> Vinyl's Itch
>  by Damaged
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> New to the Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vinyl Scratch was in her element. Immersed in the music, she was beat-matching her songs together into a mega-mix, and it was going well. She glanced down at her hoof on the board—casual and without even meaning to—and smiled. Vinyl's fetlocks were trimmed very severely. Just like a stallion. The moment she thought the words a tingle of good feelings poured through her.

Inspired suddenly, she dumped the mix off to storage and started work on a new piece. "Gotta get this down just right…"

"What was that, Vinny?" Octavia had been practicing her cello while her housemate worked on her own unique music. Her thoughts ran to just how much her friend had blossomed recently.Vinyl had always been a little quiet, a little withdrawn. I am so glad she met Cheerilee.

Knocking her cans back, Vinyl grinned at her housemate. "I just got kicked in the flank by my muse. Think I might lay down something new." Her hooves and magic moved across the board, adjusting settings, pulling in the samples she wanted to use. "You want to hear this one, Tavi?"

Octavia was near the end of her practice and was encouraged by her friend's enthusiasm. "Sure Vinny, let me have it." She set her bow aside and, with a twirl of the big instrument, rest her cello against the chair. "What hit you this time? 'Her' again?"

Vinyl grinned like a loon. "Duh, she… she just accepted everything I wanted, she didn't just let me be 'me,' she-"

"I know the story, I watched you bloom, Vin." Octavia's eyes traced over the white unicorn, lingering on each of the "blooming" signs one by one. Trimmed fetlocks. Short-cut mane and tail. But it was her friend's attitude that had been the big sign that she was feeling better than ever. "I remember that first day, you came home grinning so much I thought your cheeks would split."

The description helped Vinyl get further into her inspiration. Flicking her deck output to the speaker amp, Vinyl made sure the volume was low enough that it wouldn't blast away half the town. The beat started, she began simple, then set points where she could modify it, adjusting tempo to really shift and delineate the parts she wanted. Sad, alone… I need a way to… of course. The music came alive.


~~~~~+++++~~~~~


Vinyl didn't realize that not only was her music just a touch too loud, but that she had left the window open. She was deep in the one release she had from her life, her music. Harsh rhythm circled around and around, dominating a weak beat. "This is rubbish, I am going to have to start again!"

"I thought it sounded interesting."

The soft voice from behind her startled Vinyl out of her "zone" and she spun around to see pretty harlequin eyes looking at her from a cerise face, all topped with rose-colored mane. Cheerilee. "Uh… thanks, but it needs work. The beat is not coming through enough, the rhythm is dominating it and leaving nothing behind to keep your focus."

The technical lingo left Cheerilee blinking. "But it sounds nice." She grinned. "I guess I am a little too much of a groupie, I have been to all your shows recently." Why am I telling her this? Ugh, she is so awesome. Odd that she ties her mane up like that.

"Really? You see that last one in Mareiland? That is where I got the idea for this. But it just isn't fitting together." Vinyl studied the mare peeking in the window, really studied her. "Hey, I got a gig on tonight in Canterlot, want to come?"

"Already got my ticket." Cheerilee smiled widely. "Have you tried dropping the beat completely?"

Vinyl Scratch froze. Her eyes unfocused and she stared through the pony. Turning in place, she quickly flicked her deck and cut the beat from the output. It was a cacophony, it was chaos and a swirling mix of rhythm without guidance. "Oh buck…" Her hooves moved, bringing more madness into being, adding more and more to it and, at the culmination of the song, dropped the rhythm. Panting, Vinyl was trembling at the power of the tune. "That is my life." Her words were soft, lost in her breathing.

"That was so amazing!" Cheerilee clopped her hooves together excitedly. "Are you going to play it tonight?" She watched the unicorn turn slowly on her seat.

Not smiling at all, Vinyl started breathing again, started just thinking. "If you come, I will." She lifted her shades up to look at Cheerilee without the filter they provided. The mid-morning sun wasn't shining on that part of the house yet, so she captured every line of her visitor without her eyes hurting. "Uh, I am bad at this, you want something to eat? Maybe a drink? Argg, would you like to come in?"

Cheerilee chortled and nodded. "Sure, I was just going to the market to buy some things, but that can wait." She made her way around to the front door. She is so awesome, but I do feel bad about standing Thunderlane up for our date… not that it was going anywhere. The door opened to reveal Vinyl had her shades back on.

"Come in." Vinyl smiled and turned. "Don't mind the mess, Tavi has been out of town—she is on tour—and I prefer a bit of mess when I'm not being bullied into cleaning..." She led the way into the kitchen, inwardly wincing at the two-day-old bowl of rice on the coffee table. 

"Just like a stallion." Cheerilee muttered the words before thinking. No, bad thoughts. She isn't a stallion, she is your idol, she probably is barely tolerating having you here. Sobering thoughts swirled through her head as she followed Vinyl into the kitchen. "So, uh, what time are you leaving for your show?"

"Just after lunch." Vinyl was using her magic to gather the makings of a sandwich. Putting two together, she also reached for the cider in the fridge. "Want a drink?" One was already floating toward Cheerilee.

"Uh, sure." Cheerilee caught the bottle coming toward her in a hoof and sniffed. No alcoholic bite, phew. She took a sip of the drink and made a sound of appreciation. "Didn't even realize how thirsty I was." 

Vinyl's eyes flicked from the meal she was making to Cheerilee, as the other mare took a seat. She looks pretty cute… ugh, no. Last time you tried to make a move you almost lost your best friend. "You like dandelions?" The tasty flowers were stacked high on one sandwich, but she waited for a nod from Cheerilee before doing the same for hers.

"Really like them?" Cheerilee took another, longer pull of her drink. Mare. Mare, Cheerilee. Gah, why do you always do this. She is cute, but she is a mare. "So… uh… want a travel companion for the show?"

The invitation surprised both ponies, each looking away and—at the same time—realizing the other had. "I gotta be up front. I like mares," Vinyl, breathed out noticeably, "I dig that you like my music but…"

"I… I prefer stallions." Cheerilee thought back to college, of her "experimental" phase, if a year of being with various mares in college was a "phase." "But hey, we can just hang out, right? Your music is awesome and it wasn't like I wasn't going to the show anyway."

Vinyl's heart skipped a beat. She prefers stallions, you aren't a stallion. If wishes were ponies, you would be drowning in mares. "Sure. The trip is boring anyway, at least we will have something to talk about." Like how much I want to lick her- STOP THAT!

Cheerilee watched as Vinyl turned her head to just the right angle and something struck her about the way the other mare's mane was up. She almost looks like a stallion. Forgetting her snout, the shape of her mane… Cheerilee, there is no reason to think this, she probably wears it up to help with her work. "Guess I don't need to go home and get my ticket?" She tried to banish her thoughts.

"Nah, it's cool, I can get you in with a band-pass." Vinyl slowly relaxed. "You teach here, right?" Safe topic, yay!

The shift in the topic almost had Cheerilee missing that she would be getting a band-pass to get in. "Oh, yes! I just love teaching all the fillies and colts, helping them learn what they need to excel and find their special talents." It warmed her just thinking about it. It literally was what her cutie mark was all about.

"Got any wanting to try music?" Vinyl cut the two sandwiches and set them on plates. Bringing them to the table she took a seat opposite Cheerilee. "If you want, I could come to the class and do something?"

"That would tickle little Sweetie Belle pink, she loves singing. I tried to get that Countess Coloratura to come and visit, but her itinerary is a little full… or so she says." Cheerilee remembered well the concert that particular mare put on, where she split from her "manager."

"Yeah, she got real popular after she dumped all the fake stuff and just made her music from her heart again. If you want we could catch a show of hers next weekend?" Vinyl froze after she asked the question. It's not a date, totally not, nope. You are such a dunce at this.

She likes mares, she seems a bit alternative, you could just ask her, Cheery. "Sure, that would be cool." Cheerilee blushed a little. It's not like it is a date. Besides, Vinyl is a mare… a mare that looks a little like a stallion with her mane like that... "Do you… do you wear your mane up like that often? It looks good."

Vinyl almost dropped her sandwich. She blinked quickly behind her shades, her brain not quite following the complement past the first hint that it was one. "Uh… thanks. I keep forgetting to get my mane looked at, I kinda let it grow out…"

"You should get it cut short, it would suit you." It would suit a stallion. Cheerilee smiled through her inner turmoil. "What time does the train leave? Do you have much gear to take?"

The change in topic suited Vinyl, at least the part that got embarrassed about her looks. "Just need my deck, they have a speaker stack and amps already there." She gestured back to the living room with a hoof. "And the train leaves in an hour." She likes my mane... The thought had the corners of her mouth pulling up a little more than normal.

"Well, if you want, I could cut your mane?" Cheerilee tried not to sound too eager. "That is, if you are okay with it? I cut my own all the time and I think you would look really cute with it short and I am sure I could do a good job and oh Celestia why am I still talking!" Idiot.

Vinyl blinked, reached her hoof up to her mane. She is cute, too, when she is flustered. "Sure." Trepidation was thick in the one word, but part of Vinyl was aching, screaming for this to be done. A short-cut mane would feel... good. "Uh, let me find some scissors."

"I'll be right back!" Cheerilee broke from the table at a dead gallop. Somehow she got outside without using the door and was across town to her own house before she realized it.

"I… guess I was too scary." Vinyl watched the dust-cloud that was shaped like Cheerilee, fade from the chair. "Well, she was going to the show anyway, guess I will meet her-" She stopped at the sound of galloping hooves coming, loudly, for her house.

Cheerilee threw the door open, her mane-trimming things in her snout. She saw that Vinyl hadn't even moved and, with the aplomb with which she taught her class, trotted into the house with a prance in her step. "Ready!"

"Uh… wow… okay, guess we are doing this. Let me put some music on." Vinyl got up and reached for her deck with her magic, adjusting the volume, she put her whole library on mix. The first up was one of her older, darker pieces. The beat was almost like a march, Vinyl saw Cheerilee unconsciously move her legs to the beat. "Where do you want me?" 

Vinyl's blush at what she asked was almost as bright as Cheerilee's for having to answer. 

"Kitchen seat is the best spot, we can sweep up anything I cut." Cheerilee felt her body moving with the music, but it felt almost like she was marching off to a sad event. "Uh… can I have something more upbeat? This should be more fun."

The request suited Vinyl, she tapped the controls with her magic and one of her wilder songs started. "This better?" She took her spot on a seat, reached up with her magic and undid the band holding her mane up.

"Goodness, that is a lot of mane." Cheerilee instantly lost sight of the cute almost-stallion look—Vinyl was definitely a mare with this much mane. "How short do you want it?"

The question should have been easy, a mare would always know how long she wanted her mane, it was what mares knew. "Uh, remember how short it was? Maybe a little less than that." Why did I admit that? I am going to look… look like a stallion. The thought brought both embarrassment and an odd desire, a need Vinyl had never let show to another pony before. 

Cheerilee nodded, smiling wide. Taking out her comb and scissors, she started to work. "Okay, so a stallion cut? I can totally do that. Anything in particular? Tall spike down the middle… that will take some work to keep styled. How about messy tufts up top?"

The comb worked into Vinyl's mane and the words seemed to become muted. Some ponies liked to be touched in special places, some spoken to in particular ways, but Vinyl Scratch's motor kicked into gear when her mane was teased at. "Uh… low maintenance would be good…" 

"Oh, I love this bit…" Cheerilee worked her scissors, cutting free huge lengths of lightning-blue mane. She let it drop around Vinyl and always moved to the beat. "Short and tufty then, I saw a stallion with just this look at one of your shows… but I think I can do something to make it look better." She is totally going to hate this, come on, look how much of her mane is gone! You are ruining her look!

Vinyl barely heard anything now, even the music was faded to background noise. The swish of the comb, the snip of the scissors, was all she could hear. The slight tugging each time the comb worked—just before her hair was trimmed free—was all she felt. "Huh? Uh, sure." 

Two more songs passed before Cheerilee had Vinyl's mane where she felt it should be. "This looks awesome, trust me." She brushed down the unicorn's coat, freeing any stray bits of blue. "Do you have a mirror?"

Still in a bit of a daze, her body humming along to the beat of the music, Vinyl got up. "Yeah, in the bathroom, or I could sneak into Tavi's room." Her eyes fell on the blue hair at her hooves. It was everywhere, covering the floor like carpet. Anxiety and panic built quickly. Oh Celestia what has she done? I have a show tonight!

Cheerilee saw Vinyl's panic set in, her heart started beating faster and faster. I went too far, I totally went too far. Outwards, she walked with Vinyl to what was apparently the bathroom; following the unicorn like it was a procession at a funeral. It is a funeral, I killed her mane!

Vinyl lifted her head, now feeling much lighter than before, and looked in the mirror. That is amazing, that… that is me... The traitorous thought destroyed the bad mood, she smiled at how great her mane looked short.

As Vinyl turned her head this way and that, Cheerilee saw the grin she wore. "Uh… do you like-" She got no further, Vinyl's lips were planted on her own and all Cheerilee could see was the electric blue mane, cut just like a stallion's, topping Vinyl's face.
> Hitching a Ride
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did he just kiss me? Cheerilee blinked a few times, trying to clear her brain more than her eyes. She, I mean she. That mane is going to get me in trouble. "Uh… So you like it?"

"It looks awesome." Vinyl spun back to the mirror. "Oh wait, Tavi's room has a bigger mirror!" 

Cheerilee hadn't seen many unicorns able to teleport—she could count them on her hooves—but somehow Vinyl got past her and into the hallways and there was no way logic or physics had anything to do with it. Trotting after the blue streak of tail, she wound up in an immaculately kept room, containing a huge bed, a large mirror, and Vinyl Scratch with her jaw hanging open. "I take it that is a 'Very yes'?"

"I always wanted to have it short, but whenever mom would take me to get it trimmed they wouldn't listen to me at the salon, they would style it long and flowing. It looks-" Vinyl stopped, realizing that the stallion in the mirror had to give a show tonight. A show I will be late for if I don't get my plot moving and get my deck to the train. "Sweet Celestia we need to be at the station!"

Vinyl was charging right at Cheerilee, leaving her nowhere to go but to slink to the side and then turn to follow. "It didn't take that long to do the cut. I can help move your gear." She watched as the blue glow of Vinyl's magic started yanking cords from her mix deck. "Put it on my back and let's bolt!"

In a bit of a daze and panic both, Vinyl did just that, setting the equipment on Cheerilee's back and, together, they sped out of the house and took off for the station at a gallop. The wind of their passage flew through Vinyl's new mane cut and reminded her just what had been done. What will my fans think? Buck it, Cheerilee liked it, they might too. It was an easy thing to think, but actually believing it was another matter.

"All aboard!"

"I got this." Cheerilee had no idea what she had got, or how, but she wasn't going to stop. "HOLD THE TRAIN!" Her hooves flashed, barely touching the ground as the pair of them got up onto the platform. The weight suddenly lifted from her back and she glanced back and up to see Vinyl had hold of her deck.

Laughing like a maniac, Vinyl got herself and her deck onto the train but the locomotive was well in motion and she realized with shock it was outpacing Cheerilee. "NO!" Setting her gear down, she reached out with her magic and tried to grab her new friend.

A pony was heavier than anything Vinyl should have been able to lift, but Cheerilee felt her hooves leave the ground and gave a whoop of excitement as she was suddenly catapulted along beside the train. 

Vinyl's expression of concentration was strained, but she redoubled her efforts and pulled Cheerilee up and into the train. Of course, with the choice of her expensive—not to mention one-of-a-kind—mix gear or herself, the musician chose the latter. "Buck… me…"

Cheerilee looked down in shock, it was obvious Vinyl had really strained to lift her onto the train and she knew there was only one thing for it. She pressed her snout down, touching her own lips to Vinyl's. It is just like school… wait, no it's not. Buck, she looks like a stallion with that mane, a feminine stallion, but still a stallion. She closed her eyes into the kiss, pulling back when her "hero" gave a snort. "That was awesome!"

Looking up into those harlequin eyes, Vinyl felt a million kinds of amazing suddenly. "Well, I couldn't leave you behind." That is the most macho and bucking stupid thing ever…

Cheerilee got all the right vibes from Vinyl; felt that part of her that purred when a stallion tried to act suave, giggle inside like a filly. "Well, are you going to get up so I can get on the train properly, or should we just make out in the doorway some more?"

Holy bucking Celestia, she ate it up... "Decisions, decisions…" Vinyl got up, reaching out with her magic gingerly she hefted her deck too. "Let's find a seat."

The moment the unicorn turned around, however, Cheerilee got something that almost knocked her out of that "vibe," she saw Vinyl's long, mare-like tail. Lifting her gaze, she focused on the back of the other pony's head. "Yeah, at least it is a short trip to Canterlot." Oh no, all my things. I meant to grab all those glow-sticks, and I don't have more than... she quickly checked her saddle bags, well, I do have bits. Yay!

Setting her gear down, Vinyl used her magic to brush down the seat. Just try to go with it, she likes stallions… you can do this. She looked Cheerilee in the face, making sure she noticed how the seat had been cleaned. 

Cheerilee recognized the effort and couldn't help but purr in her head again. "Thank you." She squirmed her plot a little as she sat down. 

"Oh wow, are you DJ-Pon3? Aunt Crust, I have all her albums!" 

The young voice stole the attention of Vinyl and Cheerilee away from each other. An elderly-looking mare turned her head and looked at them over the top-edge of her glasses. "Her?" Disappointment dripped off the mare's words. "We will see about that."

Cheerilee watched all the wind get sucked out of Vinyl's sails. The brash and cavalier mare now wilted and, had she a long mane, would be hiding under it. "There's a story here." The excited part of Cheerilee had flipped to curious, it had tasted the machismo of a stallion and was looking for him again. "The ride isn't too long, but do you want to tell me?"

"Not really." Vinyl stared at the window, seeing her reflection overlay the countryside speeding past. "I just… I really like the hair." She sighed and tried to not see her reflection now. "But you saw what everypony will think."

"She is the mother of an impressionable filly," Cheerilee leaned in a bit more to whisper, "and more than a bit stuck up." 

A snort and giggle from nearby revealed that she hadn't been quiet enough, and the filly had heard. 

"Vinyl, is this you?" Cheerilee reached her hoof up and brushed the tufty mane of the DJ. "Because if it is, we could try other things." She ran her hoof further down, feeling Vinyl's withers and shoulder.

"Like what?" Vinyl couldn't resist turning to Cheerilee. She said she likes stallions, but I am a mare. Why is she doing this… not that it isn't nice. What does she want?

"I… I don't know." Cheerilee's heart was in full control, but she knew she needed her head onboard with this. "But I will find out. First, though, you need this." Just a quick one, for confidence. She leaned in and kissed Vinyl on the cheek, fighting the urge to aim for her lips again. Drawing back, she smiled at the shocked expression on Vinyl's face—half hidden by her glasses—and gave a happy nod. "So give me a week, I need to ask some friends some things, discretely of course. I promise you, Vinyl, I will do everything I can to help you feel better. Okay?"

It was crazy, it was foolish, but Vinyl nodded slowly in the face of Cheerilee's commitment. "Uh, sure."

"Great!" Cheerilee almost bounced in place. "I am going to hold you to your offer, I just know Sweetie Belle will love hearing from a fellow music lover."

Vinyl welcomed the abrupt shift in topic and felt a smile stretch her lips at the thought of meeting a filly who loved music as much as she did. "It'll be cool. She likes Coloratura's style of singing? Or does she want to explore other ideas?" At the blank look her questions got she mentally tucked away a note to find out from the filly in question. "Was there anything in particular you wanted to hear tonight?"

With the topic turning away from her appearance, Vinyl relaxed into chatting about her own music and what she was doing for her set. Outside the train, she watched the green, rolling hills get lower and lower as they ascended the switchback up the mountain. 

Cheerilee was acting the biggest fanfilly and she knew it. "And the new song?" She could see the big gates of Canterlot pass by the train outside, could feel too that the train was slowing.

"That? Oh, the one without a beat, I could use it, maybe as a shorter mix. It isn't really polished enough… but I did promise." The train slowed right down and she could see the platform outside. "We should get ready to get off, don't want a repeat of what happened in Ponyville." Reaching out, she lit her magic and hefted her deck up and set it on her own back. 

"I can carry that if you want?" Cheerilee felt that other part of her bounce around a little at seeing Vinyl showing off her magic and strength. "I mean, you need to save up your strength for your show, right?"

"Nah," Vinyl stretched and walked for the exit, "performing boosts me, fills me with more energy. You'll see." She gave Cheerilee a cryptic wink with the last bit. Climbing off the train was a lot easier than getting on, and the pair were soon exiting the station and entering Canterlot's streets. "We can head right to the venue now if you want? Normally I set up early, then grab something at Pony Joe's for dinner—sugary of course, gotta get me through the whole night—then head in and start warming up."

"Sounds good." Cheerilee trotted at Vinyl's side and couldn't help but feel like this was, itself, a date. Down girl, she was hurting. Take it slow, and make sure you don't push her… "her"... It felt less and less odd as Cheerilee thought about it. "Any plans for after?" Down I said!

Vinyl blushed under her fur, her eyes going a little wider. "Uh, not really. Normally I crash in a hotel, or backstage, then catch the early morning train back to Ponyville." She looked down at her hooves and felt a touch of her normal unease—she could see the blue of her hooves through her long fetlocks.

"A hotel would be nice." Cheerilee thought of the implications of that and blushed; without realizing it, she had just agreed to spend the night with Vinyl. Mare, Cheery. Remember she is a mare, you don't… you aren't even listening anymore, are you?

Her heart beating faster, Vinyl found herself nodding. "Yeah, sometimes you get interrupted if you sleep backstage. Cleaners mostly, but it… uh… Okay, a hotel it is." And accidentally only get one room, with a big bed… or should it be a small bed? Her thoughts didn't do much for Vinyl's attempts to stop blushing. "Oh, here we are!" She pointed with a hoof at the big building.

To Cheerilee's surprise, they didn't go to the front door. Instead, the two mares wandered down the alley to the side of the nightclub, to an open side-door. 

"Are you on list?"

The words startled Cheerilee and she looked up, and up, and up. A big off-white stallion, big in the "as tall as a princess" sense as well as the "wide as a cow" sense, stood before her. He had a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes, shaved mane and severely-trimmed beard. 

"Un, she is with me." Vinyl was already past the bouncer. "Cheerilee, this is Unmoving Wall. He's from Stalliongrad. Un, this is Cheerilee, from Ponyville."

"Any friend of Ms. Scratch is friend of mine." Un didn't smile, he never smiled, but his tone had changed from "impassive" to "a little less impassive."

"Thanks, Un." Cheerilee sidled past the huge stallion and followed her friend into the dark hallway. "He seemed nice…"

"Un? Guy is a big softy, unless you aren't meant to be wherever he is guarding. Then you have a whole mess of 'very focused stallion' who is extremely good at his job." Vinyl gave a little shrug, as if she had never been personally in that situation. "This will be the room I get ready in. A bit later…" She trailed off, eyes going wide. "This is going to be great, she is going to freak out so much!"

"Who is going to freak out?" Cheerilee looked around the box of a room. To one side there was a big mirror, surrounded in lights. Then it hit her. "Makeup?"

"Yup! Rose Tint is going to go crazy. She used to spend nearly an hour getting my mane all neat and ready for the show." Vinyl set her deck down and dove into the big spinning chair. "She will bust in any minute—now that she has likely heard that I am here—and say-" Vinyl words were cut short by the door slamming open.

"What have you done to your mane?" A bright red unicorn—obviously Rose Tint—stood aghast in the doorway. "Who did this?" Rose flicked her yellow-and-red streaked mane to the side and gestured to Vinyl's head.

Vinyl lifted a foreleg and gestured at Cheerilee, who "eeped" and stared in shock.

"This is wonderful. You look much more vibrant and 'yourself.' " Rose stepped up, pushing Vinyl's chair around so she could examine the style. "Yes, nicely short so you don't have to keep bugging me—distracting me is more like—" she exaggerated her words, "about it getting in your way." Rose turned her face to Cheerilee, horn still working at Vinyl's mane. "And you did this? Are you looking for work?"

"Oh no, I already teach foals in Ponyville." She likes it? Is she really offering me a job? Cheerilee shook her head in denial. "Sorry, but I am happy there." Her eyes traced every movement the makeup-artist's magic performed, adding tint and shine to Vinyl's fur and mane, even the little brushes she used to make each tuft of Vinyl's new style seemingly shoot off in random directions.

"This will be much easier to work with." Rose was already done with Vinyl's mane and was in the process of bullying her to move so she could get at her tail. "Have you considered getting something similar done with your tail? You would look so handsome."

Vinyl stiffened a little, part of her reacting as if it had been given an electric shock. "H-h-h-handsome?" She blinked, looking at Cheerilee. The look she got from the teacher made Vinyl want to puff out her chest. "Could you trim it now?" No no no no… maybe...

"Well, since I don't have to spend four hours," Rose gave Cheerilee a wink, "on your mane, I could. Give me a moment." Rose left the room, heading to fetch her scissors.

"Your tail too? Vinyl, you will look… well, you won't look so much like…" Things began to make sense for Cheerilee, or so she thought. "Do you want to be a stallion?" 

"N...no, yes… no." Vinyl threw her hooves up in the air. "I don't know. I don't… I don't like looking so… girly. I like the idea of being more…" She gave a deep sigh. "I suck at this. But no, I like being a mare, just not so mare-y."

Rose entered the room again, blinking as she looked between Vinyl and Cheerilee. "Don't know what you two were talking about, but it looks heavy. Want me to come back?"

"No!" Both Cheerilee and Vinyl exclaimed together, blushed, and closed their snouts again.

"Okay, now how short do you want this?" Rose started running her comb through Vinyl's tail, but before the unicorn in question could reply, Cheerilee was up and beside the chair.

"Short, but keeping her modest, of course." Cheerilee looked at the huge length of tail. "Cut about here. That is a style I have seen a few stallions wear quite well. Then she can bind it up in at the end to let it plump out, or just have it go wild."

"Are you sure you don't want a job? I know mane stylists who have spent years in the job who wouldn't have made such a perfect call." Rose carefully combed the tail down and then lifted the first length.

Vinyl heard the scissors work, felt the weight on her dock get lighter and lighter. By the time Rose was done she had to fight the urge to pull up with her normal force. That would be quite a show... "How short did you…" She turned in the chair, spotting the blue on the floor. There was nearly twice as much as when she had had her mane cut.

"Scratch, you have four hours!" A voice shouted from outside.

I thought Rose would save me, be the voice of reason, but this- Vinyl's head went silent as she saw her reflection in the mirror. It wasn't her, it was a cute and hunky-looking stallion that looked a lot like her. Although the snout was still a bit of a give away. "Wow..."
> Alone in the Dark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vinyl looked back at her trimmed hooves. "It wasn't all the first day, Tavi. You remember how on edge I was that whole week?" She ran her magic across the controls of her deck, spraying the room with discordant notes and samples. "She cut my mane, Rose cut my tail down. I felt more 'right' than I had in my whole life up until then. But I was scared of everypony."

"You were right to be scared of me." Octavia remembered back to the timid mare Vinyl had been for the week. "You left a pile of your mane in the kitchen. That stuff gets simply everywhere."

Gulping, Vinyl lifted a hoof up behind her head. "Okay, I still owe you for that one, Tavi. But when she met me that second weekend…" Vinyl came to again when Octavia waved a hoof before her face. "Uh, did I zone out?"

"Just for ten minutes. Another one of her 'suggestions'?" Octavia treated her friend to a little ribbing about the extra aspect to what Cheerilee had done to help Vinyl.

"Nah nah, just remembering the first time." Vinyl was almost drifting back off, then she was gone to her memories again.


~~~~~+++++~~~~~


Cheerilee checked her notes and the special amulet the Princess of Friendship had given her. Satisfied that it was all in order, she knocked on the door to Vinyl and Octavia's house.

"Uh, coming." Vinyl trembled in worry and slunk to the door, opening it just a crack. "Oh, Cheerilee! Come in quick!"

Not for the first time did Cheerilee feel Vinyl Scratch's magic pick her up, a moment later she was inside the house and the door was closed behind her. "Are you alright, Vinyl?"

"Everypony stares at me, they think I am crazy, or a freak." Vinyl dropped to the floor. "Please tell me you have something that can hide me so nopony sees what I did to myself?"

Cheerilee's jaw nearly hit the floor, instead, her belly did. "Vinyl, what do you mean? Nopony worries about you, you look great." She was down on the same level as Vinyl, trying to encourage her to lift her head from her hooves.

"I am supposed to be a mare, like girly things, do all the 'chatting about stallions' kinda stuff… it just doesn't feel right to me, Cheerilee." Vinyl couldn't keep herself from pushing forward to hug Cheerilee, crying into her long mane. "What is wrong with me?"

"Nothing," Cheerilee started to stroke the short mane and hug Vinyl back, "nothing is wrong with you, you are just different." She felt the mare tense a little. "Want to hear a story about another different pony?"

The change in tack broke Vinyl from her mood for a moment, she nodded against Cheerilee's neck.

"Well, there was this adorable mare, going through school. She liked stallions and mares both. But then she went to a bigger school and—being a little older—tried playing with mares as well as stallions." Cheerilee wanted to look Vinyl in the eyes, but wouldn't pull away from the hug.

"You?" Vinyl's snout was sunk into the soft mane.

"Me, of course. I tried to go with the whole 'I like everypony' thing." Cheerilee had to keep hold of Vinyl now, not entirely for Vinyl's comfort. "It was not their bodies, a lover is a lover no matter their bits, it was how they acted, how… stalliony they were. I finally listened."

Vinyl finally got free of the hug and sat back. "So? What do you mean about all this? How is this anything to do with me?"

"After that, I chased stallions exclusively." Cheerilee stayed on the floor. "I looked and looked… there was always something wrong. Walked funny. Unreliable. Issues with commitment. You name it, I found it a turn off."

"But that… that is just ponies." Vinyl thought about things a moment and lay back down. "Maybe you do like mares after all?"

"I haven't worked it all out, but I like you." Cheerilee booped Vinyl on the nose. "You are clever, cute, strong," she gave a little shudder just thinking of all the virtues, "all the things I like about a stallion, but without the bits I dislike, when you are into it anyway."

" 'Into it'?" Vinyl blinked a few times at the quote.  "What do you mean?"

This time Cheerilee poked Vinyl's forehead, just below her horn. "When you forget what other ponies might think, when I lean against you and you give me a look, the kind of look a stallion would give his mare…"

Vinyl watched as Cheerilee gave a little shudder. She really is into me like that. It was enough to make Vinyl blush a little. "Uh, so we both have a problem with how ponies think of me?"

"Close." Cheerilee held out the amulet again. "We both have a problem with what you think others think of you. This is the first step to help."

"Jewelry?" Vinyl picked the amulet up and looked it over. "Wait, is this thing magical? You saw what happened a year back, old magic amulets are dangerous!"

"Princess Twilight made this for you." Cheerilee took hold of the amulet and lifted it up and over Vinyl's head. The moment the little red gem came down and pressed to Vinyl's chest-fur, it activated. "Ooh, she is really good with this stuff." 

Vinyl looked at her hoof, examining the misty-smoke that seemed to cover it. "A disguise? So I can keep hidden now… I guess this works…"

Cheerilee booped Vinyl where she sincerely hoped the mare's nose was. "No, silly. I asked a friend of mine, from when I went to school. She was more into geology and psychology than I was… odd mix of classes, but it was her 'thing' I guess. She said we should try hypnosis."

"What, make me just stop worrying?" The thought actually hit Vinyl as something that would be nice. "But won't that be short term… like as bad as just wearing this thing?" She reached an indistinct hoof up and touched the amulet.

"Well, if we do it like that it would. Maud said it would need to be in specific ways..." Cheerilee scrunched her nose up. "Look, I really didn't follow it too well, but she said she was showing some others how to do this today, and if we hung around until after that she can help you."

"They must think I am being stupid." Vinyl sat up straight again and shook her head, making sure the amulet wasn't easy to dislodge. "Okay, so where do we have to go?"

"Princess Twilight is letting Maud do this in her castle, so not far." Cheerilee smiled wide. "And remember, you aren't alone, Vinyl." She got up and leaned in, somehow finding the snout of the indistinct pony and laying a kiss on Vinyl's lips.

"Okay, okay!" The kiss had emboldened Vinyl more than she thought it would, she felt much more assertive. "You have eaten lunch already?" Cheerilee nodded to her. "Okay then, let's go now, get this over with."

The pair slipped out the back door of Vinyl's house, getting a few buildings away before anypony saw them. It was right then that Vinyl realized just how much Cheerilee might be right. They are staring more at me like this than when it was just me. It gave Vinyl much to think on as they kept walking, and soon reached the Castle of Friendship. 

"Coming!" Twilight trotted to the big front doors of the castle in response to the knocking. Opening it with her magic, she smiled widely. "Cheerilee, and your friend I take it? I am glad you came early, Maud and I need to explain some things."

Vinyl suddenly realized that either Cheerilee hadn't told Twilight who her "friend" was, or Twilight was just about the most socially clever pony she knew. Twilight's reputation, of course, told her exactly which it was. Emboldened, she leaned over and kissed Cheerilee on the cheek.

The part of Cheerilee that had been snared by Vinyl right from the start purred at the kiss. "Is it a problem?" She walked along with Twilight, Vinyl at her side. "Because if there is a problem we can just come back later."

"No, but we need to tell you something, and for it I am going to ask you to take off the disguise." Twilight led the way into the room she had set up for the meeting. "Please?"

Vinyl hesitated, particularly with a pony she didn't recognize in the room. This is stupid, you have performed at crowds of hundreds, even a royal wedding! "Okay." Her voice wasn't disguised by the amulet, and as she lifted it off with her magic, neither was Vinyl.

"I saw your show once." Maud walked closer, holding out a hoof to Twilight. The two embraced and turned significant looks on Cheerilee and Vinyl. "You showed us yours, this is ours." Maud leaned in and kissed Twilight on the bridge of the nose.

"So you are the 'mystery paramour' that all the papers in Canterlot keep digging about?" Vinyl snorted. "It's cool, a few put together that we were living in the same town, asked me about who I thought kept making you smile."

Cheerilee was a little stunned by the revelation, but Vinyl's words surprised her back out of it. "What? They came to you about Princess Twilight?" Cheerilee asked.

"I just turned up my music, or ignored them with my cans on." Vinyl lifted a leg and put it around Cheerilee's withers, felt the other mare lean in against her. "So what is all this, then?"

" 'This,' is ponies not getting hung up about what others think and doing what makes them happy." Twilight gestured towards Vinyl. "What Cheerilee described seems to be more the former being a block on the latter. For me… okay, my situation is more complicated. Could you imagine how the press would respond to me telling them I let Maud hypnotize me and make me into her own personal pet?" The silence in the room lasted long enough for Twilight to realize she hadn't actually told her friends that part of the story. "Uh… so, that was what we really needed to tell you. It won't affect what Maud is going to show you both, but it-"

Twilight was saved from having to explain further by a knocking on the front door. 

Cheerilee took the amulet and put it back on Vinyl's neck, rendering the unicorn indistinct once more. "Just relax, Vinyl. We don't have to do anything you don't want to… and certainly not the pet thing…" She turned to look at Maud. "What is with the pet thing?"

"I like it, and Twilight likes it." Maud shrugged and looked past the pair at the new guest. "Rarity is here."

"Who else is coming?" Vinyl forgot her voice wasn't hidden, but thankfully the other white unicorn didn't hear.

"Darlings, I am so glad to be back. I love the Crystal Empire, particularly my new store there, but coming home is… coming home." Rarity trotted into the room, her hooves arcing high in an almost-prance. "Cheerilee, I didn't know you would be attending our little soiree. Who is your friend?"

"My friend is a little… careful about who knows she is here." Cheerilee hugged Vinyl this time. "Uh, do you have somepony that… uh…"

"Of course I do, two in fact. And it is always such work to keep on top of the little fillies. I fully understand your friend's worry, my darlings can't let anypony know what they are doing… yet." Rarity's words were obviously hinting at high-profile "fillies" but also that she wanted to be acknowledged. "Is this all of us?"

"Two more." Maud pointed behind Rarity. "And here they are." Her voice never broke its calm, even level, even though Trixie Lulamoon had just walked in, leading a Shadowbolt on a leash.

Vinyl froze a moment until she realized the Shadowbolt was a disguise not unlike her own, what she didn't expect was to see Trixie dragged along while the pony under that disguise raced forward to shove its nose under Maud's tail.

"Shade!" Trixie was almost in tears at how her pet was acting. "Trixie told you to behave!"


~~~~~+++++~~~~~




It would be highly suggested, at this point, to go back and read Dash's Restraint (if you haven't already). The scene plays out as it did there, with Shade being revealed as Rainbow Dash. Vinyl, however, maintains her disguise throughout the meeting.




~~~~~+++++~~~~~


"That was just about the oddest thing I have ever seen." Vinyl only spoke once the doors had closed on Trixie, Shade, and Rarity. "She is really into being a pet… is it like that for you, Princess Twilight?"

"I told you, just Twilight is fine." Twilight gave a nervous laugh. "And no, I don't go that… well, I do get hypnotized, but I don't like being a pet-pet. I just like doing exactly what I am told, following instructions… I can see by your expression that isn't what you want."

"I just want to not… not get freaked out by ponies staring at me." Vinyl pulled the amulet off and looked at it. "I want to be able to find out who I really am."

"Inhibitions." Maud cut in on the conversation. "I could remove them, it would be hilarious, I am sure there is a stage show about it." Her monotone voice and bored expression, more than ever, showed what she thought about the idea. "You need to be able to understand that feeling what you want is okay."

Vinyl pondered the idea, but then the thought of being "taught" as Maud would likely do it hit her. "No! I'm not letting you make me into some kind of pet." She was about to turn and stomp away when she felt Cheerilee nuzzle against her cheek. 

"It won't be that," Maud interjected. "Being a pet is what Rainbow Dash desires. Being my property is what Twilight desires. What do you desire?"

"I want to feel right about myself, I want… I want others not to care what I am or aren't." Vinyl felt a squeeze from Cheerilee.

"Other ponies don't think about it, Vinyl." Cheerilee let go of the hug, but kept leaning against Vinyl.

"Okay, I want to feel right about me and stop worrying about how I look to others." Vinyl froze and blinked a few times in revelation. "That really hasn't got anything to do with being a pet, does it?"

"No." Maud gave the pair a little half-smile. "You will need to trust the pony who does this."

Cheerilee leaned up, her snout just touching the soft fuzz of Vinyl's ear. "Do you trust me to do it? If we plan and take our time?"

Buck it all, I trust her, and I really want this fix… fixed is a bad word, but I want to be me. "I want to know everything we are going to do, everything you are going to say. We are going to work on the words together." Vinyl finally turned her head to look at Cheerilee and gave a relaxed grin.
> Two to Tango
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay Vinyl, you are looking into my eyes, you are feeling the thoughts flow from your head." Cheerilee kept her voice even, low. She kept to the script. "Nothing will distract you from my voice. You cannot hear anything but-"

"No, it's not working." Vinyl shook her head. "Nothing has worked, cross that one off the list." She slumped back on the couch and gave a deep sigh. "I give up. It just doesn't get to me, none of it does." She used her magic to poke at her deck, luckily hitting the play for the last stored track.

The beat was slow, rhythmic. Cheerilee had relaxed and listened to her friend start to put it together, but there was only a beat. It reminded her of something and, with the quick wit of any teacher, she put it together. Getting up, she walked over to the deck and glanced at it. She picked up the headphones and walked over to Vinyl. "Put these on, and relax." She leaned down and kissed the top of her snout.

"Huh? Uh… okay, what are you going to do?" Vinyl set the cans on her head and slumped back again with a smile. "There is so many places I could take this beat, Cheery."

"I know where I want to take it. Are you comfortable?" Cheerilee got up on the seat her friend normally sat at, facing the deck. Setting her notes down on an inactive part of the deck, she set it to only output to the headphones and then began from the start. "Vinyl Scratch, you are relaxing, calm. You feel the music sinking into your head, into the deepest parts."

Vinyl closed her eyes nearly immediately, a smile on her lips. The beat was bouncing through her head, hitting all the right places to make her relax and calm. "Oh this is more like-"

"You don't need to talk anymore, only listen. You can't talk, your mouth is relaxed, your tongue feels so very heavy." Cheerilee was ad-libbing, but felt it was needed. "Just listen to the beat, listen to my voice. The beat. My voice." She looked at her friend intently, noticed the unicorn looked completely relaxed.

"You will obey me only because you want to obey me. If you don't want to obey me, you won't." Cheerilee was very careful with this bit, Maud had helped her with it. "If you think anypony is in danger, or if you are in danger, you will no longer obey me."

Vinyl could hear the words clear as day, they flitted through her head and soaked in, riding on the smooth beat. This is pretty cool. I get it now, I really can just stop and leave it all. No wonder the others don't mind this. She knew what was coming next, they had agonized—together—over every single word.

"If you want to slow down, relax, you can say the word 'Breezietale' and until you want to obey me again, you will not have to. If I say the word 'Featherbrain,' you will not have to obey me until you want to again." Cheerilee watched Vinyl's lips curl up in a smile and she too couldn't stop grinning, happy to simply be able to help her friend. "While within your house, and until tomorrow morning, you will only think of yourself as male, you will think in all ways as if you are a stallion."

She knew it was the first step, the one they had talked about so much, and Vinyl had agreed with it when they planned it, but now it was entirely different. He was going to think he was a stallion in every way. Oh buck... Vinyl's eyes opened, he tried to talk, he looked up at Cheerilee and tried to speak, but his whole mouth felt numb.

"When the beat ends, you will be affected by everything I have told you, except your mouth and tongue are yours again." Cheerilee saw the manic smile on her friend's face and then hit the pause button.

"Bucking Tartarus!" Vinyl shot up, throwing the headphones off. "This… this is working. How is this working? I feel… I feel like…" He stopped and looked to Cheerilee. "I don't actually feel that different, but there is… there is a lot of confidence. I feel like I could strut around town and ignore everypony!"

"Uh, don't do that." Cheerilee climbed down from the mix deck. "So, music was the key." She strode up and felt Vinyl immediately push up against her, the unicorn's snout pushing into her mane to inhale deeply. Oh wow...

"Yeah, I know the wording. I mean, I know it is all these words, all this stuff is… I know what it is and where it is, but it works. I can say Breezietale and-" Vinyl froze, realizing how she was acting and talking. She shook her head and grinned. "Okay, that was odd. How do other stallions have all this… this confidence?"

They don't you ninny, why do you think I am so head over hooves for you? "You would have to ask one. Are you sure you are okay with this, Vinyl?" Cheerilee lay back on the couch, beside where Vinyl's indent was.

"Yeah, this is… okay, it isn't exactly how I thought I would feel, but it isn't like anything bad can happen. I owe Maud an apology… and a 'thank you.' " Vinyl turned and, unceremoniously, flopped beside Cheerilee and put a foreleg around behind the mare's back. "I was hesitant, you know."

"Hesitant about what?" Cheerilee snuggled in against Vinyl, her body fitting perfectly, her head leaning into the curve of her neck.

"About letting you get closer. You are a mare… oh boy you are a mare." Vinyl did what he thought was both expected and felt right. He kissed Cheerilee quickly on the lips. "The cutest one I know, and smartest."

"Pfft," Cheerilee tried to blow the compliment off, "you have done stuff for Princess Twilight, she knew you by name. How can I be-" Her words were cut off, a pair of soft and hungry white lips were pressed to her own.

Vinyl's heart beat fast as a drum, but he didn't care what happened, he wanted to make sure his compliment wasn't ignored. Closing his eyes he pressed a little harder, heard Cheerilee make a hungry little noise and squirm.

When the unicorn's tongue invaded her mouth, Cheerilee's eyes widened, but then Vinyl broke the kiss from her. "What… wow…" She gazed up at the very different pony. "I… I… what was I saying…?" She giggled when a hoof booped her snout.

"There you go. So, I was scared that this brilliant and adorable mare—who had very openly told me she wasn't into other mares, who I liked a lot to boot—became all I could think about. I love you Cheerilee, at first it was just like the closest of friends, like Tavi. But then…" Vinyl gave a sigh.

Cheerilee had to push to get the height she needed, but she nuzzled the underside of Vinyl's muzzle. "But then what? You gave in and let her love you back?"

Vinyl nearly snapped her head down so fast that it knocked Cheerilee away, if he weren't holding her against him it might have. "But you said-"

"I can't be a little confused too?" Cheerilee challenged Vinyl. "You aren't the only pony with hangups, with issues. But we are working on yours first, okay?"

"You mean… okay, that is more than I can really think about right now." Vinyl reached out with his magic and flipped the deck to random and turned the speakers back up. "There we go. Now, what do we do next?"

"Next? You want to keep doing this? I think Maud said to only do it for a week before talking to her again." Cheerilee squirmed a little in Vinyl's grip, her tail flicking a few times, to the beat.

"No, I meant today. It's only noon, we have a whole afternoon ahead of us. I am so not ready to think about the future right now, Maud… she seemed to know what she was talking about, so I am going to step out on a bit of a limb here and say I will trust her to know what to do. Besides, it isn't like we have to do anything." Vinyl felt one of Cheerilee's hooves reach over his thigh and stroke down lower. Something felt a little odd, like there should be something there, that wasn't.

"Too fast?" Cheerilee didn't pull her hoof back, but she stopped advancing on Vinyl's vulva.

"No, just… you told me I think I am a stallion. Where you rubbed… I feel like there should be something there." Vinyl reached his own hoof down and touched the spot, squirming a little. A hoof smacked his own.

"Stop that, okay, so the next little step, if you want to feel something there. Ponies can have a prosthetic for this, naughty ponies." Cheerilee slipped out from under Vinyl's foreleg with a little effort, realizing that she only got away because Vinyl relaxed. Reaching to her saddlebags she had dropped on the floor, she pulled out just the toy she had talked about.

"A strap-on? Huh," Vinyl thought about it a moment, "that might work. Can you put it on me?" He shifted and rolled, bracing his back hooves to lift him up, forelegs pressed to the couch still. Vinyl knew he was presenting, but he was presenting to Cheerilee, which made it all kinds of alright to him.

Cheerilee lifted the toy up between Vinyl's back legs, aided by the DJ having a much shorter tail. Holding it in place with one hoof, she pulled the first strap down and between the pristine, white back legs and around Vinyl's quarters.

Vinyl's breathing was a little faster, he felt a touch uncomfortable with the "thing" down under him. A pair of clicks sounded and he felt two straps tighten. "That… that it?"

Thinking a moment, Cheerilee smirked. "Vinny, you are seriously telling me, in all your escapades, you have never worn a strap-on before?" She felt Vinyl's body shiver at the masculine name. Slipping forward, sliding up beside Vinyl, she leaned up and nipped the unicorn's neck. "Well, Vinny?"

"Vinny… okay, I like that." Vinyl turned and nipped at Cheerilee, giving the mare a nibble on the ear. "But now it's on me, what are we going to do?" He wasn't really sure still what he wanted, apart from Cheerilee.

"Well, let's sit back down and see how that feels to you." Cheerilee leaned back and sat, watching as Vinyl did too, she noticed her look down between her back legs. "Don't like the color? We can get more… fleshy, ones."

Vinyl reached and stroked the thing, it felt like rubber of some kind, but just the fact it was there and jutted out, how his brain told him something should, strangely helped. "Okay, you got me, this isn't bad."

"Good." Cheerilee wanted to do this for a while, but without a stallion-friend it was a little beyond her. She leaned sideways and angled her head down.

"What… what are-" Vinyl choked off his words, watching as Cheerilee sank down against his belly, kissing and licking the toy. Without realizing it, Vinyl set a hoof to the back of Cheerilee's neck, stroking under her mane. There is just something… something empowering with this. Vinyl froze when a hoof strayed down, stroking his folds. It felt a little alien and all so right at the same time. He groaned appreciatively.

Cheerilee bobbed her head up and down, feeling Vinyl's hoof helping to guide her as she sucked and worked at the toy. All the while, she explored Vinyl's soft folds, she worked her frog to find the spots that made her tense up, and the spots that made Vinyl's hoof tremble a little. The deep groan started above her, she heard and felt it vibrate through Vinyl's diaphragm.

Vinyl rocked his head back against the couch, grunting loudly and bucking his hips to shove his shaft deep into Cheerilee's mouth. He felt on fire, pleasure radiating from his groin in waves that had him grinding his hips upwards again and again.

Except for the taste and feel of rubber it was absolutely perfect. And as far as imperfections go, it ain't big. She stroked her hoof along Vinyl's entrance still, feeling moisture soak her fur, and didn't care one wit about it. But she wanted more, she realized she wanted Vinyl on her back, inside her. Her own mind grew too aroused to even register that it wouldn't be Vinyl in her, she just wanted her… him.

"Buck…" Vinyl let up the pressure, but drew Cheerilee's head up and kissed her soundly. "More?" He felt the insistence in his voice, in his intentions. He nuzzled Cheerilee's lips and snout with his own, giving her little kisses that she returned eagerly. Guiding a hoof down her body, Vinyl stroked down her lower belly and rubbed a slow figure-eight around her teats. "More now?"

Cheerilee could only nod, kissing and making little sounds of agreement. She finally got her voice under control and nodded. "Yes, yes more." The hoof rubbing her arousal higher by the second descended more and she cried out as it slipped along her vulva. "More please…"

Vinyl's horn lit and he lifted Cheerilee up, held her cradled on her back before him. He got to his hooves and strode through to his bedroom, snouting and nuzzling the mare constantly.

When she dropped to the bed, Cheerilee felt the urge to roll to her belly, to give Vinyl her back. Like a good mare would for her stallion. But Vinyl was having none of it. Pinning her in place with her forehooves, she felt the unicorn's belly press to her own.

He shoved forward, Vinyl thought he had been lined up right, but he was a bit off. "Don't you dare laugh, not a peep. This is my first time." He had another shot and once more missed.

Cheerilee barely got the first part of a snort of laughter out before she felt the thick dildo shove into her. Wet from plenty of arousal, and foreplay, she just groaned and stared up at Vinyl, at the outline of her head and mane. "Buck me…" He is a stallion… The part of her that just wanted to curl up with a male and have foals, a white picket fence, all that—it purred.

The toy wasn't real, but it was real enough to the mare under Vinyl, and real enough to him to make each thrust mean something. He drove forwards, drew back, drove forwards, pulled back. He built a rhythm just like when working his deck. He heard Cheerilee's voice raise in pitch, timed his thrusts to make her cry out at just the right times. 

Rocking against the stallion that Cheerilee now couldn't deny Vinyl was acting like, she felt him change his angle, again and again. He is playing me… he is making music with us… The revelation only enhanced Cheerilee's pleasure, her satisfaction in the moment. She felt the beat increase steadily, felt the thick toy claim her body's depths over and over and, when her being trembled around that single point of interaction, she let out the loudest cry yet, and was silenced by a kiss.

Vinyl didn't climax, he… she, didn't feel that hot rush, the strike of lightning as his… her, body unleashed everything into his… her mare. "Oh Celestia bucking Luna under a cloudy sky…" She slumped down against Cheerilee, the hypnosis gone from her brain.

The two mares lay together, each feeling each other's heartbeat, breathing, and twitches. But they were a little too precariously close to the edge of the bed.

"We gotta move up a bit, or we will fall off." Vinyl nuzzled and kissed at Cheerilee's snout. "I don't know if I can keep us together, even using my magic."

"Shh." Cheerilee returned the affection. "If we fall, we fall. But we will fall together." Just as she said it she felt their combined weight start to shift. "Oh horse-apples. Okay, but I want more cuddles."

"Cheery, I got all the cuddles you need. That was fantastic, I… I dropped the hypnosis, we can try it again tomorrow." Vinyl leaned up and started to pull back. Easing slowly, she drew the big toy from Cheerilee and tried to fumble at the straps. "Ah buck it. Scoot up." She climbed back up onto the bed, following Cheerilee and eventually landing beside her.

As Cheerilee cuddled against Vinyl, she felt the rubber toy between them. "Keeping it on?" The unicorn nodded to her, giving a little grunt. "Well, while it is there and all, maybe we could do some more things?"

Vinyl's eyes widened, she felt a devilish tingle of pleasure sprint down her spine and back up. "Hey, can't a stallion have a little cool-down?"

"Oh, I guess." Cheerilee leaned in and nuzzled her way into the short-cut mane of Vinyl's. "So how was it?"

"It was… it was pretty neat, I don't think it is me." Vinyl sighed and leaned her head up a bit, giving Cheerilee more neck to work with. "Don't get me wrong, you were amazing, that… that sex, it was all amazing, but I don't think I want to feel quite like that. Too 'stallion,' if you catch my beat."

"So something in the middle?" Cheerilee's snout worked full-time now, ruffling through the blue forest, rubbing her cheek against Vinyl's neck constantly.

"Something in the middle. I definitely want to talk to Maud." Vinyl shivered at Cheerilee's efforts, pulling closer to the other mare. "The feel of the toy was neat, but I am a mare, I like being a mare… some of a mare. Life is complicated."
> Adventure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm sorry." Vinyl smiled out from behind her shades. "I didn't realize how effective it would be, I thought you were just playing games." She inhaled deeply and offered her hoof.

"It's alright." Maud lifted her hoof and casually clopped it against the offered one. "How was it?"

"The first few times it felt really strange, Cheerilee was using the 'fully stallion' command. The strangeness was mostly in that I… I like being a mare… back there." Vinyl blushed a little, having to fight her urges to just shrink back and hide from such intrusive questions. "But some parts are really good… REALLY good." Her blush grew.

"So a full change isn't what you want." Maud made the question redundant with her tone. "I could suggest having you try 'fully mare' for a week or two, but I can see that isn't you." Maud gave Vinyl one of her smallest smiles to reassure her. 

"What am I? I just… is there even a label for a freak like-" Vinyl found herself halted by a gray hoof at her snout.

"Bi-gender." Maud drew her hoof back. 

Cheerilee knocked gently on the door before entering, finding Vinyl and Maud seated on a couch together. Envy kicked in for just a moment, a moment of "seeing her stallion talking to another mare," even if they weren't sitting close. Clearing her throat, she waved. "Sorry I am late, classes still need teaching." She trotted over to Vinyl, only to have the target of her affections get up and lean in. The moment their lips touched she felt the hunger, the strength behind Vinyl's intimacy.

Finding the self-confidence of "being a stallion" rubbing off on her—at least in private—Vinyl completely ignored Maud watching as she made sure Cheerilee knew how much she loved her. "Hey Cheery." She breathed the words as she drew back from the kiss. "We had only just started."

"Did you tell Maud about all the messed up attempts?" Cheerilee saw dawning light in her lover's eyes—she giggled at Vinyl. "Nothing worked, we tried everything you suggested." She faced Maud, but was guided to a seat on the couch, with Vinyl pressed in against her. "But I came up with something-"

"It was amazing, Cheery is so clever." Vinyl put a foreleg around Cheerilee's withers.

"I noticed Vinyl seemed to relax with music, and even more with just a back-beat. So I used that to relax her, then my voice to put her under." Cheerilee tilted her head so her cheek pressed to Vinyl's mane.

"Interesting." Maud payed close attention to the body language the two mares shared. "Did you take notes?"

"Not notes…" Cheerilee blushed a little. "But I do have a special diary, where I write down the interesting things I noticed. Would you like to read it?" Sudden realization hit Cheerilee, of all the things she had written in said diary. "Err, it… uh… it goes into a lot of detail…" Her nervousness was plain, but the moment the emotion started to show she felt the leg hugging her squeeze reassuringly. "You okay with that, Vinny?"

"If all this hypnosis stuff didn't do a single thing more for me, it would be worth it to help other ponies who are like this… like I was. Share what you think can help." Vinyl gave a last reassuring squeeze and relaxed a little.

"You aren't the first pony to have trouble finding her place, and you won't be the last." Maud lifted up the cup of tea she had been nursing, taking a sip from it. "So it has helped, even if it wasn't exactly right?"

Cheerilee snorted and leaned up to nuzzle the underside of Vinyl's snout. "She has confidence, she walks around like she knows who she is. She-"

"She is right here." Vinyl booped Cheerilee on the snout. "I feel more right than I ever have. I might not be as 'stallion' as what the hypnosis made me think, but it helped me find what I needed to relax, to realize it isn't bad to act how I want."

"In private." Cheerilee looked up, saw Vinyl's face crack a little. "Where it is just us, she seems so happy, so right. But then we go outside." The cracks in the confidence Vinyl had built showed.

"So the next step is to devise something to help show you that confidence in public." Maud set her cup down after the last sip.

"Outside? Hypnotized?" Cheerilee looked a little worried. "What if somepony does something that freaks her out, or that causes the hypnosis to change?"

"That is why you need to be careful with the wording. Remember, with this hypnosis, nopony can be made to do things against their wishes." Maud looked at Vinyl. "Are you willing to try?"

"A month ago I would have thrown this all in the air and stormed out. I would have laughed at your hypnosis and never looked back." Vinyl turned and kissed the mare snuggled at her side on the bridge of her nose. "But it works. It works and it has shown me that what I was wasn't what I want to be. Even my music was down, depressed. What do I need to do?"

Maud gave the mare a real smile, one that touched her eyes and lifted her eyelashes a bit. "I'll explain it, and you can try that for a month."


~~~~~+++++~~~~~


Vinyl relaxed on the couch, her eyes closed. In her ears the beat bopped, bouncing and flowing through her brain like silk. Cheerilee was on the mix deck, as usual. Vinyl loved how devoted the other mare had gotten to learning how to use the equipment.

"If you want to slow down, relax, you can say the word 'Breezietale' and until you want to obey me again, you will not have to. If I say the word 'Featherbrain,' you will not have to obey me until you want to again." Cheerilee watched Vinyl's lips curl up in a smile and she too couldn't stop grinning, happy to simply be able to help her friend. "Your mind is your own, once the beat stops none but you can command it. Until the end of the day you feel like a stallion should feel, you act like a stallion should act. Vinyl stay relaxed," Cheerilee watched the unicorn twitch a little, "you will only care about my opinion-"

"Breezietale." Vinyl's eyes opened and she looked up. "I don't know if I can do this…" The thud of headphones hitting the deck had her turn to see Cheerilee crash into her, hugging her tightly. "Cheery, I don't know if I can do that last bit, it…"

"Then we skip that, we just see how you can handle it, how ponies react to how you act." Cheerilee leaned down and kissed Vinyl's forehead. "Will that be okay?"

"Yeah…" Vinyl stared up into Cheerilee's bright eyes. "Yeah I didn't use the big word. I can feel the music pulling at me."

"Then relax again, I will modify things." Cheerilee kissed the tip of Vinyl's horn and gently snugged the cans back over her ears. Striding back to the seat, she got up behind the deck and put her own headset back on. "You are relaxed again, listening to the beat, calming down. You will only feel as I have instructed, your mind will be your own." Cheerilee reached up and flicked the switch, ending the music.

Vinyl realized she felt no different, she felt just like she had been feeling for the better part of the month. Reaching up, she slipped the headphones off. "So, end of the day, and we can go anywhere in town?" 

"Well, anywhere at all. Either of us can break the effect, but apart from that it ends tomorrow morning." Cheerilee watched as Vinyl rolled up to her hooves. "So, want to go for a walk?"

"Uh." Vinyl's heart started beating faster, she felt panic threaten to rise up. "Maybe I should have let you do that last bit." She shook her head and smiled though, stepped up and stood over Cheerilee a little and inhaled as deeply as she could. The wonderful scent that Cheerilee wore found her nostrils and Vinyl leaned down and stuffed her snout into the mare's mane.

Cheerilee stood still, feeling the "stallion" in Vinyl take strength in her, in how she smelled and, when she felt the lick at the base of her neck, how she tasted. It wasn't a small part of Cheerilee that loved this, it was every part of her.

"What do we need for dinner?" Vinyl huffed a little more scent and started walking for the door.

Her eyes dancing in delight, Cheerilee laughed. "Buck dinner, let's eat out." She trotted over and slipped out, stepping up beside Vinyl.

The house had felt like a sanctuary, a place where Vinyl could be herself and not worry about anything, but now she saw what it really was. Turning, she looked at the cute little building and saw that it was a prison. "Well, what about a step further, let's go somewhere fancy."

"Vinyl, Cheerilee," the accent was unmistakable, only two ponies in Ponyville had that inflection and cadence, "ze rumor mill will churn more if you walk around like zat." Lotus Blossom was smiling wryly. "I love ze new look, Vinyl."

It was a direct confrontation for Vinyl. She used to avoid the spa for the exact reason that it made her feel less like how she wanted to. Having one of the spa ponies compliment her on her new look was quite an odd experience. "Uh, thanks." She felt Cheerilee lean into her a little more.

"You like it? I cut her mane myself." Cheerilee beamed up and nuzzled her snout under Vinyl's, the gesture unmistakable to anypony as being much more intimate than "just friends."

"It iz lovely, but it haz grown out a bit, yes?" Lotus was experienced with getting intimate with ponies, without implying anything sexual: it was her job, after all. She leaned in close and lifted her hooves to check on Vinyl's mane. "Yez, it haz grown out a bit, you should come by, I have a young stallion who does hair, amazing work."

"Well, we were going to go to Canterlot for dinner, weren't we?" Cheerilee lifted a foreleg a little, rubbing it along Vinyl's own. "But I think if we spend the afternoon at the spa we could always go tomorrow, looking even more amazing."

"Amazing?" Vinyl froze at the compliment, the other mare hinting that she looked—at least in part—amazing. "Uh…" She looked to Cheerilee and saw the excitement on her face. "Sure, if nothing else I think I know somepony who deserves to be pampered." She leaned in and nuzzled Cheerilee's mane.

Vinyl found herself almost strutting along, making small talk with Lotus on their way to the spa. Cheerilee seemed just as excited as she was, the prospect of an afternoon together, outside the house, was apparently a good one.

"Sizter, we have guests!" Lotus literally strode into the spa and clopped her hooves together twice. It wasn't just Aloe who leaped out to come to attention. A pegasus stallion with a stylized mane and tail as his cutie mark took his place beside the co-owner of the spa, and to the side of him another mare stepped up, what looked like waves on her flank.

"You don't need to make a fuss-" Vinyl closed her snout in the face of Lotus Blossom's look.

"This iz important. We have guezts, nothing shall be zpared." Lotus gestured to Cheerilee. "Zteaming firzt, lightly zo, then a zoak, massage, and mud pack." She clopped her hooves together twice, her sister rushing up and taking Cheerilee's hoof to lead her away. "We will ztart with the zteam, but we need to be zure her mane can zurvive. Five minute inspections, the moment her hair droopz she comes out. Light rinse, wash her mane and tail, then you must perform your art, Zephyr."

Zephyr Breeze stared in a little shock at Vinyl. He was about to say something, his mouth drifting open, when a tap came at his back leg. It is such a drama fitting in here, but they really appreciate what I can do! He watched as one mare, then the other, were led away.

It was a whirlwind, Vinyl was led along behind Cheerilee to the steam room, where they got to relax together and snuggle for a while. For the third time Aloe poked her head in, but this time her eyes widened on seeing Vinyl. 

"Come now, pleaze. We have much work to do." Aloe beckoned to Vinyl and smiled when the mare trotted after her. "We can do anything here, of course. Would you like further treatmentz than my sizter zuggested?"

Vinyl shook her head, but glanced down as she did. Something looked a little off, and a smile curled the corners of her mouth up. "Do you trim stallion's fetlocks?" She lifted her head back up at the piercing look from Aloe. Fears assaulted her, worry that she might just get kicked out and have their day ruined for going to far.

"Of courze we do. I will have Bulk perform that, he iz juzt a darling at it." Aloe led the way into the main part of the spa, guided her to a large couch to relax on. "Juzt lay here, I will have Zephyr along in a moment to work hiz magic."

Vinyl looked around, there weren't any stallions in the spa, only mares. A touch of nerves hit her until the tall pegasus from earlier walked in. He moved like he owned the place and, somehow, he helped her relax a little.

"Oh, look at that mane and tail, almost perfection." Zephyr was suddenly lost in his art, something about the strange customer just seemed to fit with the short mane and tail. "Lay down, let moi take care of everything. When I am done, you will be so far beyond perfection nopony would deny it!"

The flood of words startled Vinyl, she dropped down on the couch and stretched out. She heard sloshing and remembered what Lotus had said earlier. "How do you keep sane here, you are the only stallion, right?"

"Who, little old me? Oh no, Bulk works here too, and besides, it is just like anywhere else in Equestria." Zephyr normally kept his mouth shut, was ordered to in fact. But the first rule is to make the client relax! "How short do you really want it? I have seen plenty of stallions with manes longer than yours, but I think if we tuft it up a bit more, get some spikes into it… oh back at the school they would have a fit if they saw me doing this!"

"What do you mean?" Vinyl perked her ears, curious toward the stallion despite his apparent self-absorption. "You mean I am a freak for wanting this?" For the first time in her life, anger boiled up at the thought.

"Darling please. I went to Manehatten's top fashion school, flamboyant narcissism wasn't just tolerated there, it was mandatory. They taught me how to do things the right way, how to listen to my client, how to make of them what they want. I work mare's manes all day long, moi, working to the same tired styles. You are a star, a bright, burning beacon of hair-care delight!"

Vinyl almost rolled over, the speech sang to her in a way she hadn't thought any words could encompass. "So… you are cool with-"

"Cool with styling your mane and tail how you want them? I think I have already said, it is a pleasure." Zephyr was gently rinsing and washing the lightning-blue mane, the mare's tail already done. "Now lay down straight please, it is time to trim away all the hair that isn't yours." 

Rolling to her belly, Vinyl looked at the strange stallion and grinned. "You are pretty awesome, Zephyr, wasn't it?"

"That is moi." Zephyr reached up, a comb in one hoof, another in his mouth, and a pair of scissors in his remaining forehoof. He started trimming, true to his word trimming more than actual cutting.

Holding still, Vinyl saw herself in a mirror, with Zephyr tending to her mane. "You like music, Zeph?" She saw that where he worked looked, as he promised, even tuftier. 

"I love music almost as much as I love styling manes." Zephyr changed position, eyed his word, and started to trim again. "Why do you…" He was speechless. Zephyr stepped back and blinked. "DJ-PON3?" His voice was raising, a shake trembled through him.

"Yeah, got my first comeback show this week." Vinyl hadn't planned to have a show again yet, but telling Zephyr cemented the idea in her head. "Free tickets if you want to come."

Zephyr rushed forward, returning to his work before either of his bosses noticed. "I would be positively tickled to go." He trimmed the last bit and stood back again. "There, tell me how perfect this masterpiece is."

"Really confident, aren't you?" Vinyl lifted herself up and looked. "Well, uh… you were right." She stared at the mare in the mirror, watched her smile back in delight. "You really nailed it."

"Now, you just sit there and I will work more magic on your tail." Zephyr practically preened under the compliments. "And here comes Bulk to work on your fetlocks."

Bulk squinted a little and looked from Zephyr, to the mare on the bed, then back. "I AM AT THE RIGHT PLACE? SAYS I NEED TO TRIM FETLOCK HAIR."

"Yeah." Vinyl turned to the huge stallion, but was suddenly distracted by Cheerilee walking out of the back room. She gave a wave to her fillyfriend. "Uh, right, I want you to trim my fetlocks down."

The big stallion set his trimmers down on the bed. "THEY LOOK EVEN AL-" Zephyr was poking him in the ribs. "WHAT?"

"She wants you to trim them to the delightfully neat fashion that you did for Shining Armor, when he and Princess Cadance visited." Zephyr shot a wink to Vinyl.

Furrowing his brow, Bulk looked to Vinyl. "REALLY?" Her nod led to his shrugging. "OKAY!"

And so Vinyl found herself laying across the couch, Zephyr behind her, Bulk in front. She watched as the huge white pegasus started on her hooves. He brought his trimmers in, then looked up at her. "It's cool, I want you to do it, please."

Bulk was still confused, but the rules of the spa were ingrained. The first little snip shed some of Vinyl's fur, then another, and by the time Bulk had the third done the blue hoof underneath was visible. It was his craft, and Bulk quickly got into the work, trimming one, then the other. "BACK ONES AS WELL?"

"Please." Vinyl examined her forehooves and stretched her back legs out. "This looks awesome. You said Shining Armor got his done like this?" Excitement and delight bubbled up in Vinyl, she couldn't stop turning each hoof around, examining the perfect, even cut. "What else did he have done?"

"Hoof and horn polish, I trimmed his mane of course, as well as Princess Cadance…" Zephyr froze, gazing off into a distance nopony else could see. "I have never felt so alive…"

Vinyl giggled at the dreamy expression Zephyr wore. "I got to play at her wedding, Princess Twilight—she wasn't a princess then—even sang along to one of my songs." She felt the gentle touch of Bulk working on her back hooves. It wasn't long before he was done, it really looked simple, but she was sure there was more to it than just snipping a ring of hair.

"ALL DONE!" Bulk got up to all fours again, fetching his tray of trimming equipment. "I WILL FETCH ALOE." He knew his duty, he spun around and trotted off.

"You can stand up on the bed and look." Zephyr gestured to the mirror. "I won't tell on you." He watched the mare stand up, standing proud and admiring herself in the mirror; his cutie mark tingled just a little. "Perfection."

The word echoed in Vinyl's ear, she felt herself nodding to the summary as she admired the pony in the mirror, feeling like it was the first time she had ever done so.
> Bound
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vinyl slid down into the big tub, giving a happy sigh that had nothing to do with a stallion in any way, shape, or form.

"You look great." Cheerilee waved her legs under the water, gliding through the big tub to reach her friend. "But how do you feel? I love the fetlocks, by the way." She pressed in beside Vinyl.

"Like I just woke up from a dream, like the world is better than I ever hoped it could be." Vinyl reached one leg out and pulled Cheerilee a little closer. "My mane… Zephyr was amazing." She blushed a little, realizing how it sounded when she said it like that. "I mean he is really good at that."

Snorting with a serious case of the giggles, Cheerilee nuzzled Vinyl's chin. "Just stop, Vinny. I get what you mean. Who did your hooves?" She lifted up one of Vinyl's legs with her own, inspecting the work.

"Bulk Biceps. Apparently he is pretty solid with this kind of thing, gave me the same hooficure work he did Shining Armor." It ticked all kinds of places that the big stallion had done the same for her as he had for such a stallion. "Breezietale." 

"What's wrong?" Cheerilee looked up at her fillyfriend, concern filling her features. "Are you okay Vinyl? Why did you use the-" Her stream of words were cut off as the perfectly trimmed and neat hooves of her friend grabbed the sides of her face and she was pulled into a kiss. It wasn't what Cheerilee had expected, but she wasn't going to say no.

Vinyl kept her lips pressed to her lover's, staring deep into Cheerilee's eyes as she tried to express her love with each movement and touch. When Cheerilee seemed to recover from the initial shock and press her tongue forward, Vinyl let her own lips part. "Mmmm." Words couldn't describe how she felt, how good it was to feel herself for the first time in her life. She sucked lightly on Cheerilee's tongue and wrapped forelegs around her.

Which is how Lotus found them, wrapped together and embracing. She immediately turned, a smile on her face, when she heard a soft splash.

"Wait, Lotus." Vinyl still held Cheerilee against herself, but had tilted her lover to the side a little. "What's next?"

"Hold on a second." Cheerilee booped Vinyl on the nose. "Are you done with your time-out, or do you want out of the day completely?" She studied Vinyl's red eyes, saw them focus back on her and gaze into her own.

"Let's keep going with it today." The moment Vinyl decided the hypnosis should restart, it did; it slid over her and she relaxed into it, not realizing how on-edge she had been. "Always surprising when it starts working, there is more practice needed with it."

"Are you okay Mizz Zcratch?" Lotus approached the big pool, carrying a stack of warm towels on a little cart.

Vinyl inhaled, smelling Cheerilee, scented oils and soaps, as well as flowers. She gave her fillyfriend a squeeze. "You know what, Lotus, I really am."


~~~~~+++++~~~~~


"You can start it any time you want." Cheerilee kept at Vinyl's side on the train, on the way through Manehatten. "You know you can, what am I saying." She pressed a little more firmly against the unicorn, felt Vinyl not budge an inch.

"Yeah, but… it feels better to be doing this as me, than what that… it isn't magic, but it feels like it." Vinyl didn't have to toss her mane anymore, the style she wore it in now was short enough that it literally couldn't come down to her eyes. "Buuuuut I am not ready for the crowd at the front. Let's go around to the back entrance." She could see the queue in the distance, waiting to get into the club where she would make her comeback. 

Navigating the back-alley got the pair to the guarded rear entrance. "Miss Scratch, Miss Cheerilee." Unmoving Wall's cheeks almost twitched at seeing the two mares. "Is good to see you. Big show tonight, completely full."

Vinyl closed her eyes and focused on everything but that horrible feeling that crushed her when too many ponies were close. She was reaching for it, her mind almost ready to let the hypnosis take hold again, when a neck and head pressed in against her, fitting perfectly against her own neck. She snapped her eyes open and looked at Cheerilee. A warm center filled the place where the hypnosis would push into, if she let it. The warmth from the mare was solid, firm, more than a little male. "Sorry, things stacked up." She nuzzled Cheerilee. "All my things inside already, Un?"

"Da, of course." Unmoving did what his name suggested he couldn't. "All ready."

"And if you see a scrawny, but tall pegasus with a big mouth and a backstage pass, send him in." Cheerilee smiled to Un, she already knew what was coming when his gaze to catch Vinyl's again for a confirmation. This was Vinyl's gig after all. 

"I almost forgot about Zeph, this show is partly for him." Vinyl strutted a little, her confidence restored. "It gets easier each day, Cheery, but sometimes I just…" She took a breath, lifted a hoof up and ran it through her short mane. "Buck it, let's get up on stage. Forget set up, forget all the normal crap, they want me, they get me."

Cheerilee's eyes widened and she trotted after Vinyl. I was an idiot, she isn't a mare, she is perfect. The lights in the club itself were already flashing and strobing to the music, but it was still all automated. The volume level was already high, thanks to the automated warm-up music playing, but when Vinyl stepped up behind her deck a roar started that almost deafened Cheerilee. 

"I am sooooo sorry I left you guys hangin' for a while, but I needed a break. Do you want to know why?" Vinyl's stage-act took over, she was playing a part she had played so many times before. She reached out with her magic, grabbing Cheerilee's forehoof, dragging her forward. "Because this mare is HOT!" 

The roar of approval washed over Cheerilee, she couldn't help but blush and lean in to nuzzle Vinyl's neck. Her pulse raced, it was one thing to have a coltfriend tell you, you are hot, and another to have a few hundred ponies scream in agreement. With adrenaline pumping, Cheerilee cut in. "I might be hot, but look at DJ-PON3! How smokin' is she?"

Vinyl stared at Cheerilee a moment, the rush of the screaming crowd feeding he acceptance of herself. "I got somethin' new for you—" Vinyl drowned out her own voice with the new song, the rushing tune with no beat. She lifted her cans up and brought them down on her head, her magic then reaching for the deck. 

Cheerilee melted in place, the music was thumping so hard that she could feel it all the way through her body. She began to move, swaying to the music, remembering the time-changes as she did so. The crowd didn't have her advantage—having helped create the music with Vinyl—but that didn't stop them from trying. 

Bouncing her head along, Vinyl was so happy she had gone through with the song. She added extra elements to it with her deck, but as with every song, it came to an end. A nudge in her side drew her attention back to Cheerilee, who was pointing. "Zephyr Breeze!" Vinyl pointed. "This next song is to the best mane-stylist in all Equestria!" She lifted a hoof up and roughed her mane. Swiping a fader, Vinyl brought the next song in, this one was much more "standard."


~~~~~+++++~~~~~


"Your DJ has to go, everypony!" Vinyl was almost completely worn out; her legs shook, her magic was fading, but in her heart she felt it had been her best show ever. Lifting her cans off, she set them down and faded to the "canned music." Then she got a kiss on her cheek that almost completely filled her back up with energy. As she turned, the second kiss landed right on her lips.

Closing her eyes, Cheerilee melted against Vinyl's kiss, she pressed her lips to the mare like she wanted to press all of herself. Without a word both lifted up and they hugged.

Neither of them heard the thunder of the crowd as they saw their DJ making out. 

Unfortunately for the two mares, their visitor was still a little short on tact. "Oh my Celestia, look at you two!" Zephyr's eyes danced at the pair. "You two are just darling together, and Viney," both mares stared at each other at the strange nickname, "that music is just a-mazing!"

"Thanks, Zeph." Vinyl dropped down, but kept one foreleg around Cheerilee's withers. "You helped a lot, with everything." She gave him a grin from behind her glasses. "If you will excuse us, I need to get this filly to bed." Vinyl leaned up, nuzzling along Cheerilee's mane and ears.

Nopony would have called her out for it, but at that moment a soft glow grabbed the volume slider for the booth speakers and wound them right up, any reply Zephyr might have made was drowned out.

"What was that Zephyr?!" Cheerilee lifted a hoof up to her ear, but her efforts to be heard were in vain. When Vinyl pulled her along to the exit, she certainly didn't struggle. As soon as they were out, Vinyl nuzzled her way through Cheerilee's mane. "That was a bit rude," she giggled at the attention, "but I am not complaining too loudly." 

"You know the club puts their visiting DJ up in a penthouse, right?" Vinyl's smile could almost be described as lecherous. "Haven't had anypony to really enjoy it with before…" The unasked question hung in the air between the two.

Cheerilee tapped her chin with a hoof, as if in thought. "Well, I certainly don't have anywhere to stay tonight, maybe we could find out how warm their bed is?" She used the raised hoof to tickle Vinyl under the chin. Cheerilee giggled in delight when her fillyfriend let out a low whinny. "Thought so."


~~~~~+++++~~~~~


"So that's it, Vinny?" Octavia set her bow down and looked across the room as her friend packed up her things. "In and out of my life like the noisiest tornado ever?" She wore a wide smile for the mare she had thought a horrible musician—at first. 

Pushing her cans back, Vinyl finished tucking her deck into a box. "You know how it is, Tavi, just when you find somepony is comfortable to live with, you have to move on. At least you learned to actually play that thing." She pointed at the cello, a lopsided grin on her face.

"Why, the nerve…" Octavia Melody took up her bow and brought it along the strings, striking a deep note. "You uncultured lout…" She shook her head, the usual curses slipping away. "She has been nothing but good for you, Vinny. Make sure you treat her well."

"Are you done packing your—" Cheerilee walked into the house and stopped when she realized the two housemates were squared off against each other. "Both of you, she is just moving halfway across town, you can still meet up and talk."

"It's not the same." Vinyl and Octavia blushed when they both said the same thing at the same time.

"Good luck, Vinyl Scratch." Octavia set her bow down once more, got up, and approached Vinyl. A hoof-clop didn't seem enough, so Octavia gave in and hugged Vinyl. "Take care, and don't stop making those horrible thumping sounds."

"Tavi, you are the best cellist I have ever heard." Vinyl hugged back, letting a few tears trail down her cheek. Letting go, the two former housemates smiled at each other. "But then, I tend to lie a lot."

"VINYL!" Octavia's mock growl chased Vinyl and Cheerilee from the house, the former grabbing the latter and her deck on the way.