//------------------------------// // Blood, Breakdowns, and Bass Drops - Everything You Need // Story: Heart Invasion 101 // by FamousLastWords //------------------------------// Spike’s first taste of a live performance was exhilarating. Granted, Vinyl was the one doing most of the work, and they only played for thirty minutes in front of fifty ponies who were there for the headlining band, but that didn’t matter. It felt amazing! The feel of the bass pulsating through the room, the crowd dancing and moving in time with the music, getting to stand right next to the artist behind it all— it was one of the most exciting moments of his life. Spike and Vinyl were relaxing in the prep room after the initial performance. It went off without a hitch, and Spike was proud of himself. “Thanks for the help. You rocked it out there on stage!” Vinyl pushed her sunglasses to her forehead and winked at the dragon. “Thanks,” Spike responded with a blush. “But it’s not like I really did anything besides fixing the volume and stuff. You were the one playing the awesome music! Everypony out there was loving it.” “Yeah, but volume control is just as important! Trust me on that one.” Vinyl chuckled to herself while taking a seat in one of the chairs. “But just wait until we get out on stage with I.S.S. tonight. Then you’ll see what a real show looks like.” Spike wondered what it was going to be like performing with an actual band. The crowd screaming, jumping, chanting the lyrics. Maybe he’d even crowd surf! “This is going to be so cool!” Spike jumped in place, sporting a wide-eyed grin. “Yep! Oh, that reminds me. Did you get a chance to look over the sheet music?” Vinyl levitated a soda from across the room while giving Spike a questioning glance. “Yes, ma’am! It was pretty simple stuff, if I do say so myself. It’s gonna be a piece of cake.” He gave the unicorn a confident grin and sat down in a chair next to her. “Awesome! The band should be coming in a few minutes, and you’ll get to meet them.” She noticed Spike’s body tense up at the thought. “And don’t worry, they’re really cool.” She gave him a quick smile before taking a quick sip of her soda. “All this means for us is we’ve got some time to kill before they arrive.” “Alright. What do you normally do between performances?” Spike asked. Vinyl smirked. “C’mon. I’ll show you!” Spike followed her out to the stage once again. He looked out to the audience area, and his eyes widened. The number of ponies had easily tripled from what it was during their warm up performance. “Wow! This band must be more popular than I thought.” Spike looked back over the crowd before turning his gaze to Vinyl. “I imagine a lot of these ponies are fans from out of town. But yeah, they’re a pretty solid music group, so I expected there’d be a large turnout.” Vinyl walked over to the side of the stage, Spike following behind. “Now, here’s something I like to do. I look at the audience I’ll be performing for and try to see what I can tell about individual ponies from the way they act or whatever.” Spike gave her a confused look. “So, you basically look at the audience and try to make blind judgments about what kind of ponies they are?” “Yep! It sounds weird, but it’s actually pretty fun, and it helps me figure out what kind of crowd I’m gonna be playing for.” Vinyl gave him a small smile. “Alright, I suppose I could try.” “Cool. I’ll start.” Vinyl scanned her eyes over the crowd before picking out her target. “Ahh, see that pony over there? The one at the bar?” Spike followed her hoof to a magenta pony taking shots at the bar. “Yeah, I see her.” “She’s totally an alcoholic. That was like, the fifth shot she’s had so far.” Vinyl shot her glance toward Spike. “Alright. Now it’s your turn.” “Hmm…” Spike looked around the crowd trying to spot anything useful. “Oh, look at those mares over there.” He pointed his claw in the direction of two mares talking on the side of room. “If I remember correctly, their names are Lyra and Bon-Bon.” “What about ‘em?” “Well, I’m pretty sure they’re a couple, and here on a date.” “And what brought you to that conclusion?” “They’re standing next to each other!” "So? That doesn't mean they're dating. By that logic, we would be dating." "..." "..." "...Oh." Vinyl gave him a quick smile before turning her eyes to the crowd once more. “Let me see here… Oh, check the player stallion over there.” Spike turned his gaze toward the crowd and spotted a stallion he instantly recognized as Thunderlane. He was surrounded by three mares and was clearly flirting with them. “Somepony’s getting some action tonight.” The unicorn jokingly nudged Spike. "Ugh, I hate guys like that. No respect for anypony else," Spike kept an annoyed glare at Thunderlane. "I'm pretty sure that situation is not gonna end well. “Wow… I suppose you're right.” She shot the dragon an empathetic glance. “Maybe we should head back to the prep room. The band should be here any time now.” Spike shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Yeah, let’s do that.” A few minutes passed as the two talked about the upcoming show, but the talking ceased when five stallions entered the room. “Hey, guys! Long time no see!” Vinyl walked over to the group of stallions, giving each of them a quick hug. “Spike, these guys are I See Sombra. Guys, this is Spike, my new partner in crime.” “Hey! Nice to meet you guys!” Spike stood up and introduced himself, giving a small wave. “You ready to rock tonight, Spike?” said an average-sized black stallion with a scruffy blonde mane. The whole band was pretty young, just a few years older than himself. “Definitely! I’ve never played in front of a crowd like this before, so I’m pretty nervous.” Spike stared down at his feet. “Don’t worry, man, you’ll do great!” This time it was a silver stallion with a black mane talking. “And besides, you’re working with Vinyl. She knows what she’s doing.” The stallion sent a friendly wink to the unicorn in question. Vinyl cast the band a curious glance.“Yeah, I can’t argue with that. Now, when are you playing the song with us in it?” The black stallion brought a piece of paper to Vinyl that contained the set list. “It’s gonna be the final song for the night.” “Okay, so what do we do until then?” Spike questioned. “I guess we can just hang in here until it’s time,” Vinyl responded. “Sounds like a plan!” one of the band members stated. “Well, we’ve gotta get on stage now, so we’re heading out. Hope you enjoy the show, guys!” With that, the band exited one by one to the stage. Spike could hear uproarious applause from outside the room as the band took to the stage. “Wow, there’s a lot more ponies here now.” “Yeah,” his partner said in a somewhat saddened tone. Spike noticed her eyes travel to the floor. “What’s wrong?” “Oh, it’s nothing.” She brought her lips to a small smile. “I’m just always hoping I’ll have crowds like this come to my shows some day.” “I take it you don’t play big shows very often?” “Yep, you’d be correct.” Vinyl chuckled softly to herself. “The largest crowd I’ve ever played for was about 100 or so ponies at an underground club in Manehatten. Other than that, it’s mainly small gigs like this with no more than fifty or sixty ponies.” “Don’t worry, you’ll get there some day for sure.” Spike gave her warm smile, earning one in return. “And besides, now that you’ve got me helping you, fame will be inevitable.” They both erupted into laughter. “Ha-ha, man, it’s nice not being alone on these performances. It would get pretty boring by myself.” “Wait, so I’m your first assistant?” Spike looked at her with curiosity. “Well, yeah… kind of. Octavia used to come to my shows occasionally, but this wasn’t really her scene, you know?” she said. Spike thought back to when he met the grey mare. An orchestral note for a cutie mark; that perfectly placed pink bowtie… “Yeah, I can totally see that.” “Exactly. It’s nice to have someone to talk to for once. Especially someone who has such an awesome taste in music,” she said with a smile. The dragon let out a sigh and took a seat.“I’m glad to be here. It’s nice to feel appreciated for once.” “What do you mean?” Vinyl moved to take a seat next to the dragon. “Remember what I told you about always getting left out and ignored all the time?” Spike turned his gaze to the unicorn. “Yeah, I remember.” “I work hard every day around the home for Twilight, and I rarely even get a simple ‘thank you’ anymore.” Spike dropped his head into his palms. “That’s not cool. Have things always been like that?” “No. That’s the thing. When Twilight became a Princess, it’s like she slowly started becoming a different pony. She used to be warm and affectionate, and treat me like a friend. Now it’s like I’m just an assistant, and my sole purpose is to make her life easier! I actually feel more like an employee at home than I do here. And this is my first day on the job!” The young dragon threw his claws in the air. “It’s not right.” Vinyl placed a hoof on the dragon’s shoulder. “Hey Spike, I know where you’re coming from here. I’ve been there. I’m really sorry.” “Thanks. I mean, I love Twilight. She’s always been the only family I’ve really had, but now it’s not like that anymore.” Spike felt tears well behind his eyes. “I wish things could go back to how they were.” “Alright, listen here.” Vinyl nudged Spike’s shoulder, getting him to turn his attention back to her. “Change is a part of life. And a lot of the time, it sucks. Like, seriously sucks. But it has to happen. If things always stayed the same, life would never move on. You get what I’m saying?” Spike processed her words for a second. She had a point. Things needed to change or his life would never go anywhere. “I think so.” “Good.” Vinyl wrapped him in a brief hug, much to Spike’s surprise. “Now, enough of this conversation. If it got any sappier they could make a romance story based on us.” Spike couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. “It’d be a pretty terrible romance if I was in it!” “Now, just out of curiosity, how exactly does a dragon like yourself end up with a princess in Equestria anyway?” She shot him a curious look. "I overheard someone saying that you were a gift from Celestia... Any truth in that?” “You're close. I was basically a test at magic school for Twilight. She had to hatch my egg, and as a reward, she got to keep me.” “Oh.” Vinyl’s mouth turned into a frown. “That doesn’t sound very fair to you.” “Yeah, I’ve never agreed with it either. But I was too young to know a difference back then.” Spike let out a small sigh. “Doesn’t matter anymore, though. An activist group put an end to it awhile back. That’s why you don’t see any other dragons around.” “Ahh, I see.” Her sympathetic look was quickly replaced by one of shock. "I have a question." “Um, okay.” “If you were taken to Equestria as an egg, what happened to—“ She was interrupted as a massive bass drop shook the entire room, followed by an ear splitting guitar riff. “Whoa!” Spike got up from his chair and walked over to the door. “I guess we’ll have to finish this later!” he shouted to where Vinyl could hear him. “Funny, they said this room was soundproof. I guess not!” Vinyl shouted back. Spike cracked open the door and looked out. The band was playing full force and the crowd was going wild. The blonde-maned, black coated stallion he saw earlier was screaming at the top of his lungs, and the silver one was providing excellent clean vocals to back it up. A mosh pit had already formed, and you couldn't even see the floor between the multitudes of ponies. “Wow.” “They play a great live show.” Vinyl was looking out the door with him, standing overhead. “And we’re gonna be out there in just a few minutes.” Spike’s jaw dropped and his heart rate increased as the thought came to life once more. “Yep! It’s gonna be so awesome! Do you think you’re ready? There’s a lot more ponies out there than there were before.” She tilted her head down to look at the dragon below her. “I hope so.” Spike looked once again at the beautiful scene in front of him. Every pound of the drums, every slam of the breakdown, and every vibration of the bass drop coursed through him, making him that much more excited. “Yeah, I’m ready!” For the next thirty minutes the two watched the show unfold from their hidden location behind the stage. Spike had to resist the urge to just run to the stage and jump into the crowd. There was so much energy, so much power and emotion, and he was ready to be a part of it. “EVERYPONY! This is our final song, and it’s a brand new one!” The crowd went wild at hearing the vocalists’ declaration. “And we’d like to introduce a special guest for this one.” “Spike! That’s our cue. Let’s get out there!” Vinyl nudged the dragon out the door with her muzzle. Spike gulped down a lump of anxiousness and made his way out to the stage, Vinyl right behind. “GIVE IT UP FOR VINYL SCRATCH!” Vinyl waved one of her hooves toward the crowd with a quick nod and smile. “AND SPIKE, THE BAD BABY DRAGON!” Spike felt his cheeks instantly flame up. He gave a small wave to the crowd and was greeted by a large round of cheers and claps. The two took their place behind Vinyl’s music setup. They both took a deep, synchronized breath, getting ready to perform. Spike looked out at the audience from his spot and felt a shiver run up his spine. There were so many ponies, and they all seemed to be staring right at him. His claws started shaking and his heart suddenly seemed to stop. A hoof on his shoulder quickly snapped him out of his episode. “Don’t worry, Spike. You got this.” She flashed him a quick smile before turning her attention back to her computer. “PONYVILLE! I WANNA SEE THIS PLACE GO CRAZY!” The band member looked to Spike and gave him a wink. Spike moved over to the keyboard. He was tasked with starting the song off with his synth intro. Luckily, the piece was incredibly simple and he had the entire track committed to memory. He slowly placed his claws to the keys and played. It started off slow, but picked up quickly. His mind blocked everything out around him: the dimming lights, the other ponies on stage, and the claps and cheers he was receiving from the audience. On cue, the vocalist from the band picked up, and the song entered into a breathtaking riff that only served to heighten the intensity. His first section was over before he knew it, and he took a deep breath. He mentally patted himself on the back for successfully dolling out the first part, but the song was far from over. He glanced at the crowd that was now entranced by the gentle music being played. The music all died down, save for an ominous melody coming from Vinyl’s speakers. He didn't have time to digest the sudden shift before— “Watch all your plans break right BENEATH YOUR HOOVES!” In perfect synchronization, the guitarists and Vinyl unleashed a massive synth breakdown that shook the entire room. The crowd went wild with ponies moshing, stage diving, and cheering. It was a relentless assault of blistering guitar riffs and bone crushing dub step melodies. It was amazing. Vinyl had complete control over the crowd. Every beat and every rhythm she produced led to more cheers and energy. Judging from the massive grin plastered on her face, Spike could tell she was doing what she loved. The song continued on in a more settled tone until finally reaching a climax of another breakdown that left nothing but a winded audience in its wake. Spike looked up at his partner, and noticed that the huge grin had never left her face, despite the fact the song had ended and the show was over. “Vinyl! You were amazing! That was... I just... I can’t even... that was awesome!” The young dragon was leaping up and down, heart still racing with energy. “Thanks! You were awesome, too! You were perfect!” Vinyl gave the dragon a quick hoof bump and a wink. After packing up all the equipment into Vinyl’s carriage and collecting their pay, the two exited the building, getting ready to part ways. “When’s my next work day?” Spike said. “Well, I’ve got a show in Manehatten on Sunday actually. It’s at a small place, but a job is a job.” She shrugged her shoulders with a nonchalant smile. “Sounds good to me. I barely ever get to travel anywhere.” Spike gave an unamused look before turning away from her. “Well, it’s getting late, so I’m gonna head back home. Night, Vinyl!” “Spike, wait!” The unicorn ran in front of him, barring his progress. “I was just thinking. You told me earlier that you get kind of lonely sometimes and stuff, so I was thinking me and you should hang out tomorrow! I mean, I’m not doing anything, and if we’re gonna be performing together, we might as well hang, right?” “Really? That sounds awesome! Where, and what time?” “How about noon at Octavia’s music shop? That way you can do your chores or whatever first, and we can hang after.” “Definitely! Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you tomorrow, then!” Spike was grinning ear to ear. “See you tomorrow, Spike.” With smiles and a final hoof bump the two parted. Spike, however, wasn’t smiling because of the success of the performance, or even because the bits he'd earned. He was smiling because he'd made a new friend.