Music is Magic

by SleeplessScribe

Chapter 3: Something Strange

Music is Magic
Story 5
Chapter 3: Something Strange
By: SleeplessScribe

Honestly, I was expecting Pinkie to have the entire place ready when we stepped in. Many tables were still bare, and she was still hanging streamers. “Pinkie, you’re late! What’s up? The party’s in half an hour and you’re not even close to ready.”

The mare turned to us, bouncing over with a bright smile. “Well, I’ve been baking treats all day! I told everyone that Beat would be singing tonight, and I got way more RSVPs than usual!”

Beat held out his hoof, speaking before I could. “Why isn’t anyone else helping?”

She let out a giggle, poking his chest. “They’ve been looking for you! Everyone that found out was curious and wanted to know what you were singing, what you were doing here, and things like that! Say, where exactly have you been?”

We turned to each other before chuckling nervously. “In Canterlot. Scratch and I went to our favorite pizza place after a jam session to kill some time. Sorry about that. We’d be glad to help, now, if that’s alright.”

“Are you kidding? I’d love some help! I was afraid I was gonna have to move the back a few hours! I would’ve just used my party cannon, but it’s jammed right now.”

I tilted my head. “Wouldn’t fixing it save you more time in the long run since it can instantly decorate?”

My words prompted a long silence as the mare rubbed her chin. “Oh yeah. Oh well!”

She bounced away, pointing out her various decorations. “Obvious things are obvious! Tablecloths, strobe lights, streamers, that kind of thing.”

Being unicorns made this kind of thing easy, but Beat simply stood there as I picked some of the things up. “Wait, strobe lights? You didn’t tell me this was some kind of rave!”

Both Pinkie and I shook our heads, but she beat me to the speech. “It’s not really! My nighttime parties are just more all-out than ones I put on in the day. It’s like going to a club… without the sex, or the drugs, or the alcohol, or all the bad things clubs are known for.”

He smiled, his curiosity satisfied. “Works for me! I prefer a clean party anyway.”

With our combined efforts, Sugarcube corner was completely set up just after seven. Luckily nopony actually came on time. In fact, it was about 7:40 before anyone else started showing up. Pinkie’s parties always started slow, but once a few more ponies were there, we all started chatting as we set up the stage.

Everyone wanted to talk to Beat, and he didn’t seem all that bothered by it. He still seemed a little unnerved at the sheer amount of others that wanted to see him, but instead of trying to get away like I’d expected, he managed to at least stick around and try to talk to everyone. By eight, almost half the town was there, and every single one of them was jamming.

If a pony wasn’t dancing, they were occupied with a snack or a drink, and that allowed my friend to sneak out without anyone by me noticing. I went to follow him but he shook his head. “Just going to get my guitar. I’ll be back in a minute, Scratch.”

It didn’t exactly take just a minute, but it wasn’t long before my friend managed to sneak himself onto the stage. His horn began to glow as he brought the instrument out of its case, and with one loud strum, he had everyone’s attention.

“What’s up Homies, are you having fun?” After a loud, resounding “yeah” from the audience, he flashed a grin. “Well get ready to get down, because I’m about to fire you up! I’m not one for long introductions, so how about we just jump in and really get this party started?”

He waited for another roar before starting up a song. I didn’t recognize the music, so I readied myself for some new lyrics as he lifted his headset onto his head and lowered the mic.

“From here I can see,
All of my Homies,
It's time to party,
Let's all go crazy…”

I didn’t recognize the rhythm either, but the song was amazing. It only took his first four lines to get everyone jumping and dancing, and I was no exception. The lights were flashing, everyone was lost in the music, and ponies were literally dancing until they no longer could. As time went on, the songs got faster, and in some cases much louder. Don’t get me wrong, it was incredibly fun, but I was a little worried about disturbing anyone that wasn’t in attendance. We’d never gotten this loud before, but fortunately we didn’t have any interruptions before midnight.

As things started to die down and exhausted partyers returned to their homes, those who were left balanced their time between praising my friend and helping Pinkie clean up. Finally it was just us three, wiping our foreheads inside a spotless party room. Beat actually forgot to take his headset off, and needed me to set it back around his neck as a reminder.

“Oh man, talk about crazy! That was awesome, Pinks. You really do know how to throw a party!”

Even my hyperactive friend was too tired to engage in her regular bouncing. “Of course! I’ve been partying ever since I was a little filly, and I always do my best to make them fun! But now I need to go to bed, I’m super tired after all that cooking and dancing and eating and drinking and singing and chatting and moving around and decorating and- mmph!”

I let out a small giggle, poking one of the few remaining cupcakes in her mouth. “I think we get it, Pinkie. See you tomorrow, you crazy filly.”

She waved to us excitedly as we stepped out, smiling as always. “Goodnight you two! Or, would it be good morning! Anyway, good whatever time this counts as!”

Beat waved to her too before we left, needing me to remind him about his guitar too. Once he had it, he joined back up with me. “Scratch, that was the best! Today in general was just the best!”

With a smile, I stopped for a moment to yawn. “It really was. I really hope we get to do that more while you’re here.”

My friend stopped completely, rubbing his chin. “Hey Vinyl, mind if I ask you something?”

I turned around and tilted my head at him. “Sure.”

His brow was furrowed, and his gazed was focused on the ground. That, coupled with the hoof on his chin, made him looked like a living Thinker. Though I didn’t have much time to dwell on that, as his question completely blindsided me.

“Well, we’ve had so much fun today doing stuff together. So… what do you say about calling today our first date? As, you know, a couple?”

Words weren’t coming fast enough, and they were coming too fast at the same time. I think I stuttered for at least a minute while I thought about a response. “S-Sure! I’d love to start going out with you, Beat! In fact, it’s about time.”

I nuzzled myself against him, prompting him to try, once again, to ruffle up my mane. “Well I had to at some point, so why not now, while we’re together? Besides, we’ve both been talking about how much fun today’s been. Why not keep the fun going?”

Beat wasn’t moving as long as I was still against him, I made sure of it. “It just feels right. I’ve known you for so long, and we just… click. I love you, Beat.”

Both his forelegs wrapped around me, and I felt the warmth of a returned embrace. Only this one was much, much warmer than just some hug. “I love you too, Scratch. Guess I have for a while and was just too dumb to realize.”

My hoof met his muzzle too quickly for him to draw back. “Boy, I’ll say. You’re a dummy, but you’re my dummy.”

His lips curled in, forming a thin line on his face. “I’m not that dumb! I’m just not as smurt as my cousin.”

I let out a small giggle before cock my brow. “Smurt?”

“Yes, smurt. Don’t critikize my langage.”

The temptation to mess with his horn again was almost too good to resist as I kept giggling. “You’re awesome, Beat. Don’t ever stop being random.”

We started walking again, and he put on a proud smile. “’Swhat I do best! Well, that and sing. And play guitar. Among other things.”

He stuck his tongue out between his teeth, raising his brows repeatedly and prompting me to playfully push him. My friend tried to push back, but I walked through the door before he could.

I didn’t even bother to raise my hoof with this yawn. “I’m exhausted. I’ll see you tomorrow, Beat, love you!”

Before I knew it, I was slung over his back as he walked over to my room. “What the? Excuse me? Beat, what are you doing?”

He set me down on my bed, taking his headset off his neck and setting it on one of my bedside tables. “Sleeping over. We’re a couple now, so it’s not so awkward!”

Rolling my eyes was all I could do. “Having you in the same bed with me never felt awkward, you dork! If you’re gonna do this, though, I expect a pony pillow.”

After taking off his glasses and hat, he started to pat his chest with his hooves. He looked up at me with a shrug. “Sorry, I can’t seem to fluff myself.”

With another eye rolling, I just grabbed him and pulling him under my blanket. I wrapped me forelegs around him, sighing and closing my eyes. “Beat… I can’t believe how happy I am. A few words have changed everything between us, and… again, I’m just so happy.”

His hoof met my head again, but didn’t proceed with attempting to mess up my hair. Instead he gently stroked it, allowing me to actually rest my head on his chest. “I am too. I’m sure anyone that knows us will probably be saying ‘it’s about time’ when they find out.”

My ears perked up as something came to mind. It left Beat with a face redder than my eyes and his own as big as dinner plates. When my lips finally withdrew from his after about thirty seconds, all I did was giggle and lay back on him. “Goodnight, Beat.”

-------

Vinyl was an amazing kisser. She didn’t even use her tongue, and she still had me dazed. Words couldn’t express how I felt about this beautiful mare, and it just felt… right to be with her like this. Dad always told me that the girl you commit yourself to should be a best friend, and she definitely fell into that category.

Her light snores were just that, light and cute. It was a little difficult to get comfortable with her head on me, but I didn’t dare wake up such an angel. Corny, I know, but that’s what she was like. I settled for softly petting her, closing my eyes and just listening to my marefriend’s small breaths. As I did, I opened my eyes and looked down at her again. A song came to me, and I just had to sing it for her tomorrow.

After one last pet, I closed my eyes for good. “I love you, Vinyl.” In all honesty, I should have written down those lyrics I had thought of. Fortunately, one of my magic talents was using said magic to write without a quill. It was really, really handy for situations like this, so I quickly wrote a reminder on my hat that I could easily erase later. With that worry out of my head, I was able to doze off to sleep.

A loud knocking woke us up. Seeing as how the sun was starting to come up, whoever it was must’ve been asleep as well, or they lived far away. Vinyl stirred and kind of flopped out of bed first, trying to regain her bearings. “I’ll get it, boo.” Boo? Really? That was a slang word I would’ve never hear out of her. It was kind of cute, admittedly, but still weird.

I looked at my hat and grabbed the nearest sheet of blank paper I could find, transferring the words I had thought of to it. As I read through it, I couldn’t wait to show her and sing it, though I thought about surprising her with it as well, which is what I decided to go with.

She came back to me, barely giving me time to erase the words on my hat, put that and my glasses on, and grab my headset before dragging me to the door. A big stallion sporting a nice suit and an expression that put him in contention for Equestria’s most tall and dark stood in the doorway. He was somewhat hard to make out, since his dark brown coat and black hair didn’t exactly make him stand out against the still semi-dark sky, but his deep voice was clue enough for me.

“Had fun last night, did ya, Beat? I thought you didn’t do free shows.”

I gave him a nervous chuckle. “Oh, hey White Noise. Uh, no, it wasn’t actually a show. I was just singing at a party, you know. Just for fun, dude.”

My manager was a lenient guy, but he did have rules. Strangely, though, his rules seemed more focused on keeping me true to my own rules. “Parties still count as shows, bub. Unless you got a good excuse, I’m gonna have to start marking local gigs as free.”

I shook my head quickly, trying to come up with an excuse. “Well, I, uh….”

“It was a date!” My new marefriend stepped in front of me, looking up at the big guy. “Like the sweetheart he is, Beat finally asked me out, and we went to the party together. It wasn’t planned, he just decided to sing while we were there.”

With a nod, I pulled her to me and kissed her cheek. “I’ll charge something small for local stuff from now on. Maybe… five bits?”

He seemed completely uninterested in my offer as he flashed a grin. “Vinyl Scratch! Well ain’t you a sight! I haven’t seen you since you were half my height!” The retired rapper chuckled a little at his unintentional rhyme. “So you two finally hooked up, huh? It’s about time! I’ll let this slide for now, Beat, but you better keep your leash tight, got me? Now that being said, I need you to meet me at the bus in an hour, we got stuff to discuss.”

After I nodded to him, he walked off, leaving Scratch to turn and face me. “What was that all about? Since when did you care so much about the pay?”

Honestly, she had a point. It took a little thought before I actually came up with a reason that didn’t sound like horse shit, and it was actually pretty true.

“I’m not wrapped around the money, or anything. It just… makes things easier. You know what I mean, Scratch? I just don’t have as many worries to deal with when I know I can afford my basics with a little leisure. It’s like what you do. You live pretty modestly, which I respect you immensely for, but I know you still sell records and stuff.”

She rolled her eyes at me, but a small smile grew under her muzzle. “I’d ask how you knew, but you’ve probably seen plenty of my work in stores. You win, Beat.” She nuzzled herself under my chin, prompting me to grin and lick her horn.

As she jumped back, she gave me a teasing glare. “Let’s not start that so early in the morning. Play your cards right, and maybe we can later.” The tip of her tail swatted my nose, and I heard a giggle before Vinyl went into her kitchen.

I hopped over to catch up with her. “I cast my vote for pizza for breakfast!”

She blinked a few times before grinning. “I like how I didn’t even have to ask. Good idea, though. I’ll take it.”

There are two kinds of ponies in this world: the ones that like cold pizza and the ones that say they don’t until they try it. Vinyl and I were definitely the former. A small pizza only had four slices, and we naturally split it two slices each, but we chowed down like we hadn’t eaten in days. Not to mention the fact that it was unlawfully delicious.

After that, our teeth were messes, so we spent about… two minutes brushing them. We took turns showering since apparently she wasn’t comfortable sharing the bathroom yet. It was kind of unfortunate, but I understood. By the time we were all clean and dry, it had been about forty minutes since my manager’s visit. Scratch herself told me she had some things she wanted to take care of and pretty much made me leave without her.

There was no telling what White Noise wanted, and the though actually kind of scared me as I made my way near what I was told was Sweet Apple Acres. The bus was parked next to the road that connected the farm to the town, but unfortunately, Scratch’s place was on the opposite side of Ponyville, meaning I had to book it if I wanted to get there on time.

-------

My place was kinda messy, and while I wasn’t a stickler for neatness, I at least didn’t want it looking like a pigsty. After cleaning up and taking out all the trash, dusting down everything in my living room, and washing the dishes that had piled up in my sink, the place was, in my opinion, completely clean.

Before I knew what happened I was blind and on the floor. I could hear giggling, but my ears had been covered just enough to muffle it to the point that I couldn’t make it out. Though I did have some idea of who my assailant was.

“Pretty unorthodox greeting for you, Tavi.”

The earth pony got up off of me, even helping me up. “Sorry, I’m just… very excited. Is it true, hun?” She clapped her hooves softly, a rather wide smile stretching across her face.

I could only raise a brow. “Is what true?”

She rolled her eyes and twirled around me. “You and my cousin becoming an item! Have you two finally decided to start dating?”

“I- what- how did you find out?”

My friend stopped her twirling and looked at me. “The right rumors, when heard by the right people, spread faster than wildfire. So you’re saying that they are indeed true?”

I slowly nodded, causing Octavia to grab me and pull me into a tight hug. “Oh, that’s just wonderful! You know he’s been fawning over you for years! I can’t imagine how good you two must feel.”

Smiling was the least I could do when she brought this up. “I am really happy. It feels like a weight’s been lifted off of me, like I’ve let go of something I’ve been holding onto for years. And of course, it feels great having a coltfriend. Especially one that I know so well.”

She smiled as well, nuzzling my cheek. “He’ll be good. He treated me like a sister, and I’ve seen how he treated you when you two were just friends.”

Octavia was right, though something was still bothering me now. I nudged her off of me and looked her right in the eye. “Tavi, has Beat been acting… odd at all?”

The high-class mare tilted her head. “Not that I recall. You look worried, though. It something wrong, Vinyl?”

“It’s nothing that big. White Noise came over and asked him about the party last night, and Beat seemed really adamant about making sure he didn’t lose pay on anything. Doesn’t seem like something he’d normally care about.”

All she did was shrug. “It’s common to care about money when you have a well-paying job. Granted, my cousin always was one to enjoy fun more than revenue. I’d ask him about it, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”

I gave her a quick nod. “You’re probably right. Thanks, Tavi.”

Comments

[Smirkythread]

The pacing might be a bit quick, but that could just be me knowing somewhat where this is heading.

[Vinyl_Scratch-14]

i like this story. u should have went into more details about her hs - colege years thought very few spelling errors. ummm alsow more details on vinyl and beat early days on how they became freinds, other then that uv got my like.love it need more

[SleeplessScribe]

3252800 Yeah, you're spoiled!

Spoiled it! Spoiled it! Spoiled it!

[The Writer of Fate]

The POV change was a bit jarring, both times. Might want to clean it up a little.