Chapter 6
Snow-day
Beat woke up on the couch to see Vinyl sleeping in his chest, he gave a small smile and drifted back into his blissful sleep. Beat was awoken five minutes later by Octavia splashing a bucket of cold water onto the sleeping unicorns. Beat and Vinyl rocketed off the couch in surprise.
“What the hell was that for Tavi?” Vinyl barked.
“Remember our talk Vinyl?” Vinyl was about to protest but let out a loud groan and clutched her head in pain, Beat did the same.
“Octy, please not so loud.” Beat said as he got to his hooves.
“I can’t even remember what happened last night.” Vinyl added.
“I think I can remedy that.” Beat’s horn began to glow, a projection appeared on the television.
“What is that?”
“This is a way for me to review my memories in case I forget something.” He turned his attention back to screen. “Okay, last thing I remember is Octy leaving the bar and Vinyl challenging me to a drinking contest.” the three started to watch as the event’s folded out, by the end Vinyl and Beat’s faces were bright red and Octavia’s jaw had hit the floor. The grey mare looked over at the two unicorns who both had a guilty grin on their faces.
“I think I’ll leave you two alone for a while.” Octavia said as she trotted out of the room. Beat and Vinyl looked at one another with a blush thrown across their faces.
“So.......um.” Vinyl began.
“Yeah.....I should probably call Cherilee to cancel the music-” he was cut off as his phone began to ring, he looked at the screen to see it was the school teacher “Well that’s convenient.” he said as he lifted the object to his ear. “Hey Cherilee I was just gonna call......uh-huh....okay....Fine by me, have a good day.” he said as he ended the call. “Cherilee had to cancel school because of the snow so we have the day off.” he said as he looked back at Vinyl who had a grin across her face. “So.....do you want to....I don’t know go out?” he said in a nervous tone.
“Sure...I’d like that.” she said with a grin. The two unicorns ventured out into the bright morning, they trotted over to sugar cube corner and grabbed themselves some breakfast, as they sat down they were greeted by a happy pink mare.
“Hey you two, enjoying your date?” Pinkie said with a wide grin.
“Pinkie how did you know that we-” Vinyl was cut off.
“Oh please almost every-pony saw you last night.” Vinyl and Beat’s faces turned bright red. “Sorry, but it’s true. So what can I get you?”
“I’ll have an egg, sunny side up.” Vinyl said with a low grumble.
“Same.” Beat said as Pinkie trotted away leaving the two unicorns alone. Beat looked over at Vinyl with a nervous grin. “Look Vinyl....” he was stopped by her raising a hoof.
“Just tell me one thing, did you mean it? What you said last night.” she looked back at him with a worried look. Beat rubbed his chin for a moment and gave it deep thought.
“Yeah, I guess I do.” Vinyl had a massive grin across her face. “I like you Vinyl I really do, your smart, funny, beautiful and have an excellent taste in music. I just want to take this slow if that’s alright with you.”
“I totally understand. I haven’t had the best luck with relationships either.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, my last relationship ended in disaster.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” she said as tears began to form in her eyes.
“Hey listen to me. I’d never do anything to hurt you, I promise.” he said as Pinkie came back with their food.
“Pinkie Promise.” she said as she looked up at him.
“What’s a Pinkie Promise?”
“If you make a Pinkie Promise than you cant break it and have to keep it FOREVER!” Pinkie chimed in.
“Okay, how do I make the promise?” Pinkie then went through the proper motions. “Okay, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a needle in my-AH!” he accidentally poked himself in the eye with his hoof, which caused both mares to laugh at him. “You get the idea.” he said as he began to eat his food. Pinkie left the two unicorns to dine in peace. “So Vinyl what type of music do you listen to?”
“Well I listen to some rock, dance, video game soundtracks and a little clas-” Vinyl shut her mouth.
“What was that last one?”
“N-nothing.” Beat had a blank look on his face.
“Vinyl there is nothing wrong listening to classical music.”
“It is when you’re a DJ. I have a rep to protect, if the tabloids ever found this out it could ruin me. ”
“I see.”
“Yeah, hey why don’t you get a record deal? You have the skill.”
“I don’t like record companies. They’re a bunch of stuck up plot-holes that only care about lining their pockets.” he said in a grumble. Beat’s phone began to ring, he levitated the devise to his ear. “Hello?...Velvet hey, what’s up?.........I’m in a small town called Ponyville.......I’m staying with Vinyl.....Vinyl, the mare that saved me.........yeah I know she’s cute........Yes we’re together, but what did you need?.......Visit? I need to check with my roommates.” he looked over at Vinyl who nodded with a smile. “Yeah, they’re fine with it.......Okay see you soon.” he hung up the phone and looked back at Vinyl. “My sister want’s to visit.”
“Fine by me. I’d like to have a chat with her anyways, she seems nice.”
“She is, she’s always had my back and I’ve always had hers.”
“Is she older or younger?”
“She one year younger than me, she was the....favorite of the family, where I was the black sheep.”
“What do you mean?”
“She became a business mare like my parent’s wanted. Where I decided to go into the music business and unlike my parent’s she supported the idea. She even got my my first guitar for my tenth birthday.” he let out a sigh. “don’t get me wrong I like the piano but I wanted to learn more about music not just the sound but the feel of it.”
“The feel?” Vinyl said as she tilted her head in confusion.
“C’mon Vinyl you’re a DJ. Surely you know what I’m talking about. The feel of the rhythm’s and beat’s flow through your body, plus there’s the whole guitar note sex legend.”
“The what?” Vinyl had a look of confusion and shock on her face.
“You don’t know? Apparently theres a note on a guitar that could make a mare orgasm just by listening to it.” he said with a grin.
“That’s crazy! No way would that work.”
“Call it whatever you want but it’s true.”
“Yeah right, keep dreaming.” she said as she lightly punched him in the arm, the two ponies finished eating and made their way out back into the snowy streets of Ponyville. The unicorns made it way into the park and marveled at the scenery, Beat stopped for a moment and picked up a ball of snow.
Should I? or Shouldn’t I?
Beat threw the ball of slush at the white mare.
Too late I did!
Vinyl let out a surprised squeak as the cold sphere made contact with her back. She looked back at the stallion with a cold stare.
“You are going to pay for that!” she said as she levitated three snow balls and threw it at the blue stallion. Beat took cover behind a nearby tree, Vinyl continued her barrage as Beat made a copy of himself. He nodded at the copy who jumped out from the tree and was bombarded by the white mare’s snow balls. Beat then jumped out and levitated five snowballs, he launched them at the white mare. “NO FAIR!” They hit her dead on, Vinyl then charged forward with snow ball in hoof. Beat tried to run but found that Vinyl was too fast, the mare tackled him and the two rolled down the hill. When the two stopped Vinyl was sitting on top of his chest with a snow ball in hoof, Beat opened his eyes just in time to see her slam the snow ball into his face. Vinyl started to bang on her chest while letting out a victory yell. Beat tried to get up but felt himself being pinned by the white mare, as he looked up he saw that a light red blush was starting to form through her coat, she leaned in and locked her lips with his. He could feel her warm breath mix with his, as they separated they looked back at one another. Vinyl helped him to his hooves and brushed the snow oof of him.
“Let’s go get warmed up.” Beat said with a grin.
“Good idea.” The two made their way out of the park. The two unicorns then decided to head back to the house and play some Colt of Duty. Beat and Vinyl were a force to be reckoned with, their strategy was perfect. Vinyl would go onto the front lines and cause some damage with the RPG while Beat would pick off the stragglers with his sniper rifle. “Oh Yeah! You best be fearing The Scratch!” Vinyl yelled over the mic.
“Did you just refer to yourself in third person?” he said as he looked at the white mare.
“Yeah, it’s fun! Especially when your destroying ever-pony, try it!” Beat thought for a moment to come up with a good saying.
“Prepare to feel the Beat’s of your destruction! How’s that?”
“Awesome!” the two were interrupted by Octavia coming down the stairs.
“Ugh, Beat please tell me that you don’t like playing this idiotic game.”
“Idiotic? This game is awesome!” he retorted. “The soundtrack is amazing, you might like it.”
“I doubt that, I prefer the classical aspect of things.”
“Classical is so boring.” Vinyl lied.
“Okay, no offense but you two living together would make a pretty good sitcom.” he said with a grin. “The Wacky Times of Octy and Vinyl guest starring Steady Beat.” he let out a loud roar of laughter, Vinyl threw a pillow at his face and started to chuckle. Octavia rolled her eyes at the idea, she made herself some tea and sat down next to the blue unicorn.
“So..are you two dating now?” she asked as she sipped her tea.
“Yeah. We’re deciding to take things slow.” Beat said as he put an arm around Vinyl. “Oh and Octy my sis is coming to visit, just wanted to let you know.” Octavia’s face turned red.
“R-really? When is Velvet coming to visit?”
“She’ll be at the train station tomorrow at around noon.”
“Oh...I see. Mind if I tag along? It’s been ages since we’ve seen one another.” she said with a nervous grin.
“By all means.” he said with a grin.
“Thank you...now if you’ll excuse me I must practice.” she said as she shot up the stairs. Beat started to giggle to himself as Vinyl sat there in confusion.
“What’s so funny? and why did Tavi get all red faced when you mentioned......No way!”
“Ding, we have a winner!” he said in a cheery tone.
“Tavi.....and Velvet!”
“Well....Tavi’s had a crush on my sis for a while. I didn’t know she still did until just now.”
“Is your sister-”
“Yup.”
“Do your parent’s-”
“Yeah and boy were they pissed when she told them, I was there to support her. I actually think that’s when they kicked her out.” Vinyl looked at him in surprise.
“They kicked you both out! But you told me that your sister was the favorite.”
“She still is, my parent’s talk to her. They just avoid her personal life as a topic and stick with business talk. Where as they don’t talk to me, period.”
“Have you ever tried to patch things up?”
“Yeah once or twice but it always ends with an argument about my career.” he said in a defeated tone. Vinyl gave him a small peck on the cheek and smiled at him.
“Their loss.”
“Thanks Vinyl.”
“No problem, I’m gonna lay down for a nap. You want in?” she said with a sly smile.
“Nah, I think I’m just gonna keep playing this for a while.”
“Okay, if you change your mind I’ll be upstairs.” she gave him a quick kiss and trotted upstairs. As soon as she was out of range Beat turned off the console and headed down stairs to the studio. When he got inside he teleported his piano and guitar inside. He sat down and tuned his piano he began to play the 'Gamma Theme' from Sonic. As he did a small tear started to well in his eye, this song always reminded him of his childhood. How his parent’s would berate him for his talent, when he had no where to go he would always listen to the music and it would always console him. As he finished he trotted over to to his guitar case he withdrew a music sheet and set it up in front of him. He materialized a copy of himself, the copy picked up the guitar and tuned it. The two stallions began to play a song that sounds like this. As he finished he looked up to see Vinyl staring at him in awe. He quickly made the clone disappear and put the note sheet back inside his guitar case as he stepped out of the room Vinyl wrapped her hooves around him and smiled in excitement.
“Beat....that was amazing.”
“Nothing special, just something I’ve been working on.”
“That song was awesome!”
“It’s okay. I thought you were taking a nap?”
“I got lonely.” she said as she put on a cute face.
“Awwe, little Vinyl wanna snuggle?” he said in a baby voice. The white mare looked back at him with cross look on her face.
“Shut up. C’mon you’re taking me to dinner.” she said in an annoyed tone.
“Since w-....oh right now I remember. So where to?”
“I don’t know, how about that bar we went to last night.”
“You sure that’s a good idea? I mean from what Pinkie told us we left quite an impression last night.” Vinyl’s face turned red as she remembered.
“Well you have to play tonight anyway.”
“True. Okay you talked me into it, let’s go.” he said as the two ponies made their way upstairs and trotted out of their house. They walked through the snow covered street’s in silence. Beat noticed that Vinyl kept glancing at him as they walked. “What?”
“Nothing just enjoying the view.” she said with a grin. Beat rolled his eyes and smiled as they entered the bar. The inside of the bar was pitch black, as he walked inside the door closed behind him. The light’s suddenly turned on and the place was filled with ponies.
“SURPRISE!” they yelled. Beat felt his heart jump as he looked at them with a smile. Soon a familiar pink mare trotted up to him.
“Hey! Vinyl told me you were feeling better and I decided to throw you a party! Do you like it?”
“Yeah, looks great and thanks Pinkie I needed this.” Pinkie smiled and wrapped him in a tight hug.
“No problem, anything for my new friend.”
“Pinkie.......can’t......breathe!” he said as he tapped on her back.
“Sorry!” she said as she broke the hug, Beat gave a massive sigh as the air entered his lungs. He was introduced to the rest of Pinkie’s friends and began to finally relax. As the night continued some of the ponies became bored, a familiar orange mare trotted up to Beat and Vinyl’s table.
“Howdy there Beat.” she said in a southern accent.
“Hey....Applejack right?” the mare nodded. “What’s up?”
“Mah friends were wondering if you could play something for us.”
“Well...” he looked at Vinyl who had a large grin on her face. “Sure any requests?”
“Nah, just make it good.” she said with a smile. Beat got to his hooves and made his way over to the stage and summoned his piano. The ponies cheered as they saw him take a seat at the instrument and began to talk into the mic.
“Evening ever-pony, I’m Steady Beat and.....apparently I’m the entertainment for my own party.” The ponies let out a synchronized laugh at this. “I think I’ll Jazz it up tonight.” the ponies nodded in acknowledgement. “On the way over here my mare-friend over at table number......12. Asked me how I was feeling.” the ponies then shifted their gaze to now embarrassed Vinyl. “And to quote Neighna Simone ‘I’m feeling good.’” he began to play. After he had finished the ponies began to cheer and whistle as he took a bow. He trotted off the stage and returned to his table Vinyl gave him a quick kiss.
“You can do Jazz too!?” she said with a surprised look on her face.
“You’ll find that I’m a stallion with many talents.” he said as he ordered a drink.
“Think you could do some dubsteb?” Beat shrugged at the mares suggestion.
“Don’t know, I could give it a shot.” she squeaked in excitement and clapped her hooves together. They soon headed home, as Beat walked to the couch Vinyl made a loud coughing noise.
“Y’know my bed is built for two right?” she said with a smile.
“Am I going to trip over anything if I need to get up in the middle of the night?”
“Umm......I can’t promise that.” she said with a pouting face.
“I’ll be right up...let me just get my HAZMAT suit.” he said with a laugh. Vinyl rolled her eyes and trotted upstairs. Beat took his coat off and grabbed his pillow and blanket from the couch and trotted up the stairs. As he walked by Octavia’s room the charcoal mare grabbed him by the ear and pulled him into her room. “Ouch! Jeez Octy.”
“Can I just ask you something?” she said in a stern tone.
“Sure. What is it?”
“Are you using Vinyl as a rebound?”. Beat was shocked at the mare’s statement.
“No! Sweet Celestia Octy you know me better than that I’d never do that to another pony.”
“Remember Note in high school?” Beat cringed at the memory.
“I was a kid back then, a stupid kid. I actually bumped into her a few years ago and I apologized for what I did.”
“How did that go?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow.
“She splashed a martini in my face, but I was very sincere with my apology.” he said in a bold voice.
“Listen I know you’re a good stallion, I just don’t want to be caught in the crossfire if you and Vinyl break up.” she said as she sat on her bed “Vinyl’s been through a lot of heart break and I’m usually there to pick up the pieces, but since my oldest friend is dating her...I don’t know what I’ll do if you two do break up.” Beat put a hoof on the mares shoulder.
“I’m hoping it will never come to that and if it does I won’t pull you into it.” he said as he gave her a smile. Octy nodded her head in agreement. Beat left the mares room and braced himself for the never ending clutter that is Vinyl’s sleeping quarters. As he opened the door he saw that a path had been made to the bed. He walked carefully on the cleared path and got under the covers of the warm bed. He looked over to see that Vinyl was already asleep, her electric blue mane was draped over her white face, Beat gently moved the hair back in it’s proper place and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Vinyl moved over so that she was laying so that her back was resting against his chest, Beat wrapped his hooves around the unicorn and drifted off to sleep.