This is the life and death of Vinyl Scratch. //A Vinyl Scratch and Rainbow Dash shipfic.
Hello, my name is Vinyl Scratch. To the media, I was one of the greatest DJ's to ever live. To my friends, I was the loving pony who did her best to help everyone. And to the mare I cared about the most, I was the worst pony ever.
What I'm about to tell you is a story of love and loss. Of happiness and anguish. This is my story. This is the life and death of Vinyl Scratch.
Hello, my name is Vinyl Scratch. To the media, I was one of the greatest DJ's to ever live. To my friends, I was the loving pony who did her best to help everyone. And to the mare I cared about the most, I was the worst pony ever.
What I'm about to tell you is a story of love and loss. Of happiness and anguish. This is my story. This is the life and death of Vinyl Scratch.
***
Vinyl had just awoken from a rather joyous nights sleep. You wouldn't think it, but being a DJ is hard work. She opened her eyes several times as they kept managing to work their way closed. Gazing to her right at the dimly lit alarm clock, she thought to herself, "I can't believe I slept in this late. I wasn't even drinking last night." She proceeded to roll over to rest awhile longer. As she did just that, she took more than several takes at the mare laying beside her. In an unnaturally calm manner, she again thought to herself, "Or did I?"
Before she could react, the strange mare rolled over in her sleep. To Vinyl's surprise, that mare was none other than Equestria's greatest flier, Rainbow Dash. "Okay, okay, okay," she thought, "I can understand the drinking. I can understand the crashing. I can even understand the waking up next to a mare." Vinyl averted her gaze then slowly turned her attention back to Rainbow Dash, "But Dash? I mean, come on! How in Celestia's name did that happen?"
Taking a moment to think, she looked at Rainbow Dash. The slight form of panic was now gone and she was lost in thought. She was thinking how beautiful the mare next to her was while sleeping. She had seen this face every day for Celestia knows how long, yet she couldn't have been more interested than in this moment. Without realizing what she was doing, she leaned in to get a better look.
Whether it was the strange feeling of somepony hovering over you, or just some strange Pegasi thing, Rainbow opened her eyes and, true to her name, dashed away. "Hey! Just what the buck do you think you're doing!?" she questioned Vinyl.
"I uh, well I," Vinyl shook her head and furrowed her brow, "I should ask you the same thing. Why are you in my home, Rainbow? Actually, scratch that, why are you in my bed?"
Rainbow, who must have just regained her thought process, blushed deeply, "Uh, yeah. Well, you see about that . . ." She was being rather hesitant, something which Vinyl would normally find amusing; in this instance, however, that hesitance was eluding her an explanation.
"Come on, Rainbow. What the buck happened last night?"
Rainbow, was now blushing even deeper. This wasn't the kind of normal blush though, this was the saddened-heartbroken-hopelessness kind of blush. "You mean, you don't remember?"
"Well, no, not exactly. I remember being at a party, doing my DJ thing, and then I remember leaving and . . . well, nothing." Vinyl rubbed her hoof on the back of her head as if to release some forgotten memories, to no avail of course.
Rainbow gave out a long sigh, "Well, I'll tell you what happened last night. Can we get some coffee first?"
Vinyl, seeing no reason not to get coffee and very welcoming, at the moment, to any form of energization, shrugged, "Sure, why not."
***
Vinyl, now in her kitchen with Rainbow Dash, was pouring coffee into two cups that had been placed on the table. Once she finished filling the cups, she returned the pot to its rightful place. "So Rainbow," Vinyl said sitting down in one of the chairs, "about last night?"
Rainbow, who was mid-sip of her coffee, hesitated once more, "It's not that complicated. We met up after the show and caught a few drinks together. I was way over the legal limit to fly, and you said you didn't want me to get a FWI so you brought me back here. We passed out and here we are." She made a sort of movement with that last sentence to signify the 'here' part.
"I do have a guest bedroom." Vinyl gave a sort of nod to an almost empty room towards the back. The only things contained within was a bed and an old bass cannon. Vinyl stores the old one there ever since she upgraded to the 'BC-3000' model.
Rainbow shrugged taking another sip of coffee, "We were both pretty thrashed. I honestly didn't know you had it in you." She gave her classic Rainbow laugh, "I knew you liked to party but you drank me under the table!"
Vinyl quickly motioned with her hoof for Rainbow to be quiet. One of her ears flipped up, the other down, as she listened for movement above them.
Rainbow, now looking around, whispered, "What's wrong?"
Vinyl hoofed to the ceiling, "I got a roommate upstairs. She's asleep right now and I really don't want to wake her."
"This situation probably wouldn't look good then," Rainbow gave a soft chuckle.
"Nah, she's used to it. I make sure not to be too loud." Vinyl sipped on her coffee, jolting a bit from the still steaming liquid.
"Wait, she's used to you bringing ponies home?" Rainbow gave a devilish grin, "So who's the lucky stallion?"
To that Vinyl gave a chuckle of her own, "Oh no, you're barking up the wrong tree there, Rainbow. That's not my thing."
"Oh, so you were just talking about the drinking thing." Rainbow laughed, a bit awkwardly, while simultaneously rubbing the back of her head.
"Nope," Vinyl replied, taking another sip of her coffee.
Rainbow, giving a look of confusion, said, "Wait, so then that means that?" To which Vinyl simply nodded. "So you're a fillyfooler!!" Rainbow exclaimed, a bit louder than Vinyl and her roommate would have liked.
Vinyl, quick to quiet Rainbow, said in a softer tone, "Yea. You didn't know that, Rainbow?"
Rainbow, blushing a little, shook her head, "N-No, not really. I never thought of you as the type."
"Yea, well it is what it is." Vinyl shrugged, "I just don't see any interest in stallions. They never seem as," she paused thinking of the right way to put it, "educated as mares. The only conversational topic I can have with a stallion is normally about food or the bed. I just got tired of it, ya' know."
Rainbow replied with a smile, "Yeah, I can see where you're coming from."
Vinyl was hesitant to ask, which she almost wasn't going to, "So . . . are you?"
Rainbow, caught off guard, replied with, "Am I what?"
Vinyl let out a soft sigh, "Do you like stallions or mares?" Blushing a bit from asking outright.
Blushing again, Rainbow gave an eerie sort of grin, "Well, I don't really know."
It was Vinyl's turn to be confused now, "What do you mean you don't know?" She wasn't really pressing for an answer. It was more curiosity than anything else.
"Well, I've never actually been in a relationship. I've never had a special somepony." To that, Vinyl simply dropped her coffee cup. It hit the table shattering, sending coffee all about.
Not long after, a voice could be heard from upstairs yelling, "Vinyl, I told you I don't mind you bringing your marefriends home, but could you please keep it down! I have a show tonight."
"Sorry, Octavia!" Vinyl automatically replied, making it certain she had awoken her slumbering roommate on more than one occasion.
After several hours of small talk and meaningless chit chat, Rainbow decided that she had better head out. She was already late for her job, to which her reply was, “I'll take care of it. Ten seconds flat.” After which she said her goodbyes and went on her way.
Vinyl, now alone with her own thoughts, found that the only thing on her mind was Rainbow Dash. Trying to avoid the topic altogether, she looked at the calendar. Written on today's date was another DJ session at the local pub. She'd worked the place before. It wasn't too difficult. There was never really any sort of 'crowd' there to begin with, so she'd just put on a few tracks and hit the bar. Turning away, a light blue glow surrounded the two cups there on the table. They were briskly lifted and placed in the sink.
I wonder what Rainbow is doing tonight, she wondered to herself. Shaking her head about, she then made her way back to her room. Why do I keep thinking about Rainbow? It's Rainbow this, and Rainbow that. I don't understand why- . . . She cut herself off, coming to a more than shocking conclusion. No way. That's not possible. Why would I have feelings for Rainbow Dash? Laying herself upon the bed, she thought back to that morning's rude awakening. Not so much rude, she thought, just unexpected.
She was giving just about any and every excuse she could think of as to why it was impossible for her to like Rainbow. She's not my type. She's too energetic, not laid back enough. She's friggin Rainbow Dash! All the excuses in the world couldn't take the thought away. Deep down, really deep down, she knew that she had just fallen in love with Rainbow Dash. Not so much love, she thought, as it was a crush. Maybe crush wasn't even the right word for it. Eventually, she found herself drifting off to sleep once more.
***
Later that night, Vinyl was getting ready to head out. She heard hoofsteps coming down the stairs, “You finally awake?” She laughed a bit.
Octavia gave her an icy glare, “Perhaps if somepony had not disturbed my rest.” Vinyl guiltily looked away. Octavia couldn't help but laugh, Vinyl looked like a foal who had just been scolded by her parent. Wait, did that mean Vinyl thought of her as a parental figure? She quickly shook it off, “So, imagine my surprise to see you stumbling in last night with a certain rainbow maned mare. I almost didn't believe my eyes. So when did you two become a couple?”
Vinyl, blushing madly, barked, “We're not a couple!”
“Oh? So it was just a one time deal then?” She retrieved a cup and proceeded to pour coffee into it.
“NO! She was just drunk, and I was too drunk to remember the guest room. We crashed, and that was it! Rainbow isn't even interested in mares,” she huffed, shifting about.
Octavia finished pouring her coffee and returned the pot to it's rightful maker, “Oh? It didn't seem like that last night.” She took a sip of her coffee, relishing in the taste and the burn.
“What's that supposed to mean?” Vinyl's curiosity was more than peaked; if her curiosity were to go any higher she'd be the next mare in the moon.
Octavia let out a long sigh, “How drunk were you last night, exactly? Never mind. It seemed to me that you and Rainbow were pretty . . . buddy buddy last night. I just assumed that you were both, ya know, dating.”
Vinyl opened her mouth to speak, then quickly shut it closed. Me and Rainbow being buddy buddy, that's ridiculous. Shrugging it off, she finally replied, “We had a few too many. You know how that goes. Everypony is your pal at that point.”
Octavia simply shrugged, “Whatever you say, darling. I'm going to get ready for my concert tonight. I'm stuck going to another snobby Canterlot party.” Octavia never did like Canterlot that much. Growing up there, she got to see a lot of it. She'd take Ponyville over Canterlot anyday.
“Alright,” Vinyl replied, “I'll see you tomorrow.” As she was on her way out the door she couldn't help but think, Of course it was only the drinking. Rainbow isn't like that, is she?
***
Just as she had expected, the crowd turnout was not much to talk about. The everyday, run-of-the-mill, visitors. This was what she was hoping for. A nice night to just lay back and relax. She put on a track, let it play, then made her way to the bar. She ordered a drink and was lost in relaxation.
Whether Vinyl was too out of it, or the music masked her entrance, Rainbow Dash managed to sneak in undetected. She wasn't really intending on 'sneaking', she merely trotted over to the bar like any other day. “Hey, Scratch,” she said, in the calmest manner possible.
Vinyl, nearly scared to death, turned and said, “Woah, Rainbow! Where did you come from?”
Almost gloatingly, Rainbow grinned, “Just got off of work, wasn't much else to do there anyway. I thought I'd grab a drink before I went home and this place was convenient.”
Vinyl laughed, “Cool! Hey, you wanna go out!?”
Rainbows face matched the red of her mane, “Wh-what!?”
“It's kinda loud in here, you wanna go outside and talk for a bit?”
Rainbow let out a silent sigh of relief, “Y-Yea, sure.”
“Cool, I'll grab us a few beers and meet you outside.” Vinyl nodded at the bartender.
“O-Okay,” Rainbow relaxed as she left for the door.
Vinyl, engulfing the entirety of her face with a hoof, was now blushing. I can't believe that! Why would you even say that!? You're just lucky you had a coverup! She distracted herself momentarily remembering Rainbows massive blush. She did look kind of cute though. Again she buried her face in a hoof. “Bartender, give me a six pack!”
***
Vinyl exited the bar and found Rainbow staring at the stars. She looked lost in thought, or maybe it was a serene moment of peace. Either way she didn't want to disturb the elegant looking pony in front of her. A loud yell from within the bar quickly ended the moment of solace. Rainbow looked back at Vinyl. Luckily, the darkness masked her blush pretty well, or so she hoped, “Hey, Rainbow. S-So what's up?”
Rainbow, now smiling, waved her hoof in the air, “Not really much of anything. Same old, same old, really. Wake up, work, practice flying, you know the regular stuff. And how bout you?” Her voice became softer; it was more gentle than what you'd expect from the average Rainbow Dash.
Vinyl shook her head, “You see it. DJ most of the week. Relax in my time off.” She trotted over and sat down next to Rainbow, holding out a beer.
Rainbow took it and reciprocated with a grin, “Sounds like we both have our hooves full.”
“Nah, not really. I mean, all I really do is DJ and that's not very difficult.” She remained silent for a moment. She looked up at the stars. “Do you . . . have a dream, Dash?” She already knew the answer. Everypony in Equestria new what the greatest flier in Equestria dreamed of.
“Yeah, kind of. For so long I've wanted to be on the Wonderbolts, but-” She hesitated, and proceeded to remain silent. Almost longing for Vinyl to ask.
“But what?”
“But,” she paused, “I've been thinking. I'm not so sure I want to be a Wonderbolt anymore.”
Vinyl nearly choked on the beer she was drinking, “You what!?”
Rainbow was taken completely aback by her sudden outburst, “Wh-What?”
Vinyl cleared her throat and calmed down a bit, “N-Nothing, I guess. It's just that, everypony knows how badly you've always wanted to be on the Wonderbolts. Just imagining you not wanting to be on the Wonderbolts is kind of impossible.”
“I thought about it for a long while. The Wonderbolts aren't much more than fancy show ponies. I mean, sure they're supposed to be the best of the best. After everything I've been through though . . . I've helped save Equestria several times now. I can't actually remember the Wonderbolts saving Equestria even once.”
Vinyl realized that Rainbow must have thought about this for quite some. She understood that a decision like that must have been extremely hard for her to make. Treading carefully, she asked, “So, what do you want to do now?”
“Well,” she paused, “I've kind of already been offered a job.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. After Twilight became a princess and everything, she came to the conclusion she was going to need a captain of her guard. She asked me if I wanted the position.”
“Are you gonna take it?”
Rainbow looked down, “I . . . I'm not sure. I mean, Twilight's my best friend. I'm totally honored that she'd offer me the job. She told me the position would always be open, I just don't know if I'd be any good at it.”
Vinyl put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, “Come on, are you serious? You'd be excellent for the job. You're totally loyal, totally awesome, and totally perfect for the job.”
Rainbow perked up, “You think so?”
Vinyl nodded, “I know so.”
Rainbow sat for a minute, relishing in the much needed encouragement. She finally looked at Vinyl, “And what about you?”
“Huh?” Vinyl was confused, unsure as to what it was Rainbow was asking.
“Do you have a dream?”
Vinyl removed her hoof from Rainbow's shoulder placing it back on the ground. She didn't answer for some time, and only after taking another drink, “I had a dream once.”
Rainbow, fearing she'd just stepped on a land mind, asked, “Had?”
“Yeah. I used to dream about being Equestria's greatest DJ. After a while, I started to realize that nopony is interested in some two-bit wannabe from Ponyville.” Vinyl sighed, frowning in discontent.
Rainbow, not sure what to do, wrapped the saddened pony in a hug, “Don't say that. You're the greatest DJ I've ever seen. You even DJ'd for Princess Cadence's wedding.”
“That was only because Pinkie Pie put me in charge of the music.”
“Why do you think she put you in charge of the music?”
“Because she's . . . I don't know, she's a good friend and she knew I needed a debut.”
Rainbow sighed, squeezing a little tighter, “No. She picked you because she knew that you were the best for the job. She reviewed several hundred other ponies who were wanting the job. You know Pinkie Pie doesn't do anything to jeopardize a party. If she didn't think you were the best pony for the job, she wouldn't have picked you. If Pinkie Pie chose you out of all those other DJ's, you should take that to heart. Pinkie has one of the best tastes in music I've ever seen. She can spot a poser from a mile away.”
Vinyl backed away from Rainbow Dash, removing her goggles. Rainbow could now see where she had been crying. Through crackling words, Vinyl managed to say, “You really mean that?”
Rainbow nodded, “There's not a doubt in my mind. You're already the best DJ in Equestria.” Rainbow smiled.
Vinyl followed suit, smiling herself before breaking into tears. “Dash, you don't know how much that means to me. That's had me down in the dumps for awhile now.” There was no stopping the torrent of tears. Vinyl had obviously been holding this back for some time now.
After awhile the tears began to dwindle. Rainbow stared into Vinyl's magenta colored eyes, “You okay now?”
Vinyl merely nodded. She suddenly realized the distance between the two of them was not that wide. Her heart began racing and her mind was going blank. Her heart was kind of opened at the moment. Having just released an outburst of emotions and feelings she had been holding back. She stared at Rainbow. The seconds seemed like years. The world began to spin around her as she felt like she was losing her mind. Finally she whispered to Rainbow, “Hey, is it okay if I do something crazy?”
Rainbow blushed, “I dunno. What kind of crazy?”
Vinyl lost what remaining sense of reason she had, leaned forward, and kissed Rainbow. Tears began falling again as she started to back away. To her surprise, Rainbow refused to let her go. So there they both were, locked in a kiss for what seemed like ages. Finally, they both separated gasping for air. Vinyl was in such a state of euphoria she almost didn't ask, “Rainbow, did you-”
Rainbow looked back with an awkward grin, “Well . . . kinda.”
Vinyl awoke from her slumber with a stretch of wondrous proportions. That was some stretch! She checked the clock seeing that it was already four. She felt different awaking today than she had in the days prior. This time she felt more awake, well rested, and in a very cheery mood. She glanced next to her in the bed but nopony was there beside her. That's right. She remembered last nights events clearly.
***
Rainbow Dash had been sitting there, talking with Vinyl all night. The beer had ran out but they were too caught up in conversation to worry about it. They weren't really talking about much, just this and that. Occasionally Vinyl would have to run and put on another track mid-conversation but Rainbow didn't seem to mind. There was one conversation in particular that stood out though, the one where Rainbow asked Vinyl out on a date.
***
Wait, she asked me out on a date?! Remembering the entirety of that conversation, Vinyl blushed deeply. She then remembered that she had agreed and she sank back into her bed. She somehow managed to very quickly turn from embarrassed to excited. She hopped out of bed and danced quietly in joy. I'm going on a date with friggin' Rainbow Dash! She also happened to remember when this date was supposed to take place. Wait, isn't it today at seven? She glanced at the clock once more then began to panic. She inadvertently squeeled out of horror. She knew the mistake had already been made and that she had just invoked the wrath of a truly fearful opponent.
Hooves began stomping upstairs. They were heard dashing towards the stairs, down them, and down the hallway to her room. There was a soft knock on the door and a whisper came along with it, "Vinyl, are you alright?" Vinyl opened the door with her magic and was faced by her roommate, Octavia. Octavia trotted inside inspecting the room as if expecting to find somepony inside. "What happened," she asked.
"Oh, um, sorry 'Tavi. I was just sort of overexcited and I got a bit too loud. I'm really sorry I woke you up," Vinyl was obviously blushing from embarrassment. I can't let 'Tavi know that I got a date with Rainbow Dash, not after saying that yesterday. I'll just play it cool and she'll never kno-
Octavia who had regained her composure wasn't looking back at Vinyl with an angered expression but one of excitement, "When are you supposed to meet her? Is it today? Are you two going out today? Did you ask her or did she ask you? What time are you supposed to be there?"
Vinyl was taken aback by the sudden rush of questions, "Wh-wait, wait, wait. Slow your horses there. What are you talking about?"
"Rainbow, of course," Octavia replied, showing no attempt to allow Vinyl to dodge the question.
Vinyl was dumbfounded, at a loss for words. How in Equestria did Octavia know that she had a date with Rainbow? Did she get all that from one measly squeel? "Uh, look, I don't know what you're talking about. Like I said before, me and Rainbow don't have anything-"
"Oh, please. Vinyl, I can spot love when I see it. You and Rainbow have a thing for each other. I spotted the two of you sitting outside last night on my way back from the concert in Canterlot. You two were all mushy mushy." Octavia gave a small chuckle at that.
Wait, did she see the kiss? Tell me she didn't see the kiss! If she saw the kiss then I'll never hear the end of it! "So, we were talking. Two mares can't sit and talk?"
"It didn't look like talking was the only thing you were doing," Octavia paused expecting some sort of reaction from Vinyl. Vinyl however managed to not only keep a poker face but do so while looking directly at Octavia, perhaps it was the glasses. "Oh, you're no fun. Okay so you were both talking but the look on both of your faces had love written all over it."
Vinyl began to breathe again, "Look, I really don't think that you should be asking me about this." Wait a minute, why is she asking me about this? Any other time Octavia would have yelled at her and went back to sleep, so what made this time different? "Why are you so curious about me and Dash? You've never cared about any of the other ponies I've brought home."
Octavia's eyes began darting, "Oh, well you see," she sighed, "you've never loved any of the other ponies you've brought home, Vinyl." Octavia looked at Vinyl with the most sincere expression, "I'm happy that you've finally found somepony whom you can love and ... and I'm happy for you." Octavia looked down, afraid to see how Vinyl had taken all that.
Vinyl replied with a grin on her face, "You're right, 'Tavi! It is time I found somepony to love. That's kind of ironic that neither Dash or me have had a special somepony before."
"Nor I, Vinyl."
"Wait, you've never had a special somepony either, 'Tavi?" Vinyl's expression was one of disbelief.
"No Vinyl, I meant to correct your grammatical mistake. You said 'neither Dash or me' when you should have said 'neither Dash nor I' you see?" Octavia smiled at her attempt to educate the mare beyond her run-of-the-mill style of language.
Vinyl squinted at 'Tavi and sarcastically stated as she rolled her eyes, "Yeah, you've definitely had a special somepony." She trotted towards the door on her way to the kitchen for a snack.
"I have had a special somepony before!" Octavia returned defensively.
"Sure you have," Vinyl again being sarcastic.
"But I have! Remember, I was dating that kites fellow."
"Kites? Oh, you mean Lights. Hey, I set you up and it only lasted for three dates before you broke it off with him."
"We both broke it off, Vinyl. We saw that neither of us had anything in common."
"Nor I."
"No Vinyl, that doesn't work there."
"Oh, really? Well it was still a perfectly good waste of a favor."
"You used a favor to get him to go out with me?"
"No, I used a favor to get you to go out with him."
"Well then why did he not say anything when-"
"My best guess is he didn't want to hold you back. He really did have a thing for you though."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
Vinyl stopped as she reached the kitchen. It wouldn't have mattered either way. Vinyl grinned, "I'm just pulling your chain, 'Tavi. Relax. You two didn't have anything in common, I'm sure he's moved on to somepony else."
Octavia gave a sigh of relief, "Oh thank Celestia. For a second there I though I had broken that poor pony's heart."
You did but I couldn't ever tell you that. "What him? No way. He's taken bigger falls than that."
"That's oddly good to know," Octavia relaxed herself a bit, "Now about that date?"
Vinyl dropped the plate she was currently holding, "Oh, crap!"
