The Fight Ballads

by screenaholic

Chapter 4

"You're in big trouble Scratch, you're lucky if I ever let you play in my club again." The club's owner was a middle aged stallion with a rusty gray coat and a black mane. He sat at his desk across from Vinyl and Octavia.

"Come on Beats, I was just doing my job." Vinyl sat clutching her shoulder.

"Destroying my club is not your job!"

"No, but entertaining ponies is, and that fight was damn entertaining."

"That entertainment caused a fortune in damages!" Beats slammed a hoof on his desk.

"Mr Beats, I would like to apologize for letting this scoundrel get the best of my temper. I assure you I will repay you for my share of the damages," Octavia said. She once again wore her usual air of grace and class.

"You're damn right you are! And you are too Scratch!"

"Yeah yeah," Vinyl slumped back in her chair. "Just give me a figure."

"Well let's see." Beats grabbed a pen and started scribbling on a piece of paper. "The light supports, the lights themselves, the crashing damaged the dance floor so much they'll have to be replaced completely. Then there's the dozen ponies that threatened to sue for emotional distress, and over half had scratches to sue for injury. I'll have to hire a lawyer, and Celestia willing win the cases. My insurance rates are going to go up for sure. And finally half of the stock behind the bar went "missing" in all of the commotion. I think this is a fair estimate." He slid the paper across for the two mares to see.

"Alright, let's see what the damage is." Vinyl picked up the paper and looked at the estimate. "WHAT!? Beats man, come on you can't be serious."

"Oh I am Scratch."

"Can't you cut me some slack? I broke my damn shoulder for Celestia's sake!"

"Oh come now, it can't be that bad." Octavia grabbed the paper. "WHAT!? This is preposterous!"

"Good lights are expensive ladies, and I want to get reinforced supports this time to prevent any future incidents."

"You know I can't afford this Beats. You're the steadiest gig I got, you've seen my paychecks."

"Which reminds me, I won't be paying you for tonight's show."

"Mr Beats," Octavia set the paper back on the desk and tried to maintain her composure, "I am, regrettably, unable to pay such a hefty some. Surely there must be some other way to repay my debt."

Beats sat back in his chair in thought as a grin slowly spread across his face. "As a matter of fact, there is."

"Great!" Vinyl shot up in her chair. "I knew you'd come around for me Beats, whatchu' got for us?"

"There's this...underground club I've been going to for a while now. The acts make some serious bits, and I've been wanting to get in some talent of my own."

"That's perfect! I'll play a few sets and we'll call it even," Vinyl said, excited for the easy out.

"I'm not certain that my music will go over very well at such a place, but if that's what it takes so be it," Octavia agreed.

"It's not that kind of club ladies."

"Huh?" Vinyl cocked her head.

"What kind of club is it?" Octavia asked.

"A fight club."

"What?!" Octavia shouted.

"Aw yeah! This is gonna be fun!" Vinyl punched the air in excitement.

"Mr Beats, I'm a concert cellist. I'm well respected in among the elite of Manehatten. I've risked my reputation enough with this debacle, I can't risk it further by joining a fight club."

"So wear a disguise, nopony has to know it's you," Beats suggested.

"I don't think that-"

"Or you can give me enough bits to cover the damages." Octavia's mouth froze. She wasn't sure how to respond.

"Come on Tavi, it'll be fun. I can make you a perfect disguise, nopony will know," Vinyl said.

"But, but..." Octavia struggled to find another way to repay her debt, but ultimately failed with a sigh. "Very well, if I must. However, Scratch must wear a disguise as well."

"Why? I don't have a problem with people seeing me in a fight club."

"Ponies already know that we have a...history Scratch. If you join a fight club with a partner, somepony would only have to put two and two together."

"So it's decided, the two of you will become my disguised fighters until you repay your debts. And if you want to keep fighting after, then we can make some big bits together."

"I would not count on it Mr Beats," Octavia said.

"Your first fight will be in a week, meet me in the alley behind out back then."

"A week? You forget something Beats?" Vinyl motioned her head to her hurt shoulder. Beats glanced at it, stood from his chair and walked around the desk. "Uh, Beats? What are yo-OWW!"

Beats let go of the DJ's leg after shoving it back into it's socket. "It was only dislocated, you'll be fine. Now get out of my office." Without another word, the two mares rose from their chairs and exited the office.

"So Tavi, if you want to come back to my place we can get you a disguise," Vinyl said as they were walking out of the club.

"I think not. It's been a long night, I need to rest." Octavia grabbed a napkin and a pen off of the bar and jotted on it. "Here, this is my address. Come by tomorrow at noon."

"Alright, I'll be there."

"Good, then if you'll excuse me, I want to put as much distance between myself and this place as possible." Octavia pushed her way through the door, happy to put the mess behind her for the night.

---

Knock knock knock. Octavia looked up from her book and turned towards the door. I suppose that would be Scratch. With a sigh, Octavia set the book on her coffee table and walked to the door. She placed a hoof on the knob, but took a deep breath to prepare herself before opening it. "You're late."

"What? You said noon right?" Vinyl stood in the doorway with a duffel bag slung on her back.

"I did, and it's twelve fifteen."

The DJ shrugged. "Close enough."

Octavia sighed again and shook her head. "Well, come in." She stepped aside and held out a hoof to indicate Vinyl should enter.

Vinyl stepped in and looked around. "Nice place, little too prissy for my taste, but nice." Octavia lived on the eighth floor of an apartment building in midtown Manehatten. She always kept it clean and tidy, making sure everything was in it's proper place.

"Thank you, I suppose. Can I get you something to drink?" Octavia didn't particularly want the visit to last longer than need be, but she wouldn't let that be an excuse for her to lose her manners.

"Sure, got any Red Buck and vodka?"

"Really now, Red Buck and vodka? It's not even twelve thirty." Why am I surprised, of course she drinks during the day.

"You asked if I wanted a drink," Vinyl defended herself.

"I was thinking more along the lines of tea, or juice."

"Oh. No, I'm fine."

Octavia rubbed a hoof against her temple. "Let's just get this over with."

"Right, let's get to it." Vinyl set her bag down began to dig through it. "First we'll need to cover your face, this should do it." She brought out a mask and tossed it to Octavia.

Octavia caught the mask and looked it over. It was a simple black ski mask, with a long hole cut out to see through. "This is it? You're 'perfect disguise'?"

"Of course not, it's just the start."

Octavia looked at the mask again. "Well, I suppose it will keep my face hidden, although I'm not sure all of my hair will fit in this."

"Hmm," Vinyl thought. "Don't worry, I've got this." She stuck a hoof back in the bag, and tossed the cellist a hair tie. "Put your hair up." Without waiting for a response, Vinyl engulfed the mask in a blue aura and took it back. As Octavia put her mane into a ponytail, Vinyl took scissors out of her bag and cut a slit in the back of the mask. "You can pull it through here." She hoofed it back to Octavia.

"Very well, let's try it shall we." Octavia slid the mask over her head, and pulled her ponytail through the slit. "Well, how does it look."

"It's good, you're already starting to look like a different pony." Vinyl pulled another mask, identical to the first, out of her bag and crammed her head into it. "And how about me?"

"You're giving both of us the same disguise?"

"Always keep things simple, first rule to disguise and deception." Octavia was about to ask how she knew about such things, but the DJ continued before she could. "Next we need to change up our colors a bit."

"Our colors? What do you mean?" Octavia grew nervous as she saw magic building up in Vinyl's horn. "Scratch? What are you doing?" Without answer, Vinyl shot a bolt of light at the cellist. Octavia yelped in surprise, but quickly realized the light was painless, little more than a tingling. "Umm, Scratch? What was that?"

"It's a spell I learned to make sure I look good for shows. Usually I just use it to make sure my mane's shiny, but it's the same concept."

"My mane?" Octavia grabbed her mane in her hoof and brought it into her view to find it was suddenly silver. "My mane! What did you do to my mane?!"

"Relax, it's just an illusion. I can dispell it any time."

Octavia looked at her mane again, and realized the silver strands were actually quite beautiful. "...Alright, I guess this is fine."

"Good, because it worked on your tail too."

Octavia turned her head to see that her tail had indeed turned silver as well. "And I suppose you'll be doing this to yourself as well?"

"Yep." Vinyl's horn glowed again, this time surrounding her in light. When it faded, her tail had turned two shades of electric red. Octavia could see a few strands poking through the mask confirming that her mane was the same color. "Last up, we need to change our cutie marks."

"What!? Scratch changing my mane is one thing, but my cutie mark?"

"You're the one who wanted to be disguised Tavi, a cutie mark is a pretty obvious indicator."

"Well..." Octavia looked at her cutie mark, a purple treble cleft. A pony's cutie mark was highly personal, it was a symbol of who they were. Changing it was a serious act. "...It's only temporary right?"

"I promise I can return it, completely unchanged, whenever you want."

"...Fine. Just don't make it anything...uncivilized."

"Oh don't worry Tavi." Vinyl grinned as her horn again began to glow. "I've got just the thing."

Octavia's stomach clenched as the light hit her, more from the anxiety than the spell itself. When it dissipated she turned to look at her newly adorned flank. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

Author's Note:

A chapter without a fight scene? Craziness! But yes, some chapters will be completely fightless. But fear not, the majority will have team OctaScratch kicking flank....Hmm, I suppose they can't use their real names in the fight club can they? Wonder what they'll go by...

I also should tell you all that the next chapter may take a little longer. I recently got an idea for another story I want to try out, so I think I may start it before the next chapter of The Fight Ballads. Don't worry though, I'm not stopping this story, I very much am enjoying it and will see it through to the end. But keep an eye out for my new story, which will once again be starring everybody's favorite cellist and, to a lesser extent, DJ.

Comments

[Byte9291]

oh i cant wait to see what Tavi's Cutie mark is

[screenaholic]

2488665
Me either man, I'm so excited!...wait, I already know what it is, I'm writing it...
Glad you're enjoying the story.

[Byte9291]

2488673 of corse i am! this is so different from every Vinyl/Tavi story i read (and i read alot of them) and its awesome!

[screenaholic]

2490087
Thanks a lot man, I appreciate that.

[Scootaloove]

Ooooo, a bit of a cliffhanger? I can only imagine what her cutie mark is~

Good job so far bro!