Chapters I’m sure plenty of you out there are wondering this, Who exactly is “Violet Lynn Scraton” and why does she look so much like Vinyl Scratch, AKA DJ P0N-3?
Yeah that is right, I used to be a DJ too. But that was back in the day, I suppose I should start at the beginning if I'm going to tell this, “what's this?” you probably asking. Well it’s my story, about my life, not many know about it, But i'll share it all with you.
Lets see, I was born into a fairly well off family, the Scraton’s, while not too well known they have money and power in Canterlot. I never thought much of it growing up, but my only friend was an Earthpony mare called Octavia, we met in school. She, like me, was from a well off family, and we became fast friends, in-fact we did everything together. We eventually both made it into High-school together, thats about the same time we began developing our differing tastes in music. she was the pride of her family, and loved classical, so much that she began taking Cello lessons. I was a little different, my family was trying so hard to mold me to be an up-tight canterlot pony, because they had managed to fail doing so on my older brother. It was hard, but I just wanted them to accept and love me, so I tried to push through. It was then that I first met my brother, he had ran away from home soon after he was old enough to be considered a Stallion.
Jedediah Flint Scraton, that was my brothers name, though he went by Zed now. At first I was scared, but the more we met each other the happier I was, he taught me about music, and eventually got me a pair of Violet goggles I loved them profusely, and would wear them everywhere. we had a set time every week to meet each other, but others started getting worried about me, as I would stay out with him later and later. That’s when Tavi met my brother, she followed me without my knowledge, and then confronted us. “So this is who you’ve been meeting? and staying out all hours of the night with?” Apparently my parents had contacted Tavi’s parents to see if we had been together, which Tavi overheard. she immediately blamed my brother, not even knowing who he was, assuming he had gotten me involved in all sorts of ridiculous things.
The confrontation with Tavi scared him, now that I think about it, more that it should have. He was always so peaceful, never wanting to fight, and rather running. So that’s what he did, he never even saw the carriage coming. Tavi panicked and made a run for home, but I had to do something, he was my brother. Sadly there wasn't anything I could do, except comfort him. That’s how my parents discovered that he was the one who I had been seeing. when they were called to identify him, and pick me up.
My life felt like a blur that night, but at school the next day, I wasn't the only one who had been effected. Tavi was a wreck, she blamed herself entirely for his death, I felt horrible myself, but I couldn't stand to see her beat herself up over this. I spent any time I had free consoling her, trying to get her to understand that she had no way of knowing that would happen, and that she had no control over the carriage. Eventually she accepted herself again, but with all that time spent in deep thought over that matter, It led to my next decision.
Even though my brother was dead, that didn't mean his dream had to die. All those nights we had met, he told me about his adventures, about everything he had done to help pony kind, and how he was using music to help spread his message. So I had made up my mind, after weeks of thinking it over during those long and now lonely nights, I would carry on his dream, I would become a DJ, and spread the message of Love and Tolerance to the ponies of Equestria.
This was no easy choice, and one I didn't want to choose alone. I waited around after school for Tavi to finish her band practice, and told her about my plan as we walked to our homes. “So, you know how us Canterlot ponies, and those with ‘High-blood’ are treated better than, say the inhabitants of Manehattan, and the inhabitants of small towns and villages are practically drained dry for resources, and treated like slave labor.” Tavi nodded back in agreeance, as this was the way it had been since long before either of us had been born. “Well my brother told me that it’s wrong, that they are no different than us, and that they should be entitled to everything we are.” Tavi looked shocked at my stating something like this. “Violet, sweetie, its just the way it is. Why if those ponies did not supply us with food, and other such things, we would starve.” Anger began to fill my face. “But what about them, their mortality rates are so high, mostly from poor healthcare, and lack of food! they can't even feed their foals, and if one of them gets sick, they don’t have trained medical ponies like we have here!” Tavi nodded, a very serious look upon her face. “Well perhaps if they grew more food, they could have more. And if they need a doctor so bad, why not send one of them to canterlot to get trained?” By this point I knew she wasn't getting it, but I tried one last time. “They already grow more than enough food for everypony, we just waste so much of it with our fancy banquets! And do you actually know how much it is to send a pony off to med-school?” “Now listen Violet, I don't know what brought up this political dribble, but it has nothing to do with us, now can we change the subject please?” I sighed heavily deciding that trying to reason wasn't my best option, and since we had spent so long arguing about it, we could see her family house up the street. “Tavi, what I'm trying to tell you is, I'm running away, to join the Free Pony Republic.” Tavi stopped in her tracks, and turned to look at me, probably hoping I was just kidding, her mouth was slightly agape, as if she was trying to think of something to say. “But Violet, thats Treason. Its-“ I quickly interrupted so to not get caught in a lecture from her. “I want to carry on my Brother’s dream, the dream of a world where ponies can live in harmony, no matter their position, bloodline, or wealth!” Tavi’s mouth quickly snapped closed, still bitter, and sore over the issue of my brother. “Oh please Tavi, won't you come with me. Out of all the ponies I can think of, I want you to come with me.” Tavi continuously looked at the ground, when she finally opened her mouth to speak her answer. “I’m sorry Violet, I can’t. My family, and school, and my cello lessons-“ She began backing toward her home as she spouted off excuses that I had already made my mind up about. I was sad, and my expression showed it, despite the fact that I didn't cry as she was backing away, but she did, just before she turned and dashed for her home.
I left my home that night, feeling broken, dejected, and alone, but I looked forward to a brighter future. I Decided that using my birth name would allow my family to find me, so I sat down and scrambled some of the letters to spell out “Vinyl Scratch” which was one of the first things my Brother showed me about DJing, The Vinyl Scratch.
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.
It was a nice nap, I remember the dream I had, I was laying under the shade of the old Oak tree on the campus, Tavi was sitting nearby, practicing her Cello. The sound of her playing, combined with the cool breeze, was so relaxing. But when the sound of her cello stopped suddenly, I sat up to look at her and was horrified at what I saw. Octavi had dropped the cello, as she began wasting away before my eyes, he body growing thin from starvation, until the life in her eyes finally faded. I woke from that dream right as I jumped forward to catch her.
Much to my own dismay I jumped right off the bed, landing face first onto the wooden floors with a loud crash. Mr.Cake was nowhere to be found, but Ms.Cake offered me a hoof. “You should be careful sweetie, and sit down, don’t want you falling down again, We'll be there shortly.” Now that she had spoken I finally realized that we were in fact moving. “wh-where are we going?” “To Manehattan, We were actually over due to head there, waiting for somepony to come back with important information.” I could only assume that they had been waiting for my brother, and whatever information he could bring back from Canterlot. This always make me wonder who his informant was, could he have been using me for information? Or maybe he met his informant before me and stuck around to talk with me, I'll never get to know the answer now that he is gone.
Everything that was loose in the carriage had been put away in cabinets and locked shut, so that if they hit a bump it wouldn't break or injure one of the passengers. Ms.Cake explained that Mr.Cake pulled their carriage, and their Generator behind it whenever they moved from town to town, and that right after Ponyville they always visited Manehattan to resupply materials to trade with. This was the first time I had ever been to Manehattan, and I had heard it was in some ways more grand than Canterlot, and this always inspired me to want to visit there someday, and now I was on my way there. “So how long have we been on the road?” “Since about and hour after you nodded off, you were just so cute sleeping that I told Carrot to let you sleep, and we packed up. Oh and you don't have to worry, Pinkie checked in and knows that your with us.”
Judging from the light outside it was a little bit after noon, they had been travelling for hours, and when I looked out the small window all you could see of the city was just the tops of a few skyscrapers. I just stared out the window for a while, watching the country pass by, as the buildings just grew larger on the horizon. Ms.Cake must have thought I was growing depressed as she quickly tried to find something to grab my attention. “Pinkie dropped off your saddlebags before we left, and I couldn't help but notice the Turntable. We had somepony who used to have charity events, and He used one of these to play some pretty interesting music. The younger ponies seemed to like it, and it almost always drew in a crowd. I think Pinkie asked Mac to keep his speakers, maybe you should ask if you can use them.” I perked up a bit, loving the opportunity to do as I had said, and really pick up where my Brother had left off. but the way she worded it, it made me wonder how much everypony knew about me, and if they were all just feigning ignorance for my sake. “Yeah? That sounds great, I would love to be able to mess around with it.”
I grabbed my bag and pulled the Turntable from it, and began explaining some of the functions that my brother had taught me. “though, I've never really played with one while its been connected to speakers, so I only know the theory, but I used to help my best friend write songs, so I think I should be okay.” The time seemed to fly as I spoke with Ms.Cake, and before I realized it had become dark. not long after the Carriage stopped, and Mr.Cake came into the carriage. “ We're here, take a peek outside Vinyl, I'm sure its like nothing you've ever seen.” This really got me curious, so I nearly jumped off the bed and rushed out the door. “Woah~!” He was truly right, the high class city of Canterlot never prepared me for Manehattan, the buildings all touching the clouds, and lit up to the top. “We are just outside of the city, we aren't allowed to set up camp inside city limits, but we are just a short walk from it.” I heard Mr.Cake call out to me. “You should go into town and have a look around, and go have some fun.” He actually tossed me a few bits, this shocked me, seeing how little they had. but i wasn't about to waste an opportunity to go have fun in my youth, so I began running for the city, and called back. “Thanks, I’ll be sure to pay you back!”
Despite it being dark, and far past the time most other ponies went to bed, The ponies in this city were still awake and bustling in fact. I had never seen so many ponies all with someplace to be, or somepony to see, all at this hour. It was all so crazy, and I felt like I was just lost compared to everypony who knew what they were doing. So I threw my hood up over my head, and put my goggles over my eyes and began walking around. I liked wearing my goggles in public, ponies would sometimes look at me funny, but I liked it because I could watch everypony and nopony would know it. after a time of just walking around and doing a bit of pony-watching a group of rowdy ponies came up behind me and began speaking at me. “Hey, why’r ya hidin’ your face?” I tried to just ignore them, hoping they would go away, but then they surrounded me. The stallion then got in my face and said again. “I said, why’r ya hidin’ your face?” The liquor was practically dripping off his breath, and this being my first real encounter with it, I couldn't help but cough a bit.
When I tilted my head and covered my mouth to cough, the Stallion to my left pulled my hood off. “Ay, she’s not too bad lookin!” “now if she’d take off th’ damn goggles.” The Stallion began reaching to pull off my goggles, but I recoiled in time to stop him from removing them. This was apparently the wrong thing to do in this situation, as the stallion to each of my sides grabbed me, and held me in place. There was something there, behind their smiles, that frightened me. My heart was beating so fast, as the stallion in front of me drew closer. Fear was grasping over me, and like before, my throat seemed to swell, and not even a yelp would escape me, It was just then I heard a voice call out. “If I were you gents, I would consider letting that one go.” The Stallion in front of me stopped at the sound of the voice, and the two to each side let me go. “an’ if we say we don’t wanna?” “Well then I'm very sorry for what I'm about to do.” The mysterious stallion took a step closer as he drew something from his coat, the three stallions who had assaulted me began backing away from him, leaving me, still quivering, alone as the Stallion drew nearer.
When he was standing right in front of me, he helped me to my feet and whispered in my ear. “Are you alright miss?” I only nodded slightly. “I want you to trust me alright?” I only nodded again. “RUN!” At that moment he drew a strange slender object. I was only able to see it for a moment, as the tip began to glow blue, and a jet of steam from a man-hole being opened between us shot up, Covering our escape as we both dashed for it. We didn't even look behind us to see if they were chasing, and we didn't stop until we had put a couple of blocks behind us. We were standing in front of an unmarked building as we both caught our breath. “Th-Thank you, you saved me.” “Really? Hadn't noticed.” I giggled at his attempt at a joke, his odd accent sounded Canterlot, but with much less refinement to it. “I don’t even know your name.” “hmm, I’m Smith, John Smith.” I couldn't help but laugh at it. “Sorry, but that is such a weird name. I’m Vinyl Scratch.” “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Vinyl Scratch.” “Mutually.” I said as I offered my hoof to him. “I’m not sure, but perhaps we should go into hiding for a time, maybe wait and make sure nopony is after you.” I nodded and smiled. “Lead the way, John Smith.” “Right.” He looked up at the unmarked building in front of us. “This seems like a good place.” I giggled at the silly man’s way of thinking. “Fine with me.” “Right, in we go then.”
When we entered the building all that could be heard was a low hum, with thumping coming from down the hall, all the other doors had been boarded up, and the walls covered in graffiti. “Well come on, lets go have a look.” John looked down the hall and began walking, there was a dull blue light at the end of the hall, just a sliver of it, like it was only escaping from under the edge of a door. “Shall we?” I asked, John nodded and swung open the door. The sights and sounds from inside that room bombarded us, Music louder than any I had ever heard before, Lights flashing, lasers flying across the ceiling, and ponies everywhere dancing, it was truly amazing. “Oh, its a club! Why didn't I think of that.” John spoke, but I was hardly paying attention, I was too mesmerized by my current surroundings. “Well come on, don't just stand there. Dance!” He quickly grabbed me and swept me into the crowd, it was hot, all the ponies were pressing together, the whole room was alive, even the air vibrated with life. I let instinct take control, I let my body flow with to rhythmic music, “What kind of music is this!” I was forced to yell in hopes that John would be able to hear me. “Its fairly new, the ponies are calling it Dubtrot.” “Dubtrot, I Love it!”
I must have gotten lost in the moment, because while I was dancing, I lost track of John, and of the time. Much later the music was slowing, and ponies began leaving, the night was coming to a close, but I stuck around to talk with the DJ. After everypony else had left, I was still on the floor dancing by myself, that was when the DJ picked up a Microphone and spoke to me. “Hey, everypony else has gone home kiddo, and I need to also. So this is the last song.” I screamed up at him. “OKAY!” Then stuck around to the bitter end, I even helped him pack up his equipment, we talked, his DJ name was V3KT0R, and he told me that if I was that interested, that I could use this place to practice, since it had been sound proofed for the raves. I gladly accepted, “I’m glad I stuck around, your really cool! maybe I’ll be able to see another of your shows sometime.” Then he left me to the large empty, and now silent room, to practice my own hooves at DJ-ing.
So there I was, sitting in the rather large, painted black, sound proofed, and windowless room. The only light supply was an array behind where the DJ had been setup, all of them had been raised and were pointed at the DJ’s booth, where a set of controls had been placed for them. I trotted up, and looked down, imagining all the ponies dancing, I just had to try my hand at it.
I ran as fast as I could back to the Camp, rushing up to the Cake’s carriage, I nearly busted in, but stopped myself short of just opening the door, and knocked politely, and heard from the inside. “The door is open.” I opened it to see Ms.Cake Knitting on her spot in the bed, and Mr.Cake nowhere to be found. “Oh hello sweetie, Carrot is out.” I nodded and smiled. “Is my bag still here?” “Oh, yes, right there.” She gestured a little ways over from her, where my bag sat on the floor, leaning against a cabinet. Without saying much i walked over and slung it over me. “I’m going out for a while, I’ll see you both later.” “Alright dear, be safe, and remember your always welcome over for dinner.” I waved and then ran back into town.
I nearly ran a couple of ponies over when I was trying to run through the packed streets, but i was in such a hurry that I barely even said sorry. when I made it back to that eerily silent, and dark room, I trotted back to the stop i had made the first dash from. I was so happy I would finally be able to hook up this Turntable to something, after messing around with it for a time I finally got all the wires hooked up. When I first hit the switch, the dull buzz of the speakers kicking to life filled the room, and then the Turntables, they started spinning, but nothing came out. “Whats wrong with it?” It took me a moment in my overly excited state that this didn’t have an input of music, and my brother didn’t have enough money to buy a computer, so he always used Records. Luckily there was quite a few in milk crates next to the booth, and so I started pulling them out and looking at them, they were all by artist I had never heard of at the time. Instead of going through them all I just choose two that sounded good to me, I went back to the turntable, slapped those records on, flipped the fader over to one side, and then pushed the volume controls up.
I had apparently chosen well, or all the records were pretty good, because something wonderful started playing, it wasn’t Dubtrot, but it was electronic. Luckily my brother had told me what each of the controls did, what effect each little button did, and how to use them effectively. When I started the second record, much to my surprise it was Dubtrot, it was a little bit hard to mix the two together at first, but I got the hang of it after a couple of tries. Soon i had played over half a dozen Records on each side and my exhaustion was getting the better of me, the last thing I remember was me sliding the fader over, and then black.
The next thing I remember is being poked on my backside and an unfamiliar voice. “Hey are you a DJ?” I in my groggy state nodded. “Course I am, dont’cha see my Turntables?” and then attempted to roll over, only to my surprise there wasn’t anything to roll over onto except a small drop down the first step of the short flight of stairs up to the DJ booth. I heard laughter as I sat up and rubbed my head, then I turned to look and see who had woke me up from what was probably a more embarrassing position than I would like to think. A mare, probably only a few years older than myself, with an odd facial mask, and neon blue goggles. “So your a DJ huh? want to have a little competition then? Just for fun of course.” I raised an eyebrow, she was a DJ? well the more I thought about it, the more that part made sense, but she wanted to compete with me? “I’m known as Miss Kittin, and you?” I hadn’t even thought of a DJ name, was it required for the job? would she laugh if just used my name? Well I’m a pony, a DJ Pony. “I’m DJ P0N-3, spelled Pon-three.” I had thankfully learned that bit from my previous encounter with V3KT0R. “P0N-3 eh? never heard of you, but you probably have never heard of me. but lets be sure and give the crowd a good show tonight hmm?” I nodded and trotted back up to the booth where Kittin was standing, and moved over my Turntable so she would have enough room. She looked at my setup, the crate of records on the ground next to me, and set a laptop and turntable up on her portion of the table. I must have watching too closely as she remarked, “Don’t worry, lots of us started just like you, Turntable and records, if you keep at it though you’ll get a computer eventually too.” I smiled and tried not to stare so much. “Yeah, that would be great, switching these record can be a hassle sometimes.” she smiled and continued to set up her equipment.
Because no-pony had shown up yet I had asked if Kittin was thirsty and offered to go to a nearby vending machine and get us both something to drink, she said yes, and so I was off. I knew how to use a vending machine, they weren’t very common in Canterlot, but the High school had one in the lunchroom at the least. After getting a could of soda’s for us I ran back, only to find pony after pony flooding to get in. i stood looking at the makeshift like they had created, two or three ponies entering the door at a time, no chance of allowing anypony else in before any of them. and I wouldn’t have gotten back in if Kittin had’t pushed her way through the crowd screaming “I’m the DJ, let me through or there will be NO show!” This immediately caused anypony who heard it to stop and make a way through, once she was outside she looked at me. “There you are, everypony started showing up as soon as you left. We have to get started.” I nodded and followed her back inside, and up to the booth. “Hope you don’t mind if I start us off.” she said as soon as we got up there, and began playing her first song.
I soon learned that in a supposed competition the DJ’s take turns playing songs, mixing them with others in the middle, adding effects, and let the other DJ mix into their song, honestly there was no winner, just a good time is had by everypony, and that is exactly what we had. I learned new tricks from watching Kittin that close, and she remarked I was pretty good at switching and mixing considering that I was using records. But at the end of the night we all had fun, and then after we had taken down our equipment and were about to leave, Kittin told me. “You really should stick with it, you have the potential to become great, Pon-three. I'll see ya around.”
I should have been tired for the walk home, but I was just so filled with adrenaline that I felt like I could go on for hours. I rushed through the camp, and into my and Pinkie’s tent and was quickly tackled by her. Tears were running down her face and dripping onto me as she sobbed. “You- you disappeared for an entire day! not even a word of where you went! You told me your would be here for me, and then you went missing. I just- I thought I was alone again.” I wrapped my hooves around Pinkie, embracing her in a comforting hug. “I’m sorry Pinkie, I didn’t even think about how you would feel.” Her sobbing lessened as she took a more agressive tone. “Thats right, you didn’t think! Manehattan is a dangerous place, somepony could have kidnapped you, stolen your liver, or worse, sold you into slavery.”
I had never even thought of the dangers of being alone in a large city. Canterlot was well patrolled, crime virtually never happened there, and you heard little of the outer cities from the inside. “I- I’m sorry Pinkie, I didn’t realize. It wont happen again.” She finally returned my hug, her anger lessening. “I just don’t want something to happen to you, we have so much to do together. So what were you doing when you were gone anyways?” My face lit up as I regaled Pinkie with my tale of the past couple of nights, how I had met two DJ’s, and how much fun I had. During my telling be had moved to the bed, I was laying down, while she was sitting next to me. “You really are his sister. Ya’know maybe you really are up to take his role.” My face grew flush and I shot upright to look at her. “wh-wha-“ She began giggling at my flustered state. “Not like THAT.” she gave me a light push. “It takes more than that to get this mare.” she added before slapping a hoof over her own mouth, looking quite embarrassed herself. I only grinned and gave her a light push back before laying back down. “Wh-what I meant was in the camp, Zed held concerts for us, among other things. We should talk to Mac about it.
I agreed, anything that would let me play that music, to feel that excitement again. and so we set off towards Mac’s tent, the camp itself was fairly quiet, most of the ponies probably went into town, for entertainment or necessities. “Hey Pinkie, how do you know he’ll even be here?” I asked as we trudged along, her only response was. “Well because he’s Mac, duuuuh.” That slightly annoyed me, but I shrugged it off as something Pinkie would say no matter who she was talking to.
After a short walk, comparably from walking to and from the city, we reached the large tent I had initially entered when I told them I wanted to join the camp. Pinkie just bounded her way through the loose hanging tent flaps. “MaAaAac! I think Vinyl has what it takes.” Much to my surprise as i enter the tent myself, I hear Mac’s response. “Well, tha’s good ta’ know, now we can move on wit’ th’ plan.” “Plan, what plan?” I spoke as soon as the inside was visible.