Obsessed with the Beat

by LunaScribbles

Prologue: Calm before the Storm... and the Bass Drop

Author's Note:

I've been trying to experiment with different writing styles because, well, I haven't been writing in a long time ever since I left the fandom for a break. Now, I'm back and hopefully my writing after all these years would still be good. This fanfic was sitting in my "to be submitted" list for years now, but now I think it's time I release it. Hope y'all like it!

I feel my heart pounding loudly...

I mentally prepare myself to say it.

I inhale deeply to calm myself, hoping to state what I want... no, not want. Need.

Alright...

I am ready.

"Hey, how much for this plush? My, uhm... niece, wanted this particular plush toy?" I lied through my teeth as I held a plush toy of a pony with a fur coat like marshmallow with a neon-cobalt blue mane.

"Oh, it's 30$, sir." cheerfully said the cashier girl.

Gah! 30$? This is an outrage! Eh, whatever. It's not like I have a lot of merch of her.

I gave her the damn 30$.

"Thank you sir!" said the cashier. "And don't worry with hiding it, I'm pretty sure I like Vinyl as much as you do."

"Haha, yeah..." I waved the cashier goodbye and smiled.

Wow, actual human interaction with nice strangers? That's oddly rare.

---

It was a Saturday afternoon.

I finally drove home after my purchase. I was planning on buying some McDonalds on the way to my apartment but... 30$ was all I had in my wallet before I bought the plush. I really should control my spending habits. I sighed as I got the key from my pocket and opened the door. I put down the plastic bag which contained the plush toy on the sofa and closed the door. I was getting pretty hungry so I grabbed a cereal box from the cupboards and a bowl from the cabinet. I poured the cheap Kellog's knockoff onto my bowl... Wait, you were expecting milk in this concoction? Haha, well... I forgot to do grocery shopping due to... plushy circumstances.

I grabbed my bowl and went to the sofa. I unwrapped the plush toy from the plastic wrap and behold, there she is in all her glory; Vinyl Scratch!

I opened the T.V. across the sofa and started watching random stuff that you wouldn't expect a 19 year old dude living on his own to watch. Tennis games, fishing shows, and of course, "the pony" show.

I positioned Vinyl Scratch so that she looks like she's watching the Wimbledon games with me, like all pals do! Wait, this isn't creepy, right?

After the tennis game ended, I thought that watching a bit of ponies with my 'pal' over here would be a fun idea. I picked the 100th episode special with all the background characters as the main characters. At this point, if you've seen the episode, you probably already know why I picked this episode in particular.

Whenever I see Vinyl on the screen, I would chuckle and nudge the plushie saying "Hey, there you are Vinyl!". Kind of like that one episode of Spongebob where he was so excited to see himself on that low-budget commercial. I don't know why, but I always feel so happy when Vinyl is on screen. I don't know why I like her so much. She doesn't have much of a personality in the show. She's' just some kind of quiet electronic music composer who likes loud music a lot. She's nothing like me at all.

I guess it's more of the fandom version of Vinyl that I grew to love. She's brash, she's loud, and she's fun. It takes a bunch of dedicated fans to be able to make a character who never talks into a very likable character. Every time I see her on show, I always expected Nowacking to say some cool one-liner or something. (I dunno why Hasbro doesn't actually do it. I'd shit my pants if that would happen.)

The episode ends with the wedding of two donkeys and the Mane 6 learning some valuable friendship lesson. I closed the T.V. and was about to go to my bedroom until I heard a knock on my door. I roll my eyes to myself because I already know who it is behind that door. It's the "routine checkup" of his best friend, Kent. I grab the plush and put her on the coffee table and the cereal bowl in the dishwasher. I went up to the door and looked through the tiny glass hole. Yeah, it was him, and he's looking pretty excited.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"You god damn very well know who it is, dude!" said Kent, his happiness evident through his voice.

I finally opened the door and greeted him with the "Yo, whaddup?" kind of greeting.

"I am soooo excited right now, man!" I've never seen Kent quiver like this before. Usually he's the calm dude who puts a stop to my crazy antics.

"What got you so riled up and ready to scream?" I said as I went to the fridge and grabbed two cans of Pepsi.

"I won 3 VIP tickets to a System of a Down concert!"

"Holy fucking shit, really? How?!" I asked as I gave him a can of Pepsi.

"Radio Station contest. Lucky caller lottery or some kind of shit. I called just in time and I was the lucky caller!" he said as he jumped with joy. "I went here as soon as I can just to tell you. I was wondering if you'd like to come!"

"Hell yeah, man! Of course I do!" I answered, but then I remembered the third ticket. "Well, who are you gonna bring for the third ticket?"

"Not sure. Still thinking about it. Any friend of yours that'd be interested in System of a Down?"

"Not really..." I tried to avoid that question. I knew Kent for a few years now, but he still thinks I'm that popular kid from Junior High. I was until I graduated. All the relationships that I thought were going to last forever just went away like that. Except for Kent of course. He was more than just a friend to me, he's like a brother to me. As of now, he's the only friend. Not that there's anyone that I know of that still remembers me.

"Looks like I'm going to invite Dex then." He said as he grabbed his phone and started texting. "He's not interested in Thrash like we do, but he's always the type of guy who really likes experiencing new things. He's never been in a Metal concert so he's sure to come up."

Yes, Dexter... I couldn't really get close to him because he's so... how do I explain this... He's too cheery. You might be wondering "Hey, that's a fun and good thing!". Yeah, and you're right. The thing is that me and Dexter don't really get along with each other too well, but since we both are best friends with Kent, we respect each other.

"Oh yeah, when did you say this concert was going to be?"

"Well, it's about a month from now. Sooo, we play the waiting game."

"Heh, sure! As long as it's a weekend, I'm in! If it's a weekday, well..." Reminding Kent that I have a job at the nearby Family Mart. "Let's just say that I gotta work harder... Anyways, while you're here... wanna do something?"

"Well, what's there to do?"

"Watch something. I dunno, be my guest." I said as I grabbed the remote and jumped down on my sofa.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you..."

Wait, that tone of voice...

"Well, you see..."

Oh boy, if I think he's going to say what I think he's going to say, well he better say it.

"I was wondering..."

I was opening up the T.V.

"I wanted to watch--"

Putting up Netflix.

"That pony show you've always been watching."

"Fuck yeah, we're finally watching the Dark Kni-- wait."

Wait.

"Yeah, you heard me. That Pony show."

My heart just skipped a beat.

I grin as wide as I can and selected "the pony show". I tapped the seat beside me, offering him to sit down.

"Okay. The reason why I'm watching this is because I saw some cute fanart on the internet and I just wanted to see the show for what it's like. That's all."

"Likely story." I raised an eyebrow. "Which episode would you like to watch. I practically watched all of them."

"How about the one where some demon from hell starts killing everyone and the main character becomes some Dragonball Z character." He jokingly said.

"Okay, season 4 finale."

Kent then laughed. "You're kidding right?"

I glared at him, implying that this is no joke.

"Are you fucking kidding me..."

---

"Wow. Never expected that to be in a kid's show." took another sip of his drink.

"I know right. It's been a few years since that episode aired and people still think it's just for kids." I said as I finished the can of Pepsi.

"Are you now interested to watch more of "ponies"?"

"Eh, I'm tempted... but I feel like that's the only action packed episode in the entire show. It's not like the show has something you'd never expected from a kid's show like, how you say, the Communism."

"Ah, Season 5 premiere."

"Okay, I feel like the writers of this show are just shoving "things that shouldn't be in a show for young girls" into a show for young girls."

"Haha, true..."

Kent then noticed the plush pony that was staring at him on the coffee table.

"Was this always here when I came over?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I only noticed it now."

"Wow, Kent. For a person who works at a firing range, you were the last person to not see this in front of you."

He shrugged and picked up the plushie like he would a pet dog. "Aww, it's cute! Magenta eyes, cobalt hair, and white fur! Just like all 20 plushies you've bought for this specific character." His voice went from lovey-dovey cutesy wutesy to NOT HAPPY.

"Seriously, how many plushies of this character do you have?" He said as he pointed at Vinyl.

"Uhh, lost count?" I gave out a guilty smile.

"Ugh... Whatever. I don't know why you're obsessing over this particular pony."

"Hey, I like, not obsess!"

"Well, Mister Victor Camperson with over 20 plushies and 3 posters of fanart of the same character in one's bedroom." he smiled as he jokingly said.

"Grrr, I wish I could do that to you man. The whole 'you obsess over thing too much' argument, then I wouldn't be so alone."

"Haha, yeah right. At least I have a healthy hobby. I wouldn't spend too much due to an obsession over some fictional horse" He chuckled as he finished his can of Pepsi.

I don't know why but I felt legitimately hurt from that...

"I'm NOT obsessing over some "fictional horse", mmkay?" I said with a hint of annoyance in my voice. "I just, you know, like her. She may have never said a single line in the show, but somehow the fans gave her such a tomboyish, strong, and reckless attitude. That's what makes me like her. What makes you think I'm obsessing!?"

I felt tears were about to come out if it weren't for me having mastered the art of hiding tears. Eh, long story. Let's just say I cried a lot during my high school days. Only Kent knows when I'm trying to hide my tears, so he kind of got a hint that I was hurt from what he said.

"Alright, alright... I get it." he said being a bit confused as to why I lashed out on him. To be fair, I also got confused as to why I did. She is just a cartoon pony after all. He sighed for a bit, looking down and scratching the back of his head. He then looked at me, he was about to say something, but stopped mid-track as if he noticed someone had some vegetables stuck on their teeth.

"If you're not obsessing, then tell me why are you wearing magenta contacts?"

"My what?"

Comments

[Efadd]

"Okay, I feel like the writers of this show are just shoving "things that shouldn't be in a show for young girls" into a show for young girls."

True, true
Night eternal, chaos eternal, subterfuge of government/invasion, tyrants, rulers getting abducted, everyone loosing their power, communism, temporal/destiny manipulation/change, governmental overthrow, eternal darkness, invasion, inter-racial/national relations, power stealing (again)