The Lost Six

Chapter 5: Viniyl Scratch

"Aaah." Vinyl Scratch let out a relaxed sigh just after Octavia had left saying she didn't want to listen. She had managed to worm her a out of trouble for the minor mistake she had made earlier that day. In all honesty, today felt like a good day. Even Octavia seemed glad today. She knew that Octavia had been undergoing a lot of pressure lately and honestly felt bed for her, despite never showing her. The way Scratch saw it, Octavia needed some constant in her life, and Vinyl was willing to oblige for her friend's sake.

She hoisted herself up from her (very cofortable) chair and walked drowsily to the front door. Although there were a lot of good things today, what she was expecting in the mail had the potential to ruin it all. Over the last two weeks, Vinyl had been trying to help out in multiple ways that her skill set was not completely suited for. You know, the usual: cooking, maintanance, construction, modifying her music into high calibre sonic weaponry. To be fair, she succeeded at the last of these endeavers, effectively creating the world's first bass cannon. Her neighbors (who had since moved away from their, now annhilated, house) didn't seem to admire her achievement, but hey. It's their loss. The point was, all these little attempts at innocent, harmless tasks always led to some form of "Vinyl! You just broke the (fill in object name here)." The repairs for these things tend to cost money, and, with Tavi doing a lot poorer buisiness-wise, it's been up to Vinyl to pay for these repairs. This wasn't particularly difficult, what with the contract with K-Colt and her success as a DJ. Pinkie Pie even managed to hook her up with a gig at a royal wedding. No, the money wasn't a problem before. Unfortunately, she underplayed what the most recent damage was. She had told Octavia that she had destroyed the studio, which was true. The entire rest of the building was also destroyed. Rebuilding a studio, that costs money, but it's easily possible. Rebuilding an entire radio station? That is somewhat more costly.

With this in mind, Scratch closed her eyes and dug into the mailbox. It wasn't so bad. Mostly advertisements and some stuff for Octavia. Her fears were not unfounded, however. At the bottom was a letter that showed the estimated price of rebuilding K-Colt. Vinyl walked into the kitchen and put Tavi's mail on the table. She then, slowly, opened the letter from the (very fast working, judging by how quickly they got the estimate) contractors. At first puzzlement fell across her face, then, in a span of five seconds, her expression transformed into one of utter dread. They hadn't sent estimates. They sent a catalogue listing radio stations for sale. None of them were anywhere near Ponyville or Canterlot. Not only that, but prices were waaaaaay beyond her budget. Attached was a note.

Dear Mrs. Scratch

We regret to inform you that we lack the resources and manpower to rebuild your radio station. We do not have the means to obtain either of these within the next year unless there is a significant gain in finances. These finances are of a high enough sum, that you may be better off buying a new building. Here is a catalogue of suitable buildings currently listed. We thank you for your understanding and wish you the best of luck.

Equestrian Contractors

Upon finishing reading this letter, Vinyl sunk to the floor, unable to process what had just happened. K-Colt was her and Octavia's primary source of income. If they couldn't keep up with it, they would lose the house. They would lose almost everything. She couldn't let that happen and she wouldn't move away to a new town. She and Tavi had a following in Ponyville. What's more, the number of parties in the area gave Vinyl more opportunities than she'd find anywhere else. Not only that, but she couldn't be sure that Octavia would be able to recover from this. She would either need to move to the new station's location and abandon her ensemble, or find some way to live off of the very sparse income she made alone and abandon K-Colt. It was a hopeless situation.

No.

Vinyl Scratch stood up with a new determination in her eys. she levitated a piece of paper and a quill and began furiously writing a letter back to the contractors. K-Colt wouldn't die. Nopony was going to move. Octavia wasn't going to have to make a decision. Scratch would get the money, and soon. She was still a successful DJ. She still had a large following. She was tight with bucking ROYALTY! She'd be able to raise the money... and she wouldn't need to let Octavia know what had transpired. Not yet anyway.

Sealing the letter, Vinyl was almost at the front door to mail it when there an incredible gust of wind flew past her, picking up momentum and tearing the wall behind her away. A tornado of paper was whirling in front of her and, in a great flash of green lightning, Octavia materialized in front of her.

Scratch stood there dumbstruck with her jaw wide open. After letting out a low whistle, she said, still slightly dazed, "That. Was. AWESOME!"

Octavia looked at Scratch with surprise before a look of defeat spread across her face upon not seeing the wall that would normally be a part of the house. She slumped to the floor.

"I think I just... died a bit inside."

Vinyl looked behind her and back at Octavia. "Don't look at me. That one was all you."

~~~

Octavia thankfully hadn't noticed the letter Scratch was holding and, after some help was lent, made her way into the living room. There, she had explained what had just happened to Scratch.

Wait a minute. If Pinkie's missing, that explains why I haven't found nearly so many gigs in the past few days. If she stays in there, there's no way I'll be able to make enough money. This is worse than I thought.

A few seconds after Octavia finished her story, Vinyl stood up and picked up the insulated book.

"Come on, Tavi. There's no time to lose. Let's get this book to that mail mare ASAP. We can't leave those ponies in there."

"Do you honestly believe that was all real?"

"Tavi. Tavi Tavi TAVI! You just appeared in front of my in a storm of wind, paper, bucking THUNDERBOLTS! It was the greatest light show I've ever seen, and I've seen some a-MAZ-ing light shows in my line of work. Keep that in mind when I tell you this next part. That is STILL not the most messed up thing I've seen in my years on this planet. Believe me when I say that these ponies ARE in that book and we HAVE to get them out of there."

Octavia was surprised at Scratch's sudden enthusiasm. She still thought there was a possiblity that she had hit her head and was in a hospital somewhere. Nonetheless, she had pointed out to herself that she'd better play it safe, just in case those guys were in trouble.

She stood up much slower than Scratche had. "Meh, alright. I don't really think I have much of a cho-"

She was cut off abruptly as Scratch grabbed her and bolted for the door. Just as she reached it, however, it opened from the other side.

"I'm here for my... what's going on here? Am I too early?"

Lyra stood in the doorway keeping her lyre aloft with her magic.