Never Miss A Beat

by TaleweaverTheUnicorn

Vinyl, Chapter 4: Silver Tongue is in this one

Author's Note:

I'd go for Nightlife by Kenza for this one. Maybe Moonbow too. . . Kenza's just great, okay?

Vinyl waved goodbye to Octy and Pears, and clambered into the taxi that would be taking her to work. She wanted to get there good and early, make sure that Stellar hadn’t forgotten her gear. Again. Though with today going as good as it was? Stellar might have remembered this time.

Her whole body felt pleasantly stuffed with good vibes. The ol’ back hooves still ached a bit from standing propped up on the piano, but that was absolutely worth it to see Octy giving her that look. Just the thought of it sent a shiver along her spine again. Vinyl had expected to give her a shock, but amazement? That was icing. Tasty tasty icing.

She was still very hungry.

Delicious victory aside, it was good to have somepony around to riff with again. Not even the memory of Octavia reacting with revulsion at her flirting could dampen this good mood. Okay, maybe it did just a little. But not much! This was close to a friendship, at least, and Vinyl would take what she could get. And Vinyl was even willing to behave to keep it. She was well past the age of getting crushes, anyway.

She dropped a few extra bits into the taxi mare’s hat as she hopped down from the carriage. She scouted the outside of the place first, and then slipped in the front. The outside was humble, a sort of half speakeasy type deal. Most of the interior was dark, only the bar and a few tables were lit. It was a cozy dark neon vibe, purples and dark reds and those blacklight-like-thingies that she could never remember the name of.

Vinyl approached the bar, but before she could order, her phone buzzed. She checked it as she sat. Pears sent her a video message. Of Octy. Huh. She flipped it open. The caption read: ‘I Think you inspired her’. Vinyl mentally raspberry’d. As if. She tapped the message with a hoof.

It was a short video of Octy. She stood alone with her cello in a dark curtained room, eyes closed, bow held elegantly in the crook of her hoof. If Vinyl had been honest, she had expected Octavia to be more pomp than skill. This really put a hole in that theory. She made the strings sing, an accompaniment to Vinyl’s playing from earlier. She tapped her headphones with a hoof, cranking it.

At that moment, it ended. Three minutes out of a half hour bit? No, come on, where was the rest? Vinyl replayed it. Once. Twice. Just once more. She’d heard the cello plenty of times. She’d always thought it sounded kinda sad or otherwise bleh when mother played. Octy didn’t have that problem. When she played, it sounded like the sun peeking through clouds, or a cup of coffee on a lazy rainy afternoon-

A waving hoof interrupted the fourth repeat, and Vinyl recoiled from the barmare like she’d been slapped. Again. The pretty purple pony’s mouth moved, and Vinyl cocked her head. She fumbled for the damper button on the phones.

“Yo, sorry, what?”

“We have your equipment backstage” She said, with the longsuffering patience of a lifelong shepherd of drunk ponies. “You can go set up or practice or. . . whatever. We don’t have any other music tonight.”

“You ain’t gonna need other music” Vinyl gave her a signature over-the-glasses wink. “Though I will need some booze-” She paused, images of Octavia floating across her mind. She hadn’t even seen Vinyl perform, not really. If she was shocked by the piano, she’d be blown away by her good stuff. Maybe the booze could wait.

“Actually, I’m good” She said to the mare, who was halfway to a cocktail already. “Nopony will mind if I jam a bit beforehoof, right? Get my cobwebs out?”

“Uh, no. That’s fine” She seemed surprised as she stashed the booze back where it was. Had she been told to expect partier Vinyl, not Octy’s savage-and-good-looking-rival Vinyl? Who knows. Well, plenty of time for drinking afterwards. She headed towards the backstage area, magic taking over for hooves on the phone. She shot back at Pears: ‘She ain’t seen nothing, yet.’

Amazingly, all her stuff was actually here, the deck crammed into a narrow hall next to a very nasty smelling green room. Pretty much ideal creative environs. She hoofed through some records, and set up a few soundboards. There were still a couple hours before the show. If she could get hella inspired for a bit, maybe she had time to make something new.

She set a recording of the piano piece to play, and began to layer sounds over it. Start simple. Then you bring in the fancy stuff. She played the first part back and forth, getting good and lost in it. She knew it cold, obviously, but it was like those creepy pony dolls you make dresses on; it was helpful to have, even if you know what ponies look like.

She layered another layer of rhythm, started sprinkling some delicious melody over top. Vinyl considered a number of sounds, and rejected anything too heavy. Lighter sounds. Stuff that made you feel like you were galloping, or maybe flying. A few more passes, mix in a little of this here, and that there. . .

Vinyl finally removed the underlying music, and listened to what she’d made, from the top. Not bad, actually. Needed a little more backbone, but other than that. . . She’d usually been able to cross apply her sweet musical skills from classical to electronic, or vice versa, but maybe the two genres had more in common than she’d thought.

This probably wasn’t music to play in her shows, was probably more trance-y than her fans were looking for. So, probably not something to spend much more time on. Well, whatever. She could at least burn time until the show. She started hunting for something new to add. A few more things, and she’d shoot it over to Octy. Or at least Octy through Pears.

“Yo, Vinyl! I’m talking here!” A stallion's voice. Vinyl dang near jumped out of her coat. She glanced up.

“Silver?” She gaped at the guy. Silver Tongue was another of her mother’s old friends' sons; they'd been forced to hang out constantly as foals. He’d grown, obviously. His awkward teen years had aged into a less awkward, more slippery look. He had earth pony bulk, but not in the way Octy did, where it was a spicy hot result of hard work. Silver was bulky in the way a statue was, somewhat poorly carved into an image of an ideal pony.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’d be stunned too” Silver chuckled, he wrapped Vinyl in a hug, which she returned reluctantly. She had to hold her breath through the cloud of body spray. She gave him the usual two pats on the back of the neck, and pulled back.

“So uh, why are you here?” Vinyl asked, once she could get a breath of clear air.

“Dang, nice to see you too, I guess” He smirked. He was always very smirky, even back in the day. “But you know why. My dad heard from your mom that you were in town, so I gotta go show you my support or whatever.”

“Yeah that’s what I thought” Vinyl shot a smirk back. “That is classic-our-parents, that is. Your dad still craving my sweet sweet noble name and title?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve had to sit through dinners with every mare of baroness and up. Even sat me down with Prince Blueblood.” He chortled at that last.

“I think that’d suit you, Mr. Tongue.” Vinyl chuckled back, plugging in her phone to upload the song.

“You know why they call me that. Maybe we should skip the gig and head back to my place” He waggled his eyebrows. Vinyl felt her eyes roll, and she ignored that. She began copying the song to send to Pears. A text from her mother was atop it.

‘Vinyl’ It read. Oh boy, Harpsichord was in brownnosing mode today, using her real name like that. ‘Silver Tongue is coming to your show. Be seen with him enough, and a cheque with two thousand bits will find its way to your account. I need his father to be favorable to me in the upcoming weeks. Don’t let me down.’

Vinyl glanced up at Silver. He continued waggling his eyebrows. She could deal with him for the evening, at least for two large. He ran a hoof through his mane and winked at her. Ugh. She returned her attention to the song, which she sent over to Pears. He’d show it to Octy, right?

“That your mum?” Silver asked, subtly-not-so-subtly trying to peek. “She telling you what my dad told me? That we gotta be ‘seen’?”

“Probably. You get paid too?” Vinyl tucked the phone back in her saddlebag.

“Nope. Probably should be, though. I’ll just expect. . . other recompense. Drinks? I’ll buy you one.” Silver headed towards the door without waiting for an answer. Vinyl hesitated. She had a good groove going, but her mom and Silver had kinda thrown it off. Buck it. She wasn’t getting anything else good done tonight. And being drunk did sound appealing, suddenly. Funny how that happens.

She followed Silver to the bar. Silver immediately rattled off something extremely complicated to the pretty barmare, who was nodding, a shaker balanced in a spin atop her hoof. She was good. Vinyl’s drink had apparently already been made. Blueberry Whiskey Buck. She tapped Silver, who shrugged.

“Everypony knows Vinyl Scratch drinks double Blue Bucks.” The barmare chimed in with a grin. Vinyl grinned right back. Maybe she could salvage this night after all. She took a generous gulp of her drink. Nice and strong, just how she liked it.

“Oh yeah, everypony” Silver snorted, accepting his own fancy-pants-weird-shaped-glass of booze. “At least when she’s not just drinking whatever’s nearest.”

“Sure, yeah. How many words were in your order?” Vinyl tilted the glass back, finishing the second half in one gulp. “Keep it simple. ‘Blue Buck or whatever’s nearest’.”

“Oh Vinyl. First pony in Equestria to somehow get negative class” Silver swpt a hoof dramatically across his forehead. Vinyl found herself chuckling along. Silver became much more tolerable with booze in the mix. “Never change, filly. We gotta do us, not our parents' baggage.” Silver rapped the bar and gestured to Vinyl, ordering a second round.

“Easy now. I still have a show to do” Vinyl said, giving him a gentle forehoof kick to his shoulder. He smirked again.

“Yeah, right. Like you can’t spin music and dance wild while absolutely hammered” Silver pressed a hoof to his mouth in mock shock “Speaking of, I got you something. Remember these?”

“That’s trouble” Vinyl said, eying the hoof he tucked into his pocket. He produced three small bottles, each holding about a tablespoon of glowing golden liquid. Potions. Vinyl felt her eyes widen and her heart increase tempo. “Oh yeah, definitely trouble.”

“It's a synesthesia blend. Good stuff” He slid the bottles towards her as he spoke. “Your favorite, if I remember.”

“Mm, well, you’re not wrong” Vinyl eyed them. They were genuinely tempting, a hallmark of the old days, of her playing music for no one but herself, reveling in each minor show she got to play. She grabbed one of the bottles, her magic finding the cracks between the glass and the cork, popping it open.

“Cheers” She said, tipping the tiny bottle into her mouth, feeling the warmth of the drops of liquid, too magical to ever cool completely. They rolled tastelessly over her tongue and down her gullet. She chased them with a swig of her cocktail.

“Now go kick rump, filly” Silver smirked again, sliding the remaining bottles towards her.

“Don’t tell me how to party, straight boy” Vinyl rolled her eyes, tucking the bottles away for later. Despite herself, she felt a rising excitement. Cute barmare, and some nice pregame potions? Maybe she’d enjoy this gig more than she expected, even with Silver and her mom bearing down on her.

Vinyl meandered her way up to the stage. A filly in a staff uniform was desperately and lousily messing with the wires of her deck. She seemed spectacularly unqualified to do so, and was trying to tell the plugs apart by staring down their barrels.

“Yo, it’s fine, I got it myself” Vinyl said, stepping in to push the heavy thing the rest of the wat onstage with her head. She didn’t trust her magic right now. She glanced back at the filly, who was now staring at the floor. Was she that eager to get herself zapped by magic? Or did she think Vinyl was yelling at her? “Want me to show you? It’s kinda tricky.” She nodded again, more energetically this time.

“Magic’s pretty weird, especially if you're not used to it, right? You need different kinds of magic charges- You know what? That doesn’t matter either. You just need to go crossways, do blue into red and red into blue, yellow into green. No matter what the thing is.” Vinyl explained, quickly. The filly nodded along, eyes wide enough to take photographs. “Don’t get your hoof pinched. That’ll be bad. Real bad. Bigger gigs, usually unicorns handle this, but if you gotta do it by hoof, fit it in, then push from this sticky-outy part here, alright?” The filly nodded eagerly. She was young. This might have been her first job. Vinyl rested a hoof on her head.

“Let me tell you something. Even in bigger gigs?” Vinyl lowered her voice to a whisper, leaning in all conspiracy-like. “It’s easy to screw up, so I check it myself anyway. That’s not a jab at you, filly, it’s just complicated.”

“Um!” The filly called, as Vinyl began to turn away. “S-sorry, can I have. . . Can you sign this. . ?” She held out a battered copy, probably second-hoof, of Scratchbaby. Her first album. Vinyl’s heart melted a little at the sight.

“You got it. Here, let me do you one better” She scribbed her name down on the old album, and pulled out a pre-signed copy of her newest one, ‘Blue Sun, White Sky’. “This hasn’t even hit stores yet. Giveaway exclusive. Keep it hush, aite?” The filly nodded so furiously Vinyl worried she’d throw her neck out. Vinyl gave her a final pat on the head and, gear finally set up, she turned around to face a swelling crowd of ponies. She checked her phone. It wasn’t quite time to start officially, but. . . Close enough. She wanted music. And maybe another round.

“What up!” She yelled at the ponies in the audience, some of whom jumped slightly. “We’re gonna let it out here in a minute, right? What are we feeling?” There was a slightly confused roar as the ponies picked up the hype. Vinyl wobbled back over behind the deck and spun something up.

With the first thrum of music from her speakers, she saw a ripple of blue cross her vision. Not bad. This wasn’t just synesthesia. It was good synesthesia. She felt the slow creep of euphoria as the potion spread through her body, tickling at the tip of each hoof, daring her to dance, to let loose.

She ran a hoof across the buttons, and music began to thump out of the speakers. Vinyl played a few experimental samples. She watched the ripples of color, a four on the floor beat in chroma across her eyes. A drink was surreptitiously delivered to her by the stagehoof filly, and she caught Silver’s eye over at the bar. He raised an eyebrow at her. Well, she supposed it was free. Cant say no to free.

She’d been worried about being able to get in the groove. Not anymore. A grin crept across her muzzle as she freestyled a short piece in between longer tracks. A rainbow of notes filled her ears and eyes. She found herself playing one of the tracks from Blue Sun, and even better, found herself bopping to it. She’d named the album for its blue and white waves, like clouds, and it didn’t disappoint. It painted the skies in her vision, and for a moment she felt like she was a pegasus, soaring. She didn’t usually play her new stuff until she had time to sell albums properly, but whatever. The ponies on the floor redoubled their dancing efforts, so, totally worth it.

One song flowed into the next, and the evening began to pass in strange fits and starts. Drinks kept coming. Vinyl began weaving in one or two things from Scratchbaby, for the sake of the filly from earlier. Scratchbaby was much different than she remembered, painted in cool colors, like taking a rest in the shade. The ponies didn’t seem as hype about the trancy-er stuff, but nopony threw any bottles, either, which was close enough. Before she knew it, she found herself dancing atop her left speaker, feeling the bass rumbling through her hooves. It invigorated her, and her every muscle sang with the joy of motion, music, and color. Lights blurred and Equestria revolved around her. For one glorious moment, she forgot about everything else.

And then it was over. The black and white mosaic of the ‘show’s over’ buzz sounded in her headphones, and she began to wrap her final song, mellowing it down into silence. The colors were beginning to fade from the sounds, the world left in her eyes turning to shades of gray, a common withdrawal symptom. She hopped down from her perch, toppling to the floor as her hooves got tangled on each other. Whoops. She popped up, glancing around. Nopony seemed to have noticed, so she put an extra swagger in her step and made her way, carefully, offstage.

“Dang, Vinyl,” Silver said as she approached. His words slurred into each other just a bit. “You know I think electronic is crap, but that was pretty decent. And your dancing? Dang, filly.”

“Pretty decent, listen to this guy” Vinyl laughed, long and loud. She tried to make her way back to her barstool, nearly falling over as she did. Silver caught her.

“Easy there.” The hoof he used to steady her did not leave, it wrapped itself around her midsection. “You ready to blow this taco stand?”

“Yeahhhh. . .” Vinyl said. She had something tomorrow morning, she was pretty sure. Was it another Octy lunch? Those were important, didn’t wanna miss them. Her eyes tracked the floor under her hooves as it moved. They were going? Oh, yeah, of course. She wobbled a little, and Silver held her up.

“I take it back, you might not be a lightweight.” He said. His signature smirk filled Vinyl’s vision, and she took a few steps back, almost colliding with a janitor. The bar was mostly empty now, but that likely made the floors even more treacherous. She allowed Silver to pull her along.

“Dude, how many rounds did you buy me? Don’t give me any of that.” Vinyl said, belatedly, as cold winter air hit her face. “Dang, cold. My jacket, it’s back-”

“It’s fine, I’ll keep you warm” Silver murmured, tossing his own over Vinyl’s shoulders. Again, the hoof outstayed its welcome. He steered her gently to the parking lot, where a bored looking colt manned what she guessed was a sleek black carriage.

“Hey, hang on,” Vinyl said. Something about this situation was triggering a sluggish alarm bell in her head. “Where are we going?”

“My apartment, naturally” Silver said, flashing her a smile. The hoof across her back began to rotate, giving her a gentle massage. “We have to be seen together, right?”

“Look, my dude” Vinyl shoved him off, which mostly only sent her toppling. He barely moved. “You know I don’t swing that way. Pumping me full of drinks ain’t changing that.” She stepped back again, finding herself landing hard on the pavement.

“I was pretty sure you liked your ponies like you like your alcohol” Silver said, offering her a hoof. “Whatevers closest, right? Besides, think of the bits.”

“Not happening, bud” Vinyl hauled herself up, adjusting her headphones and glasses, which were both askew. “Not for all the bits in the Princess’ treasury. I gotta do me.”

“Well, what a waste of my bits, then.” Silver sighed. He nodded to the carriage colt, who began hooking himself into the bridle. “Maybe I can call that a business expense. You can make your own way from here, yes? I have an early meeting.”

“Totally. Good luck with your dad I guess” Vinyl felt kinda bad for some reason, but relief quickly overpowered it. Narrow dodge, as always. Silver boarded his carriage and left without another word. Vinyl took a slow look around, taking stock of the situation. She was in the club parking lot. That’s fine. It was mostly empty as well, but there were a few ponies hailing taxis or carriage-pooling.

Vinyl shivered. It was bucking cold out here. She made her way back to the club, but found it locked. Welp, no jacket for her, apparently. Next order of business was a taxi. She found one parked nearby, maybe waiting on drunk clubbers. Perfect. The medium-dark tone stallion pulling it gave her a quick up and down, eyebrows climbing into his mane. Did she look that bad?

“Where to, lady?” He said, in that too-quick speech common to Manehattanites. Vinyl fixated on the word lady. When had she gone from filly to lady? She shook her head. Focus.

“Uh, sorry. That hotel with the chessboard-y pattern on it? Fancy one, uptown.” Vinyl grinned at him. His eyes widened yet further.

“Ehhh, that’s a long trip. You got bits? Fourty bits for that!” His surprise gave way to a somewhat predatory look. His eyes may have actually flashed the bits symbol. Vinyl reached for her saddlebag. Which was, naturally, inside, with her jacket. She turned back to face him.

“How about I pay you back tomorrow?” She said, shooting him double-hooves-and-a-wink. He rolled his eyes.

“Lady, you know how many drunk fillies ask me that every night?” He shrugged, adjusting the yoke on his shoulders. “Not biting. Find another cab.”

Vinyl flipped him the one hoof, and wandered back to the parking lot. Her hooves kept getting tangled on each other and the cracks in the pavement. She shivered again, her teeth starting to chatter. Would another taxi take her without bits? Probably not. She fumbled for her phone, which, thankfully, she’d kept hold of.

She squinted at the screen, too bright in the gloom. Her vision was still only in monochrome, making it hard to figure out the device. Just call Stellar, she could handle it. She managed to open contacts, tapping the call icon with her hoof. A minute passed, then two, before Vinyl remembered what she was doing. The phone had long since gone to voicemail. She hung up. Where was Stellar?

She glanced around again. The taxi from before had gone, carrying some other poor sap getting overcharged. Sweet Celestia, it was cold. She made her way across the lot to a street, lined with shops. Most were closing down by now. Vinyl peered in each window as she passed, yep, all closed. Rats, she’d really overdone it this time.

As the last of the liquor warmth fleeing her, she made her way to a narrow alley. Hopefully it had- Ahah, there. A vent from a nearby shop was pumping steam from a rusty vent, and she huddled up to that. It smelled absolutely terrible, but it was warm. She fished out her phone again, trying Stellar one more time. If that didn’t work, well, Vinyl was no stranger to sleeping in alleyways.

There was a crackle on the other end, and a sleepy voice spoke.

“Vinyl?” It was Pears. He sounded exhausted. “Why are you calling me? Especially at one in the morning?!”

“Peaaaars~” Vinyl slurred. A grin spread onto her face despite everything. “Hey colt. That’s my bad. Why are you answering Stellar’s phone?”

“This is my phone, Vinyl. Goodness gracious, how much did you have?”

“Ah, you know” Vinyl tried to count on her hooves. “Four, eight. . . maybe eight? It was a long night, and Silver brought potions and was being all weird-”

“Silver? Potions?!”

“Is that Scratch?” Octavia’s voice. Pears said something Vinyl couldn’t quite catch.

“Yo, is that Octy? Lemme say hi!” Vinyl’s grin returned. Octy would probably laugh at this. Have a good roast at Vinyl’s expense, which honestly sounded fun. Anything to distract front he stink of this vent.

“What is it, Scratch?” Octy said, after a moment. She didn’t sound amused. Sounded kinda mad, actually.

“Just wanted to hear your voice, I guess.” Vinyl pushed some cardboard together, settling herself atop it. “It’s kinda cold out, and I was thinking you roasting me like usual might warm me up.”

“Cold out? Are you playing outdoors?” Octy sounded a little less mad. That was good.

“Nah, I played a club. I’m done now, just hanging out in an alley. Did I mention it’s cold?” Vinyl hunted around for something to cover herself with.

“Why, Scratch?”

“Oh, I locked my bits in the bar and they won't let me back in. Oh, and my jacket too.”

“You what?”

“Yeah, pretty dumb, right? I was trying to call Stellar but I guess I called Pears. Sorry about that. I’m gonna sleep. Let you get back to it too.” Vinyl gave up on finding a blanket-like-thing and just unfolded one of the larger boxes, facing it towards the vent.

“Sleep in an alley? Certainly not! You get yourself up right this moment!” Octy was back to angry now. Vinyl frowned.

“It’s cool, filly. I was homeless for a while, I know how to stay warm. Besides, I dunno how to get back to my hotel.” Vinyl layered up her impromptu shelter a little bit, and got settled as best she could. Octavia was silent. Had she lost connection? “Yo, Octy, you there?”

“I am getting my coat. I’m going to come get you. Where are you?”