Null-Magic Pegasus

by Scors

Chapter 5 - Sterling

The sun had been glaring in the window for a while, slowly creeping up the occupied sheets until finally hitting the brilliant white coat of its occupant. The unicorn stirred, her blue mane with electric blue highlights brushed against the pillow as she lifted her head. She lifted a bit of her wild mane out of her eyes to see the clock: 11:00. It wasn't late by the occupant's standards, but it wasn't early either. Her hoof patted the bed beside her absentmindedly, looking for a pony that wasn't there. Right, Manehattan, the groggy pony thought.

Attempting to return to her pillow, the mare found the direct sunlight again and winced, holding her hoof in front of her eyes. It wasn't worth fighting the sun just for another hour of sleep, so she decided to get up. She looked out the window at the Royal City outside, letting her eyes adjust to the bright sun that reflected off the buildings. Canterlot was a beautiful city. The white mare preferred the city at night, though. A lot more for her to do and have fun doing.

Unlike her roommate, this pony wasn't high-maintenance, which meant she could just get out of bed and roll on with the day. She shook her mane into shape as she walked out the bedroom door and into the lavish, and spotless, apartment.

Vinyl had promised to keep the apartment intact and relatively clean while her roommate was in Manehatten for her concert. It had been a big deal to Octavia the entire month leading up to it. She hadn't stopped talking about it until she'd gotten on the train. Vinyl was glad that she didn't have to keep hearing about the concert, but she missed her best friend, making the trade-off that much worse for her.

Vinyl tried remembering what day it was. It was Sunday, three days before Octavia's big concert. Why it was scheduled on a Wednesday Vinyl would never understand, but at lest she'd be back home come next weekend. The white mare was looking forward to that.

Vinyl walked into the central hallway of their large apartment which was perfect for the two of them, especially with their combined incomes from records and gigs. The records actually paid the most but Vinyl and Octavia still enjoyed playing live to ponies everywhere. The applause didn't hurt, either.

One side of the apartment had the kitchen and both bedrooms. The guest bedroom was almost never used as Vinyl and Octavia shared one room. The kitchen was big enough for the two of them to work together and boasted a small dining area attached, complete with pure white table and chairs. It was mostly Octavia's domain, seeing as Vinyl wasn't the best of cooks.

The other side had the guest bathroom, hall closet, and living room. The living room dominated that half of the apartment, its high ceiling and open archway making the room feel bigger than it was. The designer of the complex was a genius when it came to making small spaces feel open to the world.

The end of the hallway went into the 'studio room,' as it had been sold to them when they'd moved in. The two had since made it into their music studio, a combination of classical instruments and modern records. It also boasted a balcony the two would sit on and watch the stars. They had beautiful stars to look at when the city went to sleep.

The walls of the entire apartment were white, matching Vinyl's coat and allowing the mare to almost completely disappear next to a solid wall. Vinyl had tried it, but her mane and tail sort of gave her away, along with her mirrored double eighth note cutie mark. The floors in the bedrooms, living room and hallway were decked out in a plush, gray carpet. The other rooms boasted finished wood floors.

Vinyl's hooves sank a bit into the carpet as she walked towards the kitchen from the pair's bedroom. Her horn lit with a pale blue magic as she slowly made herself breakfast as she walked. She knew where everything was without looking, so finding it with magic was sort of easy. Easier than it had been in her previous apartments she'd had alone, anyway. Vinyl wasn't cut from the same high-society cloth as her partner was so she knew what it was like living check to check. It wasn't something she was proud of, though.

What she was proud of was finding Octavia, the mare that had swept her off her hooves. At least, that's how Vinyl liked to think of it. In reality their relationship had developed over a long time, starting with complete and utter hatred and ending in true love. There were times the two would still have arguments, but they came and went and had usually ended on a good note.

Vinyl entered the kitchen, her hoofsteps echoing off the wood in the lonely room. She looked at the table, pleased to see that her cereal had poured itself properly. The sun from the small windows in the kitchen gave her plenty of light to eat by so she took a seat and looked out at the Royal Castle in the distance.

Right as Vinyl was about to take her first spoonful of cereal she heard a knock on the door. Groaning loudly, Vinyl levitated her breakfast as she went to answer it. Who would be bugging her on a Sunday? Getting her signature purple shades from the tabletop in the entranceway, Vinyl opened the white door and stuck her head out, looking up and down the hallway. The entire floor was empty. Not a pony in sight, despite the bright wall lights and short time Vinyl had taken getting the door.

Vinyl just shrugged and went back into the apartment, closing the door behind her. She'd taken another spoonful of cereal when she noticed something at her hooves, inside the apartment. It was a small card, flame-red in color. Vinyl picked it up using her magic, turning it over to read what was on the other side. It was written in an odd color: dark blue ink that seemed to shine in Vinyl's aura.

A pony worth hearing, a star worth rising.
We hope you're ready, it is beginning.
Take her hoof, show her the ropes.
Let her shine and bask in new hopes.

Well that's cryptic, Vinyl thought as she put the card on the table next to her. I wonder what it could mean. Maybe Octy will know. Vinyl had taken two steps when another knock came at her door. She let out a loud sigh as she turned around and opened it yet again.

"Good morrow, madame. My name is Sleek Shine and I am here to escort you to your one o'clock appointment." The unicorn colt in the doorway stated. He was definitely high society, given his tux and top hat. The tux went well with his light blue coat and dark golden mane.

Vinyl froze for just a second. She had a one o'clock appointment? She forced her mind to work overtime before remembering the anonymous letter from two weeks ago. The one asking her for setup advice and hosting a rave. It had offered her a good amount of bits if she'd accept, which Vinyl promptly did.

"Wow, she must really be somepony if she's sent the butler to pick me up," Vinyl said through a joking smile. Sleek just stood there, his stoic expression holding firm. Vinyl watched him closely, finishing her cereal as she awaited some kind of delayed response, but it never came. The bottom of the bowl did, however, and Vinyl placed it down on the desk near the doorway. "Alright, let's go," Vinyl said as she walked into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

"I'm her personal assistant, not her butler," Sleek responded in a low voice. Vinyl smiled, knowing that her joke had gotten to the upper crust stallion. The walk to the elevator wasn't long and the elevator ride itself was even shorter. Vinyl couldn't get rid of her smile the entire time, the look on Sleek's face held firmly in her mind for the entire elevator ride.

Getting off the elevator the pair entered the lobby of the apartment building. The lobby reminded Vinyl, a bit too vividly, of high priced hotels. Much like Celestia's Haven, the five-star hotel on the other side of the city. The carpet that spread throughout the large square lobby was a deep red, kept immaculate by janitors cleaning it nightly. A golden pattern of vines spread throughout the lobby with no apparent source; they crawled everywhere until they came to a wall. Silver vine sculptures grew from the places the golden pattern met the sandstone walls, climbing upwards until they met one of the large, ornate windows that dominated the upper half of the tall room.

The ceiling, to Vinyl's amazement when she'd moved in, was even more classical than Octy's music. It was bordered by gold-painted moldings and was host to a large mosaic of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna wielding the Elements of Harmony against Discord. Needless to say, it didn't suit Vinyl's tastes.

To Vinyl's left sat a food counter on the back side of a large, dark wood platform. The smells wafting from it included fresh green salads, delicious breads and even some cakes which had been specially ordered by customers. The counter was flanked by a dozen tables, some with ponies sitting around them enjoying a small salad or a cup of tea. A central aisle divided the two sides, granting free access to the end of the platform and the stairs that led to the red floor.

Opposite the food counter and its platform sat the managerial desk, which was designed to look like a luxury hotel's check-in desk. That included marble sculptures and gold framework along the base. It also boasted, quite brilliantly, a solid granite surface. Two ponies sat at this desk to tend to the needs of any pony coming in or out or calling down from their apartment.

In between these major landmarks were several regal red couches and chairs, some of them with occupants, surrounding a hoofful of tables strewn about the lobby.

"If you'll wait here one moment, ma'am, I'll ensure our ride is prepared," Sleek said in his most haughty voice. He then walked across the lobby to the front doors, ignoring the several other high society ponies staring at him and his most snooty of postures. Vinyl watched as the 'assistant' walked out the front and hung a quick left.

"I'm telling you, bud! This place has the best hot hay franks in the city!" The voice of a semi-angry colt soared over the other quieter voices in the lobby. It caught Vinyl's attention instantly. "And here you are asking for a salad, completely oblivious to the wonder of what you have! What is wrong with you?"

Vinyl quickly found the voice's source: a single stallion standing in front of the food counter in the lobby, near the front door. A different stallion was magically whisking away his salad as he attempted to ignore the source of his irritation. Vinyl walked over to the loud stallion right as the mare behind the counter was taking his order.

"I'll take a hot hay frank with a ten rating," the colt at the counter replied with a smile.

"Make that two," Vinyl said as she approached the colt. His light gray coat and faded white mane didn't match too well in Vinyl's opinion, but he had the courage to explode in a high-class apartment building and then order a hay frank. This was an attitude Vinyl liked, though she wasn't sure if she'd like the stallion.

"Are you sure?" the mare behind the desk asked both ponies, her eyes darting between the two.

"I don't think I stuttered, hesitated or even said 'um.' I'm actually quite sure, thank you," the colt replied in mock indignation.

"Whatever he said," Vinyl added, pointing at him with her hoof.

"Very well," the mare behind the counter said plainly, "that will be eight bits each, sixteen total."

"Just charge it to room 516," Vinyl said before the light gray colt could even look for the bits. The mare nodded then disappeared down a small hallway behind the counter.

"You know I hate owing somepony I don't even know Miss...," the colt said to Vinyl.

"Scratch. Vinyl Scratch," Vinyl supplied as she extended her hoof.

"Everypony calls me Street," the colt replied, taking Vinyls hoof and giving it a hardy shake. "You sure you can handle a ten, Miss Scratch?"

"No clue, but if they're as good as you say you won't owe me anything." Vinyl liked this guy, he wasn't the usual stuck up type that came through nor was he the normal carriage puller that would never dare to enter the building. He wasn't a resident, but she knew that he had been here somewhat frequently from his rant on the hay franks.

Not a minute later the mare returned from the back, carrying a silver tray with two very large hay franks completely coated in condiments. She set the silver tray down then looked at the two. "May Celestia have mercy on your souls," was all she said before tending to the next customer who had walked up.

That made Vinyl a touch uneasy, but she decided to go through with her gamble. She levitated the tray over to a table at the end of the terrace, next to the fence so she could see the revolving doors. She was hoping Sleek would take his sweet time outside. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

"STREET!" Sleek's voice reigned supreme in the massive acoustic echo chamber of a lobby.

"Oh, great. Just when I'm going to be sent to the moon, I'm thrown into Tartarus. Ah well, at least one levels out the other," Street said as he looked at the frank in his hooves.

Sleek stomped up the stairs to the terrace and stared down the unfortunate colt. "We need to be on schedule and you're here having a hay frank! Do you even realize how important this is?" Sleek's voice continued to cross the entire lobby and attract everypony's attention.

"Sleek, relax. The boss won't care if we're a minute or so late. We've got time," Street spoke calmly, though he did his best to avoid Sleek's eyes. "Sleek, this is--"

"Miss Pon-3, I do apologize for my--"

"Apologize? What for? We're having hay franks in a fancy building in the middle of Canterlot. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to try it," Vinyl feigned an air of indignation as she spoke, repressing the laughter that came at the looks of the two stallions. One dumbfounded that she was the guest of honor, the other that she was having a hay frank in the middle of a fancy lobby. The lobby of her apartment building.

Vinyl took one bite from her frank, then everything stopped. Time seemed frozen as the world around her started to warp outwards then inwards, almost in perfect rhythm. By the time Vinyl realized that the beat it followed was her heartbeat, the world had resumed its motion. Vinyl couldn't resist letting out a loud "Woo!" as she felt an extra shot of energy. "What is in that? It's awesome!"

"Pickles, pickle relish, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, tomatoes, onions, carrots, daisy juice, tulip juice, an extract of apples, a touch of apple cider, and an infusion of cherry juice directly into the frank itself which has been marinating in a secret sauce for a couple of days." Street had listed everything so fast that Vinyl almost missed it all. "That is a number ten, the most extreme of franks in all of Canterlot, and the best tasting." He took a bite of his own and froze for a few seconds. Vinyl guessed he was experiencing the same thing she had.

"As lovely as that sounds," Sleek's voice dripped with sarcasm, "I believe we have an appointment to get to. Wrap it up, Street."

"Yes, oh great Dotsy Llama!" Street replied as he mockingly bowed at Sleek. Vinyl tried to suppress her laughter. "I will certainly get on it!"

That's when Street's frank suddenly flew off its plate and into a box the gold-maned unicorn had gotten from seemingly nowhere. "Now," Was all he said before he took the box down the stairs.

"Well, looks like I got my lunch. I'd recommend waiting until you're seated again before having another bite," Street told Vinyl through a smile.

Vinyl nodded in silent agreement before following the stuck up tuxedo and the laid back carriage driver outside, her own snack hovering in the air behind her. She liked Street, he was pretty cool.

"After you, madame," Sleek said as he opened the door to a black carriage with golden trim. It had apparently been sitting next to the street without anypony to tend to it. That changed as Street stepped through the reigns and sat, waiting for the sound of the door closing to signal that the passengers were in. The carriage seemed overly done in gold trim in Vinyl's opinion, lacking any other color besides the gold/black palette. Even the interior was black flooring, black walls, black seating with gold trim everywhere. No imagination, no real art! Just plain black and gold!

The ride was about as eventful as the carriage: completely boring. Vinyl finished her hay frank and was sitting across from Sleek Shine the entire time. He never moved, even when the carriage swayed. He was quite possibly the most boring pony ever. Not even Octavia had been this bad when they first met.

The silence dragged on for what seemed like hours as Street navigated the roadways of the city. He made excellent time and seemed to be ahead of most traffic by a few hoofbeats. The carriage rarely stopped, and even when it did it wasn't for long. Still, the ride was a lot longer and more uncomfortable than Vinyl either wanted or cared for. Eventually, thank Celestia, it ended.

The carriage had come to a halt and Sleek opened the door to the sidewalk. He got out first and held out a hoof for Vinyl. She took it as she descended the carriage steps out of politeness rather than need. Vinyl wanted to make a good impression, despite her dislike of the blue colt.

Then her mind stopped as she looked at the building in front of her. The massive structure had been built to resemble a large dome. The first two stories were built from smooth concrete with a black coat of paint. A network of steel beams came out from the concrete base, crisscrossing each other to form triangular shapes all the way to the top. Within these triangular spaces were thick pieces of glass that were tinted so heavily that they reflected the sun. It was impossible to see inside the structure during the day. Directly in front of Vinyl was a smaller half-dome that connected with the main structure. Several doors were inset into the curved wall, each one also curved to keep the look of the small two-story sphere. The doors were made of matte black frames and the same black glass as the dome. Around the large structure where it was not touching the sidewalk were large dirt patches, every one of them playing host to long cables and wires, though they all seemed a bit small to be of any real use. Perhaps they were just byproducts of the interior of the building or were awaiting installation in the ground before it was landscaped.

"Alright, Sleek, I got us here. Now, give me my frank, please," the sound of Street's voice jolted Vinyl from her admiration of the feat of engineering.

"Sleek, just give the guy his lunch," a soft voice came from Vinyl's left. Sleek must have refused at first to merit this but Vinyl heard the haughty stallion's sigh and the cool colt's gleeful laughter as he got his prize. "Good afternoon, I'm Sweets. If you'll wait just a moment, the boss will be with you." The soft voice said to Vinyl.

The source was a pink unicorn who was rather attractive. She smiled at vinyl as she brushed her hoof to her ear, which was hidden behind her neon green mane and baby blue highlights. "I have a guest for her," Sweets seemed to tell herself. "What do you mean she's not here? How could she disappear?" Sweets' voice, despite being furious, was very quiet, something that apparently took a lot of effort to manage.

"Well, usually she disappears by vanishing into a magical portal that transports her to the sun and she takes a lovely walk as she awaits her time for day to arrive once again." A silver mare said as she walked up behind the pink unicorn. Sweets' expression of pure horror caused Vinyl to burst out laughing, landing her flat on her back. The silver mare smiled, finishing her thought. "Or are we talking about somepony a bit closer to home?"

"Ma'am!" Sweets immediately jumped to attention, saluting the silver mare that had walked up behind her. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't realize you were there. Oh, I'm terribly sorry!"

"For what? I'm the one who teleported out of the building to get some lunch. Something I see Street got on his endeavor," the boss mare said with a smile. "It's not a problem, Sweets. Just relax, I'm not the usual uptight bosses you've worked for previously. I'm a lot nicer and more lenient, so I tell myself. By the way, the salute is a bit over the top," she pointed out through a chuckle.

Vinyl's laughter had started to die down after Sweets' face had relaxed and she'd let her hoof return to the pavement. Sweets nodded before walking off to attend to some other duty she had, leaving the white and silver unicorns on the pavement. Vinyl wiped the tears that were forming from her eyes as she rolled over and stood up.

The mare that now stood where Sweets had been was perfectly presented. Her silver coat reflected the sunlight that shone on it, much like a mirror does to a candle. Her mane was electric blue, the same as Vinyl's highlights, with thin pale yellow streaks that seemed to multiply as her mane went on, ending in a solid yellow. Her long tail matched this pattern almost perfectly. The mare's mane seemed flat compared to most as it went over her head, growing in volume as it reached her shoulder. Her cutie mark was a looped piece of silver metal that seemed encased in a thin black outline. That didn't mean much to Vinyl.

"Sweets is a good pony, and really good at her job. She just expects any little thing to get her fired again," the unicorn said before turning to Vinyl. "I'm Sterling Silver. I bought the building," the silver unicorn said as she extended her hoof to Vinyl.

"I'm Vinyl, it's nice to meet you," Vinyl replied, taking the hoof in greeting. Vinyl had decided to keep the joking to a minimum around this pony. After all, she was obviously the one paying Vinyl for setup management and holding a rave. Word was that Sterling, Vinyl's now-apparent boss, was hosting the largest rave in Equestria, but Vinyl didn't know the truth of this.

"Why don't we head inside and I'll fill you in on the space and the nuances I've brought in," Sterling said as she motioned Vinyl ahead. Vinyl agreed and headed to the front door, opening it with her magic and allowed Sterling to enter first. Vinyl followed shortly after, looking around the room they'd just entered.

It was just like it appeared from the outside: another smaller dome that sat halfway into the full structure. The small entryway had a clear glass ceiling up to where it met the building. The glass changed to the black tint at this joint and finished its circular motion partway into the main building. The doors around the pair were all curved and were the same black glass with metal frames as the walls. And as if that wasn't confusing enough for the normal pony, the floor had a large black and white spiral, reminding Vinyl of a hypnotist's disc.

Sterling opened a door across from Vinyl and motioned for her to enter. Vinyl promptly did and was hit by something completely unexpected: nothing. The space they entered literally looked like the entryway to one of Vinyl's old apartment buildings, complete with gray carpet and the slightly claustrophobic feel. The walls here were a matte black and totally barren. The ceiling was the most exciting feature, having been made from even more triangular black glass pieces. A single metal pipe with a jagged glass cover seemed to bring light from the space directly above into the room the pair now stood in.

Vinyl looked for stairs around her but came up empty-hooved, guessing it was behind a door on the other end of the room. What kind of pony would build a facility like this and not put in some stairs or an elevator? Sterling just stood there smiling at the white mare as she looked around, guessing what she was thinking.

"I love making things hidden," Sterling explained as she turned on the spot and walked to the other end of the room. Towards a very, very blank wall. "And I love the power of technology, especially its ability to make things hidden."

As Sterling approached the far wall a small section of it seemed to recede a quarter inch then slide upwards. That's cool, Vinyl thought as she followed the mare. Behind the panel was a pair of buttons on a silver plate large enough to fit a stallion's hoof. One with an up arrow, one with a down. Elevator call buttons!

"There are actually six elevators here, but these two are the only ones currently in operation. This is, of course, excluding the freight elevators in the back," Sterling explained as she pressed the up arrow. It lit up in a dull white for a second before the sound of an elevator bell caused it to go out. "Excellent, here we are."

Another panel slid back in the wall, this time the height of the room and wide enough for three ponies side-by-side. It first receded into the wall half an inch then slid to Vinyl's left, away from the call buttons. As the two ponies entered the now-exposed elevator Vinyl could just make out some hydraulics between the wall and the door. The silver door on the inside of the elevator slid closed in the more expected accordion style.

"You know, now that I think about it," Sterling said to nopony, "I could have thought up a grappling mechanism for this side of the elevator to allow the hydraulics to catch the panel. It'd complete the uniform walls very well. Then again, that would just make ponies feel like they're in a small... silver... box." Sterling's voice had a touch of annoyance on the last three words. Vinyl wasn't about to comment.

Vinyl never felt the elevator move or the wall behind them open. It wasn't until Sterling's voice came from behind Vinyl that she noticed the missing wall. "Okay, I lied, I thought about it," Sterling said with a grin.

Vinyl walked out of the elevator into what could have been her best dream ever. The entire third floor of the building was a giant dome. It was a massive, mostly empty area built out of metal frames and black glass pieces. Vinyl looked at the floor she stood on, admiring the feat of engineering. The black tinted glass the floor was built from appeared to be thick as well as quite large. Each pane had enough room for five ponies to stand on top and still be able to move around. The metallic framework that it rested on had portions exposed to the surface. These were flattened out to avoid tripping any ponies that slid their hooves around.

While the floor was amazing, the metallic framework that laced the dome was positively miraculous. The dome's framework did not, as Vinyl originally thought, expand inwards to provide extra support like a normal geodesic dome would. Instead it only had one layer, held up by nothing extra. The framework of the dome had to be very solid to achieve this marvel of engineering, especially given the lack of obvious supports for the dome. Jutting from the metal structure that held the dome in place were several smaller pipes that held an assortment of odd devices. Some only extended outwards a few inches and held strange curved white tubes against the black tinted glass of the dome. Others extended almost to the middle of the space and held five concentric rings in place over the floor.

These major rings spanned the area, all of which were a good fifteen feet from the floor. All the rings, excluding the middle, were held in place by a hoofful of metal beams, almost none lining up with any other.. The central ring was empty, however. Another five rings sat against the dome's curves, each one mirroring its concentric counterpart below in size and position, only they were directly connected to the edge of the dome itself. Various wires and strange equipment hung from the amazing metallic pipes, obviously meant to be set up at a later date.

Vinyl tore her eyes from the massive dome above her and looked around at the rest of the facility. A long bar sat to Vinyl's right against a small section of black wall. It was capable of seating almost thirty ponies, which was how many seats ran along it. Its base was a jet black, complete with gloss for an added flair. It also boasted a glass top with a layer of the same white glass Vinyl had seen earlier directly underneath. Vinyl guessed it was to diffuse some light source inside the bar, but she'd never really seen this kind of glass used before in such abundance.

To Vinyl's left, however, was much more exciting. A dozen or so ponies were working on what appeared to be a circular stage. Wires and cables seemed to be thrown around randomly and parts of the metal framework of the floor seemed to be left open. It wasn't a fancy stage, its height meriting only three steps along the sides. Its size could fit three DJs and their tables comfortably with enough room for two more setups in between. What confused Vinyl, however, was the distance to the nearest wall. The stage had been built halfway to the center of the room. It didn't line up with any feature that Vinyl could see and it definitely didn't belong where it was.

"Ooh, she's cute, boss!" The high pitched voice of a mare startled Vinyl, who turned around. She was glad she had her shades because the source was way too close for comfort. She was also really cute, but that wasn't a thought Vinyl entertained for long. This mare was really close.

She was a pale green unicorn with an even lighter shade of yellow for her mane. Her breath smelled of sweet lilacs and lavender as she spoke. Her nose was extremely close to Vinyl's, separated by only the width of three hairs. Vinyl sat, frozen, as the mare just smiled at her with those bright green eyes.

"Tweet, this is Vinyl. She's the one I told you about," Sterling said with a chuckle. She obviously liked the position Vinyl was in, staring shades-to-eyes at the extremely forward mare in front of her. Vinyl felt a blush start to form on her cheeks.

"Hi! Are you single? And do you like mares?" Tweet didn't budge as she spoke, her eyes flitting between the lenses of Vinyl's purple shades. Vinyl finally snapped out of her frozen state and regained her composure, regaining some lost Vinyl Scratch.

"Sorry, I'm already taken," Vinyl replied. The mare's happy face drooped a bit.

"Darn. Lucky mares always get the good ones," Tweet said as she pouted.

"Vinyl, this is Tweet. She's head of sound and hardware for the place," Sterling finished.

"I never said it was with a--" Vinyl began.

"You didn't need to," Tweet interrupted, gaining a more mature smile, her face still ridiculously close to Vinyl's. "I could just smell it. There's an interesting scent about fillyfoolers like us."

"What's it smell like?" Vinyl's curiosity had returned, blotting out the mare's forward attitude.

Tweet stepped back and sat in front of Vinyl, giving a small shrug. "Kind of like you would expect after a good night," Tweet said with a sly smile.

"Don't let her bait you, Vinyl. Even when a mare is taken, she enjoys the details," Sterling said. "As for me, I have to attend to a minor musing of mine. I just got a glorious idea for the dome, but it needs to be enacted immediately if it is to be ready for opening night on Saturday. Tweet, get Vinyl a microphone and work with her to get the sound system operational. I'm trusting you to be professional."

Tweet nodded vigorously to Sterling, the smile she had making her practically shine. "You got it, Sterling! Professional as I can be!"

Sterling just shook her head before walking off towards the bar, which was next to the red sign that said "stairs" that was just being put up by two pegasi.

"So, you're the famous DJ Pon-3. A lot of ponies would like to have you, y'know. Whomever she is, I hope she realizes how good she has it." Tweet's voice was genuine as she spoke. "So, microphone. You're going to need one. Follow me and I'll get you up to speed on Sterling's most prized device." Tweet walked towards the stage, Vinyl following closely. Vinyl noticed the unicorn's cutie mark was a curving blue sound wave. "Hope you like what you see," Tweet said through another schoolfilly grin, looking back at Vinyl.

"What happened to being professional?" Vinyl replied as she walked. She thanked Celestia again that she had her shades, otherwise that would've been much more awkward.

Author's Note:

This was ridiculous.

Thanks to DeathChain01 again for helping me on my learning curve, and being patient with it. :)