Most would say that a hangover is certainly not a very pleasant experience, one that no one really wants to have happen to them, it's just one of those consequences of having one too many drinks on a night out. And boy, did Vinyl have one heck of a night.
Vinyl never got nervous when going on stage. She wouldn't even admit to having little butterflies in her stomach before walking to that strobe-lit podium. She thought that it was just natural to her, that she could just trot her way across the stage, the thousands of ponies below her cheering and hollering at the top of their lungs, and she would always smile at them, with her crimson eyes glistening through the shades of her trademark glasses. Tonight was no different. Or at least, that's how it started. She was backstage, rustling up her mane with her hooves, as her manager, a sandy-brown earth pony, cleverly named Sandy, rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Vinyl, do we really have to go through this silly routine every show?" She said in both an anxious and annoyed tone, as she tapped her hooves on the floor, looking at Vinyl as she picked up her shades with her magic. After putting them over her eyes, she looked into the mirror, to get a glimpse at herself before she stepped out on stage. She looked back at Sandy with a wide grin, obviously satisfied with how she looked, and her manager was tempted to point out that she looked exactly the same as she always did.
"You look fabulous, now get out there before everypony makes a big fuss about waiting!" She yelled, becoming quite frustrated with having to put up with this mare for this long. Vinyl laughed and started to walk up the stairs to the stage. Right before stepping out, she turned around, facing Sandy, grinning, before saying,
"Do you know who you're talking to? I'm the one and only Vinyl Scratch, I always look fabulous."
She couldn't help but to smile at that. As she watched Vinyl walk onto stage, a hot-white stage light shining on her white coat, almost reflecting off of her, making her seem even more amazing, only adding to her egotistical attitude. Yes, it was true that Vinyl was a major pain in the flank, but in the end of the day, she was loving what she was doing, she made money at it, and she was a good friend to those she cared for. But come to think of it, her marefriend Octavia was really the only pony she had seen Vinyl act decent around, not slurring insults at her, or starting a fight. It looked like she was genuinely in love, and that's one thing she thought Vinyl was capable of doing. Well, except for loving herself, of course.
As Vinyl trotted across the brightly colored stage, she looked at the crowd. The feeling never got old, seeing all of those ponies screaming her name, begging her to deliver what would be the best night of their life. For her, it was just another Saturday. As she turned to face the crowd once more, the cheers so loud there was no way she could hear her own hoofsteps, she made her way towards her brightly colored podium, a large cubical shape, that was about ten feet out from the stage, and about ten feet high, so she can look down at all of her loyal fans. When she finally completed her small journey up to the podium, she was in her zone. In front of those turntables... She was a completely different mare. She zoned out almost instantly, because she felt that she wa born with this impeccable talent that nopony else has. When she rests her hooves on those records, and works her magic (quite literally) it seems as if she's in a whole other world. It's an indescribable feeling, one that made her feel on top of the world. It was moments like these that she wished she could capture, and hold onto for every moment of her life. But unfortunately, it wasn't possible to do this 24/7, so she appreciated these moments while they lasted, and soaked in all of their pure excitement and euphoria. Whenever she felt like this, she felt as if she was on top of the world. So she leaned forward, her mouth a few inches from a microphone, she cleared her throat, and spoke to the sea of ponies.
"Are you ponies ready for the party of your life?!" She yelled, and the crowd went ecstatic. Vinyl grinned ear-to-ear when she heard the whole building roar, almost feeling like it was shaking, from the vibration of all of those drunk and excited ponies.
"Let's do this." She muttered to herself, before reaching over to her decks, rewinded both of them, pressed play, and with that, a loud and electronic beat blasted through the speakers, echoing throughout the whole building, sending the audience into an alcohol and drug infused frenzy. This was certainly going to be a night to remember...
The show couldn't have gone any better, or at least, that's what Vinyl thought. She walked backstage, coated in sweat, breathing heavily, the happiness flowing through her whole body. She trotted past her manager, which looked at her with a smile, indicating that she put on a good show. She obviously already knew this information, but it was nice to see it from somepony else. She took a seat in front of a mirror, which was leaning up against a wall, resting on a wood grained desk. On the desk, there was a large purple vase, with a large assortment of different colored flowers inside of it, reminding Vinyl of a painting she saw when Octavia forced her into going to an art gallery for her birthday. The only painting Vinyl was willing to admit to liking was one a lot like what was in front of her, lots of different colored flowers in a field, swaying from the cool wind on a farm. Vinyl couldn't remember the last time she had been on a farm. Probably when she did a small gig in Ponyville, and she visited Sweet Apple country, or something to that extent, she couldn't remember. Seeing the flowers in that beautiful vase made her smile, but what really made her night even better was seeing the note attached to it. she levitated it in front of her, taking off her glasses so she could see it better, and she read the short but sweet note.
To Vinyl, with bundles of love, from your wonderful marefriend,
Octavia
Vinyl actually thought that she would be on the verge of tears soon, so she quickly put her shades back on, kissed the note, smelling Octavia's perfume on it, and she got up, walking towards the exit. There was an after party at a club about a block away, and that was where she intended to spend the night. She thought that she might go visit Octavia, to say thank you for the flowers, and then go party her flank off. But somehow, she felt a little bad for doing this. She can't remember the last time she actually cared this much for somepony, or if she ever had before. After a little careful thinking, she decided to go to Octavia's apartment and spend the night with her.
Who knows, maybe it'll be worth it, and I can get down with my special somepony tonight. Vinyl thought to herself, with a snicker spreading across her face. She walked out of the auditorium, into a back alley, to reduce the amount of fans swarming towards her.
It was a bit chilly that night, the crisp cold air swaying through the streets, the bass still being heard from the auditorium, as a large amount of drunken ponies flooded outside, all laughing and stumbling about, some trying to help each other up, attempting to catch their breath from laughing so much. Vinyl smiled at the sight, knowing that she was probably a big reason for these ponies having such a good time. It made her feel proud that she could affect others like that. Some would say that she was a bad influence, but she always replied by saying she taught ponies that you only live once, and you should live it the way you want. If you are happy, that's all that mattered.
After a few blocks, Vinyl's legs were starting to hurt. She knew she should have taken a car to Ocavia's apartment, but she just felt like walking it. The apartment wasn't oo far anyway, she was maybe just a few blocks away now, and surprisingly, she hadn't seen too many ponies since finishing the show. She thought that this was pretty odd, seeing that it was a Saturday night. She shivered slighty as the wind howled and blew across her body, making her stiffen slightly, so she quickened her pace, walking a bit faster as she made the corner.
Turning onto the next street, she could see why she hadn't seen too many ponies in the blocks before. Looking down the block, she could see a large line of excited ponies, all lined up to an exclusive Manehatten nightclub. This was coincidentally the same nightclub that Vinyl was supposed to go to for the after party...
"No, Vinyl, just walk past it, and go straight to Octy's. There will always be another party." She muttered to herself, repeating it over and over, trying to gain a positive mentality. She can almost never resist a good party, but she had the thought in the back of her mind that it would mean a lot to Octavia. As she neared the club, she turned her head in the opposite direction, trying her best to ignore the bass thump coming from the building, and seeing the colorful lights reflect all across the street. It was driving her crazy. so she started to gallop down the road, eyes closed, not paying attention to anything around her, which she quickly regretted, because she found herself bashing her face on a light pole, sending her right to the cold hard cement. before long, a few ponies actually ran out of line to come help her.
"Hey, you alright?" A lavender-blue pony said with the concern clearly showing in her face.
"Ugh, yeah, I'm good." Vinyl said under her breath. She had no clue how she could be so stupid as to run with her eyes closed while she was already lightly intoxicated. She picked herself up, refusing any help by the other ponies, and she was just about to walk away without saying another word, when she cringed at the voice behind her.
"Hey, you're DJ PON-3!" An obvious fan enthusiastically yelled. Vinyl turned around, giving the stallion a shy smile, before nodding with a small sigh.
"Yeah, it's me, and to be honest, I'm really just trying to get hom-"
"Why don't ya come party with us? Drinks are on me!" The stallion exclaimed, utterly ignoring Vinyl's comment.
Vinyl stood there motionless for a few moments, trying to comprehend what he had just said. She glanced at the club, almost seeing it physically shake from the music, but she was sure that was probably because she just ran into a pole. Looking back at the excited stallion, who had a dark brown coat, with a hammer and nail as a cutie mark. Suddenly, the party-goer inside Vinyl came to life, screaming in her head, and as she tried to block it out, she couldn't stop the smile starting to spread on her face, her eyebrow raising slighty, and before she knew it, she looked at the club, calling out,
"Buck it, let's party our flanks off!"
Author's note~ If you actually read this whole chapter, congrats! :D I know I'm not a good writer, so please tell me what i can do to improve my writing in the comments. I apologize for nothing really happening in this chapter, it serves mainly as a prologue, things will pick up in the next chapters, I promise ^^
The first thing that hit Vinyl was the smell. Even outside the club, it was overwhelming. The only way to describe it would be a sick mixture of alcohol and sweat. It takes you back at the first sniff, but when you've clubbed as long as Vinyl Scratch, you grow to get used to it, and even enjoy it. She walked up to the large red double doors, going right through security, after the bouncer recognized her, he stepped back and gestured for her to enter. Behind her, were a total of four ponies. One was the dark brown stallion that offered her free drinks, which that alone would have followed the pony anywhere. There were two blue Pegasus mares, who looked like they were sisters, twins maybe. Finally, there was an awkward looking stallion , who looked a little too young to be going into clubs, but Vinyl was not one to care.
Right as she opened the doors, she was nearly blinded by a green laser light flashing in front of her. She blinked in surprise, expecting it, but still caught off guard. The club was packed wall to wall, ponies of all different shapes and sizes bouncing at the exact rhythm of the beat that would be deafening to those who hear it for the first time, but it was more than natural to Vinyl. To her, she wasn't hearing music, she was hearing small voices whisper on the track, in perfect harmony and synchronization. Some would call her crazy, and she wouldn't reply, because she wouldn't tell anypony her thoughts to begin with.
She took a look at her surroundings. In front of her, was a large, open dance floor, which would be impossible to get inside now, due to ponies being so close together, they have enough space to hop up and down in unison with the music. If you have to leave, or go to the bathroom, well, your bucked. To her left, was a staircase leading upstairs, and an assortment of round tables and booths, which were translucent, so when the strobe lights hit them, they reflected all around anypony who sat at that booth. And to her right, Vinyl could see a bar, which was surprisingly less crowded than the rest of the club, maybe because there were servers trotting about, and bringing drinks to ponies that were willing to pay.
Vinyl and the brown stallion walked over to the bar, after seeing the stallion call her over, and patted his hoof on a stool next to him. She took a seat, and looked up to being stared at by the bartender, a beautiful mare, with a luscious green mane, that drooped over her eyes, and she had a very seductive gaze. Vinyl's heart skipped a beat for a moment, before she snapped back, blinking a few times, before speaking up.
"I'll take a Barcolti, straight up."
"Anything for you, darling." The bartender said with a wink, before turning around to fix her drink. Vinyl turned her head towards the stallion that would be paying for this, and she smiled.
"Hey, thanks for buying this for me, what's your name? Gotta know who to thank, right?" She asked with a grin as the bartender handed set the drink in front of her.
"Take it easy with that stuff, Sweetcheeks." She said before heading to the other side of the bar to serve another customer.
"Name's Thumbtack. Why my parents would give me that name, I may never know. I'm from Applelossa, came here a couple of years ago to try to make it big in the city. All of my friends discouraged me to come here, saying I wasn't cut out for city life, or nobody'll like me here. When I saw you, I knew you were famous, and I just wanted to get to know ya! Do you like me, miss Vinyl?"
After hearing his name, which is all Vinyl was interested in knowing, she toned the stallion out, taking a swig of her drink. She wasn't interested in talking to this nobody, she just came here to party, and took the chance when he said he would pay for her drinks. Without wasting any time of actually tasting the drink, she swallowed it immediately, cringing in her seat when the strong alcohol moved down her throat, burning more with every inch it goes, before she finally finishes swallowing the drink, opening her eyes, exhaling sharply, then taking slow deep breaths, a smile growing on her face. She gestured over to the bartender to fix her another glass, which she happily obliged. Vinyl drank the next glass even faster than before, slamming the empty glass on the bar, bringing her hooves up above her head, tilting it up, screaming,
"Woooh!! Yeah! Let's get this party started!" She hopped off of the bar stool, jumped onto a nearby table screaming as loud as she can into the crowd, competing with the music blaring,
"What the buck's up, Manehattan!" She yelled, and when the party-goers looked up and saw a wasted Vinyl Scratch, they all cheered and hollered, some even crying (although that might be from all of the drugs that they were doing that night) When Vinyl saw all of those ponies screaming for her, she got that feeling she always gets when she does a show, and oddly enough, she had just got an idea that she has never gotten before, and she was wondering to herself why she had never done this at one of her shows. Without thinking twice about it, Vinyl jumped off of the table, leaping over the platform, going directly towards the audience.
Hopefully these ponies are smart enough to know I wanna crowd surf, not land flat on my face. She thought to herself. She was in no mood to go to the hospital that night.
Luckily, the crowd wasn't filled with complete nitwits, and they all stood on their hind legs (or tried to) and raised their hooves up, some using their magic, to hold Vinyl up, as she floated over them with fines.
"Whoah, how in Equestria did she get so wasted with only two drinks? It's not that strong." The bartender said to Thumbtack, which he replied with a shrug.
"I guess she can't really handle alcohol too well." Thumbtack said with a sly looking smile at the bartender.
"Sorry, but as you probably could already tell, I only go after mares."
"Oh... I see..." He said, his voice drifting, swallowing another rejection. He suddenly felt both sadness and anger, an eternal darkness and emptiness inside of him that he hadn't felt before that night. He really couldn't understand why even though he's a nice guy, and all he wants is to be respected, he still gets bullied and stepped on by bigger ponies.
"I'll have a Barcolti too." He said, and just as the bartender turned around, he added,
"In fact, make that a whole bottle."
Looking at the clock next to her bed, Octavia gritted her teeth when she saw that it was a little past two in the morning. She had been tossing and turning for hours now, and she just couldn't get any rest. At first, she thought it might have been too hot, so she turned on the fan in her room, and laid on top of the bed sheets. That didn't work, in fact, it made her feel chilled, so she threw a couple of layers of blankets over her, and laid still, just listening to the sounds of her breathing, and the ticking of the clock. Time itself seemed to slow down, and she couldn't understand why she felt like she was going crazy right then. She wished that Vinyl was with her, laying in the same bed, telling her she loved her Octy... She couldn't take it anymore, so she threw off the blankets, and hopped out of bed.
She went into the kitchen, turning on the coffee machine that rested on the counter. She knew that she would probably regret having coffee this late at night, but she couldn't sleep anyway, so she thought why not? She poured herself a cup, and sat by the window. She had lived in this apartment for about a year and a half now, and she still wasn't used to it. It was a top floor penthouse suite, with big, spacious rooms that opened into each other, and the whole apartment took up the entire top floor of the building, making a complete circle around it. Octavia didn't mind having nice things, but she thought this might be a little extreme. Nopony needed this many nice things, even a pony such as herself.
Looking out the window, she could see almost all of the Manehattan skyline, the lights glimmering across the land, and she was even able to see a few ponies on the ground, going about their business, all having somewhere to go. And where did she have to go? She recently realized that her life was tremendously mundane, being the same thing every day, all scheduled. That was how she was raised, and she hated it. It made her very bored, especially in this stage in her life, that's why she was so excited when Vinyl came into her life. She was the most amazing pony she had ever met, and she felt lucky to be with her. She just wished she was with her right now...
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Looking at the clock, she frowned, wondering who could be at the door. She got up cautiously, her heart skipping about, as she stepped up to the door, looking through the peephole. She was both relieved, and surprised when she didn't see anybody standing at the other side. She took a step back, opening the door, and peeking her head out. There was no one to see from both ends of the hallway, and she was about to close the door, dismissing it as a prank by some foals, when she looked down, and saw an envelope. She raised an eyebrow, scooping it up with her hoof, and examining it. There was no return address on it, and it was addressed to her, in quite hoofwriting. She took one last glance down the hallway, before quickly running back inside, shutting and locking the door behind her. She took a seat at the kitchen table, one made of beautiful wood from Sweet Apple Acres, and even though she has had this table for a while now, you could still smell the wood, and that was incredible.
She set the envelope on the table, and after a few moments of fumbling with the letter opener, she managed to rip open the envelope and pull out the single piece of paper that was folded inside. She looked in it to see if there was anything else, and there was none. She shrugged, and unfolded the paper, and her heart skipped a beat when she read what was written in fancy script:
You don't know what you have until you lose it,
Appreciate what you've got while you have it...
Shoot for the stars, but be warned,
What goes up, must come down, so don't be torn...
Octavia couldn't believe what she was reading. She wasn't really sure what it was, or what to make of it, but either way, he hooves were shaking, and she couldn't stop reading it over again, trying to make sense of it. You don't know what you have until you lose it? Octavia did believe in that, but she wasn't sure what she had that would miss if she lost. She thought for a moment to contemplate it. It didn't take her long, but when she figured it out, her heart sunk, and a tear flowed from her eye.
"Vinyl..." She whispered in a dry and terrified voice. Her and Vinyl had been going out for about a year now, and their anniversary was nearing, and she couldn't be more anxious. Octavia remembered that Vinyl had a gig tonight, and she was probably at the after party at the club near the auditorium. She thought for a moment, before getting up, and ran out the door, not caring how she looked, or what other ponies would think of her.
"Oh dear Celestia, Vinyl, I hope I'm not right about this one."
"Wooo! Party like it's your motherbuckin' birthday!" Vinyl exclaimed to a pink pony that was grinding up against her.
"Hey sweetie, you single?" The mysteriou pink mare said to Vinyl, hoping she didn't have to repeat herself due to the music.
Vinyl's brain attempted to process what the mare said, but it was pretty difficult at this point, as she was stumbling more with every step, her vision was blurred, and her mind was somewhere else. But luckily, she heard what the mare said, and she still had a speck of common sense left in her, so she replied,
"Sorry, babe, but my flank's taken. Beat it."
The mare was taken back at this, and then shrugged before walking away, eventually leaving the club.
The party had winded down, and the club was close to closing. The music still played, and bartenders still served drinks, but there were maybe 50 ponies left in the whole club, and it was pretty much dead at this point. When you looked at the place when it's empty, it looked beautiful. The dance floor, like the tables, are like giant panes of morrors, and when the colorful strobe lights shined on them, they illuminated the entire club. It was tricky to most ponies, to get used to the bright lights shining all the time, but Vinyl was more than used to it, plus she had her shades on, so it made it a lot more calming to look at.
Suddenly it hit Vinyl. The feeling that eventually hits every party-goer, she just unfortunately got it early. The sickness. That uneasy feeling that tells you that you're about to chuck up everything you may have eaten or drank for the past six hours. Vinyl made her way to the bathroom, remembering its general location, trying her best to maintain her balance, as she swayed back and forth with every step. When she got to the bathroom finally, she busted open the door with one big push, and she fell face first on the sticky and filthy tile floor. She attempted to get up, her stomache doing slips at this point, and when she finally stood upright, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, and she feel right back on the floor, the last thing she heard being a voice saying,
"You're perfect...."
Author's Note
Well, hiya! ;D Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, I apologize if it's not that good, hopefully you don't abandon reading this story c: Also, I'm sorry for any mistakes in this chapter, because of the site update, I was scared to lose everything, so I'm posting this now ^^ Anyway, leave your thoughts in the comments, have an amazing day, ya'll! 
