Vinyl stood stock still. The sounds she heard were echoing not just in the room, but in her soul. She closed her eyes and listened to the electronic-like lyrics, the voices themselves distorting and blending in with the amazing beats. "Who… who is this?" She barely breathed, she didn't even want to speak and disrupt the flow of the tune. The tiny device Penny was using to play the songs was terrible, truly terrible, but Vinyl could really feel this music.
"Daft Punk." Penny knew exactly what to play to have gotten the mare hooked. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. It is one of their most popular songs back where I came from."
"This is amazing, how do they get their voice to do that?" Vinyl reached for the amazing little device, easily working out how to brush the little slider back to the point where the lyrics blend into the rest of the music completely. It sent a shiver down her spine.
"It's… uh, autotune it is called. You can adjust it so that it changes the pitch of a recorded voice and shifts it to the note or scale you want. It can be used by terrible singers to sound good, or by a talented artist to create something amazing." Penny took back the device from the spellbound unicorn. "Now, are you ready for more emotions and some really crazy stuff?"
Vinyl trembled. "That was just the beginning?"
Penny laughed. "I wasn't huge into mixing, but there are enough days worth of electronica and dubstep on here that I think you will find something to listen to."
"D… days?"
"Yup, days. I love music, I adore it. It lifts my mood, it pushes me to think in odd new ways, it even helps me relax." A few taps later brought up a total. "Uh, if you started listening, and told it to play everything, it would take you thirty days… without sleep."
The unicorn wobbled and flopped down on the bed beside Penny. "Okay, I wish I could sit here and listen to all of it, but I am going to need you to filter it. I love Daft Punk, whoever they are, so is there other stuff like them?"
Penny started some more obscure stuff, watching Vinyl for a reaction to each. Stick sat beside her, silently, almost seeming to be napping except Penny saw her ears twitch to the music occasionally.
They spent some time in industrial music, Vinyl's hoof tapping along to it. "Great mixing, but their lyrics are a bit…"
"Dark. The pony who made this had a constant fight, struggling each and every day against problems that I hope to never see here." Penny tried to explain, Vinyl seeming to understand, giving a nod.
"Music expresses what you feel, how you feel it. It can be an outlet for the good things, or it can ease you of the dark. I hope he is doing better than when he wrote this." Vinyl reached down and gently stroked the side of the phone, as if she could somehow connect with the artist.
"From what I remember, before I came here, he was." Penny reached over and patted the hoof with her own. "So, you ready for dubstep?"
The DJ looked a little perplexed. "What is dub… step? Something to do with-"
She froze as Penny began to play some for her. There was a moment of shock, as the whole world seemed to twist and focus down to the raw essence of the music. Vinyl was hooked.
Penny ended up playing all she had of the genre for her new friend, which wasn't much. "That is awesome, I really hope I can get that kind of sound from my new setup. How do they do that, repeating thing, so fast?"
"Sampling, it is called. Basically you record all your bits of music you want to use and-" Penny got cut off.
"And play them back as needed, oh, they can play them back over and over really fast?"
Penny nodded. "Really really fast. They use a box with a whole mess of buttons on it, each is a different sample. It lets them program it on the fly, changing how it sounds, how they repeat and play back. Fairly advanced stuff."
"What do you mean, I could do that with a little magic." Vinyl gestured to her flank. "All in the cutie mark, after all." This made the unicorn look at Penny's and she clopped a hoof to her forehead. "A teacher, I should have known."
Stick replied, eyes still closed. "Don't worry, she does this to princesses too. If she weren't so adorable and snuggly, tasty too, I wouldn't be marrying her." Penny felt a tender touch to her emotions as Stick tried something new. Rather than reaching in to drink, it was like the changeling brushed her senses instead. It was, in short, a very intimate kiss.
Penny radiated just a little magic, tempting the touch inside to continue. It did.
"Hay there, Penny? You with me? She eating you up or something?" Vinyl looked a little perplexed, but when Penny managed to focus on the white mare she realized she had started browsing through music. Some heavily mixed stuff was playing.
"Yeah, sorry. Changelings. Can't live with them, can't get them out of your head when you are head over hooves in love with them." Penny kept her channel going, loving the feel of Stick not actually drinking, but nuzzling and kissing inside her.
Vinyl blushed a little at this. "Uh, yeah, all ponies are like that." She confessed it and Penny managed to pick up that there was more she wanted to say. "You managed to get two mares, what about that juicy-looking stallion? Sablee was it?"
Penny laughed. "Not guilty. I prefer mares, not really a choice I have there. He is dating another friend of ours."
"You seem to have a really relaxed relationship going, it is pretty awesome to see. I… uh that is…" Vinyl blushed and Penny was suddenly worried there would be an awkward question coming. "Well, I am going to say it. How do I tell a mare I really like that I love her, without scaring her away?"
Light dawned, Penny felt her breath that she didn't know she was holding, let go. "I am going to say I can take a guess at who it is, but I won't. First, you want to make a perfect day for her. You want to do, say and act just how she wants you to. This might take a few days to get right, you will learn a lot about your special somepony that way."
Vinyl nodded. It seemed like a good idea. "And?"
"And then, when the day is as perfect for her as you can make it, you tell her how you feel, don't leave a single bit out. Honesty is important and if she is the friend you want to become more than friends with, she will understand even if she doesn't feel the same back. If you are really lucky, she will tell you first." Penny leaned over and kissed Stick on her nose. The changeling never opened her eyes.
Vinyl's thoughts were on her 'accidental roommate', Octavia. The plan Penny told her was simple, she would need to make a few concessions, maybe even lay off the loud music for a little bit. It was a good plan and felt right. "Okay, this seems like it would work. Thank you." Vinyl reached out a hoof and got a little clop back from Penny.
"'s what friends are for." Penny looked up when the door opened. It was Sablee and Hay. "Well, how did it go?"
Sablee wore a big smile. "We got the designs done, ordered the parts and we can start making up the cabinet tomorrow." His voice betrayed how much fun he had had, doing what he did best with his best friend.
"Will it be able to play this?" Vinyl played back some music titled Windowlicker. Penny really was thankful that she hadn't gotten any video clips, or that the unicorn hadn't listened all the way through the long track. The amazing mix was really something though.
Both the engineering students looked perplexed. "Uh, it will play whatever you plug into it… what do you use to make your music?" Sablee looked down at the little phone, this was the first he had seen it and he couldn't help but reach out with his magic, inspecting all the flickering pulses of energy in the tiny thing.
Vinyl, however, was now focused. "I am going to need a new mix board too, and a… what did you say? Midi?"
Penny lifted her hooves, shaking them. "You are not going to be able to get that, but I think if you can store music with magic, you could probably handle sampling it."
Vinyl nodded. "What she said, this will be so amazing!"
Sablee had left Hay and her friends to focus on the musician's needs for a 'deck', as she called it. He had plans to make. Trotting out into the city, he made his way for a restaurant he knew was expensive. He thought up how many bits he had and was sure he could cover it. Best yet, he had done a little research and discovered humans like meat, which this place did serve. "Excuse me, I would like to make a reservation."
The maitre d' beamed. "For two?" He knew all too well what it meant when a lone stallion came to his establishment and looked at menus as this one did. Sablee blushed and nodded. "Perfect, we have a special for dates, if that is your plan?" Another nod, more blushing. "Then I will put you down for that, tonight?"
"Please." Sablee couldn't believe how smooth this pony was, seemingly able to pick up what he was thinking about. The earth pony had to be using magic.
Trotting back to the school, Sablee breathed easily, it was all planned. "And there he is." Jenny's voice caught his attention as she was explaining to Gingersnap why she was at the school. "Sablee!"
A hand was on his neck the moment they were closer and he almost squirmed in delight as her fingers dug into his mane. "How was your afternoon?" She sounded relaxed, almost relieved.
"I got a little job to do that will make me some bits. How was work?" Sablee decided small talk was always safe, besides, he wanted to know how she had handled it.
"Are you kidding? I got to draw adorable ponies for a foal's book, this is the best job ever!" Jen seemed in fine spirits. "And they showed me the flat I can live in until I find a house, Ink even said I could stay there more permanently, but would need to pay rent if I did."
"Ink?" Sablee sounded more surprised than he thought he was.
Jen, however, picked up on it. It made her smile and crouch down so she could look directly into his eyes, well, look up into his eyes. "My boss and a stallion." She saw the flicker. "He has a mare already, and a foal on the way. Don't you worry, you are the only stallion in my life right now." She kissed him on the lips.
Both of them lost it a little then. Sablee kissing her back and Jen not realizing how good it would feel to kiss a pony, particularly one she liked. The fur of his snout tickled a little, but in a nice way.
"Only stallion?" Sablee finally came up for air, asking what had pinged around in his head.
Jen laughed. "And don't worry about that, girls… mares, don't really do it for me." As she said it she blushed though. She took a deep breath and leaned in. "Okay, a tiny lie. If Luna came up and offered, I doubt I would have the willpower to say no."
Sablee looked a touch perplexed, then he couldn't stop the giggle that came. Jen joined the laugh as they both broke down and hugged their way through the mirth. "Well, I am a stallion, you think it would be any easier for me?" Jen kissed him again and shook her head. "I got a reservation at a nice place. We can head there as soon as you are hungry."
"I want to say hi to Stick, Hay, and Penny first." Jenny reached to his shoulders, using his strength to help lift herself back to her feet. It felt good to Sablee, that she was relaxed enough with him to rely on him like that. Together they made their way back to the three mares' room.