//------------------------------//
// Two in the AM 
// Story: Two in the AM 
// by Alex The Lone Wolf 
//------------------------------//

The muffled yet loud sound of the bass was piercing through my ears. I groaned and pressed the pillow over me, but it still wasn't enough. I sighed heavily and opened my eyes, looking at the ceiling, annoyed. I had been tossing and turning for I don't know how long. Who would be playing loud music at this time of night? I placed hoof on my face and rubbed it. I lay there in my bed with my forelegs outstretched, continuing to look at the ceiling. I was becoming very annoyed and irritated. I guess I have to deal with this myself… I climbed out of bed and began walking down the stairs as I continued to hear that loud bass play. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Bump. Bump. Bump. Bump. That's how it sounded. Over and over. Once I reached the door, I opened it and the sound became even louder. I looked around to see where it was coming from. I found it was the house right next to mine. But as I looked around at the other houses, their lights were out. How could they be sleeping through this? I shook my head and began walking towards the house with bright lights coming from it.

Once I reached the door, I saw a round object hanging on it. It appeared to look like a…disk…or one of those old vinyl records. I sighed and knocked on the door. I waited for a moment, but there was no answer. Beginning to grow impatient, due to the lack of sleep, I knocked louder. After a while, there still was no answer. I placed my hoof on the door handle to see if it was unlocked. It was.

I really don't want to do this…but… It seems I don't have any other choice…

I twisted it and opened it, now fully hearing the supreme loud music coming from within. I walked inside and quickly closed it, placing my hooves on my ears. I looked in front of me to see a familiar pony nodding her head with the beat. As I continued to stare at her, as she seemed highly unaware of my presence, I observed her appearance. She looked highly familiar. She wore these odd shades, and she had a musical note as her cutie mark. I swear I've seen this pony before…

Nonetheless, I shook my head and formed furrowed eyebrows. "Hey!" I shouted, trying to catch her attention. However, she continued to nod her head with the beat. I sighed, and even I couldn't hear it, due to the loud music. "HEY!" I shouted louder, but she still didn't hear me. I sighed heavily and closed my eyes, focusing my magic. A dark blue aura formed on the speakers and shut them off suddenly.

"Huh?" The pony questioned, surprised, as she looked around. Finally, she spotted me and jumped a little. She wasn't scared, though. Instead, she stared at me. "Whoa…" She began as she lifted her shades, revealing her, which appeared to be, violet eyes that contained a hint of red, which was mixed in. "Am I tripping or do you have a horn and wings…"

"Finally, I have your attention…" I responded. "Yes, I do. But I'm here because your insanely loud music has been keeping me up. I don't know how it hasn't been bothering others, but it's been keeping me awake."

"Oh…sorry, dude…" She rubbed her hoof on the back of her head as she looked tired. "It's just that… I'm so bored…" She rubbed her chin as she removed her shades with her magic. "Say…haven't I seen you before?" I shrugged. She continued to think as she rubbed her chin and finally snapped her hoof. "Dude! I saw you at the wedding with Shining Armor and Princess Cadence!"

I thought about it. "Oh…right…" I remembered that she was the DJ for the party… I shook my head. "Anyway, what do you mean you're bored? Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?"

"Yeah, I know. But I'm just…like…bored. It's hard to understand…but, I'm that kind of bored where I can't sleep. Like, I have to do something fun. Then, I can get some sleep."

"Well, can't you just do something else that's, you know, not too loud?"

She sighed. "I tried thinking of something to write for a song, but I'm completely blank right now. Well…I'm pretty much too tired to do anything besides listen to music. Besides, it helps keep me awake and be able to think of things to write a song with."

"And you need to have that music really loud?"

"I have to have it loud… It pumps me up."

I sighed. "Well, I can't sleep with the music that loud."

"Hm…" She rubbed her chin for a moment and thought of something else. "I got it."

"Hm?"

"Hang out with me, dude."

"…what…?"

"You know, let's do something fun."

"I really want to go back to sleep…"

"Come on, just for a little while, that's all. I just need to have some fun and then we can both get some sleep."

I sighed and rubbed a hoof on my face. "Well, what do you have in mind?"

She looked around and shrugged. "I don't know. Let's just chill together for a moment."

"…chill…?"

"You know, hang out. Just be cool."

"For just a few minutes…?"

"Just a few minutes."

I sighed again. "Fine."

"Awesome!" She walked to her fridge and scuffled through it. "Hm…" I returned a confused look at her. She glanced back at me. "Want something to drink or something?"

"Uh…no thanks…" I responded.

"Are you sure?" She asked, continuing to lean her head inside the fridge and move things around. "I have this great punch. It tastes amazing."

I thought about it for a moment and realized that I could use something to drink, especially since I was up in two in the morning. I shrugged. "Sure, I'll try it."

She lifted the plastic bottle of punch and threw it towards me with her magic. I saw it coming towards me and quickly caught it with my magic as well. She smiled and grabbed herself a bottle of the punch, closing the refrigerator door after. "Nice catch."

"Thanks." I answered, looking at the bottle and beginning to open it.

"So…how do you have those wings and horn anyway?" She asked as she began relaxing herself on a nearby beanbag. "I thought Alicorns only had those."

"Well…I am an Alicorn."

She widened her eyes. "Really? So that means you're like a prince?"

I shook my head. "No… I don't want to become a prince anyway. I want to stay here and be with my friends. I pretty much want to stay the same way I was. I don't want anypony thinking of me as high royalty or anything…"

"Hm…" She responded, opening her punch and taking a sip of it. "That's cool of you." She took a gulp of it and thought for a moment. "You want to know what I just realized?"

"What?" I asked, taking a drink of the punch as well. It was addicting.

"You're like either, the first or only guy Alicorn ever. Well, at least from what everypony knows."

"What do you mean?"

"Princess Celestia. Princess Luna. Princess Cadence. They're all Alicorns, and they're all girls. You're like the only Alicorn who's a guy."

"Oh, right." I realized it too, taking another drink of the punch.

"Well, let's not be strangers here. I haven't even gotten your name." She announced, placing the punch on the floor. She held out a hoof towards me. "Vinyl Scratch, or DJ-PON3, if you want to call me by my DJ name."

"Alex." I accepted her hoofshake.

"Alex, huh?" She spoke as she retracted her body back towards the beanbag. "That's a unique name. It fits you, though."

I smiled a bit. "Thanks."

"No problem. So you just hang around Ponyville with your friends?"

"Yeah… I always somehow get sucked into crazy adventures with them… Nonetheless, they're fun in some way."

"Ah. Well, as I already told you…" She turned around, while still in her seat, and retrieved some papers, turning back to me. "I write songs and perform as a DJ." She looked at me and gestured her with her hoof to sit next to her. "Check these out." She presented the papers as I did so.

I looked and observed them for a moment. "Wow… you must have some talent in music, don't you?"

"Heh." She chuckled a little. "I guess. I don't know. It's just something I like to do."

"Well, it's your cutie mark, isn't it? I'm sure you'll be a great DJ and musician."

"Thanks." She smiled at me, but then frowned a bit. "Though… I'm not known as much as her…" She pointed towards a picture of Starlight on a newspaper nearby. "It seems her band is becoming known all over Equestria. Her fans are crazy about her. I mean… they'll even kill each other to get a ticket…" She faced me and noticed my narrowed eyes. "What? Something wrong?"

"Yeah, her." I pointed to the picture. "Believe or not, she's my sister."

"Whoa…really?"

"Yeah…"

"What's she like?"

I shook my head and looked at the ground. "She's definitely not nice." I chuckled a little. "It's a long story."

"Oh…" She frowned a bit. "I can see what you mean. I mean…" She looked towards the picture again. "It's really no surprise… It's like…anypony that becomes this famous is usually really mean… They let their fame and success get to their head… That's something I'm afraid about too. What if I turn like that…?"

"First of all, Starlight was born as a spoiled and ignorant pony, at least from what I can remember. She was already like this. I have no idea how she became this "famous" piece of trash. She's just an ironic twist bent over on the acceptance of others that worship her. End of story."

"Whoa…" Vinyl sent me slightly worried and concerned eyes. "You two must have had some really bad problems, didn't you?"

"It goes a little beyond "really bad" problems…" I could feel myself already becoming irritated with the thought of her.

"…Mind if you tell me about it…?" She asked.

I sighed. "Maybe some other time… For right now, let's just forget about that…"

"Oh, okay… I understand. I've heard her music. I'm not jealous of her or anything, but to be honest, her music doesn't really have any…heart… When I hear her sing, I don't feel any passion or heart behind it. There are just…lyrics… That's why I'm not a fan. I also use this to try to improve myself. I write what I feel, and I try my best to put that passion I long for so much into music."

"Vinyl…" I began, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "Hearing you say that makes me feel one hundred percent confident that you won't let fame get into your head. You seem very caring and passionate about your music and work. I can feel that too. As long as you focus on accomplishing your dream goal, with no intentions of selfishness interfering, I'm sure you'll succeed and be satisfied when the time comes."

"Wow…" Vinyl reacted with slightly widened eyes, which soon turned slightly narrowed into a caring manner as she released a warm smile. "Thanks, Alex… Coming from an Alicorn yourself, that really means a lot." She chuckled a little. "You know, you seem like a really cool guy, Alex."

I smiled as well and retracted my hoof. "Thanks, Vinyl, I can say the same thing about you."

She smiled with her eyes closed for a moment until she opened them again to tell me something. "Oh! That reminds me! Want to see something funny?" She asked.

"Sure." I responded.

She grabbed the newspaper we were looking at earlier and flipped a few pages. "Check this out." She laughed when she reached the page. She continued speaking as she showed me the page. "This guy took a picture of himself burning one of the tickets to one of her concerts!" I observed the page to see a picture with a pony purposely burning a ticket. "What's so funny about it, is that he got so much negative comments about it!" I read the text under the picture, which depicted several ponies commenting so childishly at it. Some ponies agreed with this pony, others didn't care.

"Wow…" I released. "I have to admit… some ponies don't know how to handle this maturely. Their comments reveal their true ignorance, just like my sister." I shook my head. "It seems like concert tickets, or Starlight, is all they care about… I swear, these 'fans' of her seem to care more about some idol than the Princess herself."

"Looks that way." She placed the newspaper to the side. "Well, anyway, let's not let our chill time be interrupted by that kind of stuff. Want to play a game or something?"

"A game?" I rubbed the back of my head. "Well…" When I looked at her face, she sent me some familiar eyes. She wasn't exactly begging me to stay, but she seemed as if she would really like for me to spend some time with her. I sighed. She seems like a really cool pony anyway. I guess I can stay a little while longer. "Alright."

She smiled warmly, though a bit tiredly, and began scuffling through some of her stuff. "Cool." She answered and brought out a board game. When she looked at the cover, she chuckled a bit. "Ponopoly… I don't think I've ever played this…"

I chuckled as well. "I never really played any board game at all actually."

"Really?" She inquired, revealing intrigued eyes. "Well, it's your lucky day…I mean…lucky night…morning?" She giggled a bit. "I don't know… I'm pretty much too tired to think…yet…I can't even sleep." She sighed. "I'm sure I'll fall asleep some time… Anyway… let's get this started." She placed the board game on the floor and opened the box. Many items, figures, play money, etc, were revealed. Vinyl grabbed the instructions from within with her magic and read them. "Every pony gets fifteen hundred bits… Okay…" She grabbed the fake bits and gave her and me fifteen hundred. Then, she continued reading. "Now every pony grabs a figure." We both looked at the figures in the box. There was a saddle, a pony, a top hat, etc. "Grab whatever you want." She just got the saddle tiredly. I retrieved the pony. "Okay… now place the figures on 'Go' and roll the dice. Move the amount of spaces, due to the amount of numbers you got from the dice." She looked up to me. "Want to go first?"

"I don't really care." I responded.

She smiled a bit and yawned. "Well, go ahead then." Using my magic, I shook the dice in the air and threw them against the board. They clattered along the board until they stopped, revealing two sixes. "Nice throw." She commented and looked at the instructions. "It says here that when you get two of the same number, you get to go again.

"Alright…" Being too tired to move the piece with my hooves, I used my magic to move it twelve spaces. I landed on Fillydelphia. How ironic.

"Mmk…" She studied the instructions again. "It says you can buy that property for what it says under it." She looked at the space. "Two hundred and forty bits."

I chuckled a little. "Is Fillydelphia really worth two hundred and forty bits? I can believe that...possibly less. I'll skip it."

"Okay… Go ahead and roll again." I grabbed the dice and shook them a little. Then, I threw them gently on the board. I earned a three and a six. I moved the piece nine spaces and landed something called, "Community Chest". "Huh. Says here you pick a card from the yellow stack." I picked up a card and read it. Princess Celestia awards you for good behavior. You've earn one hundred bits. I chuckled at this. "What does it say?" I showed her the card. She smiled a bit. "Oh wow." She fetched one hundred bits and gave them to me. After, she yawned and rolled the dice, getting two fives. She moved her piece ten spaces and landed on Las Pegasus. "Las Pegasus… three hundred bits…" She giggled a little. "Oh yeah… I'm taking it." She placed the bits somewhere away and grabbed a little card for it.

The game lasted for a while, which I don't even know for how long. Vinyl looked at the board and groaned. "Tired?" I asked.

"Tired of the game…to be honest… I didn't know it would take this long! And I still can't sleep…"

I smiled lightly. "That's alright." I began putting the pieces away in an organized fashion. All this was pretty much good practice for my magic.

"What do you want to do?" She asked, lying on the floor and looking up towards the ceiling.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes a bit. I chuckled a little. "I could use some sleep."

She sighed. "Sorry… You go ahead and sleep. I'll try to get some myself…"

I shook my head. "Nope. I'm not leaving until you finally get some sleep."

"What…?" She asked, turning her face towards me. "But I've been making you stay awake for so long. I don't want to keep you up much longer."

I smiled lightly. "You're in need of some help. And I always help my friends in any way I can."

"Friend, huh…?" She chuckled a little and looked up at the ceiling. "Cool…"

"Come on. Maybe we can try some traditional or homemade recipes for inducing sleep?"

"Sure… Sounds good."

"You don't go through this every night though, do you?"

"No…no…" She answered tiredly. "Just tonight for some reason…"

"Uh-huh… I see… Alright…" I looked around. "How about some warm milk? Do you have milk?"

"Yeah… It's in the refrigerator. On the door to the right."

I nodded and walked over to the fridge. I opened it and looked at the location of her directions. There was a bottle of cold milk inside. I lifted it up with my magic and brought it out, closing the door after. I looked around and spotted a clean cup. I opened the bottle of milk and poured some into the cup. I closed the bottle and placed it back in the fridge. I looked at the cup and focused my eyes a bit on it. A dark blue aura formed around it and slight bubbling occurred. After a moment, I placed a hoof on the cup and felt the warmness. Then, I lifted the cup and brought it over to Vinyl. "Here."

"Thanks." She smiled lightly and began to drink it. "Mmm." She commented as she sipped it. "This is pretty good…" She blinked her eyes a bit. "You know… I think it's actually helping…"

I smiled, tiredly. "That's good." I placed my hoof on my chin and thought for a moment. Hm…what if I finish off? I nodded a bit and looked at her.

My soft smile caused her to look at me questionably and reveal sleepy eyes. "Why are you smiling like that?" She asked, a little playfully.

I chuckled a little. "How about I sing you a lullaby?" I answered, actually still being able to hear Fluttershy's own words in my mind.

Vinyl slightly widened her eyes. "A lullaby…? Are you sure I'm not too old for one?"

I smiled and shook my head. "Anypony can hear a lullaby."

She smiled as well and sighed contently. "Well then, Alex, if you're going to sing me a lullaby, I might as well get in bed." She sat up from the floor and began walking towards the bed. There, she laid herself down and snuggled under the covers. "There. All ready now. What about you?"

I took in a deep breath and cleared my throat a bit. Then, I closed my eyes and began to sing.

"Hush now, quiet now,

It's time to lay your sleepy head,

Hush now, quiet now,

It's time to go to bed…"

I opened my eyes to see Vinyl with a soft smile and soft eyes. "That…was amazing…" She yawned and began to flutter her eyes sleepily. "You may not be a professional vocalist like your sister…but you have something she doesn't…heart." With this, she smiled a little more.

I blushed slightly and rubbed the back of my head. "Thanks."

"No…thank you…" She responded, catching my attention. "You know…you're a really cool gu-I mean…friend." She giggled a little. "We should definitely hang again sometime…when it's day time…heh."

I removed my slightly surprised expression and formed it into a warm content one. "Sure thing, Vinyl."

After smiling for a moment towards me, she began closing her eyes. "…night…" Finally, they fully closed and it seemed that she began to sleep.

Keeping the same expression, I responded one more time. "Goodnight…" After, I turned around and used my magic to turn off the lights. I headed towards the door and walked out.

As I exited past the door, closing it after, I observed the night sky with tired eyes. I yawned greatly and began heading towards my home to finally get some sleep. However, a flapping of wings surprised me. Hooves planted on the ground behind me, and I could hear my name being mentioned.

"Hello, Alexander."

I turned around to see Princess Luna.

"Princess Luna…" I asked, even too tired to widen my eyes. "What are you doing here…?"

She smiled, almost in a kind of embarrassing way, and looked towards somewhere in town. "Care to take a stroll with me?"

"Um…" I rubbed my head and looked at my house, which was right nearby. Nonetheless, I looked at Luna and shrugged, deciding I could spend just a few moments with her. "Sure. Why not?"

We walked towards the lake, or stream, in town. There, we began walking along the edge by the water.

I decided to start the conversation.

"So…why are you here in Ponyville anyway, Princess Luna?"

"Oh…" She lowered her head a bit. "I had just been feeling pretty lonesome…"

"Right…" I frowned a little. "You're the Princess of the night… I'm sorry…"

She managed to smile a little. "Don't worry about it, Alexander, er, I mean, Alex."

I chuckled a little. "It's okay, Princess Luna."

"Why must thou call me Princess Luna? Can thou not just call me Luna?"

"Well… I can… But I like to show respect to my Princesses, so I usually always include Princess whenever possible."

"I see…well…call me Luna whenever thou wishes."

I smiled. "Sure thing, Luna."

She smiled as well. "So how have thy wings and magic been treating you?"

"I'm still getting used to them…" I flapped my wings a bit. "That…and I need to control my shifting between forms." I chuckled a bit. "I've actually been like this for a while, and I don't really know exactly how to get back…but that time will come when it comes…"

"I see…" She looked towards the moon. I yawned, causing her to turn her head towards me and look at me. "Are thou tired?"

"Yeah…to be honest…"

"Oh…" She lowered her head sadly. "My sincerest apologizes… I did not mean to keep you up… I just thought you were able to be awake during the night easier than others…"

I smiled a bit, assuring her that it was okay. "It's alright, Luna. Why would you think that, though?"

"Well…you're an Alicorn…"

"Princess Celestia is an Alicorn too, but she can't stay up during the night…"

Her eyes shifted around a little in thought, perhaps. She stopped and sat down, causing me to stop and look at her. "Sorry…"

"Why?" I asked, walking towards her and sitting down next to her.

She faced the stream of water and looked up towards the moon. "Wasn't it thou that spoke of us being not so different?"

"You mean…back at Nightmare Night?" I inquired.

"Yes…" She lowered her head to observe the color of her coat, pulling out her hoof. "I believe it to be so… Thou color of coat is almost the exact of thine. Both of us have felt the terrible curse of loneliness. And now…you are an Alicorn…" She looked towards me and smiled. "I was hoping you would be able to last during the night as well." Then, she turned her vision towards the lightly flowing grass that swayed in a gentle motion as the cool breeze around us continued to lift the feathers of our wings away. She continued staring at the ground as I could only remain staring at her face.

My eyes shifted around in thought. I thought of something crazy…something even I thought that would be too stupid to slip through my lips. But for some reason… I felt…as if I just had to get this off my chest… "Luna…" Her name slipped through my lips and off my tongue. She lifted her head and looked towards me.

"Yes, Alex?"

"Do you…" I felt my lips tremble a bit in hesitation. It wasn't fear… It was… I can't explain it… "…do you…think…" I looked at the ground a bit. After a moment of thinking more, I looked back at her face, noticing her eyes fully attentive towards mine. "Do you think…we could…somehow…be…related?" She slightly widened her eyes and looked back towards the ground, causing me to frown and look away. "Sorry… I already knew it was a stupid question… I just felt like… I needed to ask it…"

"It's not, Alex…" She looked up towards the sky once again and analyzed the stars. "It's possible… I mean… thou are an Alicorn. I am Princess Celestia's sister. Princess Cadence is her niece. Thou may be related to us… But it is not certain. Princess Celestia and I have no idea of how thou came across of being an Alicorn. It is certainly quite a mystery… It is not only that…but you have the ability to shift between being an Alicorn and an earth pony. It is really quite puzzling." She chuckled a bit. "We don't quite contain a clue at all."

"I understand…" I nodded and looked towards the moon. "But…I'm sure we'll find out soon enough…"

"Indeed…" She answered, and we both sat there by the river, staring at the night sky and the moon. After a few moments, I heard her call me. "Alex…"

"Hm?" I turned my head to look at her. She stared at me for a moment and placed her hooves on my cheeks. Then, she closed her eyes and leaned her head towards mine, stunning me a bit. She kissed my forehead and pulled away, causing me to feel shocked and surprised. "…what was that for…?"

She looked a little embarrassed. "My apologies… I just felt…as if I needed to do that as well…"

"Oh… It's alright… It was just a little sudden…"

She managed to smile a bit. "Well… I should probably allow thou to rest for the night.

I chuckled a little. "Okay, Luna. But I understand how you can feel lonely, especially when every pony is asleep at this time of night, so we can try to get together some nights."

"I appreciate the effort, Alex, but thou shall not worry about it. Thou shall see me whenever thou wishes."

I chuckled. "Heheh, okay 'thou'."

She smiled and laughed along me as well. "I assume I shall speak with tho- I mean… you… later…"

I nodded. "Of course, Luna. I really need to spend some more time with you. I've only spoken to you a few times, and there's so much to share."

She smiled warmly. "I would really appreciate that… Thy heart feels so triumphant from the lack of social interaction when speaking with somepony, especially you… I feel…as if I can really relate to you…"

I returned another warm smile as well. "I feel the same way, Luna…" I looked at the color of my coat, remembering of all the things we shared in common.

"It's been wonderful talking to you, Alex." She held out her forelegs, sending me an invitation for an embrace. I sent a small smile and accepted her friendly motion. We both hugged each other for a while until we pulled away. "Goodnight, Alex…"

"Goodnight, Luna."

Afterwards, she began flapping her wings and retiring herself back to Canterlot. I continued observing her fly off, noticing how her appearance melted along with the soft pastel depicted across the ever free sky. My thoughts were interrupted when my head began drooping towards the ground, eyes becoming weary and fatigue. I shook my head a little and decided to walk back to my home.

When I entered using the door, I began to drag myself up the stairs. I was so tired, I couldn't think straight. Ugh…so much…need…sleep… When I finally reached the bed, I weakly planted myself on there and immediately closed my eyes.

I wonder how Princess Luna is able to be awake during the night. Well… I guess it's as simple as us. She sleeps during the day, and is awake during the night. That must be pretty annoying… being able to do practically nothing because of the lack of activity during the night… I'll try to bring some social activities to her as much as possible… She deserves to be as happy as any pony.

I shifted around in bed.

This sure was a crazy night…meeting Vinyl Scratch during two in the morning, and ending our "hang out" time with a nice conversation with Princess Luna. But I'm thankful for that. I'm sure my life would be pretty different if none of that had happened. Everything happens for a reason. Vinyl Scratch may possibly impact my life somehow, and I know the conversation Princess Luna and I had had strengthened the bond of our relationship. That reminds me… I don't know why… but for some reason… I just feel really…close…to Luna… Hm… Well, I guess it'll all come to me one day…

Thou shall retire to slumber for the night.