Vinyl awoke to find her inner alarm blaring, wincing as she tried to focus her magic enough to shut off the buzzing collarbone. There were days she regretted learning that spell. Today would not be one.
She glanced at the sky outside, noting the moon's position in the sky and running the calculations she knew by heart through her head, plugging in numbers and running the problem to its inevitable conclusion, “Two hours to sunrise,” she thought with a smile, “just enough time.”
She glanced to her left, smiling when her eyes found the other rise in the covers, following them up to the pillows. Octavia Melody, Canterlot's favorite cellist, and the DJ’s mare friend of the past three years, snorted gently, still deep in sleep. Vinyl's smile widened, and she leaned over to kiss the cellist gently on the forehead. The earth pony stirred, and vinyl froze, worried as she might have worked in her sleeping partner. But the sleeping cellist snuggled her head deeper into the pile of the various pillows that made up the upper half of the double Princess Manehatten style super bed that took up three times the room of a normal Queen, and had forced the two musicians to hire a group of unicorns to teleport it into their apartment.
Vinyl smiled one last time at her marefriend, before slowly sliding sideways out of bed. Her hind hooves touched the carpeted floor first, and she stopped for a moment to enjoy the feel of the shag underhoof, letting it give and move with her hooves as she stood. Once she was standing, she allowed herself a moment to stretch, feeling each bone and muscle as it popped and crackled. As she stretched, she oriented herself, glancing about the room to ensure everything was in its proper place, her horn illuminating with a dull werelight.
Their apartment looked much the same as it had the night before. A losing battle between the DJ’s dirty clothes and Octavia’s obsession with clean living was obvious on the floor, with patches of dirty thrice worn clothes, take-out containers, and various other outnumbering the patches of pristine red-and-black chaos pattern carpet that Vinyl had chosen to replace the white carpeting that had originally come with the apartment. Two dressers loomed at opposite ends of the room, one for each musician. One was messy and disorderly, with various messes piled on every open surface, and drawers hanging open with articles of clothing spilling out onto the floor. The other was white and pristine, with a large bass note on the front, carved in and painted black by some master of the arts several years ago.
A large grandfather clock was the only other piece of furniture of note in the room, the hands moving slowly across its face, slowly counting away the minutes until it needed to be rewound. The bathroom door was closed, but a light still shone out of the cracks on the sides. Octavia had always insisted on that, stating that she was unable to get to the bathroom in the dark without tripping over something. Vinyl had just laughed and shrugged it off, and from then on the light in the bathroom had remained on all night.
Vinyl began to make her way across the room, using her magic to pop from shadow to shadow, feeling them wrap around her body, caressing her before releasing her at her destination. Finally, after three steps, she found herself next to the bathroom door. Sighing, she opened the door, stepping in and flicking off the light. She had always loved the dark, and showering in darkness was what she had always done.
She used her magic to turn on the shower as she stepped in, feeling the cold water wash over her and shivering, before it slowly began to warm, until eventually the room felt thick with steam. She began humming a simple tune to herself, something she had learned as a filly, though she could never quite remember where. Soft blue light illuminated the shower as she used her magic to grab her hair and body washes, levitating them over to herself and using them to thump out a beat, squeezing the near-empty bottles until they popped in the rhythm that she wanted, creating a muted concert for herself within the shower, allowing the improvised music to flow over her body, swaying and dancing to the beat.
******
Vinyl carefully wrapped the last mug in newspaper before placing it in her saddlebag, closing it with a snap. As she made her way to the door of the apartment, she grabbed her green hoodie, slipping it on before she stepped out the door.
The eastern sky was already beginning to brighten as dawn approached. Vinyl quietly opened the back door to the apartments, carefully stepping down the wrought iron steps that led down to the street below. The musicians' house sat on the northern edge of Canterlot's High Ledge, almost on the ledge itself. At the north end of the ledge, an young unicorn entrepreneur had constructed an elevator into the side of the mountain, ready to move ponies and their luggage to the bottom of Canterlot Mountain. Usually ponies only used it during the day, for nature excursions, or to get in a picnic under the scenic view of the city from the ground, but it was open 'round the clock for anyone who wanted to use it, and it was the cheapest way to get to the bottom of the mountain.
As she walked to the elevator, Vinyl lit her horn and levitated her mp3 player out of her saddlebag, putting her headphones in as she tuned in to her secret playlist. She would never admit it, especially to the cellist herself, but the DJ had all of Tavi's songs on a single playlist on her mp3. She loved to listen to her music, especially during these few moments that she gave herself each morning. As she listened to the cello begin its musical dance, she smiled, tucking the player into the pocket on the front of her hoodie as she closed her eyes to let her hooves carry her along the same path she had walked every morning for the past ten years.
Vinyl nestled deeper into the indention she had made in the blanket she had lain upon the grass. The DJ used her magic to levitate her saddlebag to sit beside her, opening it to remove the thermos she had filled with hot coffee before leaving home, as well as the #1 DJ mug she had brought with her, a gift Octavia had given her for her twenty-fourth birthday, and one that she had used every day since then for her morning ritual.
After filling the mug with coffee, she set the thermos back into the bag, then settled in to wait for the sunrise. She closed her eyes for a moment to sip her coffee, enjoying the rich flavor as it trickled its way down her throat. She set the mug back down, only to feel the blanket beside her stir.
The unicorn opened her eyes halfway, already knowing what she would see. Octavia, her favorite pink hoodie covering her, was carefully nestling herself into the blanket Vinyl had set up moments ago. Neither pony said anything as she finished settling in, and Vinyl took out the second mug she had brought, had been bringing for the past ten years, waiting for the day when Tavi would join her, Octavia's favorite #1 Cellist mug Vinyl had had made for her on the same birthday she had received the #1 DJ mug, filling it with coffee before making a little holder for it out of blanket fabric and setting it inside. Octavia smiled sleepily, inhaling the scent of coffee and a new day as the sun finally broke over the horizon, illuminating the smiling pair in its warm light.
Author's Note
Alright, here it is! I got stuck on my writing on Music of the Night, so I decided to work on some other things. When I saw that Equestria Daily was having a writing contest, I couldn't resist trying out. Even if I don't win, this was fun to write, and I hope that you all enjoy reading it!
