Person 4: Scratchin Melody

Chapter Three

Meeting Detective Dojima and Adachi

(Morning, Inaba Police Station)

“Ugh…Did anypony get the number of that carriage?” Vinyl asked as she began to regain consciousness.

“I see you’re finally up Vinyl,” Octavia said as she looked at the DJ pony with an annoyed expression on her face. As the DJ lifted herself a bit, she found Octavia and herself in a small room with a bed, a TV, and a table at the center of the room.

“Where the hay are we?”

“We’re in jail thanks to you and your outburst at the restaurant.”

“So this is this country's jail," Vinyl said as she looked around the cell they were in. "I would’ve imagined it to be more...well like the ones back in Canterlot.”

“We’re in a different country, Vinyl. You can’t expect everything to be the same….then again I’m not surprised we’re here in this place.”

“Oh come on, it’s not we’re in trouble or anything?”

“We are in trouble! Thanks to you we’re in this jail cell! Who knows what will happen to us now? We might end up being taken away to some secret room with no chance of escape!”

“Oh come on, I doubt they’ll do that. And if that were to happen we can just teleport out of here with my magic.” Vinyl said as her horn lit up. “Remember?”

“Oh..right...um....”

“You forgot I had magic didn’t you?”

“No...I just figured they would have something that would...um...block your usage of magic.” Octavia said as her face turned a shade of red from embarrassment. “Shut up!”

“Haha! You forgot about it-” Before Vinyl could finish her statement, the door to the cell they were in opened up. Entering the room from what they could tell was a rugged-looking man wearing a gray dress shirt, red tie, and black pants. Next to him was a scrawny-looking person wearing the same clothes as the rugged man only he was wearing a black jacket and had on a white dress shirt. As the two entered the room they soon walked over to the table in the middle of the room. The rugged man motioned the two mares to come over to the table as they took a seat in front of them.

“Are these the ones that were brought in last night, Adachi?” The rugged man asked.

“From what the officer said, these are the two that were arrested last night for causing a disturbance at the noodle shop, Dojima-san,” Adachi said as he eyed the two mares. “Two cosplayers were causing a ruckus in the noodle shop.”

“We’re not cosplayers, you idiot. We’re ponies.” Vinyl said, glaring at the man named Adachi.

“Right...mind telling us your names please?” Dojima asked.

“I’m Vinyl Scratch, and this is my lovely friend Octavia Melody.” The DJ pony said as she jerked a thumb at the earth pony, who placed a hand on her face.

“Is it too late to get a different cell all to myself?” Octavia asked as she felt her friend pull her in for a hug.

“But Tavi. If you get a cell to yourself, that means we won’t be able to cuddle with each other~” Vinyl said as Octavia tried to push her away from herself.

“Hey!” Dojima yelled, as the ponies turned their attention towards him. “I asked for your names, not whoever you’re cosplaying as.”

“Those are our names dude. We’re ponies from Equestria that just happen to end up here by mistake. So if you could let us go now, we’ll be on our way back home...if we can find a way back home that is.” Vinyl said as she noticed Dojima and Adachi look at each other for a moment, then back at the DJ Pony and the musician.

“Sure you are, and I’m the king of crazy town,” Adachi said with a sarcastic tone in his voice. “You expect us to believe your ponies from the magical land of Equestria? I may not be the smartest person around, but you need to come up with a better lie than that.”

“Mister...Adachi, right?” Octavia asked as Adachi nodded. “My friend here is speaking the truth about what we are and where we come from. I know it may be hard to believe, but you have to believe her when she says that we’re not from here.”

Dojima simply sighed in annoyance as he placed a hand on his face before looking at the two mares with a serious expressions on his face. “Okay, say that we believe you. Do you have proof to make your claim?”

“You want proof huh?” Vinyl said as she pulled herself away from Octavia. “Where we come from, unicorns can use magic. Wanna see a unicorn like myself levitate your friend Adachi?”

“You levitate me?” Adachi asked as he started laughing. “Oh, I would love to see that kid. Go ahead, give it a try.”

“Gladly.” Vinyl’s horn began to glow as a magenta-colored aura surrounded Adachi, as he levitated into the air. Both Dojima and Adachi were dumbfounded at what just happened, well mostly Adachi who was flailing his arms around in the air while yelling at Vinyl to put him down. The DJ pony shrugged as she placed him back on the ground gently.

“....Could you explain the situation you two are in. Spare no details on how you ended up here.” Dojima asked as he looked over at Adachi. “Get a piece of paper and write this down, Adachi.”

“R-Right, Dojima-san.” Adachi said as he quickly pulled out a notebook and pen from his pocket, and began to write.

“Well, it all started last night before we got here. I was pretty much drunk after losing a drinking contest with Neon Lights.”

“Neon Light?”

“One of Vinyl’s friends/rivals back in Canterlot,” Octavia answered.

“.....Okay….um...how old are you two?”

“We’re seventeen,” Vinyl answered.

“Aren’t you a bit young to be drinking alcohol?” Adachi asked.

“What are you my mom or something? I live on my own back in Equestria...well me and Tavi do live on our own, but you get what I’m saying right?”

“What’s the drinking age for your town called….Equestria?”

“Equestria is a country, we live in Ponyville.” Vinyl said as Adachi and Dojima looked at each other for a moment, then back at Vinyl. “What?”

“All this you are telling us is kinda hard to believe. I mean it sounds like something you would hear in a child’s fairy tale book or a cartoon show.” Dojima said as he scratched the back of his head.

“I know a spell that might be able to help with convincing you,” Vinyl said as her horn started to glow. “Want me to cast it on you?”

“I prefer that you don’t ma’am. Can you please continue with your explanation?”

“Yeah, yeah. Now, where was I again...oh right. Okay so I was pretty drunk after l lost the drinking contest with Neon Lights, so I had to call Octavia to come and pick me up from the bar in Canterlot. I don’t remember much of it seeing how I was going in and out of consciousness, but I do remember Octavia getting me on the Pony Express.”

“Vinyl was pretty much knocked out when I brought her on the train. The weird thing about the pony express was that it didn’t look like the one that usually comes to Canterlot. It looked like the train was replaced or upgraded to a better working train.” Octavia added.

“So you got on the train that you didn’t know and for some reason it brought you two here to Inaba, correct?” Dojima asked as the two mares nodded. “Would it be possible to take the same train that you both were on from the Inaba station back to your country?”

“I...don’t know really. I mean we don’t know if that’ll work or not...wait.” Octavia looked over at Vinyl. “Vinyl, can’t you teleport us back to Equestria?”

“Can’t do that,” Viny answered.

“Why not, you do know how to teleport right?”

“I do, but can’t teleport from a different country like we’re in right now.” Vinyl’s horn began to glow brightly for a moment before it disappeared. “I can use some of my other magic and teleport from places that I know around here if I’ve been there before. But with the magic that I have, you’ll have to be an Alicorn to do that.”

“Alicorn?” Adachi asked in confusion.

“There are four types of ponies in Equestria. Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, and Alicorns. Octavia is an Earth Pony and I’m a Unicorn as you just saw when I lifted you into the air.”

“R-Right, and what do each of your types of ponies do?”

“Earth Ponies are well in tune with the earth around them. So they’re pretty good when it comes to farming or lifting heavy things, Unicorns can use magic which is pretty much self-explanatory, Pegasi can pretty much fly in the air and control the weather in Equestria, and Alicorns are pretty much like all three types mixed into one and have a ton of magic.”

“So in a way, you two are stuck here until you’re able to find a way back home?” Dojima asked as Vinyl nodded.

“Well that or until our princesses figure out that we’re gone and try to find us...but I have my doubts on that one.”

“Take this seriously, Vinyl,” Octavia said as she had a deadpan expression on her face. "If nopony finds us, we'll be stuck here forever...no offense Mr. Dojima sir.”

“None taken, your friend is right by the way. Don’t you want to get back to your country?”

“Well yeah, but it’s not like I can become an alicorn with just a snap of a finger.” The DJ Pony said as she snapped her fingers. “All we can do now is wait and see how things turn out.”

“Hm...well seeing how you two aren’t from this country, and from what you told me and showed. I’ll let you both out of here.”

“Wait really?”

“Dojima-san, are you sure that it’s wise to let them go?” Adachi asked as he finished writing. “I mean from the report that said they did try to skip out on their meal last night.”

“Hey, I paid the guy with the bits that I had on me!”

“With what? Fake money that you would see in a board game?”

“No,” Vinyl said as she pulled out a bit from her pocket and levitated it in front of Dojima and Adachi. “That bit is made out of gold, so this place should be able to accept this, right?”

“Adachi, take this..um...bit to the boys down in the crime lab to see if what Vinyl said is true,” Dojima ordered. Adachi was a bit hesitant to grab the bit floating in front of them, but quickly grabbed it and began to make his way out of the room. “Now back to what I was saying. You two are free to go, but you will be living with me for the time being until you can find a way back home.”

“Wait, you can’t be serious?”

“Vinyl, think about it. Do you think that anypony will give us a place to live? Not to mention, do I need to remind you of what happened at that soup shop?” Octavia asked, which caused Vinyl to groan in annoyance. “I prefer not to get into trouble again, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to get hit by that weird device they used on you, correct?”

“Okay, I get it. I don’t need you to remind me of my buck up." Vinyl said as she looked over at Dojima. "Alright Dojima, what are the rules when we go to your house?”

“You are not allowed to go out late at night, you can’t bring any alcoholic drinks into the house. I prefer not to have you smell like alcohol while my daughter is at home. Try not to cause trouble to the point where you are arrested and I’m being called in to get you out of the station. Seeing how you both are Seventeen, you will be going to school here as well.”

“.....Is it too late for me to say that I was lying about being a pony from Equestria?” Vinyl asked as she felt Octavia elbow her in the rib. “Ow!”

“Not that I’m against the conditions upon living with you, but wouldn’t going to school be a problem?” Octavia asked.

“Tomorrow we’ll be going over to Yasoinaba High School. We’ll explain the situation to them and hopefully, they’re willing to let you both in for the time being. This will give you an insight into this country's history and culture.” Before Dojima could continue, he noticed Adachi walk back into the room with a surprised expression on his face. “That was quick, so what Vinyl said was true?”

“She’s telling the truth,” Adachi said as he handed the bit back to Vinyl. “Despite it looking like something from a child’s board game, that bit is worth fifty-five hundred thousand yen.” He said, which caused Dojima’s eyes to widen as he looked over at Vinyl and Octavia.

“How many...um...bits do you have?”

“Well combined with Octavia’s and a few that I lost last night...I say about five thousand fifty-five. And seeing how what you told me how much each that would be...what like...what about a billion or so yen or something, right?” Vinyl asked. “Wait wouldn’t that mean we’re freaking rich or something?”

“I doubt it seeing how we can’t use our currency to buy stuff with it here.”

“You can, but you need to have it in our country’s currency. I’ll see what I can do about that but for now.” Dojima pulled away from the table he was sitting at and motioned Vinyl and Octavia to follow him. “Let’s get you both situated with your living arrangements.”

“This day just gets weirder and weirder by the second,” Octavia said as she and Vinyl followed Dojima and Adachi out of the room.