Saccharine Arcadia

Chapter 14: How Time Flies.

The sun had risen over Ponyville’s library as it always had, and brought with it a warm front which slowly defrosted the chilled ground. Over the past week the weather had been getting colder, and this was the first sign of a warm day in long time. Celestia must have brought mercy upon the land and its ponies.

It was ten o’clock, and for once, the human was up of his own accord at a reasonable time, something which seldom occurred back home. The past few days had only been filled with work, and as such, he had gotten into a routine. He only had to work three days a week, and he chose to do Monday through Wednesday that week, partly for his own benefit, and partly because Rose needed him to be there for a shipment each morning; they got all their deliveries at the beginning of the week. Apparently he was the heavy lifter – something he found rather amusing considering his skinny structure.

Things had died down after the night of the party, and Ponyville, for Rob at least, was back to normal. He’d been filling his spare time up by helping out other ponies when they needed it, and meeting Vinyl up at Berry’s bar. It turned out that Mac delivered the Sweet Apple Cider to the bar on an almost daily basis, and when it wasn’t early morning, Berry’s bar was fairly packed. Rob had also found himself playing with her daughter a fair bit too, Berry Pinch, who had taken a strange liking to him ever since she found comedic value in him almost running himself over with a stray cider barrel. She was always a day-brightener, and he didn’t mind her attention.

The days had been peaceful, and Rob found himself liking that. For the first time, he felt as if he was actually fitting in. Not only were the ponies that he already considered friends spending their time with him, but new ones were too; customers in the flower shop, stallions at the bar, and even ponies on the street. Everyone was so friendly. It sure made a change from back home - a place he was quickly forgetting about.

Rob thought back to Spike’s question. Was he fitting in? He looked around, noticing smiles on everyone’s faces. He looked up at the brilliant blue sky. He looked left at the children playing, and right at the vending stalls where ponies were dutifully working. He sighed and chuckled as the world played itself out around him.

“I’d say things are going pretty goddamn well…” He mumbled, as memories of his time spent in Equestria popped into his head. “Yeah... Things have never been better.” He spoke the words under his breath, feeling better for actually saying them rather than only thinking of them. It was a test in a way, and he was finally ready to pass it. Admitting to himself that these things felt good.

Waving at numerous ponies, Rob continued on his journey to meet Vinyl. She had given him an address and asked him to meet her there, although, looking down at the stained paper napkin in his hand, he had his doubts about the entire thing. If there was one word that did not describe Vinyl, it was ‘delicate’. Everything was very sketchy and despite not being a pegasus, the term ‘winging it’ suited her well.

This was the first time that she’d asked him to meet her at a place which wasn’t the bar, and despite the bar trips being an almost every night occurrence, he wondered what brought the change. While musing to himself, he found the street he was looking for, mentally patting himself on the back for not having to use one of Celestia’s compasses to find it. After all, this was an area of the deceptively large Ponyville that he had not yet been in.

He did a double take. What he assumed was once a road, turned out to be a drive way. One big long drive way. “I- ugh… wow!” Raising his hand to his brow, he peered down the long expanse, “She lives… here!?” Greens, browns and all manner of earthen natures greeted him as he stood stunned; looking into what really was a cut out of a fairy tale. Even in Equestria, he was amazed that things were still able to surprise him.

Well maintained gardens lined the sides of the drive, and spread for a good hundred yards before breaking out into a courtyard. It all looked very fancy. High trees, much like those in the Ponyville Park, stuck up from behind hedge rows, and beautifully delicate flowers nestled in amongst the undergrowth. The foreground was gentle, with small dainty flowers leading up to bigger things as the garden went back. Behind them were well trimmed hedges and mid-sized shrubs, creating a protective and comfortable barrier between the drive and the rest of the world. Rob looked over past the courtyard at the end. All around the estate were tall trees silhouetted against the bright blue sky, hinting more at the scale of what he was witnessing.

“Well… shit. I did not see this coming.” Rob placed his hands on the gate which was obstructing his path, and gave a light push. Free of any hindrance, the gate swung open without a sound, giving him access to the path ahead. “Works for me.” With the strangest sense of being watched, Rob entered through the gate. He looked around once more.

“Sweet! Scots Pine. And… Redwood!? Something tells me that all of this must have been intentionally planted… To manage such a big place and to keep it all in check. This… well. It’s stunning.”

He continued his musings as he proceeded. “I always did like big trees…” He moved further down the drive, taking note of the beauty of the gardens. Before long, he found himself walking under a woven arch leading into the courtyard. From there, he could see the house, and despite it being another hundred feet away, its shadow almost reached him. “That is one big-ass house.”

He continued his approach.

Before too long, he was at a large oaken door, presumably the front door, although he couldn’t rightly tell; he’d seen numerous doors dotting the ground floor – all ornate and grand. Any one of them could be the front door for all he knew. Taking one last look at the drive, back the way he came, he raised a hand and knocked on the door, hearing the sound echo in the room behind.

“Part of this will be a big disappointment if Vinyl doesn’t actually live here…”

He waited a few more moments before hoofsteps were heard and a bolt on the other side of the door slid free. In only another few seconds, a crack appeared between the door and the frame. It gradually grew wider, and before too long, revealed a wide eyed pony, standing very still. The two met gazes and simply stared, each waiting for the other.

“H- he’s here…” Rob barely heard the pony mumble under her breath.

“Excuse me?” He looked down at the mare and raised an eyebrow. “Look, I was told that Vinyl lived here and… as much as I am highly dubious, this does seem to be the right address.” He continued staring at the blank faced pony.

Without another word, the door slammed closed and Rob heard frantic footsteps running away on the other side. “I don’t know why, but that really pisses me off…” He gazed at the door a little bit more, as if boring holes into the very woodwork. “It sure is a shame that ‘smacking a bitch’ goes against my morals…”

Rob was just about to knock on the door a second time, when it was briskly opened and he was dragged inside by the mare from before and an unknown stallion. Before he knew it, he was situated on the sofa, in a room that he didn’t remember coming in to, with both ponies sitting on chairs opposite him, their faces full of expectation. There was no real way of explaining the events that had transpired.

He frantically looked around the room in a daze, trying to take in the new surroundings before anything else happened. The room had a high ceiling and was a cream colour. It looked like a traditional period house. Everything seemed expensive, and as if reinforcing the idea and image, he noticed ornaments on pedestals dotted around the room; vases to busts. He turned back to the two eager ponies in front of him.

The mare was a pretty white colour, just like Rarity, and had a light blue mane which was done up in a poufy style. It was quite long, hanging a fair ways down her back. She had red eyes and long eye lashes. All in all, she was quite pretty. Rob could just about see her cutie mark, and saw that it was of a quill and ink. He turned to the male.

Unlike the female, this pony had a horn on his head; protruding out from between locks of ivy green hair, which had been immaculately combed into place. His eyes were a glowing orange, and he had a lone bow tie tightly fitted around his neck. From the position he was in, Rob couldn’t see his cutie mark.

Once again, the human found himself in a staring contest with a pony, only this time, there were two, and he had to flit his gaze accordingly. Everything was strange, and Rob remembered the creepy feeling of being watched on his walk down the drive way. His guess was that these two were responsible. He didn’t know who they were, but the silence was clearly not working. He needed to try something new.

“Ok. So. This just became very weird.” The two didn’t move an inch as Rob spoke, but he swore that he saw a tear form in the mare’s eye. “Are you o-”

“W-we're just so…” The mare began, cutting Rob off mid-way.

“So…?” Rob pressed the mare for an end to her sentence, learning forward in his chair which gave out a squeak as the leather rubbed together.

“Happy!” The stallion finished, clapping his hooves together and startling the other two in the room.

There was silence in the room before the human opened his mouth to speak, eliciting a small “Aaah” from the female pony. He quickly shut his mouth and raised a hand slowly, as if in a classroom, prompting the same “Aaah” to flee the pony’s lips. Once again, he stared at them; much harder than before.

“I-” He began.

“Aaah~”

“Please stop that!”

The mare fidgeted in her seat and smiled again, “My apologies, we’re just quite excited.” Rob waited, shifting his gaze from the male to the female and back again. He was glad that some form of communication was finally underway. With luck, he could ascertain the intentions of the two new ponies before things got more out of hand than they already had. “This is the first time that Vinyl has brought a boy home and we’re really happy. I hope she satisfy all of your needs well. We tried to make her grow up as a proper mare, but she can be a bit frivolous sometimes…”

“Wha-!?” Rob coughed and spluttered out his response before the couple giggled. “I- I never! Wait a second! Vinyl isn’t even here! How could she have brought me home!?” He looked deep into the eyes of the mare across from him. He really couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. Part of him thought she was just a little slow in the head.

“He seems to have a point, honey.” The stallion turned to his apparent wife and spoke. Rob looked at the male too, and found himself thinking the same things.

“I suppose so…” She looked disheartened. “Anyway!” Arc witnessed her brighten up quickly, so fast in fact that it worried him a little.

“Is it unfair to say that my mind is being thoroughly screwed and bludgeoned right now? I swear that I meet so many airheaded ponies that half of Equestria is bordering on ‘vegetable’ levels of consciousness…”

“My name is Sonnet, and this is my husband Sine; we’re Vinyl’s parents.” The warm smile was back on her face, and she was exuding an aura of sanity now, as opposed to the ecstatic happiness of before. “I’m sure you’re very confused…” Rob was happy that someone was at least making some sort of effort to explain themselves.

He laughed to himself a bit before leaning back against the chair. “Yeah, you could say that.” He scratched his head and brushed some hair away from his eyes, focussing on the two more clearly. “I find a big house in some sweet, sweet gardens, and then get promptly abducted by the owners.” There was a pause. “You… are the owners right…?” Another daunting feeling washed over him.

Once again silence filled the air, and the mare eventually spoke up. “I told you, I am Sonnet and this is my husband, Sine.”

“Yeah… that doesn’t really answer my question…”

“These two seem like the kind of ponies that you’d see in a newspaper with the captions ‘…and then turned the gun on himself’ or ‘wanted, dead or alive’. I hope no one reads; ‘Equestria's only human murdered after abduction’ in tomorrow’s paper…”

“Maybe we should tell you more about us…” Sine spoke out for the first time since his earlier outburst. “I’m an electrical audio engineer, and my wife is a poet.” Sonnet nodded off to his side. Arc didn’t’ know what to make of things anymore.

“I suppose that makes sense, considering your cutie mark.” Rob pointed out to the mare, “And I presume that you specialise in sonnets?” He laughed a bit at his own bad joke.

“No actually,” She replied, “Haiku.”

“Well shit.”

“That makes no sense but… alright. I’ve learnt to accept it when these things happen.” Rob commented offhand, draping his arm over the arm of the sofa, trying to find a comfortable spot in which to relax a little more.

“And I work with a whole variety of musical stars,” Sine piped up. “I don’t spend much time here. I’m often out working with the artists.”

“Like your daughter?” Rob questioned, a little more at ease now that the two were speaking and not just staring at him.

“No, she’s a rare case. She likes to do it all by herself. I taught her the basics from a young age, and she took to it like a fish out of water!”

“Umm… don’t you mean, like a duck to water?”

“Yes! That!” He raised both hooves in the air as another awkward pause dominated the atmosphere of the room.

“Ok. Let me summarise: You’re the parents of Vinyl Scratch, the esteemed electronic artist, and you may or may not own this house which you forcefully dragged me into. You’re the father,” He gestured to Sine, “An electrical engineer. And you’re the mother,” He looked at Sonnet, “A haiku writing poet named ‘Sonnet’. You seem to think that Vinyl brought me here as ‘her man’, despite said pony’s absence. And I’m meant to believe that the two of you aren’t gonna swing an axe at the back of my head the very moment I turn around to flee the premise, because I’m getting major psycho vibes from the both of you…” Rob panted, out of breath. “Sound about right?”

The two smiled broadly, “Yes!” They leaned over to each other and hugged. “Oh honey, he understands us! What a bright young lad!” They seemed to speak simultaneously.

“I… I… I think they broke me…”

“That’s enough!” Another voice called out into the room, breaking the loud laughter being emitted by the two hugging ponies. “Please stop scaring my guest! You two are such a pain in the flank!”

Rob turned to see Vinyl standing in the doorway off to his left, leaning against the woodwork with a stern look on her face – one he hadn’t seen before and hoped never to see again. With just those words, she was able to quieten the two ponies within an instant. Rob was highly impressed, seeing as it must have taken years of practise to learn such a skill.

“He doesn’t mind, dear. Look!” Sonnet pointed at Rob with her hoof. “It’s all ok, isn’t it Arc~”

“I- I never told you my name, Sonnet.”

“Don’t fret over the trivial things!”

“Mum!” Vinyl cut back in. “Stop being so childish!”

“Something is very, very wrong when Vinyl is the sole voice of reason and sensibility… It actually feels like the world is being turned upside down. There is something cute about the pout that Sonnet is giving off though, something about acting childish actually suits her, despite all the horror and irritance it causes anyone other than seemingly her husband. Match made in heaven I suppose.”

“We’re sorry, dear.” Sine stood up and walked over to his daughter. “But we were so sure that you were wearing the saddle on the other side, and we feared that we may never get grandchildren. We’re just happy that you found a nice young stallion with which you can be impregna-.”

Vinyl began to glow red in the cheeks, and it was only made more apparent by her pristine white coat. “I- I- No! For a start, he isn’t even a stallion! He’s human! How would you even get grandchildren from that!? And secondly, just… NO! E-even if I did like him, which I don’t! You have no right to say stuff like that!” She quietened to muttering, “Grandchildren… that wouldn’t even work with a human…”

“You never know until you try, dear.” Sonnet cut back in, much to the chagrin of her daughter.

“Shut it, mum! And you thought that my apples fell on the other side of the tree!? Since when have I ever given that kinda vibe out!?”

“Well, you never really associate with colts…”

The red in her cheeks deepened. “That doesn’t mean you can assume!” She stormed over to Rob. “Come on Arc, we’re leaving.”

Wordlessly, he obeyed, and rose from his chair, as a magical force enveloped his left hand and dragged him out of the room. Stunned, he looked back into the room at the smiling faces of Vinyl’s parents, as they slowly disappeared from his view.

Once the duo was finally out of the room, Sonnet turned to Sine and spoke. “What a lovely colt, I like him already.” Sine simply nodded and hugged his wife.

“I agree.” There was a pause. “Spot of polo, dear?”

“Indeed. I’ll grab the saddles, you get the hoofcuffs.”

Rob was sat on a bed. It was pink. Very pink.

“Vinyl…?”

“Hmm?”

“This is a very flowery room.”

Like a hawk bearing down on its prey, Vinyl turned and glared at Rob. “I just haven’t gotten around to changing it yet… It’s been this way since I was small.” She looked at him for a few seconds longer before her gaze softened and she showed an apologetic look.

The human picked up a small white rabbit doll that was lying on the pillow to his right. “I see…” He looked at it closely, and then focussed back on Vinyl who was rummaging in some drawers on the other side of the room. “You have very… what’s the word I’m looking for…? Nice? Parents. No… that’s not right. Discomforting! There we go, you have very discomforting parents!”

She finally laughed a bit, calming down after her earlier temper fit, “Yeah, I suppose I do.” She turned around and whether intentionally or not, gave him the puppy dog eyes. “I am sorry for all of that. I’d have rescued you sooner if I’d had known you were here…” She looked at the floor. “No one should have to suffer my parents like that.” She said it as if it was some grave warning. “It’s a big house and I didn’t hear you arrive.”

“Haha, you don’t need to worry, I can hold my own against crazies! Hell, I’ve spent time with Pinkie Pie, and that’s pretty extreme at times!” Rob found himself leaning back on the bed with the rabbit in his outstretched arms hovering above his face.

Vinyl chucked again. “Yeah… I suppose so. And ugh, don’t worry, they’ll be gone later. They only come here from time to time to check up on me like I’m some sort of child… they don’t actually live here.”

“Just remember Vinyl, that as strange as it is that you seem to be the responsible one here; you are still their child, and always will be.” She smiled as he continued, ruining the emotional mood. “And does that mean that you own this place!?”

“No, they own it. I just live here. Like I said, they go places from time to time, mainly for work. Dad gets called out to places that need him, and mum likes to travel for inspiration. Apparently that helps…”

“Well, it does make sense. Thoughts are often the children of inspiration. And places provoke thoughts.”

“Yeah, I know. It makes sense but… why of all the days, did they have to come here today…?” She cringed and her blush retuned a little bit. “It’s as if they knew…”

“Haha, they just care about you!”

“Yeah, I know…” She stood up and walked to the door. “So yeah, I live in the west wing and there’s… I don’t rightly know… ‘other stuff’ in the other wings.” She closed the drawer from afar with her magic, and shuffled something around before turning. “I think dad was going over to Fillydelphia to help my cousin out actually, and this place was on the way. Mum just tags along really.” A soft glow enveloped the door handle and pulled, slowly cracking the door open. “Come on, I wanna show you something.”

Rob took one last look at the small rabbit in his hands and got up from the bed by rocking his body forward, following Vinyl out into the hall. “You have a cousin?” He pulled the door closed behind him and stared at the hallway.

“Yeah, our family is very ‘artsy’. She plays that wishy-washy music. Dad helps her record it.”

“Right.” Rob looked around again, taking note of the huge hallway they were in. “You sure are rich, Vinyl…” He marvelled at the fixtures built into the walls and balustrades lining the many surfaces in the area.

“Well, like I said; we’re a family of musicians and artists, and a big one at that. It seems like we’ve always been pretty well-off.” She followed his movements and looked around the hall herself. “It’s all different though, I mean, I play electronic music and that cousin I mentioned, well, she plays classical music. Somehow, we are quite an affluent family.”

“And yet,” Rob gently nudged her with his hip. “They somehow got a child like you!” He joked around, trying not to offend her, else suffer the wrath of which he saw earlier.

“Hey!” Her glowing red eyes lit up, “What’s that supposed to mean!?”

“Just that, from where I come from, there is kind of a… stereotype when it comes to rich people! And you really don’t fit the bill!”

“Heh, sounds like a good thing if ya ask me.” She turned her nose up and continued walking away. “I never did like to follow the trend.” Rob was left looking at her back.

“No… I don’t suppose you do…”

They walked for a while longer before Vinyl turned around again, just before rounding the next corner. “Do I… really come across as a filly fooler?” Rob found himself looking at her expression. It seemed… feeble. Worried and nervous, something he wasn’t used to her showing.

“A filly-whatnow?” Rob walked past her to persuade her to continue on, despite her question and his lack of knowledge as to where he was meant to be going. Each corner and hall looked the same.

“You know… does it look like I’m into mares?” She stayed still in her position.

“Well… I… have no idea. Despite all things… I haven’t looked at ponies in that way. You just look like Vinyl to me.” He finally turned to face her. “I mean…” He raised a hand to his head and clenched his teeth, knowing full well that he was going to regret what he was about to say. “You’re… a very attractive mare to me? I suppose? And that’s the only way I look at it.” He turned back around, missing the chance to once again see her blushing face. “What way you swing, isn’t my worry to consider. You are who you are, and I’m ok with that.”

He waited a moment for her reply, but was instead greeted by a swift kick to the back of the kneecaps, causing him to buckle under his own weight. With the sick urge to kick back rising, he turned to Vinyl with a confused look on his face, as he fell down on his ass. “W-what’d ya do that for…?”

She was wearing a serious face and for a brief moment, she didn’t move. She stayed looking straight into his eyes. She let out a deep breath and spoke, “You got way too in to that…” A large grin split her face and she broke out into laughter. “Y-you find me attractive!? What a laugh! You realise you’re human, right!?” As if on ice, she fell down next to him, mimicking something from a comedy sketch.

What surprised her though, was that she found only herself laughing. Her attempt to lighten the mood apparently wasn’t working. Pushing through the laughter, she looked back at Arc, who this time, was wearing his own serious face. “You might joke but… love is transcendent. Species… What is that, really? People always say it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?” He tried to make it sound as simple and innocent as possible.

Vinyl just stared. There was something about what he said that made a lot of sense, despite it going solemnly against what her gut told her. “I- I guess…” He spoke the truth, and she knew it. She tried reading his face for any further answers, but gave up when he stoically held her stare. She eventually found herself just thinking, and Rob noticed her eyes go out of focus, as if she was looking right through him.

She was snapped out of her reverie by snickering, and she noticed Rob cupping his mouth with his hand, leaning back on the other one. “Now who’s way too serious!? Haha, you should see yourself!” He was clearly poking fun at her, and so, in classical Vinyl nature, she pounced on him with her hooves ready for action. The last thing he saw before receiving a direct blow to the face, was the wide grin plastered on her face. He swore he could see the devil looming in her red eyes. “Wait! It was just a jo-”

“And so, here we are. Sorry about hitting you so hard. I never knew humans were so squishy, heh.”

Rob looked over to Vinyl and rubbed his chin where he could feel the first of many bruises beginning to rise. “And after my brilliant and loving speech no less…” He paused “Yeah, no matter. This is nothing in comparison to most of the shit I go through in this place…” His mind wandered back to the wolf and being impaled by Celestia. He couldn’t decide what was worse. The wolf was clearly trying to kill him but… Celestia was evil.

Looking around, Rob found himself in a studio, and a large one at that. He wanted to press all the buttons on the various pieces of equipment lying around, but figured that he shouldn’t. Vinyl was in a good mood, and he dared not to see what she was like if anyone messed with her livelihood. It was the one thing Rob had found her taking serious pride in. That, and her ability to down a pint in less than ten seconds.

The room was mainly white, and split in two by a large pane of glass. He knew this to be the break-off from where live sessions were recorded, and the mixing and editing was done. He was impressed. Despite being an electronic musician; she had all manner of musical instruments lying around, from guitars and drums, to horns and flutes. He wondered how many of them she could actually play.

“So, is all of this yours?” He asked, hoping to find out more about the epic musical collection. “It’s quite the collection.”

The DJ merely peered around and shrugged, glancing at the walls from her seated position. “Most of this stuff belongs to dad, I mean… I haven’t really taken any notice of it since I was small, it was just… there.” She stood up from the stool she was perching on and walked over to a panel where she began twisting all kinds of knobs absentmindedly.

“Ok, so... why did you bring me here?” The human asked, getting back to the point of the whole escapade. He didn’t feel like meeting Vinyl’s parents should be in vain. He’d worked hard for this conversation, and he wasn’t gonna let it pass him by.

“Music!” She turned on the spot, facing him. “More importantly: Karaoke!” She flashed a smile before turning back to the desk and yanking some wires out of a control panel.

Rob simply deadpanned the mare. “K-karaoke. Really? You brought me here for just a… sing-song?” He watched as she hooked up some jacks to the newly prepared wires.

“Not exactly. You see. I need your music thingy.” She pointed a spare hoof towards him while still focussing on the task at hand.

“My music thingy?” He raised an eyebrow.

She nodded. “The thing you showed me with all the music on it.”

Rob fumbled around in his pocket and withdrew the iPod lurking in its depths. “I do not recall showing you this…”

“Well, you were pretty drunk at the time.”

“That explains it.” Rob thought back to all his nights in the bar, but nothing sprang immediately to mind. “I am going to have so many problems if I become Ponyville’s designated alcoholic…”

“I am gonna teach these adorable little creatures so many things that they shouldn’t know. I’d say Celly would hate it, but… she’ll probably get kicks from it. I bet Lulu will be the one dealing with the flack. …Now why does that bring a sick smile to my face…?”

Chuckling, Vinyl spoke up. “So! I propose that we work together!”

For the second time that day, Rob found himself coughing and spluttering from the words of another. Maybe it ran in the family, perhaps all of the ‘Scratch’ lineage were able to be overly preposterous by simply talking. Upon gaining air back into his lungs, he was finally able to speak again, “You want to collaborate with… me?” He leaned forwards as if to emphasise his point.

“I do! Being on the frontline of up and coming innovative music is the way to be successful, and you have in your possession something that we Equestrians have never heard before!” She did a little jump which took Rob off guard.

The room was quiet aside from the breathing of the two individuals. Rob didn’t really know what to say. “You don’t have music like mine?”

“It would explain why I’m always listening to stuff on a gramophone anywhere there’s music in Equestria… Things go from one extreme to another. Anything that is not played on a big-ass stereo system is played on a contraption from the 1950s… It makes no sense. Damn ponies.”

Vinyl waltzed over to him in a flippant manner that seemed to be mocking of his intelligence, or at least to him, it felt that way. “Let me tell it to you straight, Arc. I liked that heavy stuff, it fits well with me. Lotsa bass, ya know? I make the heaviest kind of music we have here, and your stuff… well, it blew mine out of the water in some ways. I think that we can make something of this.” She sighed and sat back on her haunches. “I’d like you to help me make the ultimate fusion! And maybe I can sell to a new market!”

Rob just looked at her, stunned. “And… you need me… why?”

She looked confused before a veil of understanding washed over her. “I need you for the knowledge and the expertise!” She waited a moment before raising her hoof, “Oh yeah, and the singing!”

“S-singing!?”

“Yeah, like I said earlier – karaoke. I’ve heard you sing a ton of times up at the bar, and it’s not bad when you put your mind to it. Not so sure about that growling thing but, I bet it can be cool if used in the right way… Oh, and that reminds me! It has wonderful stage presence! That song you shouted out on Tuesday? In under a minute, everyone was singing along! Not very tunefully mind you, but they were! It just worked so well! Live performances would be SO good!”

“Did I say what song it was…?” The human found his brain trying to keep up with Vinyl, who was going a mile a minute.

“Something about “rocking you”. I was pretty drunk too so… my memory is a little fuzzy as well.” She gave a goofy smile and tried to think back.

“I have a horrible feeling that I may have started an impromptu Queen recital in a bar the other night… Freddie… I am so sorry…” To anyone listening, all they would have heard was muttering, but Vinyl was preoccupied thinking of future plans and projects. “Alright, Vinyl. I’ll help in any way I can I suppose. Although, you’ll need to direct me. Oh, and bear in mind that I have work on some days, so, we’ll have to work around that.”

As if it were a trigger, she awoke from her daydreaming and looked up at Rob with a very happy and satisfied look in her eyes. “Good! Have you done anything like this before?” Rob was amazed at how on the ball she was.

Scratching his chin, and wincing from the bruise, he thought a while before responding. “Kinda I suppose. I mean, I have sung in one band and for a number of projects that friends needed help with. And I have been singing properly for about… god knows how many years now.” He laughed. “I suppose that makes me somewhat qualified! More than most of the drunkards in Berry’s bar anyway…”

“Some might argue that I am a drunkard at Berry’s bar…”

“Sure does! And if you suck, I’ll just kick you out and work with you as more of an ‘ideas guy’ than a ‘production guy’. Sound good?” She got up and nudged him with her flank in a teasing manner.

“Yeah, I suppose.” He paused. “So… when do we start?”

The next few hours were comprised of just listening to music. Vinyl had hooked the iPod up to the sound system in the editing room, and Rob was having lots of fun showing Vinyl the ways of his world, although, he had to confess that he was narrow-minded; only listening to rock and metal.

Vinyl seemed to lap it up though, taking pleasure in the defined increase of heaviness in comparison to what she was used to. All varieties of the human’s music was shown to her, and in the end, Vinyl had a good idea on what she wanted to accomplish. Towards the latter half of the viewing session, Rob showed her how to work his iPod, and she took the lead instead, searching through genres and artists that fit the role she was looking for.

It amazed Rob that she could ever be so focussed. He knew her as the carefree pony who led a ‘rock n’ roll’ lifestyle, only ever thinking about the present and how much fun she could have in it. Never would he have guessed that she was that dedicated. He kicked himself for ever being so shallow.

At some point, their session was interrupted by Sonnet bringing in some food and drink. Rob found it a little sinister that she brought wine and chocolate fondue, garnished with what appeared to be red rose petals, but he shrugged it off as another one of her weird traits. After that, she left the two in peace.

By the time the day was ending, the two had found a way of transferring the majority of the music from Rob’s iPod onto Vinyl’s sound system. She told him that it would help her greatly, as she could work on ideas while he wasn’t there. He agreed with her, and before too long, decided to head home. Bidding a farewell to Sonnet and Sine on the way out, he left to go back to Twilight’s library, under the orange glow of the late day sundown.

“Life is never easy in Equestria… No… No it is not.”