Chapter 1: Wub Machine
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
I cantered through the club doors as I often do on Saturday nights, taking in the repeating bass just outside. As I enter, it gets much more intense as multiple other sounds that couldn’t make it outside fill the room, as well as my eardrums. It was heaven. It was peace. It was my sanity.
The bouncer, Buffy, who I knew all too well, stood aside with a smile on his face.
“Welcome back, miss Scratch,” he said, earning a smile back.
“Come one, Buffy, we’re pals. Call me Vinyl.” He nodded as I walked past him, and I could have sworn I felt him tap my flank. I glanced back with a dangerous, warning smirk, pulling down my shades and revealing my red eyes. We both let out a laugh.
I made my way past the dance floor and to the bar, where I frequently sit when I’m not doing performances as my stage persona, DJ P0N3. I ordered a hard cider and passed five bits across the counter to the bartender. As I waited for my drink, I looked to the other side of the bar and noticed a light gray mare with a brown mane, who looked very out of place and very nervous. I made my way over, making sure to let the bartender know I had moved.
“Somepony like you seems rather out of her comfort zone here,” I yelled over the music and crowd. She glanced at me, giving me what appeared to be a forced smile.
“Yes, well, I was dragged here quite rudely by a few rowdy ponies who insisted I get out more.” Ooh, a Canterlot accent. Fancy.
“Well that really depends,” I said. “How often do you get out?”
“Well that’s just it. I don’t.” That honestly caught me by surprise. After shaking the blank look off my face, I extended a hoof.
“Well in that case, I kind of agree. I’m Vinyl Scratch.”
She grasped my hoof, shaking it gently. “Octavia Melody. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, no matter how odd a place.”
“The pleasure’s all mine! So where ya from, Octavia? I sure as sugar can tell you’re not from here in Ponyville.” She lightened up at talking about her home. I made a mental note to tuck that aside whenever our conversations get a bit dull.
“Well, I actually have a home in Canterlot. The friends who took me here are neighbors of mine and have wanted to try out the city life for a while, so they quite literally dragged me here. Or at least onto the carriage from Canterlot.” The last part caused me to emit a small laugh, which she smiled at.
The bartender arrived with my drink, but the intercom interrupted the conversation entirely.
“Attention dancers and music lovers, we have a special weekly performance that we do here every Saturday night, and now is the time for the announcement of that exact thing. Tonight we have a live performance by DJ P0N3! She will begin setup in about 5 minutes, and the show will begin in 10. Afterwards, Miss P0N3 has told me to state that she will be signing autographs and selling CDs, and will be in the club for most of the night.” There was cheering throughout the club at the mention of the show, which caused Octavia to gain a curious look.
“DJ P0N3… I’ve never heard of her. Do you know anything about her, Vinyl?” I smirked at the question.
“Why, DJ P0N3 is sitting right in front of ya. It’s me!”
“Oh! Well then, shouldn’t you start getting ready?”
“Oh, right. Right right right. Thanks! Talk to ya after the show?” She nodded happily. I downed my drink quickly and rushed backstage.
Backstage was simply rolling out the speakers and turntable, plugging it in, and mental preparation. I’ve done this thousands of times, it was easy. But for some reason I felt a little nervous. Was it the cider? Maybe there’s a larger crowd? Maybe it was because of that Octavia mare. I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it.
Just as my thoughts finished up, the intercom cut on again.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, let’s give a warm round of applause for DJ P0N3!”
I started up my music; a low, quiet tone. Smoke trailed along the base of the stage, thanks to the dry ice effects. Spotlights shot to life, colored purple, white, and blue, my color scheme. My signature smile spread across my muzzle, fireworks sparked across the stage, and the show began.
*** *** ***
The autographs were very dull and boring, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.
“Here ya go, have a great night...there you are, enjoy the rest of the night...ah, Octavia! I didn’t think you’d come up for an autograph.” She had a look of pure joy on her face.
“Well, normally I wouldn’t. I’m not the biggest fan of any forms of techno music. But the way you looked on that stage, you were so full of happiness. I could see it on your face. You play this music with an undying passion, and I admire that greatly. You see, I’m a musician myself, and I’m very well into criti- OOF!” A slightly large stallion behind her shoved her forward.
“Hey, broad, hurry the hell up. We’re all fans. Just get your autograph and get lost!”
“Hey, keep your hand off her, and let her talk. I give you all as much time as you want,” I told him.
“How ‘bout you shut your damn mouth and give me my autograph?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
Now, let me get something straight here. Pissing me off is a very VERY bad decision. Especially if you piss me off while treating me or my fans like shit. I won’t state all of the details of what I did to that guy, as they would probably cause the weaker or more emotional readers to leave the story as quickly as they arrived. For curiosity’s sake, I’ll just say he was in the hospital for the next three months. Oh, and Octavia did get her autograph. Just to let ya know.
Now, back to after the autographs….right. I was at the bar…
“Excuse me, good sir,” I said to the same bartender as before. “Could I get a small glass of scotch for myself, and…” I turned to Octavia. “Would you like anything?”
“Well, I’ve never had alcohol before, but I would like to try some. What would you suggest?” She looked at me quizzically.
I looked back to the bartender. “And a light hard cider for her. On my tab.” He nodded and started making the drinks.
“That was a brave thing you did at the autographs,” Octavia said, smiling at me.
“Nah, that was nothing.” I looked over where I left him and noticed the paramedics were putting him on a stretcher. I winced slightly as he wailed in pain. “I just hate it when people treat my fans and friends like shit.”
The bartender set our drinks on the counter, and I passed him 15 bits.
Octavia looked at me. “You...consider me your friend?”
“Well of course,” I said. “You’re fun to hang around….why, is it weird?”
She laughed, causing me to smile. “No, of course not. It’s just that...well, I’ve never made a friend so easily.” She smiled softly.
A realization struck me. “Speaking of friends,” I said. “Where are the ones who brought you here with them?”
Just then, the realization seemed to hit Octavia as well. She glanced around in shock, wondering where her friends had gone off to. She tapped on an item in her ear that I didn’t notice before, and it started glowing blue. I guessed it was a bluetooth device. Damn, Canterlot ponies really do have everything.
“Hello,” she said to someone on the other line. “Where in the name of Celestia are you?” There was a pause. “Canterlot!? How did you get there?” Another pause. “You WHAT!? I cannot BELIEVE you! How come you didn’t say anything to me? You know what, nevermind. I don’t even care. I’ll be perfectly fine. You’ll have to do without me.” She tapped on the device again and it stopped glowing. Tears started to lightly stream from her eyes.
“Some friends of yours,” I said. She began to sob a little. “Hey, don’t cry.” I handed her the cider she ordered. “Here, have this. It’ll calm you down.” She took a sip and tested the taste. After a moment, she downed the whole thing, causing me to laugh. The laughing immediately subsided when she downed my scotch in 3 seconds flat as well. Realizing she drank my scotch, she looked down.
“Oh...dammit. I’m sorry, Vinyl, I’ll pay you back if you need me to. Er...how much was it?” She started to reach into her saddlebag, but I stopped her.
Smiling, I said “Don’t worry about it, I have plenty more at my place...speaking of, do you need somewhere to stay?”
She looked up at me and nodded.
“Great! Come on, let’s go. You just drank a whole glass of scotch and cider and it was your first drink of alcohol. You’re gonna need to lay down soon.” I led her out of the club, drying her tears from her face.
*** *** ***
Octavia gasped as we walked into my house, noticing all the clutter.
“Oh, shit...sorry. I forgot about the mess. Clubbing is just too fun.”
“Don’t worry,” she responded. “It’s perfectly fine. We just need to straighten up a little...ack!” She collapsed onto my couch, holding a hoof to her head.
“Looks like the alcohol is getting to ya. Come on, let’s get you to bed.” I led her down the hall to the room on the left side. “I don’t ever use the guest bedroom, so it should be clean.” We entered the undecorated room and, as I stated, it was much cleaner than everything else. I laid her down in the bed and covered her up. She pulled me into a hug.
“Thank you, Vinyl,” she said. “I had fun.” I smiled and started walking out of the room. “Oh, and just so you know, we’re cleaning your house tomorrow.” I chuckled and walked into my own room.
I laid on the bed and curled up, replaying the night's events in my head. I smiled lightly and drifted off to sleep, hoping tomorrow would fare just as well, or even better.