Chapter 1

"I said no."

"But this could be your big break! Not to mention they're willing to pay triple what you normally ask for."

"Look. I suggest you leave. I don't and never will play for a rave party and that's final," Vinyl Scratch said, stomping her foot.

"Alright, alright! I'm leaving," Neon said before promptly leaving.

"Vinyl, what's going on? I heard someone shouting something about a rave?" Octavia, Vinyl's friend and partner of 10 years, came behind her.

Vinyl sighed and told her what Neon said.

"Vinyl, please," Octavia began, "You know we need that money for bills as there haven't been many concerts for me to play in lately."

"I don't do raves," Vinyl insisted."I don't care what you say. I don't care if it's my ticket to the big time. I won't do it." Vinyl sighed. "After all, I did make a promise that I wouldn't do it after what happened last time."

"What do you mean 'last time'?"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?! I don't do raves and that's final!" Vinyl snapped, stomping away. She slammed the basement door shut and went downstairs to her DJ studio.

Octavia was shocked.

Vinyl had never snapped at her before. She decided to go to the park and let her partner cool off. She was deep in thought when she bumped into Princess Twilight Sparkle, who dropped the book she was reading.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't see you there," Octavia apologized.

"That's alright. I didn't see you either." Twilight picked up her book. "You looked deep in thought. Is something wrong?"

Octavia sighed and quickly explained what happened.

"I see. Well, giving her some space was definitely the right thing to do," Twilight said.

"It's just surprising that she snapped at me like that."

"Something obviously happened to her. It makes sense since she's never mentioned it."

"True," Octavia said. "I do wonder what it was, though."

"Who knows? But if you're going to ask her, be careful. It's probably a sensitive subject," Twilight advised.

"Don't worry, I will be," Octavia said. "Oh, and thank you, Princess."

Twilight smiled and went on her way.

It was evening when Octavia finally returned home. She found dinner had been made, which was odd as Vinyl never really cooked.

When asked about it, Vinyl replied, "It was wrong of me to snap at you today. This was the least I could do."

They ate dinner quietly. Afterwards, Octavia gathered up the courage to ask her questions.

"Vinyl," Octavia began. "What exactly happened at your last rave, if I can ask?"

Vinyl sighed. "Do you really want to know?"

Octavia nodded. Vinyl led her partner downstairs to her DJ room. She played a particular note on her keyboard and it opened up a secret room. The room was smaller than the original version of Vinyl's DJ attire. On a nearby nightstand lay a framed photo of a young Vinyl and another child, as well as a small wooden box.

"Who's this? With you in the photograph."

"That's my brother, Long Play. And that was my first DJ outfit. He made it for me." Vinyl pointed at the outfit. “I was sixteen."

"What does this have to do with your last rave?" Octavia asked.

"I'll get to that. But first I have to talk about young me. The first dubstep concert I ever went to was called Dead Rat. I was eight at the time."

"Dead rat?"

"Hey, I didn't name them." Vinyl chickled. "Anyways, I was trying to get closer to the stage to see the DJ, and didn't realize I was close to the speakers. And that's when the bass dropped. Next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital, not being able to hear anything. Turns out my eardrums had been ruptured, making me permanently deaf.

"Eventually, I learned to read lips, as well as sign language. I also learned to DJ by feeling the vibrations of the music. That's why my music has such a heavy bass. Turns out I was a natural even though I was deaf.

"I ended up playing in a few nightclubs. Under the watchful eye of my brother, of course. Made some good money that way. Anyways, at my first, and last, rave, my brother sewed my costume, which gave me my famous shades. He told me to do my best.

"And that was the last time I ever saw him alive."

Octavia gasped.

Vinyl nodded. "He was twenty-two and had overdosed on cocaine and ecstasy. I sank into a deep depression after that, and even tried to take my own life at one point. It took me a long time to accept what happened and even longer to do music again.

"The reason I did music again is to honor my brother's memory. After all he's the one who got me into dubstep. You know, it's been ten years since that night, but I still remember it as if it were yesterday.

"After that night, I promised myself I would never do a rave again. I even joined a group in Manehattan to help kids leave raves and find other places to party. I personally go to raves and help kids who are being pressured in taking party drugs. I've saved a lot of kids that way. One of them even became a cop.

"And that's why I don't do raves."

"I'm so sorry, Vinyl. I didn't know that happened to you," Octavia said.

"That's okay. I've accepted what happened. And you know what? Maybe you can come with me the next time I go visit him." Vinyl replied.

"I'd very much like that. I'd love to learn more about your brother, if you're willing to tell me."

"Sure. I've got plenty of stories about my brother." Vinyl yawned. "But I'm a bit tired right now. How about we get some sleep?"

Octavia nodded and followed Vinyl to bed, where they fell asleep in each other's arms.

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