//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: What is Wub? // by starstruck lights //------------------------------// What is wub? Wub is a concept; it is finding that right pulse of beat, and like it, love is finding the right pulsing beat for existing in harmony. It was a sunny morning in the small town of Ponyville, however a certain blue maned unicorn was in no state to appreciate it. Vinyl scratch was lying in bed, half under the covers, trying to shake off the effects of a particularly harsh night of drinking, and failing horribly. After a few minutes of this, Vinyl was traumatised by the distinctive and regrettable wub of her doorbell. Swearing to personally gut the pony that had been unfortunate enough to wake her, she stumbled towards the door, and found a very crumpled package on her doormat. Looking up, Vinyl saw Derpy flying off into the sunrise. Overcome with curiosity, Vinyl looked over the package for a sender, and found that it had come from the one and only Octavia. Vinyl had met Octavia about a week ago when they had both reached the finals of the Canterlot musical competition, naturally, Vinyl had made fun of the other pony's classical style, only to find that Octavia had been just as ready to make fun of Vinyl's own style, which she defined as "inelegant, unskilled, unrefined noise making", to which Vinyl had replied that Octavia could go hug the base she had dropped. Needless to say it was love at first sight. Now fully wondering what in Equestria Octavia would have sent to her, Vinyl tore open the package and found a pair of purple tinted glasses in it, with a note attached. The note read: "dear Vinyl, it has come to my realisation that your music can only be so terrible, because you cannot see what it is that you are doing, so at an aim to fix that, I picked up these glasses for you, and I would like to see you this weekend to see how much they have improved your performance" Vinyl fell back, half in amazement and half in laughter. In a moment of rashness, she took the glasses and placed them on her snout, a quick look at the mirror showed her usually red eyes veiled by the purple glass, and to be honest, she was actually seeing a bit better, but that was probably just the placebo effect. In any case she had three days to get ready to mix circles around a certain cellist. That weekend, Vinyl stood waiting for Octavia outside the restaurant she had specified. Going against all her common sense, she had dressed herself formally in an attempt to prove to Octavia that she could be sophisticated if she tried, her sunglasses perched upon her snout to complete her outfit. Earlier that evening she had almost killed herself by trying to go the extra mile by putting on a tie, after she had stopped strangulating herself, she had opted to simply wear a bow tie. After only 5 minutes, Octavia appeared at the corner of the street. Vinyl was tempted to go and meet her, but she held her ground in an attempt to appear aloof, she was going to put on an act, in an attempt to prove to Octavia that she could be formal. But to be honest she would much rather be in a nightclub. A few hours later, Vinyl reflected upon the events of the night. Short of asking for beer instead of wine, and accidentally breaking every other rule of etiquette in the book, Vinyl thought she had done all right for the first time. This was supported by the fact that Octavia was still with her and she seemed to used up her ration of scowls for the night, "Why don't we go back to my place" Vinyl asked "Mines closer" Octavia replied” but it may be too refined for you to bear" she continued "Hey I can do formal, your the one who can't handle the wub" Vinyl replied "What wub, all I hear is unrefined electronic noise" Octavia chortled "Hey, wub is my life" Vinyl protested "we're going to a nightclub now" Vinyl declared. A few minutes and a slightly irritated Octavia later, the duo stood outside Vinyl's favourite nightclub. “This place is a dump" Octavia pronounced as they entered the building "Bet you can't stand 10 minutes in here" Vinyl replied “I can last however long I please; I am simply stating a fact" Octavia retorted. After a round of drinks, Vinyl was told that it was time for her to take the turntables; "Time for me to cause a bassquake" she told Octavia, to which Octavia simply rolled her eyes. As Vinyl took the stage in a roar of dubstep, Octavia returned to her drink, and looked around the club. It was actually a very clean place upon inspection, despite how packed it was. As she pondered this, the DJ Vinyl had relieved approached, "Names Neon Lights, let me show you the sights" he said, To which Octavia could only roll her eyes "I'm here with Vinyl" she said "That old scratched record, seriously" Neon proclaimed “that old scratched record that can turn circles around you" Octavia retorted “Whatever" Neon said, and he walked off with such a swagger that Octavia felt compelled to hit him over the head with her cello, before remembering that she had left it at home. After an hour of mixing and drinking respectively, Vinyl and Octavia were once again sitting at the same table. However, this time Octavia was drunk beyond belief, much to Vinyl's amusement. "That comes to 1567 bits" the waiter said, and Vinyl's jaw dropped in amazement, she looked across the table to Octavia, wondering how such a small mare could hold so much alcohol “How did that even happen" Vinyl asked "She did kind of empty our stock of Chardoneigh, we'll have to get some more from dan marephy's" the waiter said “just because it's you, I'll hold the bill for the moment and we can work it out when she's sober" the waiter added "Thanks" Vinyl said "now I just need to take her home" she continued "Take her to your place, you actually know where it is" the waiter suggested "Good idea" Vinyl said, "see you tomorrow" she told the waiter as she left. It was early in the morning, when Vinyl dragged Octavia into her apartment, thankfully the carriage driver had been willing to help, or Vinyl would never have managed it. She laid Octavia onto the bed, for now, she would sleep on the couch, and tomorrow Octavia would hear an awful lot about how lightweight she was, but for now, Vinyl passed out on the couch, and for the first time in a while, it wasn't due to alcohol.