As Obscurus was passing control of Camp Break O' Dawn to her new idol/musical acquaintance Diamond Diablo, Eight Track was waiting backstage.
"You burned down the house tonight, Arakiss Fremare! I don't even think a single adjective is enough to describe that set." complimented Eight Track.
"I was saving a lot of my big IDs for tonight." explained Obscurus. "Wave got me hooked on psytrance recently, and it's been rubbing off."
"Yeah; it really suits the 'stuck in the middle of the desert with a ton of interesting quadrupes' vibe that's been going on here." Eight Track noted.
"It's nice when you're performing for like-minded individuals who appreciate artistic experimentation and expression," acknowledged Obscurus, "The drop on 'Omnes' sounded much better on some of the speaker setups here than it did at the studio. I had concerns that everypony would hate it, but it may end up becoming my new signature track at this rate."
Obscurus also noticed that, for the first time since Sunday, Eight Track was actually wearing the aviator outfit he had made for the Gathering.
"Also, you are looking like one sharp fighter pilot tonight, Track!" Obscurus observed, as she petted him on his chin.
"I should have used a more breathable fabric rather than going for historical accuracy." he elaborated. "It felt like I was going to be the flying pony who bursts into flames tomorrow night."
Craving some shut-eye after a long day, the two ponies began to journey back to the Tanta-bus.
"Speaking of ponies burning into flames, did you end up getting everything ready for tomorrow?" asked Eight Track.
"Yep. I managed to get a live timeslot on a little radio station here starting at 10." Obscurus answered. "The Blazicorn bonfire happens at 11, so I'll have time to figure out if I can enchant their transmitter to amplify the range of my spell."
"That must've been difficult; you'd think every big musician would be fighting for such a prized timeslot." wondered Eight Track
"Diablo told me that it's actually the opposite; they save the big headliners for the afterparty when everypony comes back from watching it." clarified Obscurus.
"It's the main attraction, wouldn't want to distract from it I guess." Eight Track acknowledged.
"The radio station's owner told me they usually just go on autopilot during the burn so her staff could watch it together, and then shut it down afterwards." elaborated Obscurus. "But they said I could go on as long as I want, and maybe even bring friends on."
"Well, I wouldn't mind playing one more set before we start to pack things up, Miss Fremare." Eight Track suggested flirtatiously, winking.
"Of course!" she confirmed. "Definitely can't leave you out!"
The pair took a moment to rest their legs under the shade of abstract, pink-colored palm trees.
"Obscurus, is there a reason why you're still going on with Project Euphorius?" wondered Eight Track.
"Yes, actually." she responded. "When you've put so much effort into something, you just can't turn back when you're this close. Like I said, it's about giving a new art form legitimacy, and giving a treat to the veterans who believe that silly legend about the monster under the sand."
"I thought it was about scaring away the newbies that are here just for EDM, and don't understand the artistic side of the proceedings?" Eight Track asked.
"If my conversations with some of the artists here were any indication, they would probably consider that an improvement." admitted Obscurus, chuckling for a moment afterward.
Reaching the edge of Duskgem and their campsite at the House of Pancakes, Obscurus and Eight Track took a moment to bask in the glow of their nearby totem sculpture before heading off to bed.
"Train and Wave did a nice job on those, don't you think?" wondered Eight Track.
Obscurus agreed on the matter; "I've overheard ponies talking about the other ones, so they're being noticed for sure. Though everyone definitely noticed when one fell apart yesterday."
"Not surprised. Wave told me that some of them were actually getting vandalized with weird graffiti too." Eight Track noted. "There are places here that let you do that, but I don't think we intended the totems as one."
The idea of graffiti suddenly gave Obscurus an idea.
"Hold on; I think I know how we could pull off some some last-minute promotional activities..."
"Like what?" asked a curious Eight Track.
"You'll see." teased Obscurus. "Also, speaking of Train and Wave, where are they?"
"They said they were going to try and attend this secret show by some hardstyle group they like." Eight Track elaborated. "Wave said that unlike other rumors like this, it's got more credibility than the nonstop jokes suggesting Daft Poney was going to be here at some ridiculously specific location."
Back at Camp Break O' Dawn, Sun Beamer and Blast Furnace were mainly lounging around, chatting with others about their desert adventures and musical tastes. They were meeting equines and cattlekind from around the country, with someone having come all the way from Baltimare. They also bumped into two ponies who they knew were likely from Seaddle...
"Hey there, Sun! Didn't expect to see you here!" exclaimed Train Spot.
"Hi Train, Wave Rider, etc." Sun Beamer greeted. "Gonna presume you were here for Diablo's opening act."
"Indeed we were." Wave Rider confirmed, muffled by the fancy glowing mask he had on.
"I remember you from the festival in Las Pegasus; those green lights look pretty cool." observed Sun Beamer.
"Yep, I did some upgrades. Diablo was giving me pointers the other day, so there's gonna be even more down the pipeline." teased Wave Rider. "It's gonna be RGB, individually addressable across the entirety of the suit and mask. That means you can make it any color you want, with any pattern."
"Uh, Wave, he's actually a stage technician. He probably knows about that kind of stuff." noted Train Spot.
Sun Beamer laughed a bit. "Not in the context of rave fashion, though. You've probably got microcontrollers or something that you have to embed in the suit somewhere, some sort of power source, etc."
"Yeah. I was toying around with that on computers, but there's different considerations for an application like this. Ergonomics, functionality, price, battery capacity, so on..." continued Wave.
Blast Furnace was confused by all the technobabble the two ponies were throwing around, so she decided it was time to introduce herself.
"Eh, anyway, I'm Blast Furnace! Gathering of Embers ambassador, metalworker, gamer, raver, cosplayer, and friend of Kisol here. Follow me up on Ponygram @blastfurnace and @bbbfcosplay!"
Sun Beamer and Wave Rider paused for a moment.
"Nice self-promotion there, Blasty." Sun Beamer complimented.
"So your friend here is a raver too? Awesome! I heard Mach 55 was going to be coming on at Zoo Project in just half an hour or so. I think you'd like it, cause we sure would." Wave Rider informed excitedly.
"Actually, we were planning on going to that too!" announced Blast Furnace.
The two DJs were giddy.
"Blast, I only met you 3 minutes ago, and I'm already liking your style." complimented Train Spot. Blast Furnace had a noticeable blush.
"If we're all going there, why don't you come along with us?" offered Wave Rider.
"Why not? I'm in if Blast's in" Sun Beamer confirmed.
Blast Furnace nodded in approval.
"Two aspiring DJs. Two ravers. What could possibly go wrong?" Train Spot asked rhetorically. "Besides going a little too hard and hurting yourself, of course."