What Hurts the Most
Sky Blue Angel
Vinyl let the crowd echo her name. The open air concert turned out to be a success. No regrets here! Vinyl slipped off her headphones and let the bass drop one more time. The crowd roared, letting Vinyl know her spot in Canterlot's Top Five Musicians. With this, I'll be wiping Neon Lights right off of the list! BASS! Vinyl watched the crowd pound the floor with their hooves, begging for more.
"Hey, that's all for tonight! WUBS YOU ALL!" Vinyl threw her hooves up into the air, and receiving a loud bellow from the crowd.
"Vinyl! Vinyl! VINYL! VINYL!" The crowd boomed, even louder than the dubstep artist's bass cannon. Nopony was louder than her bass cannon. Vinyl nodded her head towards the crowd, the light emitted from the strobe lights bouncing off of her goggles and back at the crowd. Vinyl laughed, even though she knew her voice was pretty raspy from screaming into her headset the whole evening. The alabaster unicorn waved one last time to the crowd, before exiting backstage.
"Hey, good going, Miss Scratch," Vinyl smiled to her manager, a bulky brown unicorn colt, who levitated a clipboard and a coffee mug in his magic grip. "Although, I have to say, you ought to turn the music down a bit,"
"Hey," Vinyl glanced at her manager. "Give me a break, 'kay? My talent pays your salary, so just back off," Vinyl pushed her manager aside and walked into her makeup room. She shut the door and locked it so that her pesky manager wouldn't come in and bother her again.
Jeez, can't that colt just give it up already? I'm perfectly fine on my own! Vinyl pulled her goggles down so that they hung around her neck. Her deep magenta eyes contrasted perfectly with her electric blue mane. She flashed a brilliant smile to her reflection before dropping the fake attitude. I don't think I can keep going without crashing...
Her eyes said it all. She blinked, her eyes getting heavy. Nopony would blame her, staying up so damn late for those concerts. And tonight was no exception. Canterlot!
"Whoot!" Vinyl kicked away from the vanity and spun around in a circle on her rotating chair. "Tonight was... AWESOME!" Vinyl took a few more spins on her chair before standing up. "I'm gonna go up to the top of the list after this! Oh man, that was SWEET!"
"Miss Scratch!" A set of bangs echoed through the alabaster unicorn's dressing room. "Miss Scraaaaatch!" A few more rapt knocks came on her door before Vinyl decided to respond.
"Yeah, yeah!" Vinyl opened the door with her magic, letting the slightly ruffled manager step in. She sat back in her chair and faced her mirror, letting the bright lights wash over her face.
"Miss Scratch, we've got the new Equestria Top 5 standings!" The manager trotted into the room and began flipping through his clipboard. The colt took a quick sip from his mug.
"I'm listening," Vinyl pulled down one of her eyelids, revealing her bloodshot eyes.
"You're now the second most popular musician in all of Equestria!" The manager seemed happy, and he beamed, showing off his crooked teeth. "This is very, very good news!"
"How the hell is this good news?" Vinyl slowly turned around in her rotating chair. "How in the fucking hell is this good news?!" Vinyl yelled at the manager despite her sore throat. She got up from the chair and rested her hooves on the arm rests.
"I... Uh... Better than fourth?" The manager stumbled over his words, but after taking a sip of his coffee, he seemed to have regained some of his confidence.
"Hell yeah, better than fourth," Vinyl Scratch rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair, turned back to the mirror, and proceeded to remove her stage makeup. She levitated a cotton ball with her magic before dumping it into the makeup remover. "So, who's up in the first spot?" She moved the swab up to her eye and proceeded to wipe the eye shadow off.
"Somepony named... Octavia Philharmonica..." The manager looked up from his clipboard.
Vinyl was gone.
"Mother of Celestia!" Vinyl scratched her head, ruffling her already messed up mane. "Who is she!?"
Vinyl was out in the dark streets of Canterlot, slowly moving away from the bright lights of the capital. She heard less ponies call out her name as she walked further and further away from the open air plaza where she had her concert. When she had just ran out of the building where she had heard about the latest standings, ponies from everywhere called her name, even grabbed her and pulled her down.
But the bottled up emotions stopped everyone in their paths and almost blasted them away. How could she be at the top?! Vinyl shook her head and trotted away from the center of Canterlot. She knew she couldn't go far, but she knew that she had to go somewhere. Anywhere.
A small bar happened to be open. Vinyl smiled. The dimly lit place was one of her favorites. Not many ponies passed by there, but the bartender was Vinyl's childhood friend, so she as always welcome there, celebrity or not.
Vinyl trotted over to the bar and opened the door. Despite the late hour, the place was rather crowded. At least, it was quite crowded for the quaint popularity of the bar. Vinyl chuckled to herself. This was more like home than anywhere else. The dim lights were warm, and the ponies in the bar were just like Vinyl remembered them to be. Most of the crowd was around the small television set, watching a replay of Vinyl's concert. She chuckled lightly, looking over to the bartender.
"Vinyl!" Her name was accompanied by a light slap on the back, and she noticed the bartender's droopy eyes.
"Hey, Berry Punch!" Vinyl smiled at the purple mare at the bar, who was already preparing something for Vinyl.
"Your concert sure went-" Berry Punch hiccups, and Vinyl laughs. "Sure went great!" Berry Punch slams a Mimosa in front of Vinyl.
"Hey, thanks!" Vinyl took a sip of the drink, and immediately felt the alcohol wake her up.
"It's on the house tonight," Berry Punch moved away to help another mare, this one a dark gray color. Vinyl didn't see the rest of her, because Berry managed to get back to the alabaster unicorn. "So, I heard the *hic* standings were going up for you,"
"Oh, yeah, somewhat," Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Still dang nab second!"
"I heard," Berry took the empty drink cup from Vinyl's hoof. She began to make another drink, but Vinyl shook her head.
"I don't know though. I've never heard of that pony. What was her name, Octavia Philharmonica?" Vinyl asked the purple mare. Vinyl couldn't help but notice the same gray pony flick her ear and point it in their direction.
"Miss Philharmonica? How do you not know who that is!" Berry Punch laughed. She looked at the gray pony, who was giggling lightly into her hoof. "Hey!" She motioned to the gray mare. "Come tell Vinyl 'ere who Octavia is!"
The gray pony jumped of of the bar stool and trotted over to Vinyl, her black mane flopping over her eyes. Her flowing tail bobbed with every step the mare took. Her soft purple eyes glimmered as she looked at Vinyl Scratch. The classy little bow on her neck was never disrupted.
"Salutations, dearest musician!" The gray mare's voice was somewhat heavily accented, but Vinyl didn't seem to mind.
"Uh... H-Hey!" Vinyl scratched her head in embarrassment, but she managed to hold out an alabaster hoof to the mare. Berry Punch laughed, as did the gray mare.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Vinyl Scratch," The gray mare shook Vinyl's hoof lightly, before taking a seat next to her. "Berry Punch, dear, could you get me my wine?"
Berry Punch giggled, and she slammed a glass cup on the table in front of the two ponies, before filling it with a red liquid. The mare next to Vinyl picked up the glass and took a dainty sip. She smiled at Berry Punch, who erupted in another fit of giggles.
"Uh... Am I the only one who doesn't know what's goin' on?" Vinyl looked at Berry Punch through her goggles, which just made her laugh even more. Vinyl took a quick peek at the mare next to her, who was giggling into her hoof once more. The sound made Vinyl smile. It was... Beautiful. Her laugh, her eyes, her mane, her bow, everything about the mare in front of her was beautiful.
Vinyl knew that fillyfooling was legal, but she wasn't about to fall in love with some mare from Celestia knows where. But with her beautiful voice, her eyes... Vinyl was lost in an abyss of warmth. She had never really loved another pony, for most of the colts that she had met were only trying to get at her money. But this mare had a sense of composure that left Vinyl speechless. And then those eyes...
"Vinyl? Vinyl!" Berry Punch slammed her hoof on the table. "Vinyl Scratch, get yerself *hic* together!" Berry Punch hiccuped one more time before rolling over under the bar, literally rolling on the floor, laughing out loud. The gray mare had stood up from the chair she was sitting in. She was putting on a small beret and a matching scarf. Vinyl stood up from her chair to help the gray mare.
"Why, isn't that kind of you?" The mare smiled warmly at Vinyl, who blushed. Vinyl sent a quick prayer to Celestia for making sure that the inside of the bar was dark.
"Uhm... Miss Scratch?" The gray mare smiled at the alabaster unicorn. "You wanted to know about Octavia Philharmonica, correct?" The gray mare began to walk away from the bar. Vinyl looked back, to see a hefty amount of bits in the spot where the mare was sitting. The wine wasn't finished, either.
"Yeah. So," Vinyl opened the bar door for the mare. "Who's this 'Tavia everypony's talking about?" Vinyl felt the breeze hit her in the face.
"Well, I know Octavia very, very well," The mare giggled, but continued. "Octavia Philharmonica, or Octavia, is a classical musician with a taste like no other pony has ever seen," The mare walked Vinyl to the side of town where a small, dingy hotel was located. "Octavia is very, very beautiful-"
"Not as beautiful as you," Vinyl slapped a hoof over her mouth before she could say anything else. The mare only giggled harder.
"I've heard some things about you, like your newest tour, Invincible," The mare tipped her head to one side and smiled. "I'm going to assume you're invincible,"
Vinyl raised her chin. "That's me! I AM invincible!"
The mare hugged Vinyl. "Then I'm going to assume that you're not going to be hurt by the fact that I know you've got something you're hiding," She winked.
"Uh... I'm not hiding nothing!" Vinyl gently pushed the mare away. "Nothing at all!"
"Uh-huh. You're not even going to bother telling me how much you love me?" The mare looked Vinyl in the eyes, and pulled her goggles down. "Vinyl, I know you love me,"
It began snowing in Canterlot that night, the light specks of frozen water slowly making their way down to the city below. Vinyl blushed, the blush intensified by the hug before. The snow flurried around the two mares, making the whole scene even more beautiful.
"Vinyl,"
"Don't. Just be quiet," Vinyl placed a hoof on the mare's lips, stopping her from speaking. "I love you, and that's all there is to it. You're beautiful, and I can't believe that nopony ever bothered telling you that,"
"Vinyl..." The gray mare hugged the alabaster unicorn. "Octavia Philharmonica loves you too,"
"Wait, what?" Vinyl pushed Octavia away. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"
"Because I thought that if you didn't know..." Octavia stumbled over her words.
"That what, I'd hate you?" Vinyl glared at the mare with her magenta eyes. With the tension building, Vinyl felt like she was about to break.
"You don't understand!" Octavia turned around and began to walk away. "You, like so many before, do not understand!"
Vinyl stared as the single love of her life turned and walked away.
"Vinyl! You ready to go up? It's your last night in Canterlot," Vinyl Scratch was in her dressing room, her eyes red and swollen from crying. As usual, her manager was hammering the door, demanding that she was up on stage at this exact moment.
"Just a moment, jeez!" Vinyl wiped away her tears and finished applying the little makeup she wore on stage. She slipped on her goggles, and looked at the small sheet of paper she had in her hooves. This better work... I hope she's not out there!
Vinyl pushed her door open to push past a ruffled manager. "Miss Scratch, you're on air! You're supposed to be on stage!"
"Yeah, yeah," Vinyl let the stage ponies adjust her microphone. She knew that she wouldn't be screaming today. She chortled lightly, and shook off the stage ponies.
"Vinyl Scratch, you're up on stage!"
Vinyl made her way to the DJ station in the middle of the stage. She pulled on her headphones and got an immediate response from her fans. She let the roar was over her. She smiled, and scanned the crowd through her purple tinted goggles. There she was, in the front row.
Octavia Philharmonica.
"Hey, everypony!" Vinyl welcomed the somewhat larger crowd. This was gonna kill her ranking. But she didn't care. This song wasn't for her benefit, but for somepony else's.
Her name was Octavia. Octavia Philharmonica.
"Vinyl! Vinyl! Vinyl! Vinyl!" The crowd began to chant. Vinyl smiled, and waved her hoof to quiet down the crowd. Naturally, that made them even louder. Vinyl flashed a look at Octavia, who examined one of her hooves.
"Hey, everypony quiet down!" Vinyl flexed her back legs in a stretch. She straightened up. "I've got something a little different for tonight. A new single,"
Vinyl moved over to the DJ station and started a slow beat. The crowd was quiet. Shit, this is gonna kill my reputation... Vinyl cleared her throat. One of her hidden talents... Was singing.
Vinyl's voice was sweeter than ever before. She held out the word "out" for the crowd. Somepony in the crowd whistled. Vinyl took a breath.
Vinyl mashed a few buttons on the DJ station, and created a beautiful beat. She looked at Octavia, who was looking right back at her.
Vinyl let the notes erupt from her throat, her magic creating beautiful harmonies at the same time. The beat receded into a simple OONTS. The dubstep artist looked at Octavia, whose eyes were bright, but not with happiness, but sadness. Vinyl let the beat go on for a few moments. She added in a more complex beat... And then the bass drop.
Vinyl let the last few words echo throughout the stage with the echo pedal she managed to hide under the Station. She smiled weakly at Octavia, who was looking desperately at Vinyl.
Vinyl took away all of the beat except for a single bass line. She added in a bit of the piano she had recorded before, and some drums.
She did the same exact thing as with the other verse, but this time, she held the words a bit longer. And then she laid it out for Octavia.
Vinyl's vocal harmonies were too much. She ended the songs with a few beats, and collapsed the whole song. She huffed a couple times, knowing that this was something she had never done. This was the end of Vinyl Scratch. The very end. She looked back at the crowd, which was silent. She looked at Octavia, who, much to Vinyl's surprise, wiped away a tear. Somewhere from the crowd, a pony clopped his or her hooves, and the rest of the crowd roared louder than ever before.
"I-I'm taken aback!" Vinyl yelled towards the crowd, which had began to chant her name once more. "That was for a special somepony!" Vinyl looked at the VIP seating. "She's in this hall right this moment!" She looked right into the purple eyes of Octavia Philharmonica.
"Octavia! For you!"
"Vinyl?" Vinyl was in her dressing room, feeling slightly shaken. She didn't even know how that was possible. Maybe I'll go into the singing biz now...
"Vinyl Scratch! I demand that you open the door!"
Vinyl looked up and opened the door with her magic. She slumped her head back on the table.
"Vinyl... I don't have words to describe that song," Vinyl looked up to see Octavia standing in the dressing room, her eyes dripping tears on the floor.
"Octavia..."
"Vinyl, I'm sorry,"
Vinyl sighed, and stood up from her rotating chair. She trotted over to the gray mare and hugged her.
"Octavia, I love you,"
Octavia looked up at the electric blue mane of Vinyl Scratch.
"I love you too."
Octavia gently kissed Vinyl before leaving the dressing room.
"I hope we can meet again sometime,"
