Canterlot really is one hell of a place. On one hand you’ve got all of the fancy stuff, the Princess and all of the major institutes and universities and all of that stuff for smart people. Hell, I may not be the most educated of them but I’m damn good with magic. People are always surprised when I tell them I graduated from the university of magical studies. I have lots of friends, or at least people I know, in that area. The rich district is somewhere I don’t hate, but at the same time you wouldn’t catch me dead over there unless I had to be there.
On the other hand there’s the red light district, the slums, the poor district; everything not in the rich part of town really. There you’ll find the scum of the earth and some of the best people you’ll ever meet all in one place, it’s a pain telling two and two apart sometimes. Nightclubs, sex shops, shady alleys and even shadier deals made in them, run down and abandoned buildings, criminals and corrupted royal guards kicking something to death.
That’s where I live, and I love it. I’m no criminal, but without witnesses and the context of the situations I’ve found myself in I’d probably be charged with too many deaths and assaults to count. At least too many for me to bother trying to count.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not exactly some ruthless killer hiding behind excuses, but when you’re cornered in an alley against some ass hole trying to fuck you and stab you; in no particular order, shit happens.
As for the assaults, well, when you DJ the shadiest and most popular nightclubs in the city has its perks. The pay is good and you know you’re having fun when you’re dripping blood on the stage.
I don’t exactly live in the slums, it’s sort of a middle-class area right between the poor district and rich district. Pretty nice apartment, even by the more well off people’s standards. By my standards it was practically paradise. And by my standards it cost as much as paradise and the only reason I stay there is because the landlord thinks he gets to screw me as payment, but I’d rather go to prison than touch that bastard.
Yep, Canterlot sure is one hell of a place.
God damn I feel like shit…
I think I opened my eyes, but my vision didn’t change at all. After a few seconds of blinking, though, color started fading in. I sat up, my body was not happy with me at all.
“Fuck…” I groaned, rubbing my eyes sloppily. I coughed a few times, spitting out a glob of phlegm and what tasted like blood. My vision was mostly back now, I could make out red, white and blue flashing lights in a sea of blurred dark blue and black. I shielded my eyes as a blinding white light flashed in my face. It burned like hell, but when it went away I could see a hell of a lot easier. I recognized the nightclub I worked. There was a lot of broken glass and blood smeared all over the floor.
Suddenly there was a very sharp pain in my abdomen and I put my hand over it. I recognized that pain, who the fuck shot me? There was a groan behind me, I barely heard it. When I looked I saw a girl the same age as I was, but unlike me she was wearing clothes that told me she wasn’t from this part of town. Her fancy suit-like jacket was spattered with crimson. It was probably mine if she was behind me and I got shot, I saw no bullet hole so the fucker was still probably lodged somewhere in me.
“Are you alright?” I heard and looked back to find the source of the blinding light. A royal guard with a flashlight.
“The fuck does it look like?” I wheezed out, spitting out a bunch of blood that was starting to pool in my mouth. Shit, the bullet hit something important and now that my heart’s pumping faster it’s getting everywhere.
“What happened?” The guard asked after he called over medics, who immediately started using magic coated hands to heal the wound and extract the bullet.
“I don’t remember, fuck…” I started, but the guy with his hand on my wound decided that was the time to pull it out and I had to use all of my strength not to yell out every vulgarity I know; which would have taken minutes.
“Do you remember why you’re here?” The guard asked. I cried out just a little bit as the wound started stitching itself back together.
“Fuck! That hurts… god damn it I’m the DJ here, my guess is either a gang attack or someone was drunk enough to pull a gun.” I said, thinking out loud really. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve woken up in here like this, though the last time it was anywhere near this bad was that time I took a bottle to the head.
Now that I think of it that probably happened too, wouldn’t surprise me.
“I guess you don’t remember it then… There are four dead bodies here, none of them affiliated with any gangs we know of at least. “ The guard explained. I looked over to see more guards carrying body bags out.
“My father… He was wearing a suit…” The girl behind me said. There was a medic checking her out, he was tending to a gash on her head. She looked like she was concussed, Celestia knows how many times I’ve looked like that. The look on the guard’s face said that the girl’s father was in one of those bodybags. The way she kind of went limp against the wall she was leaning against and the look in her eyes said that she understood. There were a few guards and other medics tending to a couple more people, but it seemed like I was the most beat up.
“I know we’re gonna have to do a whole police report and fill out a shitton of paperwork and everything for this, but can you give us a few hours? I need to go home and take a shower at least…” I said to the guy that looked like he was in charge as he came over to check on us.
“Um… Are you sure? You were shot, I-” He started, I wanted to punch him too. I cut him off instead.
“No shit I was shot. I stink, my clothes stink and these guys are already done with me. If you want I can give you my address so if I’m not at the local station then you can come and drag my ass there yourself.” I said, getting to my feet. The medic freaked out, apparently he thought he wasn’t done. He must have been trying to heal it to the point where it didn’t scar, but I hang onto my scars. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds but finally sighed and started walking away.
“It’ll take us another hour or so to finish up here. If you’re not there by five I’ll figure out where you are.” He said as he walked. Good, I really need that shower. I looked over at the girl against the wall, she still had a blank look of horror on her face.
“Come on then little miss fancy, you need to get cleaned up too.” I said, pulling her to her feet. She didn’t respond and didn’t give me any resistance so I led her back to my place.
The landlord wasn’t there, surprisingly, and I finally got to see what time it was.
“3 am, great…” I mumbled as I led the girl to my room.
“You need to clean up just as much as I do, you can shower first. I’ve gotta find a clean outfit.” I said as I sat her down on the couch and went into my bedroom. It took a few minutes but I finally fished out some clothes that, at the very least, smelled clean and walked back. The girl hadn’t moved. I sighed and stood her back up. Shock was a pain in the ass.
It wasn’t the first time I’ve helped a girl shower like this, but it was certainly the strangest one of them, considering I was showering too instead of just helping out. I was starting to get a little frustrated when I had to put one of the sets of clothes I fished out of my room on her, but I let it fade away. She did just lose her dad.
“Hey, you need to talk to me here girl. Got a name? Remember anything from last night?” I asked softly, snapping my fingers in front of her face. It took a few seconds but she finally seemed to snap out of her shock. Slowly but surely her eyes started moving. She seemed startled by the unfamiliar surroundings, and the unfamiliar clothes.
“M-My name?... It’s… It’s Octavia.” The girl stuttered out in a whisper of a voice. That name jogged my memory, and a splitting headache, for some reason.
“Oh yeah, you and your dad booked the club. What was it, birthday or something?” I asked. That was about all I remembered though.
“Eighteenth… He wanted to show me what excessive drinking was like…” Octavia continued. She kind of trailed off, apparently she was having trouble remembering too. I remembered a bit more, now that my mind was on it.
“I think I remember pulling you up onto the stage, I do that to show people what it’s like from up there. I think there were a bunch of people storming in with guns and the rest is kind of a blur.” I recalled, though it was real fuzzy after that. I noticed Octavia’s expression contort into something I couldn’t quite read. It looked like confusion and embarrassment.
“I remember now that I should be surprised I remember what I do… I was as far from sober as you can get and still be conscious…” She said, again like a whisper. I remembered that now. I chuckled.
“We totally made out, right. Nothing like the first time you get wasted. I think someone tried to shoot you and I took it for you, or it might have been coincidence I don’t know.” I said, my memory coming back in full.
“You did, I remember you pushing me down. Before I hit my head on the mix table I heard the shot and felt something warm splatter all around me…” She explained. I remembered that now.
“Well shit, that wasn’t very smart of me. Shoulda looked where I pushed you. Anyways, we should probably get to the station before that captain loses his shit…” I said, holding my hand out. She took it and I helped her to her feet. She stood a bit shakily but only for a second. She looked down at her attire again and her face flushed up, more than when she remembered our drunken makeout session. I understood immediately.
“Yes, you’re not wearing any underwear under those jeans. And yes, I showered you. No, I’m not as perverted as a lot of guys around here, and your other clothes were stained through in blood and ruined. Come on, best to not think about it.” I listed off, holding the door open. She nodded and quickly left, I couldn’t help but smile. After helping her in the shower I was just fine walking behind her.
Author's Note
so I saw this one pic of Vinyl and decided I wanted to write a story from her perspective. This is what I came up with. The original pic didn't quite fit the final product so I used another one I already had, but either way enjoy and feedback is always welcome.
will up the rating to mature if I decide to take the dark tag a step further
“Do you have a place to stay? Or rather, a place that you want to go back to right now?” I asked Octavia as we left the police station.
“I… My apartment didn’t suddenly disappear.” She replied. I stopped and looked at her.
“Do you want to go back there? You’re still pretty shaken up. And either way we need to go back to my place and see what I can do about your ruined clothes. It’d actually be pretty cool if you crashed with me tonight too, I don’t make out with just anybody in the middle of a night of drinking.” I said in retort. Her face had fallen at first, but her mouth twitched in a smile by the end of it.
“I wouldn’t know… first kiss.” She said. Her face flushed up when she saw my dumbfounded expression. Hell I could even feel my cheeks go a few degrees warmer.
“Really? Damn girl, you need to get out more…” I said with a chuckle. She giggled back and we started walking again.
“I’d say sorry for stealing your first, but since you were drunk I don’t know if it counts.” I continued as we went. The first kiss was usually pretty special, something you never forget. I don’t know about you but I don’t think having such a traumatic experience directly after something you never forget is something you really want. She was silent for a little while as we neared my building.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’m sorry… you took a bullet for me, saved my life…” She said. I almost dropped my keys. That’s certainly one way to look at it.
“Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, why did you do that? And why are you helping me so much now? I mean I’m grateful of course but I don’t even know your name…” She said as I sat her down on the couch. I facepalmed. Literally facepalmed.
“Veronica Ramona Scratchen, at your service. But that name’s only for family and pillow talk. You’re no sister of mine, so unless you decide you want me to be your other first just call me Vinyl Scratch.” I said, giving an exaggerated bow when I gave my full name.
“U-Um… Alright.” She stuttered. I laughed and picked up the small pile of blood spattered clothes from my bedroom and plopped it down in front of the couch. I plopped down next to Octavia and closed my eyes, putting my hands over the pile.
“I saved your life out of instinct, and I’m helping you now because that’s not even halfway up the list of shit I’ve gone through. I know how hard and devastating it can be. Tell me, if it weren’t for me doing what I’ve been doing, what do you think you’d be doing?” I asked as my hands lowed electric blue and the blood and dirt and grime that coated the clothing seemingly peeled off of the material and dissipated into nothing. Octavia was surprised by both the expert use of magic and the question.
“I… I don’t know… Probably still unresponsive or in a shock induced coma in some hospital or royal guard station…” She answered. She gained a somber look as she sort of stared at the floor. I sighed and laid down on the couch. She was still sitting on the end cushion, but I had my legs along the back of the thing sort of behind my head. Lucky for her my feet didn’t stink.
“Well it’s nearly 8 in the morning and we’ve been up dealing with paperwork. I don’t know about you but I’m exhausted. Bed’s good and the blanket’s clean, I never use the damn thing so don’t worry about leaving me on the couch. I’m probably going to get a call from the owner of that club sometime between noon and midnight so I recommend getting some sleep. Last time something like this happened I had to argue with him for hours about my hazard pay.” I explained, closing my eyes.
“I… um… alright I guess.” I heard her say. She quickly got up, I dropped my feet onto the cushion the second she did, but sort of stood there a few moments. I opened an eye to see what was up and she was staring at me. I followed her line of sight to my abdomen, which was exposed under the tank I wore. There were a few older scars, but the most recent one was nearly as big as the rest of them combined. It looked almost like a second belly button, but I knew it’d smooth out after a couple days.
“Don’t worry about that. I keep my scars as marks of triumph or lessons learned. It’s not even my biggest.” I said, smiling slightly and I closed my eyes again. I really was exhausted, I lost quite a bit of blood. Before I fully dozed off I heard her go into my room and the soft creaking of the springs in the bed shift.
I was out, and I was out for a while. My phone, which was on the arm of the couch, woke me up like I thought it would. I had the thing set to vibrate so it wasn’t some obnoxious ringtone.
“Hello?” I said when I picked it up. I didn’t bother looking at the number.
“Vinyl Scratch?” The voice asked. I didn’t recognize the voice.
“Yeah, who’s asking and why?” I asked, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I looked over at the clock and saw it was getting to be around 7 in the afternoon.
“It’s Frank, my brother owned the club.” He said. I remembered the name.
“Right, how’s that going anyways? Must be a bitch to pay for…” I said with a yawn.
“That’s… kinda why I’m calling you. You practically ran the place so he always told me if he ever croaked the place is yours.” Frank explained. I froze.
“Wait, Will died?” I asked. I liked that bastard.
“One of the four dead was him, one was some rich guy and the other two were the two robbers. He always kept a rifle under the counter.” He said. I remember that, I’ve seen him pull it out many times. Even use it before.
“At least the bastard went down fighting… So what, is the place in my name now?” I asked. He paused for a few seconds, probably trying to think of how to say whatever it was he was saying.
“Well, technically yes but legally it’s under my name. I guess you could say I’m offering you a promotion to co-owner.” He explained. Now it was my turn to think for a while.
“I can’t stand all the official stuff and that business stuff. You do all that crap and let me decide my own pay every week and I’ll handle at the direct stuff, like fixing it back up or paying for shit I break. We can deal with the fine details later, I’m still exhausted from getting shot right now and I’m looking after the daughter of the rich guy that got shot.” I explained, standing up and walking over to the kitchen.
“I heard about that, alright. I can get some guys to the club tonight to start cleaning up, if you’re up to it you can oversee it.” He said as I put some coffee on.
“I might, I dunno. We’ll talk later, I don’t have the concentration to try and think of words right now.” I said, yawning as I stood at the brewing pot.
“Right. Take care, hopefully this all works out.” He said. I hummed in agreement and hung up. I tossed the phone over in the direction of the couch, it bounced a bit but my aim was good enough. It startled Octavia, who had walked out of the room. It nearly hit her.
“Your boss?” She asked.
“Not exactly, I’ll explain later. My paycheck is gonna be a little late obviously so if you’re hungry you’re buying. Coffee’s on me, though.” I said, filling two large mugs and holding one out to her.
“Thank you, and I can buy something for us no problem.” She said. Thank Celestia, I was starving.
“Awesome. I need to head to the club later tonight to go and see what I can do to help clean the club up. The pocket in your jacket has been vibrating like crazy for the past few minutes, by the way.” I explained, pointing towards where her renewed clothes were piled. She nodded and retrived her phone from it.
“Good lord, twelve messages and twenty missed calls… I guess you do care sometimes, mother.” She said, more to herself. I raised an eyebrow.
“Now that sounds quite a bit like how I am with my family.” I said. Unofficially changing my name wasn’t just because it sounded cooler. She chuckled and started looking them over.
“The Philharmonic name is split between my mother and my father, so to speak. The business was my mother’s and the musical prowess was my father. They split up and, with my career as a cellist just starting, I lived with my father. She wasn’t exactly happy about that and all but disowned me. Seems she’s heard about what happened, though. I’ve never seen so many apologies in one place before.” She explained.
“Philharmonic sounds damn familiar, and I know I never knew your last name when I heard of you.” I said with a shrug. Contrary to what I may seem, I actually owned a few of her recordings. I never looked at the titles of any of them, though. I probably saw it a bunch but never cared enough to remember.
“Well I suppose I should go and visit her to show her I’m alright… I owe you my life, I think that if she really does care she’d like to meet the person that saved it. I guess I owe you my sanity too, now that I think about it.” She said. I thought for a little bit. I haven’t been to the rich district in quite a while, and hey if she’s buying breakfast-lunch-dinner-whatever it is right now then the rich district is one of the best places to get it from. I shrugged.
“Sure, why not? On the way back we can stop by the club. I love rich people food when it’s not in those stupid fancy restaurants. Rich people quality with poor people portions.” I said. She laughed at that and took her clothes into the bathroom to change. I finished my coffee and grabbed my phone. There was a knock on the door, then. It was either one of two people, and I hope it’s a cop.
I was wrong.
“Sup.” The landlord said. I groaned.
“Look Francis, rent isn’t due for another few days and I got shot this morning. I am not in the mood to deal with any of your bullshit today.” I warned. His grin fell and he stood up straight, his face getting rather serious.
“Rent is due when I say it’s due, and I have a feeling you’re a little short on cash at the moment.” He growled. I saw his eyes looking me all over. If I had the decency to care when he gave me that look then he’d probably be dead or in traction by now, instead I crossed my arms and sighed.
“We signed a god damn contract, you know the kind that lets me sue you for all you’ve got if you break it? Yeah, that one. That contract says you can’t demand rent prior to the agreed upon time. You also can’t raise the rent unless either quality of life or living conditions improve, so you can’t pull that shit again either.” I reminded him. He gave me a look that had a mix of anger and something else in it.
“You and your technicalities… If it weren’t for that damn thing this would be the least-” He started. He poked at my new scar, which hurt like a mother fucker. He didn’t get any further because I had grabbed his hand and nearly broken his wrist with my right hand alone, the left was cocked back ready to slug him in the face.
“Touch me again and you’ll wish I’d have shot you.” I growled lowly. I swear he would have pissed himself if I hadn’t let him go then. He scrambled back, holding his wrist. I slammed my door shut and turned around to see Octavia with a mix of surprise and worry over her face.
“Place as good as this has it’s shitty sides…” I mumbled, holding my head. My headache had decided to return at that moment and it was not helping my mood.
“I guess so… We should go now, before he comes back. Some fresh air and a good walk will help calm you down again. I’ll get you whatever you want, too.” She said with a little smile. I exhaled deeply to vent out some of the anger and nodded. He was lucky he was gone when we left or I may have slugged him just for the hell of it.
“You know how I said I recognized your last name?” I asked as we stood in front of her mother’s house.
“Yeah, figure out why?” Octavia asked. I nodded. I must say, I sure as hell wasn’t expecting this.
“That’s where my family lives…” I said, pointing to the house next door.
“We were neighbors?” Octavia asked as she knocked on her mother’s door.
“Shit, guess we were. Until I was about thirteen you wouldn’t ever have recognized me, though.” I said with a chuckle, shaking my head. I was quite the sheltered rich girl in my early days, believe it or not.
“Oh my, Miss Octavia. It’s so good to see you alright.” A butler said after he opened the door. “Your mother’s been worried sick, which is certainly a sight for sore eyes.” He continued, both of them chuckling.
“Good to see you too, Nigel.” Octavia said. He stepped aside to let them in.
“The family next door is here to give her company, I dare say she needed it. Having their young daughter around seems to calm her down.” Nigel continued. I smiled.
“That’ll be Emerald, always making people smile.” I said, following Octavia in.
“Friend of yours?” Nigel asked, confused.
“You could say that.” Octavia said with a shrug. I winked to the guy and followed. This house was even bigger than the one I grew up in, but I still wasn’t all that impressed. Even when I was into the richy rich stuff I never really liked the look of the houses around.
“Octavia! Oh thank the heavens you’re alright! You haven’t been responding at all and the police had no idea where you were I was worried something had happened to you too!” A woman exclaimed and practically tackled Octavia in a hug. She seemed surprised about it.
“Sorry about that, I was sleeping most of the day today, exhausting morning.” She said in reply to her mother.
“But you weren’t in your apartment, I called the landlord and she said you hadn’t even returned yet.” The woman retorted, holding the girl at arm’s length.
“That’s my fault, she was with me. It’s never a good idea to be alone when something like that happens.” I cut in. Everyone looked towards me. Besides Octavia’s Mother there was another woman, a butler, the woman’s husband and a girl not even in her teens.
“And you are?” The man asked. I chuckled. Figures my own father wouldn’t recognize me. I grinned as the girl ran up to me. I picked her up in a hug and we both laughed.
“Mommy, Daddy, it’s Veronica!” The girl exclaimed. I left to live on my own when I was thirteen, five years ago, I just couldn’t stand my life here anymore. I had found my passion with music, and not the kind of music my parents approved of. I learned at a young age, though, to always do what you think is right. Hell, they may not agree but I don’t regret it.
“Veronica? Is that really you?” My dad asked, a bit embarrassed he didn’t recognize me. I put Emerald down and took my shades off, put my hair up into a loose tail like I always used to and adopted my old accent.
“Yes, Father, it really is me.” I said in one of the most innocent voices I could still muster. I pulled my hair back out, but kept the shades off, as I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorway.
“Your Daughter? What brings you here?” Octavia’s Mother asked.
“I was the DJ and practically ran the club where everything happened last night and this morning. Octavia thought I should come along since I saved her life. Not the first time and not the worst thing that’s ever happened to me before, at least I didn’t cause it.” I explained. They gave me a confused look.
“Mother, she pushed me out of the way and was shot because of it.” Octavia said. Their looks all turned to surprise.
“Big Sis, what are these?” Emerald asked, pulling the hem of my tank up a little bit. She was referring to the dozen or so scars adorning that part of my body. I pushed the tank back down with a giggle and knelt down.
“Trophies and reminders. That big one that’s still healing is the one I got for saving Octavia over there, though they’re the kind of things you don’t want to be getting. They hurt and normally they’re reminders of something stupid or wrong you did.” I explained softly to the girl. I may not have been too fond of my parents, but I loved my little sister with everything I had.
“Good lord, is the city really that dangerous that you’d get hurt so much as to have that many scars?” My Mother asked. I stood back up and looked at them, Octavia was talking lowly to her Mother.
“Everywhere is dangerous. That’s not even half of the scars I’ve got, I don’t let the healers and medics get rid of them so that I’ll always have the reminder of whatever happened with me. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, or learned the hard way the true nature of some people. Plus, DJing in the middle district gets interesting past midnight on open bar nights.” I explained. It rarely happened, but I could be serious like that if I wanted to.
“I don’t care about your scars, you’re still my big sister.” Emerald said with a happy grin in her fancy little dress. I smiled and patted her head; her hair emerald green like her name.
“And I love you to death you little ball of green. Octavia, you know where it is. I’ve gotta go and help clean up the club. Good seeing you all, I’m glad I came.” I said. Octavia nodded and continued talking to her mother while my mom and dad got up.
“Damn me for what I’ve said, it at least looks like you’re still a good person even if you’re not the person we wanted you to be…” Dad said, walking over to me and putting his hands on my shoulders.
Wow, I was not expecting that. I mean it was totally cliche, but still.
“Now that I’m looking, I suppose you still are rather stunning with your hair and attire as it is.” My mother said. It was sort of an awkward compliment, but I smiled anyways. I hugged them, then.
“Hey, I may be Vinyl to everyone else, but there’s a reason I still answer to Veronica to you guys. I never really held much against you.” I said. I pulled back and we smiled at each other.
“Are you at least maintaining some semblance of your image as a lady out there?” Mom asked, her expression told me she wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear that answer.
“Lady? lord no, when the drinks start flowing there’s not a thing in the world that can maintain that. But, I know what you’re asking, and I may have had my fair share of drunken makeout session with people I had just met, that’s as far as they got.” I answered. They both sighed in relief and I turned to leave, but Emerald grabbed my hand.
“Big Sis, are you going to let Octavia get farther?” She asked. All three of us stared at her for a moment. She probably had no idea what we had meant, but I had to ask.
“What do you mean by that?” I almost stuttered out. She giggled.
“I know you like her, I may not be old enough to like other people like that yet but I can still see it. Are you going to kiss her? Or if you have, are you going to kiss her again?” The little girl asked. I almost burst out laughing. I kissed the girl on the forehead.
“You are the smartest little twelve year-old I have ever seen. And yes, I plan to do it again if I can.” I said and stood back up in full. As I turned to walk away I winked at my parents. Dad deadpanned and mother shook her head, but it seemed more like a good natured ‘oh brother’ sort of thing.
“Before you go, miss Veronica…” I heard and turned around to see the family Butler.
“Sergei, almost forgot about you. Still being worked like a dog?” I asked. He chuckled and we hugged, he was my best friend back then.
“A pampered dog perhaps. Anyways, a lot of your old things are still at the house. If you’d like I can have them sent over to your current place of residence.” He explained.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not too sure if my current place of residence will stay that way at the moment, and I have everything I need. I might stop by eventually, if for anything else than just to visit. We can talk about it then.” I said. He nodded, we clasped hands, and I left.
Author's Note
so, as per usual, I have no idea where this is going and I have no idea where I want to end it. I have no estimated amount of chapters left and I'm up for suggestions on random things that could happen
hope you enjoyed
