My Little DJ

by iDash

Chapter 3: My Little DJ

As a special gift to Scootaloo, Vinyl had given her the offer of helping make her new material. The filly was absolutely overjoyed when she heard this and was pretty much about to faint when Vinyl said she’d let her make and perform her own track for the premier night. Vinyl was glad to see Scootaloo so happy.

That day, the white unicorn was on her way to her favorite sound equipment shop for some new records. Her and Scootaloo had scratched the hay out of their previous ones.

It was a pretty nice day out. Celestia’s sun was high up in the sky, letting everypony bask in its warmth. Vinyl adorned her purple spectacles as she trotted through town.

“Watch out!” A sudden shout came from somewhere to her side.

“Huh?”

She started to turn around, but wasn’t fast enough to respond as something collided with her and she was flung to the ground. She sat up on her haunches in the soft dirt, coughing to clear her throat of some of the dust in the air.

“Aaaawww,” a groan escaped a pony next to her. “That wasn’t very smart.”

“You’re tellin’ me, pal,” Vinyl was standing up now, brushing the dirt off of herself. She lifted up her shades, which were lying on the ground next to her, and set them on her head. “What the hay were you-”

She stopped when she saw the cyan blue form in a heap next to her.

“Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow stood up and shook the dirt out of her mane before turning to the speaker.

“Oh! V-Vinyl Scratch,” she stuttered, surprised for some reason. “Um, how’s it goin’?”

“Uh… good. What about you?”

“It’s… going good, I guess.” Rainbow put on a small smile.

They stood in silence for a few moments, though it seemed like much longer. Rainbow pawed at the ground gently while Vinyl tried to figure out why she was acting like that.

Rainbow eventually spoke up and broke the silence, “Hey, Vinyl… can I ask you something?”

“Sure thing, Dash. What’s up?”

Rainbow paused another moment, not looking the other mare in the eyes. “Well, it’s about Scootaloo…”

“Oh.” Vinyl’s face fell. She had been hoping that this wouldn’t happen, but it was.

Rainbow ignored the look on her face and continued.

“Well, the last time I saw her… I don’t know. She just got really mad for some reason and took off. I heard that she was hanging around with you a lot lately, so I thought you might know.”

Rainbow looked at the DJ unicorn, waiting for an answer.

The way Rainbow spoke about her and Scootaloo told Vinyl that she had no idea what was really going on or what the filly was going through.

“Yeah, about that. She’s… well, she’s been living with me for a while.”

Rainbow took a step back. This latest revelation surprised her. “Living with-? Wait, why?”

Vinyl looked up to Rainbow with her ruby eyes. She wondered if she could tell Rainbow Dash, then she thought how, if anypony should know, it should be her.

She took a deep breath and began, “Because she’s an orphan, Dash.” Her voice lowered to almost a whisper that time.

Rainbow stared at her blankly seeming not to have been able to process the information given to her. Her mouth hung slightly open, but no sound escaped.

She finally managed to utter a single confused, “What?”

Vinyl said it again to get through to her, “Rainbow, she’s an orphan. She’s been living with me because she has- well, had no home.”

The realization finally seemed to hit Rainbow, her hind hooves giving way for a second without her trying to remain upright. Instead, she softly fell to her haunches, still looking into the eyes of the mare in front of her.

Vinyl sat down with her and stared into magenta eyes. It was about time she knew about Scootaloo. And so, she told her.

She told her everything, about how she found her one night in the treehouse, how Scootaloo became an orphan, how Rainbow had hurt her. The last part seemed to concern her the most as everything she had been wondering about came together and she realized the impact of her actions.

“Oh my gosh. I-I had no idea.” Rainbow said, staring at the ground.

Vinyl, who was now standing up, just looked at her without responding. She hated to admit it, and she didn’t know why, but she felt a little resentment towards Rainbow. She knew it was because she had hurt Scootaloo, a lot, even if she hadn’t known at the time.

Rainbow looked up to her with a distressed look written across her face. “Vinyl, how can I make this up to her?”

“I don’t know, but an apology would be a great place to start,” Vinyl said bluntly. She didn’t want to spend any longer here.

“Look, Rainbow Dash,” she started as she turned in the direction of the music shop. “She’s gonna be performing for the first time at Club Symphonic in a couple of weeks. If you want to make amends, come to her performance, cheer her on and apologize there. If you don’t want to, then don’t bother to try and fix what you did.”

And in a huff, Vinyl left, and once again, Rainbow was left behind, bewildered.

Scootaloo rushed through the house once again. “Alright! Is everything set up everypony? We gotta hurry! Vinyl will be here any minute!”

Today was a special day. It was Vinyl’s day. In fact it was her birthday. The mare had been so busy with her new tracks that she had forgotten all about it. Scootaloo, however, had not. She had organized a surprise party for the birthday mare. All of Vinyl’s friends were invited, even Octavia, who had agreed to come under the condition that there would be no ‘wubs’.

Octavia had shuddered when she said the word and Scootaloo couldn’t help but giggle.

She had gotten Pinkie Pie to help, of course. She was probably the best party pony in all of Equestria.

The front door then burst open and Lyra ran in. “Everypony, Vinyl’s coming!”

Scootaloo grinned. “Alright, take your positions!”

Everypony hurried to a hiding spot and Lyra shut off the lights. There was a small crash somewhere in the dark, which was probably Ditzy Doo, but she managed to stay quiet eventually.

Scootaloo heard the door creak open and her ears perked up. She waited, almost squealing as she did.

“Hey, Scoots, I’m home!” Vinyl shouted into the quiet house. She flipped the lights on and flipped out herself after what transpired next.

“SURPRISE!” everybody jumped up out of the hiding spots while Vinyl jumped about a good five feet in the air.

“Happy birthday!” everypony shouted simultaneously.

“What the-” Vinyl started, then the realization struck her. “I- Oh, no way! I totally forgot!”

While a grin was plastered on her face, a certain pink pony rolled a cannon into the middle of the room. Classic Pinkie Pie.

“Let’s get this party started, everypony!” Pinkie shouted before setting off the cannon.

The party went off with bang… literally. They would be cleaning confetti off the walls for weeks. Everypony enjoyed themselves, dancing, singing or just catching up with old times. The cake was huge- a Pinkie Pie special. Everypony actually had to take a huge portion of it home with them since it wouldn’t fit in Vinyl’s fridge. Vinyl opened various presents as well, except for one from Scootaloo, which the filly was saving.

Scootaloo had finally gotten Vinyl all alone. Excited, she pulled out the gift from behind her and handed it to Vinyl with her teeth.

“Hm? What’s this?” Vinyl asked.

“Just open it already,” Scootaloo giggled.

Vinyl unwrapped the bow around it and slowly ripped away the blue wrapping paper. Hidden inside was a record, but it wasn’t just any record. This one was special. A picture of a trumpet with a soft flow of written musical notes illustrated the cover. Right above the picture, in blue letters and gold outline, it read, ‘Swing Blue’.

An old jazz record was all it meant to anypony else, but to Vinyl it was an old jazz record that held so many precious memories. The song, Swing Blue, which was also the record’s namesake, was Vinyl’s favorite song ever since she was a filly. Her father would always play it for her on his trumpet. She remembered how they would dance to the song over and over before falling over, laughing. She cherished the song.

Vinyl looked from the record to Scootaloo and back again.

“Well, do you like it?” Scootaloo had a grin on her face.

Vinyl couldn’t stop smiling. She wrapped a hoof around Scootaloo’s shoulder and drew her into a small hug.

“I love it, kiddo.”

The party eventually subsided. After every other pony had left, only two remained. Those two sat outside and looked up at Luna’s beautiful, starry sky. The filly was leaning up against the older mare, resting her head on the mare’s arm.

Vinyl gazed at the moon. This night, this feeling. It took her back. Back to when she was a filly. When her mother and father would sit out with her just like this. How her mother would always sing.

“Hey, Scoots?”

“Yeah, Vinyl?”

She paused, “Did your… did your mom ever take you out to gaze at the stars like this?”

Scootaloo continued to look longingly at the sky, and then she spoke, “I… can’t really remember if she did. But I’ve watched it a few times by myself. It looks amazing.”

“Yeah…” Vinyl trailed off as she admired the skies once again. “When we watched it, my mom would always sing me a song. It was a lullaby and it always made me feel warm and happy inside. It was kind of sad, but I still liked it.”

She looked to the filly, “Do you want to hear it?”

Scootaloo’s face quickly brightened up, “Of course I do! Your singing’s amazing.”

Vinyl chuckled, “Heh, alright, then. Here goes.”

Vinyl cleared her throat. Scootaloo moved over and nestled herself against her until she was comfortable. She closed her eyes and waited for the mare to begin.

Vinyl took a deep breath and she began.

Red moon, red moon,

Why are you sighing?

Because I’ve lost my child,

Though, I can still hear her crying.

Scootaloo’s ears perked up as she recognized the song. Her teacher had sung it once to her class. It was about a mother and her child. It was a a relatively short song, but she didn't mind.

Red moon, red moon,

Where have you gone?

Into the heavens above

So she may hear my song.

Vinyl’s voice flowed smoothly like honey through each verse, filling Scootaloo with a warm happiness. It was amazing how well she could sing.

Red moon, red moon,

Why are you so happy?

Because my child is singing

And I know she still loves me.

While she listened, Scootaloo also thought, about her and Vinyl. She was so glad that the mare had found her. So glad that she had taken her in and care for her. So glad to have someone she could truly look up to. So glad to no longer be alone.

Red moon, red moon,

Will you be okay?

Yes, for I still love her,

And in my heart, she shall stay.

As the lullaby came to an end, neither pony moved. Neither one wanted to. Instead, they remained how they sat, content with how things were and both wishing that the moment would last forever.

A single tear had rolled down Scootaloo’s cheek. The song reminded the filly about her own mother, how much she missed her, how alone she had been. But none of that mattered now, because she had Vinyl.

This was it. It was the night everypony in Ponyville had been waiting for. Tonight was the debut premier of DJ PON-3’s brand new beats and every partygoer in Ponyville was attending. This meant something else to a certain orange pegasus filly, though. Tonight would be Scootaloo’s first performance.

Her and Vinyl were waiting backstage for all of the ponies to file into the club. Scootaloo was trembling with excitement. She was nervous, but at the same time, she was so excited. She couldn’t keep the wide grin off of her face.

Vinyl was standing to the side, watching Scootaloo. She was just as excited as the filly was about this night, and she didn’t doubt for a second that Scootaloo wouldn't disappoint the ecstatic crowd. She had become quite the adept little disk jockey.

Vinyl was proud of her.

“Hey, kiddo. Come over here for a sec,” Vinyl spoke to Scootaloo.

The filly gladly trotted over to her music mentor.

“What is it, Vinyl?”

The mare smiled, “I just wanted to say how proud I am. You’re gonna do great out there, alright kiddo?”

Scootaloo grinned and hopped in place. “You bet! I’m so excited!”

Vinyl couldn’t help but laugh, “Hahah, I know, I know. Chill out for a sec. There’s something I want to give you.”

Scootaloo gave her a quizzical look as her horn glowed a soft purple and out from behind her floated a small, black, rectangular box that was surrounded by the same aura.

“Here ya go, kid.”

The filly looked at the box, confused. “Um… what is it?”

“Well, why don’t you open it and see?” Vinyl smirked.

Scootaloo giggled and slowly nudged the box open on the ground. She gasped as she observed what was inside. Sitting comfortably in the box on top of soft red padding rested a shimmering pair of custom-made sunglasses. The spectacles were clean and black rimmed with metallic orange lenses in the sockets.

Scootaloo was speechless as she gazed at her new gift. “I-it’s… m-my…my own shades.”

“That’s right,” Vinyl said with a smile. “Well? Do you like them?”

The filly looked to her with a grin that rivaled even Pinkie Pie’s. She lunged at Vinyl with a hug, shouting, “I love them! Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, Scoots.” She held the filly until she finally had to break the embrace.

“Alright, now try ‘em on and get ready. It’s time to start the show.”

Vinyl got up and ruffled Scootaloo’s purple mane with her hoof before equipping her own glasses and heading past the backstage curtains and onto the platform that held her set and sound equipment. The crowd went wild as they saw their favorite DJ on stage once again.

The DJ did a quick check for everything to make sure it was all ok. She got up and adjusted all her settings. The record she had selected to begin the night floated up in the soft purple aura and set itself on the tables. Before she got things going, however, she looked around for a light blue form that she had been anticipating. And there it was. Sitting against one of the near walls so as not to get caught in the crowd, stood the rainbow maned pegasus, Rainbow Dash.

Vinyl smirked. ‘I knew you wouldn’t miss this,’ Vinyl thought.

She took a deep breath. ‘Alright, DJ PON-3. Show me what you’ve got.’

And the record spun.

A few songs later and the frenzied crowd of ponies was cheering until their hooves hurt and still kept cheering. Tonight was truly bliss for those anticipating the new material.

They were ready and all pumped up now, which meant that it was Scootaloo’s turn.

Vinyl grabbed the mic in front of her, “Are you psyched Ponyville?!”

A wave of jubilant shouts and whistles erupted from the ponies.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about! Alright, since tonight’s an important night, we’re gonna give you a little something special!”

She took a few steps back and began to gesture towards the curtains behind her.

“Everypony, time to give it up for our newest little disk jockey, DJ F1LL-3!”

On cue, Scootaloo burst out of the curtains as Vinyl announced her with her new stage-name. The crowd went wild once again. She eagerly trotted over to the set, giving Vinyl a smile as she passed. She had on her brand new set of shades and seemed brimming with excitement. Vinyl went to stand against the nearby wall to watch Scootaloo’s performance.

Scootaloo wasted no time setting up and got out the record she was about to use, and then put it on and let it spin. She began her new beats with full determination.

Through the loud speakers, a violin slowly began its solo, entrancing the listeners. A kick-snare abruptly, yet smoothly, jumped in, shocking the ponies as they began to rock to the steady beat. Not very long after, several electronic supplements appeared, joining in perfectly with the beat and tempo of the music.

This is when Vinyl observed the pony playing in front of her. Scootaloo’s look of joy was amazing. Vinyl had never seen her this happy before. She watched as the last doubts, not only of her, but of every single pony in the room, were erased.

The newly formed sounds perfectly complimented the excitement of the escalating pace of the violin and drums. The violin’s melodies flourished as the music grew into a crescendo. The music built towards a pinnacle. When it reached its peak Scootaloo halted the music, letting it echo throughout the room. Everypony froze.

Vinyl counted with her eyes closed, ‘1… 2… 3…’

With a beaming smile, Scootaloo cried, “DROP IT!” She let the record go and the bass dropped.

‘Perfect.’

The crowd went wild and shot into movement once more. The ecstatic ponies in the club got high on the blissful reverberation of the intense bass. Even the filly that was playing couldn’t stop herself from jumping to the beat. She had never been more thrilled in her life.

Vinyl gave a loud whoop with wide smile plastered on her face. She looks to Scootaloo and the smile is replaced with an expression of sheer amazement.

“Scootaloo!” she shouted over the loud music. The filly turned to the unicorn speaking to her with a puzzled expression.

“Look!” Vinyl pointed to Scootaloo’s flank.

Scootaloo looked down and immediately gave an audible gasp, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.

There, sitting on either side of her flank, adorned a sleek black, spinning record with an orange wing sprouting out of the center. Her cutie mark!

For what seemed like a very long time, Scootaloo didn’t even move and just stared. She finally snapped out of her daze and jumped up and shouted, “THIS IS THE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!”

Vinyl couldn’t help but feel overwhelming joy in her heart for the little filly. She was so glad to see Scootaloo be truly happy. As her song played on, it was humorously ironic how Scootaloo cheered louder than anypony else.

Just like all great things do, the party finally came to an end. The two jubilant performers went through wave after wave of congratulations, compliments, and pats-on-the-back. One mare waited until all of the other ponies were gone, though, and the cyan pegasus finally made her way to the DJ’s.

“Hey, Scootaloo,” Rainbow Dash said as she approached the filly.

Scootaloo jumped, a little shocked that somepony was still there. “Oh! Um… Rainbow Dash… What’s up?”

“I uh… I wanted to say congratulations, squirt. It was really great. And that’s a pretty sweet cutie mark, too.”

“Y-you saw it? T-thanks, Rainbow.”

Vinyl watched from the side, smiling as Rainbow spoke to Scootaloo.

“Yeah… And- Look, Scootaloo. I… I just wanted to say, ‘I’m sorry’. Vinyl talked to me the other day and told about what you had been going through… about how I had hurt you. I had no idea, Scoots. I’m so sorry. Can you forgive me?”

Scootaloo stood there, her mouth agape and staring at the mare in front of her. She couldn’t believe it. Rainbow Dash was apologizing. Rainbow Dash!

She didn’t know what to say, and then she realized what Rainbow was trying to say. A warm smile grew across her face.

“Yes, I forgive you, Rainbow.” Scootaloo was so happy because of what she was hearing from the mare.

“Wow,” Vinyl piped up. “Rainbow Dash is apologizing. I never thought I’d live to see that day.” She smirked.

“You’re such a soft pony, Dash,” She said, nudging her on the shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Rainbow said as she rolled her eyes. She was still smiling, though.

“Alright, well, I gotta go. Congratulation, guys. And um… thank you for being able to forgive me, Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo just smiled up to the pegasus. “No problem, Dash.”

Rainbow gave one last smile and nod, then walked out and took off into the sky.

After she left, Vinyl and Scootaloo quickly finished packing up their equipment and headed out the door. It was a nice, warm night outside as the two trotted home.

“So,” Vinyl beamed. “How did your first performance feel?”

“It was the most amazing thing ever!” the filly exclaimed as she jumped up

“Heheh, I’ll bet. And a kickin’ cutie mark to boot! Now you get to make all your friends jealous.”

“I know! I can’t wait to show them.” She said in excitement.

Vinyl chuckled. She looked into the sky and at the moon. It had been a night just like this one when she had taken Scootaloo into her home. She smiled at the pleasant memory.

Scootaloo yelped in surprise as she was suddenly wrapped in a purple aura and lifted off the ground. When she was set back down, she landed on Vinyl’s back.

Confused, she inquired about this, “Um… Vinyl?”

Vinyl just giggled in reply and said, “For old time’s sake, kid.”

Scootaloo’s expression turned to one of content as she realized what the mare meant. She leaned over and lied on Vinyl’s back, nuzzling her mane as she got comfortable.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, but it was a pleasant silence. Each of the ponies was just happy with the way things were.

Once again, Vinyl carried home the filly she cared for as if she were her own daughter.

Once they got home, Vinyl took Scootaloo to her room, laid her down on the bed and tucked her in, just as she had so many times before. Vinyl was about to turn and walk out of the room when Scootaloo flung herself out of bed and wrapped her arms around the unicorn’s neck.

Vinyl was surprised for a moment, but recovered and registered what was going on.

Scootaloo spoke while still holding on to the mare. “I love you, Vinyl.”

Vinyl didn’t hesitate to return the embrace, a tear of joy threatening to escape her eye.

“I love you too, Scootaloo.” She nuzzled the filly she held in her arms.

Vinyl truly did love Scootaloo. And she was so happy and proud of her. Her Scootaloo.

‘My little girl,’ Vinyl thought with a smile. ‘My little DJ.’