The Violet Memoir

So, I was Vinyl Scratch. But now you're asking “But Violet, You keep telling everypony that you're NOT Vinyl Scratch, and now your saying you are?” Don't worry, i'll explain in due time, just stick with me and you’ll understand it all.

I was on the road, alone, with a new identity. The only things I took with me were my brother’s last remaining possessions, consisting of a green hoodie, a couple of mixtapes, and a portable turntable. I had just stuffed it all into my saddlebag without really looking at it all, then I of course put on my goggles he had given me, and then put my allowance in there as well. It was a Cold walk down the mountainside of Canterlot, I reluctantly pulled the hoodie from my saddlebag and put it on, I immediately became warmer, and the scent of my brother washed over me. it was slightly comforting, almost as if he was walking down the road with me.

The first, and closest village to Canterlot was Ponyville, and I was hoping that would be the place I could meet with my Brother’s companions. He had told me that they were a band Gypsies, living by their own law, by the law of the land, and of Harmony. They were kind souls that took him in when he ran away from home, and I hoped they would do the same for me. My Brother had described what life was like outside of Canterlot, how the small villages like Ponyville were ragged and worn, the land spent mostly for farming to supply the upper cities food. Only when I entered the city did I realize the extent of what he had told me, the morning I arrived in Ponyville I saw some small fillies playing before the morning chores, their bellies small, and ribs showing. It almost horrified me, but after seeing most of the ponies in town looking much the same, I slowly grew accustomed to the sight.

After a quick walk through the village, passing through a small market where ponies would trade wares, services, supplies, and food. I entered the Village square, which had a few more permanent buildings to it, but off to one side, it seemed like there was a campground, by the looks of it, A building once stood there, but all that remained was a foundation, and some scraps of unusable wood next to a small fire-pit. the foundation was littered with small one-pony tents, and a single larger tent, and surrounded by covered wagons. I had only heard stories of how evil and horrible Gypsies were, and now I found myself walking straight into one their camps. Most of the ponies there looked slightly healthier than those of the village, because as I later learned they would travel about the villages and trade in the markets, helping both the villages and themselves.

I decided the biggest tent would probably be my best bet, so I rushed in without a second thought, a handful of ponies stood around a table, most notably A large gruff looking pony, who had lost his right eye, was standing at the head of the table, and noticed me first. “W’at ‘ave we ‘ere?” he spoke in an accent I had never heard of before, and at first grind’ed on my Canterlot ears. “Canterlot sends a spy ta’ watch us eh? I can smeel te’ city on ye’! Donn’t try te’ deny it.” before I knew what had happened a stallion had flanked each side of me, and had grabbed me by the front hooves, and lifted me off the ground. fear sewed my throat shut, I tried to scream, but nothing came out, that was when a pink pony with a fluffy pink mane I had not noticed before piped up. “Hey! isn't that Zed’s jacket? maybe she knows where he is!” she quickly bounced over to me, as she did the two stallions holding me set me down, but stayed at the ready to restrain me if I tried anything. “so, do you know what happened to our Zeddy? ‘cus ya’see your wearing his jacket, and he left for Canterlot a while back to visit an Informant of his but he didn’t come back this time, and so I was thinking that maybe you knew what had happened to him seeing as you have his jacket on. I mean maybe it just looks the same, or maybe he dropped it and you just found it, but its kind of one heck of a coincidence that you would be wearing it when you came here. i mean that would be like crazy spooky, but my nana use-“ She was thankfully cut off by the Gruff pony, as I still think to this day that if he hadn’t done so she would have never stopped talking. “may’haps ye’ should le’ te’ gal’ speak Pink-eh.” “oh yeah, I suppose your right.” I coughed slightly as i tried to speak, my throat letting me speak this time. “Zed- Zed was my Brother. He- He’s dead, Killed, in A carriage accident.” The mare known as pinkie’s eyes began welling with tears, and as she saw the seriousness in my face she busted into tears, running out of the tent as fast as she could. The Gruff stallion pushed his face into his hooves in despair. “So e’s dead then. So be it, an’ ya’ say yer ‘is sister? ‘E had mentioned ye’ once ‘er twice. What brings ye’ ta’ us t’day then?” I looked that Stallion dead in the eye when I spoke. “I’m here to carry on my Brother’s dream.”

I stared at that one-eyed Stallion, as he stood in what looked to me as disbelief. “so let me get t’is straight lass, ye’ wan’ ta join us, even though ye ‘ail from te’ city ‘o Canterlot?” “If you were helping my Brother reach his goal of a free Equestria, of a land where all ponies can live in harmony together, then yes.” The Gruff pony looked me up and down. “EHEHE, Ye’ got te’ same spark in ye’ as ‘e did. Aye, ye’ can join us, but are ye’ sure ‘o what ye’ signed up fer’.” I wasn't sure what he meant by that at the time, and I didn't understand until much later.

“Te’ name’s Rough, Rough MacMillan, But te’ ponies ‘ere call me Mac. Now if yer’ ta’ join us, yer’ gon’ ta’ need a tent, an’ somepony ta’ show ye’ te’ ropes.” Mac put a sturdy hoof around my neck and led me out of the large tent, we walked through the encampment, and spoke a little. “So lass, what do ye’ call yer’self?” “Vi- Vinyl Scratch” I swallowed hard, I had almost slipped up at the first opportunity to spread my new identity. “well Vinyl, ‘tis a pleasure ‘ta ‘ave ye’ aboard. I hope ye’ don’t mind it, but te’ only pony with te’ space te’ room ye’ is our beloved Pinkie, ye’ met her earlier. Shes normally a Cheery lass, but y’see ‘er mate ‘as recently passed, an’ she’s a bit under te’ weather.” we stopped in front of a two pony tent, occasionally a sob was audible from where we stood. “wait, you mean she was my Brother’s-“ “You’re a wee bit slow ta’ catch on aren’t ye’? Pinkie, you’re goin’ ta’ have a guest stay wit’ ye’, be a dear and show ‘er te’ ropes.” The pink pony poked her head out of the tent, her eyes were visibly red and puffy, yet she put on a smile, as wide as a mile, and greeted me, welcoming me into her home. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie, I’m more than glad to have you stay with me, whats your name?” “I’m Vinyl Scratch, thank you Pinkie.”

Mac nodded to Pinkie and trotted his way back to the larger tent, Pinkie just beamed her smile at me. I looked into her eyes, thinking there was no possible way she could be happy after she learned the news of my brothers death, but a sincerity was there. She really was happy to have me there. “Well come on in you silly filly, make yourself at home.” She stood to one side and held the tent flap open for me. As I walked in, the scent that covered the jacket I was wearing, washed over me like a tidal wave, everything in this tent smelled like him. Looking about the tent, I was sure it was him, and that he and Pinkie truly were mates, a single double wide bedroll laying to one side, covered in a heap of blankets, a small wooden table stood at its head with an image of Pinkie and Zed kissing atop it, and A small tambourine propped against one of the tables feet.

“You two really loved each other, I didn't even realize.” I turned to face her, as she entered the tent behind me, she walked over to the image on the table, picking it up, and holding it to her chest. “When I first saw him, my right hoof gave a twitch, then my tail gave a jerk, and then my heart beat so fast, and I knew that my Pinkie senses were telling me he was the one for me.” She smiled an almost solemn smile, and set the picture down. “But enough about me, you're the new pony here! I have so much to teach you about, all of our daily chores, how to barter with the traders in each village, and then there are the songs you need to learn.” She plopped down on the pile of blankets and looked up at me. “So what do you want to learn first, and don't worry, I am a great teacher, in-fact I teach all of the foals that travel with us, so you're in good hooves.”

My ears perked up when she mentioned songs. “Could you teach me the songs? I always liked music.” A grin spread across her face from ear to ear. “Of course I can teach you the songs! good choice, singing is always my favorite thing to do.” Pinkie shot up grabbing the tambourine from its resting place against the table leg and quickly pushed me outside, where she began rattling it in a beat, it seemed this was common place in the encampment as a pony with a guitar and other various instruments all began joining in one after another, Then she began to sing.

“When you’re rife with devastation, there’s a simple explanation: You're a toymaker’s creation trapped inside a crystal ball. And whichever way he tilts is, know that we must be resilient, we won’t let them break our spirits as we sing this silly song.~ When i was a little filly, a galloping blaze overtook my city, so they shipped me off to the orphanage. Said ‘ditch those roots if you wanna fit in.’ So I dug one thousand holes and cut a rug with orphan foals, memories are blurred, and their faces obscured, but I still know the words to this song~”

The song continued to its chorus, but grew longer as other ponies would cut in after it, and add their stories as a line in the song. As it all stacked together it formed a beautiful, if not incredibly long song, that almost every pony in the camp had taken a part in. The sheer harmony of these ponies, the comradery of them, despite being from so many different places, and living through so many different hardships. The only thing keeping them together was each other, and then I understood two things. Why my brother desired to share this feeling with all the ponies of the world, and why he fell in love with Pinkie.

Pinkie was an amazing mare, despite being in a pit of sorrow and despair, she took the time to cheer everypony else up. the song she started seemed to brighten the mood of all the ponies in camp, young and old alike, after the song was drawing to an end, and the instruments and voices began fading back down to just Pinkie and her tambourine. “When you've bungled all your bangles, and all your loved ones have been mangled, listen to the jingle jangle of my gypsy tambourine. ‘Cause these chords are hypnotizing, and the whole world’s harmonizing, so please children stop your crying and just sing along with meee~.” there was a bout of applause and cheering that I couldn't help but join into.

Pinkie breathed heavy for a moment as her head hung low from a bow, I wasn't sure if anypony else had noticed the tear that hit the ground below her head, or if anypony aside from me was close enough to see it. But a realization hit me, she was like me, and put on a strong front in the face of others. It had been almost two weeks from the time my Brother came into town and was killed that day, I’m sure she knew something had happened deep in her heart, long before I had shown up. But then I had waltzed in and destroyed her hopes of him being okay.

She lifted her head smiling, an amazing actress was she, and turned to face me once more. “Well, thats one of the songs anyways. How about we go back to the tent and i’ll show you how we do laundry, Gypsy style!” I nodded and trotted alongside her as we walked back to the tent, the entire camp seemed to know who pinkie pie was, as they all greeted her happily. “Hey Pinkie, Its not too cold today, maybe we can go into the market later!” “Sure thing Mr.Cake, how’s the missus?” “She’s doing well, with the baby on the way, we’re going to need some extra food before long.” “Sure thing, we’ll go later today and see what we can get. Oh! Have you met our new comrade Vinyl?” I poked my head around the other side of her and waved shyly, “Nice to meet you.” He waved back, and gave a hearty smile. “Well, its a pleasure Vinyl, any friend of Pinkie’s is a friend of ours. You two should come over for dinner sometime and see the missus.” I wasn't given a chance to accept or decline, as Pinkie was already speaking for me. “Sounds like fun Mr.Cake, but right now I have to show Vinyl how we do laundry around here.” Mr.Cake nodded and waved at us as we began walking once more. Other smaller encounters occurred on our way, but many of them had some thing to do and our conversations were cut short.

Once we had finally reached our tent I was nearly exhausted, The only ponies i had ever really talked to very much were Tavi, and Zed, and even then I honestly did a lot more listening than speaking myself. when we we’re inside I plopped down onto the pile of blankets as it seemed the most comfy at the time, and shut my eyes, prepared to take a nap, wrapped snugly in the smell of my brother, when Pinkie yanked one of the blankets out from under me, disorienting me and knocking me from atop the pile. I looked up at her, confused, I expected her to be smiling, but a frown was on her face. “I was just resting, I’m not used to all this interaction.” Pinkie didn't say anything, nor did she remove the scowl from her face, she just looked down at the blanket in her hooves, and cried.

I immediately jumped up, rushing to her side, I tried to put my hoof on her shoulder. But she immediately smacked it away. “Why did YOU have to come here?!” she sobbed in between each sentence. “Why couldn't he come back to ME?! And now, NOW I have to take care of you! YOU, the pony who TOOK him from ME! And why? Because Mac tells me to, thats why!” I admired Pinkie for her strength in the face of adversity, but this was too much. “First of all! I never asked to be put with you! I only brought the news of my brothers death! Its not like I killed him!” “If he didn't go to see you, he would have come back to me!” This caught me me off guard, I had never thought about it like that until just now, it never crossed my mind of how things might have been different if we stopping seeing each other, or never met to begin with.

“I never wanted him to die, I just wanted to learn who my brother was, and I hardly got to learn anything at all before he was gone. I didn't even know I had a sister-in-law until just today! Don't talk like you're the only one who lost somepony important! I not only lost my brother, when I decided to carry on his dream, I lost everything, my family, my only friend. All I have left is his dream to keep me going!” As I spoke she watched, and her mood drastically changed, from anger to sympathy. She tackled me into a hug, and cried into me. “ I'm so sorry, why couldn't I see, He left me a piece of himself, his own flesh and blood sister. I'll tell you anything you want to know about him, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.” Together we cried, and hugged, and eventually fell asleep holding each other.

When I awoke the next morning, she was nowhere to be found. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I sat up, trying to keep myself wrapped in the warm blankets, and looked about the tent. Despite my hopes that Pinkie was still in the tent, she was gone. I reluctantly crawled from under my covers, putting on my hoodie as soon as I could. After touching up my mane in a small mirror, I decided to peer out the tent. Pinkie was not outside the tent either, where had that mare gone? “ Wasn't she supposed to help teach me how to live in this place?” I spoke softly to myself, and then began to look about without the supervision of Pinkie. Mostly i wondered aimlessly, if somepony asked I said I was looking for Pinkie, but everypony who told me of where they had seen her sent me in a completely different direction, inevitably getting me lost in the camp.

That was when I saw him, Mr.Cake walking through the camp. “Hey there, Vinyl, wasn’t it? What are you doing just wondering about?” I told him the bitter truth. “I kind of got lost.” My face grew warm as I flushed a shade of pink from embarrassment. “Thats no problem, I’ll lead you back to my place, you and Pinkie never showed up for dinner, so how about I treat you to Breakfast.” at the mention of food I realized how hungry I was, skipping dinner the night before, and not really eating much before that anyways. “Really? that would be great! Thanks so much.” “Aw its no problem, I just got some fresh vegetables from the Market, I think I’ll whip up a nice stew to warm us up after this chilly walk.”

Mr.Cake led me back to his and his wife’s home, which was surprisingly not a tent. They were one of the lucky few who had a Carriage home, just big enough for the two of them, it was visibly old, as some of the paint had worn off and faded, but it was not in disrepair. “Well this is my Home, come on in from the cold.” He walked up the stairs and opened his door, and smiled. “Honey, I’m back, and I brought the new neighbor, Vinyl, that I told you about.” When I entered the carriage, I saw for the first time, Ms.Cake, A lovely, Motherly pony. Her Belly was swollen, signifying that she had a foal on the way, and she was laying upon the bed which doubled as the seats for their dining room table.

“Hello dear, its so nice to meet you. My husband didn’t tell me you were such a young mare, may I ask what happened that you joined our little caravan?” She patted a corner of the bed for me to sit with her, I looked up at Mr.Cake who smiled and urged me to sit and talk. “Go ahead, I’ll have the stew made in a few moments.” I gladly sat on the edge of the bed. “Well, I lost someone, my Brother, and his death led me here” She gave me a solemn smile, put a hoof behind my back and gave me a rub, and then pulled me into a hug. “Its sad to hear you lost your family, but you don’t have to worry. In this caravan, we are like one big family. If you need anything sweetie, dont be afraid to ask your Auntie Cake.”

I was surprised, but I returned her embrace. “Th-thank you.” It was at this point in time that a loud cranking noise crashed through our otherwise silent embrace, followed by a thud that eventually led back to silence. Mr. and Ms.Cake shot each other a glance, before saying. “The generator again?” Mr.cake put his hoof up to a small black box. “It must be, the heater isn’t working.” They both sighed, Mr.Cake threw on a scarf and began heading for the door. “I’ll see if me and the other guys can get it working again.” The door opened and let a chilly breeze through the carriage as he walked out. Ms.Cake turned to me, a look of confusion upon my face at the whole scenario.

“We, have a generator, it doesn’t do much, but during the colder months we share it with the nearby ponies so they can power heaters. as a general rule, ponies with young foals, or expecting foals get to use the carriages as living quarters when we have stopped.” This made perfect sense, they were a community, and for the betterment of the community they gave the young the best quarters. “But your generator keeps going out? you think I could have a look at it?” Ms.Cake seemed a little surprised. “Sure thing sweetie, there should be some tools out there as well.”

Closing up my jacket, and throwing the hood over my head, I opened the door and stepped outside. The generator was fairly easy to spot with the ring of stallions surrounding it, and so I trotted up to it. “confound this thing, I don’t think there is any saving it this time.” I pushed my way through the crowd. “Can I have a look at it first?” Everypony stopped to look at me, but Mr.Cake nodded. “Sure if you think you can fix it.” I stepped up to the machine, picking up a wrench with my magic, and began to work.

My knowledge of Mechanics wasn’t exactly vast, but I always showed and interest in them, and electronics. I even went so far as to take classes in them in Highschool, against my parents knowledge of course. But that was more than enough know-how to fix a simple two step generator. “Can somepony hand me that part lying over there?” I said as I pulled my hood down and wiped my brow, giving a slight oil smear over it. Somepony did exactly as I asked, and handed me the seemingly random piece of metal lying nearby, I took it when he offered it to me, and then immediately began trying to bend it. Mr.Cake noticed how much I was struggling. “Want me to get that for you?” I looked up, and apparently all the Stallions were just staring in awe as I worked upon the generator, I nodded in agreement. “Can you bend that to about a forty-five degree angle?”

Mr.Cake wasn’t an uneducated pony, but he wasn’t the strongest Stallion either. “I’ll see what I can do.” I proceeded to work as he tried, after a few moments he handed it back to me, with as close to a forty-five degree angle as I could ask from any living pony. “Thanks.” I took the piece from him and proceeded to put it into the engine, this went on for a while, but it all seemed to flash by in an instant to me. Eventually I had put the machine back together, and was ready to kick start it. “Ready? Hope for the best.” My horn began to glow, spinning one of the gears on the machine, slowly at first, but raising in speed. after a moment or two the Engine sputtered to life, and purred like a kitten.

The crowd of Stallions Cheered at my success, causing me to blush as they all surrounded me, embracing me with hugs one after another. When they all returned to their own homes Mr.Cake told me that they were the ones they were able to share the generator with. We too returned inside, our hooves and ears beginning to grow numb from the cold. Once inside Mr.Cake relayed what had happened to his wife, who hugged me as well. soon after the stew that had been delayed was prepared and in bowls in front of us. Before we even took a bite, Mr.Cake raised his bowl. “To Vinyl, and to the Harmonies of this world to send her our way in out time of need.” We all proceeded to raise our bowls with him, I a bit more shyly than him or his wife. “To Harmony.” I spoke as I raised my own, the Cake’s shouted the same before setting their bowls down, and for the first time in what felt like ages I had a home cooked meal. I remember eating at least three bowls full of the stew before falling asleep on that corner of the bed.