//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Surprise // Story: Music is Magic // by SleeplessScribe //------------------------------// Music is Magic Story 5 Chapter 1: Surprise By: SleeplessScribe I loved living in Ponyville. Everyone was chill, there was no shortage of fun, and Pinkie Pie threw parties at least once a week, and at the most, five times a day. It kept me busy, and even though I didn’t really go out of my way to make conversation, everypony was still really nice to me. I guess being the local DJ just merited respect, but who knows. Today was just like any other day, save for the fact that I was still in bed after 10 A.M. One of Pinkie’s parties ran until five in the morning, and I was exhausted. Finally, the sun came through the window to the right of my bed enough to keep me awake. Now that I was up, it was time to make the most important decision of each morning: what to do with my eyes. I always wore my goggles on stage, but one of my guilty pleasures was messing with others when it came to my eye color. On random days, I’d put in magenta color contacts to make people question if my eyes were really red or not, and it always made me giggle when I saw their confused expressions. Eventually I decided just not to mess around. The best thing about being me was the fact that my mane was all natural. I didn’t have to spend a minute in front of the mirror to make it look the way it did, and it was perfect for head bobbing. That also meant that I was allowed to forgo girly morning grooming and skip straight to breakfast. I skimmed through the pantry in the kitchen right across from my room and took out my box of Bale Bites. Ponies were always telling me that I could be rich and famous with my talent, but I loved this town, the gigs I worked at, and living modestly. Besides, getting too high and mighty would run me the risk of ending up becoming like Octavia. Don’t get me wrong, we were good friends, but her high class, sophisticated ways never set well with me. I got out a bowl and searched around for the milk in the back of the fridge. It smelled fine, though it was getting a little close to the expiration date. As I poured both in, I found myself quietly singing one of my favorite songs. “La da da da da, You are the best friend I've ever had,” I’ve had a lot of ponies tell me I had a great singing voice, but working the turntables was always my preferred place. “La da da da da, When I'm with you, I could never be sad, You're like a ray of light shining down on me, You're like a...” My little trip down memory lane was interrupted by a knocking at the door, and while I didn’t want to be rude, I dove into my cereal just so I could take a chunk out of it before it got soggy. With a mouthful of food I was trying to chew as fast as I could, I made my way to the front door and opened it. I had a mirror near the front door, and as I looked myself, I couldn’t help but think it looked kind of cute with my cheeks puffed out like they were. Octavia seemed to think so to, as she let out a giggle when she saw me. “Playing chipmunk, Vinyl?" I swallowed as much as I could, nearly choking on the food. “No! I was just hungry and somepony came to the door in the middle of me taking a bite of my food.” The high class mare let herself in, cocking her brow at my breakfast. “I will never completely understand you, Vinyl Scratch.” With a wink, I lifted the bowl, tilting it so more of the flakes came into my mouth. “That’s just how I like it. So to what do I owe the visit?” A smile spread across her refined face. I gotta admit, it was kind of crazy how two ponies that were so different could have had the kind of… history that we did. Octavia and I had been on off lovers for a while, up until about a year ago when she started dating one of her friends in the orchestra. Besides, I kinda decided I was more into colts anyway. Even with that, Tavi was always a good friend to talk to and a fun mare to hang around, and I think our stark differences actually made things even more fun. Wait, why am I talking about this? She covered her mouth with her hoof, letting out a soft yawn. “I have a surprise for you, and I believe you will absolutely love it.” I cocked my brow at her, leaning forward. “You’re not gonna tell me, are you?” She shook her head slowly. Before I spoke again, I finished my cereal. I said it once, and I’ll say it again: I really enjoyed living modestly. “Am I allowed to guess?” Again she shook her head. “I’d like to ask that you just wait a few moments. The surprise is on its way, and I can’t wait to hear you shriek.” Backing away was my first reaction. “Why would I want to…?” I couldn’t even finish my sentence before two sandy-colored hooves set themselves over my eyes. The voice behind me was all too familiar, and the lisp only made it more obvious. “Guess who, Vinyl! I’ve come to eat you, and I’ll only stop if you guess right!” The minute I turned around and saw those dark green eyes behind those glasses, I did, indeed shriek. I threw my forelegs around his neck, almost knocking him over as his headset and purple beanie fell off. Not that it really mattered, the way he wore it barely covered his black mane. “Beat! Holy crap, Beat, it’s been way too long!” Beat Temp was a very old friend of mine. We grew up together, and that song I had been singing was actually a song we wrote together. In fact, the only reason we weren’t living together or something was because Beat went further in his career than I did. Plus he was a singer and guitarist, but we still had a lot of fun doing numbers together. He flashed a bright smile, lifting his hat back onto his head with his magic and setting the headset on a nearby table. His embrace was tighter than mine as he started to laugh. “I missed you, girl. How’ve you been, it has been way too long!” Octavia decided to join in on our hug, too proud of herself to show her teeth. “I did my best to make sure no one told you my cousin was coming for a visit. I know you two have been friends for a long while, and I wanted to see your reaction when you saw him.” Against my better judgment I gave the earth pony a quick peck on the cheek. “Well I hope it was worth it, this is the best surprise I’ve ever gotten! Thanks, Tavi.” Beat smiled again, bringing his cousin into his embrace as well. “As soon as Via told me you were here, I couldn’t get here fast enough. I missed you a lot, Vinyl, and you have no idea how awesome it is to see you again!” “You don’t think I’m happy? What are you even doing here, Beat? I thought you’d be playing some big gigs in some glitzy city right now.” Of course I really wouldn’t have minded if my friend was taking some time off to see me. In fact, I was kind of hoping that’s what the case was. He patted my back, finally letting go of both of us. “Vinyl, look, you were the first original Homie. How could I possibly let a chance to come visit you after three long years just slip by? I’ve got a whole week to myself while my manager plans my next tour, so why not spend it with my favorite filly in Equestria?” The cellist slipped out, giving me a wink. “Orchestra rehearsal. I’ll see you two later.” Smile is my word of the day apparently, because that’s all we could do. “Aaaw, that’s sweet of you. I’m just… so happy, Beat. It’s like that time back home when your dad went missing for days, and you were so bent out of shape about it that I volunteered to stay at your house. And then, boom, he walks in the door and you’re stuck to him like butter on bread.” The singer let out another laugh, ruffling up my mane. “You got a point, you were just all over me like that, too. Kinda sad you stopped; you look amazing, girl. So how’s life been treating you?” “Well I- what the hell?” My statement was interrupted by many shouts, snapping, and flashes. My friend turned around, grabbed both me and his headset and closed the door, hiding in the kitchen with me. After a long grunt, he hugged me again. “Fucking paparazzi, Vinyl! They’ve been all over me ever since I started accepting interviews.” I gave him perplexed stare. “I thought you hated doing interviews? At least that’s what you told me when your first big gig in Vanhoover got a lot of attention.” He simply shrugged. “I thought doing interviews would get them to leave me alone. Boy, was I wrong.” Looking around, I poked my head out to look through the window beside the door. Every single one of them was still there. “So what do we do now?” Beat rubbed his chin for a moment, grinning down at me. “You got a back door?” Our plan worked, and we managed to sneak out while the paparazzi was still trying to get in my door. Without a word, I grabbed my old friend and pulled him down the road into Sugarcube Corner. “This here’s where my favorite party pony works. I’ve done quite a bit for her, so I’m sure she’ll help us out.” We weren’t even two steps through the door before the bouncy mare was in front of us, hopping up and down like she was on something from a dealer. “Hey, Vinyl! Who’s your friend? Is he new? He looks new! Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! It’s so great to meet you! What’s your name? Where are you from? Are we friends now? No? Do I have to sing a song?” After a short silence, the singer turned to me, pointing his hoof at Pinkie. “I like her. Name’s Beat Tempo, nice to meet ya, Pinks.” She let out a long, drawn out gasp, jumping up and somehow floating in midair until she was done. “You mean like the famous pop rock singer Beat Tempo? I use your music all the time at parties where Vinyl can’t DJ!” Pinkie began to hop in circles around us. Let me be honest, this was probably my favorite mare in Ponyville. Before either of us could say anything, she was in Beat’s face with a wide smile on her own. “Hey! Speaking of, I’m having a party tonight! How would you like to sing at it?” He reached up, patting the filly’s head. “I’d love to, when is it?” Pinkie jumped up like a rocket, almost hitting her head on the ceiling. “Well, there’s never a bad time for a party, but if you’re talking about the one tonight it’s at seven! No special occasion, I just love love love throwing parties!” Out of nowhere, she rolled a light blue cannon up in front of us and pulled the string at the top, covering us with confetti. “And this thing here makes throwing parties super easy!” Beat starting to clap, laughing rather loudly as he put his foreleg around me. “I can see why you like this town! Just having you and Pinkie here already makes this one of the best places I’ve been! I wonder if there are any more Homies here, too.” I grinned up at him, teasingly flicking his ear. “I’m pretty sure there are Homies everywhere you go, Beat. You are a pretty big star in the music industry, remember?” Bashfully, he rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. “Ah, stop. I’m not that big, I just give everything I do everything I got.” Flicking him again was pretty hard to resist. “Which is why you’re so good at it.” Teasing Beat was one of my favorite pastimes, and I couldn’t wait to start doing it again. Pinkie poked her head out the door, looking back at us. “Looks like the press finally gave up. I think it’s safe for you to start walking around again! See you at seven! Unless, of course, you want a treat! The Cakes just finished baking a delicious batch of chocolate white chocolate chip cookies… mmm” The hyperactive filly began to lick her chops, rubbing her stomach. “In fact, I think I’m gonna go get a few right now!” With that, she zoomed off into the kitchen, leaving my friend and me by ourselves again. My face may have gone a little red when he put his tail around me, but if it did, it wasn’t deep enough to show. Which is saying something, as pretty much any change in skin color showed through my white coat. “So Vinyl, do you have anything else you’d like to show me? I’d love to catch up with a little friend date.” I gave him an audible “pfft”, poking his chest. “You’re just saying that because you’ve been dying to ask my out for years, aren’t you?” Sadly, my first verbal attempt at teasing did not produce the desire effect. Holy crap, that sounded smart coming from me. Anyway, back to the story. With a grin, he began to ruffle my mane in a vain attempt to mess it up. “That may be true, or it may not be. Still, you didn’t answer my question.” With a giggle, I continued to poke his chest. “I don’t really have any special places to go, but that doesn’t mean I can’t show you around.” He silently agreed, and by lunch time we had gone through the whole town save for exploring the town square. Unfortunately, word of Beat’s visit spread fast, and while it was nothing like the horde of photographers and reporters, it was a tad annoying to be in the middle of a sentence only to be interrupted by a gushing fanfilly. He didn’t really seem to mind, but honestly, what single, straight colt wouldn’t mind having four or five girls come up to them squealing? Well, not all at once, but I know I counted at least four throughout the two hours we’d been walking. When we were finally at the center of the town, we both sat on a bench and hoped no more fans would pop up for a bit. Beat put his tail around me again, brushing my muzzle with a grin. “I like this place. It’s cozy and quiet, but I’m really looking forward to seeing what it’s like at night. Unless, of course, you were just blowing smoke about how crazy things can get here.” I could only speak after my blush had disappeared. My friend was now lying on his back with his hind legs hanging over the side, and he was still grinning. “You know me, dude. I don’t blow smoke when it comes to crazy. Hell, I’m considering finally getting papers for myself so I can back up the whole ‘licensed lunatic’ joke.” Beat’s giggle, I swear, is one of the funniest sounds in all of Equestria, but I wasn’t left with much time to laugh as he gave his response. “And if you play your cards right, you’ll be too busy blowing something else to even worry about smo- OW” With a bright red face, I jammed my elbow into his stomach until he started to cough. “Kidding! Kidding! I’m joking, Vinyl!” The blush began to fade, but I still couldn’t face him even after I lifted my foreleg. “I’m not a machine, Beat. You can’t just try and turn me on like that.” All of a sudden, he was rubbing his head against my shoulder as his grin returned. “So you’re saying I can turn you on, just not that suddenly?” I rolled my eyes, putting my foreleg around his head and pulling of his beanie. Before he could say anything, I pressed my free hoof to his head and rubbed as hard as I could, getting more giggles from him. “Okay, okay, I get it! Uncle, uncle!” We both started to laugh, and he nuzzled me again after we managed to calm down. “This is going to be the best week ever, I just know it.” I was beginning to hate my coat, as it seemed like my blush was never going to stay gone for long. Beat smiled as he brought his lips away from my cheek, and even though I was incredibly flustered, I somehow managed to look at him. “And I can’t wait to spend more time with you, Vinyl. It’s gonna be rad.” He held his hoof up, and I stared at it for a minute before grinning and bumping it with my own. “Hell yeah, man. We’re the craziest musicians ever born, how could it not be fucking awesome?” “Took the words right out of my mouth, babe. Let’s tear this shit up!” We did another hoof bump, shouting out “Yeah!” at the top of our lungs. It was so great to be with my friend again, and I knew the following week was going to be, combining what we both said, fucking rad.