Vinyl's Silent Wish (Re-Edited)
Over the busy city of Manehatten, a deep red sky washes over the horizon as the sun starts to set, storm clouds were a deep gold as they were being brought in by the local weather team. Upon the rooftop of one of the apartment buildings of the city was our favorite music-loving mare, Vinyl Scratch, was leaning against the edge of the roof watching the sunset. The mare always enjoyed watching the sunset, especially when it was as deep of a red as now. It matched her crimson eyes, something that wasn't widely known to the rest of the world. She had moved her glasses up into her spiked blue mane so she sees the sunset in its true glamour.
The only thing she was really missing on this scene, was her smile. Most ponies smile at such a sight, even fewer would have their breath taken away, but Vinyl just watches the setting sun with a blank expression. The sun finally sets as the storm clouds got closer, she pops her contacts back in and pushes her glasses back down onto her snout. She slides on her headset with her magic and heaves a heavy sigh. “Time for me to work my musical magic.” She mutters to herself as she goes into the apartment building, just in time for the rain to start to drizzle as she closed the door behind her.
Vinyl makes her way down the building’s stairway, passing a few ponies every now and then. She was a bit self-conscious about her sad demeanor, not wanting other ponies to look upon her and worry. So she just smiles and gives them a nod as they pass. Vinyl makes it to the ground floor and heads out the front, the rain was picking up by the time she stepped outside. Vinyl smiles a bit to the feel of the pattering water on her hooves, it felt so cleansing and refreshing as it drops over her coat, she absolutely loved the rain. But she couldn't enjoy such a simple pleasure at the moment, she has a gig at one of the local nightclubs in an hour. She looks down the busy street as ponies running up and down the streets were pulling yellow chariots, many having some form of cover on them or over them to protect them from the incoming rain.
She perks up and notices an empty taxi approaching and gave a whistle, a wave of her hoof, and yells “TAXI!” Unfortunately, she was a little late to catch him as the taxi passes her by, the wheel splashing water upon her, making her grumble and mentally curse the driver. She shakes the water off and tries again, she smiles as she sees down the road one of the cabbies that she knew. She gives him the same signal and he comes up to her with a smile.
The gruff looking taxi driver turns to her as she walks up, “Hey Vinyl, anywhere special?”
Vinyl shakes her head, “Nothing too special this time Sam, just another gig. Drop me off at the Lunar Nights Club?”
“Sure thing! Hop on in, I’ll get ‘cha there in no time at all.” She nods and hops in as he resets his meter. She was about finished wringing out her mane as he starts making his way down the busy street, doing his best to avoid collision with the other taxis. Sam knew it would take a while for them to get to the club so he makes some idle conversation, “So Scratch, are you taking any requests tonight or do you have a playlist set?”
“I have a playlist, but I always pick a few tracks as dump so if I get a request, I can do it. Why? Have a song?” Sam gives a warm smile, “Heh, You could say that. How about this? My break is coming up in about thirty, and I was planning on grabbing a bite from Mike’s Subs a block from the club. Think you could pop in one of my picks around that time?"
Vinyl smiles as she chats with Sam, enjoying the conversations she has with him, however short they were. Sam tries to keep on her street mostly in case she needed a lift anywhere, knowing how much she appreciates it. She does wish she could sit with him at lunch and hang out sometime, and not just see him through business.
Vinyl nods, “Right on, Sam. I think I know which one to play that you’d enjoy.” Sam smiles as he pulls to the side of the road, reaching the club. “Thanks, Sam, how much for the ride?”
Sam clicks the reset on his trot meter and turns to Vinyl. “Oh, let's see… about, a song, in 35 minutes from now, while I enjoy a foot long. Sound fair?” He gives a smirk as Vinyl giggles, “Fair deal.” She hops out and the two brohoof, "Cya in a few Vinyl" Sam waves as she nods and turns to the club “Catch ya on the wave!” she calls back as Sam pulls away.
Vinyl makes her way to the backstage area with 15 minutes to prepare her setup. She goes through her records and pulls out a vinyl record in a yellow sleeve titled 'Sam’s mix'. She sighs softly, her smile disappearing as she starts going through the rest of her collection. She passes the rest of the time setting out her records and talking to herself to pass the time. Sometimes she would tell herself which songs to choose, others would make her get in a small funk, and lately, the funk has been getting worse. "I live by myself," she says, "free as a bird in my own space... But, it feels so... empty. Like a void of air, records, and equipment in one area, some clothes in the other, and day old pizza on the table."
She heaves a small sigh as she finishes setting up her booth. The mare pushes a button on the dash, causing the booth to light up, the booth making a low hum before going silent. She messes with the controls a bit as she readies her entry.
The DJ shakes her head in an attempt to focus "Come on Vinyl, now’s not the time to think about those thoughts. You got to stop thinking about That so much. So what if it’s an apartment with you by yourself? You don’t need to go bugging others to try and find somepony to room with. heh.. you'd scare them away before they step a hoof in.. the... door.
She sighs heavily, wiping a tear off and fixing herself up, “Let's get this over with,” she mutters as she pushes a button. The lights turn out on her dash and the floor lights up red, revealing the small room she was in. She pushes another button causing a stage above her room to light up with a magnificent blue. A prerecorded message plays over the speakers, featuring a synthetic voice she imitated from one of her favorite games. A soft beat slowly builds as the voice spoke.
“Hello, and welcome to the Lunar Nights Club. I hope you all are ready for another productive session. Because of I most certainly am-am-AM-aM.” Vinyl pushes a button to make the stage lights to flicker a bit wildly to the stuttering voice, a few electrical discharge sounds play with this. The music starts to pick up as smoke starts to creep across the stage. Vinyl pushes the next button, the stage lights to go a solid red and the ceiling above Vinyl opens up. The voice and music stop to a deep electronic tone blasts through the speakers, like an alarm.
Vinyl pushes the final button to her entrance to make the floor under her slowly rise. A male robotic voice echoes from the speakers. “Warning! Core corrupted. Emergency protocols non-responsive. Facility power reactor threat levels beyond critical. Facility vaporization in five. Four. Thr-” The voice cuts off to the female voice blasts out, “Let us begin the test proper!” Vinyl puts up a smile and starts to scratch her records on the turntable. She rises up out of the smoke to a crowd of ponies that was dancing to the music, cheering her on as she goes through her routines.
After a few songs, she pulls out the record with the yellow sleeve and turns on her mic. “Ok, party ponies! This next song is for an awesome pony who makes anypony happy to be around. Give it up for my awesome pal Sam!” She yells through the mic as she starts to play the record, smiling at Sam who was enjoying his lunch.
After the show, Scratch got her pay, had a drink with Sam, and got a ride to her apartment. She was exhausted, not just from the rave, but also because no other pony spent more than fifteen minutes with her the entire night.
She opens the door and switches on the lights to a messy yet empty apartment, a very unhappy look on her face. She doesn't like it here, and she knows this. She sighs as she wanders around her apartment, dropping what she had on the floors and leaning against the small window. She looks up at the clear night sky. The local weather team took out the storm during the rave, making the skies crystal clear. She looks at the moon and what few stars were visible through the lights of the city, trying to figure out what to do. At that moment, she sees a shooting star sweep across the sky. She remembers a story her mom told her once about shooting stars, involving Princess Luna being imprisoned on the moon.
Princess Luna was trapped on the moon for a thousand years,
and all those years she wept.
She was so lonely on the moon,
no pony to talk to,
no pony to play with,
no pony to have at her side.
It was from this loneliness that caused her to make shooting stars.
She didn't want ponies to feel the pains of being lonely,
so she cast a spell on her stars to fall from the sky
when one was in desperate need of a friend.
If that pony saw the star and makes a wish for a friend, Luna can hear it.
If the pony sees the star reappear from its original spot,
then Luna has deemed the wish as pure
and will use her magic to have the pony meet their closest friend they will ever have,
never to be alone again.
Vinyl recounts the story and figures it was worth a shot. So she closes her eyes, puts her hooves together like she was praying and whispers, “I love to see others happy, and I make them happy with my music. Music is my life, and I live to be happy with my music... But why am I not happy anymore? I-“ Vinyl chokes a little, tears well in her eyes. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.. I wish I wasn't alone... I wish... I could spend more than fifteen minutes with a pony... to get to know them... to hang with them... to have fun with them... Even if it’s just one.. it would be more than enough...” Vinyl sniffles as tears start to patter and puddle on the floor. She hasn't cried since she was a foal, she never had a reason to. But now years of solitude and pain flows through as she wept.
Ever since she left her parents, she has lived on her own. She would try her best to enjoy her new found freedom, but she just couldn't ignore the loneliness. Eventually, the loneliness would take a toll on her and sometimes it would drive her to DJ out on the streets just to have some company. But it was only a temporary solution as all the ponies she attracted would eventually leave.
After a while, she looks to the sky where she saw the shooting star. She saw nothing there but the black void of the night sky. She waits for it to reappear... one minute... two minutes... ten minutes... twenty minutes... Nothing. She didn't see anything where the shooting star was. Vinyl frowns deeply as she turns away, heading to her bedroom, “Oh, well. I guess that was just another old mare’s tale... Thanks, mom...” Vinyl slumps over as she slides into bed, slowly crying herself to sleep.
Vinyl wakes up fairly late in the morning. She doesn't really want to face the day and get up, but she couldn't stay there either. She hates to feel how empty her bed was. She makes her way to the ground floor, not taking any care in her appearance or others around her. Others did, however, take notice of the once energetic pony, always seen with a smile, now slumping over, staring at her hooves. Her cheeks were matted and stained with her tears, she wasn't smiling. She makes her way out the door and down the street, wandering around aimlessly.
Scratch doesn't have any plans for the day, it was her day to relax and do whatever, so she walks through the city going down different streets, no direction in mind. She makes it to the city limits before she takes notice as to where she was. She sees the Everfree forest past a field of low hills covered in lush green grass. She makes her way over to one of the hills and sulks. As she sits there, lost in her thoughts of loneliness. A raindrop hits her nose, causing her to look up. The weather team looks like they are setting up another storm, a long one. As the pitter-patter of the drops starts to pick up, Vinyl looks back to the ground, not taking care to notice that she wasn't alone in the fields.
A few hills behind her was a gray mare with a well-kept charcoal mane and tail, making her way to the fields. She scans the hills for a few flowers for an art project she was working on, close to getting it done. It doesn't take long for the mare to notice Vinyl, taking note that it was starting to rain. The mare would've passed Vinyl by, wanting to make the trip quick to avoid the rain, but she stops once she notices to how Vinyl’s depression took a toll on the DJ.
She decides to approach Vinyl and see whats going on. “Excuse me,” she calls, causing Vinyl to snap out of her thoughts. Quickly she threw on a simple smile to hide her troubled looks and turns to the mare.
“Huh? Who are you?” the DJ asks. The mare was slightly taken aback and didn't exactly know how to handle the situation after seeing Vinyl’s tear-soaked face.
“Oh, um, I’m just a wandering pony,” the mare replies. Vinyl, not wanting to make the mare worry, keeps her happy act up. “I see. Well, stranger, the name’s Vinyl. What are you doing in the rain?”
The charcoal mare looks up to the sky, completely forgetting her project by now. “I enjoy it out here because it is peaceful.” Vinyl looks up in the sky as well.
“Ah yeah, I know what you mean. Rain is almost like nature’s rhythm and beat. Disorganized, but sounds so calming.” The mare looks back at Vinyl, a small smile appears on her face.
“You know, if you stay in the rain too long, you’ll get sick.” Vinyl puts up a smug look and relaxes her forehooves behind her head. “Naw, it’s alright. I’m used to this. I usually go out to empty places by myself often.” The mare blinks and raises an eyebrow to this.
“By yourself?” She asks. Vinyl stops moving, her smile quickly dropping to a frown. The mare suddenly realizes she touched a tender topic. She wasn't sure if she should talk to Vinyl about it, or try to leave.
'Leaving could cause potential emotional distress' the mare thinks to herself. Feeling sorry for Vinyl, she decides to confront her to see if she could be of any help. “Sorry if I’m being a bit intrusive, but are you alright?” Vinyl looks back to the mare, now unsure as to how this will go.
“Oh, I’m alright. I just have something on my mind, that’s all.” The mare notices Vinyl looks a bit unsure, seeing how Vinyl looks very troubled about something and the curiosity was getting better of her.
“Well, want to talk about it?” The mare asks. Vinyl was still unsure if she was being a bother, 'The mare did ask her about it.. Maybe it was time to talk to somepony about it.'
“Well… Since I have no pony else to tell…” Vinyl takes a deep sigh and looks to her side. “Well, I’m a DJ. I play music almost every day bringing smiles to everypony.” Vinyl pauses. “Only one problem... If everypony is happy, shouldn't I be happy as well? Well, maybe sometimes, though most of the time after a party is over I wonder what do I do next? Where do I go? My place is here where music is my passion and life.” Vinyl starts to tear up behind her glasses. “But, when no pony is there to share my passion, I feel lonely. Ponies only come to me when they want to listen to some beats. After that its satisfaction with them and the end of joy for me... Am I being selfish? Is it wrong for me to be a bit greedy for some friendshi-“ Vinyl pauses as she realizes something. She wasn’t actually being greedy, she had every right to be happy. It wasn't just making ponies happy with her music. No... it was more than that. She wanted a friend... A friend she can hang out and share experiences with. A friend that which she can turn to when troubles are a burden for her. She wouldn't have to be by herself anymore. She looks to the mare with a pained look and quietly whispers. “I guess all I am saying is, I wish I had a friend.”
The mare sees Vinyl’s pain; She understood her pain as she was alone once. The mare scoots closer to Vinyl, “I’ll be your friend.”
Vinyl looks at the mare very surprised, she didn’t expect this. “Really?!” Vinyl asks. The mare gives a nod and a smile, which causes Vinyl to smile in return. This time she didn’t have to put it on, it was real. She felt... Happy. She had a friend. Tears start to fall down her cheeks, for the first time in her life, she cries tears of joy. The mare holds out her hoof, Vinyl takes it and they both trot back to the city. As they did so, the rain stops and beautiful rainbow streaks across the sky.
Vinyl turns to the mare. “You know, I thought that story about Luna’s shooting stars were an old mare’s tail. But I guess I didn’t hear the story right.”
The mare turns to Vinyl. “Hm? you mean the one about Luna’s spell? The one that grants a wish upon a fallen star, right?” Vinyl nods. “The only thing is that the star didn't reappear after it fell. There was a shooting star last night, and I made a wish. But I didn’t see it come back.”
The mare looks towards Vinyl a bit confused. “It did actually. I saw the star fall last night, and it came back to its original spot in the sky. You must’ve been in a brighter part of the city. The lights make it harder for a pony to see the stars at night.” Vinyl smiles when she hears this. Her wish has come true, Luna granted her wish, she now has the closest friend she will ever have. Vinyl looks to the mare and gives her a hug. The mare blinks and giggles, giving Vinyl a playful nudge “Hey! Watch the bow tie! I have to keep it looking sharp for the musical I am doing tonight.” Vinyl and the mare chuckle together.
As they both enter the city, Vinyl turns to the mare. “By the way, I never got your name.” The mare gives a sheepish laugh and rubs the back of her mane. “Ah, right, sorry. My name is Octavia.” Vinyl smiles big. “Octavia huh? Well, nice to meet you. I can tell we are going to be awesome friends.”
Octavia smiles in return, “I think you are right on that.” The two mares make their way throughout the city, enjoying each others company, and Vinyl has never happier.
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed this little fic.
I enjoyed writing it. Only thing I found slightly challenging was the scene with Octavia and Vinyl meeting. If you have played the flash this is based off of you would know this scene very well. I hope this hasn't taken too much from the story as the dialogue was taken from the flash and there isn't much I can do to change what was said.Meshing that and the story together and make it flow wasn't easy and I hope I did it right...
But anyway, feel free to comment and share with your friends :)
After a while of not writing and mostly roleplaying on PonyChat, getting nailed mercilessly by grammar nazis, and building my grammar skills, I've looked over this and shuddered at how different my writing style has changed. So I've decided to get my lazy plot up from it's happy spot on the couch and fix this fic up. hoping it will shine across equestria like a story of this nature should.
I'll make this edit a separate chapter to the original to show a side by side comparison of what can happen after over half a year of rp.
Shocking no? >.>
<10-15-13>
did another revision, hopefully the grammar and some canonity is better for the reader.
also, I do know Vinyl's eye color is magenta, when I originally wrote this fic it was around mid season 1 so her eye color was not canon in any way. Plus I wanted to have a small emphasis on the crimson eye color and compare it to a crimson setting sun, starting the fic in this manor. I have received some criticism about the comparison of the now canon eye color and how the fic was incorrect to that. So that's where the contacts come in for those wondering. And yes I know that it's canon for her eyes to be magenta and not crimson. I do not plan to change a small detail and break the comparison in the first scene, it was a crimson sunset in the scene for a reason guys. though it did offer me a chance to get a creative solution to this :D
