"CANCELED!?" Screamed an enraged knuckles.
"How could you cancel our gig!?" He screamed at the manager.
"Sorry but another group came up to is with and offer we couldn't refuse." he replied.
Sonic stepped forward "At leasts tell us who you got."
"This group who calls themselves Harmony E"
Vinyl's head perked up. She had been busy helping their guitarist Spike and drummer Pipsqueak load up the van. Harmony E was the group that gave her big break only to kick her out a month after she joined.
"Neons in there?" Vinyl asked; shoving Sonic and Knuckles aside and stepping up to the manager.
"Yeah..." He replied.
"I have to see Neon" she said.
"Sorry, no can do he said he doesn't want to be disturbed before a performance."
"Just tell him it's DJ pon3."
"Who?!" They all asked.
"Just tell him."
The manager as well as knuckles and pipsqueak walked out and left Vinyl, Spike, and Sonic alone in the room.
"Who's DJ pon3?" piped up Spike.
" Oh yeah that..." There was a brief pause as she composed herself and looked up. "It used to be my stage name...when I was the lead singer of Harmony E."
"What?" They said unanimously.
"Why did you play for those losers; they're a bunch of jerks. Spike said. "Their guitarist has it out for me. Gilda acts as though I stole her best friend."
"That's cus you did."said Vinyl smiling at him.
"What, you were best friends with HER?! But she's nothing but a rough and tough jerk and you're so..." He paused for a moment and began to blush.
"So what?" She asked.
" you know...so...kind and caring." he said turning away.
She felt herself blush "Aw, thanks Spike. Anyway we were great friends when I joined the group but we had a big fight last September.
Spike scratched his head "Wait, wasn't that the September when knuckles and I found you in the bar and asked you to join our band?"
"Mmhmm" she said. "That was the same night I got kicked out of Harmony E."
"Wait, WHAT?" he said. "You told us you left them..." His voice trailed off when he saw her start to cry. "Vinyl?"
She hadn't noticed her own tears until now. "Oh, sorry."
Spike walked over and lifted up her chin "Don't be."
She didn't even think about it before she embraced him. He was shocked at first but then accepted it and returned the embrace. After a while they pulled apart and stared at one another. Then a big realization came over both of them as they had completely forgotten about their blue haired companion. But as they looked over to the far couch they saw a blue hedgehog drooling over the edge of the couch with music blaring in his headphones. After a wave of relief came over them they sat down and stared at each other for a brief silence before the club manager came bursting in..."We've got a big problem!"
(Special thanks to ss2Sonic ON DEVIANART for inspiration.)
The scene before them was nothing but utter chaos.
Lying by the door was a colt lying unconscious with a large bruise on the side of his head. On the side was tails holding pipsqueak back from trying to use his drumsticks to impail a brown furry creature with a beak and wings that could be none other than Gilda screaming into his face. Holding Gilda back was another mare who she recognized as trixie who joined not long before she had. And rolling in the middle of the floor backstage was Knuckles and Neon in a fist fight.
Sonic immediately stepped up "Hey Knuckles break it up!!" He dove into the pile and attempted to separate the two only to be swatted aside. Trixie and tails began to do more yelling than peacekeeping. Soon it had turned into an all out brawl that was beginning to climax...
"KNOCK IT OFF!"
Everyone froze. Their eyes fell on the source of the voice which came not from any one of them but from Vinyl.
Everyone separated except for Neon who laid there staring at her.
"Vinyl..." He stammered as he slowly rose "...what are you doing here?
" What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"Well I just didn't expect...is this your band!?" Neon exclaimed.
"Yea, unlike some people, I can move on." She exclaimed.
"Seriously, you're going to talk to me about moving on. You of all people have no right to talk like that."
"Oh don't act so innocent Neon!"
" Oh really; so I'm the bad guy just because I dumped you!?"
It was then that they remembered that they weren't alone. Ten pairs of eyes fell on them.
"So let me get this straight; you two used to go out and you used to be best friends with THEM?! What happened?" Tails said gesturing to Gilda and Trixie who just glared back at him and growled. Vinyl shuddered and Spike noticed that Neon had began to sweat nervously.
"I don't want to talk about it..." she stammered as she dashed out of the room.
"Vinyl wait!!" Neon shouted as he attempted to follow her only to be stopped by a long scaly arm.
"You've done enough damage." Spike growled at him as he left the room and chased after her. He ran down hallway after hallway; opening every door to check for Vinyl. As he continued his ear perked up when he heard the faint sound of footsteps. He turned and saw the emergency staircase door was open. He peeked in and saw the end of a lightning blue tail disappearing through the doorway to the roof. Spike leaped up the stairs and slowly cracked the door. Out on the edge of the rooftop over looking the bright skyline of manehatten was Vinyl curled up with her legs pulled against her chest, tears pouring from her eyes.
"Umm..Vinyl?" Spike reached out to her.
"Just leave me alone!"she snapped.
"Now why would I do that?" he said; sitting down next to her and cautiously put his arm around her. She looked up at him and he met her beautiful red eyes for a brief moment before he pulled away blushing.
"I didn't mean to react like that I just..." she started.
"Hey, don't worry it's okay." he said.
"NO IT ISN'T!!!" she shouted, obviously louder than intended as she slapped her hands over her mouth.
"I'm so sorry. I'm such a mess." She sobbed.
"Hey don't ever say that." Spike replied. "Your the best and brightest member of our band. Without you we wouldn't be anywhere near as popular as we are. People love you and so do I." She looked up at him. "Just the way you are." He have her a warm smile as she began to wipe away some of her tears. "Now c'mon, let's go inside" he began to head toward the door.
"Spike..." Vinyl said standing up.
"What is it V..." His question was cut short when all of a sudden she pulled him down to her level and pushed her lips up against his. It was a sweet kiss that lasted only a few seconds but it felt like an eternity to them. When they pulled apart they stared into each other's eyes and Spike noticed that her eyes were still filled with tears but this time they were tears of joy.