Neon lights blanketed the city, the skyline's clouds lit with their glaring colors. Manehattan was as if a living being, an illuminating insomniac. It seemed the city never slept, always chattering, always breathing. Its inhabitants acting as blood, surging through its concrete veins from one sector to the other, using the towering buildings as cover from the night.
Within its heart, a tower lined with surging neon lights acted as its heartbeat, pounding with a rhythm the ponies within its walls could dance to with very much ease. The beats were as if Morse code, and the dancers were their translators. The dance floor within shook, dozens upon dozens of hooves moved across its surface erratically.
Sitting in a booth high above them all, controlling the dance floor and the life that stood upon it themselves like a goddess, one lone unicorn moved with them to mixes. She was controlling every nob, every lever in that small space with just a blink or flick of her head. Records levitated around her in a blue aura, sweat dripped down her face, back and legs.
This was the life she lived, the only life she's ever known how to live.
Though beyond her dark tinted glasses, a dark force lurked in the shadows and her life would then change...
Forever...
~*~*~
Down to the streets of the city, ponies dared not venture out at night. The cracked sidewalks and littered streets, occasional newspapers flowing through the wind, a near ghost town the heart of the city was at that time of night.
Lurking in the alleys, scum and muck, hostiles waited and preyed on the unsuspected and those unfortunate to have taken the dark paths between the skyscrapers.
Taking brisk steps into the dimly lit alley way, two mares hidden under hoods and black trench coats, embarked on their journey through the city limits. They were of different proportions between each other, one tall and more slim, the other far shorter but more fuller in form.
As they came across a flickering alley lamp, both mares stopped, as they heard hoof steps from behind. Turning around, the shorter mare spotted four stallions, ruff and ragged in appearance.
"Well well," one of the stallions said, taking a step towards the mares, "looks like yous two's is lost."
"Yeah," another stepped forward, "real lost."
The taller mare stepped besides her companion, whispering into her ear.
"What?!" The first stallion's voice echoing in the shadows. "Can't hears ya! Might wanna speak louder so we cans all hear!"
The mares flinched, looking back towards the approaching stallions.
"Our business is not with you or your gang." The shortest mare spoke, her voice light with a Canterlot accent, but remained firm. "Please let us be on our way, or we-"
"Oh! Look out, boys!" The stallion said, holding his hooves up in mock fear. "Theys gonna get rough with us!"
"Yeah!" The second stallion repeated. "Rough!"
The four stallions then charged at the mares, cruel intentions strong in their eyes as they closed in. If only they knew the cruelty of their actions, and of the cruel life they chose for themselves in their life times. If only they had manners, and maybe some proper grammar. If only they known of the mares' origin, or of their identities.
If only the stallion leading the three others had known, before being kicked in the face by the shorter mare.
His ragged form flew back past the other stallions, all too distracted and alarmed to see the other mare jump and flip over them, removing her trench coat and throwing down a smoke bomb.
"Hey!" A one of the three stallions shouted, choking on the smoke along with his companions. "What the hay is up with deez broads?"
"That's not a very nice term for a lady..." A seductive voice whispered from behind him, just as he was taken up off his hooves and thrown to the ground back first. He watched in agony as after having the wind knocked out of him, a slim figure flipped over his grounded form into the smoke, only but a shadow highlighted by the dim lighting of the alley.
He watched as she moved through the smoke towards his brothers, kicking out a hind leg to one's abdomen, and throwing a hoof into the other's face. She flipped horizontally, wrapping her hind legs around the first stallion's head, and then flinging him to the ground.
Just outside the cloud of smoke, the other mare, still hidden under her hood fought the leader. He threw a punch, but she deflected it and threw one back. She could her the anger growing in his grunts, feel in his strikes. She gritted her teeth as she dipped under another failed strike by the stallion and jumped, turning a full 360 degrees before attempting a sicken kick to the stallion's skull, but fell short.
The stallion grabbed her leg just before the impact, sending her to the ground before lifting her up once more, only to send her sailing into a dumpster off to the side with a loud bang. She groaned, trying to stand but was silenced by a sudden strike to the stomach by the stallion, followed by another. He finally held her up against the dumpster, his hoof tightening against her neck
"Just who do yous two thinks yous is," He growled, adding pressure to the mare's windpipe, "thinkin' we's some ch-"
The stallion was silenced as the mare's hind leg struck up between his hing legs.
Well, he wasn't silenced. His vocal range was duly noted by the mare as it rose in pitch, letting her go and being knocked backwards back towards the rumble.
As the smoke subsided, the other three stallions laid in one pile, their cotton pink attacker stood amongst them powdering her muzzle. Her candy pink mane hung over the side of her face, her horn stuck out from under it.
"Are you alright The shorter mare asked, walking towards her partner.
"Yes," the limber mare spoke elegantly, closing the mirror she levitated before her face, "I am, thank you. Are you?"
"I'm fine." Her companion answered, holding a hoof to her neck. Her partner watched her, her violet eyes scanning her. "I am, Fleur. Really."
She nodded, grabbing her coat with her magic and putting it back on. "Well...it appears they had underestimated us."
"Severely," her partner replied, raising a smoke grey hoof her coal black mane out of her magenta eyes. "Shall we continue? The location isn't much farther now."
"Yes, lets." The unicorn replied. "After you."
~*~*~
"Cherry Bombs to Screen Shot, Cherry Bombs to Screen Shot," she spoke into the transmitter.
"Ugh, these code names are so stupid." The grey mare groaned.
The first mare rolled her eyes. "We have reached our location on top of the FaxStar building."
"Good work, agents." A voice wrapped in static said. "Agent Melody, have you spotted the target yet?"
High above the rooftops, hidden amongst the night and sky, the two mares had ascended up to their objective. The grey mare, Agent Melody, sat with binoculars looking across to an neon lit tower ten blocks away, whilst Agent De Lis stood by handling a radio.
Agent Melody looked closer, slightly adjusting the binoculars' settings. "No...no...wait. I think I see something."
"What is it?" The voice on the radio asked.
"Let me see," Agent De Lis said, taking the binoculars from Agent Melody.
Holding the binoculars to her eyes, she saw that at the foot of the tower, six unmarked trucks blocked the street, and a crowd of security at the door. Beside them, a line of ponies stretched pass the trucks and further down the block, all dressed in vibrant colors and wore glowing rings around their necks and hooves.
"I...I can't believe it." Agent De Lis said.
"Yes." The voice spoke. "Our target, only known in the data base as Hawthorne, will be somewhere in that-"
"Dance club?" Agent Melody asked, astonished. "You have got to be kidding me!"
"This is very serious, Agents. I'm afraid that whatever documents Hawthorne has in his possession might be connected to the Griffin-base attacks." Screen Shot confirmed. "If we let him slip by this time, we may never know where he'll resurface..."
"...If he ever does again." Agent De Lis finished, turning to Agent Melody.
"We can't afford to have this opportunity to disappear." Screen Shot explained. "We sent you two to Manehattan for this reason, we know that tomorrow night Hawthorne will be attending this club with its owners. If you can't obtain the plans then, we may not be able to stop whoever is behind all this," he concluded, "are we clear?"
"Yes." Agent De Lis answered for her and her partner, who was staring down into the city below.
"Good." Screen Shot said. "Report back to me when you have completed your mission. Screen Shot, out."
Agent De Lis stood on that roof top, the wind blowing through her mane and teasing at her fur.
She turned to her partner, walking to stand beside her. "Octavia, come on. Is this really the worst thing we've had to do to obtain information?"
"Yes." Agent Melody answered, quickly.
Agent De Lis rolled her eyes. "You're being over-dramatic, we've gone dancing before. Anyway, this is for the mission. For the fate of Equestria. For-"
"Yes, yes quit it." Agent Melody sighed. "I get it. Let's find a place to stay for the night."
~*~*~
She could just barely make out her name over the bass and synth.
Her real name, not her stage name.
Feeling the hooves she's learned to love wrap around her waist, she felt the heat of another body pressing itself against her back, the hot breath at her neck. One of her hooves found the flank of the body pressed against her, using the other to flip a switch, closing the shutters to her booth above the dance floor.
Turning around, her breath was cut short as a pair of teal lips stole her's in a split second. Her eyes snapped open, the sudden taste and feeling of a tablet pressed into her mouth by way of the unicorn's tongue surprising her only for a moment. Hidden behind her tinted shades, they closed as she melted into the kiss, wrapping her hooves around the unicorn and pressing her against the booth's door. She pinned the unicorn's hooves to her sides, pulling back to take in the sight of the blushing mare in her grasp with Discord's grin.
The teal unicorn stared at her with great need, her golden eyes catching her own through the glasses. They were than removed, a golden aura surrounding them as they were tossed onto the synthesizer. As the need grew within herself, she leaned in, stealing the teal unicorn's lips this time. Her hooves removed themselves from the unicorn's and trailed down to her flanks, finding the lyre cutie marks and keeping them there.
This was simply another average night to the alabaster unicorn. In her mind, fireworks went wild and her nerves went estatic, the exstasy taking its control over the DJ.
This was the life of Vinyl Scratch.
But for how long?