• Published 1st Sep 2021
  • 2,480 Views, 903 Comments

Electro Swing - Rego



When blame is cast on Vinyl Scratch for ruining an elite winter party, Fancy Pants intercedes on her behalf. However, even the Kingmaker of Canterlot may lack the power to stop the record from spinning out of control.

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Chapter 15: Je Suis Très Inquiet

So what if you're taken?
I can’t be mistaken,
There’s no use tryin’ hidin’ your love, So~
Give me more, give me fire,
Burning cores are my desire…?

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait a minute! Cut the groove!” Sauna Summers yelled over the music. The band died down with a ruffling of papers in feathers. “Burning cores? What’s with the freaky-deaky lyrics, ladies? Somepony’s got their mind on their waistline? We ain’t running an aerobics class.”

“I wasn’t thinking about that kind of core. You know, the core of your heart, like the core of the sun?” one of the voices remarked sheepishly.

“Alright. Who put Sunny on lyric duty again?” There was a chorus of laughter minus the previous pony. “Girl, you are the light in my skies, but maybe chillax a little with the stellar stuff?”

“I’m sorry, Sauna,” Sunny apologized.

“Ain’t no thing, sunshine. But maybe just leave the sunrise to Princess Celestia? Now, I like the rest of what you got here, baby, so what rhymes with ‘more?’”

“Floor?” a stallion over a speaker offered. “Store, lore, bore, yore, wh—”

“Condor!” Sunny interjected optimistically.

“Sunny!” a stern feminine voice complained through gritted teeth. “What do condors have to do with a ‘burning desire?’ There’s nothing sexy about condors!”

“She just asked for rhymes, Spring…” Sunny’s tone sank, crestfallen.

“Now, now, hold on everypony,” Sauna started to say, “Sunny might be onto something here. Drop the ‘con’ and what do you get?”

“Door,” Vinyl Scratch whispered the answer to herself while taking notes of the conversation. She was cheating, since she had the album they were in the middle of working on at her side, but there was no way the recording she was listening to would call her out on it.

“Door?” Spring guessed.

“Exactly, Springstep. ‘Door-desire’ does have a nice ring to it, catch my drift?”

There was a light scratching of a pencil on paper. Springstep hummed a bit of the song and started singing.

Give me more, give me fire,
Open my do-or to desire.

“Holding out ‘door’ like that doesn’t really jive with the beat to me,” Sauna said while pondering the words.

“What if we break the first beat in half and use ‘open?’ ‘Open the door to my desire?’” Sunny offered in a softly sung suggestion.

Sauna smiled and poured her soul into singing the new lyrics.

Give me more, give me fire,
Open the door to my desire~!

Sen-say-shun-al everypony!” Sauna sing-songily announced to the group. “We’ll make a songwriter out of you yet, Sunny!”


Vinyl stopped the record to check what she had written down about the creative process behind Sauna Summers’ breakout hit, Door to my Desire. She double-checked the appendix in Summers’ biography she’d borrowed from the ESPA library, confirming the song’s title had been correctly attributed to one of Sauna’s backup singers, but it lacked the mare’s name. At least now she had one to work with: Sunny. She just needed to narrow it down. Sunny by itself was rare, but the word was a common component in longer names, especially among weather ponies. She might have to go back to the library sooner than she wanted to.

Leaning back from the desk, Vinyl stretched her legs with a satisfying pop before snuggling back into her hoodie for warmth. She kept her head tilted back to admire the thin softwood slats running along the ceiling. The woodwork was not only functional, but pleasing to the eye as the crosshatched slats sloped towards the row of recessed lights, casting the earthy and maroon colors of the creative space in a warm, refreshing glow. It was a far cry from her cool nightclub fluorescence, and a welcome difference at that. She took a deep breath through her nose to savor the vintage lacquer for the umpteenth time.

After the microbreak, Vinyl leaned back down to her archiving with the collection. Being the more famous of the pair, she started with Sauna Summers’ old Groovecasters records first. Like Fleur had warned of before, the disco packrat’s boxes almost tripled her husband’s collection from Suave Oasis, despite Suede’s five year head start in the industry. Still, Vinyl figured there had to be something in the early days that could be a good sample to practice the ESPA archiving protocols. Four hours later, finding the name of the artist responsible for a famous song title seemed like a good start.

Oddly enough, Vinyl didn’t mind the grind. She was sincerely enjoying listening to Sauna Summers the pony. The mare was far more interesting than the disco she put out, at least in her early years. Not to say her music was bad, but Summers herself was vibrant, sharp-witted, and inspiring. Vinyl could see how such an amazing artist had left her mark on Equestrian music, even down to her language. Sapphire Shores' way of saying “sensational” was clearly a nod to Summers. It cast Sapphire’s hit song Simply Sensational in an entirely new light.

Even though they’d never get the chance to meet, Vinyl was looking forward to getting to know Summers better through the records.

Vinyl flipped through the biography’s sources and index, scanning the words for anything regarding the identities of the backup singers. Its author had been infuriatingly lax when detailing the ponies around the Queen of Disco outside of her producers. Her friends had faded into the background, lost to time. It was nothing short of maddening to be missing one pony’s full name to finish off the entry, but she was invested. Or at least she was until there was a short rap on the studio’s door.

“It’s open!” Vinyl called over her shoulder.

“A keen observation, Miss Scratch, but I was seeking permission to enter,” Fancy called from the other side.

“It’s your place. You don’t need an invitation.”

“But it’s your space,” Fancy countered with a pun. “I’d prefer one all the same, if I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Permission granted, Sir Fancy Pants,” she reluctantly answered. He might not be a father, but she figured something must stir in the hearts of all stallions in order to prepare them to subject others within earshot to awful puns.

“Thank you, Miss Scratch. And again, please don’t feel the need to add the ‘Sir.’”

“And I said I’d drop the ‘Sir’ if you dropped the ‘Miss,'” Vinyl reminded him.

“Ah, yes. Force of habit, I’m afraid. My apologies, Vinyl.” Fancy strolled in with a casual step to see the small mess of boxes and books the DJ had made in the sound room. He looked over her page of notes and the orange crystal suspended by her focusing mount. “It seems you’re making progress with your work. Quite the fascinating set of tools—”

Don’t-touch-that!

Fancy froze his hoof a few centimeters from one of the elbows of the claw-like mount.

Vinyl forced a smile. “Sorry. It’s actively channeling magical energies.”

“I see.” Fancy chuckled to himself. “From the sounds of it, I imagine the encounter would’ve been quite shocking.”

“It’d probably sting a little from the shield, but the bigger problem would’ve been if you managed to disrupt any mana-flow with your primal aura.”

“And we wouldn’t want that, would we?” Fancy backed away from the crystal a few more paces and observed the area curiously. He seemed fascinated by the arms that held the floating crystal in place. It was contained in a standard blast shield in the event of cascade failure, but such catastrophic events were exceedingly rare unless you were overcharging them or putting things that shouldn’t be in there, like cacophony runes.

“Yeah. Even if the arms aren’t glowing, that doesn’t mean they aren’t energized. If you knocked the crystal out of suspension before I finished encircling the audio forms in wards, there’d be a risk of spellform degradation. I’d have to dispel my work and start over just to be safe.”

“A rather nasty fate, indeed.” Fancy nodded confidently in agreement.

“Yeah…” Vinyl watched the calm and collected stallion as he looked over the mare’s work. He looked deep in thought, but something about his demeanor reminded her of what Fleur said yesterday. “You didn’t understand any of that, did you?”

Pas du tout, Vinyle.

“What?”

“Precisely,” he added with a smirk.

“Look, just don’t touch things near floating crystals and we’ll be golden, kay?” Fancy’s smirk fell into a small frown, which brought an internal smile to the smarter mare. “So, did you need something?”

“Nothing specifically, but I did want to speak to you. That is, if it isn’t too much trouble.”

“Sure. I guess I can give you a progress report, but it’s not gonna be much since I just started.” Vinyl picked up the few notes she had made through listening to the records. Most of it was fruitless nonsense that didn’t go anywhere. She’d still go back to transfer any notable audio samples to a crystal later, but she had determined to focus on finding something noteworthy for her first entry attempt.

“No need for strictly business, Vinyl. It can be about anything you want. I enjoy getting to know ponies that are worth getting to know, so I thought we could break the ice as it were, if you can spare a moment.”

“Oh…”

Vinyl’s first instinct was to tell him to go away, but she quickly reminded herself who she was talking to and reeled back her more introverted tendencies. Even she knew not to needlessly upset the boss ponies when she had nothing on her side. Fancy held all the cards, after all. Plus, he was doing that “I’m a genuinely good guy” thing again. If it was an act, Vinyl couldn’t tell. Given his and Fleur’s parentage, performing apparently ran in the family. Of course, if he wasn’t good, then she was in a very bad situation. To spare her sanity, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt again.

“I could use a break, I guess.” She stood up from her seat, stretching her front and hind legs while popping her back. While they looked nice, the old seats left much to be desired in comfortability. After brushing the detritus from her pencil and eraser shavings off her hoodie, she was ready for Fancy.

“Alright. Small talk,” Vinyl whispered to herself under her breath. Her mind started shuffling through potential conversations. Music was probably a no-go with their age gap. Talking about Fleur would be a nonstarter, too. She already knew how bad he was at magic, so no reason to bring up Fancy’s flaws. They’d been to some of the same parties, but likely had wildly different takes on the nights. What else was there? Food? Politics? Potpourri?

“I suppose I can start us off, then,” Fancy proposed, bringing Vinyl out of her quickly spiraling contemplation. “If you could have any special talent in the world, what would it be?”

Vinyl tilted her head in bewilderment. “That’s a bit of a foalish question, don’t you think? We already have our cutie marks.”

“I suppose that particular conversation starter works better with non-Equestrian species, but I’m curious all the same. While it’s true that our special talents make us happy, that doesn’t mean we’re one-trick ponies. For example, I think it would be fun to be good at winemaking.”

“That’s… a little out of nowhere.”

“Not really, if you get to know the area.” Fancy’s eyes sparked as an idea occurred to him. He walked towards the door and pulled it open. “Care to join me for a little fresh air?”

Not wanting to reject her employer, Vinyl shrugged and shut down her work area. She forced a smile as she passed the chivalrous stallion. Fancy swung ahead of her and led the DJ through yet another hallway Vinyl hadn’t been down yet that ran to the rear of the mansion. While he seemingly had an endless amount of things to display as decorations, the stallion had far too much space to be living by himself. It was no wonder that Fluff’s tour had only taken her to commonly used rooms. There always seemed to be another random space around every corner.

“So, what do you know about the history of the estate?”

“Probably about as much as you do about crystal harmonics.”

“Ah, so nothing at all. Let’s remedy that.” They trotted through a cozy tea room with large bay windows overlooking the rolling hills behind the property. Thankfully, the day was slightly overcast, so the snow still blanketing the fields outside didn’t blind her unshaded eyes. Fancy pulled open a pair of sliding glass doors leading to a small, covered patio.

Fancy took in a large breath as he stepped out into the dim sunshine piercing through the thin layer of clouds. “Wonderful day, isn’t it?” the stallion asked as he held the door open for Vinyl to step through.

Still feeling a bit uncomfortable around his chivalry, she trotted past him into the powder with a small shiver. “The air’s fresh at least.” She pulled her hoodie’s hood up, slipping it over her head and closing the horn flaps with a button and pulling the strings tighter to lock in the warmth.

“Not one for the cold? You mentioned you grew up here in Canterlot. I thought you’d be a bit more acclimated to mountain air.”

“I manage in other ways,” Vinyl said as she sparked a weak fire shield around herself. Sure, defensive magic was a little overkill for a blanket, but it was better than buying more clothes in Canterlot. “More of a summer pony over here.”

“I see. I prefer autumn and winter, so this weather suits me just fine. I always say it’s better to be too cold than too warm. You can always add another layer if the chill is getting to you, but there’s only so much heat you can take before the shears come out,” Fancy quipped with a polite smile.

A brief image of a miserable, freshly sheared Upper Crust in the desert flashed through her head, eliciting a nasally snicker from Vinyl. “Didn’t know you liked that kind of humor.”

“Which is the value in getting to know somepony,” Fancy said with a wink as he led Vinyl further up a tall hillside, slowly sloping up and away from the mansion. The old snow crunched under their hooves with each careful step until they arrived at the hilltop, overlooking the property. Barring the third floor of the mansion, it was the highest point on the property.

To the northwest stood the royal castle with its tallest spires piercing the cloud cover in all of its regal splendor. If she looked a little beyond the river, she could see the castle’s proper walls with patrolling guards rather than the empty border ones encircling most of the city. Turning her sight eastward, the snowy fields ended abruptly at the sheer purple cliff faces leading up to the rest of Mount Canterhorn and where the Whitetail River source cascaded from its frigid peaks. Not many ponies could say they had a waterfall in their backyard.

The most fascinating aspect of the snowscape in front of her was simply how quiet it was. She could hear gentle gusts of wind sweeping over the mountain, every little crackle of the snow under her hooves anytime she shifted her weight, and even the subtle sizzle of steam when an errant ice crystal sublimated next to her ears when it hit her shield. Even though the estate was in the back of Canterlot, it felt a world away from the city; wide open, serene, and utterly breathtaking.

“Quite the lovely view, isn’t it?” Fancy agreed with Vinyl’s unspoken observations. She mentally chided herself for not wearing her sunglasses as he directed her attention back towards his home. “This charmingly rustic mansion was slowly built out of additions to an old winery, Castillo Verde, or the Verdant Chateau. It’s a little hard to tell outside of the exterior San Palomino aesthetic, but you can still see a few hallmarks of the old distillery in the study if you look close enough. I’m sure even you would agree that It’s a smidge tall for a personal library.”

“That’s one way to put it.” Ignoring the stacks higher up, Fancy’s study was nearly as tall as the Society’s main library. While the mansion’s first floor was devoted more to private meetings and office work, the second was lined wall to wall with bookshelves. She’d never seen so many books in one pony’s home, and wondered if Fancy had even read half of them or if they were just purely aesthetic.

“Now, imagine, if you will, rows upon rows of wooden poles draped with dark purple grapes and blackberries covering almost every square inch of this expanse. Planters ran from where the gate meets the road all the way to the river back there,” the stallion pointed over the horizon towards the river at the base of the hill, “and where the grass hits the rocky slopes over there,” he moved his hoof towards the waterfall and mountainside. “Though, I suppose you can’t really tell where that is with the snow.”

“That’s a lot of fruit,” Vinyl admitted as she turned her head along the borders of the property. She’d seen larger farms out in Ponyville, but those had plenty of room to grow. Anypony crazy enough to try to run a vineyard up here earned her respect just for trying in the first place. “So, why make wine on a mountain? Seems like it'd be a rough time, even for earth ponies.”

“Canterlot’s elevation and unique soil enriches the fruit’s flavor palate. Add in the colder climate and harsher sunlight giving the fruit a far deeper color, and the result is a wine that becomes darker, finer, and more elegant in its taste.”

“Sounds like you’ve given it some thought. So when are you planning on starting up Chateau Fancy?”

“Starting up? Oh, heavens no. I’m simply recalling the key details of a conversation with the historical owners of the land. Verdant Berry’s descendants are still very much in the wine business, just not in Canterlot.”

“Why not? Don’t get me wrong, It's a nice yard, and probably even better after Winter Wrap Up, but it kinda seems like a giant waste of space.”

“Those were my thoughts exactly when I was considering the idea, Miss Scratch, but Verde failed for many reasons.”

“And what would those be, Sir Fancy Pants?”

“Sorry, Vinyl,” he apologized with a chuckle before looking up at the sky in thought. “And to name a few: property tax increases, wine price fluctuations, changes in zoning laws, homeowners association, the castle district’s—”

“Okay, I get it. I’m sorry I asked,” Vinyl groaned. She could handle ancient spell texts and pouring over crystals for hours, but she had no patience for Canterlotian legal nonsense.

“Quite the boring way to go, isn’t it? Ultimately, it was gentrification that did them in. So they sold the land to Suede Shoes, and the Verdant Vermillion and Canterhorn Black labels were retired. I believe Princess Celestia herself owns the first and last bottles ever produced. Unfortunate, really. From what I heard, the wine was quite wonderful.”

“Okay, so again, why not?” Vinyl shrugged with a single foreleg as she regarded Fancy quizzically.

“Why not what?”

“You know, restart the winery?”

Fancy paused momentarily as he returned Vinyl’s curious look with his own confusion. “I believe I just told you.”

“Sure, but who cares? You’ve got the money to burn and it sounds like you’d enjoy it.”

“Because it’s the wrong decision.”

“Now you lost me. You want to do something, have the money to do it, it was successful in the past, but it’s the wrong decision?” she asked while counting the reasons with flicks of her hoof.

“I suppose, in that sense, it isn’t that obviously wrong. This space is better served for hosting parties when the castle gardens are unavailable. It can also moor and dock smaller airships brought by VIPs, though that has been a less frequent occurrence since I retired from my ambassadorship two years ago. Perhaps I should look into acquiring one of my own?”

“I guess, but you never know until you try.”

“With all due respect, that’s where you’re wrong, Vinyl. I guarantee this land is being used optimally. You know what my special talent is, right? I choose the best out of the best, the king of kings. Give me three crowns, and I will determine which one stands the tallest: the Kingmaker.

“While I could probably make the vineyard work, I saw that using these grounds as a pristine venue in the middle of the city would be better than farmland. I’ve made many good investments in no small part thanks to my ability to host any size function that I need from my backyard. One chance meeting at an event and I might help launch ten vineyards from this ‘waste of space.’”

“Yeah, but those wouldn’t be your vineyards,” she clarified.

“You’re right. But they would be owned by talented vignerons and vintners that are far more qualified in their crafting and selling than I could ever be. Skilled ponies benefit from the money I’ve accrued through investments in the talents of others, and I benefit from their success in kind.”

Vinyl frowned. “Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you never made anything.”

“Again, by your definition, yes, you are correct. My wealth is from managing my inheritance. I see myself as the steward of a greater legacy. Funnily enough, I have earned far more by investing in others’ crafts than my parents ever did making music. That wealth allows me to help others make things. When your talent is to distinguish talent, well, you can see how that could be quite lucrative when making financial decisions.”

“I guess. But doesn’t that, I dunno…” Vinyl looked back up at Fancy with a sinking something she couldn't quite place. She surveyed the sprawling lands around them. “Doesn’t it feel kinda empty?”

“Empty?”

“Think about it: you earn money to invest in others that makes you more money and then… what? I mean, you’re the richest pony in Canterlot, right?”

“Hardly,” Fancy laughed with a dismissive roll of his eyes. “I’m a distant seventeenth, last I was told. I’m not nearly ruthless enough to be the richest one here.”

Vinyl groaned again and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her hoof. “I’m not sure if I should be disgusted by how disconnected from reality that sounds or relieved that you’re not crazy enough to care.”

“Truth be told, I did have a hoof in the rise of the sixteen that are ahead of me, but—”

“Stop! Ugh, you’re going to make me lose my lunch with how unintentionally pretentious that sounds.” Vinyl collected herself after a few fake gags, garnering a small chuckle from the stallion. “What I mean is, what’s the point of making the money if you’re not doing anything you want with it?”

“But I am doing what I want with it, Vinyl.” Fancy smiled as he swept his hoof across the open skies above them. “I am helping others and making them shine with it. I can’t think of a better use for it than that.”

“I guess. It’s just, I never thought to ask anypony with a cutie mark what they’d want their special talent to be.”

Fancy lowered his hoof back to the ground slowly. He looked puzzled by Vinyl’s reaction, and seemed to be giving it some thought. She noticed him idly start polishing his monocle as he looked past her towards the river.

“Just saying,” Vinyl added with a noncommittal shrug of her shoulders, bringing Fancy back down to Equestria.

“R-right. I guess I’m simply surprised there’s nothing you’d enjoy being better at,” Fancy clarified as he placed his monocle back over his eye.

“That’s not what you asked. I’d like to be better at a lot of things, like long-distance galloping, staying focused when reading boring spellbooks, maybe cooking, but there’s absolutely nothing I’d rather be than a musician. It’s what I am, and nopony is changing that.”

Fancy’s eyes widened slightly at the force of the mare’s conviction, but then smiled at her passionate pride. “Well then, I will need to think of a better ice breaker in the future,” he joked as he casually strolled past the DJ towards the river. “Shall we head back to the mansion?”

“Uh, yeah? But, umm…” Vinyl answered as she looked over her shoulder towards the mansion in the opposite way he was heading.

“Not to worry, Vinyl. We’re just taking a little detour. I have one more thing that I’d like to show you. I think you might find it interesting.”

Vinyl sighed and reinforced her fire shield before following Fancy’s trail through the snow. After all, there was no way to refuse him.


Fancy led Vinyl along the river, following the flow of the water. As they neared the edge of the estate, she stepped carefully onto the slowly forming cobblestone path as it coalesced into a full pathway leading to a small gate. Beyond it was a shallow staircase leading under a bridge into the canals of Canterlot. The river itself flowed into a wide waterfall that cascaded into the channels below. Though it wasn’t a long distance to the water below, the drop was tall enough for the light roar of the falls to scatter mist into the area.

The small streets below were nearly frozen solid from the snow and river water. Shadowy areas of the waterways were dotted with frozen patches and ice flows that broke apart when the sun moved enough for its light to warm their surfaces. Vinyl stepped with the utmost care as she navigated the slippery steps. Fancy offered a helping hoof, but she pretended not to see it. She’d have to reduce her shield’s strength to safely take it, and there was no way she was getting out from under her warm, magical blanket.

The treacherous steps zig-zagged back and forth, ending under the center of the large bridge passing overhead. Beyond them was a thin cobblestone pathway just wide enough for two ponies to pass each other carefully. Fancy stopped a few trots from the stairs and rifled through his coat pocket as his eyes scanned the wall in front of him. Finding his mark, Fancy smiled and waved at Vinyl to come closer.

“Here we are. Suede’s best kept secret of the estate,” Fancy called out over the burble of the waterfall.

He pulled a keyring out of his pocket, cycled through it to an old cast iron key, and inserted it into the small keyhole hidden within the stone wall. With a loud clunk of the aged tumblers, the stone wall vanished in a flash of magic, revealing a hidden wrought iron gate. Fancy nudged the gate open, the hinges creaking loudly from years of neglect, and walked inside. He held it open for Vinyl who stood at the entrance, locked in place. She traced the outline of the wall leading into the dark, foreboding unknown.

“Is everything alright?” Fancy asked with slight concern.

“Y-yeah! Why wouldn’t it be?” Vinyl tittered as she trotted through the doorway at a healthy clip. She pushed down the creeping thought of entering a strange, hidden doorway under a bridge in the back alleys of Canterlot with a stallion she barely knew. There was nothing wrong with that. If there was something, then whatever that something was wouldn’t be much of a thing for much longer if her magic had anything to say about it.

“Here, let me get the lights.”

Fancy flicked an old wand on the wall, creating a fiery mote of cyan magic that streaked towards the darkness. A lamp hanging from the ceiling caught the magic, ricocheting the firebolt around until it sparked to life, and shot another streaking light further down the tunnel. The pattern continued until the glow rounded a corner out of sight, revealing a crystalline tunnel supported by wooden beams.

Vinyl looked around as she cautiously stepped deeper inside.“Why is there a random crystal mine under a bri—” Vinyl yelped as a loud, resounding thunk of metal and clamor of stones boomed from behind, whisking the trickle of sunlight away in an instant.

“Sorry!” Fancy called out. “I should’ve warned you that the lock is a bit louder on this end.” He gave a few tentative pushes against the wall to ensure the magic seal was secure.

“It’s fine. Forget about it.”

“By the way, did you step on a mouse, or was that adorable squeak you?” Fancy teased as he joined Vinyl’s side.

“I said, forget about it.” The veiled threat through her gritted teeth wasn’t enough to wipe the tiny smile off of Fancy’s face.

“Fair enough. To answer your question, this is a secret access tunnel leading to Chateau Verde’s wine cellar,” he said, pointing down the crystalline pathway. The pale blue crystals jutting from every angle shimmered from the flickering magefire lamps. The glow played off the wall’s polygonal surfaces, scattering light into mesmerizing blue beams, but their aetherial wonder was undercut by the unwelcoming crystal’s razorlike formations.

“Okay? So, why is there a random secret tunnel under a bridge?” Vinyl asked more warily than she meant to while keeping a close eye on their maw-like surroundings.

“If you recall, Mother and Suede were quite the famous couple. When they needed to get out and about without garnering attention from the paparazzi, they used this tunnel to sneak out of the mansion. I haven’t needed to use it much myself.”

Vinyl’s jaw dropped at the admission. He was one of the most powerful ponies in the city, probably in all of Equestria. The only thing separating him from true royal power was his lack of a horn and wings. Not even Princess Luna held a candle to his influence within the elite circles of Canterlot.

“Surprised? I might be a famous pony, but I’m no superstar like Summers. I also lead a very boring private life, so they find it better to corner me in public than in front of my home.” He ran a hoof along the shimmering walls carved out of the ancient crystals. “I mostly used this to sneak out in my younger and wilder days. Following this wall outside will take you a couple of blocks away from the Drive.”

“You? Everypony’s golden colt? Wild on the Drive? I really can’t picture that,” Vinyl snickered at his claim.

“Life has a way of changing everypony. Sometimes for the better, others for the worse. I was quite the stupid brat back in my youth, despite my mother’s best attempts at rearing me.” Fancy sighed wistfully as he looked up at a flickering lamp. “A stubborn fool with too much money to spend on getting anything his little heart desired.”

Vinyl pictured a fanciful blueblood running amok in Cantrips. “I bet I would’ve hated you on sight.”

“I’m not so sure.” He raised a hoof to his chin with a smirk as he considered the idea. “I was pretty loose with my allowance after a few drinks. A smart filly such as yourself would’ve been able to take me for all I was worth if you were so inclined.”

“Then I definitely would’ve hated you. You’re probably an annoying drunk anyway,” Vinyl japed too quickly, before remembering who she was talking to. She bit down on her lips to stop anything else from slipping out, but Fancy didn’t seem to mind the accidental insult.

“I believe I was simply obnoxious in general, but you’d have to ask somepony else about that. I usually had forgotten everything by the next morning.”

“Wow. That much of an animal, huh?” Vinyl added nervously.

“I couldn’t tell you how many of Suede’s lectures I sat through while hungover.” Fancy shook his head at the memory, or perhaps the lack-thereof.

As they followed the lit pathway, the blue crystal formations yielded to compacted dirt and rocks supported by wood slats and grassy root systems along the ceiling. She had to give whoever dug it out credit as she couldn’t even see where it ended. She couldn’t help but wonder if these were already here or if Fancy’s dad had brought in a subterranean species to help with the excavation.

Wait… Fancy’s dad.

“Fancy, do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Not at all. The whole point of this outing is to get to know each other. If it’s about my drinking habits, I’d be happy to share a few more reasonable recommendations.”

“No thanks, I don’t need another potion from Princess Luna.” The DJ blanched a bit at the terrible memory her body remembered more than her mind did. She hadn’t had a drop of liquor since her encounter with that eldritch abomination in a glass.

“I see. Then what is it? Something I can help you with?”

“No, it’s just…” Vinyl trailed as she tried to find a better way to ask her question, only to come up short. “Do you not like your dad?”

Fancy blinked and turned to give Vinyl his undivided attention. “What ever gave you the impression that I don’t like Suede?”

“That.” She pointed a hoof at the stallion’s mouth. “You keep calling him ‘Suede’ even though you seem perfectly fine with Summers being your mom.” Seeing the staggered stallion stop in his tracks, Vinyl retreated a few steps back with a nervous chuckle and coughed to clear her throat. She waved a hoof defensively, hoping to avoid any backlash from the question. “D-don’t worry, I totally get it if you do. Trust me, I’m right there with you.”

Fancy blinked in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I thought you were doing a subtle jab at him by not calling him ‘Father’ or something. I mean, I hated mine, so I thought maybe we had that in common, you know?” she explained hastily with a forced smile.

Fancy stopped dead in his tracks and started aghast at Vinyl.

“Okay, so it’s not exactly the same since I hated both of my parents.”

“Good heavens!” Fancy placed a hoof over his heart, shuddering at her cold attitude. “How can you say that so brazenly?”

“Cause I do?” Vinyl squinted one eye and looked at the stallion askew.

Fancy bristled at her detachment. “That’s a terrible thing to say!”

“No it’s not. It’s the truth. And stop turning this around on me! Aren’t you doing the same thing with Suede?” Vinyl furrowed her brow in perplexed irritation.

“Good heavens, no! I… loved him.” Fancy sighed in resignation and started polishing his monocle again. She almost mentioned that as well, but she was already treading on thin ice. “I stopped calling him that after he married Éclair. I thought I made my stance on my familial connections crystal clear during the job offer.”

Vinyl’s heart jumped into her throat as her mind caught up to what he was saying. Of course he’d switch his language to make sure that never slipped out. That Éclair angle was the whole reason she was hired in the first place. She chastised herself as she smacked the side of her head for her stupidity.

She messed up. She messed up badly. How many times would she have to be reminded that her feelings weren’t normal? Nothing about her relationships were ever normal! All she had to do was keep one, stupid, rich pony happy, and she couldn’t even go one outing with the guy without shoving her hoof in her mouth. Love was ruining everything again, just like it always did.

“Look, can we just forget this conversation ever happened and move on? Please? I need to get back to work now!” The DJ tried to quickly walk past the larger unicorn, but was cut off from her escape by his foreleg.

“Wait!” Fancy trotted in front of her, cutting off her path, but he didn’t put a hoof on her. She looked away, not wanting to meet the stallion’s eyes. “Vinyl, please. Slow down, take a deep breath, and tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong! Why would anything be wrong?”

“Because you look absolutely petrified. Even more so than you did earlier at the entrance.”

“Okay, sure, let’s go with that,” Vinyl agreed as she rushed behind Fancy and tried to push him down the tunnel with her magic. “I don’t like caves ‘cause they’re dark and scary. So let’s get out of this almost-cave this-a-way before I mess anything else up!”

“Vinyl Scratch!” Fancy said sternly, shaking Vinyl to her core. She released her magic grip and tried to look anywhere but at her employer.

“I’m sorry.” Vinyl’s face fell to the floor. “I didn’t mean to make you mad. Just forget everything and let me get back to my job, please?”

After a moment, Fancy sighed and his face softened. “I’m not angry at all, Vinyl. I wanted us to get to know each other, and while I wasn’t quite expecting it to take that turn, I’m more than a little worried about you. What are you so scared of?”

Vinyl bit down on her lip. She didn’t dare look Fancy in the eyes. However, he didn’t give her much say in the matter as he wouldn’t move out of the way. After a few more attempts to get past the concerned stallion, she decided to face the music and open her eyes. It didn’t take long for the fear to explain itself.

“M-me? You’re scared of me?”

“Can you blame me? My grant money is from you, I’m not sleeping under a bridge because of you. Heck, I bet if I looked hard enough, I’d find that you had your hooves in my contract at Cantrips. I promised myself I’d never be dependent on anypony again, but now, you practically own me.”

“You make it sound like I’m going to throw you away.”

“But, you could, right? Just one little flick of your fetlock and poof! No more Vinyl Scratch. Can you even begin to understand how terrifying that is?”

Fancy opened his mouth to protest, but they both knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on.

“I hate it,” Vinyl whispered before snorting and stamping the ground under her hooves with rising indignation. “I hate it so much! I hate that I can’t support myself and I have to rely on you! I want to hate you, too! I want to hate you so much, but I can’t! You’ve only ever been nice to me, and I don’t know why!”

“Vinyl, please.” Fancy began lifting a hoof to reach out to her, only to put it back down. “I promise I would never do that to you. What would be the point?”

“How should I know? You tell me! You said you always choose the ‘best of the best,’ so what’s ‘best’ about hiring a messed up nightclub DJ who’s only good at blowing up crystals for a job she doesn’t know how to do? To keep Éclair’s secret? I was gonna do that anyway, so bad call on that bribe. It couldn’t be to keep Fleur happy. I know something easier you could do than play white knight with me.”

The more she thought about her situation, the less sense it made to her. If he was so desperate to keep a secret, why bother with keeping the archives in the first place? Maybe he was hoping she’d blow everything up in an accident so he had plausible deniability. It didn’t matter anyway. They were dead. Why should he care about what they wanted? Even if they were last requests like Fleur said, it wasn’t like they’d come back from Elysium demanding him to carry them out their wishes. They wouldn’t be able to love him for doing it either. Nothing made sense.

“Why do you care?” Vinyl asked, genuinely confused by her boss.

“I told you before that I saw something in you, Vinyl Scratch. To be honest, I don’t know what that is yet, but I know you just need a chance to shine. This is that chance. And, you know what? You’re right about me. I’ve never made anything by myself. If not for my inheritance and my talent, I know I wouldn’t be where I am today. And I might not know who your parents were or what they did to deserve your resentment, but you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t hate anypony. It’s too exhausting of a burden to carry.”

“Burden?” Vinyl’s disquieted laughing echoed emptily through the cavernous halls, its hollowness only compounded by the icy edge in her underlying bitter anger. “Everything I am is in spite of them. I’m better off now than I ever was when they were around. My hatred for them fuels me.”

Fancy’s face sank with pity for the younger unicorn. “Surely, there must’ve been some good memories—”

“Not everypony gets to have a Sauna Summers in their life!”

Fancy recoiled at the young mare’s outburst. The pressure of her clenched jaw popped her ears as she grinded her teeth in frustration. How dare he give those two any benefit of the doubt!

“I’ve been listening to her all morning and she sounded so wonderful. Kind, creative, and encouraging; I’d kill to have a mom like her. Instead I got stuck with…” Vinyl trailed with a sigh as she tried to calm herself down. “It doesn’t matter. They’re both gone, long gone, and they’re never coming back. Good riddance.”

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two. Vinyl decided it was her turn to break the ice today.

“If you’re not gonna fire me, can we just get back to the mansion before I have a chance to say something else stupid? I need to finish the entry I was working on before it gets too late.”

Fancy simply nodded and stepped to the side, allowing Vinyl to join his gait down the path. Not another word was said between the two as Fancy led her through the winding tunnel. A few eternal minutes later, they rounded the last turn, coming face-to-face with a large, round door. Without any fanfare, Fancy pushed open the fake cask, showing what should’ve been an amazing secret of the estate. Instead, Vinyl just trudged through the wide barrel to reach the wine cellar proper. She kept going, finding the stairs up the main floor herself.

After a long, lonely walk through the halls by herself, she stepped into the safety of the studio and deadbolted the door. Next time she heard a knock, she’d be sure to pretend nopony was home.

Author's Note:

If you find a simple mistake in the GSP (Grammar, Spelling, or Punctuation), please let me know through a private message rather than leaving it in the comment section. Leave the discussions to discussions. Thank you for reading.

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