The Sun Will Shine Again

On the motorway between Manehatten and Canterlot, Saturday December 10th, 2011 10:27pm

It was a cold, dark night, as Andanté and Caprice Scratch drove down the motorway towards Canterlot. It had snowed the day prior and, having been ploughed that morning, the four-lane motorway had a couple of feet of the white powder piled up on the sides of the road. The couple had just come from hosting their annual benefit concert in Manehatten. The benefit, created to help the poor and less fortunate of Equestria, was a smashing success this year, raising a record of almost five million bits.

“It really is a shame Vi couldn’t make it this year,” Andanté said, referring to their 24-year-old daughter, Vinyl Scratch.

“Yes, she would have been thrilled with the outcome!” Caprice replied.

“I want to try to convince her to be the master of ceremonies next year; I’d like for her to take a more active role in the foundation. After all, the record company, the club, and the foundation will all be hers, someday,” the man said.

“Sweetheart, that’s a wonderful idea. She’s shown enough interest, perhaps she’s just been waiting for us to push her in that direction.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” the man responded.

“With the money we raised tonight, we should be able to build and fund at least two more homeless shelters in both Canterlot and Manehatten,” the elegant woman said.

“Yes, and a couple soup kitchens in each city as well.” With a genuine smile, Andanté reached his hand over to grasp hers. “Think of all the people the foundation will be able to help in the next year!”

The day’s melting had coated the motorway in a light sheen of water, which pooled in the depressions in the pavement. Because of this, not long after Celestia’s sun had set, the water on the road froze and the motorway became very slick.

As they were talking, the large black SUV they were driving hit a small patch of black ice and they felt the front end slip to the side just a bit. Fortunately, the heavy vehicle was equipped with good snow tires and handled well on its own, being designed with just these types of conditions in mind. The man let off of the accelerator and gently corrected the steering to get them traveling straight again.

Caprice’s grip tightened on her husband’s hand. “Careful dear, it seems the motorway has frozen over some since this afternoon.”

Andanté put on his turn signal and began moving to the side of the road. “I think pulling over and locking in the front hubs might be a good idea. I can’t imagine the conditions get any better between here and Canterlot.”

He slowly decelerated, rolling to a stop just off of the road. He turned on his hazard lights and opened the door to get out.

“I’ll get this side,” Caprice offered.

“Nonsense, dear. You stay in here where it’s warm; I’ll only be a moment.”

“Ever the gentleman. Whoever said chivalry is dead hasn’t met you,” Caprice said with a loving smile. “Just one of the many reasons why I love you.”

He gave a bright, warm smile to his wife. “It’s no less than you deserve. I love you, too, my sun and moon.”

He shut the door and knelt down at the driver’s side front tire and rotated the hub switch into the “locked” position. Then he went around to the passenger side and did the same with the front tire on that side. Finished with his task, he stood up and went back around to the driver’s side and got in.

“Goodness, it’s bloody cold out there!”

“Language, dear,” his wife said in mock exasperation.

The man just chuckled and put the shift lever into ‘drive’. “Alright, let’s get home!”

Andanté looked down at the center console to adjust the thermostat as he maneuvered the SUV back onto the motorway. Just as he got back into the right-most lane, his wife looked up and screamed “Andy!”

Andanté Scratch had just enough time to look up and see a set of headlights come right at them at a high rate of speed, and then everything went black.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Sergeant Stalwart Defense and Corporal Swift Strike were the second unit of Equestria State Guards on the scene of the accident, having come from Canterlot. The first unit on scene was already on the motorway, having been dispatched earlier that evening from Manehatten to patrol that side of the motorway.

Stalwart Defense walked up to the ranking Guard from the other unit, who happened to be another Sergeant. “So, what have we got?”

“Well,” the Guard began, a grim look on his face, “it appears to be a head-on collision caused by a drunk driver and adverse road conditions. No survivors. The current working theory is that the black SUV was heading from Manehatten towards Canterlot and the white truck was travelling in the opposite direction. We followed the tracks of the SUV back a ways and they pulled off for some reason. My guess is that they stopped to lock in the hubs and engage the four-wheel drive. After they pulled back onto the road, the white truck crossed the center divide from the Manehatten-bound side and hit the SUV head-on.”

“You said one of them was driving drunk?” the Sergeant from Canterlot asked.

“That’s right,” the Guard from Manehatten said. “The white truck had a single occupant; white male, mid-40’s, no ID on him. It’s quite obvious he was drunk, as he smells like a rum distillery. However, we’ll have to have a tox-screen done on him to confirm that, of course. There were two occupants in the SUV, a man and a woman. IDs identify them as Andanté and Caprice Scratch, of Canterlot. We found a programme in the woman’s purse from a benefit concert that was held in Manehatten tonight. The couple in the SUV are listed as the benefactors for the foundation.”

Stalwart Defense sighed and shook his head, realising that the two apparent victims were high profile people. It’s going to be a long night.

“Alright,” he said, “I’ll get on the line back to Canterlot and start working up the next of kin.”

At that time a coroner’s van pulled up and got right to work on the scene, taking care of the deceased.

Canterlot, Sunday December 11th 1:30am

As people gathered their coats tighter around them and hurried past, they could hear the thump of a heavy bass beat coming from beyond the front doors of the Prancing Pony, Canterlot’s premier high-class nightclub.

DJ Pon3, the stage name of Vinyl Scratch, perhaps the hottest young DJ in Equestria, was almost through blasting her enraptured audience through a universe of sound. The music was deafening, the lights were blinding, and the atmosphere was electric. She was deep in her element.

She bobbed her head to the easy beat, building it up slow. She could feel the crowd’s anticipation, their growing energy as they jumped, swayed, and grinded; they knew what was coming. Maybe not exactly when, but they knew it was coming. She continued to build their anticipation with the beat, until all of a sudden the music and the lights died all at once, the only things visible were the random glowsticks people were wearing or holding. Then, into the darkness, she screamed in a loud, but musical voice, “DROP THAT SHIT!” At the same time she slammed her hand down onto a button that released a bone-rattling bass beat from the speakers and set off a dazzling light display.

Nice job, Neon, she thought, as she went back to working the knobs and switches of her turntable. This might be your best work yet.

But, the night had wore on, as it is wont to do. There was one last song in the set, and then they would be on their own to come down from the musical high that DJ Pon3 would leave them in.

She let the current track fade out and looked down from her booth to grins, shouts and thunderous applause.

“Thank you, everyone! Once again, I am DJ Pon3, your captain and your guide on this musical journey through wonder and mystery!” she exclaimed. “But, it’s getting late and I need to sleep sometime. Besides, it’s Equestrian law that I kick you out at 2:00am!” This was met with groans of disappointment. “Aww, I love you all, but not that much!” she said with a smile and a laugh.

“Before I go, however, I have one last song to leave you with, one of my personal favourites! You’ve all been amazing; goodnight and sweet dreams, everybody!” she said as she cued up the final song of her set, and the crowd moved to the music once again.

She set her machine to go into standby when the track ended and made a stealthy retreat to the back of the stage.

40 minutes later

After she finished up her set at her father’s nightclub, Vinyl Scratch worked on coiling up the cords of her turntable and putting her records back in their sleeves, packing everything up for the night. She moved a stray lock of her wild, two-toned blue hair that had fallen in front of her eyes as Neon Lights walked up from back stage and gave her a solid pat on the back.

“That was a sick set tonight, Scratch. You really had everyone lost in time and space.”

“Thanks, Neon.” Vinyl stood up and stretched out a bit, giving the man a smirk. “You outdid yourself with the light effects, though, so I guess I can’t take all of the credit. You finished packing up?”

“Yep, time to go home and crash for a bit. I’ve got a long day planned with the girlfriend; it’s our one year anniversary, so I pulled out all the stops and I need to get some sleep if I’m going to make it through the day.”

“That’s great! Hope it all goes as planned. See you Thursday, then.”

Neon started walking towards the double doors that led to the street. “Thanks! Take it easy, Scratch.”

Vinyl felt a chill as Neon Lights opened the door and let in a gust of freezing air. The door closed, and she was alone in the club. She took off her signature, purple sunglasses and rubbed tired, ruby-red eyes. She was looking forward to her own luxurious bed, with its down pillows and comforter. While Vinyl was one of the most prominent DJs in Canterlot and made enough money to live lavishly, she didn’t flaunt it. One area she didn’t spare any expense, however, was her bed. She had figured out long ago that the expensive mattress, high thread count, cotton or satin sheets, and down comforter & pillows were well worth the cost. She didn’t have anything planned the next day except a late lunch with her parents, so she was looking forward to sleeping in.

That night was the night of her parent’s annual benefit concert in Manehatten to raise money to help the poor and less fortunate of Equestria. Vinyl adored her parents, two of the kindest, most loving, generous, and hardest working people she had ever known. She normally went with them to the fundraiser, but was hired to spin for one of the royals, Prince Blueblood’s, coming of age party. She normally did everything she could to avoid the pretentious nobility of Canterlot, but after she played at Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor’s wedding reception, Blueblood refused to have any other DJ play at the club that night. Plus, the amount she was offered was astronomical, and she couldn’t say no. Thus, she was looking forward to lunch with her parents the next day and finding out how the fundraiser went.

With a tired sigh, Vinyl placed her purple shades back over her eyes and bent down once more, tossing the coiled up wires into a box. She picked up the box and headed towards the back of the stage to the equipment closet, where she placed it on a shelf. As she was pushing the box into place, she heard a loud knock on the double doors at the front of the club.

“What now…” She sighed and grumbled to herself. Neon must have forgot to grab his bag or something. She walked across the stage to the stairs at the side that led down into a hallway and ended with a door that read “Employees Only”. She opened it and stepped through as more loud, impatient knocking sounded on the front entrance. She opened the door just enough to find two uniformed Equestria State Guards- a salt and pepper haired, grizzled veteran and a tall, sandy haired youth who couldn’t have been more than a year out of the academy -standing outside.

“Ms. Vinyl Scratch?” the older of the two asked.

“Yes? What can I do for you?”

“I’m Sergeant Stalwart Defense and this is my partner, Corporal Swift Strike, of the Equestria State Guard. May we come in, ma’am?”

“What’s this about?” Vinyl asked, beginning to feel a pit of anxiety form in her stomach.

“It would be better if we speak inside,” the Guard replied, knowing that the freezing early morning air was not the ideal environment for the news he had to impart.

“Alright, then,” Vinyl said, her voice anxious, opening the door wider so the Guards could enter the club. They entered and took seats at the nearest table, gesturing for Vinyl to join them. She looked between the two Guards with a sinking feeling and sat down.

“Are you the daughter of Andanté and Caprice Scratch?” the older of the two asked.

Vinyl began to take quick, shallow breaths as her anxiety over the situation began to take a prominent hold over her mind.

Her hidden eyes filled with panic as she began to look erratically between the two Guards. With a voice filled with caution and apprehension, she uttered a quiet, “Yes?”

Stalwart Defense steeled himself as best he could in order to give the woman the terrible news. Celestia, give me strength. She’s no older than my daughter. How would she take it if Swift had to tell her that I was killed in the line of duty? That her last living parent wouldn’t ever be around again? I hope this poor, young woman has someone who will be there for her and comfort her...

“Ms. Scratch”- he paused, searching for the right words to convey such a difficult message and doing his best to maintain eye contact, the urge to avoid watching her fall into anguish and despair great -”I’m deeply sorry to have to inform you that at around 10:30 this evening, your parents were hit by a drunk driver on the motorway while on their way home from Manehatten.” He paused again, collecting himself to give her the rest of the tragic news. “Your parents and the driver that hit them were all killed instantly. I’m very sorry, Ms. Scratch.” The Guard finally tore his gaze away, not wanting to watch the young woman’s heart break as her world came crashing down around her.

Vinyl’s world shattered. She ceased being able to process anything, unable to hear anything except a ringing in her ears after the Guard had said “killed instantly”. Shaking her head from side to side in denial, Vinyl’s vision blurred as tears spilled from her eyes, and she felt numb. It must be a mistake. They can’t be gone. They just can’t be!

She brought her hand up to her mouth in disbelief. With an anguished cry, she jumped up and staggered away from the table, falling to her knees on the floor, her hands grabbing and flinging her shades away, then covering her face. She leaned against a chair at a nearby table, sobbing out her grief.

The two Guards looked at each other sadly. The younger of the two Guards walked over and knelt beside Vinyl, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Miss, do you have any other family?”

She became silent for a moment as the realisation dawned on her that, aside from her girlfriend and her best friend, she was now completely alone in the world. Her breath hitched and she began sobbing again with renewed vigor. “No,” she wailed and shook her head.

Both Guards closed their eyes and felt immense pity for the distraught young woman. Swift Strike composed himself, which was not an easy feat given the situation, and continued. “Do you have anyone that will come and stay with you?”

Between gasps of breath and heartbreaking sobs, she managed a choked yes and began to reach for her cellphone.

“Alright, we’ll stay with you until they get here.”

Vinyl paid the Guard no heed, fumbling with her phone and scrolling through her contacts until, through tear blurred vision, she managed to find the one she was looking for and pressed her thumb to the screen over the name. She held the phone to her ear in limp hands, waiting for her girlfriend to pick up. The phone rang twice before a confident, slightly masculine voice said: “Hey, you’ve reached Lightning’s voicemail, which means I’m probably pullin’ G’s or catchin’ Z’s, so leave me a message and I’ll get back to you ASAP!” Vinyl pressed the “end call” button, knowing Lightning was home and momentarily confused as to why her girlfriend didn’t answer when Vinyl needed her most, but unable to follow any line of coherent thought.

With renewed grief and despair, she went back into her contacts and found the one for her best friend, selecting the contact and again placing the phone to her ear, listening until a groggy feminine voice answered with a croaked, “Hello?”

“Lyra…” Vinyl sobbed.

The woman at the other end was immediately alert, sensing Vinyl’s distress. “Vinyl?! What’s wrong, love?”

“They’re gone, Lyr. Mom and dad are gone; they’re dead!” Vinyl wailed, hysteric.

Lyra’s face fell in shock and horror for her best friend, and she didn’t waste any more time. “Where are you? At the Pony?” Lyra asked, knowing she was scheduled to play a set that night.

Vinyl replied with a pitiful “Yes.”

“I’ll be there in five,” Lyra said, then ended the call.