Part Two
Vinyl Scratch’s head bobbed appreciatively to the thudding beat in her headphones as Neon Lights and “Doctor” Duke Beatz looked on with grins. For nearly four weeks, the trio had been honing this piece.
The Doctor, as Duke Beatz liked to be called, had arrived in Ponyville from his home of Coltarado almost two months earlier at the invitation of Neon. Despite Neon’s best efforts to keep the Doctor’s presence a secret, it hadn’t taken long for Vinyl to get wind of Coltarado’s premiere DJ being in town. Immediately she began begging Neon for the chance to meet, and hopefully, collaborate with him. Surprisingly, Neon had been hesitant at first, telling his friend that the Doctor valued his privacy and wouldn’t appreciate an “outsider” in the process. It had taken a solid week of pleading and Celestia knows how many promised favors to persuade Neon to finally cave and introduce her to him.
Vinyl had lost her normally cool attitude and turned into a raving fangirl as soon as she saw the azure colored unicorn. She had seen pictures of him before, but only while working in clubs. The grey mane he usually had spiked and styled when “on duty” laid almost flat on him now, but the circular dark blue sunglasses that had become his club trademark remained over his eyes. He had been unbelievably calm as she fell over her words and her mouth ran as she gushed about how excited she was to meet him, how awesome he was, and how much she admired his DJ-ing skill and routines. Neon face-hoofed before pulling his friend aside and hissing in her ear, “I told him you’d be cool, Vinyl. Take it down about ten notches, would ya!”
Vinyl suddenly realized just how oddly she was behaving and tried to regain her cool as Duke used his magic to remove his sunglasses. Vinyl nearly lost it when she saw his eyes were the same magenta as hers, but choked back her urge to squee and merely raised her own trademark sunglasses to wink at him and comment, “Awesome eye color, Doc.”
The Doctor regarded her for a moment with a poker face as Neon held his breath nervously, then gave her a smile and commented back, “Right back atcha, babe.”
The three had then sat down to a take-out dinner (Vinyl’s treat, one of her many promised favors to Neon) as Neon told Duke about Vinyl’s own career as Ponyville’s best DJ and their numerous collaborations. Duke nodded as he listened while eating until suddenly asking Vinyl directly, “So, you have a club name?”
Vinyl swallowed her food before proudly announcing, “Of course, Doc. Maybe not quite as sick as yours…” Neon rolled his eyes at the lame pun as Vinyl gave his leg a quick kick under the table before continuing, “but yeah, DJ-PON3 suits me just fine.”
Duke’s eyes opened wider as he eyed the unicorn and choked a bit. His horn glowed as his glass flew to his mouth and he took a long drink to wash the food down before continuing. “DJ-PON3? You’re THAT DJ-PON3?”
Vinyl felt her cheeks flush as she tried to remain calm and sheepishly replied, “Uh, yeah. You heard of me or something?”
Duke ignored her as he turned to Neon and scowled. “She’s been in here this whole time and you never thought to mention who she was???”
Neon was the one tripping over his words now as Vinyl looked on with confusion. “Well- I- How was I supposed to know you knew about her? I mean, she’s pretty small time compared to you-“
“Hey!” Vinyl interrupted angrily.
Neon now faced glares from both his friends. “You know what I mean, Vinyl…” Neon turned back to Duke “But, I mean, it’s not like she’s been in the news world wide- How do you even know-“
Duke interrupted Neon’s babbling. “You’re the one who sent me the remix tape labeled “DJ-PON3”, Neon.”
Vinyl couldn’t contain the gasp. She looked to Duke and gushed out with excitement, “He did? Did you listen to it? Did you like it?” Suddenly, her face became a mask of worry as her tone dropped. “Oh. Oh, no, you hated it, didn’t you?” She then turned to Neon and wailed melodramatically, “How could you? How could you send something I did to such an amazing DJ?” Her head collapsed on the table as she pounded it with her hoof, barely missing hitting her food. She continued with dread, “Wait, which one did you even send-“
Again Duke interrupted the hysterical babbling. “It was bangin’, Vinyl. I played it one night at the 25 Karat in Fort Coltins. The crowd couldn’t get enough of it!”
Vinyl felt as if she might pass out as she grabbed Neon and hugged him. “You’re the best!” she squeaked in his ear.
Neon just grinned sheepishly as he looked to Duke. “Oh, yeah… I did send that, huh? Totally slipped my mind…”
Duke just laughed and turned to Vinyl. “Well… DJ-PON3… wanna be part of the team?”
Neon had a bit of a time getting Vinyl back to consciousness after she fell back on the floor from excitement. “I hope that’s a yes…” Duke mused as he continued eating.
In the weeks since, the trio had outlined the project in question, worked with so many samples, and kept revising and improving it. The Doctor worked his magic, all while seeking Vinyl’s input. Neon contributed with his own stock of sampled beats and his skill with lighting, and the three DJ’s worked long into the night nearly every night.
It had been at the end of the third day when all the hours finally began to catch up with Vinyl. The adrenalin of working with her idol had finally worn off, and it was nearly four o’clock in the morning when she yawned and turned to the Doctor. “I should be gettin’ home, Doc. Gotta hit the hay sometime…” Her horn glowed as she sleepily loaded her records into her bags to carry home. Neon barely stirred as the record he had been holding when he fell asleep in the easy chair was lifted from his hoof and levitated to the bag.
Duke stepped forward and smiled at Ponyville’s resident DJ. “Listen, great work, DJ. I can’t wait to see how this project all turns out.”
Vinyl’s eyes drooped as she yawned involuntarily. “Me too, Doc, me too… See ya…” she replied sleepily before turning to leave.
Duke continued as Vinyl approached the door and her magic aura began to turn the knob. “You know, if you’re that tired, I’ve got something that will help…”
Vinyl stopped where she was. The doorknob suddenly stopped glowing and turned back to the closed position as she turned her head to look back at him curiously.