Immortality: Vinyl Scratch's Challenge

"Attention!" The head guard cleared his throat. Ponies gathered around them, Vinyl, Lyra, and Pinkie Pie included.

"The Unicorn Princess Twilight Sparkle wishes to hold auditions for the Elements of Harmony!" The guard announced. "Any ponies wishing to earn fame and fortune by bearing one of these titles must go to Canterlot in three days." Pinkie gasped. The guard turned to suspiciously look at her.

"Is there a problem?" He asked. Vinyl and Lyra shook their heads, but Pinkie nodded.

"Yes, there is! Princess Twilight should know that's not how the Elements work! She was the bearer of Magic once! The bearers have to be friends, not random ponies that won a contest!" Vinyl noticed Lyra facehoof. Pinkie stood firm, and the audience stood still in shock.

"I think you should be escorted to Canterlot," the guard suggested coldly. Pinkie backed up, ears suddenly flattened.

"No, sir, I don't. I am not capable of bearing an Element," she replied.

"That is a royal order," the guard snapped, he and his colleagues stepping closer.

"Pinkie, that wasn't a good idea," Vinyl whispered.

"I know," Pinkie whispered back. "I'm sorry." Then she added, louder, to the guard, "I'm sorry, I can't come. I really don't think that I'd be a good element."

"Yes she would!" Vinyl, Pinkie, and Lyra turned to see Pinkie's roommate, Cloud Patch, speak up. Lyra facehoofed again.

"Pinkie is exciting and fun!" Cloud Patch continued. "She always goes and plays funny pranks with her friends that make ponies laugh. Pinkie would make a great Element of Laughter!" Her eyes sparkled as she continued, "And just think, I'd be her former roommate!" The guards turned back to Pinkie, who grinned sheepishly.

"It looks like you are a candidate after all," he said coolly.

"Hey, guard pony!" Vinyl shouted. "What makes you think that she'll come? You can't just force her to be an Element against her will!"

"She would be a traitor to the Unicorn Princess and to Equestria," the guard snapped. "The penalty for that, is, well, death." Pinkie frowned.

"No, it's not! It's fifty years in prison!" She replied. Vinyl inwardly facehoofed. Pinkie had to get with the program. Twilight Sparkle had changed the penalty after the griffon terrorists had attacked Manehattan, with the help of a group of ponies. That had been around forty years ago.

Before the guard could say anything, Vinyl was gone. She realized Lyra had teleported the three of them.

In another second, they were in the Crystal Empire. Vinyl saw crystals spinning around her.

"Warn me next time!" She exclaimed, rubbing her head. She looked at the other two. "Pinkie- what's wrong?" Pinkie's eyes were filling up with tears.

"Cadence is here," she whispered. Lyra and Vinyl both hugged her.

"I remember her wedding," Vinyl tried to comfort her. "We DJayed together, remember?"

"And you took my place as a bridlemaid, Pinkie," Lyra added. "It's alright. We're safe from those nasty guards."

"It's like I don't know Twilight anymore," Pinkie replied sadly. "I think... I think she lost her friendship."

"You could help her get it back," Vinyl suggested. "We pretend you're a ghost, maybe like in A Hearths Warming Eve Carol. I could be the ghost of Hearths Warming present, and Lyra-" she stopped as she saw Lyra shake her head.

"Well, Lyra, what do you think we should do?" Vinyl asked, a little impatient. Lyra shrugged.

"I just don't know, Vinyl," she admitted. "But we can't do that. Even after thousands of years of practice, my magic isn't strong enough to do that."

"I just want to die," Pinkie whispered. Vinyl hugged her again.

"Hang in there, Pinkie. Hey, here's a thought! Maybe Twilight can make us mortal! She could mix up a potion or something!" Vinyl was excited until Lyra shot that idea down, too.

"I doubt that could ever work."

"Excuse me, can I help you three?" A passing crystal pony asked. "Can I take you to Princess Cadence?" Lyra, Pinkie, and Vinyl exchanged glances.

"Uh, no thanks," Lyra replied. "We're quite alright."

"Hey, Rose Glass!" A stallion in a blue helmet called to the mare. "Who are you talking to?"

"Visitors!" Rose Glass, the mare, shouted back. The stallion trotted over.

"Who are they- wait a minute." His expression hardened. Vinyl did her best to put on a poker face. "Aren't you three the mares the guards were looking for?" Lyra shook her head.

"The guards are looking for someponies?" Vinyl asked. "Why?"

"How did you find out so fast?" Pinkie blurted. The stallion looked triumphant.

"So you are! Well, I am Captain Crystal Crash, and you three are under arrest!" Her lunged forward and clasped his hooves around Lyra's horn. Lyra didn't resist. Neither did Pinkie as two guards suddenly came out of nowhere. Vinyl was the only one left.

"Come on, guys, help me!" She exclaimed, backing up from two more guards. "I left my bass canon at home, and they can't take us to Twilight!" She dodged one guard's attempt to tackle her and shot a blast of music out of her horn. The guards covered their ears until the music faded.

"Vinyl, just surrender," Pinkie said glumly. "We're, we're going to see Twilight. There's no avoiding it." Vinyl stared at her in shock.

"Pinkie! What's wrong with you! Why are you cracking up? Twilight will do her best to kill us! She- oof!" Vinyl chest hurt as one guard shoved her to the ground.

"And Pinkie?" Vinyl whispered. "The guards knew about us because of a thing called radios."