Dancing on a Looking Glass

by ObabScribbler

Doppelganger

A/N: Requested by Greatodyer when I threw out an appeal for requests on the UK of Equestria message-board. He requested ‘Vinyl and Rarity trying each other's jobs’.

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Doppelganger

© Scribbler, December 2012.

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Rarity stared at the flashing lights and impressive looking dials. The equipment was quite pretty if you thought about it, though it would be so much better with precious stones to make it sparkle. Maybe some gold fabric along the front, too; ruched of course. Perhaps with lacy edging to soften the harsh lines and angles of the metal beneath. Gold would shimmer beautifully in club lights … She stopped herself. She wasn’t supposed to decorate this thing. Much to her chagrin, she was supposed to look like she knew how to use it.

Vinyl hobbled up, ever-present sunglasses masking her expression, though the tightness around her mouth spoke volumes. Her grip on her crutch shifted as she spoke, slurring her words a little around the huge bruise discolouring half her face. “Do you want me to go over it again?”

Rarity tossed her mane. “No, thank you. I think I understood after the fifth repetition.”

Vinyl wrinkled her nose and gestured with a foreleg strapped between two splints. “Hey, you offered to do this. Don’t get snappy now. Seriously uncool, y’know?”

Inwardly Rarity cringed. She had been ecstatic when Vinyl Scratch’s agent contacted her to create something for the star to wear to an awards ceremony in Manehatten. Vinyl had great poise for a pony who spent most of her time standing still and just moving her forelegs a bit. Rarity had been bursting with musical themed ideas and wasted no time whipping up sample outfits for her new client to try on. How could she know that Vinyl was deathly allergic to cats, or that Opal would wander in at exactly the wrong moment, or that the ensuing sneezing fit would send all three of them careening into her work station and cause the whole thing to fall on poor Vinyl?

Rarity eyed the deck again and gulped. “I’m fine. Really, I am.”

Vinyl took off her glasses. It was such an unprecedented move that Rarity momentarily forget her nerves and the crowds of ponies outside the venue waiting to see a live show. The music was all pre-recorded, but Vinyl’s fans didn’t just come to hear her; they came to SEE her.

“Thank you,” Vinyl said earnestly. “I really appreciate you doing this.”

“It’s no trouble, honestly.” Rarity tried to toss her mane again, forgetting it was currently too short to toss properly. It bristled a little, but that really wasn’t the same. Make-up and powder on her cutie mark could be removed easily, but this cut and dye job would take a while to grow out. Still, when she had learned about the sold-out show she simply couldn’t bear the idea that her own mistakes would be responsible for spoiling so many ponies’ enjoyment. The offer had slipped out before she could stop herself and there was no way she could go back on her word afterwards. That kind of ungenerousness was simply unthinkable.

Vinyl regarded her with an unreadable expression. Her face was actually just as difficult to read with the shades off. Abruptly she held them out, wiggling when Rarity didn’t take them straight away.

“Here.”

“Excuse me?”

“Wear these.”

“But they’re yours.”

“They’re DJ PON-3’s; and for tonight? That’s you.” She continued to hold out the sunglasses until Rarity accepted and slipped them on. Vinyl gave a small, fierce smile of approval. “Now you’re cooking with gas.”

Rarity chanced a look in the shiny metal of the deck. She looked nothing like herself. Then again, that was the point.

“DJ PON-3 is in the house,” she murmured. “Goodness gracious, what was I thinking?”

Comments

[Sweet Tale]

I'd love to see how she gets on

[PresentPerfect]

Ah man, I'd have loved just a few hundred more words to show how the night goes. D: (Also a picture of Rarity with Vinyl's haircut.)