How to Live a Daily Life

by Smaug

First published 10th of February, 2012

Vinyl Scratch takes a break from music to experience a normal life in Ponyville.

Vinyl Scratch, best known for her stage name "DJ Pon-3", decides that she wants to experience an everyday pony's life, instead of the infamous one she currently leads, for about a month or so. The things like Pinkie and her friends do. An everyday pony life. Right?

Cover image by me. Can be found on my deviantART account, Element-excellent.

Learning the Normal Way

"You what?" Octavia's jaw dropped open. It didn't usually do that, she was usually so proper.

"I'm taking a break for a while, 'Tavia," Vinyl said for maybe the third time now. "A month long break. We've discussed this, girl! I'm exhausted from touring and work. I think a good month-long vacation could, y'know, do me some good!"

Octavia heaved, and flopped onto her armchair. "But Vinyl! You never take breaks! I mean, if you did, what would that be for?!" She pointed to Vinyl's flank. "Music is your special talent! I didn't think it was possible for such a thing like this to happen to somepony like you!"

Vinyl sighed. " 'Tavia. You sound like the Clock Queen from "Mare-do-Well the Animated series". I follow my own schedule, not some, freaky, pre-set thing like YOU have."

Octavia frowned. "I am not obsessed, nor do I do such things! I simply like to be organized, it helps for a healthy, calm lifestyle."

Vinyl rolled her eyes, smiling. "Oh, of course. How rude of me to say so." Vinyl stomped her hoof. "'Tavia, you keep telling me, 'Oh Vinyl, you work yourself to dea-a-ath! You really should tune it down a bit!' "

Octavia looked at Vinyl as if she was about to shoot her. "that was rude. And what I meant was to try something, you know, different! Like, 'Trance', or... or 'house'! I myself like 'house'! It's so VERY laid back, and the uh, the... oh, it doesn't matter, but you know what I mean!" Octavia huffed and slouched in her chair, which, mind you, was very improper of Octavia.

Vinyl sighed and headed for the stairs. " 'Tavia, I know it's because you don't want me to leave. Trust me, I did re-consider, but I told myself... no, I promised myself I'd do this. I will vacate for a month, and I will have a good time, and I will be laid back, just like you want!"

Octavia stared at her best friend, before she finally gave in and nodded. "I'm sorry, Vinyl... I just, I don't like it when you don't tell me ahead of time, and that you always choose such irrational decisions..."

She got out of her chair and walked over to the staircase, and looked at the bleach white pony. "...But I respect what you want to do, and if you want to, I want you too as well. Like you said..." Octavia gave her a small smile. "You do deserve a good break."

\/ /\ \/ /\ \/

Vinyl took her suitcase from under the mess she now came to know as "The Closet". She blew off the dust, hacked and coughed, and opened it up. Whoa, She thought. There's so much stuff in here...my old green glasses, some guitar tabs, and... is that?! Vinyl reached in and grabbed a small doll. She stared at it in awe. "My Rag-pony Anne!" She hugged it tightly with the greatest of glee. "Oh, I've missed this thing so much! It was here, in this dusty old suitcase all along..."

She looked down at the suitcase and grinned. She had such great memories about it. Of all the things she wanted as a kid, she had always wanted a suitcase. Vinyl was always fascinated by the airport luggage pick up. Her father was constantly on the go, so whenever he came home, her mother and her would always be there waiting, at baggage pick up.

Her parents never knew why she loved it so much. But SHE knew, and she knew that the machinery intrigued her, where it came from, and where it went, how it worked, and how fun it was to watch it spin. And she especially liked the luggage. She always wondered what possibly could be inside each one. Clothes? Food? What if there were even more suitcases, filled with even better things?

Of course, her parents never allowed her to find out. Those don't belong to you, they'd say. "It's all private, blah blah blah." Vinyl mocked.

During her eighth birthday, much before she got her cutie mark, Vinyl had finally gotten what she wanted the most: a suitcase. Her parents were still confused at the time, but Vinyl was ecstatic about the idea of owning her very own suitcase. She later found out it was because her real birthday present was to go see her favourite band at the time, "Daft Ponies", which, to this day, remains her favourite. They were to stay in Manehattan, where they were playing that night.

Vinyl snapped back to reality. She realized how much she missed the days where she wasn't famous, when her, Octavia and Pinkie Pie would play at the beach all day. Of course, Octavia was from Canterlot, so it was very rare that they'd be able to play. They'd call and talk on the phone of course, all day if they could! But, Vinyl had to settle for Pinkie most of the time. Don't get me wrong, she loved playing with Pinkie! She just missed Octavia a lot, that's all.

That's what I'll do! Vinyl thought. Pinkie'll love having me back in Ponyville! Gosh, I've missed her so much! I'll give her a call and see if I can stay with her while I'm on vacation. Vinyl floated her cell phone over to her and, using her magic, dialed the number for Sugarcube Corner. She put it to her ear and grinned. Boy, I can't wait to talk to her! But, I haven't talked to her in a while... Oh well, she'll understand, I'm sure. Work and all. Come on, pick up...!

Finally, the phone picked up. "helloooo?" Said a voice Vinyl recognized as Mrs. Cake's. "Hi, Mrs. Cake? My name's Vinyl Scratch, we've talked briefly before. I'm wondering if Pinkie's around?"

Apparently, Mrs. Cake recognized Vinyl's name immediately. Not surprising, of course. Pinkie was constantly listening to Vinyl's music, blasting it as loud as possible from her room. "Oh yes! Ms. Scratch, I do remember! How nice to hear from you! But, I must say, Pinkie's not here at the moment, I've sent her on a cake run to her friend Twilight's house. Why, dear, is there something you need from her?"

Vinyl gulped. She didn't want to sound rude, asking someone she didn't know very well if she could stay at Sugarcube corner. But, from when she was in town and Pinkie introduced Vinyl to the Cakes, she seemed like a very nice pony. "Uh, yeah, but I can I ask you too. I don't want to sound rude at all, but um, I'm planning on vacating to Ponyville for about a month, and uh, I was wondering if I could stay at Sugarcube corner...?"

Vinyl winced. She hated sounding rude, but as far as she was concerned, no hotel in Ponyville was very nice. She expected some form of rant about how rude she sounded, but instead, "Oh but of course, Miss Scratch, you're very welcome to stay!" was the answer she got in it's place.

Vinyl beamed. "Really?! I, uh... mean, thanks! I'm actually about to leave, so could you tell Pinkie I'm coming when she gets back?" Vinyl heard Mrs. Cake give a slight chuckle. "Oho, why not make it a surprise? They are our other specialty, after all!" Vinyl thought it a great idea. So, that's just what they did.

\/ /\ \/ /\ \/

Skip, skip skip! Hop, hop hop! That was what was continuously going through Pinkie Pie's mind as she skipped and hopped home. Skip, skip, skip, hop hop hop, maybe a jump here and there. She was as happy as she could be. But then again, when wasn't she? Well there WAS that time when my friends threw me a surprise party, she thought. But it ended up being such a good party! Oh! I should do the same thing for them! They would love a party! Then she stopped.

"But then, that would mean they'd have to forget it's their birthday... that could be really really really hard! Maybe Zecora might have a mind potion-y thing that could make them forget!" Pinkie smiled ever so gleefully and continued hopping and skipping home. She whistled a tune, catching a few others joining in with her as she walked by. She loved when people did that.

As she stepped into Sugarcube corner, she overheard talking from in the kitchen. She wondered; who could possibly be back there with Mrs. Cake? ma-a-aybe it's a new employee! Ooh that'd be awesome! Her and I could talk all day, and throw parties, and be super best friends! Then she realized it might not even be a girl. Ooh, I wonder if it could be a colt? That'd be interesting! I've never worked with another colt besides that one from last year! She was teeming with glee by this time.

Pinkie ran as fast as she could, jumped over the counter, and skidded to a stop beside the entrance to the kitchen. She burst into the room and yelled, "HE-E-ELO-O-O-O-O NEW EMPLOYEE!" She ran over to her (Or was it a him?) without giving her a glance and started prancing around her, singing a song while she did it.

Hello, and welcome! To the Sugarcube Corner!
You'll love it here, you'll never want to leave,
it's all good fun, we're busy as a bee,
cooking, making, selling, eating,
it's our guaranteed policy!

This here's Mr. Cake, and this here's the Mrs.!
I'm Pinkie Pie, the head chef here, so you'd have best listen!
You're practically part of us now,
Sort of like a family,
But we here all are closer than that,
It's sort of really cheesy-y!

So once again, thank you for joining,
if you'll leave, there will be mourning,
even if you do, you'd best give a warner,
but you'll never want to leave the Sugarcube Corner!

Pinkie panted and panted before falling over. "Pinkie, goodness me dear! You've really got to stop doing that!" Mrs. Cake exclaimed. "And she's not an employee, in fact, she's here to see you!" Pinkie opened her eyes to see two ponies standing over top of her. There was Mrs. Cake on her right, and on her left...

"VINYL!" Pinkie jumped onto her friend, toppling them both over. "OH MY GOSH WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! I'm SO-O-O happy to see you!" Vinyl laughed as she got back on her hooves.

"It's great to see you, too, Pinkie. I decided to take a vacation for about a month, and the ever so kind Mrs. Cake here let me stay with you all while I'm here in Ponyville!"

Pinkie jumped back on her. "With us?! That means with me too! Ooh, Scratchy, we're going to have so much fun!"

Vinyl had forgotten Pinkie's nickname for her. She didn't mind, of course. It was Pinkie, after all. She smiled and said "I'm sure we will, Pinks. I want to know what the everyday pony life is like; working is, well, hard work!" Pinkie picked them both up and laughed.

"You want to be a regular pony? Then you definitely didn't come to the right place!" Vinyl thought Pinkie had just slurred her words. She remembers her childhood in Ponyville clearly; Fun in the sun, chores indoors.

She laughed. "Pinkie, we're gonna have a good time. With you around, there's no way fun won't be had!"

A Normal Experience?

Vinyl stood in Pinkie's room door, awe filling her thoughts as her eyes drifted from one side of the room to the other. Pinkie's room was filled with ponies, all partying away, laughing and having fun. Vinyl looked over to Pinkie, who was staring back at Vinyl, smiling, eagerly awaiting a response.

"Well?" Chimed Pinkie. "What's up? You want some punch, some chips, anything at all?"

Vinyl sputtered. "I, I, uh... I, there's just... so many ponies in one room..." Pinkie laughed, and put a hoof on Vinyl's back. "Scratchy, I thought you being you would be used to this by now! I mean, you're the most infamous DJ in Equestria, and ponies from all around come into one big arena to see such a huge performance!"

Vinyl rubbed her neck. "Yeah, well, that's what I'm used to though." She walked over to a table and floated a Colta-Cola to her mouth, speaking between drinks. "It's just that...*glurg*...it's such a small space, and... *glurg*... so many ponies, unlike....*glug*... the stadiums where I play. So many ponies in one big place, you know? But, here, in your own room..." She gestured with her head to the pony filled room. "Is just strange to see."

Pinkie giggled. "Oh Scratchy, you're life must be a boring one to come here! I throw parties like this all the TIME up here! Why, this is the after party of the after party I had for my friend Twilight's first ever history class success! Ooh, speaking of which, her second class is coming on Sunday and-! I haven't planned for that one yet! But, you're here, too! oh oh! It can be a double party! I'll call it, "Pinkie's Party for the Pair of Pals who Planned to Party at Pinkie's Party Just for them!"

Vinyl put a hoof on Pinkie's mouth, gesturing her to quiet herself, as she had attracted unnecessary attention. "He he... oops!"

Pinkie smiled at Vinyl. "Hey Scratchy, I want you to meet a few of my friends from here in Ponyville!" Vinyl nodded in agreement, and followed Pinkie to a table where a purple Unicorn, a pink-maned Pegasus and another Unicorn that Vinyl recognized as Rarity, whom had hired her for a fashion show at one point.

"Scratchy, I'd like you to meet my friend Twilight," Who, smiled gratefully and waved, "Fluttershy," Who seemed to blush a deep hue of red, "And Rarity!" Who simply smiled and nodded. The two ponies took a seat at the table and discussed their day.

"My day was... an interesting one." Started Twilight, "I woke up to a giant crash, and found that Spike, the baby dragon I look after, had broken one of the library's branches and that it came through the cieling..." Twilight sighed. "My life..."

Rarity decided it was her turn to speak. "Well, " She began, "Sweetie Belle, my smaller sister, had once again decided to try and make her own dress for her school's dance coming up, might, I add, without my help. She had ended up with hair that looked like a pin cushion. It was dreadful having to pick out all of those needles, there were so many of them!"

Pinkie spoke up saying, "Well my day was really busy! First, I had to plan the after after party for Twilight's after party for her successful-history-class-party, and I did that at about five in the morning! Then I had to rush over to Twilight's with her congratulatory cake from Mrs. Cake, where she was cleaning up the tree branch, and then I had to head back here, where I found Scratchy!"

Vinyl laughed softly. "Man, you girls sounded like you had a pretty interesting day!" Vinyl looked at Fluttershy, and smiled kindly. "What about you, um, Fluttershy, right? How was your day?"

Fluttershy didn't offer one word. All she did was stare at Vinyl intently, her eyes huge, and her face red. She squeeked, but said nothing otherwise.

"O-o-okay, then!" Vinyl looked back at the others. "Well, my day wasn't too exciting. I got up like I do everyday, called my agent to tell him I'm vacating, and discussed the ordeal with Octavia, my Canterlot friend, packed my suitcase, and came here!"

The four girls stared at Vinyl. Twilight said softly, "That's it? Nothing went wrong?"

Vinyl shook her head. "Nope! Unless you count the fight I got into with 'Tavia, but she boils down pretty quickly. Other than that, my day was fine!" She smiled intently, expecting a response, but saw again that they were all just staring at her. "Um... yes?" She said, confused.

Pinkie Pie spoke up. "Nothing really weird happened? You didn't wake up with green hair, or... or woke up with your glasses glued to your face?"

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "Um, no... not at all. I don't even sleep with my glasses on..." She looked at Fluttershy, expecting at least something to be said, but she continued to stare at her.

Rarity decided to speak up now. "Not a thing out of place? No missing disc system? No bald spots? Not even..." Rarity gulped. "...a different eye colour?"

Vinyl huffed. "No, nothing like that happened! Nothing like that ever happens to me. I'm just me, I do what I do, I avoid stuff pretty easily." She looked at them, bewildered. "Don't you?"

The girls all looked at each other and smiled awkwardly. "Uh, no. No we don't." Said Twilight. "Nothing ever happens like that. Except for, uh, today." They all nodded in agreement, except Fluttershy of course, who was now actually sitting on the table, leaning right in almost touching Vinyl's nose.

Vinyl had to lean back a bit to slightly rid of the ever present awkwardness. "Can I... help you?" Fluttershy continuously stared, seemingly wonderfully curious about the pony sitting in front her. But still, no words. Just staring.

Vinyl gently pushed Fluttershy back into her chair. "Okay, you can just... sit back down there. I think I'm going to hit the hay, the airplane ride here was pretty boring, and man, did I get sleepy." She looked at Pinkie, smiling. "Pinkie, could you maybe show me to where I'll be sleeping so I can unpack my things?" She floated her luggage over to her. "I don't have a lot of stuff, so it shouldn't be much of a problem."

Pinkie jumped off of her chair and landed perfectly beside Vinyl. "Sure! Follow me!" Pinkie hopped out of the room, with Vinyl and her magic enchanted luggage following closely behind. She stopped in the door to look back and wave goodbye to the ponies she had just met, as they waved back, smiles spreading on their faces. Surprisingly, Fluttershy was grinning ear to ear, waving continuously, even after Vinyl had left.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\ \/

"Oh wow, Pinkie! This guest room is great!" Vinyl was in awe by the state of the room. The Cakes must really respect having guests, she thought. This place is like a Pegasus mansion! She walked in and threw her luggage onto the bed. It was only then she noticed one thing; Pinkie was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, uh, Pinkie? Hello?" A pink blur landed on her face an instant later.

"Ye-e-e-es?" Pinkie asked. "You need me for something?" She jumped off of Vinyl and onto the bed, jumping up, and down. "Because I was just in the closet tidying up! Did you know the closet is one of the most important things for when a guest is over? I never would've guessed until Mrs. Cake told me the first time we had a guest, and gosh, was it interesting, the colt had wanted a job here but quit two days later because he couldn't work under the circumstances, like, what does that mean? It really didn't matter to me, but-" She stopped and stared at Vinyl. "Do you think he found me ANNOYING?"

Vinyl laughed and said, "Of course not, Pinkie. He just couldn't handle your awesomeness!" She opened her suitcase and sorted everything using her horn, which all took less than a minute.

Pinkie watched gleefully, this time from the floor. "Wow, Unicorn magic is so cool! I wish I wasn't an earth pony, sometimes. It'd be super cool to be able use magic, or... do I want to be a Pegasus? Flying would be totally cool! Or how about an Alicorn? Ooh-hoo-hoo, that'd be really cool!"

Vinyl listened to Pinkie rant as she lay in bed. Pinkie wasn't nearly as bad as some songs she's had to critique for other artists, Pinkie was practically a song all her own. Her singing voice was phenomenal, it had made it's way onto several of Vinyl's albums, and they were usually the most popular of the songs. She was confident she was going to have a great time in Ponyville.

Pie-a-Palooza Day

Here it was, her biggest show yet. For the first time in years, Vinyl was nervous. But she knew she would pull through. The cheering crowd gave her the confidence she needed. She held her breath, and began the show. Lights were flashing, music was blaring, and the crowd had gone berserk. She was having such a good time. Beating to the beats, singing to the songs, spinning the records... it felt great. She continued playing and playing her songs, and then she noticed the crowd was cheering her name. "Vinyl! Vinyl! Vinyl!" They yelled. She beamed with happiness.

But then, she noticed something else; every pony in the crowd were pink. She hadn't noticed this before, but to her, it didn't matter. She kept playing her songs, loving the sound of both it, and the huge crowd of foals screaming. Wait, foals? She looked out over the crowd again. Every pony in the crowd were foals. She knew that she had seen colts out there earlier, but now, they were gone. Must have left for some cider or something, Vinyl thought. Oh well, she continued playing and playing.

Then she stopped. She saw every pony in the crowd had become Pinkie Pie. She was completely confused. She'd seen foals who look similar to Pinkie before, but this many? This was too much, and too much of Pinkie Pie, too. Then, something overly strange happened. Still yelling her name, the crowd of Pinkie Pie's had started morphing together. They continuously coagulated upward, until finally they had morphed into one giant Pinkie Pie.

"Vinyl! Vinyl! Vinyl!" It yelled. Vinyl screamed in terror as it continued yelling. "Vinyl Scra-a-atch!"

Vinyl shot upward in her bed, slamming her head into Pinkie Pie's, who had apparently been sitting there. They both fell back, dumbfounded by what just happened. "Ugh... Pinkie...? Is that you?"

Pinkie shot upward to her feet, completely unaware of her pain. "E-e-eyup! Here I am! Here to get you out of bed!" Pinkie bounced around the room as Vinyl gradually rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"I... I must have been dreaming..." She told Pinkie. "It was so weird... I was performing at Canterlot stadium in front of thousands of ponies..." She brushed her mane while Pinkie bounced about. "Then, halfway through the concert, every pony had turned into you, chanting my name as they all morphed into a way bigger version of you..." Vinyl slipped her green glasses on. She really had missed those things.

Pinkie giggle. "Thousands of me? That's silly, Scratchy! You know that can't happen!" Pinkie hopped on over to Vinyl's side and pushed heavily against her. "Even I wouldn't want so many of me! That'd be way too much Pinkie!" She flopped herself on the bed. "As much as I would love to have another me around, a thousand of me around would be total chaos!" She launched herself off of the bed and directly in front of Vinyl's face. "My friends wouldn't be able to tell which me is which! They'd never be able to play with me again! What if..."

She gasped. "What if I forgot which me was which? Oh no, that'd be terrible! My parties would be lost forever, and then Pinkamen-" Vinyl shoved her hoof over Pinkie's mouth.

"Pinkie," She said sternly. "We don't talk about Pinkamena. Remember?" Pinkie nodded quickly.

"Good," Vinyl sighed. "Now, let's get on course here: First, why'd you wake me up? I was having a great dream, and I'm on vacation, remember?"

Pinkie smiled. "Because you told me you wanted to see the everyday pony's life! So, I thought, 'Boy, Pinkie, how can I show Scratchy what it's like back here in Ponyville?' And then I got it! You can spend time with my friends to get to know them, and how their everyday lives work!" Pinkie bounded over to the window and opened it wide. "Oh, look outside, Scratchy! It's a B-E-A-utiful day!"

Vinyl slowly walked to the window and looked out. Surely enough, it was an utterly stunning day. She could see young ponies playing in the sunlight, older ponies working happily at their vendors... it seemed so much more relaxed than Canterlot. She felt great. She turned to Pinkie and asked, "What were you planning on doing today, Pinkie?"

Pinkie jumped onto the bed again. "Well, I could show you how everything works around here in the bakery! Mr. and Mrs. Cake wouldn't mind at all!" She jumped, flipped, and landed feet first at the door. "Come on! My shift is going to start soon, so wash your hooves and get ready!" Pinkie left the room, humming happily.

Vinyl chuckled a bit, and then walked out into the hall and into the bathroom. She pulled her hair back with her horn so that she could wash her face. She looked up into the mirror, and noticed something in the reflection. She could barely see it, but something yellow was hovering just outside the bathroom window. She spun around to see, but whatever it was had gone. She looked around curiously, and continued washing her face and hooves.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Vinyl walked into the kitchen to see Mrs. Cake engaging in a conversation with Pinkie.

"...And he said he'd be over here in about an hour to give it to you." Mrs. Cake had finished saying. Vinyl wasn't entirely sure what they had been talking about, but whatever it was, it had Pinkie Pie jumping with joy.

Vinyl smiled and spoke up. "Hey Pinkie. Hey Mrs. Cake." The two earth ponies turned to see Vinyl.

"Ooh, Miss Scratch! Good to see you're up! I hope Pinkie didn't wake you, she's usually the only one up at this hour." She looked at Pinkie, who was smiling nervously. "Anyway, I have to go out for a few hours. The Heartstrings family invited the Mr. and I over for brunch and a luncheon." She walked out of the kitchen door before saying, "You two have a good time! Don't get the place too messy..." She glared at Pinkie."...Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie had apparently taken no notice to it. "Sure thing, Mrs. Cake! We'll be as clean as Twilight's library! Although, Spike does make a mess of it sometimes, but Twilight has unicorn magic, so I'm sure cleaning isn't a problem! I mean, Scratchy's a unicorn, so cleaning'll be easy as pie!" Mrs. Cake smiled worryingly, and then left out the door. Pinkie's face suddenly became serious. "...Pie? Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no."

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong, Pinkie? I thought you loved Pies. It is your last name, after all."

Pinkie was rushing all over the kitchen. "It's today! How could I have forgotten it was today?" Pinkie was throwing bowls, pans, spoons, spatulas, the whole lot all over the kitchen table.

"Pinkie. Pinkie."

Pinkie didn't hear Vinyl over the crashing and banging. "Oh, they're going to be here any moment with them! Oh, how come I never mark this down on my calendar..."

Vinyl, once again, tried to get her attention. "Pinkie. Hey, Pinkie."

Still not hearing Vinyl, Pinkie began turning the ovens on. "Oh, how could I have forgotten? This is not good, not good at all!"

Finally, using her unicorn magic to amplify her voice, Vinyl yelled, "Pinkie Pie!"

Pinkie jumped, yelping at the sound of her name. "Uh... Yes?"

Vinyl walked over to her and gave her a look of concern. "What's the matter with today? You seemed so gleeful this morning, and now you look like the world could end at any second." Vinyl started organizing the mess that had developed on the table. "Care to explain?"

Pinkie calmed down. She then explained why she was so flustered. "Today is Pie-a-Palooza Day, where every pony in Ponyville competes against each other in hopes of making the best pies ever in order to win the grand prize! You'd be surprised at how many ponies in Ponyville can make really good pies. Anyways, once again, I forgot it was today! And every year, the Apple family and everyone at Sugarcube corner team up to make 'The Best Apple Pie Your Mouth has Ever Had! And oh, no, it isn't one small pie, no, it's a huge pie, like the huge cookie from 'Bronco Almighty'!"

Then she went back into a state of fluster. "But, with the Cakes not in today, it'll only be me, Granny Smith, Applejack, Applebloom and Big Macintosh to cook!" Her hair was starting to look stressed itself.

Vinyl laughed. "Pinkie, I'm sure that's more than enough hooves to help in the kitchen. And, you'll have me, too! I don't usually cook, I leave that to Octavia. But I can cook!"

Pinkie's mood didn't seem to change at all. "But the thing is, Applejack can't cook, Applebloom can't either, and Big Macintosh can't even stand properly in here! The last time I cooked with Applejack, she totally got the ingredients wrong, and almost every pony in Ponyville got sick!" She moaned. "O-o-oh, what am I going to do?"

Vinyl patted her on the back. "Hey, it's alright! Three pairs of hooves. That's how it usually is around here anyways! Besides, even I know Granny Smith's apple pies. They're really popular in Canterlot. Not as popular as Sugarcube Corner's, though." Pinkie gave Vinyl a worried, yet positive smile. Vinyl smiled back. "It'll be alright, Pinkie. We can do this!"

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"Y'sure ye want me n' Big Mac teh' help out fr' Pie-a-Palooza Day, Granny?" The Apple family were almost to Sugarcube corner to start baking the 'The Best Apple Pie Your Mouth has Ever Had'. Applejack and Big Macintosh were both worried they'd screw it up.

"Of course, deary, why wouldn't I want'che to?" Granny had obviously forgotten the last time Applejack had helped Pinkie bake a pie. Of course, Applejack was dead tired when she did it, but after a whole year, Pinkie Pie didn't even know. "It's Pie-a-Palooza, eh... day! It's fam'ly tradition!"

Applejack bit her lip as her and Big Mac looked at each other worryingly. She turned back to Granny Smith. "But, Gran', We'd just done screw it all up if'n we helped out! Can't Big Mac n' I just go back teh' the farm n' milk the cows r' somethin'?"

Granny Smith chuckled. "Oh dear, y'know it ain't milkin' time! N' besides, Bovinette just had'r first calf! Yeh wouldn't want to go n' messin' with it's birthday party, now would'je?" Granny shifted in her chair on top of the apple cart that Big Macintosh was pulling. "Enh, we've got to look inteh one of them drivin' boxes... what're they called again?"

Applebloom spoke up cheerfully. "A car, Granny!"

Granny Smith smiled. "Thank ye, Applebloom deary! A car! that'd make it easier on all of us fr' the workin' and the shippin'." They finally arrived at Sugarcube corner. "Applejack, be a dear, and go inside and tell the Cakes that we're here." Applejack nodded reluctantly, and then went inside.

"Howdy, anyone?" Applejack asked as she stepped through the door. She looked around. No one was there. But she was sure she could hear voices from the kitchen. Since it was official business, Applejack knew she would be allowed in the kitchen. She stepped into the kitchen. "Hello?"

Pinkie Pie and a pony Applejack didn't recognize looked up. "Oh, hi Applejack!" Pinkie exclaimed, although Applejack thought it sounded kind of worried.

Applejack looked around. "Where'r the Cakes at, Pinkie? A'm supposed teh' tell 'em we're here now."

Pinkie laughed, worryingly. "Well, uh... they... aren't... here today..." Applejack obviously took this by surprise. Pinkie hurried out another response. "But, but don't worry! We have a Unicorn this year! I'm sure you've heard of her though. Applejack, meet Vinyl Scratch!"

Vinyl held her hoof out to shake hoofs. Applejack shook it, but in all her life, she's never known of such a pony. "A'm charmed, but frankly, A've never even HEARD of ye'."

Vinyl took this by surprise. "Really? Not to sound cocky, but that comes as a surprise to me!" She looked at Pinkie. "Don't you play my music at your parties?"

Pinkie nodded. "Of course I do, it's all I ever play at them! Your stuff is the perfect party music! Well, there was that one time I played some 'DJ Pony D', but... that was a bad decision."

Applejack understood. "Oh, okay! I rec'gnize yer' music from Pinkie's parties! Can't say A'm much a fan, though. A' like a lot uh' country music. A' dun't mean teh sound rude r' nothin. S' just what A' prefer."

Vinyl nodded in agreement. "No, that's totally fine! I can respect that. I'm not all that cocky when it comes to my fame. If someone has an opinion, then I can respect it. But, if someone has an opinion on my personal, non-music associated life, well then..." She mocked Celestia. "To the mo-o-oon!" All three ponies laughed at the joke.

"Well, Ah'd best teh go tell Granny Smith. I'll be back with 'em in a few sec'nds." Applejack told them, and left out the door. Wow, She thought. A big timer in a lil' city like Ponyville? These past few years sure have been good teh us folks!

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Big Macintosh and Applejack set their table up in preparation for Pie-a-Palooza Day to start. They had Applebloom set up an apple stand, in case customers wanted any (Luckily, people began buying as soon as it was up.). Inside, Pinkie, Granny Smith and Vinyl had begun cooking. Granny was on apple cutting duty, Vinyl on ingredients fetching, and Pinkie on making and cooking.

"Hmmm..." Pinkie pondered. "The recipe for pie crust is... six cups of cake and pastry flour... two teaspoons of salt... a pound of lard... ew... a tablespoon of vinegar... 1 lightly beaten egg...and cold water!

"Now... for for the flling ingredients..." She flipped the page to see them. "Okay, we need a half a cup of brown sugar... one table spoon of all purpose flour... a half a tea spoon of cinnamon... a quarter cup of nutmeg... 5 cups of peeled, cored and sliced apples... Granny Smith's on that.. and, one table spoon of butter. But, since we're making a huge apple pie, were gonna need ten times as more ingredients!" She looked at Vinyl. "Time to multiply, Scratchy!" Vinyl nodded, and cast her multiplying spell.

Within seconds, the amount of ingredients had grown much bigger. The room was big, but even then, the ingredients still filled the room largely. Luckily, there was still room to cook.

"Alright!" Exclaimed Pinkie. "That took a much shorter amount of time than last year! Alright, time to make this thing!" Pinkie immediately burst into song as she constructed the pie.

"Take some bowls, mix the flour and the salt,
We're making a pie, no downhill fault!
Cut the lard, with a big knife,
this big pie will last your life!

Now in a separate bowl,
one made for measure,
pour in the vinegar and the egg!
then add water, make sure there's lots,
Make sure that we use all we've got!

take the liquid, stir it all into a flour mix,
but not too much, just enough to let the dough affix!
Gather it all into a ball, make into portions,
then refrigerate, in a neat little fashion!

Well now, we can't do that, we do not have the time,
so we'll do something even more to make it more sublime!
Take this Pegasus cold accelerator, it'll do it fast!
Now aim it at the mixture, and give it a big blast!

Now put it into this pie plate, the one that's rather huge!
I had it prepared especially from a simple Ponyville stooge!
Trim the edges, make it even!
just remember, it needs to look pleasing!

Now throw in the sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and flour,
all with apples, sliced and diced by Granny's valour!
toss them like salad, then throw them in the shell!
dot with the butter, do it real well!

Take another pastry, cover it over the filling,
tuck the ends in, if you're willing!
press 'em together, then make steam vents,
cook it, then we're done, if you consent!

Pinkie's song finished as she managed to jam the massive pie into the oven. She then fell over, obviously out of breath.

Vinyl trotted over and picked her up. "Pinkie, I know you like singing and all, but doesn't it get... really tiring?" Pinkie got back on her hooves, and looked at Vinyl. She couldn't speak she was so tired out. She merely fell over again.

"Enh, that was a... uh... hm... A, uh, good singin' song. If I can remember it..." Granny smith pondered. Vinyl laughed to herself, and head outside to tell Applejack and Big Macintosh that the pie would be done in a half an hour.

She was about to walk out the door when she remembered something; she was Equestria wide famous. If she stepped out that door into a crowd of hungry ponies, she was sure to attract attention. But, she knew this would happen when she was packing her suitcase the day she left. She hurried upstairs and into the guest room. She flung open her suitcase, and there it was.

"Thank Celestia I packed this!" She said. In her hand was the make up kit she got when she did a music video for one of her songs. She quickly ran into the bathroom and started putting it on. It had everything in it. Latex rubber, eye contacts, colouring, the lot. She decided that since she was one of the few ponies to have straight red eyes, she'd use green contacts. She put a white bald cap on, and then a yellow, long haired wig over top of it. She looked completely different.

She went back downstairs and stepped outside, holding her breath. Luckily, the huge crowd of ponies of ponies waiting for the apple pie didn't recognize her. She went over to Applejack and whispered. "Pssst! Applejack! It's me, Vinyl!"

Applejack whipped around. "What? Yer' not Vinyl, yer' some other pony!"

Vinyl shook her head. "No, it's a wig and make up!" She peeled the bald cap of slightly, showing the multiple colours of blue in her hair. "See?"

Applejack looked confused. "Why're ye' dressed up like that? And why're we whisperin'?"

Vinyl explained the predicament she was in. "Well, I am famous all over Equestria, so if I were to show myself here, I would attract a load of attention from all of these ponies! So, I used a make up kit I brought with me for just this kind of situation."

Applejack nodded. "A' getche' now. A'm supposin' ye' came out here teh tell me the pie's ready?"

Vinyl nodded. "About 20 minutes from now, it'll be done. I still don't know how Pinkie Pie managed to fit the thing in the oven, though. You should see it, it's gigantic!" She stood up and put her arms out to show Applejack how big it was. But, she had forgotten one thing; her cutie mark, and it was now visible to every pony waiting.

"hey! I'd recognize that cutie mark anywhere!" Yelled a pony from the crowd. "Hey, isn't that DJ Pon-3's cutie mark? Why is it on another pony?" Said another. Vinyl was in trouble. The crowd was murmuring up a storm until one pony finally came to a conclusion. "It's Vinyl Scratch and she's in disguise! No two ponies have the same cutie mark, and that cutie mark is hers!" The crowd burst into cheers of happiness.

Vinyl gulped, and sped inside the bakery, wiping her disguise off as she did it. She closed the door behind her and locked it. "Oh no, what am I going to do? I totally forgot about my cutie mark! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She slumped to the ground as the sound of ponies outside filled her ears.

"Scratchy? Why are there so many ponies trying to get in? Is there a party I don't know about?" Vinyl looked up to see a regained conscious Pinkie Pie and Granny Smith standing over her.

Well," Vinyl started, "I was going to go tell Applejack that the pie would be ready soon, but then I realized if I did, I would attract attention to myself, so I put a bit of make up on, went outside, told Applejack, but I forgot that my cutie mark was still visible..." She pouted. "One of them recognized it, then another, and soon the whole crowd was freaking out, so I sped back in here..."

Pinkie sat down beside her as Granny Smith fell asleep standing up. "Aw, Scratchy, it's okay." She reassured her blue maned friend. "You've just got to explain to them that you're not here on business, but off of business."

Vinyl whined. "But how? They only care that I'm here, they don't want to listen to me..." She pointed to her cutie mark. "They want to listen to my music... this isn't the first time it's ever happened."

Pinkie stood up again. "Vinyl, don't be like that! Have you ever thought to ask someone to do it for you?"

Vinyl's attention perked up. "What? I... no, the thought never came to mind! Why hasn't it...?"

Pinkie smiled. "I'd be glad to do it for you! Besides," She pulled a megaphone out of nowhere. "I've always wanted an excuse to use this thing!"

Vinyl nodded. "Okay, Pinkie. If you could, please explain it to them. I'd really appreciate it." Vinyl got up. "If and when they understand, could you tell me? I want to talk to them after, too."

Pinkie nodded, and burst through the door, knocking back the ponies who were there, and startling the ones nearby. "listen up, everypony!" She started. "As you know, a very famous pony is here in Ponyville, Vinyl Scratch, or as we all know her, DJ Pon-3!" It wasn't her intent, but the crowd cheered at hearing the name. "Quiet!" Pinkie screamed. "She's not here to entertain you!" The crowd quieted down and began to sound confused.

"Why is she, then?" Said one pony.

"Because she's on vacation!" The crowd slowly oooh'd. "She just wants some peace and quiet for a while, so she came back home to get it! She's very happy to see so many ponies here in town are fans, but, could you all maybe, you know... let it go for a bit? She was really flustered by how many people tried to crowd her, and she just wants some quiet time. Can you do that?" The crowd nodded in agreement. "Now, she wants to talk to you as well, so Scratchy, here you go!" Vinyl walked out of the bakery and into the faces of all the ponies.

The crowd, although still listening to Pinkie, still stared in awe to see their idol standing before them. Vinyl took the megaphone from Pinkie, and began her speech. "Hi, everypony. Uh, as you know, I'm here on vacation, and as much as I love knowing you all like me and my music, I really just want to get to know a regular life for a month or so. So, could you maybe, y'know, let me off for a while?" The crowd nodded in agreement.

"Good, and thank you. Now, while Pinkie talked to you all, I decided I'd give you all a special treat for agreeing. If you buy a piece of the pie Pinkie, Granny Smith and I cooked up, I'll sign an autograph over at Applebloom's apple stand." Everyone turned to see Applebloom, waving to the crowd. They turned back to Vinyl as she continued. "And, at the end of the month, if you all do really good at keeping yourself contained, I'll arrange a concert performance, just for Ponyville! Can you do that for me?"

The crowd all cheered in excitement, obviously agreeing with Vinyl. "Alright, everypony! I believe in you! Now, who wants some apple pie?" Every pony looked behind Vinyl as Pinkie appeared through the doorway with a giant apple pie over her head. Once again, they cheered and lined up in front of Applejack's table, as Applejack sold pies, and Vinyl signed autograph's.

Pinkie giggled as she trotted over to Vinyl. "You know, Scratchy. you may have just had your first 'normal' day in Ponyville!"

Vinyl looked confused. Did she say first?

A Day at the Ponyville Carnival

Vinyl was sobbing in her sleep. It had been three days since Pie-a-Palooza, and she was already missing Octavia. In her dream, she was constantly watching as Octavia made new friends, and shunning Vinyl out of it. She screamed and yelled for Octavia to come back to her, but Octavia would give her the cold shoulder in return. She had burst into tears, crying all alone, with no one to play with.

Vinyl sat straight up in her bed, tears flying from her face. She panted, worryingly. Her dreams haven't been this upsetting since the time that Draconequus had taken over most of Equestria. She lay back in bed, calming herself. It was just a dream, She thought. Octavia would never leave you. She looked at the picture she had brought Octavia. She missed her already. She had been away from her many times due to touring and recording, but it felt different when she was on vacation.

She closed her eyes and thought for a while. What could Octavia be doing right now? Practicing her cello? More likely sleeping. She laughed to herself, and turned on her side. I should get her to come here, too. She smiled. Then I wouldn't feel as lonely. And with that, she fell back asleep.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"Excuse me?"

It was summertime, and Vinyl and her friend Pinkie had just finished playing in Ponyville park. Vinyl and Pinkie turned to see another filly about their age, grey toned, with long, black hair. Pinkie perked up at the sight of the pony.

"I've never seen you before!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I know every filly around here, and I mean every filly, and I don't know you! What's your name?"

The filly had been slightly frightened by Pinkie's ecstatic greeting, but nonetheless introduced herself. "Um, well... My name is Octavia, and my father and I are visiting here from Canterlot for a while."

At this, Vinyl became interested and walked over to the new filly. "Canterlot? Why'd you come here of all places? This is just little old Ponyville! There's nothing exciting to see. Well, except that new bakery when it opens." Vinyl pointed her hoof towards a large building in the middle of the square, with a banner stretched across that stated "Sugarcube Corner! Coming soon!".

Pinkie gleefully giggled. "I want to work there when they open! I've heard they're going to sell the best cupcakes Equestria has ever seen!" Pinkie jumped around Octavia. "And cakes, too! Oh, and pie! Oh, what kind of things could they sell?" Pinkie stared at the building. "I'm gonna go see if anybody's there! I want to be the first to see in!" Pinkie bounced over to the bakery.

Vinyl chuckled. "You wanna come? Pinkie's always got something awesome to do."

Octavia looked a bit worried. "I don't know... is she planning on... breaking in?"

Vinyl broke out into laughter. "Break in? Pinkie Pie? Never! She's just curious. She always seems to know what to do when there's nothing going on. Come on, it'll be cool!"

Octavia looked around, warily. "You're sure we're not breaking in?"

But, Vinyl had already begun walking. Octavia ran after her, only just catching up. "So, um. I don't believe I caught your name? I know her as Pinkie Pie, but whom are you, might I ask?"

Vinyl smiled at Octavia. "My name's Scratch. Vinyl Scratch. A lot of the fillies around here call me Scratchy, but I really don't like it all that much." Vinyl kicked a rock, and sighed. "I still don't understand why you decided to come to Ponyville. Can you tell me?"

Octavia happily obliged. "But of course. My father is actually on a business trip, and since my mother was away, I had to come with him. We're staying in the hotel down the street. It's ever so fancy, I adore it!"

Vinyl noticed that Octavia was trotting a little bit more fancily than most ponies. "Why do you trot like that?"

Octavia glanced down, and looked curiously back at Vinyl. "What, isn't this how most ponies walk?" Vinyl shook her head. "Oh, well then, I don't know. This is just how I was taught to, I never really thought it different than other ponies." They were quiet for a while.

Vinyl broke the silence. "So, you like any music?"

Octavia nodded contently. "I love music! A lot of orchestral. Nothing dreadful like that rock of roll."

Vinyl laughed. "It's rock and roll. And I don't like rock n' roll all that much, either. I like techno, it's god good beats," Vinyl stood on her back hooves and punched the air, and fell back on her hooves again. "awesome rhythms," she twirled around, "And just really awesome tunes!" She whistled a quick tune. Octavia seemed impressed by it.

"My goodness, you whistle rather well!" She exclaimed.

Vinyl smiled upon hearing the complement. "Thanks a lot! I do practice a lot. I'm actually known for my whistling around here. Not to sound cocky, but I am a bit of a musician."

Octavia was joyful about this. "Really? Well, I'm learning myself, actually! My father says I should have my cutie mark in no time!" She looked back at Vinyl. "What kind of instruments do you play?"

Vinyl blushed a bit. "Well, not too many, to be honest..."

Octavia nudged her. "Oh, do tell! You've got me interested!"

Vinyl smiled nervously. "Well... I play piano... and that's about it, unless you count the kazoo as an instrument." Both ponies laughed at the small joke. "And, well, I do sing a little bit." By this time the ponies had stopped walking and had plopped themselves at a bench in the square, while Pinkie was over peering into the windows of the bakery.

Octavia clopped her hooves. "Oo-oo-ooh! How cool! Would you mind showing me?"

Vinyl blushed again. "Well, I dunno... I'm pretty rusty."

Octavia shook her head. "Nonsense! I'm confident you have a wonderful voice! You must be good at it, I'm sure!"

Vinyl grinned and blushed hard. "Well, okay. I guess I can." Vinyl stood up off the table. Nervously, she sucked her breath in, and-

"Wow, girls! You should totally see inside that bakery!" Vinyl fell backward, startled by Pinkie's sudden intrusion. Pinkie stood over Vinyl. "It's so totally cool! It's so colourful, and I think I saw the owners in there talking, but I don't really know. Anyways, I gotta get back to the farm." She turned and trotted away. "Those rocks won't harvest themselves, you know!"

Octavia seemed confused by Pinkie's rock statement, but shook it off. She looked down at Vinyl. "Maybe another time?" Vinyl nodded happily.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Vinyl awoke, this time content. Her dreams had taken her back to the big concert from the morning of the Pie-a-Palooza, only with less Pinkie Pie. She got out of bed and opened the curtains to see outside. Only instead of the beautiful view she had of Ponyville, her view instead caused her to fall backward.

She looked up to get a better look at what had startled her, and surely enough, there, flapping her wings, was a cyan blue pegasus. She got up and opened the window, which enabled the pegasus to fly into Vinyl, knocking her back once more.

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" The Pegasus exclaimed. "I heard you were in town, but I didn't believe anyone until after I heard about what happened at Pie-a-Palooza!" The Pegasus stepped off of Vinyl to let her get up.

Vinyl rubbed her horn, out of pain. She looked up. "I take it you didn't go, or else you would've heard my speech." She said, annoyed.

The Pegasus laughed. "Of course not! I don't go to that thing. The only true winner, is me..." The Pegasus straightened out, presenting her athletic build. "...Rainbow Dash!"

Vinyl finally got up, less annoyed after hearing the name. "Rainbow Dash? Hey, I know you! My friend Spitfire's always telling me how you saved her and the rest of the Wonderbolts from falling to the ground one time!" She smiled at Rainbow. "Thanks for that. I don't know what I'd do without Spitfire."

Rainbow was choking on her words. "I-I mean, I-I...Spitfire remembers me? And she talks about me?!"

Vinyl laughed. "Oh, Celestia, yes. Everyday, she reminds me, 'Vinyl, you've got to meet the Pegasus who saved us someday.' I guess that's another reason I'm here. Well, sub-consciously, but I remember it now."

Rainbow was squeeling with happiness. "Oh wow, this is so cool! My favourite musician knows who I am, and my hero remembers me!" Rainbow couldn't keep her excitement contained. She was jumping all around the bedroom, while Vinyl watched in amusement.

Oh well, this was bound to happen, Vinyl thought. Not everyone can contain their excitement, I guess. She stopped Rainbow from prancing. "Hey, my treat. You want to hangout today? I've got nothing planned."

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Hangout with...you?" She grinned ear to ear. "Yes, of course I will! I would love to!" She flew around the room, looping and swerving out of sheer excitement.

"But," Vinyl said sternly. Rainbow stopped, and floated back to the ground, listening to Vinyl. "You have to promise me, Rainbow Dash. You'll be civilized about this hangout. Can you promise me that? Please? I am here on a break, after all."

Rainbow went to say something, then hesitated. She looked back at Vinyl and nodded solemnly.

"Good!" Vinyl said happily. "So, is there anywhere specific you want to go?"

Rainbow thought for a second. "Well, the Ponyville carnival's open today. We could go chill there!"

Vinyl nodded. "That sounds like loads of fun! Let's totally do it. How much does it cost?" Said Vinyl, already rifling through her cash.

"Around 20 bits," Rainbow Dash replied. "Although, I'll have to fly back to my cloud home. I'll be back!" And with that, Rainbow Dash flew out the window.

Vinyl sighed, and turned to see Pinkie standing directly in front of her. "AGH!" She screamed and fell back.

"Hi Vinyl!" Pinkie greeted. "I heard you're going to the carnival with Rainbow?"

Vinyl picked herself back up. "Yeah, I didn't have anything planned... " She rubbed her back. "But if I keep startled like this, I'll end up in the hospital!"

Pinkie laughed. "Oh, Vinyl. You won't end up in the hospital! My friend Twilight gets knocked over on a daily basis, about 10 times a day, and she's always fine!" Pinkie slapped Vinyl's back in a friendly way, hurting the pony's aching back anyways. "You'll be fine, too! Heck, she survived being crushed by the contents of a Pegasus moving truck!"

Vinyl went over and closed her window. "Really? That sounds really painful! Did she recover quick?"

Pinkie giggled a bit. "Are you kidding? Her bones mended themselves in less than a day! Well, mostly because of her magic and Fluttershy's scary mending talents."

"Fluttershy..." Vinyl pondered. "I've been meaning to ask you about her."

Pinkie listened curiously. "Yeah, Vinyl? What about? I can tell you anything! Well, just about everything, everypony does have their secrets y'know! I mean, like one time, everypony was telling Twilight secrets, and boy, did I have to make her watch herself, I mean, she made three Pinkie promises! Well, almost Pinkie promises, she kinda punched her eyeball when she tried to make the oath, but-"

"Pinkie! Can I please continue? Please?" Pleaded Vinyl.

Pinkie nodded. "Of course! Sorry, Vinyl. I get really carried away sometimes. Go on!"

Vinyl breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Pinkie. Anyways, about Fluttershy... what's up with that pony? She seems really quiet, but I swear I keep seeing her everywhere I go... Do you know if she's a fan of me, or if she's actually there or not?"

Pinkie shrugged. "I don't think so! The only music I've ever heard her listen to is her singing birds. And the only times I ever see her outside of her cottage is when she's either grocery shopping or going to the spa with Rarity! She's a really shy pony, so I doubt she'd bother trying to see you. Not to sound mean! She's just, well... shy!"

Vinyl nodded. "I totally understand, Pinkie. I guess I'm seeing things then."

Just then, the windows burst open again, and cyan blue mare once again crashed into Vinyl. "Hi! I'm back. Sorry I took so long. I couldn't remember where I put my bits." She held them up in a jar. "But I got 'em! You ready to go the carnival, DJ Pon-3?!" She grinned widely.

Vinyl laughed softly after getting back up. "Rainbow, yes, I am ready." She looked at the rainbow-maned mare. "But do me a favor? Call me Vinyl, please."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"How many bits did you bring?" Rainbow asked. The carnival was quite a walk away from Sugarcube corner. Rainbow had taken the time to ask Vinyl many questions, which was getting rather irritating.

But, Vinyl kept telling herself, She's a fan, she's only curious. She looked up at the flying mare. "About 70. Why do you ask?"

Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno. I thought you'd get hungry, so I was gonna offer you lunch or something, you know, to be nice." Rainbow grinned widely. It freaked Vinyl out the way she was smiling, but she shrugged it off.

Vinyl heaved. "No, I'm perfectly capable of buying lunch."

They went silent for a few seconds, where then Rainbow once again asked a question. "So how'd you meet Spitfire?"

Vinyl was rather relieved it wasn't a question that really didn't matter, so she answered more politely. "Well, back when I moved to Canterlot as an older filly, I had trouble adjusting to my new school, not having Pinkie Pie around and everything. Octavia went to a much fancier school for just fillies, so I didn't see her until after school. And, in school, I was picked on a lot for not having a cutie mark yet..."

Rainbow was walking now, more in tune to listening to Vinyl. "That sucks. But, go on!"

Vinyl gave Rainbow an amused smile, and continued. "Well, one day when a group of fillies had decided to target me about my mane, another filly stepped in front of them and... told them off, rather... intellectually, we'll say." She laughed a bit nervously. "Well, anyways, it was obviously Spitfire, who I guess got tired of seeing me get picked on. We were friends from then on." She smiled. "She may be more famous than I am, but she still gets time to visit."

Rainbow Dash squeaked. "Wow, that is totally awesome! I bet she fought them all off with her super speedy high kicks, didn't she?"

Vinyl gave Rainbow an annoyed look. "Uh... no, not at all. She just has a way with words."

Rainbow hung her head in disappointment. "Oh. Okay. So, uh, I think we're almost there." She grinned again. "You got any questions for me before we get there?"

About time, Vinyl thought. "Uh, yeah... I asked Pinkie this, but uh, what's up with your friend Fluttershy?"

Rainbow laughed. "Fluttershy? There's not much to say. She keeps to herself, she barely speaks, and has a knack for helping animals." She shrugged. "That's about it."

Vinyl scratched her chin. "I see..."

"Well, we're here!" Rainbow said. Both ponies became instantly excited. They ran up to the entry booth, bought there tickets, and proceeded within.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

fwing! Pop! The balloon burst. "We have a winner!" Announced the game host. He gestured to the array of prizes behind him. "Which prize would'ja like, miss?" Vinyl looked around. She thought it ironic seeing the amount of plush toys of her there were, but picked another nonetheless. "That one, please!" she said eagerly. The game host turned and picked up a large plush toy of Mare-do-Well and handed it to Vinyl. She thanked him, and trotted away with Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow was impressed. "You're an awesome shot with a slingshot, Vinyl!"

Vinyl laughed. "Yeah, well, I have to practice something besides spinning records with my hooves, don't I?" She spun the plush toy in the air with her magic. "I don't like using my magic for things that doesn't involve labour." She looked at Rainbow. "What do you want to play?"

But Rainbow was already gone. Vinyl caught up to her at the pig race game. Typical, I guess. Vinyl thought, jokingly. She walked up beside Rainbow, and watched as the game commenced.

"Come on, Ol' Loyal!" Rainbow said eagerly. The game had begun, and the pigs were racing. Rainbow rolled the ball up the mini alley, getting it in the farthest hole almost every time. She was ahead of the rest, eager to win. Then, another pig started catching up to her, and Rainbow began throwing the balls faster. It was a tight stretch, but Rainbow got her pig to cross the line.

"Woohoo!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down on her chair. She looked in the direction of the second place pony. "No one beats Rainbow Dash, not even-" Rainbow stopped suddenly, and her eyes widened. "...you."

Vinyl looked over to the second place pony. Surely enough, the pony was Fluttershy, sitting there blushing.

"Oh, uh, I know, Rainbow, I just thought, you know... I might play a few games, try to win a few...uh..." Fluttershy trailed off. She took one look at Vinyl Scratch, squeaked, and flew off.

Rainbow scratched her head. "Wow. I've never seen Fluttershy fly that fast before. She must've had to really get somewhere."

" 'Scuse me, miss?" Rainbow turned around, the game's host looking at her. "What prize do you want?"

Rainbow thought carefully. "Hm... that one!" She pointed to a doll of Vinyl. The real Vinyl rolled her eyes, but kept quiet. Rainbow gave the host a smile, and walked off with Vinyl. "Isn't it cool?" She showed Vinyl her doll. "It looks exactly like you!"

Vinyl forced a smile. "Yea-a-ah, it's great!" She stopped and pointed at the Ferris Wheel. "Wanna take a ride on it? We could see all of Ponyville!"

Rainbow laughed. "Ha! I do that on a daily basis!" She looked at Vinyl, who was annoyed with the response she received. "But, y'know, since you're not a pegasus and all, we could do that..." They continued towards the Ferris Wheel. They traded their tickets in for seats, and got on.

Vinyl was getting giddy in the seat, while Rainbow Dash thought nothing of it.

"Wow, look, Rainbow! I can see Sugarcube corner from way up here!" Vinyl exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash whinnied. "Yeah, that's really... cool...." She trailed off, taken back by something on the ground. "Um. Vinyl? How long does this ride go for?"

Vinyl shrugged. "I dunno. Probably two or three spins around. Why?"

Rainbow was sweating nervously, but acted nothing of it. "Oh, nothing. Just... sick, that's all. all this turning, you know?"

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "That's all you ever do, though. Right?"

"Aha, well yeah, but never sitting down! It just doesn't feel right." She looked back down at the ground, staring.

Vinyl knew something was wrong. "Rainbow, what's the problem? You're really on edge."

Rainbow was sweating horridly by now. "Oh, no no no! Vinyl, you see that grey pony down there, with the tie?"

Vinyl looked down, and surely enough, she saw the pony Rainbow was talking about. He had a flat top mane cut, a tie, and a cutie mark that she couldn't quite make out. "Yeah, what about him?"

Rainbow gulped. "He's... my boss at the Rainbow factory. And..." She gulped again. "I'm... not exactly supposed to be taking the day off..." Rainbow grinned worriedly.

Vinyl's mouth was agape. "What? You mean you should be at work right now?! What were you thinking!"

Rainbow Dash put her hooves together and begged. "Please, Vinyl! I got over excited hearing that you were in town! I couldn't help myself! I totally forgot I had work! You gotta help me, please! Just hide me, and I'll get back to the factory." She was pouting. "Please. Vinyl Scratch!"

Vinyl was definitely not impressed. Being a hard worker herself though, she knew where Rainbow was coming from. "Fine. I'll help you. But you have to promise me you'll go back to work as quickly as possible. Okay?" Rainbow nodded. "Alright, then. The rides over soon, anyways. here..." Her horn began to glow. "Being an infamous pony can be hard work, so I learned this illusion spell. It's like transformation, but it just makes you look different to the average pony eye."

In a matter of seconds, Rainbow Dash's mane and tail went grey and black, and her body and wings went tan. "It makes you look like whatever pony you were last thinking about." Vinyl suddenly realized who Rainbow looked like. "And in this case, you look just like-"

"-Daring Do?!" Rainbow interrupted. She looked down. Surely enough, she looked just like book bound hero, Daring Do. Minus the hat and clothing, however. "This is totally awesome! I want to stay like this forever!"

Vinyl shook her head. "It only lasts for so long. And, going at high speeds wipes the illusion away." She opened the seat's door. "Well, time for the moment of truth!" Both ponies stepped off of their seat and onto the solid ground. They walked out casually, trying not to attract attention. They got a few looks, but thanks to Vinyl's recent speech, no pony seemed overly excited.

Just then, a Unicorn being followed closely by a quill and notepad came running over. "Miss Scratch! I'm Daily News, reporting for The Daily News. Might I get a few questions?"

Vinyl pushed him back a bit. "Sorry buddy, but me and my friend here have got to go." Her and Rainbow continued walking, but the reporter was following closely behind.

"Just a few? It won't take long at all! Just a minute, can you spare a minute?" He droned.

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "No, I said no. Sorry."

"It won't take long, I promise!"

Vinyl stopped and turned around. "Hey, listen! I'm not here to get followed around by reporters! I'm here on a break!" She stomped her hoof in anger. "Now, sir, kindly leave me alone before I call security! My friend Rainbow Dash and I-" She covered her mouth with her hooves. She had let out Rainbow's name.

"Rainbow Dash?" Both ponies turned around. There standing there was Rainbow's boss. He was tall, and rather muscular for a pony. Vinyl could see his cutie mark now, and emblazoned on his flank was a rainbow coming out of what looked like a small factory.

Rainbow gulped. "Um, uh... I'm sorry, who?" Trying to mask her voice.

The pony snorted. "I heard the name of one of my employees. Who said it?"

Vinyl Scratch smiled, nervously. "That, sir, was, uh... me."

He looked at her. "And why ever did you say her name? Do you know of her whereabouts? And don't you dare lie. No one lies to Storm Factor."

Vinyl gulped. But just as she was about to explain, Rainbow stepped up. "It's me, sir..." She rubbed some of the illusion off her face, revealing herself to him. His expression didn't seem to change in the least. "I... well, you see, I got overly excited when I found out my favourite musician was in town..." She glanced to Vinyl, and back. "And I thought I'd go see her before work started, but..."

Tears began welling up in Rainbow's eyes. "Please, Mr. Factor, don't fire me! I got carried away, I didn't mean to get into trouble! It won't happen again!"

To her surprise, Rainbow's boss was actually laughing. "Fire you? Rainbow dear, don't be so ridiculous! You're my number one employee! Besides," He got down close to her face. "I was going to give you the week off, anyways! You deserve it after that double rainbow you pulled off!" He started walking away, and then turned back. "But. If you do ever decide to skip work." She gulped. But luckily, he merely winked, and walked off.

Rainbow was speechless. She slowly turned to Vinyl. She began laughing. "Wow... wow! I... I can't believe that all just happened! I thought for sure he was going to fire me!"

Vinyl's heart was beating rapidly. "Yeah, and I thought he was gonna squish us..."

Rainbow giggled. "Storm Factor? He'd never hurt a pony! He seems really scary, but he's one of the nicest ponies I know." Her smile turned into a frown. "But... I'm still sorry about all that. I understand if you won't forgive me."

Vinyl smiled. "Hey, it's fine. I've been through stuff like that all the time, just... not with a pony that big." She patted Rainbow on her back. "What do you say we go back the Corner? This'll be a story to tell to Pinkie."

Something Different for a Change

"Vinyl!"

the DJ jumped up out of her bed and hit the ceiling out of fright. She fell down back to her bed, her vision blurred. All she could see over top of her was a giant pink blur.

Pinkie, she thought, annoyed. "Pinkie... what do you wa-a-ant." She covered her face with her pillow and grumbled.

"Oh, Scratchy, I'm so glad you're awake! You'll never guess what just happened!'

Vinyl grumbled under pillow.

Pinkie giggled. "No, not exactly! well you see, the day of Pie-a-Palooza, my dad was supposed to come around and give me something, but he never did because the rock farm had a huge order to fill. Well, he just came around a half an hour ago, and look what he gave me!"

Vinyl took the pillow off of her face and looked at Pinkie Pie. Around Pinkie's neck sat a magnificent golden necklace, and there in the middle...

"Isn't it beautiful? it's called a Painite crystal! It's one of the most valuable gems in the world! My daddy found it when he was digging in the mine! Unlikely, I know, but the family mine is huge! I've only ever been down it a few times, but I'm rarely ever at the farm, so it's no surprise." She jumped around happily. "But it's so pretty! I can't get over how nice it is! My friend Rarity would be so jealous of me!"

Vinyl sat up, staring at the necklace in awe. "It's so beautiful, Pinkie... You're one lucky pony!" She stepped out of bed and yawned. "Ugh... I'm really hungry, though... Pinkie, is there anything I can get for breakfast?"

Pinkie nodded. "I'm actually just finishing up making it! if you wanna come downstairs with me, it'll probably be ready!"

Vinyl beamed and followed Pinkie. Pinkie made breakfast? Oh my gosh, this is going to be delicious.

And surely enough, there it was: the biggest breakfast Vinyl had ever seen. There on the table sat all sorts of plates of food. Pancakes, toast, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, waffles, the list went on and on. Vinyl was near to drooling at the sight.

They sat at the table and began eating. Vinyl was eating as fast as she could, but Pinkie had swallowed her share of the food whole.

"Mmm! That was delicious! I love making breakfast, almost as much as I love to make lunch! Oh, but not as much as dinner... and not as much as cupcakes, oho, no way as much as cupcakes! Hey! Vinyl, why don't we make cupcakes today?!"

Vinyl hadn't heard her, as she was still eating. She was enjoying the food too much to notice anything at all.

Then, the door of Sugarcube corner swung open. Vinyl saw this out of the corner of her eye, and looked over.

There, in the doorway stood the most regal pony Vinyl had ever seen. A beautiful purple mane, matched by an extremely well kept coat and posture. Vinyl recognized the pony very easily. This was Rarity, the element of generosity. She had hired Vinyl once for a fashion show, that evidently went horribly.

"Hello, Pinkie, and- oh!" Rarity noticed Vinyl. Her face was a mess from breakfast, her mane was untidy, and she looked overly tired.

Rarity gagged a bit inside. "Darling, how could you let yourself look like that? It's dreadful!"

Vinyl looked side to side. "Look like whath?" She said with a full mouth.

Rarity gestured to Vinyl's face and mane. "Like that! Goodness gracious, girl, you need proper care!" She picked Vinyl up by her front legs. "Come with me, dear. I'll fix you up well."

Before Vinyl could say anything, Rarity had zipped out of the door with Vinyl.

Pinkie Pie stared at the mountain of dishes sitting on the table. She sighed, and started bringing them into the kitchen to clean.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Vinyl shuddered inside the building she stood in. The fanciness of the place made her feel chills. The place was almost as fancy as Octavia's house. She looked around the room. It had a very old fashioned, opera theater-styled look to it, only with more purple shades than red and gold. The floor was covered in a soft, light purple-tinged carpet. The windows were shaped like stained glass windows, with less colours and designs.

I would hate living in this place. Vinyl thought to herself.

Rarity stepped in behind her. "It's not much, but, it is home. and a dress shop." She waved a hoof over at the racks of dresses sitting against the wall. "But, we aren't staying here, no, I just had to do a few things before we leave!"

Vinyl cocked her head. "Leaving for where?"

Rarity laughed. "Oh dear, but where else? The spa, of course!" Rarity was running around the room, cleaning up the several messes she had apparently left some time ago. "My friend Fluttershy is supposed to meet me there, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I brought you along."

"Fluttershy, you said?" Vinyl said.

Rarity nodded as she came back to the doorway. "Yes, she's a good friend of mine. Have you not acquainted yourself with her yet?"

Vinyl shook her head. "I barely ever see her. I saw her yesterday at the carnival, but she bolted as soon as she saw me."

Rarity laughed softly. "Oh, yes. That's definitely Fluttershy. She's a very shy pony, she's not to used to getting to know other ponies. Don't be offended, it's common for her."

Vinyl nodded. "Don't worry, I got that."

they both walked out the door, and Rarity locked it behind them. "Now, Miss Scratch, tell me about Canterlot, what is it like being able to live there?"

Vinyl coughed. "Well, it's... definitely interesting. Much different than Ponyville. The ponies there are all high class and stuff. It gets really boring staying there. To me, anyways. That's why I'm on tour a lot of the time. I never like staying there for too long." She thought about Octavia. "But, I'll usually stay a few weeks to see my friend. We're living together because she insists on saving bits."

Rarity had been listening the whole time, to Vinyl's surprise. "My, it may sound boring to you, but to me, high class is style!" Rarity looked like she was glowing in that instance.

Vinyl laughed. "Ha, you'd get along with Fancy Pants and all the others just fine, then."

Rarity blushed. "I... actually know Fancy Pants rather well, really. Him and I are rather good friends."

Vinyl's eyes widened. "You know Fancy Pants? Wow! I can't even get near the guy without either me being crowded, or him being crowded! How did you get to know him?"

Rarity grinned. "Well, it's a funny story, really. I was staying in Canterlot for a few days, seeing the sights. Twilight's birthday was coming up, so I tasked myself with making her a ravishing dress. I went to see a Wonderbolts derby, and woe and behold, I happened to bump into him! He invited me to his private box as apology. Soon, we spent quite a lot of time socializing and whatnot."

Vinyl was amazed. "Really? It was that simple for you? That's crazy!"

Rarity laughed. "Well, yes, it really was. A funny story, if you do ask me." Rarity looked up. "My, how time does go by! We're here already!"

Vinyl looked up. Surely enough, the spa was standing directly in front of them. It wasn't a very large building, but spas usually aren't that big anyways.

Rarity stepped through the door, and the receptionist greeted her heartily. "Hello, Ms. Rarity! The usual?"

Rarity nodded. "Yes, Aloe, indeed the usual. However, I have brought someone with me this time!"

Aloe gestured towards the waiting room. "If you're talking about Ms. Fluttershy, she's just in there waiting for you."

Rarity shook her head. "No, I know that. I meant, this pony!" Rarity waved her hoof to the door, and Vinyl stepped inside.

Aloe screamed. "My goodness! You, miss, are quite a wreck to behold! We need to get you clean!" Aloe rushed off to start the spa treatment session.

Rarity laughed. "Oh, don't mind her. She can be worse than me sometimes." She looked at the waiting room. "I'll go fetch Fluttershy. One moment!" She chimed.

Vinyl sat and waited in the entrance room. Soon enough, Rarity came out with Fluttershy.

"Now, Fluttershy dear, I'd like you to meet Miss Vinyl Scratch." Rarity said.

Fluttershy's face burned red. "Oh, Rarity, I am sorry, but, um, something just came up you see, um... Angel's foot was injured in a terrible accident, so, um, I should really... go... check on her." And with that, Fluttershy bolted out of the door, not to Vinyl's surprise.

Rarity was shocked. "My goodness, never has Fluttershy flown so fast! How did she know about Angel...? Oh well, the health of animals is important, too." She looked at Vinyl. "I suppose it's just you and I now!" And with that, they strode into the spa area.

Immediately, Aloe and another pony named Lotus snatched the ponies up and began their spa treatment.

"First," Aloe explained, "We shall give you a good wash."

"Yes," Lotus chimed in, "A good wash!"

Vinyl was shoved into a spa tub beside Rarity, who was already seated in one. The two spa-going ponies immediately started to wash Vinyl with all sorts of shampoos and conditioners and herbs and whatnot. They focused heavily on what was Vinyl's hair, which, within a matter of minutes, was drooping wet, covering her eyes and disabling her visibility.

She stepped out of the tub after a while, and Aloe and Lotus, appearing once again out of nowhere, vigorously attacked her hair with a towel, drying it off. Vinyl's hair looked liked a lion at the time. She blew her hair out of her face, and, once again, was dragged away by the spa ponies.

This time, she sat beside Rarity in a sauna. Which, was rather relaxing. She let her body slouch as she let herself relax.

"This is nice, wouldn't you say, Miss Scratch?" Rarity asked, sounding content.

Vinyl nodded. "I've never done anything like this before. Best feeling ever..." She said, drifting away into a state of calmness.

But, just as she was about to fall fully into a warm slumber, Aloe and Lotus grabbed her once again. Vinyl was horribly annoyed by this, but soon realized that wherever they were taking her, must be even better.

Evidently, it was. She lay on a massage bed while Lotus gave her a rub down. Aloe was working on Rarity's hoof ends at request. Vinyl lay there on the bed, content as ever.

"Ah... what do you say, Vinyl? A mud bath afterwards, perhaps?"

Vinyl looked worried. "I don't know-w-w-w..." She replied whilst being given a back massage. "It seems sort of dirty-y-y-y."

Rarity laughed. "Oh, my dear, but it is ever so relaxing! You'd like it very much, I assure!"

Vinyl considered it. "Ah well, okay-y-y-" She was cut off, as Lotus swept her off her hooves, and into a mud bath.

Vinyl seemed disgusted at first, but soon, once she relaxed, enjoyed it. She was enjoying this spa treatment, besides being dragged off to the next portion. She closed her eyes, and let her body submerge into the mud.

"See what I mean, dear? It really is something." Rarity said, eyes covered by cucumbers. Seeing this always confused Vinyl, but she paid no mind to it.

She lay there in the bath, thinking of how much she was enjoying her stay in Ponyville, besides the Pie-a-Palooza ordeal and Rainbow Dash's near-fired experience. She thought of the breakfast she enjoyed this morning, the few days she spent with Pinkie Pie baking... and then it was all but a wisp, as once again, she was dragged off by Lotus.

She found herself once more inside a bath, being cleaned again. That didn't last very long, as this time it was Rarity, who very gently, ushered Vinyl to a hot tub. Vinyl loved the sight of this, as she spent much of her time in her own hot tub. She stepped in after Rarity, and sunk in.

Vinyl felt as though she was in heaven. Never in her life had she felt so relaxed. Why haven't I ever done this before? She thought, laying in the hot tub alongside Rarity, whom was either sincerely relaxed, or fast asleep. I should take 'Tavia to one, sometime... She thought about Octavia. She realized once more that she missed her friend sincerely. I'm gonna get her here soon. I know it... And thus, she fell asleep in the tub.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Vinyl was sitting on her front door step, awaiting Pinkie Pie and her new friend, Octavia. She huffed impatiently. She'd been waiting for almost a half an hour now, and they were supposed to be there a while ago. She looked up and down the road, and still they were nowhere to be found.

"Hi Scratchy!"

Vinyl almost jumped out of her coat. She landed face first, and once she recovered, she looked behind her to see Pinkie Pie waiting in her doorway.

"Pinkie? How the hay did you get there?"

Pinkie laughed. "Oh, Scratchy! What does it matter? It's me! That's how!"

Vinyl laughed. Pinkie did have a point. She looked around. "Hey, where's Octavia?"

"Right here," Said a small voice from behind a rain barrel. Vinyl looked over and saw Octavia come out from behind it. "Pinkie told me to hide here while she sneaked up behind you."

Pinkie's face drooped. "Aw, Tavie! You were supposed to keep it secret!"

Octavia's face saddened. "Oh, Pinkie, I'm sorry... I didn't catch on to that."

Pinkie smiled. "That's okay! I still got her anyways!"

"Heh, I was only pretending! I wanted to give you the satisfaction." She lied.

Pinkie laughed. "Ha! Yeah right! Did you see how far you went up? It was totally hilarious! It was almost farther than last time!"

Octavia raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by last time?"

Pinkie laughed. "Oh gosh, Tavie, you should've seen it! It was last year's Nightmare Night- gosh it was fun- and Scratchy and I were going out with my mommy, so we had to go get Vinyl. I had a really scary mask, so I wanted to really scare Vinyl!" She circled Vinyl, with a piercing gaze upon her as she did it. "When we got to Scratchy's, I decided to climb the tree beside her window and jump in and scare her! So, I did, and let out a big roar!"

She stopped behind Vinyl and roared. "Roa-a-ar!" She yelled. Vinyl, once again, screamed and jumped up in terror. She landed behind Octavia and hid behind her.

Pinkie was on the ground laughing. "Just like that! Gosh, it was funny! I'll never get over it!"

Vinyl stared at Pinkie. "Stop it, Pinkie! I don't like being scared, you know that!"

Octavia nodded in agreement. "Nor I. It's not very fun, if you ask me."

Pinkie huffed. "Well fine then! Be that way! It's fun to be scared once in a while, you two are just party poopers!" Pinkie turned and stomped away angrily.

Vinyl sighed. "Now I feel bad... I hate it when she's angry."

Octavia patted Vinyl on the back. "Oh, Vinyl, it's alright. Not everypony likes the same things. I'm sure she's already over it and wondering where she's going by now."

Vinyl laughed. "You're right, 'Tavia. Pinkie does get over things fast." She looked up at Octavia. "What took you two so long, anyways?"

Octavia blushed. "Oh, I had to finish up my cello practice... Pinkie said she'd wait with me, because apparently she was interested in hearing it."

Vinyl smiled. "I wanna hear! Can we go back to your place and play some tunes? I can bring my piano! Or, well, if it's easier, I have started playing guitar. My daddy said it's a lot of fun."

Octavia beamed. "A guitar! How interesting! Yes, bring it! We could write some really cool songs, too!"

Vinyl zipped back inside and came out with a red guitar. "Ready then?"

Octavia nodded. "Yep! Let's go!"

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"Miss Scratch? Miss Scra-a-atch?"

Rarity was waving her wet hoof in front of Vinyl's face. "Hello? Are you still with us, dear?"

Vinyl stirred and woke up. "Huh...? What?" She noticed Rarity. "Oh, hi... I was just... dreaming..."

Rarity laughed. "That's plain to see, darling, but, we need to go get our hair done, and then we're out of here."

Vinyl groaned. "But I don't want to leave! I love spas! They're so..." Vinyl sighed contently. "Relaxing."

Rarity laughed. "Never had one before, I take it?" Vinyl shook her head slowly. Rarity laughed again. "Well, we'll have to do this again sometime! But, come darling, we need to get that mane of yours done!"

Rarity grabbed Vinyl and zipped them both to the next room. Aloe and Lotus were waiting for them, and Lotus began work on Vinyl once she sat down.

"Now, what kind of look are you aiming for, Miss?" Lotus asked.

Vinyl shrugged. "Enh, just my usual look. Do you have a picture of me anywhere?"

Lotus nodded. "Oh, I don't need a picture, you have no idea how many times I've had to do that style. You've got quite the amount of fans, Miss."

Vinyl laughed. "Oh, well then! Please do!"

Lotus nodded, and began her work. She snipped, she clipped, she curled, she unfurled, and all of it seemed soothing to Vinyl. She lay contently as Lotus worked.

Finally, she was done. "Does it look okay, Miss?" Lotus asked. She stuck a mirror in front of Vinyl.

Vinyl beamed with shock. Staring into the mirror, she saw an tremendous amount of beauty. Her coat was gleaming, her hair had no knots, and she looked amazing.

"I..." She started. "I'm... speechless. You did wonderfully! No, you did better than that! It's..."

Lotus smiled. "Extraordinarily beautiful?"

Vinyl nodded. "Exactly! It's... crazy awesome!" She jumped on Lotus, hugging her tightly. "Thank you so, so much!"

Lotus laughed nervously. "Ehe, well, I'm glad you approve, but, um..." She gently pushed Vinyl off. "I prefer not to be... touched, if you please, Miss."

Vinyl rubbed her neck, embarrassed. "Aha, uh, yeah... sorry."

Lotus smiled, and left the room alongside Aloe.

Vinyl was beaming. She looked over at Rarity, content on showing her new look. But, before she could do anything, Vinyl's jaw dropped. Rarity was gleaming, she looked so amazing. Her purple mane was shining as bright as the sun, and her white coat beamed like a pure-white cloud.

"Sweet Celestia, Miss Rarity! You look amazing!" Vinyl exclaimed.

Rarity laughed in appreciation. "Well, thank you kindly dear! I do think so myself! Now, if you'll come with me back to the boutique, we'll get you into a nice new dress!"

Vinyl cringed at the thought. A dress? How humiliating! The only thing she's ever worn was her favourite green sweater, and that was only ever so often.

"Uh, thanks, but, no thanks. I'm really not the dress type."

Rarity gasped. "Dress type? Miss Scratch, if anyone could pull off a dress, it's you!" She gestured to Vinyl's gleaming coat. "And after all that to make you look ever more stunning! I believe a dress is the only way to go!"

Before Vinyl could say anything, Rarity had already taken her by the hoof, and out the door.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"How about this one?"

Vinyl was severely unimpressed. She had spent the two hours after the spa treatment trying on Rarity's dresses and modelling them. Dress after dress after dress, Rarity would not stop with them.

"Excuse me, Rarity?"

"No, not this one, no no no..."

"Rarity?"

"Oh, this one! Oh... no, not this one."

"Miss Rarity."

Rarity jumped. "Goodness me, dear! you shouldn't need to yell, I'm only right here you know!"

Vinyl huffed. "Miss Rarity, could you maybe, you know... decide on a dress that suits me? We've been at this for hours, and I'm getting sort of tired from standing here."

"Goodness me, I hadn't realized! I am terribly sorry, I'll quickly find one for you." She rummaged through the dresses again, when finally...

"Aha! Perfect!" She came out of the jungle of dresses, with an extravagant blue and white dress. "This one will suit you perfectly!" Rarity quickly dressed Vinyl in it, and surely enough, Vinyl was in fact, impressed this time. Two hours had gone by, and this was the first -and hopefully last, she thought- dress she actually liked.

"Wow, I... wow. This is actually beautiful, Miss Rarity. I..." She stared at herself in the mirror. The dress was laced with a white and blue striped pattern, matching her mane and tail colour. The collar area looked even impressive. White lace patterns lined the bottom of it. and blue laced the sleeves. It was truly a dress meant for a pony of Vinyl's stature.

Vinyl was speechless. "I don't know what to say, Miss Rarity..."

Rarity hushed her. "Please, Miss Scratch, call me Rarity."

Vinyl nodded. "And you please, call me Vinyl."

Rarity nodded, and Vinyl continued.

"This whole day... I did stuff I never thought I'd ever do. I thought spas were for really fancy-smancy ponies. I hate trying on dresses, but for once, I actually like one..." She spun around in her dress. "...and it suits me perfectly. How could I ever thank you?"

Rarity laughed. "Oh dear, you don't need to! It was all a welcoming gift from me to you! We in Ponyville are honoured to have you in our hospitality, and, after all..." She laughed softly. "I am the element of generosity!"

Vinyl smiled. "Well, Miss Rar- I mean, Rarity, I thank you heavily. You've opened a whole new kind of thing to me." She hugged Rarity. "I won't soon forget this!"

Rarity laughed. "Oh, darling, you are welcome! I had a grand time. Now, you'd best hurry back to Sugarcube corner, it's getting rather late."

Vinyl nodded, and walked to the door. "One last time, Rarity... thank you."

Rarity smiled and waved. Vinyl waved back, and with that, stepped out into the open world...

...where it was raining.

Vinyl huffed. She knew today was too good to be perfect. So, on she went home, trekking through the night time rain.

--------------------------------------

To my readers, whom I appreciate greatly.

This chapter... enh. I didn't know what to do with it. I wasn't very sure what kind of problem I could make between Rarity and Vinyl, so basically it was really minimal. I also have no idea what a spa treatment is like, so if any of that is in accurate, sorry.

Basically this chapter was just about opening up new things to Vinyl. Rarity's my least favourite pony, so it was really hard working with her.

The next chapter will be way better.

Thanks!

~Smaug

How One Acquires a Music Note

It had been about three days since Vinyl had gone with Rarity to the spa. during those three days, she had been trying her best to stay in her room and sleep, trying to relax. Of course, 'trying' is a key word in this instance. She got about an hour of 'Vinyl Time' every day.

The rest of the time was her and Pinkie Pie cooking and playing board and video games. Pinkie didn't have a lot of games that Vinyl played. She had tons of board games, like 'Monopony' and 'Connect 8', and video games like 'Battlefilly' and 'The Element Scrolls: Equestria'. Even then, Vinyl was still wanting to do something more. That's when Pinkie had given her the idea.

"What?"

Pinkie giggled. "A farm! Do you not know what that is?"

Vinyl rubber her neck. "Well yeah of course, I'm not that big a Canterlot pony. But, working on one? That's too far for even me."

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Scratchy! You said you wanted to try something different for a change! Sitting here taking turns on Super Mare-io isn't a very big change for you, I'm sure."

Vinyl blushed. "Ehehe, yeah... You have a point."

Pinkie smiled. "Of course I do! Besides, farming is true work. I'm not saying you don't work hard, but farming is way different than what you do."

Vinyl huffed. "But I hate doing so much work... isn't there anything else you can think of?"

Pinkie laughed. "I've thought of thousands! But I'm only telling you one." Pinkie winked. "Come on, Scratchy. It'll be a totally cool experience for you!"

Vinyl looked out the window. It was always beautiful outside, and it had been since she arrived. She sighed. "Alright, I'll do it. It's been nice outside every day now, so tomorrow, I'll go."

Pinkie grinned. "I win!"

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Pinkie. It's not a competition to make me do stuff."

Pinkie giggled. "Not that, silly!" She pointed to the game screen. "I just beat the level!"

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Asleep, once again. Dreaming, once again. Vinyl was dreaming every night since she arrived in Ponyville. She dreamed in Canterlot, but usually of concerts and new, sub consciously made songs. But, ever since she arrived in Ponyville, her dreams had been focused on much different things. She dreamed of when Princess Luna had returned to Canterlot. She dreamed of her own personal spa. But, most of them focused on one thing.

How much she wanted Octavia to be with her on vacation.

She had sent letters to Octavia countless times, but not once did she get any reply. It had saddened her deeply. She prayed everyday that she would get a letter back, but none came.

it's Canterlot, it's a long way away for the postal service. She would tell herself. She'll reply. She's your best friend! Why wouldn't she?

Telling herself that was the only way to keep her from breaking down entirely. This was her vacation, she wanted the most of it.

It was almost midnight, when something outside made Vinyl jump out of her slumber. She tiredly looked out the window. Nothing but the tree at her window stood there. She shook her head, and fell back onto her pillow. Just as she did, she heard a small sound hit the window. She shot straight up, annoyed. She got out of bed and threw open the shutters.

She couldn't see anything over the rooftops of Ponyville. So, she looked at the ground. Surely enough, there was somepony standing there, just at the foot of the tree by her window. But, she could not make out quite who it was.

"Hello?" Vinyl whispered.

"Hey, Vinyl..." Vinyl recognized the voice as Rainbow Dash's.

"Rainbow Dash?" she whispered. "What're you doing here? It's midnight!"

Rainbow quietly floated towards the window sill. "I wanted to apologize again about the carnival thing with my boss..."

Vinyl laughed tiredly. "Rainbow, I told you, it's alright. I know you feel bad, but I don't think it was necessary to tell me at-"

Rainbow cut her off. "I know, I know... That's not all I wanted to say, though."

Vinyl cocked her head. "Oh? Sorry, go on then."

Rainbow sucked in the air around her, and let it out. "The Wonderbolts just confirmed they're doing a show here in Ponyville at the coliseum in four days and that buying two tickets on the first day would be cheaper and I couldn't contain myself so I flew over here and wanted to ask you..." She let herself breathe. "...If you would go with me?" She grinned fearfully, hoping Vinyl would say yes. "Please! I'll buy your ticket and everything!"

Vinyl smiled, still groggy from her sudden waking. "You must've been really excited if you decided to do this at night."

Rainbow nodded quickly. "I couldn't help it! I have so much trouble sleeping."

Vinyl laughed, then considered Rainbow's offer. "Well..." She said, as Rainbow leaned in close. "...I would love to! I love seeing Spitfire and the others in action!"

Rainbow squealed in happiness and did several flips in the air. "Yes yes yes yes yes! Thank you so much!" She latched onto Vinyl, hugging her tightly. "This is gonna be so awesome! Thank you!"

Vinyl gently pried Rainbow off of her. "you're welcome, Rainbow! But, could I maybe..." She gestured to her bed. "...Get back to sleep, maybe?"

Rainbow blushed, embarrassed. "Oh, uh, yeah! Sorry, I'll let you go." Rainbow flew off. "Thanks again, Vinyl! Woohoo!"

Vinyl laughed, and then remembered how tired she was. She shut the shutters, flopped under her blanket, and fell back asleep within minutes.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

The next morning, Vinyl got up and packed what Pinkie said she would need. Sunglasses, water, sun screen, the works. Vinyl was well prepared for anything in her way.

Pinkie bounded into the room, bouncing up onto Vinyl's bed and jumping up and down. "So you ready, Scratchy? I'm sure you'll have tons of fun, because although working is hard work, you should still try to have fun!"

Vinyl nodded. "I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle it... although, I am still sort of worried I won't." Vinyl put her glasses on and slung her bag over her back. "Hey, did you talk to Applejack at all? Let her know I'm coming?"

Pinkie nodded. "Yup! I sure did! She was sort of surprised that you were going to go help her out, but she was still happy to hear she'll have a few extra hooves for the day!"

Pinkie pointed at the door. "In fact, it was just now! She's downstairs waiting for you! She was here to get a few thing for her sister's birthday coming up, but now she's here to get a few things and you, too!"

Vinyl's eyes widened. "She's here already?! Why didn't you tell me sooner!" before Pinkie could answer, Vinyl rushed down the staircase. Surely enough, Applejack was downstairs sitting at a waiting table.

Applejack looked up and smiled. "Well howdy, Miss Scratch! Pinkie told me that'che wanted teh' help me out tuh'day."

Vinyl smiled. "Yeah, she gave me the idea last night. Although I will warn you, I didn't sleep too well last night, so I might be a little sleepy."

Applejack nodded. "That's fine, I won't overwork yeh'." She looked at Vinyl's bag. "Whatche got in there?"

Vinyl looked at her bag. "Oh, my bag? Nothing really, just sun screen and some water in case in gets hot. Pinkie told me it'd be a good idea."

Applejack smiled. "She was right to! All that hard workin' can get a ton tirin'. A've always got a good amount of water with me. Sun screen don't get necessary fr' me, though. After all," She gestured to her large cowboy hat. "This thing keeps me out'uh the sun!"

Vinyl laughed. "That's cool. Shall we go then?"

Applejack nodded. "in a few, Ah still've got tuh' get Applebloom's birthday cake."

"Applebloom?" Vinyl asked. "She was at the Pie-a-Palooza, right?"

"Mah lil' sister, Yup!" Applejack replied. "Her birthday's tuh'morrow, n' Granny Smith wanted me tuh' go n' get'r a genuine Cake fam'ly birthday cake."

Vinyl nodded. "Pinkie sent me a piece of their cake in the mail once... I have no idea of how she managed to preserve it... but, it was really one of the best cakes I've ever had." Vinyl trailed off, thinking back to the cake. "eeheehee... I could use a piece right now... I haven't had anything from the bakery, and I've been here for a while now." She looked over at the counter. "I'm totally buying one when I get back."

Within a few minutes, Mrs. Cake brought out a large box with the words "Apple Family" stricken across it. Applejack took the box, payed and thanked her, and gestured Vinyl out the door.

Both mares walked out the door, and into the sunny village that was Ponyville. It was a magnificent day, perhaps better than yesterday. Vinyl breathed in the air around her. She caught the scent of the bakery, and Applejack's trademark smell of apples. A pleasant mix of smells.

Applejack turned to Vinyl and grinned. "Y'ready fr' workin'?"

Vinyl nodded. "Yup! I'm totally looking forward to it. I'll try my best to keep up."

Applejack nodded, and they began to walk. The streets were bustling with noise, the sounds of ponies at work, fillies at play, and the occasional sound of a distant animal. Even the flowers seemed as though they were making sounds.

They were quiet for a while, when Applejack spoke up. "So, y'lived here in Ponyville as a filly, right?"

Vinyl nodded. "Sure did. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Applejack started. "With'n you bein' you n' all, how come nopony ever noticed when ye' lived here?"

Vinyl laughed. "Well, you see my mane?" Applejack nodded. "Well, this isn't how I styled it as a filly. It looked way different."

Applejack was taken back. "That much that nopony noticed you? Ma' gosh, Ah'd like tuh' see that."

Vinyl blushed. "I still do it from time to time... I dunno, it was nice. And nopony knew what my cutie mark was, I didn't get it until after my move to Canterlot."

Applejack looked interested. "Would'je mind tellin' me how? Ah'm mighty interested."

Vinyl grinned. "Well, then. Since we have the time..."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"Vinyl?"

Vinyl turned around to see her father standing in her bedroom doorway. Or at least, her new bedroom doorway.

"Yeah dad? What is it?"

Her father grinned. "How do you like your new room, Vinyl?"

She shrugged. "I dunno, I guess it's alright." She turned and furrowed her brow out of her father's sight. "It's nowhere near as good as my old bedroom." She mumbled.

"Well, your mother and I thought that, once you're done, we'd go out to dinner, the three of us." He said. "Would you like to?"

Vinyl's mood rose. "Yeah I would love to! Can I pick where we go? Please, please, please?" She used the pony-eyes on her father, even though she knew she didn't have to in order to get what she wanted. She just liked doing it.

Her father laughed. "of course, Vinyl!" He reached into his bag he had slung over his back and pulled out what looked like a travel magazine. "You feel free to flip through this, and tell us when you've found a place you might want to go." He turned back to go into the hallway and looked back. "love you, honey."

Vinyl smiled appreciatively and said the same. She immediately started flipping through the book. She loved going out for dinner, not just for the food, but for the atmosphere and to see what kind of music they would play. She saw all sorts of places that looked high end and fancy. Then, one restaurant caught her eye: The Spinning Carousel.

She stopped flipping pages and read the article. the Spinning Carousel, It began. Is the best family and interactive restaurant in all of Canterlot. With a five star rating, this restaurant will have you coming back with it's alluring music, dance parties, and of course, food. The rest of it trailed off into the menu, but Vinyl wasn't interested in the food anymore; she was more interested in the photographs.

The restaurant had an appropriate blue coloured tone to it. The floor sat in a white and blue checkered patten, and the tables were laid out in a rather nice looking way. What caught her the most was the dance room; an entirely sectioned off area meant for no sound disruption into the actual restaurant itself. It was very much a dance room, but more for fillies and colts. Or at least, that's what the picture showed.

Another picture showed the dance room's DJ: A unicorn mare who went by the name 'Hoofmaster P'. What kind of name is that? Vinyl thought to herself. But that didn't matter. The mare had a very interesting look, though. She had a bright blue coat, and a dark red mane. She had a very straight mane, but a very unkempt tale. She had a pair of bright purple sunshades, and a cutie mark that looked like a black disc.

Vinyl was more interested in the music of this place than the food, so she thought; why not ask to bring Octavia? Octavia liked music too, and she lived in Canterlot.

Vinyl had really begun to miss Pinkie Pie, though. They were both crying pools of tears, not wanting to let go of each other as they cried. She promised to write to Pinkie every moment she could, and Pinkie had promised the same.

Vinyl liked Octavia all the same as she did Pinkie, though. With the exception that Octavia was much more classy than Vinyl, they had much in common with each other.

She called out for her father. "Hey, dad?"

His head popped in through the door. "Yes, sweetie?"

She pointed at the restaurant in the magazine. "Could we go here please? And can Octavia come?"

Her dad walked over and read the article. 'Hm... the Spinning Carousel, hunh?"

Vinyl nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! It looks totally cool! And..." She pointed to the picture of the dance room. "They've got a place for fillies and colts so they don't get bored waiting for food!" She was jumping up and down. "Could we go, please please please?"

Her father looked at the article warily, but then smiled. "Of course we can. I did say you could pick where we go." He thought for a moment. "But I'm not sure about Octavia... more or less her parents. They are pretty uptight about these sort of things."

Vinyl grabbed her father's leg in a begging way. "Aw, but dad! I've been so bored ever since we got here! Can I please go get her, ple-ea-ase?"

Her father pondered for a moment. "Well, I suppose we can go over and see. I'll take you, Canterlot's much bigger than Ponyville."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Ding dong!

Octavia stopped playing her cello -still much too big for her, but oh well- and went to answer the door.

"Who's at the door, Octavia?" Her mother called from her room.

"I'm about to find out, mother!" she called back. She opened the door to see Vinyl and her father standing in the doorway. "Hi Vinyl! Hello, Mr. Coltwell."

Coltwell smiled. "Good evening, Octavia! Are your parents at home?"

Octavia nodded. Yes, they're upstairs. Would you like me to go get them?"

Coltwell nodded. "Yes, that would be great, if you could."

Octavia ushered them inside and went and fetched her mother and father.

Coltwell raised a hoof to wave hello. "Mr. and Mrs. Note, how are you?" He asked.

Mrs. Note smiled. "Good afternoon, Mr. Coltwell. we're quite fine, fine indeed."

Mr. Note nodded. "Yes, we've just finished writing the final symphony for the performance we have in a month. It's truly a masterpiece!"

Coltwell smiled. "That's wonderful! I still have yet to purchase a ticket for me and my wife." He shook his head. "But, anyways, I meant to ask you: are you busy this evening? We were wondering if you would all like to come have dinner with my family and I for our first night in Canterlot."

Mr. and Mrs. Note looked at each other, and then back to Coltwell and Vinyl. "Where abouts were you planning on going, might we ask?" Asked Mr. Note.

"Oh," Coltwell replied. "Just a place called The Spinning Carousel." He rubbed Vinyl's hair. "We let Vinyl here choose where we went. Are you interested?"

Mrs. Note shook her head. "I'm afraid the Mister and I think the music and atmosphere there is... much too out of our style." She looked at Octavia. "However, Octavia seems to enjoy it. Don't you, dear?"

Octavia nodded. "I'm not much for the music really, but I love the style of the place! Could I go, mother? Father?"

They both smiled. "Of course, Octavia." Her mother responded. She looked at Coltwell. "We'll send you some bits equal to whatever she gets. The place is a tad expensive."

Coltwell nodded. "That'd be great, thank you." He looked at the two girls. "Well, are you ready to go then?"

"Yeah!" Both fillies exclaimed.

Coltwell laughed. "Alright then, let's go! I'll have her back around 8:00, depending on how fast dinner goes by. Is that alright?"

The Notes nodded.

"Then let's go!" He announced.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

The place looked just like it had in the picture. Blue and white floor tiles, blue walls, white tables, a well lit atmosphere... Vinyl already loved it.

"It's quite something, don't you think, Vinyl?" Octavia asked.

Vinyl nodded happily. "It sure is! It's so cool in here! Look around, I mean, don't you think the blue is so cool? It reminds me of my mane!" She brushed her mane back as she said it. "Ugh. I need to get a new hairdo."

A waiter welcomed and seated them as they came in. They were sat somewhere in the middle area of the restaurant, with a great view of the surrounding areas. Vinyl noticed a wall of fame on one end of the restaurant. She looked at her mother.

"Hey mom? Can I go look at that?" She asked.

"Of course, honey, go right ahead!" She said back.

Vinyl took Octavia by the hoof and dragged her over to look. It was a very big wall, with all sorts of famous musicians. Vinyl recognized some of them, like Daft Ponies (Whom she was glad to see was there) and Deadmare, while some of them-

"Ooh! Look at all of them!" Octavia exclaimed. "There's Haytoven, Manezart... ooh! Colt Mansell! Oh, and here's a group photo of the Canterlot Symphony Orchestra! Goodness, look at all of them..."

Vinyl's attention trailed off to a nearby glass door. She walked up to it, and the sign on it said "Dance room- Tonight's DJ: Hoofmaster P!"

She looked at Octavia, who was still looking at the wall of fame, then back to the door. She hesitated for a moment, thinking she should ask her parents if she could go in. Then she considered, They wouldn't mind. I hate waiting, after all. and walked through the door. What she didn't realize was that the sign above the one she read has said closed for the night.

She stepped into the room. It was dark, and all the lights were off. Where is everpony? She thought. And why is it so dark? She used the little unicorn magic she had to illuminate her surroundings. It hurt a bit, as she was still young and not used to magic, but she could tolerate the pain.

The walls were made of white panels with small, coloured bulbs inside them. Must be for rave lights. She thought.

The floor beneath her was the same. White panels with the faint glow of bulbs inside them. She looked at the ceiling, expecting the same. But, in it's place, was a regular blue ceiling and a magnificent disco ball. Her horn's light refracted off of it once she looked at it, and saw light spots show up around the room. It was a magnificent sight. Of course, the ball wasn't spinning, but it was still pretty cool.

She then started to bob her head, pretending the lights were going on and off on the disco ball. "Rave, rave rave!" She exclaimed.

"Hello?"

Vinyl stopped bobbing and froze. She turned around, and there standing was a unicorn. She recognized the unicorn as Hoofmaster P.

"Um... hello." Vinyl stammered.

Hoofmaster raised an eyebrow. "You do know the dance room is closed for the night, right?" She asked.

Vinyl blushed. "Oh, um... no, sorry. I didn't. I guess I missed that."

Hoofmaster smiled. "It's alright. They put that closed sign up way too high for little ponies to see." She trotted closer to Vinyl. "My name's Spinner, but I'm Hoofmaster P when I'm doing my show. What's your name?"

"Uh, Vinyl Scratch." She said warily. "I...I really like your dance room."

Spinner smiled. "Well thanks! I'm pretty happy with it, too. You wanna tour since you're here? I don't get a whole lot of company. Not counting the crowd, of course."

Vinyl's guilty emotions were wiped away by the instant glee that overcame her. "Would I! I would love to!"

Spinner laughed. "That's the spirit I like to see! Come on, I'll show you the back room."

Vinyl followed Spinner behind the stage to the backroom. It looked so high tech, this room. Cords and all sorts of machinery crowded the room, but Vinyl didn't care. In fact, she was filled with glee seeing all of the sort of things that DJ's use in their work.

Spinner saw Vinyl's eagerness. "I take it you like music too, eh?" Vinyl simply nodded, making Spinner laugh a little. "Well then, why don't we see what you can do? I still haven't taken any equipment apart. You want to?"

Vinyl looked at Spinner and stared. Spinner just asked the one question Vinyl's always wanted to hear. "I... Yes. Yes please. I would love to!" She hugged Spinner's hoof. "Thank you thank you thank you! But, uh." She got off her leg. "Why are you being so nice?"

Spinner laughed a bit. "Well, to be honest, I like seeing others happy. I really do. I guess I get it from my cousin Cheerilee in Ponyville. She wants to be a teacher when she's older."

"I know Cheerilee!" Vinyl exclaimed. "I went to school with her! I used to live in Ponyville, but I moved here to Canterlot."

"Really? That's really cool!" Spinner said. "She's a great filly." She took Vinyl over to her turntables. "Have you ever seen one of these before?"

Vinyl was speechless. She was standing in front of the thing she considered to be most sacred. A dual turntable. She never thought she'd even use one, let alone see one, but here, in front of her, stood a turntable.

Spinner noticed Vinyl's awe and switched the equipment on. "Here," she said. "I've got a bunch of my samples set up on my computer here. Why don't you arrange them in a way you want, and then use the turntables to see what you can do?"

Vinyl looked at Spinner. "Wouldn't that wreck your song though?" She asked.

Spinner shook her head. "Nah, I've got it saved on a separate hard drive. Here," She sat Vinyl in the chair. "Go ahead!"

Vinyl looked at the screen. She had read up tons of times to know how to use these kind of systems, and now that she was using one, she dived right into it. Arranging, rearranging, moving, separating... she knew all of it.

Spinner stood there, watching intriguingly.

Wow, She thought. This little filly knows her stuff.

Vinyl continued doing so for a bit, when someone called her name.

"Vinyl Scratch!"

She stopped what she was doing and turned around. Standing in the doorway was her father, with Octavia by his side.

"Uh... H-hi, dad." She stammered.

Her father walked over to her. "Where have you been? You asked to see the wall of fame with Octavia, and instead you wandered into the closed dance room!" He then noticed Spinner. "May I ask who you are?" He demanded.

"My name's Spinner, sir." She replied, calmly. "Your filly here didn't know the dance room was closed, and I noticed her standing in the dark, so I decided to look after her until someone came along."

Coltwell nodded. "Thank you very much, I appreciate that." He looked back at Vinyl. "But you, young filly, you are in big-"

"I think you ought to listen to what she's made, sir." Spinner interrupted.

He looked at her. "What did you say?" He asked.

"Sorry, that was kinda rude of me, but..." She looked at Vinyl. "You should hear what she's made. It's really something for her age."

He looked at Vinyl. "...Fine. Show me what you have, then. If it's so important."

Vinyl gulped, and stepped off of the seat and went over to the turntable. She put her hooves down on it, and instantly got a thrill. She looked at Spinner and nodded.

Spinner nodded, and pressed play. The sound that came out was the best thing Spinner had ever heard.

Vinyl got right into it. She spun the discs when she thought appropriate, and let her music flow when she thought to. She fell into an almost trance-like state; letting the music flow, and letting her mind work. She'd never gotten such a joy out of anything like this. It was a perfect feeling.

Finally, the music stopped, and Vinyl opened her eyes. Spinner, Octavia and her father all stood there with their mouths agape.

"Um..." Vinyl started. "What did you think?"

Spinner was the first to talk. "Vinyl," She started. "That was better than anything I could have ever made. I've never heard anything like that."

Octavia nodded. "Even I admit, I enjoyed that quite a bit. I've never heard something so loud be so... entertaining!"

Vinyl looked at her dad with pleading eyes. "Dad? What did you think?"

Her father stood there, mouth still open. Finally, he gave in. "Vinyl, I...I don't know what to say. That was even good to me. No, not good, grand! Magnificent! Amazing!"

Vinyl was beaming. "You really think so?!"

Her father nodded. "I do! It was absolutely incredible! And for such an age, too!" His eyes widened. "Honey, look..."

She looked behind her. Her flank was glowing. Within seconds, the glow was replaced by a pair of eighth notes conjoint together; It was her cutie mark.

She began jumping with joy. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh!" She exclaimed. "My cutie mark came! My cutie mark came!" She leaped onto Spinner, hugging her tightly. "Thank you so much! I would've never gotten it if not for you!"

Spinner laughed. "Wow, I've never done anything like that before! I helped someone get their cutie mark... Wow!" She looked at Vinyl. "I'm really proud of you, Vinyl Scratch. As a congratulatory remark, and to show how proud I am, I want to give you these." She used her magic and removed her purple glasses, and landed them on Vinyl's face. "You've got talent, Vinyl. I urge you to keep using it, and to someday go for the big time." She winked at her. "Just don't forget me when you do."

Vinyl's eyes teared up a bit. She was so happy. She finally learned what her talent was, and that was music. She earned a new friend, someone she felt she could easily connect with. Someone who just gave Vinyl her most prized costume attire.

She looked up at Spinner. "Thank you so much, Spinner." She hugged her again. "I'll never forget you, ever."

The Most Work She's Ever Done

"...And that's how I got my cutie mark."

Applejack stared at Vinyl. "Wow..." She said. "That's... a real good story, Miss Vinyl."

Vinyl smiled. "Aw, thanks! What about yours? How'd you get your cutie mark?"

Applejack laughed. "Well, Ah'd rather not say. It's a might embarrassin' teh tell." She looked ahead and smiled. " 'Sides, we're here!"

Vinyl looked up. Surely enough, they were surrounded by apple trees and huge tracts of land. The sound of sheep of cows traveled across the land, and the cocking of chickens rang through the air. The smell of apples wafted through Vinyl's nose, enticing her in it's aroma.

"It seems so...." She sighed. "Peaceful!"

Applejack smiled. "Well, it can be, sometimes. M'little sister Applebloom gets most'uh the peacefulness, bein' young 'n all." She gestured to a far field. "Y'see that field? How all 'uh the trees'r bare?"

Vinyl nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, those'r all apple trees. M'big brother Big Macintosh only cleared it all yesterday. He started 'bout last month."

Vinyl's eyes widened. "Wow. That really is a lot of work. How long can it take you?"

Applejack hesitated. "Well, ah don't usually empty th' field. Ah did one time, but... let's just say ah got overly conf'dent, 'n it... took me a while."

Vinyl nodded. "I do that with my music, sometimes. I totally understand."

Applejack laughed. "Well, this kind'uh work is a might diff'rent than yer' music work. There's plenty more work ye' gotta do."

They passed through the gate of Sweet Apple Acres and up to the Apple family's house. It was an old looking house, with fading colours and a crooked porch. A pony Vinyl recognized as Granny Smith was fast asleep on a rocking chair, snoring and drooling.

Applejack shushed Vinyl with her hoof. "Y'don't wanna wake Granny Smith from'r nap. She needs'r beauty sleep." Granny Smith snored loudly. Applejack winced. "Even if it doesn't look too beautiful."

They walked through the door. To Vinyl's surprise, the house looked much cleaner on the inside. In fact, it was more than she expected. It didn't look very much like the other houses in Ponyville, but it was still nice. There were many rooms, nothing as big as the kitchen. The house seemed very... everywhere, while being somewhere at the same time.

"here," Applejack said. "Ah've got to go fetch a few pails from ma' apple cell'r. You can go n' sit in the livin' room."

Vinyl shook her head. "No, I want to experience everything, first hand. If that's alright."

Applejack smiled. "Ah like yer' attitude, Miss Scratch! A'right then, folluh' me!"

Applejack led Vinyl to the basement. "Ah 'riginally only had one way to th' apple cell'r, but ah found it annoying havin' to go back n' forth. So, Big Mac got a few of his friends teh' build anoth'r way down. Handy, hunh?"

Vinyl simply nodded and smiled. The stepped into the apple cellar. Vinyl completely understood why it was called an apple cellar. Barrels were piled on top of each other, filled to the brim with apples. It was dark and cold, but that was understandable. Apples are supposed to stay fresh, after all.

Applejack picked up a few buckets with her tail. "Y'all can start with doin' th' same thing Ah'm doin'. Pick up a few buckets with yer' tail or whatever ye' can, and take 'em up that staircase there." She gestured to a staircase opposite of the one they came down. "We'll need about ten'r so, so it shouldn't be too difficult for ye' teh' do."

Vinyl nodded, and began picking buckets with her tail. It wasn't meant for such things, as it was a sort of curled tail, but she managed to do so anyways. It wasn't very heavy, but then again, they were all empty. She could pick up three with her tail, and one with her mouth and carried them up the stairs and outside.

Applejack had carried the rest with her tail, and hung them on a beam attached to the side of the farmhouse. Vinyl followed along, setting them in the way Applejack had done.

"Now what?" Vinyl asked Applejack.

Applejack pointed a hoof to several trees. "Those trees y'see? Well, Ah thought Ah'd take it easy on ye' and have ye' do those ones n'til all yer' buckets r' full. Me, on the other hoof-" She pointed to a large field. "Ah have teh' clear about a quarter of that there field. Here, I'll show ye' how tuh' buck the trees."

Applejack strode over to a tree with a bucket, set it down, and turned around. She bent over, and with an extreme amount of might, back-hoofed the tree, causing the apples to fall into the bucket.

Vinyl's eyes widened and her jaw went agape.

Applejack grinned as she strode back over. "Now, Ah don't expect ye' tuh' get it on yer' first try, but Ah'd prefer ye'd do it quick, aright?"

Vinyl nodded, nervously. "Yeah, I can manage that..."

Applejack smiled approvingly. "Great! Ah'm gonna go git' started on that field. Good luck now!" Applejack trotted off towards the large field of apples.

Vinyl looked at the trees. She gulped. She'd never use her back hoofs for actual bucking, just for shows when she really got into the music. Kind of like Fillex, when he performed.

She straightened herself out, and breathed in and out. I can do this, She thought. It can't be all hard. I mean, that's what pony's back legs are for, right?

She walked up to the first tree, and turned around. She closed her eyes, and bucked. A ripple of pain shot through her legs, and the momentum of the kick pushed her face first into the ground.

"o-o-ow..." She groaned. She got back up, her legs still aching. She'd been through worse though, so she ignored it. She looked back at the tree. Not a single apple had fallen.

She huffed. "Great, that's great..." She sucked in air, and tried again. And again. But each time, the same result came. Kick, pain, ground. Kick, pain, ground. She didn't want to give up, but the pain made her want to cry as she sprawled out on the ground.

"Y'alright, Miss?"

Vinyl turned her head around. Standing there was who she remembered to be Applejack's big brother, Big Macintosh. "Y'need any help?" He asked.

Vinyl shook her head. "No, no I'm fine. I just gotta... keep trying, y'know?"

Big Macintosh raised an eyebrow. "Not from what Ah was seein'. Or are ye' hittin' the ground on purpose?"

Vinyl snorted. "No, it's just a little hard, that's all. I've never done this kind of thing before."

Big Macintosh grinned. "Ah can see that. Want me teh' give ye' a few pointers?" He helped her up. "If ye' want me to."

Vinyl shook her head. "Nope! I want to keep trying. Get the feeling of success!" She punched the air with her hooves.

Big Macintosh sighed. "A'right, then. But Ah'm gonna keep an eye on ye', make sure ye' don't hurt 'cherself too much."

Vinyl gave him a smile, and turned back to her foe. That's all it was. An enemy, waiting to be defeated. She narrowed her eyes. It's you and me, apple tree. She spun around on one hoof, raising the back of her body as she did it. At the right moment, she kicked her hooves out. Not only did the pain ripple through her legs again, but the momentum of this kick sent her tumbling into the fence.

"U-u-u-ugh..." She groaned. Her vision was blurred. She shook her head, and then, standing in front of her, was Big Mac.

He grinned. "Eeyup. Y'need help."

He picked her up. "Now, watch n' listen teh' what Ah do."

Vinyl huffed. Big Mac ignored it, and walked over to the tree, and turned around.

"Ah've noticed that yer' only kickin', not focusin'." He gestured with his legs to show her what she was doing. "Y'see? Yer' just kickin'. Ye've got 'tuh focus yer' might into yer' legs, not just yer' thoughts. Like this!" He hoofed the tree. The buck was so powerful that several roots were uplifted, and all the apples fell into the buckets below.

Vinyl stared, dumbfounded. "I...wow. That was... something."

Big Mac grinned. "Eeyup, so Ah've been told. Y'see what Ah mean, though? Ye've got tuh' focus yer' might n' mind when buckin'." Her gestured to another tree. " 'Ere, try it out on that one."

Vinyl hopped off of the fence and up to the tree. Focus your might, and your mind... She narrowed her eyes and grinned. Focus. Might. Mind. She lowered herself to the ground and licked her lips. "Alright..." She said. "Let's do this!" She spun around on one hoof, again. She focused all of her energy into her legs. It all felt so slow. The wind zipped past her face, coiling it's way through her mane. And then, she tightened her leg muscles, and bucked the tree.

A loud crack was heard, and the apples fell from their sitting places and into the buckets below. This time, Vinyl had kept her ground.

She panted. She stared at her success, and then whinnied in glee. "Yes! Alright, I did it! Yeah!" She spun in circles, bucking her legs in the air.

She then remembered Big Mac. In mid spin, she jumped on him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you so, so much! It felt so awesome!"

Big Macintosh laughed a bit. "Ahaha, eeyup, it sure does, don't it? And it's no probl'm, Ah'm glad Ah could help out." He put her down on the ground. "Ah've got teh' go do ma' jobs, now. Come n' see me if'n ye' need anythin' if Applejack's busy." He walked away in the direction of the barn.

Vinyl smiled, slyly. He's kinda cute... She thought. She shook her head. She had feelings for another pony, someone she didn't want anyone knowing. (Not even you!)

She continued bucking the trees for the next half hour. Not as amazing as the first one she did, however. She continued bucking, and eventually, she was finished. She looked at her work, and, realizing how tired she was, fell over. She laid on the ground, panting. She was proud of her work, all thanks to Big Macintosh.

"Miss Vinyl! Good job on the Applebuckin'!"

Vinyl lifted her head to see Applejack standing there.

"Heh... thanks... huff... Applejack..." Vinyl slowly got back on her hooves. "Your brother gave me... whoo...!... some pointers..."

Applejack patted her on the back. "Well that was mighty nice of'm! Now, come on. We've got teh' milk th'cows!"

Before Vinyl could even say anything, Applejack grabbed her by her tail and dragged her off towards the animal pens. Once there, the smell of animals wafted through the air. The numerous smells disgusted Vinyl, but she promised herself she'd get used to it once she was there longer.

Finally, Applejack stopped, allowing Vinyl to rise to her feet. " 'Ere we are!"

Vinyl stared. A barn filled with many, many cows spread out in neat rows.

Applejack opened the viewing door, and they strode in. "Lemme intruh'duce ye' to th' gang! This here's Bovinette, n' this is Mooriana, and...oh! Hey there, Ms. Milkington! How's the fam'ly?..."

Vinyl tuned Applejack out as they continued down the rows. She thought back to Octavia, and wondered if she had gotten any reply letters since she left Sugarcube Corner. Now she was eager to get her work done. But then, something caught Vinyl's hearing that caused her to panic.

"So, you got all'a that then? A'right, start milkin'!" Applejack declared.

Vinyl had missed every little instruction on how to milk cows. Applejack had already started, so she thought, I could just watch Applejack and see how she does it. I'm sure I can learn that way!

Vinyl watched Applejack as she milked a cow. It looked easy enough. Pull the utters over top of the bucket, and make sure you get the milk into it.

With content, Vinyl picked up a bucket from a rack and placed it under a cow. She began pulling the utters.

As if on queue, the cow bucked it's hind legs, sending Vinyl flying into another cow, who bucked her upon her impact, sending her back to the other cow, only face first into the bucket.

"Ow..." She groaned.

Applejack laughed. "What in tarnation was that, Miss Scratch?" She helped Vinyl onto her hooves. "Didjeh fer'get? Ye've got tuh' pull'm in a cert'n way!" She started pulling the cow's utters in a very orderly way. "Like this, see? This utter, n' then this utter, n' then this utter, n' then this one!"

Vinyl watched, and then nodded. "Alright, I think I've got it." She tried again. This time, the cow didn't do anything except stand there and let Vinyl work. Vinyl felt accomplished, being able to get the hang of this faster than she did bucking trees.

Applejack patted her back. "Good job there, Miss Vinyl! Ah'm gonna go work on some other cows. Call on me if'n ye' need some help!"

Vinyl nodded, and Applejack trotted off into the crowd of cows. Vinyl continued milking the cows, gleeful from her achievement, and disgusted by the thought of what she was doing. All the same, work was work. So on she went, milking and milking. When she finished one cow, it was on to the next.

Eventually, she got to the end of the row. She didn't know what to do next, so she decided to go on to the next row.

However, these cows looked slightly different. There horns were bigger and they weren't covered in spots. Vinyl wasn't very familiar with cows, so she took no notice to it. She set the bucket underneath it, and began pulling the utters.

Or, she would've, if she wasn't bucked on top of another cow opposite of the one she had gone to milk.

The cow she now laid on had obviously become angered, because now it was bucking it's hind legs and attempting to break free of it's restraint, which Vinyl had not noticed before. She held on for dear life, and finally the cow broke free.

Still holding on, Vinyl bounced up and down on top of the rampaging animal. It bucked it's legs every which way, snorting and growling.

"What's the big idea, lady?!" He exclaimed, still bucking. "No pony tries to attack Bull Kickswell! NO PONY"!

The cow, now obviously a male, Or a bull... Vinyl thought through the chaos. How could I have been so stupid?! Bulls are male cows!

Vinyl let out an "Oof!" as the bull halted to a stop, now seemingly more like he was struggling.

"Kickswell! Ah've told ye' teh' stop scarin' 'ar guests!" Vinyl heard Applejack scream. She looked over top of the bull's head. There in front of the bull, Applejack had a lasso wrapped around the bull's head, who was trying his best to pull free.

Kickswell grunted. "I'll do what I have to when someone tries to attack me!" He said through his teeth.

As if he knew what was going to happen, Kickswell dropped to his knees. Applejack had won this rope fight. Applejack trotted over and lifted Vinyl onto her hooves. She looked down at Kickswell. "No pony tried to attack you." She pointed over to the bull that bucked Vinyl in the first place, who was smiling, guiltily. "Iron Kick thought Miss Vinyl was tryin' teh steal his share of tuh'days food, n' bucked her on top of ye'." She stomped her hoof in front of his nose, actually making the very powerful-looking bull cringe. "Now, apol'uhgize!" She commanded.

"Fine... Sorry, pony." He sneered. "I didn't mean to hurt you, if I did." He snorted. "Just stay back, okay? Us bulls have tempers."

Vinyl thought it a rude apology, but coming from a bull, it was good enough for her. She nodded. "It's alright. Just a little scary, that's all." She turned to the other bull, Iron Kick. "And sorry for trying to milk you. I couldn't tell the difference between a bull and a regular cow." She rubbed the back of her head. "I'm not from around here."

The bull nodded, and turned away to continue eating.

Applejack untied Kickswell, and helped him back up and into his stall. She made sure he was secure, and then turned to Vinyl. "What in hay did Ah tell you?! Don't try teh' milk the bulls! Weren'tche listenin' to me?!"

Vinyl's face went paler than it was already. She gulped. "Well, to be honest, I wasn't... You were talking to all the cows, and I didn't hear you..." She gulped again. "...Tell me what to do."

Applejack's angered face became less angered and more embarrassed. "Uh... yeah... Ah do that. Ah just like havin' everyone get f'milar with each'uther." She put her hooves on Vinyl's shoulders. "But even then, Ye' should'uh listened tuh' me neverth'less! He could'uh hurt you good!"

Vinyl let out a sigh of guilt. "Yeah, I know... I'm sorry. I really am. My thoughts can really get the better of me. I'll try not to do it again."

Applejack nodded. "A'right, Ah'm glad teh' hear that. Now, we've done a good amount uh' things. Y'wanna break? Ah think ye' could use one after what just happened."

Vinyl nodded eagerly. "Yeah. I really could use one."

Applejack smiled. "Great! We'll go back tuh' th'house. Ah can make us up some cider!"

Vinyl nodded even more eagerly. "Yeah! I could really use one!"

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Vinyl sat down on the reclining chair. It felt very old and worn out. She sighed. It was nice relaxing after so much work. Many photos covered the walls, a lot of them in black and white. There were some of a little pony in a bonnet, some of a stage coach, and one of a family meeting Princess Celestia. The coloured ones were mostly of a filly Applejack and Big Macintosh, and a slightly younger Granny Smith. There weren't too many of Applebloom, but there were a few.

Applejack walked into the room pushing a cart with two cups of apple cider on top. "Here we go! Two apple ciders! One fr' you..." She gave one to Vinyl. "...and one for me!" She picked up her own and sat down on the sofa.

Vinyl sipped from the cup. The cider was delightful. It had a unique twist of tangy and sweet, and the taste of the apples were very imminent.

"mmmmm," She moaned. "This is the best cider I've ever had..."

Applejack smiled. "Why thank ye' Miss Scratch! Ol' fam'ly recipe. Ye'd never ever guess the main 'ngredient."

Vinyl looked at her, as if she thought Applejack was that daft. She realized it was a joke when Applejack winked at her. They both giggled.

Vinyl looked around. "Hey, where's your little sister? I haven't seen her at all."

Applejack sighed. "Oh, she's off doin' her things... Tryin' tuh' find'r cutie mark n' all." She snorted. "Wish she would stop bein' so 'nnoyin' about it..." She mumbled.

Vinyl laughed. "Cutie mark? What, does she think she's just gonna find it? Ha!" Vinyl gulped down her drink, and let out a loud belch. She covered her mouth and her cheeks became incredibly red.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "That's def'ntely somethin' I haven't heard'je do."

"Ehehe... yeah... sorry." She stammered. "It's just... really good cider, that's all."

Applejack smiled. "Ah well, I 'ppreciate that, Ah really do." She laid back in her chair, pulling her hat over her eyes.

Vinyl tapped her hooves on the chair's arms. "What are we doing next?" She asked.

Applejack raised her hat to see Vinyl. "Yer' itchin' fr' workin' already? We only just took a break."

"I know," She replied. "I'm just...eager, I guess."

Applejack sat up in her chair and smiled. "Well, that's the kind'uh spirit Ah like hearin'! Although," She slouched back into her chair and rubbed her chin. "There's not too much else we can do. Ah guess we could till th' gardens that don't have any crops yet, if Big Mac ain't doin' that." She looked at Vinyl. "But, Ah'm gonna letche' go after that. Ah don't like pushin' ponies that don't work here on the farm."

Vinyl nodded in agreement. "That's fair enough. You wanna get to work then?"

Applejack nodded. "Sure thing!" She hopped out of the chair. " 'Ere, foll'uh me. Th'gardens are 'round back th' house."

Vinyl jumped out of the recliner and followed Applejack. They stepped out of a door in the kitchen, and in front of them stood fields of gardens, some filled with crops, others barren.

Applejack pointed out each one. "Carrots, Cel'ry stalks, corn, tuh'maters, Snozberries-"

Vinyl cut her off. "What's a snozberry?"

Applejack shrugged. "Ah dunno. Ah just know we have 'em. They're p'erty good, too." She continued. "On'yuns, peppers, wheats... n' so forth." She pointed to an empty field. "That's the one we're guh'nna work on, seein' as Big Mac is off doin' somethin' else." She gestured for Vinyl to follow her. "Come on then. Let's get workin'! N' remember to listen this time." She gave Vinyl a stern look.

Vinyl nodded quickly. "Don't worry, I will! Not after that bull experience."

Applejack nodded, and led her to a small shed. "Wait here," She said, and went inside. She came out with a large horse-drawn tiller.

"This," Applejack said through her teeth. "Is what..." She said, obviously struggling. "We use... to till... the...land!" She stopped pulling, and started panting. "They're gosh darned heavy. Ah can barely pull one. So, we're just gonna work tuh'gether pulling just this one. Ah warn ye' though, ye've got tuh' use every bit uh' strength ye've got in ye'. Ye' got that?"

Vinyl nodded, but she obviously a little nervous. "Yeah, I can sure as hay try..." She gulped. I hope... She thought.

Applejack smiled. "Ah'right then. Let's get tillin'!" She exclaimed.

She threw a harness over top of her back, and then fastened one on to Vinyl. It was heavy, but she would be able to handle it.

They stood there, at one end of the garden.

"We've only got tuh' do this one garden, n' the rest are fr' Big Mac tuh' do, seein' as this is his job." She said gruffly. "Anyways," She continued. "Let's go!"

They started pulling. Pulling this thing was the most weight Vinyl had ever carried. It strained her heavily, but then she remembered: She was a unicorn! She could just use her magic and cut the work time in half!

But, no, She thought. I want to know what real work is like. No magic! All me!

they continued pulling. They'd only made it a few feet, and already both ponies were sweating. Especially Vinyl. It was a painful endeavor, but she promised herself she could do it.

"Come on, Miss Vinyl!" Applejack encouraged, noticing Vinyl's extreme amount of strain. "We can do it, yer' doin' great!"

They pulled and pulled. By the time they reached the middle of the garden, Vinyl had become drenched in sweat. It felt disgusting, and the days heat didn't help at all.

Applejack continued encouraging. "We can do it, Miss Vinyl! We're almost there! Don't let th' sweat get to ye', sweatin's great for ye'! Just keep it goin'!"

Vinyl took those words to mind, and pulled harder. The strain was ridiculously painful, but the quicker, the better.

They were just a few feet away from the other end. She could do this. If Applejack believed in her, then she could too.

She pulled harder, causing her to experience the most pain she could have ever been in. Sweat was pouring off of her as if she had just gotten out of a lake, and her blood was pumping very fast.

Finally, they made it. The tilling was done. And as soon as it was over, Vinyl fell over, absolutely exhausted.

Applejack fell over beside her, panting. She looked at Vinyl and tried her best to smile. "We... did it, Miss...pant... Vinyl...!" She barely patted Vinyl. "Yer' a... good workin' horse, Miss Vinyl.... Ah'm proud."

Vinyl looked at her, breathing heavily, and smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, Applejack... You're amazing..."

And with that, both ponies blacked out.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Vinyl slowly opened her eyes. She looked around. She was in a bedroom, but not her own, nor Pinkie's guestroom. Judging from the designs on the wall, she was still at Sweet Apple Acres.

"Miss Vinyl?" Vinyl turned her head to the door. Standing there was Big Macintosh.

She smiled. "Hey, Big Macintosh... What's up?"

Big Mac smiled, softly. "Not too much, Miss Vinyl. How ye' feelin'?"

Vinyl sat up and rubbed her side. "Ow... It feels like I pulled a muscle, but otherwise, I'm good..." she looked around. "Who's room am I in?" She asked.

"Applebloom's," Big Mac replied. "You n' ma sister were passed out cold- or rather, passed out hot s' hay- in front of one of th' garden's Ah was s'posed tuh' till."

Vinyl flopped back onto the bed. "How long were we out?" She asked.

Big Mac shrugged. "Well, Ah dunno how long out there, but ye've been out in bed fr' a good hour r' so."

Vinyl grumbled. "Where's Applejack?"

"Sleepin', in 'er room." He responded. He looked at a clock on his wall. " 't's gettin' a l'il late, though. Ye'd best get back tuh' Sugarcube corner."

Vinyl nodded, and got out of the bed. "Alright..." She hugged Big Mac. "Thanks for getting us." She said.

He smiled. "No prob'lm." She was still a little shaky, so Big Mac helped her down the stairs and outside.

She turned to him. "Hey Big Mac? Can you thank Applejack for me?"

He nodded. "Eeyup, Ah can do that."

She hugged him again. "Thanks." She strode off, and waved her hoof to him. "Seeya later, Big Macintosh! Thanks again!"

He waved back. She continued walking. As much as today strained her, it felt great being able to help out.

Lunch with Ponyville's Smartest

The door to Sugarcube corner swung open, and in walked Vinyl.

Pinkie bounded into her line of sight. "Scratchy, you're back! How was-"

Pinkie stopped abruptly and winced. Vinyl was drenched in rain water, and her mane -as if not a mess already- was covering her face, making her look like something out of a horror film.

Pinkie reluctantly brushed the hair out of Vinyl's face. "Uh... hey." She said weakly.

Vinyl looked at Pinkie, obviously out of breath. She went to say something, but abruptly burst into laughter.

Pinkie watched for a while, and then began laughing as well. They fell on the floor, laughing for several minutes, when Vinyl finally spoke up. "Heh... hey, Pinkie."

Pinkie turned her head and grinned widely. "Hi Scratchy!" She exclaimed.

She helped pick Vinyl up off the ground. "How was Sweet Apple Acres?" She looked up and down Vinyl's body. "You know, before, the whole, 'Little-Miss-Wet-Scratch' thing."

Vinyl laughed a little. "Well, it was... a lot of work. Haven't done anything like that before. I had a lot of help though, too." Pinkie handed her a towel, and she continued on. "Big Macintosh showed me how to properly buck apple trees, Applejack saved me from a raging bull, and I helped Applejack till a garden." She shuddered. "That was the most painful part..."

Pinkie nodded. "Oh, I know, trust me. I've done it a bunch of times with her! It's like pulling on a giant metal tilling thingy, gosh they're heavy!"

Vinyl went to say something, but hesitated. She knew it was just Pinkie being herself.

She yawned. "I think I'm gonna go to bed... today was really exhausting..."

Pinkie nodded. "That's fine! I can imagine why. I'll be your wake up call!"

Before Vinyl could protest, Pinkie bounded off into the kitchen. She sighed, finished drying herself at the door, and trotted upstairs. She opened the door to her bedroom, and flopped onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling. As she moved her eyes around, she saw a shadow coming from the window's direction disappear. She propped herself up to look outside, and all she could see was swaying branches outside.

She sighed, and flopped her head back onto her pillow. She sighed, and instantly fell asleep.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Vinyl lay in a field of flowers, with the sun shining upon her. Around her, ponies pranced and play in the field, dancing with Pinkie Pie. Pinkie grabbed Vinyl on her way by and began singing.

Remember that day,
way back in the day?
When you and me,
first met Octee'?

She was quiet, and we,
we were loud!
But she put up with us,
we were the first she met in town!

Vinyl noticed the sky darken a little, but Pinkie continued singing nonetheless.

She liked you better,
and was alright with me.
Why oh why,
did she not listen to my plea?

I liked her, just as much you did!
But she took no notice,
no matter what,
and saw me as a 3 year old kid!

The sky became much darker, and Pinkie had become a darker shade of pink. Vinyl began to panic, but Pinkie wouldn't let go of her.

You took her from me,
but don't worry, that's okay,
I'll let you rot...

Pinkie pushed Vinyl into a large, rectangular hole in the ground, And screamed "IN YOUR GRAVE!"

Vinyl tried climbing upward, but to no prevail. It had began pouring rain. She looked up at Pinkie, who was now towering over the hole, her hair straight and smile wide, laughing at Vinyl.

Other ponies around Pinkie -or rather, Pinkamena by now- began laughing with her at Vinyl, calling her names and throwing mud at her.

"What, don't you like being around ponies, 'Scratchy'?" Pinkamena scoffed. "Aren't you really popular?"

Vinyl began crying, pleading for Pinkamena to forgive her. "Please Pinkie, I didn't mean to ever hurt you! Let me out, please!"

Pinkamena ignored her, and had begun to fill the hole with dirt. Vinyl tried desperately to climb out, tears and dirt rolling down her face. "Please, Pinkie! Please!"

All Pinkie did was laugh as ponies filled the hole, muffling the desperate pleas of Vinyl.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"Aaaaaaugh!" Vinyl screamed, sitting upright in her bed. She was sweating, and breathing heavily.

She looked around the room. Everything was the way it was supposed to be. Lampshade on the night table, closet closed, the morning sun shining through the window, a pegasus floating outside the window, a clean, un-dirty Vinyl-

Wait. Pegasus outside the window?

Vinyl looked back outside. Surely enough, a pegasus was floating there outside the window. She had a mail bag flopped over her back, a rather interesting cutie mark consisting of bubbles, and her most distinguishing feature, her eyes. They looked in opposite directions, which to Vinyl was most intriguing.

Vinyl got up and opened up the shutters, allowing the pegasus to land inside.

The pegasus smiled brightly. "Hi there! I'm Derpy Hooves, your friendly neighborhood mailmare!" She vigorously shook Vinyl's hoof. "It's real nice to meet a star pony, gosh, I don't get to do this a whole lot! Except that one time when I met Princess Luna, and Spitfire the Wonderbolt, oh and Princess Celestia, oh hey! I can't forget Photo Finish! Boy, I never get to meet celebrities!" She continued shaking Vinyl's hoof, making Vinyl's front leg hurt. "And boy, here I am, meeting the best DJ in Equestria, DJ Pon3!"

Finally Derpy Hooves stopped shaking Vinyl's hoof and reached into her saddle and pulled out a letter. "Anywho, here's a letter right here, for you, here! This one's from the library, which means Twilight Sparkle sent you it! Gosh, she's a nice pony, sending letters and such, but boy she does it a lot! She has a dragon that sends letters to Princess Celestia you know, isn't that cool? The postal service doesn't really like her doing that, but we can't do anything about it, being Celestia's will, you know!"

The mare flapped her wings. "Well, I've got to go now, it was really cool meeting you and all! Boy, I had a great time! We should do this again sometime! Well, seeya!" And with that, the mare flew off.

Vinyl blinked, and then shook her head. "That was interesting." She said to herself.

She opened the letter and read it.

Good morning, Miss Vinyl Scratch!

My name is Twilight Sparkle, if you recall from Pinkie Pie's party from when you first arrived. I was hoping you'd have the time today to come to the library and have lunch with me and my friend Spike. We would love to get to know you.

I found out recently that Spike is a rather large fan of yours, and after showing me some of your songs, I can agree you are quite the artist! I wouldn't let Spike be a 'Fanboy', I'd be sure to make him behave.

Thank you for your time!

~Twilight Sparkle

Vinyl thought about the letter. Twilight seemed very proper about what she had said, very formal. Vinyl received letters like that all of the time, knowing her fans were just trying to get her attention by proving how proper and mature they could be. Vinyl appreciated it, but she liked when her fans were just themselves.

She thought about it for a second. So far, she had hung out with three of Pinkie's friends. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack. The only one left was Twilight. Oh, wait. Wasn't there another one? She thought. What was her name...

She shrugged. "Enh, oh well. I'll remember at some point." She looked back down at the letter. "Hm... I guess it'd be fair. She seems nice enough..."

Just then, she remembered her dream, and shuddered. Maybe she should talk to Pinkie Pie first, before she left. she never thought that Pinkie might have been jealous of her and Octavia. She winced at the thought. She'd definitely talk to her.

She set the letter on her bed and set her path downstairs. Pinkie Pie was, of course, already up and eating.

"Hey Pinkie." Vinyl said as she approached her pink friend.

Pinkie turned her head and smiled brightly. "Hey Scratchy! I heard you might be going to Twilight's day! That means, you'd have visited all of my friends! Well, except Fluttershy. She keeps to herself anyways." Pinkie took another bite of her hash browns. "I meam, you'b be lucky thoo even thalk thoo her!" She said with a full mouth. "She'th that quieth!"

"I believe you, trust me." She sighed. "But uh, Pinkie?"

Pinkie swallowed her food and turned her friend, smiling widely. "Yeah, Scratchy? What's up?"

Vinyl gulped. "Well, I... I had a dream last night."

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "A-a-a-and that's all you wanted to say?" She asked.

Vinyl shook her head. "Heh, no, it's just... it made me think. Were you... ever jealous of Octavia and I's friendship?"

Pinkie tilted her head. "That's an interesting question. Why would I ever be jealous?"

Vinyl sat down in a chair. "Well, my dream made me think. I know you like befriending everypony in Ponyville, but... I sort of had a more... how do I say this. A more "In-tuned" friendship with Octavia, than you and her did..."

Pinkie giggled. "Well of course you two had a more "In-tuned" friendship! You're both music ponies!" She giggled at her shameless joke. "But, in all reality, I don't think I was ever jealous. Not that I can remember, at least. To be honest, I kinda liked seeing you make a friend who likes music as much as you did. I know I'm not very musical, so I guess in a way, it was... fair?"

Vinyl tilted her head this time. "What do you mean by 'fair'?" She asked.

Pinkie shrugged. "Well, I'd already befriended a load of ponies in Ponyville, and I was really your first friend, right? So, seeing you make a friend who had an interest the same and as heavily as yours, seemed sort of fair." She laughed. "Sounds odd, but I guess that's how I can put it! Sure, me and Octee' were friends, but she seemed like she liked being closer with you."

She sat back in her chair. "I'll admit, I felt at times like you were sort of distancing yourself from me, but I guess I should've expected that with you having a new friend." She smiled. "I do it sometimes, too. I just like everypony to feel welcome!"

She hugged Vinyl. "Don't let your silly dreams get to you, Scratchy. I'll always love you as my friend!"

Vinyl sighed and returned the hug. "Thanks, Pinkie... You'll always be mine, too."

Pinkie broke free of the hug and held Vinyl by her shoulders. "But enough sappy talk! You've got a day with Twilight ahead of you!"

Before Vinyl could speak, Pinkie pushed her to the door and wished her goodbye. Vinyl sighed, waved back, and closed the door behind her.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

The library didn't take her long to find. It was, after all, the only literal tree-house in all of Ponyville. She walked up to the door and knocked.

"Spiiiike!" She heard a voice call from inside, "Answer the door, please!"

Just then, the library's door opened up, and instead of a pony to answer it, a small, baby dragon stood in it's stead.

The baby dragon's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "You...you-you're..." He stammered, the gulped. "Vinyl Scratch!"

Vinyl giggled. "As a matter of fact, I am, little guy!" She rubbed his head. "And who'll you be?"

The dragon swallowed. "Um... Spike. My name's Spike, and... I am a huge fan of you."

"Oh-h!" Vinyl said. "You were the guy Twilight Sparkle mentioned in the letter she sent me!"

"And that, will be me!"

Vinyl looked past Spike. Coming up behind him was the pony that Vinyl remembered to be Twilight Sparkle. Twilight stuck out her hoof.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Scratch!" She said.

Vinyl shook her hoof. "You too, Miss Sparkle!" She replied.

Twilight giggled. "Call me Twilight." She said.

Vinyl winked. "Call me Vinyl!"

They both laughed, and Twilight ushered Vinyl in. Vinyl looked around the library. It was a very interesting layout, with books filling shelves all around them.

Twilight noticed Vinyl's curiousity. "Impressive, don't you think? Not as many books as I'd like, but it does it's job." She said, proudly.

Vinyl simply nodded. She was afraid that Twilight might get offended if she told her that she hates reading.

"What kind of books do you read, Mi- Vinyl?" Twilight asked.

Darn. The one thing she tried to avoid. "Uh, you know." She said. "Good ones."

They sat down at a table. "Specifically?" Twilight asked.

Vinyl though of any one book she's actually read. "Uh... do Batmare comics count?" She asked.

Twilight laughed. "Of course! Comics are books. Believe it or not, I read some myself." She started listing them off. "Like you, I read Batmare. I also read Maredevil, Luna Wars... I also read graphic novels!" She exclaimed. "Watchponies, P for Pon-detta, a lot of that stuff."

Vinyl nodded politely. She had heard of those, but only saw the movie versions. Something Octavia scolded her for.

Vinyl noticed Spike was watching her from a small bedroom near the top of the library.

She laughed. "Is he usually like this?" She asked Twilight.

Twilight looked at Spike. "You mean Spike?" She looked back and giggled. "Nah. He's just excited to see his idol here. Well, his pony idol."

Vinyl raised a brow. "Pony idol? Does he have an idol for every species?" She asked.

Twilight nodded. "Not all of them, but a lot. His biggest idol, no offense to you, would be the Great Red Dragon. For obvious reasons." She added.

Vinyl nodded. "No, that's alright, it's totally understandable. Same species and whatnot." She looked at him behind her glasses, and quietly added, "Why doesn't he have wings, though?"

"He's a Physignathus Dragon. It means he's more of a water dragon. Not exactly a serpent, but a dragon with no wings and incredible swimming abilities." She smiled. "He loves going to the beach. I take him twice a week!"

Spike tapped Twilight, making her jump. They hadn't noticed he had made his way to the table. "That's something I wanted to ask," He said. "Since it's really nice out, could we go to the beach and have lunch? Please?"

"Hm..." Twilight thought. "Well, why don't we let Miss Scra- sorry, Vinyl, decide? She is our guest!" She smiled politely.

Vinyl nodded her head. "I think that's an awesome idea! It'd be better than being cooped up inside all day. It's pretty nice out." She coughed. "If you want to, Twilight." She added.

Twilight nodded happily. "Of course I do! I've already gotten all of my studying done, and a day outside could do me some good." She got out of her seat. "I'm just gonna go pack a few things. Sun lotion, towels, the lot. I'll be a few. In the meantime, you two..." She looked at Spike and Vinyl. "...Can get to know each other!"

Twilight trotted downstairs, and immediately Spike jumped on Vinyl, wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" He exclaimed. "I can't believe I finally get to meet you! Wow, this is so cool!" He jumped off her, and started tugging her highlighted mane. "Wow, it really does stay in place! And it's so straight, too!" He started poking her cutie mark. "Gosh! I never thought I'd see this with my eyes!"

Vinyl fidgeted around. "I'd rather you not poke so close to my plot." she said sternly.

Spike stepped back and rubbed the back of his head out of embarrassment. "Heh, sorry. Got a little carried away." He said, face as red as it could go.

Vinyl winked. "S'aright. At least you didn't grab." She looked away. "Like most ponies..." She mumbled.

"So what's it like being famous?! I bet it's totally awesome! Lots of money, lots of fame, lots of fans!" Exclaimed Spike. "It must be totally cool!"

Vinyl laughed. "You'd think so, but that's exactly why I'm on this trip; to take a break from all of it!"

Spike looked confused. "Why would you wanna get away from all of that?" He asked.

Vinyl patted his head. "Hey. When you're the biggest, most infamous dragon in Equestria, you'll know."

Spike giggled in glee. Just then, Twilight re-entered the room, with a bag slung over her backside.

"Alright, Spike. Vinyl. I've got us all packed! I've got snacks, sun tan lotion, towels, the whole lot! Shall we traverse?"

Spike and Vinyl nodded in agreement. Spike jumped on to Twilight's back, and the three of them walked out of the door.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"Spike, stop splashing!"

Spike laughed and splashed Twilight again, who frustratingly splashed back. Spike spat out the water, but suddenly was tackled from behind by Vinyl. She resurfaced with him on her back, and threw him off in front of Twilight, causing her to get soaked again.

"Hey, no fair! Ponies versus Water dragon, remember?" Twilight exclaimed, spitting out the water in her mouth.

Vinyl merely smirked and splashed her again. "I don't recall that rule. I'll verse whoever I want!" She said, before Spike splashed water into her face with his tail.

Twilight stared, and then burst into laughter. "This is fun!" She exclaimed.

The three of them sat in the water and giggled.

"Y'know," Vinyl started, "This is the most fun I've ever had with anyone I've ever first met!"

Twilight looked at her. "What do you usually do?" She asked.

Vinyl shrugged. "Eh, you know. Go to Pony Joe's, have some donuts and shakes. That kind of stuff." She raised an eyebrow. "What do you do?"

"Well, to be honest, I don't usually jump in to this sort of fun with someone I've just met." She said. "But, obviously it's a lot of fun! And we have Spike to thank for pushing us in." She winked at him.

"Aw, shucks. I was just bored being in the water all alone!" He said.

Vinyl smiled. "How about a race to those buoys?" She asked, and pointed towards a buoy line. "I bet even a dragon like you, Spike, couldn't beat me!"

Spike pumped a fist into the air. "You're on!" He exclaimed.

Vinyl looked at Twilight. "How about you, Twilight? Wanna race?"

Twilight shook her head. "Oh no, I can't swim fast very well. I can keep a slow pace. Speed's for Rainbow Dash, not me!"

Vinyl nodded. "Alright, then. Ready Spike?" She asked.

Spike readied himself. "Ready!"

"3...2...1..." Vinyl counted. "GO!"

And with that, Vinyl and Spike raced on towards the buoy line, with Twilight behind, cheering both of them on.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

The yellow pony stood behind the tree, watching the white pony and the dragon swim towards a buoy line.

"Oh... if I could only..." She hesitated. "Oh, I'll never be able to! Why am I...?" She trailed off, noticing that the purple unicorn cheering them on was looking at her.

"EEP!" She blurted out. She flew off as quickly as she could handle, and on to the nearest cloud that the unicorn couldn't see on to. She gently peered over the cloud. The unicorn had lost interest, and was now congratulating the dragon on winning the swimming race.

The yellow pony smiled. "Wow, it seems like no pony can beat him..." She said to herself. Just then, she heard a small sound come from the ground. She looked down to see a rabbit, babbling about something she could apparently understand.

"You're hungry? Now? Oh, well, um. Okay. I'll, um... come home and feed you now." She told the rabbit. She fluttered down beside it, and quickly trotted home, hoping no pony could see her.

She frowned. "Oh, I'm such a coward..." She sobbed.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"Whoo! I sure am tired." Announced Vinyl. "Any pony ready for some snacks?" She asked.

Twilight nodded. "That sounds like a great idea! You two look pretty tired from that swimming race. Congratulations, Spike!"

Spike bowed. "Why thank you! The pleasure was all mine!" He looked at Vinyl. "Oh, and Vinyl's too."

Vinyl smiled. "Thanks little guy. Now, how about some snacks!" She exclaimed.

Twilight hovered a picnic basket over to them, and began unloading it's contents. "We have daisy sandwich's, hay fries, some juice boxes, a few gem stones..."

Vinyl halted Twilight. "Uh. Gem stones? Why gem stones?"

Spike coughed. "Well, it's kinda what I eat."

Vinyl blushed. "Oh! Sorry..."

"It's okay! I get it a lot, don't worry." He replied. "Now," He licked his lips. "How about some food!" He exclaimed. Twilight shot him a unimpressed look. "Oh, um. Please?" He said. She nodded, and passed him a few gems, which he started eating immediately.

"What would you like, Vinyl?" Twilight asked.

"Just a sandwich and a juice box, thanks." She replied. Twilight passed her both of the items, and Vinyl began eating. Twilight did the same, and they all ate contently.

Twilight swallowed her bite of food, and asked Vinyl "So, what's the music industry like?"

Vinyl swallowed her own food. "Well, you know." She slurped from her juice box. "It's a lot of work being famous. You'd think it's all fame and fortune, but there's a lot of work behind it."

Twilight nodded. "I can imagine! Princess Celestia's told me about what it's like being a princess, and it sounds like being famous is harder than not being famous!"

Vinyl nodded. "That's a perfect way of putting it. My fans are always so expecting of me, so I have to throw out a new album or single every so often to keep them happy. Which, of course, makes me happy. In the end, it's all worth it."

This time, Spike spoke up. "What's making music like? Is it fun?" He asked.

Vinyl nodded eagerly. "Oh, you have no idea, bud! Using all the equipment looks hard, but it's like slicing a cake once you get used to all of it. It's so fun!" She took another bite out of her sandwich, swallowed, and continued. "Just ask Pinkie Pie! I've let her use my stuff a few times, and she's gotten pretty good at it."

Spike's eyes lit up. "Uh... do you think, I could try before you go?" He asked eagerly.

Vinyl frowned. "Sorry Spike, but I left all of my equipment back home with my roommate, Octavia." She patted his sulking head. "But hey! I'm gonna have it shipped here soon! I'm planning to throw a big concert for Ponyville." Spike giggled in glee.

"Wait," Twilight said. Vinyl and Spike looked at her as she continued. "Did you say that your roommate is Octavia?"

Vinyl nodded.

"Like, Octavia Crescendo?" Twilight asked.

Vinyl nodded again.

"Your roommate?"

Vinyl blinked. "I take it that you've heard of her." She remarked.

Twilight's eyes sparkled. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh! You're roommate is Octavia Crescendo! That is so amazing!"

Vinyl laughed. "Not only that, she's my best friend! We've known each other since she moved to Ponyville!"

Twilight's seemed to glow. "She lived here? In Ponyville?" She asked.

Vinyl nodded. "For a while, yeah. I'm surprised Pinkie didn't tell you that she's friends with 'Tavia."

Twilight shook her head. "No, she never told me! I'll have to ask her about that." She changed back to the original subject. "But, what's she like? I love her work, I listen to it constantly when I'm reading and studying! I'm sure you've heard all of her pieces, what's your favourite? Is she fun to hangout with? Oh, I have so many questions!" She said, grinning.

Vinyl laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, I can tell! Well, uh. To answer the first question, it depends on her mood... when she's happy, she's the nicest ponies I know! But, opposite that when she's angry..." She answered.

Twilight nodded. "Oh yeah? Well, everyone can be scary when they're mad." She repeated her second question. "What's your favourite by her?"

Vinyl shrugged. "I don't really have one. They're all super awesome, but, it's not my type of music. I don't hate it, but I don't listen to it a whole lot."

Twilight nodded. "Completely understandable! And like I asked before, is she fun hanging out with?"

Vinyl thought about the question. "Well... it honestly depends on who she's with. With me, it's always a good time! Even if it gets out of hoof sometimes. But, if it's like a date with a colt or something, she can be really quiet." She sipped from her juice box. "She tells me everything."

Twilight nodded. "Gosh, knowing all of this about her makes me all giddy! I adore her work! Thanks for that, Vinyl. Really educational!"

Vinyl laughed. "I wouldn't say it was very educational, it was just snippets of what she's like." She looked back at the water. "Any pony ready for another swim?" She asked.

Twilight and Spike nodded, and the three of them ran off into the water again, laughing and splashing into the rest of the day.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's note:

Holy, I am sorry for the delay. I've been getting a lot of stress from school, sorry everyone! I'm glad you all still sticked with the story!

In case you haven't noticed, it's episode stylized. That's why there's no blood, drugs, alcohol, etc.

And also, over 1,000 views! I'm honoured! Thanks everyone! I'm really enjoying writing this, it being my first fan fiction.

On a side note, who can spot the innumerable puns I've put into this chapter?

Also, try and read Vinyl's voice with the same voice from the Musicians of Ponyville animated short! It gives more character to her.

A Flight for Sore Eyes

Three days had passed since Vinyl had gone swimming with Twilight Sparkle and Spike. That meant tomorrow she was going to Ponyille Coliseum to see the Wonderbolts perform. It had been while since Vinyl had even spoken to Spitfire, let alone any of the Wonderbolts, so a little reunion would be nice.

Vinyl sat there, laying in bed, staring at the blank ceiling. She missed her own room- mostly because there were posters splattered on all of the walls- but that's the price to pay when you're on vacation.

She rolled over to look out the window. By now, she was used to seeing some random Pegasus hovering outside of her window squeeing at the sight of her, but today, there were none. She sighed, and closed her eyes. She was hoping to get a nap in, as for the last three days since going swimming, she had been planning the arrangements to perform the concert that she promised all of Ponyville.

Everything was going to plan. She would be performing in the same Coliseum that the Wonderbolts were performing in tomorrow, only a few days after. She would perform in her signature electro-sphere, a spherical stage with LED lights installed on every inch of it. It was also good for keeping fans from crawling up. It was difficult to keep Pegasi away, though.

She grinned to herself, and floated her Rag-pony Anne over to her.

"Oh Anne," She said. "The next couple of days are going to be-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a rainbow-hued blur shot through the window, tumbling to the floor.

Rainbow Dash shot up. "-AWESOME!" She shouted.

Vinyl stuffed her doll under her pillow. "Rainbow?!" She exclaimed. "What in Celestia's name are you doing?! The show isn't until tomorrow!"

Rainbow jumped onto Vinyl's bed. "I know, that's exactly why I'm here!"

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Rainbow Dash giggled with excitement. "Well, see, I got this great idea. I was thinking to myself, 'Gee, Rainbow. You're going to see the Wonderbolts tomorrow with Vinyl Scratch! Don't you think you should get there a bit early to beat the line?' " She pounded her left hoof to her right hoof. "I said to myself, 'Rainbow, you're a genius! Why didn't I think of it before!' So, " She continued, "We should camp out in the line tonight and beat the rush! I got the idea from Pinkie. She does it during Cider season." She smiled.

Vinyl laughed. "You're crazy, Rainbow Dash, but I like your style. I guess I could dig sleeping in a lineup. Wouldn't be the first time I've done it."

Rainbow Dash shot her hoof in the air. "Yes!" She said with excitement. "Alright! This'll be awesome!"

"When are we going to go then?" Asked Vinyl.

Vinyl's answer came in the form of Rainbow grabbing her hand. "Right now!" She said, and flew out the window, with Vinyl in hoof,

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Vinyl sat outside the Ponyville Coliseum, waiting for Rainbow to come back. She had gone back to her cloud home to fetch a tent and a few other necessities.

She looked around. Surely enough, there actually were ponies lined up waiting for the show tomorrow. Not too many, but there were ponies waiting. Two or three had tents sitting out, and the rest just had blankets.

One pony however, had seated herself in some sort of chair, and was sitting rather strangely. Instead of sitting her with all four legs curled up, she was sitting on her behind with her back legs hanging off of the chair.

What a strange way to sit... Vinyl thought to herself.

Vinyl turned her attention away from the pony and to the posters that were strung around the Coliseum. They were your average Wonderbolt posters. "See the Wonderbolts!" and "Watch them fly across the sky!". That kind of thing. They were nicely coloured, but she saw them everywhere in Canterlot.

Vinyl felt a hoof tap her shoulder. She turned around. Standing there was Rainbow Dash, with a large duffel bag slung across her back.

"Hey! You all ready to camp?" Rainbow asked.

Vinyl nodded. "It'll be interesting. What'd you even bring?" She asked.

Rainbow dropped the bag on the ground and began to unload it. She threw out a tent, which just unfolded and made itself, she threw out a few cleaning utensils for the morning, two sleeping bags, a few bags of hay chips, and some board games.

"All of this!" She told Vinyl.

Vinyl nodded. "Nice! Alright then. What do you want to do?"

Dash picked up Monopony with her teeth. "How m'bout dif?" She mumbled. "It'f afways good for wai'ing."

Vinyl rubber her chin. "It's more fun with more ponies though, isn't it?" She looked around. "Why not ask a few ponies if they'd want to play?"

Rainbow nodded and sped around, asking ponies if they'd want to play or not. About three ponies agreed to play, the others she asked said no obviously because they didn't want to lose their spot in line. The ponies that came to play had ponies with them, so losing a spot wouldn't be difficult.

Rainbow trotted back with the three other ponies. "Back! These are the mares who agreed to play."

Vinyl smiled. "Hi everypony! What're your names?"

The mare that had been sitting awkwardly had come to play, and was the first to introduce herself. "Hi there! My name is Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings! My talent is playing the, well, lyre!" She sat down, only again not in a regular way, and more of crossing her legs.

The second pony shook Vinyl's hoof. "Hello! My name is Minuette, but everypony calls me Colgate because of my hair. Nice to meet you!" She sat down, regularly.

The third pony sat down and smiled. "hi there! My name is Amethyst Star. I love board games, so naturally I agreed to play."

Vinyl gave her a friendly smile. "Alright then, everypony! Who do you want to be?" She asked.

"I'll be the shoe!" Lyra said.

"And I'll be the cart!" Said Minuette.

. "I suppose I'll be the thimble." Amethyst said.

Rainbow Dash snatched up the cannon. "Ah yeah, cannon for me!" She said.

Vinyl picked up the wheelbarrow. "I'll be the wheelbarrow, then! Alright, everypony!" She and the other girls sat their pieces on the board, and set up the money and cards. "I'll be banker. Now, let's get this game going!"

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"...Rolled a five, collect 200 bits for passing TROT!" Lyra announced. Vinyl gave her 200 bits in Monopony money, and Lyra snickered. "Ah yeah, at this rate, I'll beat your flanks in no time!"

Rainbow stomped a hoof on the ground. "Hey, I'm the one who actually has properties! You just have a lot of bits, that's all!"

"I'm in jail, still..." Minuette said quietly.

"And I just got 'Free carriage parking'!" Announced Vinyl.

Everpony groaned.

"That's somehow the third time you've gotten that..." Amethyst said.

Vinyl shrugged. "I don't know how I do it. I guess I have everyone to thank for landing on the taxpayers spaces!" She patted Lyra's shoulder, who grumbled.

"Okay, Rainbow, your turn." Minuette said.

Rainbow picked up the dice, snorted heartily, and threw them on the board.

"Six and one, alright!" She said happily. "One-two-three-four-five-six-seven! Yes! A Luck space!" Rainbow picked the card up from the pile, and her smile dropped into a frown. "Go to jail." She grumbled. She put her cannon on the jail space right next to Minuette's, who giggled.

Vinyl sighed. "So, who else is ready to see this show?" She asked.

They all stuck their hands up and gleefully shouted "ME!"

"I've been waiting for a show like this in Ponyville for a long time!" Lyra started. "Ponyville doesn't get a lot of celebrities. Well, except Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Sapphire Shores, and-"

"Me." Vinyl finished.

Lyra smiled. "Yeah, and you! It's so cool being able to hang out with somepony like you, by the way."

Vinyl smiled. "Well thanks! It's nicer hanging out with real ponies, and not Canterlot ponies. So uptight."

Minuette laughed. "I hear you, sister. I lived in Canterlot most of my life, and I hated it! Twilight mailed me and told me how great Ponyville is, so I moved here!" She patted the ground. "And was she ever right."

"I don't even live in Ponyville!" Amethyst said. "I live on the outskirts of town near the Pie family's rock farm. It's so strange that they can make such wonderful scents come from that place's garden, what with their rock fields..."

Vinyl laughed. "Oh, I know. When I used to play with Pinkie, I wanted to stay outside all day just for the scent. What would you describe it as..." She thought for a moment. "I would say... a daisy-rose cake being baked."

Amethyst nodded. "That's exactly how to describe it! I sit on my porch, read a book, and smell the air." She smiled. "I'm going to do that right after the show tomorrow."

Rainbow snorted. "Aw, come on! All these girly-girl stories, and no game! Let's get back to it, hunh?"

Vinyl huffed. "So what kind of jobs do you girls have?" She rolled the dice and moved three spaces.

"Well, my co-worker, Doctor Hooves, prefers I don't talk about my main job, but the other job is a dentist! I love it!" Said Minuette. "Also, that part about a main job? Yeah, that was a joke. forget completely about that."

Vinyl raised an eyebrow, but turned her attention to Amethyst. "What about you, Amethyst?"

"Well," Began Amethyst, "I work at the town's jewelry store. In fact, I own it!"

Minuette's eyes twinkled. "Ooh! I didn't know you owned it!"

Amethyst nodded. "I do, I do. Such a wonderful job, and I meet so many ponies. I even came across Pinkie Pie once."

Lyra laughed. "What was that pony doing in a jewelry store?"

Amethyst shrugged. "Same thing that everypony does. Either looks, or buys. She was actually buying. A ring, for somepony named 'Gummy'. "

Vinyl coughed. " some-alligator." She corrected.

Amethyst looked surprised, but continued on anyways. "Anyways, she actually wasn't the first strange experience I've had."

Rainbow got curious at this point. "Who then?"

Amethyst laughed. "Who do you think, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow's face went red. "Oh. Me."

Lyra fell backwards in hysterical laughter.

Rainbow shot her a look. "What're you laughing at?" She asked.

"What was a pony like you doing in..." She snorted. "A jewelry store?"

Rainbow stuck her snout in the air. "Doesn't matter! I'm not gonna tell! Let's get back to the board game, come on!"

Lyra sat up. "I still haven't told my job!" She protested.

Rainbow huffed, but let her continue. "Fine."

Lyra nodded thankfully, and began. "I play in Ponyville's band. I'm the only one who can manage to play the Lyre with hooves properly, so it's extra important that I play perfectly!" She shifted. "It's not too exciting to hear about, I know, but it is when I'm playing!"

"Do you have it with you?" Asked Vinyl.

Lyra nodded. "I sure do! I never not have it! It's over with my roommate over there, I'll go get it and show you!"

She got up and ran over to her spot in the line. She argued with her roommate about something before coming back with a Lyre.

"Here it is!" She said as she sat down. It seemed like it was glowing in the sunlight, and it's surface was perfectly clean. It looked almost searingly hot to touch. "What do you girls want me to play?" She asked.

"The board game!" Rainbow Dash said, annoyed.

"What do you know?" Minuette asked.

Lyra plucked a few strings. "I know the Equestrian anthem, Octavia's Second Symphony... oh, and this one song I don't know the lyrics too... here, I'll play it."

She began to play her lyre. The song produced was an exquisite and calm thing to be heard, almost as if she were playing them a lullaby...

"Wait! I know that song!" Vinyl burst out.

Lyra beamed. "You do?" She exclaimed. "What is it! I've known it for ages and I can't even remember what it's called!"

Vinyl nodded. "I do! My mom used to sing it to me when I was just a filly. It's called "Lunar Lullaby". From what Octavia's told me, it was composed by a great composer and songwriter for Princess Luna, well before she went all Nightmare Moon. In fact," She continued, "I think I remember the lyrics!"

"Can you sing them to us?" Amethyst asked.

Vinyl blushed. "Heh. I don't sing a whole lot..." She said.

Minuette clapped her hooves together. "Oh, come on! I'm sure you can sing wonderfully!" She encouraged.

Rainbow merely fell back and groaned. "I just wanna play Monopony..."

"Well..." Vinyl stammered. "I guess I can..."

Her heart skipped, but she ignored it, closed her eyes, and began.

Across the land,
across the sea,
Night covers itself all around me.

The starry sky,
It lies above,
looking down upon us.

Moon dwellers home,
sol dwellers bed,
night will rest upon us,
once the day is dead.

Oh starry night,
oh starry night,
lull us in swaying arms.

Oh starry night,
oh starry night,
lull us all to sleep again.

She opened her eyes. The four ponies stared at her in awe.

"Uh...how was it?" She asked.

"Such a unique singing voice..." Lyra said slowly.

"I never knew you could actually sing." Rainbow Dash said.

"so-o-o pretty." Minuette added.

"Absolutely divine!" Amethyst enthused.

Vinyl blushed. "Awe, thanks everypony... that means a lot. I don't sing a whole lot, especially not in front of ponies."

"I thought you were amazing!"

The five ponies turned around. Standing there was a yellow pony wearing large sunglasses, a large hat, and a big coat.

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "Well um, thank you very much, miss..."

The pony gestured Vinyl over to her instead. "Here, follow me for a sec." She said.

Vinyl squinted. "Why should I trust somepony who dresses up like that?" She asked sternly.

"Because you do know me, just come here a second!" The pony said threw gritted teeth. She took Vinyl by the hoof, and sped off. She stopped when nopony was in sight, and took off her hat and glasses.

"Spitfire!" Vinyl exclaimed. "What're you doing out here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for tomorrow?"

Spitfire hushed her. "It's good to see you too, Vinyl." She said, jokingly. She smiled. "Well, once I heard from the crew that Vinyl Scratch was playing Monopony in the show's early lineup, I had to go see you. So, I hopped into a disguise and made my way outside. And, to my luck, I just happened to find you singing!"

Vinyl grinned. "That is luck. Because I'm probably not gonna ever do that again."

"Aw, come on Vinyl, it was great!" She patted Vinyl's back. "You could always auto-tune your voice for your songs." She winked.

Vinyl waved her hoof. "Auto-tune? Yeah, right. Who do you think I am, T-Neigh? I'm Vinyl Scratch baby, the DJ Pon-3! Auto-tune's not my style."

Spitfire rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yup, and dubtrot is."

Vinyl snorted. "Hey, that's ElectrotHouse, and you know it!"

Spitfire giggled. "Hey hey, it's all in good fun!" She stopped and smiled. "I'm glad you're here to see the show, Vinyl. I really am."

Vinyl returned her smile. "I am too, Spitfire. You going to the concert I'm putting up? It's only fair." She said, and winked.

Spitfire nodded. "Ch'yeah, of course I am! I wouldn't miss out on a free concert performed by the one and only you!"

Again, Vinyl grinned. "Alright, then, cool! That'll be awesome!" She looked behind her. "I really should get back to my friends in line, though." She laughed. "Friends... Wow, I only just met the ponies I'm with in line, and I already consider them my friends..." She looked back at Spitfire. "Funny how things work around here, hunh?"

Spitfire hugged Vinyl tight. "It sure is." She said. She let go. "I'll see you after the show maybe?"

Vinyl nodded. "Oh yeah! Mind if I bring Rainbow Dash along?"

Spitfire laughed. "Oh, yeah! Of course! She saved my life, she can hangout whenever... and if she can ever manage to get in contact."

Vinyl gave her a high hoof. "Awesome, alright then! I'll seeya later, Spitfire."

"You too, Vinyl." Spitfire said.

Vinyl watched as Spitfire unfolded her wings and flew back into the coliseum, and trotted back to her spot in line.

Rainbow Dash looked up. "Who was that?" She asked.

Vinyl looked at her. "Just a friend." She said calmly.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"...a-a-and here they come! Fillies and gentlecolts, the moment you've all been waiting for! Please welcome...THE WONDERBOLTS!"

The stomping of hooves filled the coliseum as a sound like the crack of thunder filled the sky. The source of the crack came from six flying Pegasi overhead. It was the Wonderbolts, ready to begin their show.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, put your hooves to the ground for the Blue Blur... SOARIN'!"

Every pony in the stadium stomped as Soarin' flew overhead in a star shape, right before he kicked the star into a flurry of fireworks.

"Impressive, very impressive!" The announcer said loudly. "Now everypony, please do the same for the White-Maned Wonder... FLEETFOOT! "

The stomping once again was in an uproar as Fleetfoot flew down towards the ground, bounded off it, and flew into the air, releasing more fireworks.

" Outstanding, completely outstanding! Alright everypony, please welcome the Pegasus with the sun's rays for a mane... R-R-RAPIDFIRE! "

The cheering went on. Rainbow Dash was practically destroying her vocal chords with the amount she was yelling. Vinyl simply cheered in her seat, waving a big novelty hoof around.

Rainbow flew back down in her seat. "Isn't this amazing?" She said. "I can't believe they decided to come to Ponyville! It's as if they knew I'm their biggest fan, and decided to come here to show me personally!"

Vinyl laughed. "Or they're trying to widen their performance range."

Rainbow ignored her. She was eagerly awaiting what Vinyl could only guess was-

"Fillies and Gentlecolts, now is the moment you've all been waiting for! Please stomp as loud as you can for the first pegasus to out-fly a dragon, the amazing... the magnificent... SPITFIRE!"

The crowd burst into an uproar with hoof stomps and yelling. Spitfire flew down out of the sky, leaving flames in her path. she jetted down to the ground, where a flurry of different coloured flames sprouted from the ground. The crowd's applaud grew louder with this, and soon the sounds of the stadium were ear piercing.

Rainbow Dash was back up again, shouting at the top of her lungs. Only this time, Vinyl had joined her. They cheered and cheered for Spitfire and the rest of the Wonderbolts, as they drew a giant multicoloured star in the sky that Spitfire flew threw, making it explode with fireworks.

"Isn't she amazing?!" Rainbow yelled to Vinyl.

Vinyl nodded. "She really is something! I mean- WHOA!"

Vinyl's reply was cut short as three of the Wonderbolts flew over her and Rainbow Dash, leaving a coloured trail behind them. They swooped around in a eight shape with the other three Wonderbolts, who in turn switched sides and flew over Vinyl and Rainbow instead. Rainbow squealed in her seat, and Vinyl simply giggled.

"Now everypony, watch carefully as Spitfire and Soarin' perform the 'Sonic Twister'!" The announcer yelled. "For those with sensitive hearing, please try your best to cover out the sound!"

Several ponies around the stadium covered their ears as Spitfire and Soarin' started spinning around each other in a large circle. They gained speed, and plenty more of it, until all that could be seen was a tornado of blue and yellow spinning in a circle. Suddenly, a loud screeching sound gradually grew around the stadium. By now almost everypony was covering their ears, except Vinyl.

Rainbow gave her a strange look. "HOW DO YOU NOT FIND THAT LOUD?!" She yelled.

Vinyl laughed. "OH, TRUST ME, IT IS LOUD! I'M JUST USED TO LOUD SOUNDS!" She yelled back.

Rainbow laughed, and suddenly a thunderous boom echoed throughout the stadium as the tornado blew up in an explosion of colour. Everypony cheered, despite the fact that many of their ears were pounding.

"Now everypony, prepare to be blown away by the amazing power of Fleetfoot and Speed Racer as they show off their brand new technique, the 'Great Ursa Major Run!"

Everypony watched as the two Pegasus ponies flew down to the ground, and started racing across the ground, side by side. Eventually, the started beating their wings, and lifted off of the ground about a foot. A beam of light seemed to be coming out them, as if they came straight out of Disneigh's 'Trot'. They split off from each other, drawing an elaborate trail with the light. It was then apparent that they were working together to create an Ursa Major. As they both finished their sides of it, they flew into the air, and the light-made Ursa began to rise as if it were just slumbering.

Everypony screamed in terror at the sight, but the screaming turned into screams of joy as Fleetfloot and Speed Racer brought their hooves down upon it's head, disintegrating it into thousands of small lights, which fell to the ground like snow. Everypony 'Ooh'd' and "Aah'd' at the result, and cheered once again. Fleetfoot and Speed Racer both bowed to the crowd, and flew back to where the other Wonderbolts awaited them.

Once they returned to them, all six flew down in unison, and curved upward as they just about touched the ground. They split off individually and started flying around each other in an atom shape. As each of them both flew towards each vertex of the atom, the split off, twirling in vortex-like shapes. Everypony cheered like crazy.

Suddenly, one of the bulbs in the light pole towering above Vinyl And Rainbow began to spark. Nopony took notice, as they were too focused on what was happening below. The light's fixture became loose, and began sliding out of place.

Suddenly, the light finally slid out of place and started to fall. The last thing Vinyl remembered was somepony yelling for help, before falling unconscious.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"...She's waking up!"

Vinyl slowly opened her eyes. Her vision returned, and she saw Rainbow Dash at her side.

"R...Rainbow...? What happened...?" She asked quietly.

"good, you are awake!" Rainbow said happily, and hugged Vinyl. "The doc'll explain."

"Thank you, Miss Dash. You may wait outside until we are done here." The doctor said as he walked in.

Rainbow nodded, and walked out.

The doctor smiled at Vinyl. "Good morning, Miss Scratch!" He said kindly. "How're you feeling?"

Vinyl rubbed her horn. "Well... fine, really. There's a tiny bit of pain in my horn, but that's about it..." She looked around. "How the hay did I get to a hospital?" She asked.

"Well," The doctor began, "From what I heard from Rainbow Dash and her yellow friend, what happened was a faulty light fixture at Ponyville Coliseum. Apparently, you were using magic to feed yourself some popcorn, but the light had fallen on your horn, and your magic went haywire and absorbed the remaining power from the bulb, helping the bulb to knock you out."

Vinyl raised her brow. "Wow. I didn't know that could happen." She admitted.

The doctor nodded. "It's a very common occurrence. Unicorns accidentally absorbing lights, they get knocked out, we bring them here, and drain out the light."

"How?" She asked.

"Simple, really." He pointed at the lamp in the corner of the room. "We simply use an enchanted lamp that absorbs light energy from somewhere it isn't needed. That lamp didn't even work before you were brought here!"

"Wow. Magic really is something." Vinyl said, dumbfounded.

The doctor grinned. "It really is. In fact, you'll be out of here in about an hour or so because the process went so well!"

This time, Vinyl grinned. "Really?! That's awesome news!"

"Isn't it?" Said the doctor. "Oh, and Rainbow Dash? You and your friend may come in now!" He said with a raised voice. He turned back to Vinyl. "I have to go. A nurse will be in later to check you out of the hospital." He trotted to the door. "Good day, miss Scratch!" And with that, he was gone.

In his place returned Rainbow Dash, with...

"Spitfire?" What're you doing here?" Vinyl asked at the sight of the athlete.

Spitfire laughed. "Hi, Vinyl. I'm good, thanks, how're you?" She asked, jokingly.

Vinyl rubbed her horn. "It hurts a bit, but it's getting better."

Rainbow Dash hugged her again. "I'm so so so sorry I had us sit there, I didn't know that would happen!"

Vinyl patted her back. "Hey, don't blame yourself for a light bulb. Nopony knew that was going to happen. Besides, you and Spitfire got me to the hospital!"

Spitfire raised a brow. "Uh... I didn't hear about the accident until after the show. I had to keep performing." She panicked a bit. "But uh, I would've if I wasn't!" She added quickly.

Vinyl looked at Rainbow. "But the doc said 'Rainbow and her yellow friend' took me to the hospital. Who was it?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Who else? The only other yellow friend I have is Fluttershy. She was there the whole time. Didn't you see her?"

Vinyl slowly shook her head. "No... no I didn't..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry for the lack of updates, everyone! School was tough for me this year. Anyways, another day, another chapter!

Can anyone find the shameless puns?

Disclaimer: The light fixture part of this chapter is NOT a reference to the fire that occurred at Bronycon.

I also have a new idea for a story after I finish this one, so look out for that! About two more chapters and this story will draw to a close.

Thanks to everyone who still reads this!

Final Farewell

Vinyl stared at the door in front of her.

She was standing outside of Fluttershy's cottage, wondering if knocking would give the yellow Pegasus a heart attack.

Maybe I could sneak in? She thought. She shook her head. Nah, I wouldn't go to that extent. She clicked her tongue in thought. Should she take a chance and actually knock? It was the civilized thing to do. So, hesitating, she knocked on the door.

She could have sworn she heard a small squeak from somewhere inside, so she spoke up. "Hello?" She asked, loudly. "Is anyone home?"

No response. She knocked again. Another squeak. Somepony was definitely home, and she knew it must be Fluttershy. Who else would be here? The giant grizzly bear standing behind her?

Vinyl's fur went paler than it already was. She slowly turned herself around.

There standing there was a massive grizzly bear, growling and slobbering all over the place.

Vinyl laughed nervously. "Um...uh... n-nice bear! Bi-i-ig cuddly teddy bear..." She stammered.

The bear narrowed it's eyes and showed more of it's teeth. Vinyl gulped.

"Mr. Bea-a-ar? Ple-e-ease don't hurt me. I was only tr-trying to see if anypony was h-home..." She said, whimpering.

The bear snarled, blowing air from it's nose, messing up Vinyl's hairstyle. She swallowed. "This isn't going to end well, is it..."

The bear reared up on it's hind legs and raised it's front above it, roaring while it did it. It was about to bring itself down upon Vinyl. She closed her eyes, and readied herself for the blow.

But it never came. She opened an eye and looked up.

There, floating above her, with the bear's paws in her hooves, was Fluttershy, staring angrily at the beast, who, compared to Fluttershy, seemed as fear-filled as Vinyl did to it.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Fluttershy said forcefully to the bear. "You know I'm the only pony who can take the kinks out your back!" She floated to the ground, and the bear hung it's head. "If I ever see you threaten a pony like that again, you'll have to find somepony else to give you your stress-relieving massages. Do you understand?" She asked.

The bear nodded quickly, grunting in it's speech patterns. Fluttershy smiled softly. "Good. Thank you, Mr. Bear." She looked at Vinyl, who had apparently fainted from what had just happened. Fluttershy sighed. "You may have to give me a few hours before I can treat you, though. Is that alright?" She asked, looking back up at the bear, who nodded appreciatively. "Good." Said Fluttershy. "Now, go get some rest, and I'll come find you when I'm done with my guest here."

With that, the bear got on all four of it's legs, and walked away. Fluttershy turned back to Vinyl and sighed. "I was really hoping something like this wouldn't happen..."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Fluttershy set Vinyl down on the couch. She looked at her. "She just needs some waking up, that's all..." She slowly took the pony's glasses off and set them down on the mantle opposite of the couch. She silently walked into the kitchen, poured herself a glass of water, and sat down at her table.

Angel hopped up on to the table and pointed at Vinyl. Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, that is her." Angel made a few squeaking sounds to which Fluttershy again nodded. "Yes, Angel. I am sure. That is Vinyl Scratch on my couch." Angel squeaked a few angry-sounding squeaks, to which Fluttershy said. "Angel, I know what I am doing. She was in danger, and I had no other choice." Angel scoffed and bounced away. Fluttershy winced, and sipped from her water. She turned to look at Vinyl. She laughed softly. "To think, the mare I've been trying and trying to talk to is in my home..." She turned back to her drink and stared at it. "Oh, what will I do when she wakes up? What will she do? Oh my goodness, this could be bad, very bad..."

She looked out the window. Birds were sitting on the window sill, singing something Fluttershy seemed to understand, as she was bobbing back and forth to the tune.

Then, a much louder whistling started coming from the living room. Fluttershy stopped dead. She peaked around the corner, and surely enough, sitting there looking around was Vinyl Scratch, awake as ever.

"Oh dear..."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Vinyl kept whistling, hoping she'd get somepony's attention. She looked around. Bird cages galore, mouse holes evenly placed along the wall... Yep, this was definitely the inside of Fluttershy's house, just as Pinkie Pie had said. It was dark, but it was a sort of comforting darkness. Not too dark, but not too much light. She liked it this way.

Her ears perked up. A crashing sound came from the other room. She got up, and slowly walked over. "Hello?" She whispered. "Is somepony here?"

She stepped into what seemed to be a kitchen. She saw a plate broken into thousands of pieces laying on the floor, and in front of it, a yellow Pegasus covering her eyes with her hooves, shaking intensely. Definitely Fluttershy.

Vinyl walked over to her. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked.

"J-Just fine thank you!" Fluttershy said rather quickly, and turned further from Vinyl's vision.

Vinyl stepped closer to her. "Uh... did you break that plate?" She asked.

Fluttershy peered out from behind her hooves to look at Vinyl, still hiding most of her face. "P-Plate? A b-broken plate, you say?" She asked quietly.

Vinyl nodded. "Yeah, the one behind you on the ground there." She pointed at it with her hoof.

Fluttershy looked at it. "O-Oh, so that's what that was... W-Well, thank you! You can go now, d-don't need to stay around this place, w-why not go see Pinkie Pie? S-She's always-"

"Fluttershy." Vinyl interrupted. Fluttershy squeaked. Vinyl slowly put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "I'm here to talk to you."

Fluttershy shut her eyes tight and curled up even more. "O-Oh? About what?" She asked, nervously.

Vinyl sat down beside her. "I think you know what. What's with the stalker-thing, and the avoiding me? Am I really that bad looking that you can't just come and talk to me?"

Fluttershy shook her head, but didn't release one word.

Vinyl sighed. "Fluttershy, what is it? Are you afraid of me? Afraid of my status or something?"

Again, Fluttershy simply shook her head.

"Then what is it?"

Fluttershy just shook her head. She was trembling, and Vinyl was going to figure out why. She trotted around Fluttershy to sit in front of her.

"Fluttershy, please please please look at me. I want to know what's wrong. Please!" She asked, desperate.

Fluttershy slowly put her hooves down, looking at the floor. She sighed. "I'm very sorry, Ms. Scratch...It's not anything about you I find intimidating... I'm just, well, shy, you see, and, well, um..." She trailed off.

"And what?" Vinyl asked, eagerly.

Fluttershy looked up at her. "It's just... well, I'm a really big fan of your work, and... well..."

"Well what?"

Fluttershy shrugged gently. "I'm just... shy. It is in my name, after all. Oh, I hope that didn't sound rude!" She quickly added.

Vinyl shook her head. "No no, don't worry, not at all. It's fine, and I understand completely. But you've got to understand that not all celebponies are mean and scary. I mean hey, I'm sitting here on your floor trying to work this out."

Fluttershy looked back at the floor. "I'm sorry... I tried, I really did, but, well, um... it's just so difficult, and I'm sure you understand that, too..."

Vinyl nodded. "Of course I do. It's happened to me before, you know."

Fluttershy looked back up at her. "R-Really?"

Vinyl nodded her head. "Oh yeah! It was when I first went to meet the Daft Ponies backstage. They were standing there, and so was I, but I was still in the doorway trembling. They came over, smiled, and simply asked my name. I told them, and they said that my name had music all over it. I kept getting more and more comfortable the more they spoke, and eventually I was sitting in their backstage room, drinking pop and watching them work. They let me play around with their equipment a bit, and it was definitely one of the best moments of my entire life." She looked back down at Fluttershy. "How are you feeling right now, Fluttershy?" She asked.

Fluttershy slowly sat up, and held her legs close to her chest. "Well, I am getting much more comfortable, I suppose. You are a very nice pony by the way." She said, smiling softly.

Vinyl smiled back. "Well thank you! So are you, once you start speaking." She said, winking. "So anyways, I'd like to ask about the whole 'stalking me' thing..."

"Oh! That. Well, um. You see, that's what I meant by trying to talk to you. Ever since Iron Will came to town, I've been trying to boost myself to new heights. Not well, entirely new heights, but the ones where I can, well, you know. Socialize easier."

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "You took lessons from Iron Will?" She asked, dumbfounded.

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. I'm not particularly proud of how I, well, took his advice, but um, my friends showed me what I should have done, and well, the rest is history. And Iron Will is really a nice Minotaur, he just doesn't understand his own strengths and weaknesses fully." She added. "And I am sorry I seemed like I was, well... stalking you. Really, I am."

Vinyl nodded. "Hey, it's alright. You tried to do what you wanted to." She stood back up. "How about we go grab a bite to eat or something?"

Fluttershy nodded, and got up. "That sounds just perfect." She said. "I'll just clean up this plate, and then we can go. If that's alright with you, of course."

Vinyl smiled. "Of course! I'll wait."

Fluttershy scooped up the plate's remains and threw them in the garbage. She turned to Vinyl and smiled. "Well. Let's go! If you want to, still."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"I'll just have the salt and hay fries, thank you."

The waiter smiled and turned to Fluttershy. "And for you, miss?"

Fluttershy mumbled.

"I'm sorry miss, I didn't quite here you." The waiter said.

"Justasalad..." She said quietly.

"Say again?" Said the waiter.

Vinyl stopped Fluttershy. "I think she wants a Daisy Sunflower salad. Am I right?"

Fluttershy nodded. The waiter smiled, and walked away.

Fluttershy looked at Vinyl. "Thanks..." She said.

Vinyl smiled. "Anytime! Now. I want to ask you something."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "And what's that?"

Vinyl smirked. "Why such a quiet pony such as yourself is a fan of my blaring beats."

Fluttershy laughed. "Oh! Well, um. Okay. I can do that. It's Rainbow Dash's fault. Well, not her fault, no, but because of her that I like your music. She introduced it to me, more rather. I think the first song I heard was one you worked on with Pinkie Pie. I think it was your remix of 'Equestrian Girls'. I heard it, and, I must say, and I mean this complementing of course, that I've never heard something quite like it! Your music was captivating and so unique! I usually listen to, well, piano music, because it calms all of the animals.

"But every now and then, I'd make room in the basement for little dance parties for the animals. They love doing it, even the birds and mice! The monkeys, mostly, but they're monkeys. They like anything! Your music is what motivates me to go to parties. As I'm really shy, I can just go and listen to the music and not talk to, well, strangers."

Vinyl blushed. "Aw... That really is one of the most sincere things a fan has ever told me!"

She embraced Fluttershy in an affectionate hug. Fluttershy, however shocked by the embrace, returned the hug.

"Your food, madams."

They both unhooked from each other to find the waiter standing at the table, smiling and waiting patiently.

"Oh! Thank you." Vinyl said, and took their food for them. The waiter bowed and walked away. Vinyl passed Fluttershy her food, and they began to eat.

Vinyl moaned with satisfaction. "Oh wow, they do the fries good here. What's this place called again?" She asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy swallowed her food. " 'Le Neigh Merveille'. It's half french and Equish for 'The Marvellous Neigh'. Rarity and I come here after our spa treatments." She sighed. "I still have to ask her to order my food..."

Vinyl giggled a bit. "Hey, oh well! If you're not ready, you're not ready. She is the Element of Generosity after all."

Fluttershy smiled. "Yes, she sure is. What's the food like for you?" She asked.

Vinyl nodded, her mouth full. "It'th delithith!" She swallowed. "Sorry, I meant, it's delicious! This is the most pure salt I've ever had. And the fries, they taste like they were just made from freshly made hay. Oh Celestia, I'm glad you took me here."

Fluttershy bowed her head. "I'm glad I did, too. You turned out to be nicer than what news reports you to be like."

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Fox News. I hate them... Foxes. Such a sly group of animals. Them, and Howmare Stern. They just focus on negativity." She turned her eyes back to Fluttershy. "I'm just glad ponies like you can really get to know me. And I'm glad I can really get to know ponies like you. So... thank you. Thank you so much." She hugged Fluttershy again, who instantly returned it.

Fluttershy smiled. "You're welcome... and thank you."

"For what?" Asked Vinyl.

"For being the best musician ever."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"TEN MINUTES, MISS VINYL!"

The concert was going to start then. In ten minutes. Vinyl sat there in front of her backstage mirror, looking at her reflection. She looked at the magenta glasses in her hooves. They covered her true coloured eyes for years during performances, out of fear that her rare-coloured eyes would strike shock into the hearts of her fans.

But, over the span of a month, she had learned so much. To step out of your comfort zone and try new things. To make new friends at any opportunity.To push yourself to achieve. And to face your fears.

She smiled. She sat the glasses down. She would face her fear tonight. She would let the world herself see her fans through her true colours, and not hide behind what she feared most.

A knock came at the door. "Come in," Vinyl said, loudly enough for the pony to hear.

Vinyl watched in the mirror as a grey mare with a black mane and bowtie strode into the room. She spun around in her chair.

The mare smiled. "Hello, Vinyl."

Vinyl jumped into her. " 'Tavia! Oh my gosh you're here!" She pulled out of the hug, and held Octavia at arm's length. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

Octavia laughed. "Well, sit down, and I'll tell you." She said.

Vinyl sat back down in her chair, and Octavia sat herself on a couch. "So," She began, "I've missed you horribly."

Vinyl grinned. "I've missed you. More than I thought I could."

Octavia raised a brow and smirked. "Oh? And where does this come from?"

Vinyl looked out of the window. "Well, this town. I've forgotten so much about it." She stared at herself in the mirror. "I found who I really could be. I was shown to not hide, to not get so worried... And all of it made me think of my best friend I've ever had, the one who's tried to show me these things for years now." She looked at Octavia. "I'm so sorry..."

Octavia shook her head. "No no no, do not be sorry, Vinyl. Never be sorry for who you are. I only tried to show you your full potential. I knew I wasn't able to, I was just hoping I could try. I knew you needed a bigger push. That's why I ended up letting you come back here, was to get that push from other ponies."

Vinyl smiled. "And it worked. Pinkie Pie and all of her friends helped you to help me. I have you and all of them to thank for helping me."

"And we thank you, Vinyl Scratch."

Both mares turned around to see the six elements standing inside the doorway. Vinyl got up out of her chair. "For what?" She asked.

"For visiting us, silly!" Pinkie Pie said.

"You proved t'us that aneh'pony, even th' big fame'us tah'p like ya'll, can do, or try, aneh'thing." Applejack said.

"You showed me how to take control of myself when something really overly-exciting happens!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"You proved to me that anypony should not be taken for granted." Rarity added.

"And to me, you showed me to step outside of my own comfort zone." Twilight said.

Fluttershy stepped forward. "And you've shown to me that anypony can be caring, even strangers. Thank you."

"Thank you!" They all shouted.

Vinyl blushed. "Aw, girls... thank you. You showed me so much, and more. I could've never chosen a better place to vacate." She hugged them one by one. "Thank you all."

"ONE MINUTE!" Yelled the stage manager.

Vinyl sucked in her breath. "Alright. I've got a show to do."

Vinyl and the others walked out. Octavia grinned.

"I'm so proud of you."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Epilogue

Vinyl stood on the train platform with Octavia and the Elements.

Pinkie Pie hugged them. "You two will come back right? I barely got to hangout with you, Octavia! One night is not enough."

Octavia laughed. "Oh, Pinkie, of course. Vinyl's already wanting to come back, aren't you, Vinyl?"

Vinyl nodded. " 'Course I am! How could I not?"

Pinkie beamed. "Yes! I'll make sure to put two beds in the guest room!"

The three of them laughed. Twilight walked up to them, shaking while she did so.

"Oh!" Octavia exclaimed. "You're Twilight, correct? Pinkie was telling me about you last night!"

Twilight slowly nodded. "Yes, I'm Sparlight Tarkle. Uh, I mean, Twilight Sparkle! I'm... a big fan of your work, Miss Crescendo." She said, rather quietly.

Octavia laughed. "Aw, well! This is a first! I don't have many fans myself." She winked at Twilight. "Thank you, Miss Sparkle."

Twilight hugged her. Octavia was taken back, but returned the gesture. "You're welcome." Said Twilight.

"We'll have to keep in touch, I think!" Octavia told her. "Here's my address card." She handed it to Twilight, who put it in her saddle bag.

"Thank you, Miss Crescendo." She looked at Vinyl, "And thank you, Vinyl."

Vinyl nodded. "Thank you, too. So very much."

"Last call for Canterlot!" The conductor announced.

"Well, here we go." Vinyl said. "Time to go, then."

Octavia nodded. "It is."

They stepped onto the train. It lurched, and began rolling along the track. Vinyl and Octavia waved to the Elements, who waved back, bidding them goodbyes and safe journeys.

Vinyl slumped back into her chair once the Elements were out of sight. "I miss them already..." She sobbed.

Octavia put her hoof on Vinyl's. "Hey, it's alright. You can always come back. Besides," She sat back in her chair. "I did miss you."

Vinyl smiled. "I know, And I missed you too." She looked out the window as Canterlot Mountain approached. "Hey. Whatya say we come back next week?"

"Vinyl, I think that's a little early." She said sternly.

"No no, not for long!" She said. "For a dinner, maybe." She grinned. "I know a great place."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's the conclusion! Thank you all who stayed with the story, I appreciate you guys immensely.

The ending might seem a bit rushed, but I tried. I have a bunch more other stories I wanna do, little one shots, but I did try. I didn't really explain Vinyl and Octavia's relationship, as there's been many versions of it, all the same idea. Vinyl is improper, Octavia wants to teach her differently. I'm sure you understand.
Alsoit'shardtofocusonotherthingsafteryousitinatheaterforeighthourswatchingBatmanBeginsTheDarkKnightandthepremiereofTheDarkKnightRises

What? Anyways. Thank you so so much for sticking with the story. SO much.

On a side note, another, more known story ended tonight, a favourite of mine: Anthropology. It's a great read, and I definitely recommend you check it out!

And I didn't write the concert because I have no idea how to write a concert. So instead, I'll give you the imaginary track list so you can imagine how it went down in your head!

Track 1:Bombers Over Ibiza (Junkie XL Remix)

Track 2: Galaxy Mask (Jan Waterman Remix)

Track 3: Mpire by Moguai

Track 4: Four Loko by Candyland, Dirtyrock

Track 5: Party With Pinkie (VIP) by Alex S.

Track 6: Boooring! by Assertive Fluttershy

Track 7: Spectrum by Zedd Ft. Matthew Koma

Track 8: Save the World (Knife Party Remix) by Swedish House Mafia

That is all. Thank you everyone so much for reading! Look forward to future projects!