds like Tequila is definitely up to stupid shit. Too bad I can’t recommend how my group dealt with Basil.”
“And why not?”
Long grinned. “For one, you’d have to be far more male. Secondly, even if she swung that way, you are in a promised relationship, right?”
“Yeah. Even if I could, Kicky means too much to me,” Vinyl admitted. “Was she at least worth it? Basil, I mean.”
The smile on Long’s face was wide. “Greatest weekend of booze, pot and sex I’ve had in my life so far. And even though Basil and I aren’t together anymore, we’re still friends.”
“With or without benefits?”
“With, of course,” he said with a grin. “Unlike you, I’m not tied down. Sure, I got Sparky, but we haven’t really settled down yet, y’know? Plus, I probably need to get my own place. Definitely plan to do that as soon as my band takes off – almost done with our studio session. But we’ll chat about that later.”
Vinyl went back to the subject at hand. “Well, your point is that we hit them as hard as possible, right? I really don’t like getting into fights, but hey, if that’s what it takes.”
“Well, yeah, but let me remind you of something, sis: You are still being watched by the authorities, okay? They believe that you’re innocent of what went down in Canterlot, but if you get involved in something like this, it’s not just going to get you kicked out of the D – it’s going to cost Clover her job, Kicky her chance to go there as well…oh, and probably end up with you behind bars. Do me a favor and do not play this game, Vi. I haven’t had you around long enough to go visit you at the city jail, okay?”
“I’m going to assume that’s a term of affection, right?”
“Yeah, it is, I admit, not having you around for most my life has been tough, but…it feels nice have a little sister around. Two, if I kinda sorta count Kicky.”
Vinyl was genuinely touched by that. “Awww…love you too, big bro. And for that, you get a surprise.” And with that, Vinyl removed her top and before Long could say anything, she hugged him so that he got a prominent face full of bra.
“Uh, Vi, are you aware that psychologists say that two siblings who are not raised together are far more likely to commit incest than ones who have been?” he said in a feeble voice.
“Why, are you getting a stiffie?” she cooed.
“Yeah. Hard core,” he yelped.
She pulled away and laughed. “Then my job is done,” she said with a wink. Kissing him on the cheek as chastely as possible, she said, “Good night, big brother.”
Long sat in the chair, not moving until he could trust his body to do so. Now I know why Mom wanted her out of the house. God, I need a beer – and while this song for Rhythm isn’t coming to me, he thought as a huge grin came over his face, time to give my little sister a bit of comeuppance.
The next day, Vinyl and Cloud walked into the school to find Bon-Bon dancing around at high speeds and posting all kind of flyers all over the walls. “Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!” she sang, her happy smile ever-present as she handed them one of the papers. “Wanna help me put these all over the school? It’ll be reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally—”
Cloud gently ignored her friend’s verbal assault and instead focused on the flyer in her hand. “Hearts & Hopes Valentine’s Day Swing Fling?”
“Yeah! It’s an afterschool party that the Dance Club and the Art Club throw together! It’s always fun and it’s one of the few times that the school lets girls and boys…be well, boys and girls?”
“Wouldn’t know. Closest I’ve ever gotten to that is a few boys that my mom wanted me to go out with…for her sake,” Vinyl grumbled.
“Oh, that’s right, I forgot. Sor~ry! But it’s going to be really romantic, and by that I mean reallyreallyreallyreallyreally—”
“I swear that word makes up half your vocabulary,” Cloud teased. “But if you need help, yeah, I’d be glad to do so. What about you, Vi?”
Vinyl looked at Bon-Bon’s smiling and hopeful face. “Hey, ‘s what friends are all about, right? Yeah, I’ll do it.”
Bon-Bon went over and hugged both, despite the public display of affection rule, chirping, “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! I really appreciate it! There’s going to be a meeting at lunch in Room 209 and you two are invited! See you then!” With that, Bon-Bon continued to bounce around, putting up more flyers as the school would allow.
Cloud looked at Vinyl, the latter being several inches shorter. Normally Cloud found that an inconvenience when they kissed, but Vinyl hadn’t switched over from her shades to her eyeglasses yet, and so Cloud’s height let her see over the frames of her girlfriend’s shades and into the sad eyes behind them. “Vi? You okay?”
“Not really,” the latter responded. When Cloud looked at her with an arched eyebrow, Vinyl added, “Nothing against BB; just that remembering about my mother just brought up all these bad memories.”
“Like what?”
“I went out once with Charmed Life, the son of the then-governor of California at the time; the Gov was at a political soiree in Canterlot, and Mom practically threw me at Charmed so she could get him out of the way and chat up the Gov.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
Vinyl’s eyes automatically narrowed; though Cloud knew that her love wasn’t angry at her, she never liked seeing Vinyl angry. “Mom told me that if I slept with Charmed, she’d buy me a car for my 16th birthday. Oh, and I was thirteen at the time – and hadn’t gone through puberty yet,” Vinyl snarled in a low tone.
“Fuck, sorry to hear that. What happened?”
“Well, Charmed was a smooth player, but he figured out things in an instant. Needless to say, things went better for me that night. Unfortunately, I was grounded for a week for not doing what my mother told me to do. And not a moment too soon – the week after that I had first blood.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, I promise you won’t ever have to go through anything like that again,” Cloud said, putting her arm around Vinyl. She knew it was a risk and a violation of the school’s policies, but she did it regardless.
“Thanks, hon,” Vinyl said, wanting to kiss Cloud at that moment. Only her talk with her brother from the night before held her in place.
“Hey! No PDAs, you two!” The two turned to find a new girl with long, straight hair of brown with streaks of black and gold, standing there; she wore a blue-and-yellow armband on her right arm which meant one thing: Hall Monitor. “Now, you two are new – I can tell because only two idiots like you would flaunt the rules, but we hall monitors can hand out demerits just like the teachers can. Do the shit again and I will hit you hard, got that, carpet munchers?”
Cloud narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”
Vinyl, however, knew a trap when she saw one. “Let it go, Kicky. Let it go.”
“Hey, at least the dyke has some brains. Just remember: my name is Stagecraft, and I’ve got my eye on you two freaks. Keep your hands to yourselves while on school grounds. You can do whatever sick things you want to each other on your own time, got that?” Without waiting for an answer, she turned around and left.
“Great. A bigot – just what we need,” Cloud sighed. “Thanks for stopping me.”
“No, I recognize the name. She might be a bigot…but she’s one of Tequila’s folks,” Vinyl replied. “That was a warning shot if I’ve ever seen one. But forget about her for right now – we’re going to be late for class if we don’t get a move on.”
At lunchtime, several students poured into Room 209 with their lunches. Amongst them was Vinyl and Cloud, and to no surprise whatsoever, they noticed that Bon-Bon had roped in the rest of their friends, with the exception of Satin, as well. “So, I see you two got shanghai’ed into this as well?” Countryside giggled.
“Hey, it’s for BB, right?” Nova added. “Besides, I don’t want to see what happens if we break a BB Promise.”
“A what?” Vinyl asked.
“Trust me, Vi, you don’t want to know.”
Just before the meeting started, Satin walked in, talking to a guy that, had Vinyl been of that persuasion, would have called “dreamy cute”. He had that Flash Sentry kind of confidence (and hopefully without the same kind of creepiness); a hairstyle similar to Thunderbass, only with hair in shades of yellow-green; and dressed similar to that of Stylin’, although, again hopefully without any Club-like tendencies. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and given the blush on Satin’s face, he’d said something that caught her attention. Though the distance between the two groups was enough to ameliorate sound – also obscured by various students talking – Vinyl was sure that Satin mouthed the words call me.
He then left the room, while she went to go join her friends. “Hello girls, I hope I’m not late.”
“So, who’s that guy?” Nova asked.
Satin replied in dreamy tones, “Oh, that’s Starfruit. He’s such a hunk. When he found out that I was stood up by Surfrider, it gave him the chance to ask me out. He’s wanted to do so for a long time, he told me.”
“You sure about this?” Countryside asked. “What about the list?”
She positively beamed. “That’s the thing! He said he doesn’t care about the list – he just wants to go out with me, no matter what.” She blushed slightly, but recomposed herself slightly afterwards. “So, are you guys ready for this?” she asked Vinyl and Cloud. “If you think BB is, ahem, ‘eccentric’ now, wait until you see her when planning a party.”
Vinyl grinned. “Heh, I should destroy the world by introducing her to Pinkie Pie – a similar girl we knew back in Canterlot. Whole planet’ll be covered in confetti in under five seconds.”
Cloud giggled. “Pinkie’s not that bad.”
“Principal Celestia had to repeatedly tell her that painting the entire school white and ice-blue, while cute enough for Canterlot High’s winter décor, didn’t go well with county ordinances.”
“Oh.”
Vinyl would have said more, but it was that point that Bon-Bon decided to make her grand appearance. “Okay, who’s ready to make this the best. Party. Ever?”
Pinkie sat up with a jolt. Addressing no one in particular, she said, “I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in joy and were suddenly partying. I fear something wonderful has happened…without me.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Pinkie, no more Star Wars quotes for you if you can’t do it right. Now can we get back to planning that party for Sunny?”
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles south, in Lynwood High School, a young man with curly brown hair adjusted his glasses. Looking at no one in particular, he voiced, “I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in joy and were suddenly partyi—”
“Fine – you can help us plan the Valentine’s Day dance,” a girl sighed. “Okay, ladies, Cheese Sandwich is helping us plan this one.”
Everyone groaned.
Back in D’Aguanno, Bon-Bon continued to zoom around the room, dropping off at each table small bags of cookies that she’d made, then went back to the front of the classroom, where the rest of the committee to plan the party sat. “Okay, we need to start planning! So let’s do this! Any questions?”
A girl seated with the Drama Club raised her hand. “Do we have a place to hold it? I heard the gym’s off-limits for the week because they’re polishing the floorboards for this week’s basketball game.”
Another girl named Lake Iris, part of the planning committee, nodded. “We settled on a compromise with the headmistress. Ms. Clover will allow us to use the gym, but we’ll have to place craft paper and foam matting over the flooring so they won’t have to repolish.”
A guy named Papier-mâché said, “Well, my family runs a party supplies store, so I can probably get us some of the stuff we can use to decorate, if the clubs don’t already have it budgeted.”
Another girl named Ribbondance commented, “The gymnastics team will gladly donate the use of our mats. We don’t have practice this week, so they’ll be available.”
Bon-Bon looked around the room, an unusually studious look on her face. “So, would anyone else like to make announcements?”
Parfait, the assistant head of the Baking Club, then stood up; as head of the planning committee, Bon-Bon couldn’t speak for her club. “And I know the Baking Club will be happy to plan out the appetizers for the party!”
“And I’m sure the Drama Club would help us with some lighting and such, since they just finished a recent play,” another girl insisted. “Only problem is, we need music. Tequila provided the music for last year’s party, but she’s out of town right now, isn’t she?”
Gypsy Jazz, the head of the Music Club, nodded. “Yeah, she’s in LA this week, recording her current album. I suppose we can ask Windsong, but she’s recording this week as well, so she may not be available.” The look in her eyes was one of defeat, hinting that she and Windsong may have had a past interaction of the unpleasant kind.
Stagecraft, one of Tequila’s minions and technically the head of the Drama Club, theatrically sighed. “I guess we’ll have to forego music, then.”
“I know I could get a chamber quartet or so together. Elegant Strings has wanted to have her chamber quartet play at a school function for a long time.”
“Yeah, and that’s great for slow, intimate songs,” Stagecraft insisted, “but what about fast music? We’ll need either a DJ or a musician for that, and I’m not sure where we can get one at all with Tequila and Windy out of town.”
At this point, Vinyl just sat back in her chair as a long, happy grin came over her face.
“DJ…Pony?” Satin asked Vinyl as they departed the classroom after the meeting had ended.
“Hey, I used to ask my parents for a pony all the time when I was a kid and they were still married,” Vinyl explained, having swapped out her eyeglasses for her trademark shades. “Plus, it’s spelled P zero N dash 3 – got the idea from my favorite bands, a drum & bass group called Ba55 C4nnon.”
“Look, I know you know how to play classical guitar – your fingerwork is phenomenal,” Nova told her. “But turntables are an entirely different discipline. Not saying I don’t believe you, Vinyl, but….”
“I don’t believe you.” There was a girl standing in the hall, one who had stepped out just beforehand. She had curly gray hair, and eyes that were covered by eyeglasses as well. “What I do believe is that you’re some California waste-of-space who moved here just to infect the rest of us with Valley Girl vapidness. How’m I doing so far?” She then turned to Stagecraft, who was next to her. “Thanks for calling me, Crafty. Can’t let the peasants get too uppity around here.”
“Windsong,” Nova seethed, her eyes narrowing.
“Oh, hello, Bossa Nova. Still sore that I beat you in a singing contest? Well, all of them, really,” Windsong laughed haughtily. Nova’s hand clenched into a fist and Windsong added, “Oh, you don’t want to do that again. Bad enough you bruised my perfect skin, but I’m sure you don’t want to be suspended again, right?”
By this point, everyone had realized that a fight was going to inevitably break out, but Vinyl wasn’t about to let that happen. Putting an arm out in front of her friend, she said, “Nova, let me handle this. Don’t want you to get hurt and besides, I need to start cuttin’ loose.” Both Nova and Windsong watched as Vinyl turned to Cloud and handed the girl her phone, then walked in front of her friends, bouncing up and stretching as if she was ready for something athletic.
“Aww, how adorable,” Stagecraft cooed. “It looks like the little dog has a flea standing up for her.”
“Crafty, record this, will you?” Windsong asked. “Apparently someone thinks they’re worth something. I need to fix that.”
“Yeah. This’ll make great YouTube fodder.”
“No, you might have been here longer, but you’re walking into my world now.” Vinyl rejoindered. “I’m DJ P0N-3…and I don’t lose.”
Windsong giggled again and said, “What, you challenging me to a fight?”
Vinyl then removed her backpack and pulled out a microphone. “Damn straight,” she said, throwing one to Windsong, who caught it in a heartbeat. “Improvised lyrics. Now.”
“Sorry, I don’t do anything as pedestrian as rap,” Windsong retorted. “It’s not real music anyway.”
“Did I say rap? I said put up or shut up – if you’ve got talent, then prove it!”
The crowd that gathered suddenly fell quiet.
“Fine, then: I’ll hit you with the lyrics I was working on a few minutes ago while on the way back to school,” she said, a gleam dancing in her eyes. “You lost the moment you challenged me!” Reaching for her phone, she started the beat, then let it play as she cued the microphone to its ON position and sang her song:
“I’m overwhelmed
By your lack of competence
You said things I can’t forget
Like you became so insecure
And if I was so fortunate
If you had me first,
You might be just the best thing
Possibly in the world”
Vinyl rolled her eyes. “R&B-infused pop song. How stereotypical.”
Windsong looked at the microphone. “Hrm…SM58 Dynamic. Well, whatever other kind of loser you are, at least you know your mics. Why don’t you join us over on the cool side and learn a thing or two?”
Vinyl’s response was to hand her phone over to Cloud, merely saying, “Beat 46.” Cloud, long familiar with Vinyl’s thinking patterns, brought up the BEATMASTERS app and queued the song.
As it played, Windsong laughed harder. “Electronic beats? Now who’s pathetic?”
Vinyl, however, merely flowed and moved with the groove and said, “Not my fault you brought a knife to a gunfight.” And with that, she brought the mic to her lips and let loose:
“Welcome to the Breakbeat Underground, bringin’ the future right now
Openin’ the doors to explore this awesome sound….
“This musical scene, ain’t no dream –
I’m getting’ all tired of this anti-genre crossin’
And droppin’ of famous nom-de-plumes that feature the remixes by the Sweet Daddy Diddys
Of the bullshit industry world.
“Never seeing what’s been advertised
To pairs of eyes, it’s like living with a lock on your mind:
It’s no wonder that the sole sound
Is always around –
You pound it ‘til it’s dead in the ground!”
The silence gave way to low murmurs as they just watched one of the best singers in the school get her talent handed to her by the new girl. “Want to go for Round Two? I can do this all day long, but frankly, I don’t like picking on the helpless.”
Windsong’s face revealed a girl who had not expected to meet her match, and one that hadn’t even been at the school a month yet! Eyes filled with impotent rage, Windsong growled, “You know what? I could destroy you now, but…you’re not worth the effort right now.” Turning, she walked off, with Stagecraft following her soon after.
But Vinyl wasn’t done yet. Letting the song move to its next part, she queued her microphone again, and even without the song, belted out a few quick lyrics in dub style:
“Hey girl, watch me drop you on the line,
Prob’ly now regrettin’ tryin’ t’ match me in the mind,
Keep on messin’ with me, I’ll pop and then provide,
You an’ your friends need t’ lose – soon comin’ th’ time!”
Around her, the group broke into applause. Bon-Bon stopped dancing and immediately hugged Vinyl. “Wow, that was reallyreallyreallyreally sooooooooo awesome!” she squealed.
Nova went to pick up the discarded microphone. “Wow – that is all I have to say, Vinyl. I always thought I was good at singing, but you just blew away anything I could ever do.”
“Because when I was in Canterlot, I practiced everything,” Vinyl replied. “I notice music class here mainly focuses on instruments rather than vocals. If you want, I can practice with you on that. I learned more than a few things from Mrs. Torch Song – she was my music teacher at Canterlot.”
“Would you really? If you do I’ll love you forever for that! Uh, no offense, Kicky.”
Cloud giggled. “None taken – and besides, I don’t see it as a problem at all.”
“Too bad that I do.” The girls turned to see Ms. Clover there, arms folded and looking at them sternly.
A few minutes later, the six were in the headmistress’ office. “Well, Headmistress,” Nova began, “For one, we weren’t really fighting. Windsong got on our cases, and Vi challenged her to a song duel in order to prevent a fight. Plus, nobody seemed to care when BB was attacked last week!” Bon-Bon, remembering what happened, instinctively ducked behind Cloud for safety.
Clover gave the teen a hard glance. “For the record, Ms. Nova, we had several people come up and claim that Windsong was physically attacked by Vinyl after they argued in the meeting for the dance planning. Secondly, there was no report at all regarding the other attack you’ve mentioned. So while I can’t do anything about the latter because too much time has passed, I hope you have evidence to back up your story about this one.”
“Well, amazing that Windsong wasn’t at the meeting,” Cloud chimed in, waking up her phone. “I recorded the whole meeting just in case the girls and I needed more information later.” She brought up the gallery app on her phone, handing it to the headmistress.
Clover watched it intently. “Well, this explains a few things. Okay, as far as I’m clear, the rest of you can go. Ms. Kicker, I’d like you to stay behind so I can make a copy for the record. Ms. Scratch, I would like you to remain as well so I can get an official statement.”
“Do you need us to stay, Ms. Clover?” Satin asked.
“No, it will be bad enough that Ms. Scratch and Ms. Kicker will be late to class, Ms. Splash. I don’t want you others to be as well.”
“No worries, girls; we’ll meet you at the True Brew after school, okay?” Cloud insisted. The others filed out, leaving the two teens alone with Clover.
Vinyl wasted no time. “You knew this was going to happen,” she accused. When the headmistress nodded her head, Vinyl asked in a softer but no less accusing tone, “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I’d hoped, maybe in vain, that you two would be able to fade into the woodwork.” Clover sat down at the desk and in an instant was no longer the school’s headmistress, but the other adult currently in Vinyl’s life. “But I should’ve known better that Deep Bass’ daughter would never do that. And you, Kicky, you go where Vi goes. Plus, you’re both here, and Tequila’s desperate to make her mark as the school year’s winding down. It’s only going to be rougher from here – for all of us.”
“Why so?” Cloud asked.
“There’s more than one reason that Tequila’s family has pull at this school; if you thought it was just because they’ve been attending since the school’s founding over a century ago, you’d be wrong. Tequila’s mother Pastel Pink heads up the school board, and believe me – she’s nothing like her public image.” Vinyl and Cloud vaguely remembered the name; Pastel Pink was an actress famous for the films she’d done during the 80s – Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and a dozen others. She’d been called “America’s Sweetheart” by dozens of magazines and over the years had become a respected actress, having recently starred as a supporting character in the remake of Ferris Wheel’s Day Off, a movie where she’d played the girlfriend in the original.
“And while I see your minds are short-circuiting over that fact,” Clover continued, “keep in mind that since I’ve come to work here, we’ve been at each other’s throats. She expects complete control of school functions, and I refuse to let her have that. Furthermore, she hates your father for some reason and isn’t happy that Rhythm and LP are friends. And now that you’re here and pose a potential threat to Tequila’s fame, that’s more than enough reason to make it personal.”
“Your brother and Tequila’s sister are tight?”
“Tell you later, sweetie,” Vinyl replied. “Let me guess: that’s the reason for the No PDA rule here at school, right?”
Clover nodded. “D’Aguanno has always had a PDA rule that’s stricter than the local public or parochial schools, but yes, she was the one who dialed it up to zero. Pastel wants no chance of her pretty little princess falling in love and thus ruining her image as the girl everybody wants.”
“So this is all quite literally about high school politics?” Vinyl asked, stunned.
Clover laughed. “What, you thought because once you grow up, it stops? Oh no, girls. High school is where real life begins. Things change, but peoples’ personalities rarely do, so what you’ll see now is pretty much what you’ll see later on down the road.”
“All the more reason we have to break Tequila,” Vinyl insisted. “She’s going to hurt some people if we don’t.”
“And it doesn’t have to be you who does; I’m serious about that.” The look in Clover’s eyes was strangely protective. “I don’t want either of you to get caught in a mess that I can’t get you out of, or worse, costs me my job as well.”
“Clover, do you trust us?” Vinyl asked. “Really trust us?”
“Someday you’re going to be my stepdaughter, Vi. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t last long with your father.”
“Thanks. Then trust me when I say this: I’m going to end Tequila’s reign one way or the other…and I’m going to figure out how to do it without them being able to touch me. And I’m going to do it with or without your permission.”
“You know that’s an incredibly dangerous thing to say, Vinyl, especially given that you’re telling me this.”
“Because you’ve only known me for two weeks, so you don’t know what I’m capable of.” Vinyl looked right into Clover’s eyes for a second, then backed off to explain. “I might be facing off against the would-be queen of the whole school, but I have three aces in my deck.”
“And those are?” Clover asked, intrigued.
“One, my friends – and I sorely need those right now just as much as they need me. Two, my girl,” Vinyl said, reaching over and squeezing Cloud’s hand, openly flaunting the PDA rule right in front of the headmistress while on school grounds. “Oh, and the third.”
Clover folded her arms in expectation. “Which is?”
“Fight fire with fire: you know how you deal with a bad alpha bitch? Enlist the help of a good one.”
“I’d really like to know where you’ll find a good alpha bitch – the term itself indicates otherwise.”
“Well, from what I understand, people like to refer to her as the ‘Go-To’ girl now.”
Cloud’s eyes widened as she realized. “You are not on her list of favorite people right now,” she warned.
“But you are,” Vinyl reminded her.
Cloud groaned.
The things I do for my girl, Cloud groaned hours later as she made a call from her phone to a certain one 2375 miles away.
The ringtone sounded once. Twice, then finally, “Hello?”
“Heya! How goes?”
“Kicks? Hey, how’s it going over in Detroit?”
“Eh, I’m adjusting. Listen, do you got a minute to chat?”
“Well, I’m on my way to work, but I can spare a few minutes. I’m all ears.”
Cloud then monopolized the next ten minutes of the conversation as she explained all that had transpired. Finally, she ended with, “So that’s the situation here, and frankly, I could really use your help.”
The call on the other end was silent for the longest time before the speaker started. “Honestly, I’m not really sure what I can do to help, given that I’m still cleaning up this mess from my angle. I’m going to be talking with the Sands twins today. They were at that party and there’s a rumor that…well, let’s just say that they’re really afraid to go to their parents with this, so I offered to talk to them both. Plus, there’s also the fact that I’m two time zones away.”
“I…see,” Cloud said, waiting for the words that would end this call.
“My gut instinct says no, but…if I say no, I’m no better than I used to be. So I’ll do whatever I can, I promise. But in return, I want something.”
“Whatever I can do.”
“It’s not what you can do. I want a written, genuine apology from Scratch to Tavi. My cousin is still torn up over the whole thing and it’s causing me and my sister a lot of personal grief. So I want the air cleared, and since I know that Scratch’s no good at writing…having her write it down will be her genuine feelings.”
“That makes no sense – but at the same time does,” Cloud muttered.
“Trust me, one of those little mysteries of life that strangely works. So are we good on this?”
“I’ll get her to do it one way or the other,” Cloud insisted. “Thanks, Sunny, I owe you for this.”
“No, Kicks, you don’t owe me anything – always happy to help a friend,” Sunset Shimmer said over the phone. “But Vinyl owes Tavi – and it’s time to pay the piper. Listen, I just got here and I think I see Black Sands, which means White’s behind her. I gotta go. Talk to you later.”
“Yeah, later,” Cloud commented as she hung up the phone. Well, now the easy part’s done. The hard part, is going to get Vi to write that letter.
“Do I?” Vinyl asked when prodded several minutes later. “You do realize that by giving her our address, Tavi will have a method by which she can send assassins to kill me, right?”
“You’re being ridiculous, hon,” Cloud sighed, on the verge of a facepalm. “She’s not going to send assassins.”
“Oh, she will – teenage assassins, no less. I saw it in a movie, so I know it’s true. Just watch: once I send that letter, we’ll be swimming in teenage assassins.”
“Well, then you’d better hope they’re cuter than me. Sunny said no letter, no help.”
“Do I have to?”
“No, I suppose not – but then she won’t lift a finger.” Cloud pulled out her school notebook and a pen. “Sit down, get writing, and I don’t want to see your hand move from that pad until you’ve finished, understood?”
“And if I don’t listen?”
A sudden flash of inspiration came to Cloud. “Then you can sleep alone tonight.”
“And where are you going to sleep?”
“With your brother and his girlfriend. And I’ll bet she’s fun.”
Vinyl looked fit to cry. Grumbling, she sat down with the look of the condemned, and started to write.
Meanwhile, in a mansion in the tony suburb of Bloomfield Hills, three girls planned for war. Windsong was over at Stagecraft’s house, and the two were on teleconference with Tequila, currently in Los Angeles.
“So that’s it: she threw the gauntlet down,” Tequila mused over the connection. “Later than I expected, given what I’ve been able to find out about her so far.”
Stagecraft, meanwhile, wanted to throw up. “Look, that carpet licker’s been here for nearly two weeks now and she’s already gotten too big for her britches. She makes me sick.”
“Oh, please, join the modern era, Crafty,” Windsong retorted. “Nobody’s offended by that anymore. Plus, you don’t even have the excuse of being religious – isn’t your family atheist or something?” She then turned to the camera and screen. “However, she’s right: Scratch and her girl haven’t been here a month and they’re already starting to make play. What you have out there isn’t going to be enough to stop them, Quila. We’re going to have to come up with better ideas.”
Tequila huffed, clearly in command of her little clique. “Oh, please – don’t you think I’ve already got that in mind? Trust me, you two – I’ve got them ready to take a blow right from where they least expect it.”
“Oh? Do tell,” Windsong asked.
Stagecraft smiled wickedly. “You got some dirt on her?”
“Worse – far worse.” Onscreen, Tequila smiled, but there was no joy there. “Trust me: When I’m done, Vinyl Scratch is going to have a taste of her own medicine. She’s going to wish she stayed in California rather than come here to Motor City.”
Today was not turning out to be Vinyl’s day. Oh, it had gone alright right up to the point where she won her song battle. Then she got chewed out by Clover. And then she agreed to do something stupid; that stupidity had just been mailed out by Cloud, Canterlot bound. And now her father had just returned home from his business trip, and Clover had already told him about the day’s events.
And now she had to ask him for something.
“So, you want to borrow my portable rig,” Bass said, matter-of-factly. “It’s a lot more powerful than the stuff you’re used to, sweetie.”
“Yeah, I figured that,” Vinyl said, at the table. ‘Don’t get me wrong; I really liked my old rig, but I only had enough money to ship over my discs. Good thing Licorice Pizza needed some new decks; at least they went to a good cause.”
“But that’s not the point. I talked to Clover an hour ago—”
“And this is the part where I run for my life?” Vinyl asked, half-joking.
“Maybe. Mouthing off to her wasn’t particularly smart, Vinyl. You actually hurt her by doing that – and I fully expect you to apologize before you go to bed.”
“Dad, if it means anything…I was trying to protect my friends. Not doing so is how I ended up here, and if I didn’t continue to do so I’d be no better than Mom.”
“Maybe. But hurting those that love you and are looking out for you, Clover included, isn’t helping matters either. She went out of the way to get you into the school not just because of our relationship, but because she wants to be a better parent to you than Prim was.” Bass looked at his youngest child intently. “She can’t have kids, you know. Waited too long, and now doctors say it’s a little too late. So aside from adopting, you and LP are it.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“She doesn’t like admitting it; shows her age, she says.” Bass leaned back in his chair and said, “Okay, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to lend you my portable rig until you can get one for yourself, but – and this is an important but – you’re going to have to apologize to Clover and give her the benefit of the doubt. Believe me, she’s smarter than you think.”
“Really?”
He grinned. “Who do you think it was that told your brother that the easiest way of shutting down the girl terrorizing the school at his age was to get into her pants?” Vinyl looked at her father strangely. “Trust me, she went to bat for LP after that girl’s mother found out, and while she came out a little worse for wear, you should’ve seen the other woman.”
At that point, the door opened and in walked Clover, a glass of wine in her hands. “Sorry I’m late; had to do some excess paperwork and time caught up to me.”
The next thing she felt was Vinyl, moving over, holding her tight in an embrace. “Sorry if I’ve made your life more difficult, Clover. I didn’t mean that. Will you forgive me?”
Clover bent down and kissed Vinyl on the forehead. “Always, for family – but you’re going to have to trust me as well, Vinyl. I know you’re not used to having adults back you up, but things are different here. But I can only do it if you’re willing to let me in.”
“I will, I promise.” Vinyl flashed a genuine smile.
“Okay, then that’s that,” Clover said, returning the gesture.
“Well, now that that’s done,” Bass said, “There’s another ground rule we have to set, Vinyl, and I have to admit that I’m disappointed in you for me having to actually set this rule: No taking your top off and shoving your breasts in your brother’s face.” Clover blinked in surprise at that, then turned and looked at Vinyl.
The teen had the good grace to be completely horrified by her parents’ knowledge while she stammered, “Bu-but Dad, it doesn’t mean anything to me! You kn-know I’m a lesbian! It was just a joke!”
“Yes, but it’s bad enough that you’ve got LP crowing about being the only boy who’s touched your sweater kittens,” Bass said, while trying not to laugh. “Apparently, it was…inspiring,” he said as he handed her a piece of sheet music.
“What’s thi…” She looked up from the paper in horror. “He didn’t.”
“He did.”
“I’m never going to live this down, am I?”
In response, Bass went to the table, grabbing his iPad. He immediately set it to YouTube, playing a video with Long on-screen singing a song while playing guitar:
“Oh, my sister’s got perky tits,
She showed them just to me,
They’re the greatest pair of twin funbags
That ever would you see.
“She’s the kind of gal liking other girls,
So they’re perfectly male-free,
So sister’s jugs are just the ones
That make my dreams go squee.”
Vinyl facepalmed, her face almost completely red as if her entire bloodstream had dumped into her face. “Dad, can we move to Alaska?”
Windsong's lyrics are from the song "I'm Not Her" by Jai Lynn. Vinyl's first set of lyrics are from the song "Break Beat Underground" by Chance's End. Both songs are available on Jamendo, a site that gives out free music. A special note for authors: since Jamendo's songs are all required to be listed under Creative Commons, you can use the song lyrics without violating Fimfic's rules on song lyrics.
Vinyl's dub lyrics and Long Play's song are of my own invention.
And for those of you who are screaming blasphemy as to why she's not singing dubstep:
1. There's lyrics in dubstep? 
2. 7DSJ Vinyl is more rounded than most fanon versions. So there. Nyah. 
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You are clearly a fan of the Absurdly Powerful Student Council trope, it seems.
The part with Long Play getting a hard on with his sister's assets... kinda distasteful for me
. I'm not a prude, yet certain things rub me the wrong way.
6227446
Oh, it's not like that. It's a purely stimulation and biological response. It doesn't mean he wants her; on the contrary, he wrote the song at the end of the chapter and put it on YouTube just to embarrass her. It's a mere fact of life that the body will react to stimuli whether you want it to or not. It's why the penis is sometimes referred to as "the little traitor" - it doesn't exactly listen to what you want, it just acts.
So, in short: Vinyl did something stupid. LP's body reacted. LP's mind did not; he actually found it a juvenile prank. Then proceeded to play one back on his sister in revenge.
Nice to see Cheese Sandwich from straight outta Lynwood.
I actually prefer how you prefer portray Vinyl; she's usually shown as someone who's hotheaded or a bit wild. And do Satin and Countyrside have accents, similar to how Rarity and Applejack do? Also regarding voices, does Vinyl sound like Nowacking or does she sound differently?
6228397 I think the voices can be whatever you want them to sound like using your imaginaaaaaation! *does the rainbow hand thing* (personally, I can't help but hear Nowacking's voice any time I read Vinyl dialogue anywhere)
6227522 Told ya people wouldn't like that bit!
6228523
Yeah, yeah, well it gets worse from here.
6228397
Well, usually Vinyl is portrayed as an adult, where's here she's still a teen. Also, she's been taken down a couple of pegs due to her involvement with the Vibe debacle.
So here it seems that like protection we have another character going through a Sunset Shimmer type redemption arc after the vibe. The difference is that here you seem to be deliberately evoking those similarities, perhaps to emphasize the differences, or maybe there's another purpose I haven't spotted yet. I'm honestly not sure what to make of it all, but I find I like it allot. In fact I enjoy it more than Protection, possibly because we have a more active protagonist. Anycase I look forward to seeing more.
So Clover is clev...
I get it.