Counter Culture

The white unicorn woke up on the couch, she looked around; she couldn't remember what had happened. Then it hit her. She rushed herself to the bathroom, releasing what little contents her stomach had left. She spit once wiping her face with her hoof. She sat in the corner, waiting for the feeling to pass. As she recounted the horror of the night before she realized that she had left all her things back at the club.

"Buck, on top of everything else you left all the gear back at the club." she sighed "Shut up, I know." Vinyl clambered to her hooves, walking to the kitchen where her host was lounging with her breakfast.

"Look who's up," she smiled, " you look decent considering what happened. Are you hungry?" She pushed half of a bagel towards the unicorn.

"Not right now Octavia," she sat next to her friend, her hooves pressed against her cheeks.

"What's wrong Vinyl?"

The unicorn lowered her eyelids in disbelief, raising one hoof up for emphasis. "Seriously? One of my best friends was murdered right in front of me so that's one thing. On top of that I left all my equipment on site. I'd say that that would bother just about anyone,"

Octavia looked at her stressed friend, contemplating a means to fix the problem. "I was just inquiring on your well-being Vinyl, there's no need to be rude. As for the latter half of your problem, why don't you go retrieve your things? I'll even accompany you." the earth pony held a stoic smile, she had no real desire to travel to Manehatten, especially not to the part of town she knew the club invariably had to be in. She did however know that her friend was in need of any small kindness she could get.

The unicorn looked up from her food, having slowly started nibbling the bagel compulsively, "Yeah? You will?" her face gave a weak smile.

"Of course Vinyl, I have nothing else to do today."

The unicorn sat up straight, a new energy invigorating her. "Alright awesome let's get going." She stuffed the rest if the bagel in her mouth and chewed quickly.

"Well I didn't mean" it was too late, the unicorn had already grabbed her hoof and performed her spell.  "this very instant..." the sentence was finished outside of the Canterlot train station.

"Vinyl I look a mess," the earth pony said brazenly. Her mane was tied back, she lacked her bow tie, and her tail was unbrushed.

She scoffed, "Oh you look fine, we're going to lower Manehatten, not the Grand Galloping Gala."

Before Octavia could make her rebuttal, the whistle of the Friendship Express blew as it rolled into the station. Vinyl quickly trotted onto the car, Octavia looked around, considering making a hasty retreat. She sighed, she couldn't just abandon her friend, she lowered her head and followed reluctantly.

The train rolled smoothly, Vinyl was sharing fond memories  of her friend, she wasn't sure why but it made her feel better. Octavia just sat and listened, hoping in the back of her mind that no pony would recognize her as she was.

"I remember when we first met, we were both just starting out. He had been on the club circuit a few weeks by then. I had just made my first few tracks and was still learning the ropes but I was desperate to get my chance. We met at a party one night, some pegasi had had too much cider and started a fight." she smiled as the image flashed across her mind. "We kinda just bumped into each other then." she laughed, causing her companion to raise an eyebrow.

"Well, nah, I guess he kinda got shoved into me. The point is we hit it off after that. I told him about what I was trying to do and he's all like 'Hey, you should come check out this club I MC at, it's pretty chill. They're looking for a new DJ, you know, if you're cool enough.' We hung out a lot more after that.  He gave me my first break, i could never thank him enough." She wiped a hoof across her face quickly, trying to hide a small tear. "Then I moved in with you, and well you know the story from there."

"Wow Vinyl, I'm sorry. He was a great guy. I know it can't be easy, but we'll figure it out." Octavia smiled, she spoke casually, it seemed to fit her appearance at the moment. She only met Neon on a few occasions but she felt like she knew him from Vinyl's stories. Compulsively she wrapped her hooves around her friend, offering what little solace she could.

Vinyl struggled for a second before returning the hug, tears trickling into her shoulders, "I'm gonna miss him Tavi." she couldn't help but cry. "Besides you, he was my closest friend." the grey pony didn't speak, she just held her friend, offering her comfort alone.

They rode the rest of the way in a comforting embrace, the train finally rolling to a stop at the Manehatten station. They trotted off together. The train stopped in the lower parts of Manehatten before heading up into the ritzier part of town. They didn't need to walk far, only a few blocks away.

Two Royal Guards passed their way as the continued to the club. They shot a curious and threatening look at the pair before preceding onwards, leaving the two to their business.

They found the immediate area of the club to be completely empty, and given the circumstances and time of day the club was closed. "Let's head around back, maybe we can get in the stage entrance," Vinyl said as she trotted around the side of the building. Octavia walking up beside her as she futilely tried to open the door. "it's, locked" she grunted before stepping back and looking at her companion. "Well..."

The Grey mare looked at her curiously, "Well what?"

"Can't you? You know, buck it?" She said pointing her hooves at the door.

Octavia looked offended, "Is this because I'm an earth pony?"

"Well," Vinyl scratched the back of her head, "kinda"

She gave her friend a stern look, "That's rude you know."

"Oh, sorry Tavi, I just thought you could, you know..." her head dropped in embarrassment.

"Well of course I can, I'm just offended that you perpetuated a stereotype against me." as she spoke she trotted over to the door, planting her forelegs in the ground she kicked it with her backlegs, the door slamming open on its hinges.

"Alright let's get going," Vinyl said as she trotted into the dark back hall, a small glow emanating from the tip of her horn. Octavia followed the faint glow in front of her, taking careful steps over the trash and spilled drinks littering the floor.

"This place is disgusting," she mumbled as she carefully avoided a shard of broken glass.

"Well I doubt anypony had time to clean up last night."

They walked on in silence, until they finally reached the stage; Vinyl quickly retrieving her bags. A blue glow surrounded them as they floated onto her back. She smiled as she walked back to her friend.

"Did you find your things?" the earth pony asked.

"Yeah, I'm all set, let's go."

The two Royal guards had quickly found a unicorn within their ranks and had him send a letter to the Manehatten police department.

"As you know, the Royal Guard are not allowed to meddle in the affairs of civilian lives unless a direct threat against the kingdom has been made. Thus being the case we must inform you that your suspect Vinyl Scratch was spotted In lower Manehatten, heading south. We hope this information can aid in your investigation."

Ronnie sat at his desk reading through the letter, Inspector Bangtail still hadn't returned from her investigations the previous evening. Knowing that he had no other choice but to apprehend the suspect himself, he quickly rang the alarm and trotted outside.

He addressed the crowd of police ponies quickly. "A suspect, one Vinyl Scratch, has been spotted in lower Manehatten. We have reason to believe that she will be returning to the crime scene, suspect is a unicorn, white with a blue mane. Roughly 4ft tall, any questions?"

"is she single?" came a voice from the back.

"Any real questions?" he sighed compulsively.

A small Pegasus raised his hoof before speaking, "How do you know that she'll be there?"

He smiled, lowering his sunglasses, "Suspects always return to the scene of the crime."

"That's so cliché..." the Pegasus mumbled as they trotted away.

Vinyl and Octavia were just exiting the building when they noticed the large crowd of ponies standing outside, a few unicorns were busying themselves casting a spell. As she turned to look she could see various walls of colored light on either side of the small stairwell that led to the back door.

"Vinyl Scratch. You are wanted for questioning for the death of Neon Lights." the pony beside him whispered something in his ear. "And for breaking and entering apparently."

Vinyl looked out at the crowd of ponies, her legs locked in confusion. "Oh man, what are we gonna do?" the answer came in the form of 4 bottles of cider flying over her head in quick succession. Each one landing and shattering in front of the colts pushing them back. Octavia quickly grabbed the unicorn and slammed the door shut, barricading it with what few objects she could find.

"Vinyl it's the fuzz, we need to get out of here. I can't go back in the hole." She yelled in a way that was completely out of character.

"Back?" her eyebrow raised in question.

"Putting myself through school was hard, I was a vagrant for some time. I fell into a bad crowd, it was a dark time in my life." she sighed, regaining her composure. She looked back at the door as it started shaking from the hooves striking it. "So what's the plan?"

"Don't look at me, you're the one who started chucking cider bottles at the police, I'm just along for the ride now." she started walking towards the front of the club. She took a peek out the window to see if it was being guarded.

"Octavia, I think we're clear out this way, move your flank, we're getting the buck out of here." Vinyl unlocked the door and quickly double checked the exit, Octavia had trotted up beside her. As the stepped outside the door behind them burst open, and the police flooded in.

They had a twenty second advantage before the first of the guards rushed out behind them. He was gaining quickly, Vinyl was struggling to keep up with her more agile counterpart. Octavia noticing, quickly slid under her friend and carried her on her back, sprinting down the various alleyways in front of them.

The police were in hot pursuit, 30 paces behind them. Determined in there chase, a pair of pegasi had zoomed off ahead, hoping to cut off their escape.

Octavia took notice of the shadows on the ground beside her long before the unicorns warning hit her ears. As the pegasi dived after the pair she bucked her flank forward, hurtling Vinyl over a fence in front of them. The earth pony quickly jumped up, landing on the assaulting Pegasus and used him to jump over the fence herself.

The second Pegasus crashed into the fence, having lost focus watching the stunt before him. Octavia quickly scooped up her friend and rounded a corner.

"You need to get us out of here Vinyl," she yelled.

"Right, I know where to go, give me a sec." The unicorn wrapped her hooves around the earth ponies neck, closing her eyes she concentrated hard, her horn sputtering blew light and sparks before finally bursting forth magic.

Ronnie and his group of colts stood staring at the spot they had been; they had rounded the corner just in time to see the two disappear out of the area. He loomed over the blackened circle the had left on the ground. His eyes focused on it. His mind quickly shifted to Bangtail, knowing what her reaction would be. His legs began shaking as sweat drip down his face. "Oh, buck me."

Vinyl and Octavia landed outside the Manehatten Municipal Library. The grey pony was still running as they landed and quickly slowed her pace down to a smooth canter, and finally a slow trot. She set her friend down on the ground, staring quizzically at their destination.

"Why are we at the library?"

Vinyl had began walking up the steps that led to the rather large building. "Well because we need a book, obviously." she said plainly.

The grey mare followed her up the stairs, entering the library alongside her. It was a large building, very open and well lit with natural light. They walked until they found a librarian, stopping to ask a question.

"Hey, we're looking for a reference guide, can you help us out." The old mare pondered for a moment before replying, right down this way, past the fiction section, it'll be on your left." She smiled and pushed her cart down the row of shelves in front of her.

Vinyl led the way, reaching the aisle she was looking for. "Why are we here?" Octavia looked annoyed.

"For this." Vinyl smiled as she levitated a large book down from the shelf. 101 Easy Spells for a New Beautiful You.