Vinyl Scratch never thought she could be nervous before a gig. Not since she had first turned tables in that Manehattan night club had she ever had this much sweat forming on her coat, and even then that was because that cheapskate owner decided to skimp on air conditioning for the place.
What was she even nervous about?! This was what her whole life had been building towards! If her life were a play, this would be where she got her happy ending. So, why wasn't she happier about this? The white unicorn rested her body on her hotel room door, sliding down to the floor.
Suddenly, she felt a knock on her hotel room's door, interrupting the DJ's train of thought.
Magenta eyes widening, she brought herself up from the floor as fast as she could, desperate for anything to keep her mind off of her performance later that night, a first for her.
The door opened to reveal a dark grey earth pony. For once, she had let her mane go wild, and while Vinyl always liked the pink bowtie, pink leg wraps on all four of her legs was quite the sight to see. She made a mental note to properly thank her for coming after her performance.
"Oh, thank Celestia!" Octavia said in relief as she leaned in to hug her marefriend. "I got down here from Canterlot as fast as I could! There was no way I'd miss this."
The two separated and Vinyl placed both of her front hooves to her chin before taking both of her front hooves and moving them downward. Thank you for coming.
She made way for Octavia to enter the hotel room, a pretty simple layout that reminded Octavia of the odd Hay-ton she'd stay at on occasion when she was performing in clubs across Equestria.
"I'm so glad I was able to catch you before you went on," Octavia said. "I just wanted the chance to see you before you finally achieved your dream! How does it feel?!"
The unicorn suddenly found the floor to be very interesting, telling Octavia all she needed to know. The earth pony propped herself up on the hotel bed, patting the spot next to her.
The DJ followed the cellist's instructions, her music note cutie mark sinking into the mattress, before placing her head onto her marefriend's shoulders, like two puzzle pieces being put together.
"Remember that promise I made?" Octavia asked.
The unicorn gave a small smile. How could she forget? Arguably, that promise was a major reason for how she managed to get herself here. She nodded her head in affirmation.
"If you ever start to get anxious, then find me in the crowd and pretend it's just another night at home," Octavia suggested. “Like you’re just playing for me.”
Actually, that wasn't a bad idea. If she were completely honest with herself, Vinyl's best compositions were usually birthed when she was just playing for her marefriend at home.
"You know," Octavia added. "If you told me at my cuteceañera that I'd be attending Coltchella of all things, I'd have said you were crazy. Yet, here I am, and that's all because of you, Vinyl."
Dang it, she was crying now, wasn't she? Sure enough, when she pressed her hoof close to her eye, she could feel a bit of moisture. Vinyl really couldn't have come this far without her 'Tavi.
The DJ pressed both hooves to her cheek once more. Thank you.
Then, she took her right hoof, pointed to herself, crossed both of her hooves together over her heart, and then gestured with her right hoof to Octavia. I love you. She gave her marefriend a peck on her lips.
After that display of affection, Octavia noticed the clock. "Let's go, Vinyl. Destiny is calling."
"Give it up for DJ Pon-3!!!" The MC screamed, hyping up the crowd to fever pitch.
Vinyl, now bearing her trademark glasses, stepped up onto the stage to a setup she'd spent so many hours in front of that it was practically a part of her. Once she took her place behind the turntables, the crowd only got louder. She scanned the sea of ponies, looking for one in particular. She could have sworn she saw Princess Luna, but she could check later. Finally, she found her near the back, where ponies didn't have to be packed together like a parasprite hive to witness the performance.
Octavia gave her a reassuring wave, a smile of pride never leaving her face.
She only had one thought for her entire performance, and even for a while after. She was going to make this the night of 'Tavi's life.
Once again, Luna was greeted with a flash of white as she exited Vinyl's dream, a warm smile mirroring the DJ from earlier in her dream. It was a nice change from nightmares she normally honed in on, that's for sure.
"Note to self: Get sister Coltchella tickets for next Hearth's Warming," she thought.
Despite sharing Octavia's dislike of music festivals, though less for the musical content and more for the overwhelming environment, she did have to admit Vinyl's performance wasn't going to be leaving her head anytime soon. Maybe the next dream would help distract her.
A solid glowing dream about five yards below her caught her eye. Her horn glowing dark blue, she captured the dream and pulled it to herself.