//------------------------------//
// Part 1 
// Story: The Music Goes On 
// by bahatumay 
//------------------------------//

	If late night partying had an avatar, it was Vinyl Scratch. No one really knew where the white unicorn mare had come from, or where she went when she left, but if there was any big party anywhere within a fifty mile radius of Canterlot, she was there. Either serving drinks, leading the dance lines, or pulling wallflowers off the wall; there was nothing she didn't or couldn't do. 

Of course, her most famous responsibility was that of a DJ. You didn't ask for her to DJ at your party; she came to you. And she was perfect. She knew exactly what to play to keep the crowd excited, when to switch to slow songs, how to keep them pumped for more and yet keep them from rioting when the party had to end. She seemed to know exactly when and where she was needed. 

And right now, she was needed at the side of an earth pony cellist, bright and early, with a plate of steaming hot pancakes. 

"Gooood morning, Tavi!" she said brightly, belying the fact that she had just kicked in the door. 

Octavia rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?" she asked. 

"Seven thirty, just like you asked."

Octavia groaned and rolled over. "Not interested."

Vinyl nudged her in the side with the butt of the fork she carried in her magic. "Get up, Tavi."

"No."

"I'll kiss your whole face," Vinyl warned. 

"You wouldn't."

In her exhausted state, Octavia had forgotten just how much of a bad idea it was to challenge Vinyl. She heard the plate be set down and then felt two hooves seize the side of her head. She barely had a chance to gasp before her head was forced up and Vinyl peppered her face with kisses. 

"N- no, st- stop, Vinyl! Vi- Vinyl! Stop!"

Vinyl withdrew just long enough to say, "That's the stop that means keep going, right?" before diving back in. 

Octavia brought up her hooves to try and push her away, but Vinyl fought for and maintained control. 

"Pl- Vi- I'm awake! I'm awake!"

Vinyl grinned. "Good, because your breakfast is getting cold." She levitated the tray up and placed it in front of Octavia, and slid the silverware up to the side of her plate. The unicorn paused. "Something's missing..." She grinned and darted in to give Octavia a kiss on the cheek. "There. Now it's perfect."

Octavia smiled as she picked up the orange juice. "Thank you, Vinyl. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Probably starve," Vinyl said cheerfully. 

"Hey now," Octavia protested, jabbing her laden fork threateningly at her marefriend. "I'm not that hopeless, Vinyl."

Vinyl grinned. "Every time you say that, I remember how we met."

Octavia blushed. "It was a case of mistaken identity!" she protested as she lifted another bite. 

"You still ended up in the cell next to me. Best arrest of my life."

"I admit, I haven't been completely displeased with the results," Octavia said slowly, "but it was still an embarrassing situation."

"I've had worse," Vinyl said honestly. "Did I tell you about the time that I woke up with three other mares in the same bed?"

"No," Octavia said hesitantly, "and I really don't want to know about it. But I take it you enjoyed  it?"

Vinyl heard the question behind the question. "I've changed," she said, climbing into the other side of Octavia's bed. "You're the only one for me now."

"That's good," Octavia said. "I'd hate to have to worry about that."

"You won't," Vinyl said through a yawn. "It's just you now. And you know it."

Octavia took another bite. "That I do. You will be awake when I return, right?"

Vinyl nodded. "Of course. You know how much I hate to be apart from you."

"You're sweet." Octavia leaned down and kissed Vinyl on the lips. 

Vinyl licked her lips. "Mmm. Syrupy."

Octavia giggled. "Well, I'm going to shower and then go to rehearsal. Good morning, then." She used to wish Vinyl 'good night' before she slept, but that sort of ended when Vinyl took to responding, 'Yes, it was a good night. Not great, though, due to a lack of a treble clef cutie mark in front of me.'

"Even if I'm asleep, kiss me goodbye?" Vinyl asked hopefully. 

"Of course."



*  *  *



Octavia gently and silently set down her cello case as she entered the house. She creeped over as quietly as she could into the bedroom, and leaned down over her sleeping marefriend. Silently, she neared... until Vinyl's eyes snapped open and she grinned. Octavia barely had time to frown before a pillow slammed into the side of her head. 

"Nice try," Vinyl grinned, rolling over to look at Octavia on the floor. "But you're nowhere near fast enough to surprise me."

"It was worth a shot," Octavia said as she stood, neither surprised nor disappointed. "Anyway, there's a letter for you."

"Just one?" Vinyl asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "That's disappointing. My fans better step it up."

"Oh, it's not a fan. Or maybe she is. I'm not sure. But it’s quite important."

"Is it a marriage proposal? Because I'm not interested. I've got something I don't want to give up."

"No," Octavia blushed. "It's a letter from princess Twilight.”

This was indeed an urgent matter. Vinyl quickly sat up, lit her horn, and tore the letter out of Octavia's grip. She ripped the seal off and read the contents. Her eyes widened and she lowered the message, her mouth opening and closing as she searched for words. "Whoa..." she managed. 

"What? Is it an arrest warrant?" Octavia joked. 

"Hey, I paid my bail!" Vinyl protested. "Besides, my court date isn't for another month."

"Which count of disturbing the peace is that one for, again?"

"Hardee-har-har," Vinyl said flatly. "She's asking me to be part of a special project."

"How many decibels of wubs it takes before the pony brain vibrates itself into jelly?"

Vinyl rolled her eyes, but Octavia hadn't finished. 

"Of course, you're perfect for that assignment, as your brain has long since gelatinized."

Vinyl glared. "For such a refined pony, you've sure got a mouth on you."

"And I'm sure you'll be saying that again tonight."

Vinyl subconsciously bit her lower lip before shaking her head. "Look. It involves changelings."

"The nasty little buggers who tried to invade Canterlot?" Octavia asked, pulling the note closer to herself. 

"The very same," Vinyl said, releasing the letter so she could see. "Apparently, they've discovered a frequency that disrupts a changeling's ability to hold their disguise, and intend on unleashing it."

"And how does that concern you?" Octavia wondered. 

Vinyl reached for her shades. "Obviously, I'm the only one with the speaker setup and know-how to get that show on the road. I start next week. Also, you're now sworn to secrecy." She pointed at the 'confidential' label stamped boldly across the bottom of the page. 

"Oh, my," Octavia said. "That's a bit more drastic than I was expecting..."

"Fear not," Vinyl said dramatically, throwing a hoof around Octavia's shoulders and pulling her close. "Nothing shall happen to thee, mine fair maiden, for thy DJ is here, and shall protect thee and thine fine assets."

"You mean like these?" Octavia asked, licking her lips and giving Vinyl a kiss. 

"I was referring to your cello, but I like these assets just fine, too," Vinyl said, a slow smile spreading across her face. 

Octavia giggled. "You're such a liar. You were thinking of other thi-!" She squealed as Vinyl's hoof brushed against her cutie mark.

Vinyl grinned and ran her tongue along her upper teeth. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. Now come on. I'll make dinner, and then we can have some... dessert." The way she licked her teeth at the end of her sentence indicated that she was not thinking of chocolate. 

And that was perfectly fine with Octavia. 



*  *  *



Vinyl couldn't hold in a laugh as she looked around. "Now this is what I'm talking about!" she roared. "Life of the party? Life of Canterlot! This city belongs to me!"

Octavia fought the urge to facehoof. "It's just one sound," she said. "You're not putting on a concert for the whole city."

Vinyl shushed her with a hoof. "Shh, shh; I'm dreaming here." She raised her hooves again. "Aw, yeah! V-Scratch is in the hiz-ouse! And the crowd goes wild!" She made crowd cheering noises and then, in a harsh whisper so it sounded like the whole crowd was shouting her name, she chanted, "Vin-yl! Vin-yl! Vin-yl!"

This glorious vision was interrupted by a harsh tug on her tail, and not the seductive kind. She spun around to see Octavia gesturing frantically at the stairway, where a purple alicorn was ascending. 

"Your highness!" Vinyl greeted her with a small bow, much shallower than Octavia's more respectful one. 

"Hello!" Twilight greeted the both of them. "Your setup is looking great. I’ve looked at all your speakers and I must say, I am impressed. The changelings won't know what hit them."

"That is the point, your highness," Vinyl grinned. 

Twilight smiled back. "How long until we're ready?" she asked.

"We're ready now," Vinyl answered. She took a step back and held out a hoof, pointing at a glowing play button. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Twilight grinned. "I'd love to." She walked forward and placed a hoof over the button and paused. "Oh, by the way," she said. "I noticed that the way those two speakers were set up would have made the waves cancel to zero somewhere around this area, so I took the liberty of changing the direction of speaker 2-e ever so slightly to compensate."

Vinyl nodded... before doing a double take. "You did what?!?"

Twilight smiled. "Removed all dead zones." She turned back and raised her hoof over the button. 

"No! Don't!" Vinyl screamed, but it was too late. 

An epic wub of dramatic proportions pulsed once throughout the entire block. No less than fifteen changelings twitched and collapsed, their disguises disappearing with a flare of green sparks. Royal guards waiting in the shadows and on street corners rushed in bearing cuffs and inhibitor rings, surrounding them and carrying them off.

Twilight smiled as she took in the scene. “Perfect. Pain-free, effective, and now that the changelings know we have a way to strip them of their disguises, they will be a lot less likely to attack. Thanks, Viny-” But here her voice trailed off, for she had looked over at where Vinyl Scratch had been standing and saw not a white unicorn mare, but a twitching changeling, laying curled in the fetal position on the ground.