A DJ's Experience

Chapter 1 - Going Clubbing

*Note* The DJ D0CT0R is not Doctor Whooves

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I heard the last pounding beats, through the wall I might add, of DJ-PON3’s music wrap up and started to gather my own cds out of my duffel bag for my first set. I had some nerves, but nothing I couldn’t handle, after all I was “The DJ Doctor” and for my first gig I had scored big. I was in the one and only Club Canterlot run by DJ-PON3 herself. The backstage door eased open as the mare herself trotted in from her performance, clearly exhausted.

“Hey, you’re the new kid aren’t you?” she asked upon seeing me standing there near the big metal door, ready to go party the night away.

“Umm, y-yeah. T-Thats me,” I stammered, somewhat surprised that the mare that pretty much summed up the entirety of the nightlife in Manehattan was talking to me.

        Looking me up and down, she nodded to herself as if confirming something. DJ-PON3 then flashed me a cocky smile as she said reassuringly, “Don’t worry kid, you’re going to do great. After all, we all start somewhere, don’t we?”

“Vinyl? Are you coming?” a more refined mare called from the hallway leading to the back exit.

“Yeah, be there in a sec Octy, just given this new kid some advice,” she shot back before looking back to me. “That’s Octavia. She’s a friend. Listen, just one piece of advice. Give the audience what they want and don’t let them get the better of you,” she warned in a cool, business-like manner. Vinyl trotted towards the exit of the club and before exiting she turned back once again, flashing me another confident smirk. “Good luck out there kid,” and with that, she departed out the door.

        Wow, I had just talked to the one and only Vinyl Scratch! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! That mare is my true role model and inspiration. She is the one why I even decided to pursue my musical career. She is even the reason why I’m here right now.

“Hey kid, it’s your show. Get out there an' make some noise,” ordered a gruff voice. Broken out of my reverie, I rushed to the stage door, steadied my breathing, and stepped out onto the stage. My eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room and saw easily at least  over one hundred ponies occupying the dance floor and surrounding platforms as well as the bar.

        With my heart nearly beating out of my barrel I picked up one of my more upbeat but slow moving songs and set it on the turntable with my unicorn magic. I adjusted some of the settings and dials on the DJ mixing board and before flashing a cocky grin to the crowd, I let it loose.

        A smooth electronic melody erupted from the speakers on either side of me and multi- colored beams of light rippled across the riled up crowd of ponies, then a heavy bass could be heard faintly and growing louder until it almost drowned out all other noises. The lights matched the bass as green lasers flashed in sync over the dancing and somewhat drunk ponies. I raised my arms and put my fetlocks to work, lightly scratching the CDs at the right time to fit the music. With slight concentration, I moved three sliders up, almost immediately slightly distorted snare drum sounds, soon to be joined by a slightly high pitched electronic tunes, slammed through the speakers and shot through the room.

        I realized right then and there that I would be doing this everyday and night for the rest of my life, be it at this club or any other ones. And I absolutely loved it! I loved the wall of excitement coming off of the ponies I was entertaining, the electronic music that I loved mixing and composing some of my own, and fortunately enough for me, I loved partying. Partying and making ponies happy and excited was my job now. I thoroughly enjoyed these thoughts that raced around in circles in my head as the song came to a close.

        The next song I had ready for them was very fast and heavy on the bass. I set that on, adjusting sliders and dials as I went, and sound immediately bounced around the room, akin to the way a bouncy ball would bounce around the walls if you flung it hard enough. I grinned as if I actually knew what I was doing, which I didn’t. It sure as tartarus felt like it at least. The song abruptly cut out and the sound of a galloping pony ran through the speakers to replace the music. The galloping got louder and louder until finally, I flipped open a glass case case that contained a red button. I looked up and across the crowd as they waited, breathlessly for the bass to come crashing down.

        A deep mechanical voice echoed slowly through the speakers “5.....4.....3.....2.....1.” When it reached the last number, I threw my hoof down onto the big red button and if the speakers had been of any less strength, they would have exploded by the sudden noise that shattered the silence. The ponies nearest to the speakers were literally knocked down forcefully by the sound waves. I grinned even wider as they shot me angry glares.

        It had turned into a blur for me as the night wore on and my music was of a varied selection for the rest of it. I think I even saw Vinyl stop by once, on her way back to her house or apartment, I assume, and nod her head in approval as if confirming something. I assumed that the ponies enjoyed my music by the way the didn’t stop dancing the night away but I couldn't really tell since, as I said before, it was all in a haze.

        As the last part of the closing song echoed throughout the hall, the worn out ponies suddenly exploded into applause. I looked down, shocked beyond belief that my first night would go so well to get all of the ponies applauding and shaking the building with the impact of their hooves on the ground. Realizing this, my face broke out into a wild, optimistic and happy grin. I stepped up to the microphone and yelled with confidence ringing in my voice for all to hear, “I’ll be back soon for the night’s entertainment. You haven’t seen the last of the DJ-D0CT0R for a long time!” I hoped.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“Hey, new kid,” came a cheerful but gruff sounding voice from behind me. I looked behind me and saw sparkling red. Wait, this isn’t right. I brushed aside my mane and saw that it was one of the bouncers for the club that I’ve hopefully made my home.

“Yeah?” I casually replied, trying not to show how exhausted I was.

“I just came to see you off and congratulate you on a great night,” he replied. “Also, me and my friends are having a get together at the bar down the road from here and you seem like a cool pony. You want in?” he asked hopefully.

        I glanced down to my purple and red duffel bags packed with my DJ equipment inside and then back up at him. “Nah, I’m good, thanks. I have some work to do once I get home anyway,” I replied wearily. I really did want to go with this stallion, but I only had three or four new songs set up for tomorrow night and I needed at least five more to be ready for tomorrow and the next day’s set.

“Oh, alright then... Well be careful out there,” he replied, somewhat crestfallen. I heeded his warning to be careful, for there was snow on the ground and in some parts of the sidewalk leading to my apartment could be slippery.

“You too. See ya tomorrow,” I replied before finishing putting my things into my bag and flinging it over my back. Wincing from the sudden weight stress put onto my back, I slowly began to struggle towards the club exit.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I heard a sharp gasp of astonishment when I neared the exit of the club. I turned my head and saw a kind looking mare approaching me with a look of bewilderment sketched on her face.

“Hey, you’re the new DJ right?” And upon noticing my bag that was weighing me down, “It looks like y’need some help,” she said, already trying to take the bag from me.

        I chuckled a little before answering, “Yeah, that’s me. And I definitely could use some help,” she lifted the bag off of my back and onto the floor before looking at me with guarded hostility.

“Hey, I just wanted to make sure of something. Just because I’m helping you doesn’t mean I want to settle down. I went out for a night of fun and dancing, not a bouncy bed,” she explained, all the while eyeing me warily.

        I snickered, which soon turned into all out guffawing, which earned me an odd look from the mare, “I-it’s okay, I didn’t mean anything close to that. In fact, I’ll probably be pulling an all nighter since I have a lot of work to do,” I said in a reassuring manner. I put down my duffel bag and unzipped it. I gave her my saddlebags after I put my headphones and CDs into their respective bags.

“Think you can handle this? Without stealing it?” I asked sternly while shooting a glance at my temporary companion.

Looking at me funny, she said, “‘Course not. If I wanted your stuff, I would have waited for you outside with a rock or something,” she winked at me, smiling earnestly. “Now, where is your place anyways?”

“There’s this apartment complex in the semi-higher bits of town. It’s in there somewhere,” I replied, mapping out the large city of Manehattan in my head. Approximating where my apartment complex should be, I turned to my partner. “Alright, follow me young one,” I beckoned. She just rolled her eyes at me.

        The warm trip throughout the city in which I occupy was relatively silent. So I tried conversation. “Enjoy the show?” I asked.

“Heck yeah, I did. A strange thing that she allowed you to perform at the club though. I haven’t seen anypony besides DJ-PON3 perform at the club,” she answered easily.

“Oh, really?” I said, not believing it for a second. “Are you sure nopony else has ever DJed there before?”

“Yeah, I think she takes only specific ponies into the club. So specific that she’s the only one who DJs there. To be honest, I’m surprised that you caught her attention,” she explained frankly.

My mouth could have hit the floor if pony anatomy allowed it. Confusion was the master emotion over exhaustion and happiness, which were a close second, over the successful set that I played earlier this night. We fell into silence as we trotted on into the cold night.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When we arrived at my apartment’s entrance, I thanked the mare for the help, gave her one of my newest CDs, and bid her a goodnight.

 As I walked into the recognizable opulent lobby, I greeted the clerk, grabbed my things, put them into the elevator, and pushed the floor button that put me onto the floor that I currently resided on. All the while wondering if what the mare said was true and why DJ-PON3 had accepted to give me a dry run to see if I would be performing at the club or not. These questions were still buzzing around in my head when I opened the door that led to my apartment. Shaking my head to try to dispel the thoughts, I trotted down the hall into my music room and put my items into their respective places. I sat down in front of my computer, turned it on, and began to run through the motions of checking the various online sites until I opened my email. There was a message waiting for me in my inbox, so I opened it. It was a message from Club Canterlot.

“Well, that’s strange,” I remarked, fully knowing that nopony was there to listen to my ramblings. I opened the message up and began to skim through it, trying to determine if it was spam or something actually important.

Dear DJ-D0CT0R,

You have been invited to a meeting tomorrow at Club Canterlot with DJ-PON3. It is requested of you to be there within the timeframe of 2:00pm - 3:00pm. You may wear casual attire. But if you dismiss this meeting then you will lose your chance of performing at Club Canterlot again. Please do not respond to this message.

There wasn’t anypony’s signature at the bottom of the message, but my mind was reeling at what this could mean. Did I do well? Did she accept me into the club? All of these things whipped through my mind before reality kicked in. She probably just wants to chat about or critique my performance. Knowing my luck though, I’m not going to get my hopes up.

I decided to give up trying to make music as the last note was pumped through my headphones. It had taken at least seven tries to make one song, which was now finished, but needed to be looked at by a much more awake pony. I tossed my headphones on to the wooden desk, turned the computer off, and awkwardly trudged to my bedroom. I tripped on the last step leading to the bed and flopped onto the springy mattress. I was asleep before my head hit the soft pillow.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\