Adventures With Toshio in Ponyville

by Midnight Leaf

Wubs

Almost immediately after Octavia’s groan, I turned around to see a white unicorn with shades almost identical to mine, wearing her mane in a crazy spiky-like fashion, colored navy blue and streaked with an electric blue stripe. She had a confident posture that dared you to throw anything her way, and was currently grinning at Octavia’s, (or “Tavi’s”) reaction.
“Who’s your friend?” the mare asked Octavia, turning her grin to me, “And why does he have such great taste in headwear?”
“I’m Toshio.” I said, returning the grin, I like this pony already. “I’m new in town, and Octavia was kind enough to lend me the spare room in your home.”
“Aw, Tavi, you got a crush?”
Octavia lifted her head up and glared at the unicorn. “No, I just thought it would be kind to lend him a helping hand in getting settled here.”
I silently watched the exchange, failing to hide a small snicker. Octavia sure doesn’t like this mare; though it sure is funny to watch them argue! Upon hearing my suppressed chuckle, Octavia turned her glare to me for just a second, her eyes saying shut up, before turning it back onto her arch nemesis.
“Excuses, excuses!” the mare said in a sing-song voice.
Octavia just rolled her eyes.
“So, Tavi, whatcha been up to? Besides attempting to make a new coltfriend, of course.”
“Well, I’ve been-“Octavia began.
“Oh, I almost forgot!” she interrupted. “Your coltfriend doesn’t know who I am!”
She sure likes to poke fun – and I mean a lot.
There was an awkward silence, followed by an annoyed voice: “Well? I’m waiting! How’s he to know who I am when you’re too lazy to introduce me?”
Octavia just sighed once again, still glaring at the unicorn, and reluctantly turned her head to me. “Toshio, this is my roommate…Vinyl Scratch.”
“Goddess of wub, and Queen of awesomeness! Vinyl boasted, standing on her hind legs and assuming a random pose.
“Nice to meet you, Vinyl.” I said, sticking my hoof out to shake.
“Likewise, Toshio.” Vinyl replied, grinning at me and turning the shake into a brohoof. “So, what brings you here to little old Ponyville? Where ya from?” Vinyl plopped down in between us, clearly intending to stay for a while, and started to (literally) try and wave over a waiter/waitress as I spoke.
“Well, I came here from Manehatten-“
“Hold it. Did you say Manehatten?” Vinyl interrupted me, hoof stuck in mid-wave, and turned to stare at me as I continued speaking.
“Um, yeah, I used to live there with my friend Gustwing, but I got tired of all the formality and how-”
“Everypony was too busy to talk…” Vinyl finished my sentence with me, suddenly looking a lot more reserved. “Yeah, I know the feeling; I used to live there too. Nopony would ever open up; even when they were at a rave, they weren’t too open either.”
Now it was my turn to be surprised. “You lived in Manehatten too? When did you come here, then?”
“I don’t know, maybe about a year and a half ago. I left for the same reasons you left.” Vinyl shrugged. “I ended up coming here and offering my services as a DJ, and I guess I became so popular, I just decided to stay. Even Pinkie Pie hires me sometimes, for very special parties. Surprising, considering she’s a pretty good DJ herself.”
“Pinkie Pie? You mean that weird pony that nearly killed my ears with her rapid-fire gasping and screaming?”
“Sounds like her!”
I shuddered, imagining the energetic pony bouncing around me, bombarding me with rapid-fire bullets of questions and exclamations.
“Looks like you met her,” Vinyl commented, clearly seeing my shudder, “don’t worry, you get used to Pinkie after a while. We’ve all gone through the things you’re experiencing right now.”
“That’s what Octavia said.”
Vinyl turned her shaded gaze over to Octavia, who was busy swirling around her straw in her drink, gaze distant. “Sounds like you’ve been teaching the newbie some tricks, Tavi!”
Octavia looked up, as though coming out of a dream, replied with a “Huh? Oh, yes, I’ve been telling him some things about Ponyville…” then went back to swirling her straw. What’s with her?
I leaned over to Vinyl and whispered in her ear: “Hey, why’s Octavia so zoned out?”
Vinyl glanced over at Octavia again, and then whispered back: “No clue, she tends to get like this when I’m around.”
I’m going to have to ask Octavia about that later… but for now, I guess I’ll just shrug it off and enjoy talking with Vinyl. After about a minute of awkward silence, I decided to change the subject. “So, do you design your own music? I mean, your cutie mark’s a pair of musical notes, so…”
“Well, yeah, why do you think I call myself the Goddess of Wub?” Vinyl scoffed in reply.
“Oh…yeah. By the way, what’s a wub?” I’d never heard the term before, as I never really had nighttime escapades in Manehatten.
Vinyl Scratch’s jaw dropped, and even Octavia seemed a bit surprised, looking up from her drink-swirling to stare. After yet another awkward silence, Vinyl took off her glasses and looked me in the eye with strikingly bright magenta eyes.
“Toshio, I think you need a lesson in awesomeness.” Her horn flared, and I was suddenly unceremoniously picked up and floated behind Vinyl as she put back on her glasses and started to walk out of the restaurant.
“Hey! What about my food?!” I protested, struggling against her spell.
Vinyl stopped only for a moment to turn back towards Octavia. “Tavi will box it up for you.”
“But-“
“But nothing, newbie. You aren’t going to be living in my house if you don’t know what wubs are!”
Before she could start dragging me away once again, I turned to Octavia, lifting my glasses up and putting on my best please help me look. She just shrugged in apology, and then Vinyl Scratch began to tug me back to her house, grinning like a foal.

Eventually, after bearing the brunt of many confused mares and stallions’ looks, Vinyl managed to get me in her house, up the staircase, and through her door without more than a few bumps on my head. She wouldn’t even let me walk up the stairs myself, so I just sat in her telekinetic hold, face in my hooves, waiting for Vinyl Scratch to let me go. As soon as we entered her room, she did so, but not after closing the door and locking it, undoubtedly to keep me from escaping.
Vinyl Scratch’s room was, in short, my room, but packed to the brim with different sets of electronic equipment. Her bed was exactly the same as mine, albeit with some decorations of records and such, and her walls were plastered with different posters, all having to do with either Vinyl Scratch herself, or things like records and musical notes. To my left was what looked like a table of sorts, adorned with various small and large knobs, sliders, etc. Vinyl was on it currently, headphones on, obviously preparing something for me to hear. To my right was a stack of various speakers, boom boxes, and other audio-blasting equipment. It looked like some of these speakers were hooked up to the table Vinyl was using; as I got closer, it appeared like all of them were. I took a hesitant step back, unsure of my safety, and turned to Vinyl, about to ask if having all those speakers set up was safe, and saw her take off her headphones, about to start whatever she had been working on. My original protest died in my lungs as she picked me up with her magic, and a new one arose: “Hey! What the-“
But Vinyl Scratch interrupted me before I could finish my protest: “LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!” She yelled, and slammed her hoof down on a button in the center of her setup.
At that moment, a lot of things happened: First, Vinyl released me from her magical grip, and went to work on her table, adjusting this slider, turning this knob just a smidgeon, etc. Second, I was thrown back by a sudden BOOM of bass from the speakers, and skidded into the wall next to Vinyl. Third, my ears were assaulted by a frenzy of beats, booms, synthesizers, and… I guess I should call them wubs. At first, my ears groaned in protest, but as I got used to the loudness of the song, it started to grow on me. My heart beat in time with every beat of the bass. My legs felt rejuvenated with every new wub that pulsed throughout the room. My blood pressure rose and fell with every fluctuation of the synthesizers. By the end of the song, adrenaline was pumping through my body, my heart was pounding, and I, in general, was so filled with energy that I felt like I was going to burst. I picked myself up from the floor, turned and gaped at a grinning Vinyl Scratch.
“What in Celestia’s name was that?!” I exclaimed, and that just widened Vinyl’s grin even more.
“That, my friend, was the best wubs in Equestria.” She bowed dramatically, and as she stood up again, she said: “Goddess of Wubs, at your service.”

“So that was called dubstep?” I asked, digging into the food Octavia had brought back from the restaurant. Vinyl and I had saw her come through the door, with three paper plates filled with food, as we exited Vinyl’s room and walked down the stairs. We were now in the kitchen, eating at the small table by the dishwasher.
“Yep. Most people like to call it wubs; sounds cooler.” Vinyl said between mouthfuls of her hay fries.
“Vinyl tends to turn up the volume… a bit loudly. Are you alright?” Octavia asked, turning her eyes on me; they were full of concern.
“I’m more than alright! I feel absolutely rejuvenated!” I exclaimed.
“Told ya you needed a lesson in awesome.” Vinyl snickered.
After that, we were too busy digging into our food to talk any more. Octavia dug in with us (she had saved her food to eat with us at the house), and we just ate in silence, shoveling food into our mouths with glee. As we finished, I turned to Vinyl and asked:
“Hey, do you know where I can find an electronics store in this town? I mean, you’ve got a lot of hardware in your room, and I couldn’t find any stores in town, so-“
“Oh, I built that equipment in there, man; best when you do it yourself, right?” Vinyl commented, leaning back in her chair and putting her hooves up on the table.
“Well, where did you get the parts then? I need some.”
“Oh, I have a guy in Fillydelphia who sends ‘em to me when I need ‘em.”
“Oh…” My good mood was thrown for a loop when I heard that, and I lowered my head to stare at my newly-emptied plate.
Octavia seemed to notice my sudden gloom, because she turned and asked me “Toshio, what’s wrong? You seem upset.”
“Yeah, dude, what’s got you in the dumps?”
“It’s just that I need some parts to start building computers to sell here; I won’t be able to stay for very long if I don’t have bits to pay you two for rent, and to pay for my meals.” I said gloomily, and kept staring at my plate.
“Dude, I can totally hook you up with some parts!” Vinyl exclaimed, slamming her front hoof on the table.
“Yes, and what made you think you needed to pay for rent?” Octavia chimed in, “You’re our guest, and we’re delighted to have you filling that old room upstairs.”
“But, how can you afford to house me? I mean, didn’t you move here, Octavia, because you were becoming broke?”
“Well, yes, but ever since I moved here, to Ponyville, things have picked up a lot more. You’d be surprised how many ponies like classical music here.”
“And my wubs make enough bits to keep us going for a long time!” Vinyl grinned.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. These two ponies, who I had just met today, were letting me stay in their home for free. And on top of that, it looked like I was going to be able to get a hold of parts and start making my computers again. I felt a tear run down my face. Octavia just smiled at me, and Vinyl had on her signature grin, beaming my way.
“Thanks, you two. You’re the best friends a guy could hope for.” I managed to say, smiling, then reached out and pulled them into a surprised group hug from across the table, tears of happiness streaming down my face.

Comments

[sierra_seven_]

Sees in recent update list. 1 upvote.
Here, have another.

[Midnight Leaf]

1199873 Thanks

[Insanity PKlegend]

1200881
Awesome chapter. like i said it was awesome no doubt.

[Midnight Leaf]

1202183 Yeah I kinda rewrote it a few times; I just didn't feel like I was getting Vinyl's character right. This is third version, and I think it captures her character fine this time