Ponywatching

by ThunderTempest

Prompt #424-Now That's A Party

You could say what you liked about Fillydelphia, but the ponies there knew how to party. Of course, the city may have stunk when the wind blew from the repugnant seaweed farming district, and all its associated processing, but the ponies who lived there were always up for a good time. And obviously, with the upcoming Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year and the return of Princess Luna, it was a prime time to have an all-night party.

Such was how Vinyl Scratch found herself in the Fillydelphia hoofball stadium, checking over her equipment as her and several technician ponies performed the final soundchecks. It had already been a long day for the unicorn, as her temporarily uncovered eyes surveyed the overhauled stadium. She’d had to catch the dawn train from Canterlot just to get out here in time, and then it had been an hour’s trot across the city to get to the stadium. Since then, she’d been hard at work, toiling right alongside the road crew and the techs, connecting amplifiers, charging magical batteries and making sure that everypony who entered the stadium would have the best Winter Solstice Celebration ever. She planned for her set to run from sun-down all the way through to sun-up. Or perhaps that should be from Moon rise to moon set? Shrugging, and shaking off a yawn, the unicorn connected the final of her speakers, massive affairs that they were, bigger than a pony standing on another pony.

“How long until moon-rise?” called Vinyl from her turntables. Eight boxes full of records stood ready on the floor beside her, and Vinyl selected the first two, levitating them out with a soft blue glow.

“Half an hour, Miss Scratch,” replied one of the technicians, “But we’re still figuring out how much to charge for entry.”

“Three bits per pony,” was Vinyl’s immediate reply, “That should cover all of our expenses.”

The tech pony nodded, and went off to inform the front entrance of the pricing. Back up on the stage, Vinyl took a few deep breaths, and made sure that the inbuilt icebox in her turntables was full. She’d have to carefully manage how much alcohol she drank. Didn’t want to collapse halfway through the set, like she’d done once before. All-night sets were tricky like that.

The first ponies had begun to trickle in by now, and Vinyl put on some easy background music, something to get the ponies moving a bit, while the volume was still low, and the stadium was still filling up. Then, one of the tech ponies from outside signalled that the sun had dropped below the horizon. Any second now, the moon would rise, and Vinyl would begin her set. She lowered her glasses. The second signal came, and Vinyl Scratch stopped the background music, and kicked things into high gear to a roar from the crowd.

*****

Vinyl stumbled out of the stadium, floating in the slightly unpleasant space between too tired to stay awake, but buzzed enough from the alcohol that she didn’t want to sleep. She blinked as the sunlight hit her face, and was very glad she was wearing her glasses. She began stumbling off, unable to suppress the yawn that emerged from her as she searched for a hotel. She supposed it had been rather silly of her, not to secure a hotel before coming to the show, but she’d been pressed for time. And when was the last time she’d done an all-nighter like that? Vinyl couldn’t remember. Usually, her sets finished around two in the morning, but then again, she also usually had other acts supporting her.

****TIME****

She felt a hoof land on her back, and she slowly spun to face one of the tech ponies, a brown earth pony.

“Miss Scratch? You look dead. Where’s your hotel?”

“Don’t have one,” murmured the DJ, “Need to find one.”

“Come on. You can sleep at my place. It’s not far from here,” said the tech, gently guiding the unicorn towards a modest house at the end of the street.

“Thanks.” The moment that the tech got Vinyl inside, she spotted the couch in the living room, stumbled her way over to it, and immediately collapsed upon it, snoring like a small thunderstorm while the tech locked the door. The tech draped a blanket over the unicorn, gently pulled the mare’s signature glasses off, set them on the end table beside the couch, and then went to bed himself.

Author's Note:

Written for Prompt #424-“Did I Sleep In?”
The Prompt: Somepony really needs to sleep