A Better Place, A Better Time

by Mental_Zero

Please Welcome to the Stage

6:15, forty minutes left. I was giving the mix I put together one last listen, hopefully it'll be done by then. I hadn't paused for a moment since I got back from the club, and I was feeling it, mainly in the form of a pounding headache, not being helped by the bass of the tracks. I pushed the pain away, focusing on the set, listening for any issues with the transitions, making sure the tracks blended well. 6:30, there were a few small hiccups to correct, I frantically worked to smooth them over or otherwise jury-rig it back together. 6:50, it seemed I was finally done. I grabbed the flash drive Twilight let me borrow for the project, copied it over, and tucked it into my pocket. I got up, feeling every joint in my body start cracking at once. 6:53, time to get moving. I opened the door to find Twilight back at her chair with her book, quietly reading while Spike organized a few books on the shelves. Twilight turned to look at me, she looked worried,

"Hey." I cleared my throat, my voice still coming out as a dull rasp,

"Hey, Twi."

She pursed her lips, "You feeling alright?"

I nodded, "A little tired, but I'll be fine."

She got up and gave me a quick hug, "Good luck."

I managed a weak smile, hugging her back, "Thanks, Twi. I promise I'll be back by time you wake up."

She nodded, "Okay, I'll see you then."

She returned to her book, I headed out the door, blinking at the setting sun, not used to natural light. I caught a glimpse of myself in a storefront window, seemed Twilight was right to be worried, I looked like hell, eyes bloodshot, hair manic, bags under my eyes. I certainly didn't look presentable for my first night working, but I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. I arrived at 7 o'clock on the dot, catching Vinyl at the door. She certainly looked better rested than I did, coat and mane washed and brushed, eyes glowing. I held onto the flash drive for reassurance,

"Hey." She didn't look back, juggling her things and unlocking the door,

"Hey...Celestia-damnit."

I held a couple of her bags for her, she got the key in the lock, "Thanks."

I nodded slightly. We walked inside, the club seemed awfully different before opening, all the bar stools neatly put away, everything spotless, not even the faintest whiff of sweat present. I set down Vinyl's bags, she went over to the booth, getting everything set up, "So, you going to give me a good entry tonight?"

I held up the flash drive, grinning weakly, "15 hours of work says 'I sure as hell hope so'."

She looked at the drive, then to me, her face deepening into a slight frown, "You going to be okay to perform tonight?"

I nodded, putting the drive away, "I've been through worse."

She trotted down and looked at me closely, those blood-red eyes poring over me, she smelled kind of like Red Bull, "You're going to need to do something about your face, ponies aren't going to be too excited when it looks like the DJ is about to die halfway through the set."

I considered the though for a moment, "One sec."

I turned away from her, quickly forming a mask and slipping it over my face. I turned back, "This work?"

She inspected the mask, "Certainly memorable, even on top of the other...distinguishing characteristics. Where'd you even get that?"

I chuckled, "A magician never reveals his secrets."

She rolled her eyes slightly, "Alright, Mister Magic. Now, we need a stage name for you, something memorable."

I considered the idea a moment, "What about ROC-0N?"

She looked at me after a moment, "Not the most inventive, but it'll work. Alright, ROC-0N, let's get this place set up."

Two copies stepped out behind me, "What do you need us to do?"

She jumped, "The buck is that?"

I pulled the mask off, putting it away, "Never hurts to have a few extra hands available. Now, what do you need us to do?"

She at the three of us for a moment, "Uh, you need to check the taps are clear, get the bar stools set up, check the lights are all working, and a quick sound test from the floor. Then help Suds, the bartender, with bringing in booze when he arrives. Then just fix anything that comes up." We nodded, "Got it."

9:00 PM, time to open the doors for the first group of customers. I slipped the mask back on, everything had been taken care of with plenty of time to spare. Vinyl had me wait in the wings for the first few minutes, and once the club had sufficiently filled up, she brought the mic up,

"Good evening, fillies and gents, just a quick announcement. We have a new co-DJ here at Club PON-3. Now, it's his first time in a while, so be nice to him. That being said, give a big welcome to DJ ROC-0N!" She looked back at me, "They're all yours." When I got up to the booth, there were more than a few odd looks from the crowd. I grabbed the microphone, trying to not sound as bad as I looked under the mask,

"Evening, ladies and gentlemen, how're you all doing tonight?" There were a few isolated cheers, but by and large they remained quiet, looking at me. I threw up my hands, "Aww, come on, is that how you guys welcome the new guy? I look a little funny, but-" I started up the set, that certainly got their ears perked up, "-I still know how to party. Now, lemme ask again, how are you doing tonight?!" There was a solid cheer from most, if not all, of the crowd. I felt a manic grin spread across my face, "That's what I like to hear!"

10:30, my time on the stage was done. Too bad, I was just starting to have fun, too. I stepped down from the stage, letting Vinyl take the stage. I gave her a quick look as we passed,

"Wake me if you need me." She gave a quick nod, quickly trotting up to the stage. There was a thunderous roar from the crowd as soon as they caught sight of her. I found a comfortable-looking chair in the back, settling into it, immediately feeling my eyelids start to droop as the adrenaline started to fade away. I could distantly hear Vinyl over the speakers,

"New guy's not bad, right?" There was a cheer from the crowd. That was the last thing I heard before falling asleep, not even the massive sound system could wake me. I was shaken awake by Vinyl some time around 2:30,

"Ryan, wake up, we've got a problem." I sat up groggily, rubbing my eyes,

"Wazzup, Viyl?"

She hauled me to my feet, "A fight broke out on the floor, there's too many for Brick to handle on his own. We called the cops, but he needs your help."

I rolled my shoulders, "Alright."

I went out to the main floor, most of the customers had flared out to the outer edges of the club, there was roughly a dozen in the middle, all clearly drunk and brawling. I hopped down from the booth, putting some extra weight into the landing, contacting with a meaty thud. Most of the patrons on the outer edges looked at me, silently asking for help. I cracked my neck and looked back at Vinyl, "How intact do you want them?"

She looked back at me, "Try to not do much damage, don't want them dying in here."

I nodded and looked back at the group, "Alright, lads, time to break it up!"

A dozen tendrils slithered out of my back, wrapping around them tightly and tearing them away from each other. I scowled at them, more than a little annoyed to have to be woken up from my sleep by a bunch of drunk pricks who decided to fight in Vinyl's club, "Now then, who's with who here?"

After a minute of them changing between shouting at each other and myself, I stomped my foot down, redoubling the tendrils wrapping around them, tightening their grip. I was in no mood to be dealing with this at the moment, "Shut up!"

That silenced most of them, I looked at one that looked a bit more cooled down than the others, "You." He turned to look at me, he must have been on the outer edges of the brawl, "Who started this?" He pointed at a pale green pegasus and a dusty brown earth pony. I brought them to me, "You two started this fight?" The pegasus nodded slightly, the earth pony glared at me murderously. I looked at them, "Gentlemen, I've gotten all of four hours of sleep in the last two days, and I don't appreciate having to have been woken up because you decided to start a fight in my club on my first night on the job. Now then, I'm going to ask nicely, but I will only ask once: Settle your differences now or get the hell out." I caught a glimpse of a unicorn's horn glowing,

"Buck you, asshole!"

There was a brief flash, then there was a flare of pain in my head. I had assumed it was the headache, but judging by the gasps and the way the two ponies in front of me were staring, that was not the case. I took a deep breath, "Vinyl, real quick, did something just hit me in the head?"

There was a long pause, "U-uh, y-yeah..."

I sighed, "What was it?"

She audibly gulped, "A knife..."

I looked at the two in front of me, "There's a knife sticking out of my head, isn't there?" They nodded slowly. I felt on the side of my head until I found the handle and yanked it out of my temple, sending another flare of pain through my brain, "I also don't appreciate getting stabbed in the head. In fact, for that, you all can just get out. Vinyl, tell the police that the perpetrators will be gift-wrapped for them at the front door." More tendrils snaked out of my back, wrapping around the ponies until they were completely wrapped from the neck down. I carried them out one by one, stacking them by the front door. Everyone was still in a stunned silence when I walked back in after bringing out the last few. I looked around, still too tired to feel any kind of anxiety, settling on Vinyl,

"Brick alright?" She nodded slightly,

"He's a little bruised up, but he'll be fine."

I nodded, looking around at the club. I let out a small chuckle, "Ladies and gentlemen, please, don't worry, I'm fine, don't let your fun be spoiled on my behalf. Come on, Vinyl, we've still got more than an hour left, let's not finish with a whimper like this!"

I hopped back up onto the stage, looking around, "Will I have to say pretty please? Come on, people, you came here to party, and Vinyl and I have both failed at our jobs if we don't ensure that happens, now get moving!" I pressed the play button and walked to the back room again, falling asleep immediately.

I was woken up once again by being shaken awake by Vinyl,

"Ryan, wake up, it's closing time." I shook my head, eyes peeling open. Vinyl was looking at me with more than a touch of apprehension. I got up,

"Alright, just need everything put away and cleaned?"

She shook her head, "Don't worry about that, it's done with already. Everypony kind of cleared out after your...confrontation with those guys. Suds, Brick and I cleaned up while you were sleeping."

I smiled slightly, "Thanks, Vinyl, I appreciate it."

She looked at me, seeming concerned, "You okay?"

I looked at her, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

She shifted slightly, "Dude, tentacles shot out of your back, grabbed a bunch of guys, then you got stabbed in the head, why else would I be asking?"

I stopped. I guess I had gotten so used to dealing with that kind of thing on a regular basis, I didn't realize that it was considered pretty freaky amongst more normal people. I nodded quickly, trying to sound reassuring, "Yes, Vinyl, I'm sure I'm fine. I've already died twice, some punk with a knife isn't going to make it three."

That didn't seem to help, as Vinyl started looking at me like I just grew a second head, "What?"

I waved my hand dismissively, "Just, don't worry about it, I'm fine. So, anyway, how did I do as a DJ?"

She kept looking at me with the same look, it was reminding me way too much of some of the looks I got back home, "Vinyl, don't worry about me, I'm fine, okay?"

I snapped at her. She flinched, I slammed my mouth shut, feeling myself losing ground by the second, "I'm sorry, Vinyl."

I pushed away everything else in my mind, just trying to sound soothing enough to calm her down. I knelt down a put a hand on her shoulder, "I promise, Vinyl, I'm okay. Okay?"

She nodded slightly, "Sorry, didn't realize you could do things like that, wasn't really prepared"

I nodded, "Don't worry about it. Now then, how would you say I did for my first set?"

She stopped in thought for a moment, "Well, there's good news and bad news. Bad news is you set was okay, at best, looked like most of the excitement was from seeing the new guy in town all of a sudden playing in here. Good news is, you said you worked on that set for 15 hours, right?" I nodded, "In that case, you definitely have the dedication to get DJ'ing down pat. Take tomorrow off, I'll see you next Friday, or sooner, if you want to come for advice." She gave me a small drawstring bag filled with coins, "Here's your first paycheck. Spend it wisely."

It probably wasn't the most tactful thing, but I couldn't help but break out into a big, stupid grin and hug Vinyl, who let out a surprised squeak, "Thank you, Vinyl, truly and honestly."

She patted my back after a moment, "Hey, no problem, definitely don't want to get you mad, right?"

She grinned back at me. I got up, "So, I'll see you later, then." She nodded, "Take it easy, Ryan."

That grin persisted all the way back home. It was quiet as the dead when I got back, the fire put out, Twilight and Spike asleep upstairs. I hung up my clothes and got into bed, looking out at Princess Luna's moon hanging in the sky. I have a home, I have friends, a job, and I just got my first paycheck at that job, the neighbors are starting to accept me. I'm starting to become normal again.

Comments

[Gytrash]

Dude.... Are you planning to make this dude good at everything?
So far he has come to Ponyville, been almost instantly accepted with little to no suspicion, Been a doctor, A Cellist, A DJ and I forget what else, seriously, you have to give this character some flaws, and lying is not a flaw. If they find out that his knowledge is from consuming other sentient beings that may cause the necessary catalyst for the story to move on, Sorry dude but as your character is now he is too good to be believable.

[.Tzeentch.]

he will end up dead soon from loss of bio mass or when he runs low will be hated for not helping somepony in need

[.Tzeentch.]

love the story so far btw
i would give you 4.5 star but it seems were on a like sistem now soo ya i will give you a like

[Grankuwaga]

I turned both of us into a giant puddle of bio-mass, which seeped into the cracks of the roof, and landed us both in a little corner right inside the club

Doesn't this mean he killed Twilight and made a copy/twin of her...and because he absorbed a unicorn does that also mean he can also do magic now?

[riflespin]

NO! NO GOD PLEASE NO! NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKKO!!!! Did it say ANYTHING about that? Did it?

With love and kisses, killtime101 to grankuwaga
(PS jist kidding about love and kisses you ignorant twit)