The Invitation
Twilight Sparkle, along with her friends, were surprised at the new pony's over the top entrance, but no one looked more surprised than Octavia, who the new mare seems to know, and vice versa. This brought up a lot of questions for the librarian; who was this unicorn? How does she know Octavia? How did she know how to find her? And better yet, why was she wearing sunglasses indoors and at night? What was the point in wearing them?
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Before Twilight could ponder any further on this, an excited squeal pitched through the lobby. Twilight saw that it was Blossomforth who was responsible for that squeal as the pegasus was beaming at the white unicorn like an excited fan filly who has met her idol, which does closely resemble the situation.
"Ohmigoshomigoshohmigosh!" she cheered in excitement. "It's her! It's really her! It's DJ-PON3! The hip-hop DJ! I can't believe it's really her! I'm such a big fan of you! I always listen to your songs! They're absolutely amazing! Can I have your autograph!? Please!?"
DJ-PON3 chuckled at the excitable mare, clearly amused. "Whoa, girl. Settle down there. It's cool to know that I have a big fan around these parts, but you don't have to keep calling me DJ-PON3. That's my stage name. My real name's Vinyl Scratch, but you can just call me Vinyl."
Twilight mulled in thought, the name DJ-PON3 somehow familiar to her, thinking about where she had heard of her before.
Then it hit her.
She had heard about a 'DJ-PON3' back at Canterlot when she had refused to go to one of Moondancer's party and instead studied about magitech development. Even when studying on the tallest towers of the castle with windows shut, she could still hear the beat from the plaza, distracting her from her studies. Twilight had always wondered who in their right mind would actually play such loud music that could burst your eardrums off ever since that day, and now it looks like she had found her culprit.
"So Octi, how's the big city life treating ya, playing tunes for the crowd and all? Ya doing awesome?" asked the grinning unicorn, slinging a friendly hoof over Octavia.
"Y-Yes, I'm doing rather well, Vinyl..." Octavia stammered, much to the surprise of everyone else, save for Vinyl, for they have never seen Octavia look so nervous before.
"Cool! Good to know my homegirl's doing just fine!" Vinyl then looked over to the others. "And it looks like you've been making some new buddies since last time we met. Mind introducing me to everypony?"
Octavia gave a quick nod before leading the DJ to her friends, starting with the purple unicorn and dragon. "Vinyl, this is Twilight Sparkle, the new librarian in Manehattan, and her assistant Spike."
"A librarian, huh? So you keep reading books, scrolls, all that kinda stuff?" Vinyl asked.
"Well yes, but I also have to keep up with my studies as well." Twilight answered her.
"OK, I gotcha. So in other words, you're an egghead."
Twilight frowned upon hearing that. "Excuse me? Egghead?"
The DJ grinned teasingly. "Yeah, egghead. You know, the nerdy, brainy, geeky ponies like you."
"H-Hey!"
"Sorry Twilight, but she hit the nail on the head there." Spike snickered, along with Daring, Trixie, and Blossomforth. Twilight had a sneaking feeling that they would now be calling her that pretty often, much to her dismay.
"Please excuse Vinyl's behavior, Twilight." Octavia apologized. "She rather enjoys teasing others."
"Aw c'mon Octi, ya know I don't mean what I say." Vinyl pouted innocently. "I'm just poking a bit of fun!"
"'Even the slightest of taunts can insult somepony deeply'. Just please be careful with what you say around others, Vinyl."
"Aight, aight. I gotcha." she then looked down at the small, purple dragon. "And a dragon, huh? First time I really see one of 'em...say little guy, can you breathe fire?
"You bet I can!" Spike smirked confidently. "Watch, I'll show you!" he turned around to make sure no one was in the way, took a deep breath and then breathed out green, wispy flames, either startling or impressing the other ponies around them, though Vinyl looked the most thrilled by this.
"Wicked!" She cheered. "I'm telling ya little guy, ya sure know how to be awesome!"
Spike scratched the back of his head, flattered by the compliment. "Gee, thanks! I'm glad to hear that."
"Sure, anytime!"
"Uh, Vinyl? The tip of your mane is on fire." Twilight warned in concern.
Looking up at her mane, Vinyl did indeed catch a small wisp of fire on the tip of her mane. However, instead of panicking, she simply shrugged, licked her hoof and pressed it against the flame, dousing it. "There, no harm done."
"Uh, sorry about that..." apologized a sheepish Spike.
"Ah, it's cool. Don't worry about it, little guy. So Octi, who's next?"
Octavia led Vinyl to the tan pegasus. "This is Honey Do, the head curator of our museum."
"A museum pony! So does that mean you're another egghead?" questioned the white unicorn.
"If you're talking about history, archeology and geography, I guess so." Daring shrugged.
"Cool! I think I'll swing by and visit your place sometime!"
Daring raised her eyebrows in curiosity. "Really? No offense, but you don't really look like the type to visit museums."
"A little bit of tourism don't hurt nopony, right?" Vinyl grinned.
"Guess not. Anyway, this blue unicorn next to me is-"
"I am The Great and Powerful Trixie! We all welcome you to Manehattan, Vinyl Scratch!" Trixie interrupted Daring. Twilight rolled her eyes at this, knowing that Trixie preferred to introduce herself when meeting new ponies.
"Okay, so what do ya do?" Vinyl asked the showmare.
"Trixie wows the crowds with her spectacular feats of magic! They watch in awe as Trixie performs anything never before seen by pony eyes! Everypony leaves entertained and intrigued by Trixie's shows!"
"Trixie, you know you're not on stage, right?" Spike groaned, getting annoyed by Trixie's long introduction.
"The world is a stage!" she proclaimed.
"So you're a showmare." Vinyl nodded. "I guess that means you're a big ham too."
Trixie's eyes widened in shock and irritation. "W-What!? How dare you compare Trixie to a dirty pig!"
Everyone chuckled as Vinyl patted the frowning Trixie's shoulder. "Relax, I'm just pulling your hind leg!" she then turned to meet the next pony, who was beaming at her with admiration. "And so I meet another one of my fans! I didn't quite catch your name yet, ya know..."
"Oh right! I'm so sorry for not telling you earlier! My name's Blossomforth! Like I've said before, I'm a huge fan of yours! Can I get an autograph!? Please!?"
"Sorry girl, but I don't have paper or pen with me right now." Vinyl apologized. "Maybe next time, aight?"
Blossomforth didn't seem let down at all; she just nodded her head, eager to receive the DJ's autograph later.
Vinyl then walked over to the earth pony family, the last left to introduce themselves. "Hey, you guys are looking fancy tonight. So what are your names?"
Sherbet cleared her throat before speaking. "Miss Scratch, I am Orange Sherbet. This is my husband, Mosley Orange, and my daughter, Tangerine. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Whoa...no way...you guys are one of the bigwigs around Manehattan! Well, you don't really wear wigs, but ya know what I mean, right? Anyway, you guys have your own crib, right?"
Sherbet frowned in confusion. "'Crib'? I'm afraid I don't understand..."
"Hotel. Street talk." Vinyl clarified for her. "So anyway, do you guys have any room left? I forgot to make reservations to any hotel in town, so maybe I could crash in one of your rooms."
"By 'crash' you mean..."
"Just hang around. Again, street talk."
"I think I want to learn street talk..." Spike said to himself, liking how the DJ talked to everyone.
"Vinyl, you forgot to make a reservation again?" asked a concerned Octavia.
"Yeah, about that..." Vinyl began, sheepishly scratching her head. "I was so psyched when I heard about you performing around Manehattan that I just dropped everything I was doing, and I waltzed over here as fast as I could."
"Vinyl, you really must learn to prepare yourself for events such as this..."
"I guess I'm just a slow learner!" the DJ laughed.
'She says it like it's something to be proud of...' Twilight thought sarcastically.
"But still, you can hook me up a room in your hotel, right?" Vinyl asked the Oranges.
"Yes, we should have some rooms available tonight." Mosley nodded. "We can take a taxi-carriage to Orange Catering together if you'd like."
"Cool! Thanks for giving me a hoof!" Vinyl then dragged Octavia along with the oranges with her magic. "Hey Octi, how 'bout you come along with us so we can catch up on old times together?"
"Of course, but...could you please stop dragging me?" Octavia struggled in the magic grip. "This isn't truly necessary, Vinyl..."
"Excuse me, is it all right if me and Spike come along?" Twilight asked. "The way to the library happens to pass by Orange Catering."
"Sure, you two can come along!" Vinyl nodded with a grin.
"Wonderful!" Twilight turned to face the rest of her friends. "What about you girls? Do you need a ride home too?"
"Nah, it's fine. I can make my way home by myself." Daring declined the offer. "Besides, I prefer the exercise over being stuck inside a carriage."
"The only carriage Trixie needs is her own!" Trixie declared, also declining a ride home.
"I...I really don't want to be a bother..." Blossomforth meekly said, pawing a hoof at the ground.
"It's no bother, Blossomforth!" Twilight assured the pegasus. "You're free to come along with us."
"Sorry Twi, but the taxi's full." Spike called from the taxi-carriage Vinyl managed to get the attention of. "There's no room for Blossomforth."
"Oh...that's too bad..." Twilight frowned.
"Now that we have said our farewells, let us depart so we can meet again tomorrow!" Trixie shouted. "Good night!" After finishing her speech, she cast a smokescreen spell, which dissipated quickly to show her running away. Although Trixie was an incredible showmare with great potential at magic, the smokescreen spell is one of the spells she can't quite pull off perfectly, although Trixie was too proud to admit that she needs practice with it.
"Trixie may not like to admit it, but she really needs to improve on that spell." Daring quipped.
"Hey egghead! Get in so we can get this show on the road!" Vinyl called from the carriage, making Daring and Blossomforth chuckle.
"Don't call me egghead!" Twilight said in annoyance as she went to the carriage.
"Where to?" One of the taxi riders asked the passengers.
"Take us to Orange Catering, please." Sherbet told them.
"All right ma'am, shouldn't take too long."
As they were waiting to arrive at their destination, Vinyl spoke up a conversation with everyone inside the carriage, even entertaining Tangerine with some funny jokes she had thought up. Through the short time Twilight had known her, she could see that the DJ was a very charismatic pony. She didn't know if it was her personality, or her friendliness or how she spoke, but Vinyl was a very easy pony to like. She even decided to put aside the minor complaint she had about her for her like of loud music. But one question was still left unanswered throughout the whole night when they had met each other.
"So Vinyl, I've been meaning to ask..." Twilight began, catching the DJ's attention. "How do you and Octavia know each other?"
"Yeah, I also want to know the answer to that." Spike agreed. "I mean, I don't think anypony ever expected you and Octavia to be friends."
"Ha! That ain't the first time I heard that!" Vinyl laughed. "Yeah, me and Octi here were friends ever since we were little fillies."
"Really? So how was she like, Octavia?"
"Vinyl was quite the eccentric when we first met." Octavia explained. "But she also proved to be a valuable friend, always supporting and helping anypony when they need it."
Vinyl nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, that's just how I am! I can't stand it when somepony's all frowns and no smiles. So I do what I do best to cheer 'em up!"
"You play music to cheer ponies up?" Tangerine asked in curiosity.
"Er, well...not exactly, kiddo..." Vinyl chuckled, petting the filly's head. "I help them right their wrongs, and try to keep it that way. You understand now?"
Tangerine's face pouted in uncertainty. "I don't know..."
"Um, don't worry, kiddo. I'm sure your folks will explain better than me."
"Okay..." Tangerine nodded before asking another question. "Miss Scratch, why do you keep wearing sunglasses at night?"
"These?" Vinyl levitated her glasses and propped them on top of her horn, revealing her cerise eyes. "I just like wearing 'em. Like Octi likes to keep wearing that pink bowtie of hers."
"And like Twilight likes to keep making checklists for just about anything!" Spike chuckled.
"Th-That has nothing to do with this!" Twilight denied in annoyance and embarrassment. She was beginning to believe that the DJ's teasing personality was rubbing off on Spike.
"So Vinyl, if I may ask, how did you know where to find Octavia?" Sherbet asked her.
Twilight brightened up at her question. "Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that too! You did barge in at the theater like you knew she was going to be there. So how did you know?"
"That? Oh, I was just flipping through some music magazines, and when I read about the play of The Three Musketeers, I saw Octi's name on the ponies who would be playing the strings." Vinyl answered. "Come to think of it, you and the others were already there when I made it to the theater. Did ya already know Octi was gonna perform there?"
"Actually, Octavia invited us to watch the play and her perform at the orchestra."
"I apologize, Vinyl." Octavia fidgeted in her seat. "If I had known that you would be coming, I would have invited you as well."
"Hey, it's cool! It's also kinda my fault for not letting ya know I was coming." Vinyl waved it off. Suddenly, she paused in thought, a smirk coming to her face. "Hey, I know! Since you had invited your pals to that fancy theater, how about I return the favor?"
"What do you mean, Vinyl?"
"Easy! I'll be playing as a DJ in one of the clubs around here in two days, and you're free to come along and join me!"
"And...what sort of party would that be?" Octavia asked with a hint of nervousness, only barely noticed by Twilight.
"Well, we'll be playing awesome techno music, a lot of ponies will be grooving on the dance floor, lights will be shining and blinking here and there, lots of drinks to choose from, not to mention the many types of stallions you can choose from!" Vinyl answered, giggling at the last comment.
"I-I see..."
"Wait, how did you get to be the DJ of one of the clubs around Manehattan already? You just got here!" Twilight exclaimed in disbelief.
"Me and the club owner are pretty good pals with each other. I'm sure I can talk him to let me put some beats to the party! By the way, feel free to invite the others. They can come along to join the fun if they can make it!"
Twilight had made a mental note to tell her friends about the DJ's invite tomorrow, and to her own surprise, actually eager to come to the party. When she turned to look at Octavia, she got surprised and concerned at how the cellist looked like. She was oddly silent and actually looked nervous, something Twilight never had seen her friend like this before. Before she could ask her what was wrong, the rider had told them that they had arrived at Orange Catering, interrupting what she was about to ask as the carriage stopped to a halt, letting Vinyl and the Oranges out.
"All right Miss Scratch, come along with me to the front desk and we'll see in which room you can check in." Sherbet said as her husband paid the fee.
"Sure, thanks again!" Vinyl grinned. "See ya later, Octi! I hope you'll have a killer time at the party!"
After saying their goodbyes, Twilight told the riders to go to Octavia's home, also wanting to pick up on what she was going to ask the cellist before she was interrupted.
"So Octavia..." Twilight began, getting her attention. "Is everything all right?"
"But of course." Octavia replied with a forced smile. "What made you think otherwise?"
"I gotta agree with Twilight here, Octavia." Spike said in concern. "You just look...out of it. Ever since Vinyl invited us to her party, you've been pretty quiet."
Octavia let out a sigh, dropping her smile. "You and Twilight are very observant. Truthfully, I feel...troubled."
Now Twilight and Spike were very concerned for the gray mare. She stopped introducing her thoughts with a quote (or as Spike would call it, "Words of Wisdom"), her eyes did indeed looked troubled and she was fidgeting nervously in her seat. This was not the Octavia they knew. They knew that they had to help her.
"So what's the matter? Did something happen between you and Vinyl when you last saw each other?" Twilight asked.
Octavia shook her head. "No, nothing like that. We left on good terms."
"Then what's eating you up?" Spike asked her. "Come on, you can tell us."
"Well..." Octavia trailed, then she paused her thoughts. "I'm sorry, I'm feeling too exhausted to speak about it right now. Perhaps we can continue tomorrow."
"All right. We understand." Twilight nodded, knowing that she needed time to collect her thoughts.
The rest of the trip was silent, though it didn't take long to reach Octavia's home. The cellist paid her fee before stepping out of the carriage.
"Good night, Octavia. We hope you feel better tomorrow." Twilight said. Octavia nodded, walking inside her home as the carriage rode away to the library.
"Twilight, I'm worried about Octavia..." Spike frowned. "Do you think she'll be all right?"
"Don't worry, Spike. Tomorrow, we'll get to the bottom of things. We'll find out what's troubling her." Twilight assured her assistant.
"I sure hope so..."
The rest of the ride home was quiet, save for the clip-clops of the riders' hooves on the road. Twilight had spent her rest of the way to the library wondering why Octavia was troubled. And once she found out, she would do her best to solve Octavia's troubles for good.
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Nice chapter! Can't wait for the next!
I actually don't have anything to criticize about this. Excellent characterization, you put in a few good twists, very good level of detail to fill in the story, and a nice lead on. I couldn't have written much differently myself.
One thing I like about this universe (Manehattan in general) is how Spike has a tendency to --for lack of a better description-- imprint himself with an adult pony's personality, like he's trying his hardest to fit in with the group, but hasn't really found himself as an individual yet, even though he's obviously the only dragon around. It shows how impressionable he really is.
Very nice, very nice, I think I like this Vinyl Scratch!
I find it disturbingly ironic that Vinyl Scratch is more of a Rainbow Dash than Daring Do, the literal recolor of Daring Do. I mean, I get it, this version of Daring Do isn't the same as in canon. But the irony is still so...well...ironic. If it were anymore ironic, magnets would be attracted to this fic.
Usually, it's Octavia and Vinyl that tend to be portrayed as the "odd couple". But I get the feeling that Vinyl and the Oranges will play that part.