Horns, Hooves, and Fur

by Deyeaz

XXIV - A Night To Remember

“Praxis? Praxis?! Yo, dude, you home? C’mon, we gotta head to the mansion to get ready for the Gala! We’re gonna be late, hurry your ass up, Fluffy!” Jace sighed and tapped his foot on the wooden floor of the treehouse. “Holy shit, Prax! What’re you doing?! Jacking off?”

“Shut your fuckin’ gob, Jace! I’m trying to find my damn suit!” The annoyed satyr kept digging through the piles of cans he had for storage if he got hungry and once tripped on one, falling on the ground with a hefty *THUD*.

“You lost your fucking suit?! You, sir, are the most unorganized person in all of Equestria.” Jace shook his head and walked up the stairs to see Praxis rubbing the top of his head and looking right at him. “Laying down on the job. I see how it is. I’m gonna have to write you up for a fine for not trying to look for your suit, young satyr.”

“Alright, smartass. You find it.”

“What, you haven't found your suit already?” The response was a gold tie with a diamond-shaped ruby at its knot being thrown in his face. “Thank you.” He gripped the tie and encased it in his red magic, the tie glowing soft red. Light started to glow from Praxis’ closet door and Jace looked at him. “The place where it most likely would’ve been, and you didn’t check?”

“Oh, sue me.” Praxis strode to the closet and smiled to see it in all of its glory. Scarlet suit jacket, gold button-up vest, scarlet button-up shirt under that vest, and a gold-banded scarlet top hat to conceal his horns. Rarity had even gone to the trouble of putting a phoenix feather in the band. Where she had gotten it was a total enigma to both Praxis and Jace.

“Alright, I will. I’ll see you in court.” Jace chuckled and walked to the staircase, looking over his shoulder. “Get the suit and let’s go! We have to be at the castle in an hour for practice of the songs we’re going to do!”

“Awww yeah!” Praxis looked on the ground to find the gold-rimmed pince nez that Rarity had also loaned him. He looked in the mirror of his bedroom and was surprised by the effect. Rarity had to remove the facial tattoos and manticore fang earrings, saying they clashed horribly with the suit. He cautiously rubbed a cheek, the surface of his now blank flesh still tender from the magic process used to remove the ink. His goatee had been closely trimmed, for it had grown slightly wild and long in the past three weeks since he got it, yet his hair had not yet been cut. Long locks of black touched the top of the satyr’s shoulders. “Wait... why the hell does my hair make me look like Sebastian Michaelis from Black Butler? I mean, not that I don’t like it, because he’s a legitimate bad-ass.”

“Don’t know, don’t care, now c’mon!” Jace’s tone was hurried and it sounded rushed. This was his first major gig with Vinyl, and he didn’t want to miss it for anything. Praxis, who had been training in the ways of the musician under Jace’s wing for the three weeks, rushed down the stairs and walked next to Jace.

“Your collar’s disheveled,” he told him. Jace’s suit was similar to Praxis’s, yet the former had pants, a fedora instead of a top hat, and a bronze and blue color scheme rather than red and gold. A peacock’s tail feather was in the band. At the satyr’s words, Jace fidgeted his collar until it was aligned properly with his tie, which had a sapphire at its knot. “Much better.”

“Yeah, yeah... so how’d mating season go for you?”

Praxis gave a shudder before answering. “Lyra subjected me to some REALLY kinky stuff.”

Jace’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?! You, of all people.... got LAID?!”

The other nodded. “Yes... I’m surprised I survived the first day from how vicious it was. I had to hide in the forest the rest of mating season.”

“Whoa... that must suck,” Jace said, receiving a nod and an “Mm-hmm” from his friend. “C’mon, the train’ll be leaving soon.” After a few minutes of quick sprinting, the two had reached the mansion, picking up Vinyl Scratch in a stunning purple dress decorated with yellow music notes, and headed for the train station. The Friendship Express was preparing to depart for the Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot. Aboard the train cart the trio entered were several unrecognized ponies. But they found the Mane Six and Spike sitting in the back in their Gala clothes. Praxis and Jace always wondered why ponies would wear clothing. But that curious observation could wait for another time. Tonight was a night worth enjoying.

“Hey, girls,” the two men and Vinyl said in unison. The group responded with “hello”s, “good evening”s, and “what’s up?”s.

“Those're some fancy duds there, fellers,” complemented Applejack, who had to interrupt her conversation with Rainbow Dash to say that.

“Thanks, AJ,” the trio said.

“How do you like the new suits, darlings?” inquired Rarity, her keen eye scanning over the three of them.

“They’re very nice,” Praxis answered for them.

“I thought so. I dare say, the pince nez was a perfect idea, Praxis. But it seems a tad unbalanced on your nose, dear.” She magically adjusted the small pair of frame-less glasses on his nose, for they had gone slightly askew during his travel to the train station.

“I think I now know why they call it a ‘pince nez’. It pinches my nose, and it friggin’ hurts like crazy.” Praxis wriggled his human snout. A few of the girls laughed at his remark.

The Friendship Express then blared its train whistle, and began departing for Canterlot.

All the while, Vinyl had pulled Jace farther to the back to straighten out his tie. “Hon, you look like a mess.”

“Well, I had to sprint to get the mansion and here. What did you expect me to do? Use teleportation? I’m not that advanced, dear.”

“Well, still. You’re all wrinkled now!” A groan came from Jace.

“Jeez, MOM. I’ll make sure not to run fast again.” A smile was placed on Vinyl’s face.

“You know I love you, riiiight?~”

“Oh, don’t butter me up with this again.” A quick peck and a giggle from Vinyl was all Jace needed to give in and start smiling. One of the first non-forced smiles all month.

“So Jace... I’ve been thinking about that offer... about me being a Reaper.”

Jace turned around to face Praxis. “Yeah?” The suspense was killing him.

“And... I’ll do it. But under one condition.”

“Alright!” Jace was glad that his friend had agreed and accepted the offer. “Now we stand a chance against Insanity. Name that condition.”

Praxis paused before pressing on. “I would like to be a different CLASS of Reaper. There’s Chaos, and that’s the only one I know of. But since Chaos doesn’t really speak to me, I was wondering if there’s a different type of Reaper.”

“Hmm....” Jace pondered on the other form that a Reaper could be. Two minutes passed before he gave a definite answer. “Well, there IS another class; the Chaos Reaper’s only polar opposite, the Order Reaper.”

“Excellent.” Praxis was glad that the prospects of becoming that form of Reaper is possible. But Jace saw his look of content and had no choice but to damper it, much to his displeasure.

“We’ll get you started after the Gala. But... the initiation is going to be really tough on you. First off, you have to undergo a blood ritual. Then, you have to do a week of really painful training.”

“If it means a chance at defeating Insanity, I don’t care. Besides, does it LOOK like I give a shit?” Praxis raised an eyebrow at Jace, peering at him through unamused eyes with a frown on his face.

“Uhm, no?” Jace was rewarded with a pat on his head from the satyr.

“Good boy.” Praxis had to lean back to avoid Jace’s magic-encased fist as it swung at him.

“Touch me on the head again. See what happens, goat-boy,” Jace threatened. Praxis could only stifle his laughter at the incident. “Go ahead! I DARE ya!” A smirk played at Jace’s lips as he said these words.

“Really, dumbass?” Praxis touched his head again. Jace grabbed his wrist, turned around, and threw Praxis over his shoulder and onto the floor. The top hat and pince nez came off from the earth-shaking and bone-jarring slam. “OWW... My body was NOT ready,” he wheezed. Vinyl and Jace stifled their oncoming fit of laughter.

“Oh, and I got another trick up my sleeve,” Jace said slyly. “Stand up and hold out your arm.”

“What the hell are you plotting?” Praxis asked.

“Just do it, you pansy.”

“Fine, ya asshole.” Praxis got up and extended his arm towards Jace.

“Watch, as I simply snap my fingers,” A snap from his fingers rang through the train car, and a black, clawed hand came out of nowhere and grabbed Praxis’ arm tight. The occupants, other than Vinyl, began screaming.“Oh, it gets worse.” As he ended the sentence, multiple hands came from nowhere and latched onto the different body parts of Praxis. “Dark Snare. Like it?”

“ALL THIS OVER A HEAD PAT?!” Praxis was panicking. Jace snapped his fingers again, and the hands that had ensnared Praxis had dissipated into thin air. He grabbed his top hat and put it back on his head before reluctantly placing his pince nez back on his nose. “YOU’RE PSYCHOTIC!”

“No, I just don’t want you touching my nice freaking hat. I haven’t had a fedora since I was on Earth, and that was three years ago! Fun fact, that’s all one creature. Guess his name.” Eagerness filled Jace’s face.

“Cerberus and Hades’ flipper baby? I dunno, I give up.” Praxis honestly didn’t have a clue as to what satanic pet Jace could have sitting in the Underworld, awaiting its master’s beck and call.

Jace only facepalmed. “It’s Aksheal, you dolt. Only he can hold onto something and keep it there long enough for me to gut whatever it is.” Jace walked over to Vinyl, who handed him a pair of white gloves from her pocket. He slipped them on his hands and wiggled his fingers around before going to the back of the train and picking up a gold and silver cane from the back of a chair. “Ah, good. Still here.” He tapped it twice on the floor of the cart, the cane changing into his Chain Scythe and freaking out the girls. “Whoops! Sorry! I didn’t know it would take the disguise off that easily!” He tapped the end on the floor again, the scythe changing back into a gold and silver cane.

Praxis chuckled at the incident as he walked over to the window. The sun finally sank below the horizon, the moon preparing to arise behind him. The magical black and purple flames shrouded him once more as he shut his eyes from the now dull, yet still evident pain and became his nocturnal alterego.

The flames disappeared, revealing the weresatyr before them.

The Mane Six screamed even louder. The other occupants of the car cleared out, shrieking their heads off as they dashed into the other compartments

“Everypony chill the hell out!” He raised his clawed hands to silence the remaining ponies. The screams slowly yet surely subsided.

“P-Praxis?!” Twilight Sparkle wailed. “What in Equestria ARE you?!”

Praxis only looked at her. “A very evil monster,” he deadpanned sarcastically. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike went wide-eyed in fear, while the others; Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, took note of his sarcastic tone and seemed to calm down slightly. “As a matter of fact, you’ve seen me like this before. Why the hell are you all flipping out NOW?”

They shuddered. They didn’t want to remember that incident back at Canterlot Castle. It was bad enough that they were travelling there with the same creature responsible.

A very pregnant silence ensued. Minutes passed by since Praxis’s question, and not a word was said. But thankfully, somepony got up the courage to break it.

“Well, that’s all good and jolly--” Rarity interjected.

“But what made you like this, Prax?” Rainbow Dash interruptedly finished.

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie said. “Earlier, you were a really nice-looking satyr, now you’re a satyr that just looks really scary! What gives?”

Praxis sighed. If Pinkie Pie didn’t know anything about his transformation, despite her frequent evisceration of physics and logic, then the other mares had nothing else to fall back on.

Vinyl sighed heavily. “Y’know that evil guy that’s planning on destroying the world in a little more than a month?”

“Don' remind me, sugarcube,” Applejack groaned, a worried look on her face.

“Yeah, he Corrupted Praxis with his freaky-ass blade. Now, every night, our fluffy friend becomes THIS!” Vinyl pointed an accusing-looking hoof at the weresatyr. The ponies and dragon before them gasped.

“Well, it’s not MY fault he’s a psychopathic jackass,” Praxis said.

“AND, on top of that, the Corruption is going to kill him in about a few more weeks unless we do something!” Vinyl, at this point, was a little livid about it all.

“Oh, now you gotta make them worried!” Praxis said worriedly as he cleaned his sharp teeth with a talon. He trailed a forked tongue along his teeth gently, resting at the spot where his canines were. He could feel those specific teeth had elongated into fangs, their tips slightly exposed by a few centimeters. The twilight caused by the descended sun made the glass of the window become a mirror.

“Praxis?” Applejack began. “That can’t be true... can it?”

“I’m afraid so, AJ,” he answered morbidly. With careful handling, he removed his top hat and flattened his now unruly white hair. “Seriously?” He grumbled almost silently. “Why must my hair be as crazy as Pinkie’s when I transform?”

“Hey!” The pony in question giggled. Praxis carefully replaced his hat upon his head and admired the effect, yet was unsure of how Pinkie had caught the gist of his irritated question, when everybody else didn’t even hear it.

“I... I can’t believe it. I simply REFUSE to believe it,” Rainbow Dash said angrily.

Praxis only sighed. “Rarity? Can you open my suit and let her see for herself? I’m afraid I might rip my suit to shreds if I did it instead.” He lifted a taloned hand to emphasize the statement.

“But of course, darling.” Rarity focused her horn at the weresatyr, the sky-blue aura of her magic unbuttoning the jacket, vest, and shirt of the suit. Only his bare front stood out. Spike and the girls gasped. The markings that reached his neck were pulsating along with the Curse Seal on his navel, while the others on his actual neck and face weren’t glowing. Rarity used her magic to close the suit back up.

“So... it’s true, then?” Pinkie asked, sadness in her tone. Praxis nodded. Two seconds later, and without warning, the pink mare began to cry. Hard. Streams of tears shot up from her eyes and arced towards the ground as she wept. Rarity had to scoot back to avoid getting drenched.

“Please don’t cry, Pinkie,” Jace said, putting a comforting hand around her. The crying and audible sobbing were gradually stopping. Finally, they ended, yet Pinkie was sniffling violently, her eyes glossed over from the tears she had spilled. She nodded, giving a weak and stuttery “OK”.

“S-so, um, Praxis?” Fluttershy almost whispered. “What d-do you plan on doing at the Gala?”

“Oh, not much,” Jace answered in Praxis’s place. “We’re just going to perform some songs for the ponyfolk. And Princess Celestia wants Praxis and me to go to the council meeting after.”

“Really? What could it be about?” Twilight asked, curious as to what the topic the duo would have to discuss.

“Beats me,” Praxis answered honestly. “It could be about anything, to be honest.”

“There it is!” Pinkie shouted joyously as she peered out the window. Praxis was stunned at how quickly Pinkie had switched emotions so rapidly.

‘Bipolarity~’ he thought before being captivated by the sight of the city he and his friends/acquaintances were approaching.

Canterlot was practically aglow with activity. The ivory spires, towers, and foundations of the castle glistened in the moonlight. Movement from the ocean of equines showed that the ponyfolk were enjoying the festivities that Canterlot had to offer.

“Ayo, Jace, we’re nearly there!” Praxis said. When he got no response, he looked to his left. He was sitting on one of the seats of the train with Vinyl in his lap as they were kissing. He shuddered. “Urgh... it’s like watching two wildebeests fight over a piece of meat in their mouths.” The others laughed a little. Jace and Vinyl broke away, glaring at Praxis menacingly. The weresatyr chuckled heartily. “Well, glad to see that your spit trading session is over,” he pressed on, “because we’re almost at the station.”

“Just... give us till we get there, man...” He waved Praxis away as the two went back to tongue-swapping. Praxis facepalmed, surprised he hadn’t broken his pince nez from the force of the swing. Spike and a few of the other ponies winced from the sound his hand made when it struck his face.

“The shit that I put up with, man...” When the train stopped, Jace and Vinyl ended their tongue-swapping session and followed the occupants of the compartment out of the door.

Jace came up next to Praxis with Vinyl following close. “Hey, man, I haven’t gotten to do that in so long. We’ve been so worried about this stuff, we can’t catch a break together, man.” He patted his shoulder. “Don’t tell me you’re getting jelly on me, bro...”

“I’m not getting jelly, Jace. But I’m feeling awful peanut butter at the moment.” A trollish smile accompanied by a British accent from Praxis was what Jace needed today.

“Enjoy yourself, man. If you need any extra bits, I gotcha on that.” A jingle came from his pocket as he stepped.

"That won't be necessary, compadre. Besides, I won't be spending money on anything like food or toys." Praxis waved a hand.

"Why's that?" Jace raised an eyebrow.

"Dude... I can eat GRASS and FLOWERS. Food from stands technically won't be necessary."

"Ah... listen, I’m gonna get into the castle and find Luna, because she’s the one directing the music; and we’ll go from there...”

“Sweeeet.” With that, the two parted their separate ways, taking part in the frivolous activity that awaited them.

...

Only for Praxis to be met with shrieks of fear at his appearance. “Son of a--” he grumbled. “I thought they were used to me by now!”

“Oh, sweet Jesus.” Jace walked out in front of Praxis, and whistled as loud as he could. The sound rang like a gunshot, filling the atmosphere almost instantly. The ponies stopped dead in their tracks. “Everypony listen up! This guy is cool! He’s with us! I swear, so many of you ponies are filled with prejudice. Just because he looks like this, you automatically think he’s going to do harm!? I thought me and Coal taught you better than this long ago, and look what happened to Coal! He’s DEAD because of stuff like this.” Fighting back tears, he shook his head. “Just... you make me sick.” He looked at everypony in the crowd and walked off into the castle, his cane under his arm. “So... fricking... sick of this shit.” He whispered as he made his way towards the Princess’ chambers.

Praxis sighed, watching Jace walk away from the scene. He felt disappointment and anger boiling his blood before he whipped around and leered at the ponies. “Great job, you donut-munching... barrel-assed... pud-pulling sissies!” he roared in a fake congratulatory tone as he pointed a taloned finger at the audience. A few of the ponies shot him angry glances at his profanity, and a few flinched at the six-inch claw, but he continued like a raging locomotive that couldn’t be stopped. “My friend and I came here to have fun at the Gala! Now, because your prejudice, hatred, and belligerence knows no limits, you’ve gone and upset him, one of my ONLY friends here who’s gone back and forth through Hell like I have! Y’all better pray that Celestia shows you at least an ounce of mercy when I punt your sorry asses into outer space!” He stormed away from the scene, gritting his sharp teeth as he walked into the building. “You should be ashamed of yourselves!” He yelled over his shoulder.

He entered the building and turned his head back forward, hoping to find Jace. The ponies inside had overheard his rant, for they were looking at him with a few hints of pity... or apprehension. Even though the human was about two feet taller than the equine crowd, Praxis saw no sign of him. In desperation, he scaled an adjacent marble column in the Foyer with his sharp talons, searching for his friend with no avail. The ponies down below looked at him in both fear and curiosity as he jumped from column to column, the weresatyr being more than grateful for the sharp, dextrous tools that were assisting him in his endeavors.

“Damn it, Jace... where could you have gone?” he murmured after jumping between pillars for the fifth time so far.

“PRAXIS!!!” Applejack shrieked at him. “GET DOWN FROM THERE, YA CRAZY VARMINT!!!”

As this was going on, Jace was pushing his fedora lower on his head to shroud his eyes from the other ponies. He knocked on a midnight-blue door that bore big black Equestrian hieroglyphs, which, with his translation magic, read ‘Luna’. “Princess Luna? It’s Jace. May I please come in?”

A few seconds passed before the lunar princess answered, “Yes, Jace.” Jace opened the door, revealing Luna’s room in all it’s dark glory. He walked in, standing straight up and looking around the room before settling his eyes on Luna.

“Princess, again, thank you for having Praxis, Vinyl and I take care of the music. It’s a huge honor.” Luna raised a brow at this statement.

“Art thou being generous? Dearest Jace, did thou hiteth thy head on thy way in?” Jace blinked a couple times before he remembered the way he acted before.

“So, I’m able to be casual around you and Celestia? Whew! I thought I was going to have to keep that act up all night!” He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat on his forehead. “Pfff, I’m sorry if I sound cross, Luna, I... had a bit of a start when I first came in. Ponies not trusting Praxis, and me getting angry with them is not really the best of combos.” He returned the cloth to his pocket and leaned against his cane, looking down. “You’d think these ponies would get used to him like they got used to me and Coal. I hate when I see MY friend being ridiculed for the way he LOOKS. I’ve been down that road, and it’s NOT fun.”

Luna sighed in frustration. “Ugh... they are STILL doing that?” she asked, regretting the question when Jace answered it with a nod. “That is it... tomorrow, I shall get Celestia to talk to them about it. In the meantime, Jace, please partake in the frivolities downstairs.” She patted Jace on his shoulder. He left the room, giving her a small “thanks” before closing the door.

Jace looked down, deep in thought about what ‘fun’ WAS anymore. Then, he remembered what he was going to ask. He knocked on the door again, “Princess Luna. I needed to ask where we will be performing tonight.”

“Simple, dear boy!” she answered through the door. “The auditorium! When you get downstairs to the Foyer, take the door on the right down the hall! Then take the first door on the left!”

“OK, thanks!” With that, Jace left the vicinity and made his way to the Grand Foyer before following Luna’s explicit directions. He opened the door to the auditorium to find a crowd of ponies before him, either talking, eating, drinking, or dancing to the classical music that was playing on stage. He spotted Vinyl and Octavia next to the stage, the former testing the turntable and seeing that it works properly. He briskly walked over her, giving an apology to anypony he accidentally bumped into.

“Hey, hon!” Vinyl walked over to Jace, stood up on her hind legs, and kissed him for a few seconds.

“Vi, where’s Praxis?” Jace asked when they broke away. Vinyl got back down on all fours and shrugged.

*BAM!*

Jace and the massive audience of ponies turned around to look at the massive double doors. Praxis, right hoof still raised from kicking the door wide open, gave the audience a nice, wide, sharp-toothed smile as he walked into the room, Princess Celestia, the Mane Six and Spike following him in.

“Knock knock, motherfuckers!!!”

Jace and Vinyl blinked before they fell over to the ground, clutching their sides as they laughed loudly painfully at Praxis’s entrances. The weresatyr in question crouched low to the floor before jumping over the crowd of ponies and landing in front of the two of them.

“Are you ready to begin?" Octavia was in on their plan, because Vinyl had informed her of it. Even though the song would require a good cello player, asking her old university friend and musical polar opposite to perform the favor was much to the white unicorns's displeasure.

"Um... yeah," the other three said.

“OK, since when did he start jumping fifty feet across a sea of ponies?” Spike inquired. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“Beats me, sugarcube,” Applejack said.

“I didn’t know,” Rarity ensured.

“I did.” The gang turned to see Fluttershy looking at the weresatyr getting on the stage with his friends.

“Whaddaya mean, ‘Shy?” Pinkie asked.

“Remember when he saved me, girls? He jumped out of his tree and caught me before I fell into the pond.” There was a strange air of confidence in the yellow Pegasus’s tone as she spoke.

“Ohhhh, I remember now,” Dash said. The others nodded when they reminisced on the event that Fluttershy had informed them about.

“Ooh, it looks like they’re about to perform!” Pinkie exclaimed.

As the music started, lights turned on at the stage, showing Octavia playing her cello, calmly. On the stage were Vinyl, Jace, and Praxis. Three miscellaneous ponies had taken the place of the DJs in the booth. Standing on the stage was a random pony from the crowd. His silk suit, coiffed mane, and moustache showed he hailed from Itaily. He sat on his haunches, held at point-blank range by Jace and Praxis, who each held a large black magnum in their hands with suppressors on the barrels.Vinyl was in between the men, behind the pony with a shotgun in her telekinetic grip, aimed at the victim’s head.

As the voices started up, Jace as he waved it around and began to speak.

“We do not want your tired and sick!” Jace started out as he lifted his gun to the audience and pointed it at them, giving them a bit of a startle.

Praxis followed Jace’s example. “It is your corrupt we claim!”

“It is your evil that will be sought by us!”

“With every breath, we shall hunt them down!”

“Each day, we will spill their blood, till it rains down from the skies!”

“Do not kill; do not rape; do not steal! These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace!”

“These are not polite suggestions! These are codes of behavior, and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost... one day you will look behind you and you will see we three! And on that day, you will reap it!”

“...And we will send you to whatever god you wish.”

Jace and Praxis both returned to their position behind the pony, who was breathing hard. Vinyl had stepped behind, holding a gun to his head with her magic. The three then started to recite a type of prayer of some sort.

“And shepherds we shall be. For Thee, my Lord, for Thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand--”

“Vaffanculo!” The convicted pony shouted in Itailian.

“--That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be.”

Vinyl looked at the two next to her. “In Nomine Patris.”

Jace narrowed his eyes and scowled. “Et Filii.”

Praxis cocked back the hammer on his pistol, his eyes half-lidded in feigned boredom. “Et Spiritus Sancti.”

The lights dimmed as the sounds of silenced shots rang out. What looked eerily like blood spewed from the silhouette of the convicted pony’s head. The body fell limp on the ground and loud, modulated bass played out of the speakers. The lights went up at the DJ booth, showing the trio mixing the first bit of the song.

Thanks to the non-stop practice with instruments over the week, along with Vinyl using her magic to shorten and dull his sharp talons into plain, yet still black, fingernails, Praxis had finally gotten the hang of using a turntable. His previous movements when he first started, which were choppy, clumsy, and were performed at all the wrong moments, had become fluid, precise, and punctual. Knobs, slides, records, buttons; each were twisted, adjusted, turned, and pressed at exactly the right moments, causing the sounds being created to synchronize with the others.

Much to the surprise of everypony who knew him.

“Whoa!” Spike exclaimed from the stands. With the princesses next to him and his lady friends, there was a circle of free space, for the ponies that respected the two princesses had cleared away, ensuring that they had enough room to them.

“‘Whoa’ is an understatement, Spike!” Twilight had to raise her voice over the noise. “I didn’t even KNOW Praxis could do that!”

“Neither did Ah!” Applejack raised an eyebrow at the bizarre fact, but shrugged it off. “Did you, Rainbow?” She looked around, surprised to see the chromatic Pegasus headbanging with the beat... alongside Princess Luna.

“AWWW, YEAH!!!” Rainbow shouted, her technicolor mane bobbing up and down with her head.

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity wailed in despair. “Cease that barbaric headbanging! You’ll ruin your mane!”

“THIS IS HOW ONE MUST PARTY!!!” Luna yelled. Rainbow looked up to see who had spoken and jumped when she saw Luna. Her sky-blue face immediately began turning magenta with embarrassment. Luna, however, paid Rainbow no mind, for her eyes were shut. Princess Celestia, who was next to her, face-hoofed in frustration at her baby sister’s behavior.

“Sweet Faust in Pony Heaven, Luna, we’re in public...” she grumbled. Her voice, however, went unnoticed, for she had spoken into her gold-encased hoof.

Fluttershy, always the type to cower at loud and sudden noises, lived true to the last syllable of her name. When the bass had dropped, she dove underneath a table at speeds that would give Rainbow Dash a run for her money. Pinkie Pie was bobbing to and fro between the crowd, whooping and cheering as she moved hither and thither through the room.

On the stage, the three had already returned to the booth as each changed positions to fill one another’s position. The hologram of Aksheal had appeared. He looked across the audience through glowing red eyes, donned in his crimson and black robes on with the hood pulled up, the spell cast upon it concealing his face in opaque shadows.

“They exited out the front door, they had no idea what they were in for." he began dramatically. "Now they’re staring at six men with guns drawn. It was a fuckin’ ambush.” His head bowed down, and he chuckled. “For a few seconds, this place was Armageddon!” He growled and raised his head, yelling at the top of his lungs, “THERE WAS A FIREFIGHT!” As quickly as he came, the hologram dissipated into nothingness as the music began again. Fluttershy, still cowering underneath the table, jumped at the bass was dropped once more.

"AWW, YEAH!" Vinyl yelled, her head bobbing as she adjusted each adjustable piece on her turntable to get the right noises.

"WHOO!" cried a voice. Praxis looked down from the booth, smiling at his old friends. Zecora was wearing a brown dress streaked with cyan; Bon-Bon sported a frilly gown the same color as her mane; Lyra was wearing a dress that was a shade lighter than her fur; Carrot Top wore a dark blue dress; Derpy was in a dress as yellow as butter. Praxis waved to them quickly before returning to music conducting. The five mares down below waved back.

The music was slowly coming to a close as Jace and Praxis got in front of the booth. Jace feigned a backhand to Praxis across the face, causing him to fall over. Jace pulled his magnum out of his pocket and pointed it at the now-downed weresatyr. “The fuck were you gonna do?! Laugh the last three to death, funny man?!?!” The lights faded out.

Another shot rang out across the stage. The lights shined upon the trio again, along with Octavia and the Itailian stallion, the latter completely unscathed. Smiles were on all their anxious, albeit nervous, faces.

They were awaiting their verdict.