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// Vinyl's Aggravation  
// Story: DJ's Frustration 
// by The Great Wub Tub 
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        The musical mare released a loud sound of displeasure, lifting up the record she’d been pouring over the past hour with her magic, before hurling it out like a frisbee at high speeds, the black vinyl twirling through the air before colliding against the soundproofed wall, falling against the floor without as much of a crack or a mark of damage. The white mare glared at the record, huffing softly, before just letting out a small sigh and slumping against the wall, sliding down till she sat upon her ass. The frustration was enough to lay the framework for the beginnings of a headache in her brain. 
        This should have been easy. Simple. Just a little exercise of sound mixing to stay on the tips of her hooves, keep her edge. Get prepped for her next big project! Why, than, was she finding this so difficult! It was probably easy for the other DJs of the field, like Neon Lights. No, especially like damn Neon Lights! He might have played coy and pretended to only be good at light shows, but Vinyl knew he was up to something! Him and those stupid, style thieving glasses! He’d probably get it perfect, like Vinyl was trying to do!! The frustration was enough to make Vinyl Scratch groan once again, just flailing her legs about, kicking and punching the padding around her like some form of little filly, till her tantrum had run its course, and she was simply huffing once again.
        A few heavy breaths later, and the remix mistress began to rise to her hooves, slowly stretching out her body from head to forehoof to tail, before just sighing. Her magic gripped the record that she’d thrown across the room, before hovering it over and looking over the vinyl. No dinks or scratches, something else to be thankful for. Vinyl considered it for a few moments, before slipping the record back into it’s sleeve, and sliding it into one of the many shelves that surrounded her home station DJ booth. If she even thought about putting the thing on again, she might just end up bucking the wall behind her or breaking something.
        Instead, Vinyl Scratch simply began to take out other, older sleeves, holding much older records. Things that she had recorded in the past, some covered in dust, but some much more new. Vinyl looked over her work, one by one as they floated by. The cover art on some of the sleeves made her snort slightly, the sheer goofiness of it. Some in crayon, some done on a computer in a sloppy manner, all Vinyl. A smile began to creep onto her face, as she observed more of her creations, till finally a solo sleeve caught her gaze. The mare placed the rest of the collection back in place, before pulling this sleeve close to herself, taking it in her hooves to look it over.
        It was old, worn, and dusty, obviously having not been pulled out for quite sometime. The mare turned it so that the front was facing her. What looked back was a simple thing, just a photograph of herself and Octavia, taped onto the sleeve. It had been winter, and the pair were outside, bundled up like marshmallows, sticking extra close...for warmth, of course. It had been back when they first started dating, Lyra goofing off in the background coining Vinyl into who had taken the picture, Bonbon. The way she and Octavia looked at one another warmed her heart.
        Vinyl’s eyes glanced to the writing on the picture, in the margin underneath of it. ‘Winter’s Duet’ it read simply. The white unicorn shrugged, before her horn lit up. Her magic gripped the vinyl record within, before slowly pulling it out of the sleeve, moving very carefully as to not rip or tear or cause any damage. Vinyl considered the record carefully, before slowly floating it over and setting it down onto the turntable, lifting up the needle and setting it onto the record’s surface. She fiddled slightly with the sound, working to get it perfect for pure listening, before stepping back and hitting the play button.
        A soft melody instantly started up, filling the room, the sound of cello strings being met by their bow sliding their way into Vinyl’s ears. The mare took a seat on her rump, closing her eyes and focusing on the music. Vinyl could see it now in the dark, the musical lines taking shape, each note appearing one by one in front of her, a light purple glow to it all. Octavia, that was the cellist, Vinyl could pick out her clarity from a thousand cellos if need be. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, the mare simply just listening.
        The strings went on for a few more minutes, alone and solo, unadulterated in their solitude. That is, before new sounds began to enter into the mix. The steady thumping of a beat being set, soft and submissive to the strings, but there, entering into Vinyl’s mind like blue snowfall. First came the beat, the strings following it, or it being set by the strings, before more began to come. A slight electric call in the darkness, a soft whisper of reverb of the strings, before it all began to build up. A symphony of synthetic sound, all obeying the will of Octavia’s strings, the harmony of it bringing a grin onto Vinyl’s face. She could see it, clear as day, the strings twisting forward, the beat falling like snow, a forest being shaped for the strings to frolic through. It was all so...so…
        Vinyl’s eyes suddenly snapped open, a grin growing across her face, her horn lighting up to lift the needle off of the record. Vinyl stepped back up to her turntables, looking over the set up, before grinning at the picture of herself and Octavia set to one corner. The small sticky note stuck to the corner, written by herself, made her chuckle. 
        “Don’t forget the anniversary coming up, dummy!” it read off, getting Vinyl to chuckle a bit more, facing forward and grabbing a brand new record. Oh, she wasn’t going to forget that, and now she had a much better idea of what to craft for her wife, the ring shimmering softly at the base of her horn.
        Outside, snow began to softly fall around the small house at the edge of Ponyville.