//------------------------------// // Pinkie Pie: Ratatat ch 1 // Story: L.I.P: Pinkie Pie- Ratatat // by PegasYs //------------------------------// We were accommodated in a small room, with only two seats. A huge mixing board to the left of us and a coffee table in between, with scripts and various other papers and documents nestled sporadically in semi-organized piles. The silence in the room seemed to bounce off the white tiled walls and carpeted flooring. I gave a look to my partner, who turned to me and, with a wry smile on her face, flipped a switch on the mixing board. The red light was on. Time to go to work. “Good morning everypony, This is your one and only DJ Pon-3 reporting the what’s what in Ponyville and all over Equestria. For today’s show, we have the usually rockin’ tunes, with a very special guest interview with… Ratamacue! That’s right! The very same pony who is known as the drummer for the one and only Mane Street Band! Can’t wait! But first, here’s Sapphire Shores with her latest single…” She clicked the track and turned off the room mics, then turned to me and started telling me about what was going to happen in the interview. I wasn’t really listening, not that I have anything to worry about. Vinyl Scratch never ceased to amaze me, how flawlessly and seamlessly she gets her point across to her listeners, and how smoothly her voice rolled out over the speakers. The voice of Ponyville. The queen of the Equestrian airwaves. “…And then it’s all downhill from there… did you get any of that? We go live in 10 seconds. Are you ready?” She must have picked up on the blank look on my face… “Ready as I’ll ever be.” I said to her with a slight wink and smirk out of the corner of my mouth. She clicked back on the room mics just as the song finished, “I have sitting with me in my warm and cozy studio the one and only Ratamacue from the new big thing in Canterlot, The Mane Street Band. So close I can just reach out and touch him and, let me tell ya mares out there, he’s quite the handsome stallion. So tell us, Ratamacue, how does it feel to come from nothing to being part of one of the biggest musical sensations in Ponyville?” The words were flowing from my mouth as she kept firing question after question at me. I was looking her over as I sweet talked my way through the overwave interview. She was just the perfect kind of spunky, sexy mare that made me want to become a superstar in the first place. Her soft gray coat, her striking blue mane, and those glasses she always seemed to be wearing whenever she was doing her work. She looked even more attractive with them off. But I’ve only had one chance to see behind those glasses. I wanted to make more opportunities to see them off her… “There you have it fillies and gentlecolts, straight from his mouth to your ears, the story and future of the sensation that’s sweeping the Equestrian nation. Now let’s listen to their newest single, ‘Stuck in the Saddle…’” She turned off the room mics one more time, and turned to me with a seductive smile on her face, “You did wonderful, Ratamacue, you’re still planning on helping me DJ for this year’s Summer Sun Celebration, right?” She had a look on her face that seemed almost pleading. Then again, it was kind of hard to tell what facial expression she was making with those damn glasses on. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I replied suavely, as I got up to take my leave so as not to cause trouble for the rest of Vinyl’s radio show. “Great, got any plans afterwards?” “I figure I’ll just go where the night takes me.” Play it casual, don’t act too interested, then you’ve got them in the bag… “The night can find you in some pretty strange places, why don’t you play it safe and accompany me after the celebration?” This was too easy. I turned to walk out the door, then, giving her a glance back, I responded, “We’ll see…” I returned to my temporary apartment-home in Ponyville to look my best for the Summer Sun Celebration, making haste through the busy streets and marketplace. I reached the front of my door and opened it with my magic, and stepped inside to the small but cozy room that I would be calling home for the next few days. Stepping into the bathroom, I took a long look into the mirror to see what the early morning damage would be. My grey-blue coat was looking great as always, my white mane just the perfect amount of messy. I didn’t see the need to put anything on for the party, seeing as nopony wears clothes on a regular basis anyways. What’s the point of putting on clothes if it’s socially acceptable to go without? There are some things I’ll never understand about high society ponies… I grabbed an apple from the complimentary minifridge and lay down on the bed, planning on taking a quick power nap before the big celebration. I lay there for a good long while, just thinking about how I came to be where I am right now. A few months ago I was nothing but a nopony, with a rag-tag garage band from Seaddle who wanted to make it big. Now I’m getting called up between tours to talk on local radio and to co-host and DJ one of the biggest parties of Equestria. Sometimes life is good to those who really don’t deserve it. My thoughts drifted to Vinyl, and what kind of plans she might have in mind for after the party. It occurred to me then that “after” the party would be the morning, since the party ends with the raising of the sun by Princess Celestia. Something tells me she didn’t really think that through, and I hadn’t really thought about it until just now. Still, the thought of spending some personal time with DJ Pon-3 herself sent shivers down my spine. Again my I began to wonder just how lucky one buck could be as I drifted off to sleep… I waited patiently, stationed behind the mixing board and speaker system placed stage left at the dance floor in the middle courtyard of Ponyville that would host the party to kick off the Summer Sun Celebration. The snooze I had taken in my cozy apartment left me feeling refreshed and excited about the night to come. Citizens of Ponyville were already beginning to show up, stopping to talk to other partiers and making casual conversation, apprehensively waiting for the dancing to kick off. One of my favorite parts of being on the stage has always been pony-watching, looking out into whatever crowd I would be playing for and just watching ponies, stallions dressed up nice (or not so nice, depending on the gig) and mares and their always attractive clothing (or lack thereof). This was turning out to look like a rather mixed crowd, with the many different cliques and age groups converging on the platform to join in the festivities. The kick-off wasn’t scheduled to start for another hour, and it seemed that over half of Ponyville was already in attendance. It struck me as strange that they were hosting the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville for the second year in a row. As far as I know, the venue had changed every year. Maybe Celestia had acquired a soft spot for the little town… I was pumped! The same kind of pumped I always get before a show with the band, or any time I get on a stage really. I turned to Vinyl, who was at the turntables next to me. She gave me a look and that mischievous little smile she seems to give me a lot lately. If she hadn’t been wearing those glasses, I probably would have seen her winking at me, judging by the way she gave me a little head turn-smile combo. I looked at the stage we were situated on, and saw the pedestal from where Celestia would do the honor of raising the sun in front of the crowd of awestruck ponies. This really was a bigger honor than I was feeling at the time. To be fair, I was really excited at the time, not really acting entirely flattered with the entrustment of such an important job. 30 minutes left! I turned back to the crowd, and continued my session of pony-watching. I noticed two unicorn mares talking, one with a pretty lavender coat and purple mane with pink highlights. She was showing the other, a white coated mare with an extravagant purple mane, various magic tricks, particularly the ability to grow daisies on any patch of grass she pointed her horn at. Lavender coat was cute, and very easy on the eyes, but white coat was absolutely breathtaking! I took a good long look at the beautiful mare, and then turned to the rest of the crowd. There was an adorable pegasus mare with pink hair and a soft yellow coat waiting in line for punch, which in retrospect was kind of a waste of time because other ponies kept cutting in front of her in line, as she would sheepishly try to get their attention to her presence. I felt kind of sorry for her; she was too cute to have to put up with that. I turned my attention to the other side of the square, and spotted the orange earth pony running the snack stand talking to… WHO WAS THAT? She was talking to… one of the most fantastic looking earth ponies I’ve ever seen. Her coat was a bright, powerful pink, her mane a similar but darker shade of pink. She was pretty, but something about her just struck a cymbal in my mind. I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it at the time, but I knew that I would have to go talk to her later once the party got going. “Hey Rattie… the parties about to start, get ready.” Aw, that was cute; she came up with a nickname for me. I would have been a little more turned on by this, but my mind was stuck on the pink pony in the crowd. I looked to where she had been standing, but instead found her clear across the field, barking at somepony who had cut in front of the yellow Pegasus. How did she get over there so fast? I only looked away for a second… The lights dimmed, the crowd fell silent (the scene has been set!) A lone mare appeared on the stage, with a spotlight trained on her… “Hello everypony!” The very official looking pony started, “Welcome to the formal party to kick off the Beginning of the Summer Solstice! I won’t bore you too much with a long speech, I’ll save that for the morning, but for now, let the party begin!” Her words were followed by loud cheering and hoof pounding from all the ponies in attendance. Vinyl took her place at the record players, and I began the preset playlist she had made. The party had official begun! The music was hard, the floor was shaking, and ponies were dancing all over the place. Vinyl was tearing at the tables, mixing the beat with expertise that I could never muster. She was doing two records by hoof, and one of the records she seemed to be scratching with her magic, and another with the tip of her horn. I was really kind of funny to watch, she really gives her all into the work she does. I was adding samples and interesting beats and bass hits to put icing on the cake, nothing too hard, considering how powerful my sense of rhythm is. It didn’t take long for the excitement and intensity in what I was doing start to wane. The clock had already struck midnight. Vinyl told me it would be cool if I wanted take a break. I happily accepted, both for my need to take a break and my desire to mingle into the party, if only for a few minutes. I shimmied my way through the crowd on the floor and made it over to the punch table. It was a waste of time, considering somepony had drank all the punch and was now wearing the bowl like a hat, much to the enjoyment of his friends. I sighed, I was really thirsty. I guess I’ll go buy a drink from the sales-mare. I floated my drink behind me, and walked to the gazebo at the back of the park. Behind it, there was a wall that marked the edge of the courtyard. There were a bunch of adolescent ponies lying on the floor, locking muzzles, even some others doing less wholesome activities. I decided that’s not really a place I wanted to be at the moment, and made my way back to the dance floor. I danced for a good while turning to a few mares and getting a little dance session with each one before turning to the next one. I even danced with the nerdy-cute looking lavender mare I saw earlier. For such a studious looking unicorn, she really did know how to cut loose. I turned around from my last dance partner and… I was looking straight at her. The pink earth pony. I gave her a small smile and started dancing to the beat Vinyl was laying down. She returned the smile and locked eyes with me, came in close, and started mimicking my movements. I smelled… peppermint? It was rolling off her breath as she panted slightly from exertion. She stopped following me, and gave an incredibly cute, high pitched giggle. “Heehee! Now you follow me!” She started swaying to the beat. Naturally, I started doing the same. She started moving faster. She wasn’t following the beat anymore, my inner drummer was screaming, but I followed her anyway. She was now at double speed, and I started panting heavily. Then she did something crazy… she got up on her hind legs, crouched down, crossed her forelegs in front of her, and started kicking her legs forward. I tried to follow her, but ended up falling on my flank, much to my embarrassment. “You’re really fun!” She positively beamed, her coat beaded with sweat, her blue eyes shimmering. The way she was standing over me was… kind of arousing. “What’s your name?” “Ratamacue” I answered as I righted myself. “THAT’S A FUN NAME!” She yelled, and then proceeded to say it over and over again. When she was done, she turned her attention back to me, “I am Pinkamena Diane Pie, but you can call me Pinkie. Wanna come get some punch with me?” She added without hesitation. “I would love to, but I have to go back to the stage. I’ve been gone too long.” She looked put down, so I added, “but you can meet me after the party’s over. M-maybe we can meet up for the raising of the sun?” I stammered out. Dang, did I just… ask her to watch the sunrise with me? I feel like this might be moving fast. She lit up, and instantly replied, “Oki-Doki Loki!” and gave me the cutest smile I’ve ever seen. The fast electronic beat ended, and gave way to a much slower, rock ballad of sorts. She gave me a look, and when I met her eyes, she turned her head down, gave a delightfully awkward smile, and blushed. The act was kind of strange, as she was already pink. “Well, I can’t leave now,” not that I really needed to, this was probably Vinyl’s way of taking a break, “I need to slow dance with somepony before the night is over…” She lit up again; her eyes went wide for a second before going a little softer. She blushed even harder. I found it weird; she seemed so outgoing when the music was intense. Why would she have any reason to blush? She leaned in close, and we both started swaying again to the much slower beat. She took a step closer and passed my head with hers, using my neck as a support for hers, in a sort of embrace. We were swaying together, in the middle of the floor. It felt so wonderful to have her touching me, her hot neck pressed against mine, her warm breath lapping against me. I smelled her mane… cotton candy? I was lost in the sensation of it all. The song ended too soon. We parted, and I gave her one last look. I looked down at the ground, rubbed the back of my neck with my hoof and gave an awkward chuckle, “I should get back to the stage…” “Kay, see ya later Ratamaratadamacue!” She turned to join her friends as the heavy electronic music started back up. She gave me a glance back and blushed once more, and disappeared into the croud. I guess I really was going where the night would take me. It was now 3 a.m.; the party had died down a little bit. Ponies had gone to their homes to get at least a little sleep before the sunrise ceremony. Some ponies, including Pinkie Pie, were still going as if the party had just started. She was dancing with the two unicorns I saw earlier, the yellow mare I saw at the punch bowl, and the orange earth pony who abandoned her stand to join the festivities, leaving a frazzled looking light yellow filly with a maroon mane running the catering. There was also an extremely sleepy looking light blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane who I did not see at the party earlier. She looked like she had just waked up. My suspicions were reinforced by the huge yawn she gave. Vinyl stopped violently raping the turntables, and gave me a sexy look, “So… you wanna head to my place after the party and have a little… morning delight?” She had clearly been drinking. Strange how feelings toward a mare can change the instant you meet somepony who changes your perspective toward other mares. “Well… remember how I said I would see where the night would take me? Yeah… I kind of made plans with somepony else after the party…” I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, after I had heavily implied that I would meet up with her yesterday. She gave me a sour look, “Who could possibly be better company than me? Oh… OH! DON’T TELL ME YOU MADE PLANS WITH PINKIE PIE!” She burst out into a very drunken laughing fit. “Maybe I did… What’s wrong with that?” I was getting kind of mad at her, for her outburst and her obvious disapproval of the mare that I found absolutely… I don’t exactly know how to describe her. “Dude, she’s never dated before. As far as I know, she’s a one trick pony. All she’s ever done is party and talk. I don’t think she’s capable of romantic feelings. I don’t even think she has ever looked at another pony with attraction.” With the way she had danced with me at first, and how she was dancing right now, I would have believed Vinyl. But the way she blushed when the slow song came on… It was clear that she felt embarrassed about wanting to slow dance with me. She probably wasn’t used to wanting to do something romantic with a pony. “Whatever, she seems pretty cool and we’re going to watch the raising of the sun in the morning together.” “Alright man, but let me just tell you, you’re missing out…” She looked kind of hurt as she returned to violating the records. I went back to my job, and continued to watch the adorably eccentric party pony doing dance move after impossible dance move.