Music for the Masses

Being Vinyl Scratch helped Rarity to put the past behind her, to move on. Being Vinyl Scratch was soothing for Rarity, in some ways, and she enjoyed all her time behind those shades. She had a dark past that no one had ever heard about, and there was no way she would tell them. Even the extroverted, generous Miss Rarity needed her very own secrets. It pleased her to know that there was a world that no one knew about except her. She'd pulled off schemes before, after all.

Yet, at one time or another, she could help but remember the things they said.

***

Rarity's upbringing had been halted when she was just a teenager. Soon she would be out of high school, and she had a promising career ahead of her. She exceeded academically, and was very popular in school. She had boundless amounts of friends, and she practically sold her soul to each and every one of them.

The near-selling of her soul is what landed her in such trouble as a teenager, and had caused her so much pain. Rarity loved to have a good time, and usually thought of consequences. But sometimes, when her judgement was impaired by cider or lies, she would make very bad decisions.

The bad decisions started the first night she got truly drunk. She'd been tipsy with friends before, and it was all in good fun usually. However, when she was drunk she would do almost anything to impress another pony. She acted outrageously, sexually, and recklessly on those nights.

There was that one night where she danced atop a table for everypony to see. There was another night where she and her friends ran through the streets screaming and giggling to themselves. And Rarity was certain that she'd made genuine friends, too! After all, they really liked her. Even if they weren't always the most supportive, Rarity thought that they would always be by her side because of the way Rarity constantly tried to please them.

Unfortunately, they were wrong.

Rarity was very beautiful, but her friends began to find her absolutely boring because of her inherent reservations. Whenever they dared her, Rarity could only go so far.

"Are you nervous, Rarity?" they would ask her, placing their hooves all over her pale and shapely body.

"Yes!" she would shriek, and that was it. One could never go too far with the risque game of Are You Nervous.

Rarity always ran over to them at school, and stayed near them as much as possible. She'd lean on them, laugh with them, and bring them presents. But as the fillies grew older, Rarity became clingy and needy in their eyes. They didn't need a boring, uncool friend like that.

They tried to dump her, and the intuitive Rarity picked up on it quickly. Instead of letting go of unhealthy relationships, Rarity clung to them harder. She would sew them things with fine fabric and give them fantastic makeovers that resulted in tons of compliments.

They didn't like her any better the more she tried, and Rarity knew this. Still, their annoyed and sympathetic smiles made her feel wanted.

Eventually, all she ever wanted was to be wanted. Then all she ever wanted was to be needed. Finally, she craved this so much that she spat on her moral code by slowly removing her reservations as a stripper removed her clothing...slowly, playfully, and with a near-taunting attitude.

Despite her romantic aspirations, she became sexually active. Despite her career dreams, she let school slip away from her.

Suddenly, other things slipped away from her. And it really was sudden.

***

It all started one morning when Rarity woke up with an enormous headache. This wasn't unusual, and she shook it off as best as she could. She realized that she was on a crumby, sticky little sofa covered in unspeakable remnants of last night's affairs.

Rarity sat up, looking around her. She stretched, yawned, and felt her eyes water. Most of her friends were still sleeping, but a few were beginning to wake up. Rarity suddenly felt a hot flush fill her face, followed by a cold chill. She shivered, and her eyes widened. The hairs on her neck stood on end, and sweat began to slowly drip.

No! She refused to throw up this morning. It gave her terrible hair and breath.

She began to drool, and her tongue felt too small for her mouth. She could practically taste a battery, and swallowing back her drool was even more nauseating than letting it drip down her chin.

She quickly scanned around. The bathroom door was closed. She bolted off the sofa, shaking her head, and promptly vomited into the nearby kitchen sink. The acid burned her throat, and she could smell overpowering scents from within her nose. She vomited again, becoming even more dizzy.

"Ahh..." she softly whined, spitting into the sink. She knew she would not find a comb or a toothbrush at this residence, so she headed home as fast as possible through back alleys.

At home she climbed into bed with a ceramic bowl. She stayed up reading a classic novel for about fifteen minutes before a thought pressed through her ears and into her mind.

"No," she said to herself. That was ridiculous. Still, it was a possibility. Rarity scrambled to the bathroom, her emptied stomach growling in anguish. Her mother was pregnant, and Rarity knew that there would be leftover tests in the bathroom.

***

"Tunics are so in!" Rarity said. Obviously. She rolled her eyes.

"No offense, Rar, but you're gaining a lot of weight," said one of her friends. They were all sitting together at their typical lunch table. Rarity's friend pulled a hay-fry from Rarity's plate and waggled it in the air as to say "You're really getting fat."

Rarity laughed awkwardly, and downed more hay-fries. She'd been craving them madly, and finally they were hers. Could she truly keep this masquerade up longer? She stood up, realizing that she'd finished her fries, and started trotting towards the counter for seconds.

"Hey," said a friendly voice. Rarity turned to see a filly with dangly earrings that crimped hair. Her caring green eyes stared into Rarity's and her smile widened until she could see braces. The most obvious feature here was her clearly enlarged belly. She was very pregnant.

"Hi, Cheerilee," Rarity greeted in a friendly manner.

"Look, before you go sit down with them again, take a look at this."

Cheerilee smiled sympathetically at Rarity, looked around, and then passed Rarity a note on lined paper. Rarity stepped closer to Cheerilee, who she hardly knew, and opened the folded paper.

Sit with me. Trust me, I actually care.

***

"Nice going, penis-breath!" shouted one filly.

"Fucking fatty," uttered another.

These had once been Rarity's cherished friends. Ever since they'd found out about her pregnancy, things had changed. Why had she gone on so long pathologically convincing herself that they cared? They couldn't care less!

As Rarity walked slowly down the halls, she recalled every bit of news. She'd heard it from Cheerilee about the things they said. They'd constantly ridiculed and made fun of her. Didn't they know her better than that? They knew her weaknesses, and at one point in time Rarity didn't even try to hide them! She never denied them even when she'd let her guard down.

How had her view become so twisted? She'd become so carried away! Cheerilee, a social outcast, was beginning to show her true friendship and bring her back down to earth. The most hurtful thing is that Rarity had thought she and her friends had something special. Now she knew what it was worth.

She'd never been so disappointed.