Canterlot really is one hell of a place. On one hand you’ve got all of the fancy stuff, the Princess and all of the major institutes and universities and all of that stuff for smart people. Hell, I may not be the most educated of them but I’m damn good with magic. People are always surprised when I tell them I graduated from the university of magical studies. I have lots of friends, or at least people I know, in that area. The rich district is somewhere I don’t hate, but at the same time you wouldn’t catch me dead over there unless I had to be there.

On the other hand there’s the red light district, the slums, the poor district; everything not in the rich part of town really. There you’ll find the scum of the earth and some of the best people you’ll ever meet all in one place, it’s a pain telling two and two apart sometimes. Nightclubs, sex shops, shady alleys and even shadier deals made in them, run down and abandoned buildings, criminals and corrupted royal guards kicking something to death.

That’s where I live, and I love it. I’m no criminal, but without witnesses and the context of the situations I’ve found myself in I’d probably be charged with too many deaths and assaults to count. At least too many for me to bother trying to count.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not exactly some ruthless killer hiding behind excuses, but when you’re cornered in an alley against some ass hole trying to fuck you and stab you; in no particular order, shit happens.

As for the assaults, well, when you DJ the shadiest and most popular nightclubs in the city has its perks. The pay is good and you know you’re having fun when you’re dripping blood on the stage.

I don’t exactly live in the slums, it’s sort of a middle-class area right between the poor district and rich district. Pretty nice apartment, even by the more well off people’s standards. By my standards it was practically paradise. And by my standards it cost as much as paradise and the only reason I stay there is because the landlord thinks he gets to screw me as payment, but I’d rather go to prison than touch that bastard.

Yep, Canterlot sure is one hell of a place.

---

God damn I feel like shit…

I think I opened my eyes, but my vision didn’t change at all. After a few seconds of blinking, though, color started fading in. I sat up, my body was not happy with me at all.

“Fuck…” I groaned, rubbing my eyes sloppily. I coughed a few times, spitting out a glob of phlegm and what tasted like blood. My vision was mostly back now, I could make out red, white and blue flashing lights in a sea of blurred dark blue and black. I shielded my eyes as a blinding white light flashed in my face. It burned like hell, but when it went away I could see a hell of a lot easier. I recognized the nightclub I worked. There was a lot of broken glass and blood smeared all over the floor.

Suddenly there was a very sharp pain in my abdomen and I put my hand over it. I recognized that pain, who the fuck shot me? There was a groan behind me, I barely heard it. When I looked I saw a girl the same age as I was, but unlike me she was wearing clothes that told me she wasn’t from this part of town. Her fancy suit-like jacket was spattered with crimson. It was probably mine if she was behind me and I got shot, I saw no bullet hole so the fucker was still probably lodged somewhere in me.

“Are you alright?” I heard and looked back to find the source of the blinding light. A royal guard with a flashlight.

“The fuck does it look like?” I wheezed out, spitting out a bunch of blood that was starting to pool in my mouth. Shit, the bullet hit something important and now that my heart’s pumping faster it’s getting everywhere.

“What happened?” The guard asked after he called over medics, who immediately started using magic coated hands to heal the wound and extract the bullet.

“I don’t remember, fuck…” I started, but the guy with his hand on my wound decided that was the time to pull it out and I had to use all of my strength not to yell out every vulgarity I know; which would have taken minutes.

“Do you remember why you’re here?” The guard asked. I cried out just a little bit as the wound started stitching itself back together.

“Fuck! That hurts… god damn it I’m the DJ here, my guess is either a gang attack or someone was drunk enough to pull a gun.” I said, thinking out loud really. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve woken up in here like this, though the last time it was anywhere near this bad was that time I took a bottle to the head.

Now that I think of it that probably happened too, wouldn’t surprise me.

“I guess you don’t remember it then… There are four dead bodies here, none of them affiliated with any gangs we know of at least. “ The guard explained. I looked over to see more guards carrying body bags out.

“My father… He was wearing a suit…” The girl behind me said. There was a medic checking her out, he was tending to a gash on her head. She looked like she was concussed, Celestia knows how many times I’ve looked like that. The look on the guard’s face said that the girl’s father was in one of those bodybags. The way she kind of went limp against the wall she was leaning against and the look in her eyes said that she understood. There were a few guards and other medics tending to a couple more people, but it seemed like I was the most beat up.

“I know we’re gonna have to do a whole police report and fill out a shitton of paperwork and everything for this, but can you give us a few hours? I need to go home and take a shower at least…” I said to the guy that looked like he was in charge as he came over to check on us.

“Um… Are you sure? You were shot, I-” He started, I wanted to punch him too. I cut him off instead.

“No shit I was shot. I stink, my clothes stink and these guys are already done with me. If you want I can give you my address so if I’m not at the local station then you can come and drag my ass there yourself.” I said, getting to my feet. The medic freaked out, apparently he thought he wasn’t done. He must have been trying to heal it to the point where it didn’t scar, but I hang onto my scars. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds but finally sighed and started walking away.

“It’ll take us another hour or so to finish up here. If you’re not there by five I’ll figure out where you are.” He said as he walked. Good, I really need that shower. I looked over at the girl against the wall, she still had a blank look of horror on her face.

“Come on then little miss fancy, you need to get cleaned up too.” I said, pulling her to her feet. She didn’t respond and didn’t give me any resistance so I led her back to my place.

The landlord wasn’t there, surprisingly, and I finally got to see what time it was.

“3 am, great…” I mumbled as I led the girl to my room.

“You need to clean up just as much as I do, you can shower first. I’ve gotta find a clean outfit.” I said as I sat her down on the couch and went into my bedroom. It took a few minutes but I finally fished out some clothes that, at the very least, smelled clean and walked back. The girl hadn’t moved. I sighed and stood her back up. Shock was a pain in the ass.

It wasn’t the first time I’ve helped a girl shower like this, but it was certainly the strangest one of them, considering I was showering too instead of just helping out. I was starting to get a little frustrated when I had to put one of the sets of clothes I fished out of my room on her, but I let it fade away. She did just lose her dad.

“Hey, you need to talk to me here girl. Got a name? Remember anything from last night?” I asked softly, snapping my fingers in front of her face. It took a few seconds but she finally seemed to snap out of her shock. Slowly but surely her eyes started moving. She seemed startled by the unfamiliar surroundings, and the unfamiliar clothes.

“M-My name?... It’s… It’s Octavia.” The girl stuttered out in a whisper of a voice. That name jogged my memory, and a splitting headache, for some reason.

“Oh yeah, you and your dad booked the club. What was it, birthday or something?” I asked. That was about all I remembered though.

“Eighteenth… He wanted to show me what excessive drinking was like…” Octavia continued. She kind of trailed off, apparently she was having trouble remembering too. I remembered a bit more, now that my mind was on it.

“I think I remember pulling you up onto the stage, I do that to show people what it’s like from up there. I think there were a bunch of people storming in with guns and the rest is kind of a blur.” I recalled, though it was real fuzzy after that. I noticed Octavia’s expression contort into something I couldn’t quite read. It looked like confusion and embarrassment.

“I remember now that I should be surprised I remember what I do… I was as far from sober as you can get and still be conscious…” She said, again like a whisper. I remembered that now. I chuckled.

“We totally made out, right. Nothing like the first time you get wasted. I think someone tried to shoot you and I took it for you, or it might have been coincidence I don’t know.” I said, my memory coming back in full.

“You did, I remember you pushing me down. Before I hit my head on the mix table I heard the shot and felt something warm splatter all around me…” She explained. I remembered that now.

“Well shit, that wasn’t very smart of me. Shoulda looked where I pushed you. Anyways, we should probably get to the station before that captain loses his shit…” I said, holding my hand out. She took it and I helped her to her feet. She stood a bit shakily but only for a second. She looked down at her attire again and her face flushed up, more than when she remembered our drunken makeout session. I understood immediately.

“Yes, you’re not wearing any underwear under those jeans. And yes, I showered you. No, I’m not as perverted as a lot of guys around here, and your other clothes were stained through in blood and ruined. Come on, best to not think about it.” I listed off, holding the door open. She nodded and quickly left, I couldn’t help but smile. After helping her in the shower I was just fine walking behind her.

Author's Notes:

so I saw this one pic of Vinyl and decided I wanted to write a story from her perspective. This is what I came up with. The original pic didn't quite fit the final product so I used another one I already had, but either way enjoy and feedback is always welcome.
will up the rating to mature if I decide to take the dark tag a step further