Vinyl scratched her bow over the strings. An ugly hissing sound occured. Vinyl threw down her bow in frustration.
“I’ll never be good at music!” she cried, kicking the ground with her hoof. Ever since Vinyl had seen the Ponyville orchestra perform, she had wanted nothing more than to learn how to play an instrument and create music for herself. She remembered sitting, listening to the beautiful sounds the professional music ponies had created. Vinyl looked at her bare flank and decided she wanted her cutie mark to be music related. She knew it was her destiny.
But, at this rate, Vinyl would never be able to be a musician. She was a failure at playing instruments. The cello, a trombone, an accordion- every time she picked up an instrument to play, nothing good came out of it. Vinyl felt she could never replicate the amazing sounds the orchestra had produced. She looked over at her friend Octavia.
Noticing Vinyl’s gaze, Octavia tried to reassure her. “It’s okay, there is not much too all this. Just move the bow like this.” Octavia slowly slid the bow across the stings, producing a slow, beautiful tune worthy of the orchestra they had seen together with their class. Vinyl tried to replicate Octavia’s motions, but was always too rough. She couldn’t produce a sound that didn’t sound like an animal in pain.
Vinyl slugged home through a rain storm, trying and failing to avoid the large puddles in the road. She arrived home looking rather dejected. Her loving parents immediately tried to cheer her up.
“Vinyl,” they started, “your teacher, Miss Ivy, just came over and said your class had an opportunity to visit Manehattan, the big city!”
“Really?” Vinyl did want to see the city, but was still feeling rather upset from her failures of the day.
“Yes, really. We think you should go. It’d be a great opportunity and a fun time!” Vinyl’s mother replied.
“Okay. I guess so.” Said Vinyl.
***
Finally, the day of the trip arrived. The excited schoolponies all crowded into a train car.
“All aboard!” the conductor yelled.
“I am positively excited!” Octavia said, hitting her hooves against the floor of the train. “Do you think we’ll see any musicians! Oh this will be so much fun!”
“Yeah,” Vinyl said, somewhat half-heartedly. She still was upset about the whole music situation. She wanted nothing more than to create decent-sounding music, but every time she tried an instrument, she was too rough with it. She hoped maybe the trip to the city would lead to a new discovery about herself.
After several hours, the train pulled into Manehattan station. Vinyl temporarily forgot her woes. She looked up in amazement at the tall buildings, the hustle and bustle of the city, ponies everywhere busily hurrying around the crowded streets. Octavia was almost jumping with excitement.
“Look at it all!” Octavia gasped. “Do you think they have an orchestra here too?” she asked with her eyes full of hope.
“I’m sure they do,” Vinyl replied. She too, hoped to have the opportunity to see a performance.
“Alright now, my little ponies,” Miss Ivy said. “Just stay in pairs and go have fun. Meet me back here at the station in four hours.” She had barely finished her sentence before all the fillies raced off with their friends, chatting excitedly.
Vinyl and Octavia immediately searched out any music and it wasn’t long before they heard notes drifting through the breeze. They broke into a trot as they followed the sound to its source. They met a tan stallion playing a trumpet. They listened to his song, entranced, and as the last few notes disappeared into the din of the city, Vinyl and Octavia erupted into enthusiastic hoof-stomping.
“You like that?” asked the stallion.
“Yes, very much,” replied Octavia.
“I loved it!” yelled Vinyl.
“Well, listen here. 35th street, right over there, is where all the local musicians hang around. Go look and see.”
“Thanks!” Vinyl and Octavia said as they headed towards the street the stallion had pointed out with his hoof.
The two fillies wandered about the street, entering buildings to be greeted by all sorts of music. Soothing orchestral arrangements, jazzy quintets, lyre-sporting mares, and so much else. Octavia and Vinyl systematically visited each building, but while Octavia grew more and more excited, Vinyl saddened. She had tried many of the instruments she saw the ponies so skillfully playing and had failed miserably, despite diligent practice and honest effort. By the end of the street, both ponies were feeling a bit dejected- Vinyl for her past failure, and Octavia because there was no more buildings on the street. Octavia voiced her concern when Vinyl looked up and said “What about that one?”
Vinyl nodded her head towards a nondescript gray building a bit offset from the street. With closer inspection, Vinyl noticed purple and blue light alternatingly slipping out of the door. “Look!” Vinyl said, excited. “Let’s go!”
As the two ponies approached the building, they seemed to feel a strange pulsation under their hooves. Octavia wanted to turn back. “Vinyl, I’m worried.”
“Don’t be.” Vinyl said. As they got even closer, faint pounding noises could be heard from the vicinity. They got even closer, and when they finally approached the door, Octavia was scared.
“I don’t want to go in. I’m nervous,” she said.
“Don’t be silly,” said Vinyl, dragging her through the door.
They were immediately hit with a wall of sound. Vinyl’s eyes widened. She saw all the ponies moving to the intense beat. Octavia’s face showed she didn’t enjoy this type of music so much, but Vinyl was excited. This sort of music didn’t exist in Ponyville. This was so new. Vinyl was overjoyed.
“What is that?” she asked a pony, pointing at the large box at the front of the room.
“Turntables,” the pony said quickly, brushing Vinyl off.
Vinyl rushed up to the pony in the front of the room and asked him to show her how the turntables worked.
“What?” the pony shouted over the deafening music.
“PLEASE LET ME SEE YOUR TURNTABLES!” said Vinyl, using the unfamiliar word.
Surprisingly, the stallion obliged and showed Vinyl the controls for a minute. Unable to hold in her excitement, Vinyl jumped forward and took control of the turntables.
“Hey!” yelled the pony, until he heard the music Vinyl was making. It was intense. All the ponies in the room stopped what they were doing, gaping at the young filly creating such hardcore dubstep. The room vibrated and all the ponies moved to the beat. When Vinyl finally ceased, a roar of hoof-stomping occurred.
Vinyl returned to Octavia towards the back of the room.
“What just happened?” Octavia asked, shocked.
“I don’t know, but it was the best moment of my LIFE!” Vinyl shouted.
“Vinyl!” Octavia gasped.
“What?”
“Your cutie mark!” said Octavia in awe. Vinyl turned to see the music note on her flank. She was overjoyed. She wasn’t a musical failure and she could spend her life making good music, doing what she loved. All thanks to the city, without which she never would have discovered dubstep.
Vinyl Scratch left Manehattan a different filly, ready to show her skills to all of Equestria in good time.