An array of multicolored lights flashed rapidly throughout the dark room, creating a strobe effect that caused the crowd of dancing ponies to seemingly jump from one position to another like a series of still frames. As a white unicorn mare with a blue striped mane looked out at the shapes she smiled and bounced her head to the loud, synthesized music that was pouring out from the two speakers on either side of her.

The feeling of the beats pounding hard against her body excited her, made her adrenaline rush and blood quicken. No matter how many times she had seen the scene that played out before her, the sight of twirling glow sticks and ponies in punk attire having a great time made her euphoric. She was the life of the party and the party was her life.

Unfortunately every party had to end sometime, and as she was in the middle of swapping records on her turntable the proprietor of the club, a unicorn stallion, came from behind to tell her to wrap it up. If it was up to her she would just keep going till the break of dawn, but this was a paid gig, and when the boss said to quit, it was time to quit. Reluctantly she turned down the music ever so slightly and grabbed the mic in front of her.

"Hey all you party ponies, Vinyl Scratch here with a short announcement." She said, her amplified voice getting the attention of everyone attending the rave. "Star Seeker Studios would like to thank you all for coming tonight, but closing time is just around the corner. Everypony please finish your drinks, grab any items you brought with you and make your way to the exit. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and have a safe walk, ride, or flight back to your homes." Finishing the message she turned the music backup, intent to ride out the rhythm for as long as possible.

Eventually though the last party goer stumbled inebriated out the front door and Vinyl knew her time was up. Hitting a few buttons she cut the power to her machine, making the once noise filled dance club deathly silent. Waiting only a few moments to take it all in she begun disassembling her equipment, taking her time as nothing was really waiting for her after her long trip back at home. Her roommate, a grey earth pony by the name of Octavia, had been gone for some time, having left for Canterlot because she was upset at a mistake that Vinyl had made. She couldn't blame her either since the mistake the unicorn made was one she had done far too many times before.

Still she wished that she could just talk to her, but Octavia had been ignoring her every attempt to get in contact. Even worse she had heard from Scherzo, another unicorn that she knew only through her musical connections, that she had simply vanished one night after having accepted a position in his symphony. Of course the stallion reported the disappearance, but he was informed soon after that she had been found and that she was safe. That news didn't really make Vinyl happy though, as she felt that this was just another way that Octavia was trying to avoid her.

"Good work tonight Vinyl." Said Star Seeker, the owner of the club, as he came back over to the DJ pony with an envelope in his hand. "Here is what I owe you for tonight. Hope you don't mind a check." Vinyl took the envelope and tore it open, seeing inside a check for three hundred bits. One night's pay for doing what she loved, it was practically stealing. As she slipped the slip of paper back inside its container, Star Seeker pulled out a second envelope. "Oh, and this was handed to me earlier. I think it is from one of your fans."

Vinyl turned away, continuing to take apart her equipment. "I don't take fan letters. You wouldn't believe how creepy some of them can get." As she said that Vinyl gave a small shudder thinking back to a time when a stallion sent her a very detailed letter of how he wanted to cover her in various foods and lovingly eat them off of her. As open as she was sexually, there were some things that weirded even her out.

"You sure? This guy seemed pretty intent on this getting to you." Star Seeker replied, putting it in front of her face from behind and moving it up and down rapidly. The unicorn mare snatched the letter out of the stallion's hand, more to get him to stop than actually wanting it. However, now that she had it there was no reason not to take a look. Leaning against her turntable Vinyl tore the paper covering off of the note she unfolded it and casually skimmed over the words written on it to spot out any perverted phrases or mentions to wanting to stick something in some place it didn't belong. The white unicorn continued like this until she noticed a word that caught her attention.

"Octavia"

Now knowing that the letter had some kind of connection with her former roommate, Vinyl started from the beginning again, this time taking her time and making sure to read every part of the letter.

Vinyl,

You are in danger. There are those who have been watching you for some time now and while I risk exposing myself to get this to you, I feel this is the only way get you to safety. They already have your friend, Octavia, as well as plenty of other ponies hostage. Cancel any further concerts you have scheduled and meet me in Canterlot as soon as possible. Tell no one where you're going as anypony could be part of them. If you don't show up at the train station in three days I will assume that you ignored this.

G.T.

Vinyl lifted her tinted glasses up to her horn and read the letter again and again. It was short, to the point, but at the same time vague. Who sent it? What was this danger he spoke of? The whole thing smelled of a prank, but if that was the case why would they bring up Octavia. She had come to some of Vinyl's concerts a few times despite in not really being her kind of scene, but she never really stood out except in the fact that she looked completely out of place. The unicorn mare didn't even think that anyone would associate the two together, even if they had seen the two in public.

Vinyl reached into the pocket of her and pulled out her phone. Scrolling down her list of contacts she stopped on one that she used frequently and pressed a button to make the call, hearing it ring twice before the phone clicked to tell her it was picked up. "Hello?" A stallion answered, sounding like he had just woke up.

"Hey.... Neon...." Said Vinyl as she rushed to get her things packed away. "I know this is going to be really lame, but I have to bail on that job we got next week."

"Wait... what?" Neon said, now sounding a little more awake. "You know that this is a joint performance. If you don't come they will cancel the whole thing."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." Vinyl apologized. "It's just.... I got a letter about Octavia."

"Your roommate? Is she in trouble or something?" Neon asked, his frustration now leaning a bit more towards concern. Vinyl had been wondering how Octavia was doing for some time now, it was half of all she talked about nowadays. If Vinyl got something about her that made the unicorn worried enough to quit a concert, it must've been important.

"I'm not sure... but something tells me I have to check this out." Vinyl said in a somber tone.

Neon didn't like the idea of Vinyl going off on her own, but he had prior obligations that made it so he couldn't join her in this endeavor, and if she had her mind set on doing this there was no way that he was going to stop the headstrong mare or make her wait till he could help her. "Fine, just be careful."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Vinyl reassured the stallion. "I'm just heading to Canterlot. What could possible go wrong in a place swarming with guards."

A few days passed and Vinyl found herself sitting in a train car on her way to Canterlot. She had packed light, bringing only a few essentials. Toothpaste, brush, towel, phone, her purple tinted glasses, CD player with ten CDs that had some of her favorite tunes, and a pouch filled with 200 bits. Save for the glasses and the CD player, everything she had was in a ragged looking backpack that was sitting next to her in her seat.

Despite the supposed seriousness of the situation the unicorn was being awfully relaxed. She hardly even paid attention to the other passengers or the scenery as it flew by as she just bobbed her head to the music playing loudly through her headphones. It was partially because she still felt like this was all a ruse, some elaborate way for a pony to get her attention. The other part of it was that this was just how she was. If she was invited to Canterlot Castle by Princess Celestia to throw the biggest rave in the history of Equestria, Vinyl would just take it all in stride. She even was invited to do just that by her friend Pinkie for the wedding of Princess Cadence, and to her, it was no big deal.

As the train stopped the unicorn gave her arms and legs a big stretch before grabbing her bag and making her way to the platform. It was time to get down to business, starting with figuring out who this "G.T." was. All she knew was that this pony was male, she wasn't even sure whether he was a pegasus, unicorn or earth pony. It still wasn't too big a deal, the letter implied the he would be coming to her. Stepping off the train she took a deep breath to take in the fresh Canterlot air, only to let out a few coughs from inhaling some of smoke being produced by the train. Heading to the exit she hoped that this bad start wasn't an implication of how things would go while she was here.

Having taken a moment to clear her lungs Vinyl was walking near the station as she waited for this alleged "G.T" to approach her. Ponies did come to her a few times, but she quickly found out that they were just fans or people wondering if she would be available to DJ for a party they were going to throw and what her rates were. Vinyl was used to this though. There was hardly a single pony who didn't know who she was and with how she dressed compared to the high class citizens of Canterlot there would be few that wouldn't at least look in her direction. Most of them were just teenagers from "Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns" anyways, which made Vinyl laugh in her head as she thought about how their stuffy parents would probably throw a fit if they knew their children were talking to a pony like her.

After a while Vinyl started becoming more and more put off as time went by. No one had came to her who had the initials G.T. and while giving out autographs and getting getting numbers for potential gigs had occupied her for a while, she was starting to lose patience. "I swear if this is just a wild goose chase I am going to find out who did this, hunt him down and make him pay." Vinyl thought. She knew that her internal threat held no weight to it, but the idea of getting back at whoever set this up made her feel better at least. "Eh... screw it, I'm getting a Hay Burger." The white unicorn said, dismissing this whole thing. She had given this charade enough of her time, at least for now.

The unicorn mare made her way through the streets of Canterlot, now intent on satisfying a hunger she had built up while she had walked around. She had been to the city plenty of times before and knew her way around to many of the places that would interest her so finding her desired restaurant was not a difficult task to accomplish. Going inside she ordered one of the vegetarian sandwiches with a side of fries and a drink to go before taking a seat. It was about time for the noon rush so she knew that it was going to take a while for her order to be finished, but at least she had her music to entertain her while she waited.

Being distracted by the music and focused on the counter she didn't even notice as a female gryphon in black leather slid out a seat at her table, turning it around before taking a seat in it the opposite way as it was intended. "That sure is some line." The gryphon said offhandedly as she tried to start up conversation with the pony. Vinyl however had her music up so loud that she didn't hear a single word. Realizing this was the case the gryphon decided to take the direct approach and lifted up one of the muffs of the head phones. "Mind telling me what you're listening to?" She said loudly to make sure she wouldn't be ignored a second time.

Vinyl arched her head back and looked at the gryphon girl, not startled in the slightest by interrupt. "It's nothing really, just a little something me and a friend of mine did about a month ago." She replied to the avian creature, acting as cool as she ever was.

"Nothing huh?" The gryphon said sceptically. "Then I guess you won't mind if I give a listen."

Before Vinyl could either agree or refuse the gryphon yanked the headphones off the pony and put them on herself. "Hey!" The mare yelled, not very appreciative of the action. Reaching down to her CD player she grabbed the wire, ready to pull it out to mute the music for the gryphon.

"This isn't half bad." Vinyl heard the winged creature say just before she ripped the cord out of her player. Looking back to the gryphon she could see that she was enjoying the music blazing in her ears, her eyes closed as she let rhythm guide her and she moved to the beat in her seat. It was still bothersome to the unicorn that she just took the headphones without asking, especially since she would've let her listen if the gryphon had, but Vinyl didn't feel like stopping it after seeing how much she was getting into it.

"Whatever..." The unicorn said to herself as she dismissed the gryphon's abrasive behavior. She refocused her attention back to the food counter. The track would be over by the time her order came up anyways.

Fortunately she didn't have to wait that long as she felt the headphones tap against her shoulder. "So you did all that? Pretty impressive."

Vinyl took the headphones back and put them back on halfway, leaving one ear uncovered. "Thanks, but it's nothing really." The pony was being a bit modest, but she didn't really consider her work anything special. Like some ponies Vinyl's special talent came so natural to her that she felt anyone could do it if they just tried.

"If you say so, but I've never heard anything quite like it before. Name's Gilda by the way." Said the gryphon introducing herself properly. "And you are?"

"Vinyl..." The white unicorn said. "So what is a gryphon like you doing here?"

"What? In Canterlot?" Gilda replied, sounding a bit offended by the comment.

"No, not that." Vinyl said back to her. While it wasn't everyday that a pony would see a gryphon in Equestria, it wasn't exactly unheard of. That wasn't the issue to the mare, who in her own way was a creature out of her element in the high class city. No the problem was something a little more glaring. "This is a vegetarian restaurant. You don't have to be a genius to know that gryphons are carnivores. Unless you have a sudden craving for some french fries I think you came to the wrong place."

Gilda looked away slightly. "Hmph, I guess you found me out. To be honest I was bored. I've been in this lame-o city for a while and everyone around here is so stuck up and dull that it makes me want to puke. You were the first pony I've seen in a while that looked like she knew anything about being cool." Gilda got out of her seat and turned it back the correct way. "Look, don't worry about it. I'll just find another way to stir up some trouble. Forget I even bothered you."

"Now hold on a second." Said Vinyl. "You're telling me that you just wanted to hang out." The unicorn could understand where Gilda was coming from and this was a chance to spend time with someone with even remotely similar interests as she waited for the yet unknown "G.T.". Getting up from her seat she heard the number for her order finally get called. "Well look I don't see a problem that. Just let me get my food and I'll be right back."

Gilda watched as the white unicorn went to the counter, a devious smirk growing on her face. She was surprised initially when she had seen her just walking out in the streets of Canterlot. It had only been a few days since a bounty had been placed on Vinyl's head by none other than Lady Tourmaline herself. Normally this kind of target would be handed to one of the higher ups, seeing that Gilda was just one of the grunts amongst the gryphon hunters of the Society that had to work in groups and only went after targets of low notoriety. Today, though, was going to be different. She was going to turn in this mare and make a bundle. The only question was how to transport the girl to Manehattan once she got her fit snugly into a pair of cuffs, but that was just details to her.

A little while later the two were strolling side by side, VInyl stuffing her face as she obliviously kept pace with the gryphon who only had bad intentions for her. "So...." She said, her mouth full with a burger. "Gilda was it? Are you visiting here or something. I can't really see somepony like you fitting in here." Finishing the sentence the pony gulped down the food in her mouth all at once in an almost unreal way, replacing it immediately with a soda.

The gryphon girl couldn't help but take note of such a talent. The stallions at the Society would surely make use of such an ability. "Actually, I just moved here a while back. A bunch of us gryphons started a small business in this city. Thought that if Canterlot would be the best place to run it since there are so many rich ponies here."

"A business?" Vinyl said curiously. "What kind? Bodyguards? Aerial performers? Um.. maybe...." Vinyl was trying to think of some more exciting jobs that a gryphon could do in Canterlot, but it was actually pretty hard when she tried. Not just because of the generalization that gryphons were predators, but because Canterlot, as well as Equestria on the whole, had a really convenient way of filling spaces for needed services.

Since ponies had Cutiemarks to determine what they were good at, it was just a simple task of showing a little flank to prove that you were suitable for a job. It was the equivalent of having an official document signed and notarized by Celestia herself saying that you were qualified to do whatever the mark said you were capable of doing. Because of this, most mares has a tendency of wearing skirts and those who didn't tended to keep a picture of their mark on them at all times like the males did with theirs.

The gryphons however, along with other non-pony races, didn't have this kind of advantage and thus for them they tended to only be able to get occupations that stereotyped the qualities that race was known for. Very seldom was this trend ever broken and it displayed, in a very subtle way, an underlying racism and prejudice that ponies had towards anything that wasn't of their kind. Vinyl couldn't help but think of a time in the past when Zecora, a zebra that lived in the forest near Ponyville, was shunned by the inhabitants of the town.

Gilda shook her head, understanding to a certain degree what the unicorn was getting at. "It's actually more of a delivery service. We transport things from one place to another for rich snobs with too much money and free time. Sometime they even send us to go get the things for them since they can't be bother to do it themselves." The gryphon adjusted her posture and closed her eyes in a mimicry of what she thought was the stereotypical rich snob. "Gryphon girl, could you please move that crate to the study and try not to knock over a vase or tear up the carpet with those sharp talons of yours." Said Gilda in a posh tone, elaborating on her detest of her employers.

Vinyl let out a chuckle. "You're not too bad at that." Having been around Octavia for as long as she had, the white mare had a pretty good idea of how the snooty ponies of Equestria acted. "I get what you're saying though. I wouldn't even be here today if I didn't think I had to be."

This did bring up a question to the gryphon. Why was Vinyl here? The Society kept pretty good intel on potential slaves and she hadn't gotten any word that the unicorn would be in the area. Curious she choose to pry in on the reason she decided to pay the city a visit. "Then why are you here?" She asked bluntly, knowing that most ponies were more than willing to speak their minds if you were just straight with them.

"Well, it's the dumbest thing really." Vinyl said, not really seeing the reason as something she should be secretive about. Even so she decided that it was best just to keep the explanation vague. She didn't want Gilda to think that she was crazy. "Some fan of mine sent me a letter asking me to meet them here and I was figured that it wouldn't be a big deal if I came out to see what they wanted."

"What, you looking for a date or something?" Gilda said, continuing her line of questioning in a tone that made it seem like she was just joking around.

"No way." Vinyl said dismissing the question. "But something just told me I had to come see what was up. At this point though I think that it's just a waste of time."

"Well...." Said Gilda, seeing an opening. "If you wanted you could crash at my place for a while. I don't live too far from here."

"Nah." Vinyl declined the offer almost immediately. "I really need to get back to the train station and see if this guy decides to show up. I really want to get to the bottom of all this." Gilda scowled internally. While she wasn't expecting this capture to be simple she didn't want the unicorn to go some place so public. "It was nice speaking with you though. Maybe we could catch up some other time if you're in Ponyville some time."

"Well wait, we don't need to split up just yet. I've got nothing better to do so I'll come with you. I can at least keep you company until your secret admirer comes around." Gilda said, grasping for a reason to stay near the mare.

"Sure, why not." Vinyl replied. With that the two went back to the train station, all the while Gilda trying to come up with a new plan, still not wanting to get assistance from the rest of her group stationed in the city. Once they got there they found a bench and sat, Vinyl returning to halfway listening to her music as she made idle prattle with the gryphon and waited patiently. While Vinyl was content to just sit and talk Gilda didn't really share the sentiment, and as time went on, she got more aggravated with the mare's chatter and having to act pleasant to her. She didn't really enjoy being around most ponies, finding them more of an annoyance than anything.

When it came down to it, she only really liked a certain one, but a while back the two had a falling out over a misunderstanding. Since then Gilda had stayed away from the pony, never really working up the nerve to apologize nor seeing that she really had to. It was her disposition towards other ponies though that got her in the occupation she was in. She didn't really care what ponies did to one another and as long as it kept her well paid it didn't matter. However time was money and after a while she wanted this supposed stallion to appear just so she could wring his neck.

"There you are!" A sudden voice called out, getting the attention of both the gryphon and the white unicorn. At first they both thought the long wait was over, that was until they realized the voice was obviously female. Not only that but as they looked at its source they didn't even see a pony, instead standing there was another gryphon in her late teenage years. The gryphon girl had an appearance of a falcon and had some of her head feathers tied in a way making it look like a small ponytail. "I have been looking all over for you!" The young gryphon said in a childish manner, pointing directly at Gilda.

"Friend of yours?" Vinyl asked, pulling her glasses down to get a better look.

"What? No, I've never seen this girl before in my entire life." Gilda replied, being completely honest. This girl wasn't part of her group and she didn't recognize her from any gryphons she knew outside of the Society's hunters.

"Well you wouldn't know me. I work directly with Lady Satine." Said the gryphon girl.

That name the girl said did spark Gilda's attention as it was the name of the gryphon in charge of the hunters employed by the Society. It was completely possible that she could've sent the girl, but she still didn't really see a reason to go right now. "Scram, I'll bring in my report in a while."

The girl put her hands on her hips and bent forward. "Oh? And will you be reporting this little bit too?" The girl didn't have to go into specifics, Gilda knew she was talking about Vinyl. If this girl went back and told Lady Satine that she was trying to grab a target without authorization first she would never hear the end of it.

"Fine!" Gilda yelled, rolling her eyes as she got up. Her time now had become completely wasted. "I'm coming. I swear I never get a moment's peace around here." Gilda walked past the other gryphon in a huff, the girl turning to follow behind her.

"See ya later Gilda!" Vinyl called out, not sure if she heard her since the gryphon didn't stop to return the farewell. Even so the unicorn mare kept watching until Gilda turned a corner.

"Vinyl Scratch?" She heard almost as soon as Gilda herself was out of sight. As she turned to see who was speaking to her she was first greeted by the sight of a set of golden hued wings. Taking a better look she could see that the wings belong to another gryphon, this time a male. "Sorry for that little bit of theatrics. I had to get that woman away from you. I fear she may be part of the organization I mentioned."

"Huh?" Vinyl responded, more than a bit lost at what the guy was saying.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I assumed you read the letter I sent you. I'm Gadwall Tailwind." The gryphon extended his talon to the mare. It took Vinyl a few more moments to get it, but eventually it dawned on her that this gryphon was G.T. "I see you understand now." The gryphon continued as he noticed that the unicorn had figured everything out. "My assistant will be back once she manages to lose that girl that was with you, but let me inform you that you are now in the protective custody of the Aeros Secret Service." The gryphon said pulling out an official looking identification card and badge.

Author's Note

Start of the Vinyl Scratch arc. Not too much sexy stuff today, but this is just a little bit of foundation building for what's to come. Also sorry for the boring title. couldn't think of anything better and will take suggestions for a new one if anyone wants to give one. Anyways I hope you all enjoyed it.

Star Seeker is owned by Generic-Violet, who I might add has a fan story based of EqTS that I think is pretty good. If you want to check it out the link is right here.