Vinyl Scratch is (not) a vampire

Vinyl slammed a hoof into her alarm clock, the annoying blare coming from the device more than her ears could bare.

"Rrrrrrr..." she groaned as she rubbed a her head with a hoof. After a few minutes of slow recovery from the pleasures of sleep, she finally managed to open an eyelid just enough to let in a crack of light.

Mistake.

"Agh!" She yelled, surprised at the sudden burst of pain. "I have really got to avoid the strong stuff before a workday..." Her eyes flew open, a startling revelation tearing through her brain and blocking all but the most minor of headaches in her system. "Oh, shit, work!"

Scrambling to wake up now, Vinyl Scratch--DJ by night and researcher by day--promptly fell out of her bed. Quickly recovering, the electric blue maned mare quickly grabbed her clock, checking the time. Five minutes.

Grabbing a few essentials on her way out (read: shades) Vinyl left her apartment, zipping through the streets of Canterlot as she homed in on her destination; Canterlot's local department of research, weaponry and experiments. The building was tall and imposing, built to house all but the most dangerous and secretive of Equestria's science. That's reserved for the ponyville library.

Vinyl all but fell through the front doors, much to the surprise of two mares at the front desk. As Vinyl recovered, she noticed one of the mares give the other a small pile of bits, along with a muttered, "Thought for sure she'd be late..."

Vinyl let the exchange slide, focusing more on checking the special enchantment she had on her shades. The black rimmed and purple lensed glasses shifted through their various degrees of opacity according to Vinyl's thought patterns, going from crystal clear to all but impossible to see through in a manner of seconds. The glasses also had various other versions of light they showed, allowing their user to see infrared, visible light and a special magic detector mode that revealed how much magical power was in an object or living being. Plus, they look cool as hell.

Pleased that the enchantment was still strong, Vinyl finally turned her attention to the desk mares. "Clock me in, will ya?"

"When you get that ridiculous cannon of yours working." The one on the left replied, the same one who had lost the bet. Notepad. Vinyl and Notepad were opposites: the blue maned, red coated mare the exact depiction of everything Vinyl disliked in other ponies. She had her mane done up in a bun, a style reserved exclusively for old mares and librarians, nopony else. Strike one. She sneered at almost everypony she met. Strike two. Never once did the stuck up ever stop to realize that she was the one stuck with a desk instead of actually doing something, acting like she was on the same tier as the princesses. And she's out.

"And what fine work have you done that involves getting out of your chair?" Vinyl retorted.

Notepad only grinned. "Nice to see you made it for once."

Vinyl returned the gesture. "Good to see ya again Notey. How've things been while I've been on vacay?"

"Three weeks, Vinyl." Notepad grimaced, picking up a coffee. "I've been stuck in here for three weeks without a single pony with an ounce of common sense." The second desk mare shot her a look, but Vinyl just smiled.

"Thanks, but I can't say the same."

"Oh, shut up. You know I don't mean a word of it."

For how much the two grated on each others nerves, the turbulent relationship of the two ponies was often described as a fierce 'rivalship', in spite of very little actual rivalry. Vinyl called Notepad's earlier bluff, quickly ducking to her own station several of the buildings large rooms down.

Weaponry.

At last, Vinyl would be able to once more tinker with her pride and joy: a large cube reminiscent of an amplifier, with a big red button on top.

Along the way, she ran into a stallion carrying a box. The two stumbled into one another, knocking the box to the ground. The stallion quickly scooped up the objects that had fallen out, which were...

"Light bulbs?" Vinyl asked, a bit of skepticism in her voice. "Why are you carrying these around?"

The stallion grinned at her, running a hoof through his rust colored mane. "Not just light bulbs, miss."

"Don't call me miss." Vinyl snapped.

"Er, right." The stallion returned, nervously. "Anyway, most light bulbs function via a small enchantment placed upon them, attached to a switch for turning the enchantment on or off, correct?"

"Uh, yeah, so?"

"These bulbs are designed to function with electricity." The stallion said giddily, scooping up the last of the bulbs and placing them in the box.

"Wait, you mean lightning and shit?" Vinyl hurriedly got out, wondering why such a thing would be useful.

"Well, if you want to be crude, yes." He replied, stepping around her. "It's part of a series of experiments that just came in from a trio of researchers who had been invited to the royal palace. A few whispers say that they met with the princesses, or rather, somepony the princesses found."

Vinyl opened her mouth to respond, but the stallion cut her off. "I'm sorry, but i need to get somewhere. Important." With that, he hurriedly continued on his way, putting as much space between him and Vinyl as fast as he could.

"Weird." Vinyl muttered to herself, continuing on her way as well.

Before too long, she had entered her personal lab, her creation sitting in the middle. Cracking her neck, Vinyl smiled to herself. Sitting behind a monitor connected to the machine via an large array of wires, she set to work, powering it up. She'll succeed this time. She could feel it in her gut.

The sliding doors that made up the front of the box whirred out of the way, revealing an inside matching the colors of Vinyl's mane. To the standard observer, it looked like an over sized stereo. To Vinyl however, that was her ticket to fortune. After all, literally blasting your enemies with your favorite tunes? Who wouldn't pay for that?

Several sparks of power surged in the machine as it came to life, the power core heating up. Vinyl swallowed as she pumped more energy into the machine, taking care not to break anything. Yet. But it would come soon enough, along with a pay raise.

Vinyl checked the power readings. Seventy-eight percent. Damn. She'd need to find a way to improve the charge times later, but couldn't do anything right now unless she wanted to replace a burnt out fuse. Again. Hovering her hoof over the activation button, Vinyl kept her eyes on all the energy readings of her cannon. Nothing in all of Equestria would distract her now. Not a single--

"VINYL SCRATCH!"

"Eh?" she muttered, poised in position. Her eyes glanced to the side, looking at the same stallion who had been carrying the light bulbs through the hall.

He was breathless and his eyes were wild, quivering with either fear or excitement, Vinyl couldn't tell. "We need to leave. Now."

"Sorry pal, I'm kinda doing something here." She switched her gaze back to her monitor, pressing the activation button.

The machine drew in several cones of energy, pulling all it could to the center of the visible insides of the machine. A spear flew straight at it, almost reaching the machine before it was disintegrated by a wide beam of energy, flying true towards the target Vinyl had set up on the far wall. A powerful 'wub' echoed from the cannon repeatedly, pumping out more energy.

Vinyl smirked at the rogue researcher, who was readying a second spear. "All righty then, take this!" She swung the machine around on its platform, bringing the beam to bear on the would be saboteur. Before the machine's blast reached its target, it died.

"What? Oh, come on!" Vinyl roared in a fury. "I just had you working and this!?"

The stallion threw his spear, striking the machine in its power cables. The resulting shock that went through the cannon caused a minor explosion in the core of it. Vinyl stared at the bass cannon in shock. "That... That'll cost me months of time to fix!" Vinyl fired a spell at the stallion, throwing him through a wall.

Staring at the hole in the wall, Vinyl couldn't help but find herself wondering. "Why didn't I just do that to begin with?"

Several explosions rocked the building, throwing off Vinyl's balance. "The hell?"

A fireball erupted from the doors to Vinyl's station, tossing her to the ground. Shaking her head clear, Vinyl could hear several other fights taking place on the other side of the flames. Rising to her hooves, she staggered when a sharp lance of pain shot through her leg. Looking down, she found a large shard of glass sticking out of her leg.

Another pony snuck up from behind, knocking her to the ground.

"AH!" Vinyl yelled in shock and pain as she collided with the floor, her head slamming hard into the tile.

A hoof closed her mouth. "Shut up, or I swear to Celestia, I will leave you for the Dawn's Light."

Vinyl  looked up to see the face of the stallion who had destroyed her cannon, his brown coat splattered with blood. Somehow, he had survived his trip through a wall and came back for more. "What--"

She was cut off by the scream of pain that occurred when he yanked out the shard of glass. Taking a torn labcoat, he made an impromptu bandage for her leg. "Come on." He said through gritted teeth. "I swear, I always have to save the ones who attack the ponies trying to help them..."

"What are you doing?" Vinyl asked. "What do you want?"

"Relax." He whispered back, helping her up. "Just know that you're not alone."

"What are you talking about?" Vinyl said angrily, still pissed about her cannon. "Answers. Now."

"Look, I'll...Wait a minute..." He  grabbed Vinyl by the jaw, checking her teeth. "But you're not..." Equal parts realization and confusion seemed to dawn in his eyes. "Why are they after you?"

"Who?" Vinyl yelled, smacking away his hoof. "I have no idea what's going on!"

Several ponies stormed through the opened and burned doors to the room.

The stallion tensed, anger flaring in his eyes. "Shit."