Conception

-Letter to Alica: Segment 2-

...You had a life. I realize this, and it makes me feel horrible to know that you might never be the same. I don't want you to break down; I want you to have the best life possible...

Chapter 4: The Eyes of a DJ

“How much wood would a wood-hog hog if a wood-hog would hog wood?

“I don’t know, HOW much wood would a wood-hog hog if a wood-hog would hog wood?

“Well, a wood-hog would hog the wood of a hog that hogs the wood of the wood-hog’s wood.

“...What in Equestria am I saying?”

Alica lied alone in her room on her bed, engulfed in pillows. She had resorted to saying random things to herself to keep from being bored. She was only thirty pages into the first book Twilight gave her, but still she couldn’t help but humor herself. After giggling for a minute, she picked the book back up to start where she left off.

So far it had explained the history of lucid dreaming and how it had grown to be more and more scientific. Star Swirl the Bearded was the first to really experiment with it. He was mostly famous for his time spells, but he also had an interest in many other things aside from it. He had even tried to create a spell that would induce lucid dreams, but to Alica’s dismay, she read about how he never exactly finished it.

As she continued reading, it started to explain the basics of how dreams work. This, here was review for her, so she decided to skim through to where it introduced something new. It explained the importance to dreaming and how ponies often-times never remembered them. Alica knew this all too well, so she continued on her merry way of finding something interesting.

Eventually, she came to the chapters specifically on lucid dreaming. All it had was the same science she already knew. For many chapters, she just simply kept running through the pages. For the entirety of the first half of the book, she found nearly nothing new; although, she did in fact stop to read about how there are large contraptions being made that planned to be used to record individual’s dreams. That, there, was something she found extravagant.

It wasn’t that long until she reached the second half, since only thirty minutes had passed. After doing a quick stretch and yawn, she started reading a tutorial-like section on being lucid in a dream. Because Alica wasn’t particularly a ‘master’ at it, she decided to put in a bit more time to go through this.

Rule 1: Don’t underestimate yourself. Get yourself to believe that you are already a dreamer. If you can get yourself to believe the dream is a reality to you, then it becomes a reality. If you need to, meditate. For some, this is essential to effectively lucid dream, but for others, it can come naturally. Do what you feel will help you the most, for everypony is different.

Alica stopped here for a moment, and then realized how she had forgotten about the importance of believing in yourself. She kept it in mind as a mental note as she continued.

Rule 2: Do reality checks. Make it a habit to do them at least every hour. If you don’t, you won’t get very far at being able to achieve lucidity. Raise your hoof and look at it; mash your hoof with the other one to see if it passes through; look around your surroundings; and do anything you can to observe the world you're in and determine if it's a dream or not. Legitimately consider it, don't just immediately think "no." A very helpful trick to keep in mind is to check your memories for impossibilities of the physical world. The most important thing is that you make it all a habit so you will do reality checks in the dream.

Just then, Alica realized she should do a reality check. Nothing seemed offset, so with a final look around, she sighed and moved on to the next rule.

Rule 3: Keep a dream journal. With one, you will have a better idea of what your dreams are like so you can recognize them to be dreams. Make it as detailed as possible. Notice recurring dream signs and make sure to tell yourself that you will become lucid if you see one. Make it a habit to do reality checks if you just so happen to see a dream sign, whether it be physical or actually in the dream.

Alica stopped again, and then realized she had forgotten to write down the one she had that morning. Scrambling, she went to her notebook and scribbled different keywords she found were important like ‘Wanderer’ and ‘floating upside-down on a cloud.’

As she went back to reading, time started to pass until she heard the front door open.

“Hi Alica! Are you home?” It was Morning.

Alica hesitated to answer back when she remembered that Morning had interrupted her nap earlier in the day. Hoofsteps went up the stairs, and a slight knock came to the door of her room.

Alica didn’t answer. Instead, she hid under her blanket.

“Hello? I’m coming in.” The door opened up cautiously a single second later.

It was silent for a moment, and right as Alica started to think that her hiding technique had actually worked, Morning called to her, “I know you’re there.”

“No I’m not,” stated the breathing lump under the covers.

With a small chuckle, she called back, “yes, you are.” She sat next to her on the bed, and then asked, “what is it that is wrong?”

“Nothing,” mumbled the foiled lump.

“I know when you are emotional, trust me. So what’s wrong?”

The pile of blankets finally sighed, and then out revealed the sky-blue unicorn. “To be honest, I kind of feel a little frustrated because before when you left, you woke me up from a lucid dream. I told you before that I didn’t want to be disturbed, did I? I don’t know... please don’t hate me.” She squeaked slightly and hid back under the blanket. Just then, a hoof came under it, lifting the blanket back up. Before she could say anything, Morning hugged her little sister.

“I’m sorry, I think you did mention something like it at breakfast…. please forgive me, Alie”

Tears started to trickle down Morning’s back as Alica wept in deep emotion of the long day. Nothing much was said for a little bit, but eventually Alica said softly with appreciation, “thankyou. I think I needed that hug...”

As Alica let go of more and more of her tension, she spoke again. “It’s just been a hard day I guess… but pretty good too, actually.” Alica smiled as they broke the hug, and then Morning followed suit, grinning ear-to-ear.

“Really? Alie, please do tell me about it!”

“Ok, so first I was super excited in the dream I had-” Alica told her older sister nearly everything in the day since the dream had started, but made sure to leave out the details of the bad parts. She did, although, mention how Discord had helped her. This surprised Morning greatly to hear, but she urged Alica to continue. When she finished explaining the rest, Alica motioned to her books. “-And now I’m pretty much just reading the books Twilight gave me. So far they’re ok I guess, but mostly it’s all just review…”

“Woah… It does sound like a long day, but I’m glad there were a lot of happy parts.” She went to ruffle Alica’s mane, but stopped herself when she remembered how she doesn’t like it. Instead, she started a new conversation. “So you have work tomorrow?”

“Oh! Yeah! ...oh, wait… yeah… I forgot how I had fallen asleep on the job.” Alica looked down, feeling more and more frustrated at herself for letting something like that happen. She then stopped herself before she needed to be comforted again by Morning. “Well, the least I can do is say that I tried my best, right?” She looked up at Morning.

“Whatever works for you, Alie. You shouldn’t worry too much, you know.”

=     =     =

The next day:

“What do you MEAN you tried your best?!” The manager stood furious in the back room with Alica, who looked down in shame. “You’re SO lucky that everypony was leaving when you fell asleep. I should be making you work overtime! The only reason I’m not now is because Vinyl told me otherwise. I don’t know HOW it could possibly be her fault, because she’s never failed me before. I still respect her.”

“Yes sir.” Alica tried to keep eye contact as she shook nervously in her mind at the thought of what he might yell next.

“Next time, stay aware that you are still working, ya got it?!”

“Yes sir.”

“Good, now, let’s open up n’ get back into the working spirit so we’re all ready.”

“Yes sir.”

“And STOP calling me sir. I’m no drill sergeant no more. I won’t be treated as such.”

“Yes si-... I mean, o...kay.”

Before marching out the door leading to the main room, he stopped himself as he remembered something. “Ah, yes, and before I forget, I have a new placement for you to work in. You’re not gonna drool over my dang counter anymore.”

Wait, what could be worse than serving party-crazy ponies? Alica thought to herself.

The manager led Alica to the room where all the technology and equipment was kept. Alica,  even more perplexed, asked, “so, um, what will I be doing?”

“Helping Vinyl with whatever.”

“Oh, okay… wait, wah!” She jumped up in utter surprise of what she had heard. She simply stood wide-eyed with her mouth hanging wide open.

“She says you would be better to work with rather than Sound Dart. He’s been lazy lately, so I’ve been planning to move him so he realizes just how easy he can be replaced. Whenever the heck he gets here, I’ll have him show ya where everything is so ya can get working A.S.A.P. He’s SO lucky we haven’t opened yet…”

A door slammed in the background.

“Well will ya look at that, I know that door-slam better than anypony else. That must be him. I’ll tell him ‘bout what he’ll be doing. He’ll be in here shortly to give you a rundown of the equipment.” He marched out of the room as Alica stood with her mouth continuing to hang open.

“Wah…”

With about a minute’s passing, Alica started to look around. I have no idea how any of this stuff works… she thought as she pondered over a small, dim, yellow light.

“UGH!” An orange pony bursted out, stomping into the room as he startled Alica by surprise; she nearly fell onto the floor in shock.

“So you’re the stupid pony who took my spot, eh? Wow, your cutie mark doesn’t even have anything to do with this,” he said in an excruciatingly frustrated voice. Alica shook as she glanced to his cutie mark, which was an unidentifiable piece of metal with knobs. She quickly looked away so as to avoid eye contact.

“I’ll keep it simple for ya, missy. The magic energy transistors are over there, the computer interface is over there, and everything else you need is in that closet right there.” He pointed to the corresponding spots as he spoke. “Ask Scratch about anything else, because I don’t want to talk to you ever again. HAVE A NICE LIFE.”

“Uh…” Alica stood motionless as he stormed out of the room.

“Wah?”

For a few more minutes, she looked over a chart on the far-wall by the transistors. It looked like gibberish. She looked at the ‘computer thing,’ and it had a screen with a whole new language of this gibberish.

“I’m so fired…” Alica sighed.

“No you’re not,” called a calm voice by the door, making her jump slightly. “Woah, bro, calm down. It’s just me. ..Heya.” It was Vinyl Scratch. She started to walk in and put away her supplies.

Alica couldn’t help but jump again. “Oh, heheh… hi.” Before she resorted to blushing, she stopped herself. “Wait! I have some questions. Why did… uh… you.. uh...” Darn it Alica! Don’t stutter now… Alica thought to herself.

“I know what you’re going to ask.” She put away her glasses as she looked to Alica. “I hated Sound Dart with a passion, and I thought you might like it better back here. Not as tiring, really, ‘cause all you’ll be doing for now is making sure nothing blows up.”

Alica paused for a moment, and then asked, “but… I don’t know what this stuff does. Sound Dart just walked in, pointed to three things, then left!” Why me! Alica thought to herself, still trying to figure out the meaning of everything.

Before Alica got mentally overwhelmed, Vinyl gave a calm chuckle. “Again, I say, I hate Sound Dart with a passion. It’ll be fun to see him working at the counter again. I bet he will be rethinking his life and what I said to him yesterday…”

“Heheh… um, yeah, but…” Alica was about to break down. “He called me stupid. He’s probably right...”

“Pft! Stupid? We’ll see about that. Trust me, with me teaching you, you’ll be just fine.” Vinyl started to set up certain programs on the computer as she continued talking. “He’s just angry, really. He won’t bother you anymore, ‘cause I’d knock him upside the skull… and so would the boss. He’s only gonna to be left mad at himself.”

Just then, Alica shook her head and looked down to her hooves to do a quick reality check.

“Huh, what? Whatchya doin'?” The DJ asked curiously.

“Just making sure this isn’t a dream is all,” she said back as she finished confirming that this was indeed the real world.

“Ahaha, that’s the wildest thing I’ve heard all week!” Vinyl doubled over in laughter, but then looked up to see a disconcerted look on Alica’s face. She then realized that the she might not have been joking.

“Wait, you’re in all that lucid dreaming stuff, for real? ...I’ve tried to do it myself, but I decided it wasn’t real. Is it really real?” Vinyl looked eagerly to Alica.

“Definitely!” Alica answered enthusiastically. “We all dream, even if you don’t remember the dreams. It’s also definitely possible to be lucid, because I’ve done it!”

“Uh… Uh, wow, this is amazing!” She looked up and pondered for a moment. “Maybe I failed because I’ve been too caught up in making music. Day n’ night, ya know?” Vinyl’s ears perked up in excitement as she realized something. “Oh my gosh, you can tell me how to do it! ...well, after work of course.”

“Oh, yeah!” Alica suddenly bounced up in joy. She then looked around the room. “Um, wait… so what do you want me to do back here? I don’t know how this stuff works…”

Vinyl, after finishing up with getting the programs set up and running, started to give a proper rundown of what everything did. Alica soon started to understand the basics of it.

“Oh! So it’s all connected! Is it like how a music box connects to different parts to spin the thingy thing? I’ve practiced hitting the notes with my magic, but it’s hard because I can’t see the prongs… but I can see what you mean when you say that everything here connects together!” Alica beamed happily as she had her moment of realization.

“Pretty much! ...wait, music box? Huh… I’ve never thought of that... you should bring it over sometime.” Vinyl then realized something she should ask. “Hold on just a moment! You know how music works?”

Alica scratched the back of her head with her hoof. “Uh… well… just with what I taught myself. It’s not really much…”

“My gosh, this is awesome! I was right after all in thinking you should be the one to replace Sound Dart.” Vinyl put a hoof on Alica’s back. Alica tried her best not to blush.

“Um… yeah… I kind of have dreamed of making music.”

“I thought as much, especially from that talk we had before. Unique ponies can do great things with music, ya know. So, ‘cause we still have time, let me show you how I do music. That okay with you? Either way if you know music or not, I would have to show you eventually.”

Alica beamed excitedly. “Of course! Please!”

Still in utter awe, Alica soaked up as much information as she could. So much learning in one day… Alica thought to herself as Vinyl started to explain the basics of music theory. She continued to nod and pay close attention to the DJ.

They then moved over to the stage. “And now, here is what I call my Wub Machine. When everything is put together, it is the second-best thing I have. Number one is the good old Bass Cannon. Some will say otherwise, but I saved Equestria with it.”

She motioned towards the different knobs and buttons on the set-up. “Each one of these controls the frequencies and channels, and the rest is used for everything else.”

She then motioned to the Vinyl disks. “Now, these are my babies. They can hold the songs, but they really just help me navigate. The computer connects to them and sends different songs magically. Ya know what I mean?”

Alica squee’d lightly. “Just a small thought, but vinyls are so much like music boxes! Music boxes turn to play, and so do vinyls!” Alica stopped to ponder over how the music set-up worked. Suddenly, she went wide-eyed. “Oh my gosh… I know how to play my music box now! I have an idea for when I bring it over. Um… are you okay with helping?”

“Heh, that music box must mean a lot to you...” She finally noticed something as she looked to Alica. “Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t notice it until now. It’s your cutie mark!”

Alica tried not to blush. “Um… Uh…” Darn it, how do I respond? She thought.

“Well, the place should be opening up soon. Now that you know the basics, you can go read the hoofbooks if you want. They’re just in the bottom drawer of the desk,” Vinyl said, walking back into the room.

“Okie,” Alica said as she followed in, dazed with conflicting emotions.

After searching through the drawer, Alica found four different books. One was of magic electronics; the second was of DJing and associated hardware to DJing; the third was of music producing; and the last was… a comic book featuring the Power Ponies.

“I’m gonna head out. The party is about to begin,” Vinyl said as she put on her signature violet-tinted glasses. “If you have anything important come up, like, if it looks like something might explode, just come up to the stage and tell me.”

“Wait, but… wouldn’t I be interrupting the show?”

“Nah, just put on a pair of cool-looking glasses and walk up like you know what you’re doing. I have extras right over on the desk.” Vinyl motioned to them, which had completely different style from what Vinyl normally wears. “I wore those in my early days, but then I found my signature.” She then tapped the glasses she was wearing at the moment and started to continue out the door. “I’ll see ya later.”

Alica waved her off joyously. “Good luck.”

“Won’t need it!” The DJ called back.

At last, Alica could feel her heated blush lighten with comfort and relaxation. She did another reality check.

Nope, still not a dream.

=     =     =

For the longest time, Alica was entranced into the books as Vinyl’s music played in the background. With each bass drop, Alica felt two times as much motivation to learn how everything worked. Every time that beautiful enchantment of feelings flowed through her veins, she couldn’t help but sigh sublimely at the artistry’s power. It was a powerful feeling that she didn’t have the chance to feel too often, so she knew that now was the time to do what she needed to do to learn.

Every now and then, she peaked through the door to see the master at work. It was surely a different feeling to be backstage rather than alone in the crowd behind the counter. Although still feeling alone, she knew that Vinyl was only a few steps away from her.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a light connected to circuitry that normally flashes yellow start to flash red. Alica ran over to it and looked around in a panic, then came to the conclusion that she should ask Vinyl if it was important.

She hesitated, rethinking if it was a good idea or not, but then decided that she didn’t want to risk anything exploding like Vinyl had mentioned before.

She poked her head out the door to see the DJ at the booth in the heat of the music and lights. She blinked and looked from Vinyl all the way across the large sea of ponies bouncing in excitement. She backed out almost immediately, breathing heavily.

Then, she remembered the glasses.

A rocking violet-framed, sky-blue tinted pair of shades caught her eye. The design had spiked corners spreading out like a frozen flame. Because of the colors, Alica was already hooked.

Through the eyes of a DJ, she was able to throw away any hesitation walking out the door and right up to the booth with confidence. No problem at all, she thought to herself.

A second later, there stood two DJs on the stage.

“Yo, sick shades,” commented Vinyl as she glanced over to Alica.

“Same to you,” replied Alica.

Vinyl couldn’t help but chuckle. “So, what’s up?” She asked as she kept her hooves busy with the controls and bobbed her head.

Alica bobbed her head slightly along with her. “The light that flashes yellow is flashing red. Is that something I should worry about?”

“Oh, you mean the light that shows how much energy the room has? Ha, yeah, that’s nothing to worry about! I bought it for kicks and giggles. First It’s green, then yellow, then red, then white. Only one time has it been white, but that was at Cadence’s wedding. Pinkie Pie really rocked it more than you’d think is possible.” She scratched the vinyl and adjusted some knobs as she continued the track.

Alica giggled slightly and a beaming smile grew onto her face as she bobbed her head. “Okie.”

Vinyl motioned her head to the knob up at the top. “You see that purple knob? It’s my special FX control. Just turn it clockwise, slowly, as I do this buildup.” Then, the track started to make a transition to hard percussion. A tight synth slowly started to make it’s way to be louder and louder. Along with it, the pitch and tempo of the track started to increase progressively.

Alica followed through, slowly turning the knob.

Around the room, echoes and reverb started to make it’s way into the atmosphere. Once the knob was at it’s highest setting, the entirety of the music started to punch its way past the build-up.

In the room, everything was twice as large as their energy flowed from their hooves onto the DJ board and into the air itself. Alica had only one part in helping, but yet, she felt the thrill that she could only dream of. How am I not dreaming? Alica thought to herself.

Vinyl used her magic to light up another knob and motioned for Alica to use it.She twisted it, and it automatically synced a deep bass wub with the rhythm.

Then came the drop. Shivers ran down Alica’s spine as she felt Vinyl’s music.

Their music.

Eventually Alica had to decide that she should finish reading the manuals while she had the time. That way, she could help Vinyl in more ways than just turning simple knobs.

Somehow, the flashing red light seemed a tad bit brighter. Not only that, but so seemed her spirit. She was ready to learn, and with that powerful feeling of Passion implanted into her heart, she didn’t hesitate to get back to the books. It wasn’t possible, it seemed, for this to be real. Yet, though, with another reality check that Alica did before reading, the impossible was indeed possible.

=     =     =

The day trailed on and everything started to settle down. Suddenly, Alica realized that the music had stopped playing. She checked the time to see that the day was over.

Then, the DJ came through the door and wiped her brow in exhaustion. “Woah, if that wasn’t intense, I don’t know what is.” She put away her glasses. “So, how are things goin' over here?”

Alica smiled happily as she put down the book on DJing. “I finished the electronics book! If it’s ok, I’d like to take them home to review and finish all of them. Is that ok?”

Vinyl nodded. “Of course.”

Alica then realized that it would be a good time to ask a few questions she had been thinking about. “Oh, um… I’m just wondering… Why did you bring me home last night? I mean… I don’t even know how you knew where I lived.”

“Heheh, yeah… well, I kind of poked around the office to find your information. I’m kind of part of the management team, so yeah.”

“Oh… I guess that makes sense... but, um, why?” Alica asked.

“Hey, I tried to wake you up, but you didn’t budge. I thought that… well… I should carry you. I totally didn’t want the boss to yell at you that night, so I took responsibility. I shouldn’t have played that slower song… especially ‘cause it was our specialty nightclub,” Vinyl said, trying to show Alica her reasoning.

“I… I guess I understand… I don’t know how I can thank you.” Alica smiled slightly and gratefully.

“Look, you aren’t that heavy, so it wasn’t a problem. Don’t worry about it. With our small talk earlier that day, I couldn’t just leave you there to… well… yeah,” Vinyl said back in a reassuring voice.

Alica didn’t know what to say. “I… I…” Alica shook her head before she started blabbering aimlessly, and decided to change the subject. “Never mind, sorry… Um, so you said before that you wanted to know more about lucid dreaming?”

“Ah yeah! I am more than just curious.” Vinyl looked at the time. “We should finish closing up first. How about ya tell me when we walk home?”

=     =     =

After cleaning up and preparing for the next day, Alica said goodbye to the manager and thanked him. He simply waved her off in a gesture that spoke ‘no problem’ as she headed out the door alongside Vinyl.

“So, how does it work?” The DJ asked.

In response, Alica summed up almost everything from the books she was reading. When she mentioned how Star Swirl had tried to create a spell to induce lucid dreams, Vinyl stopped her.

“Wait, so why aren’t ponies trying to finish the spell? I bet you the princesses have figured it out… or something!” Vinyl commented.

“I don’t know… I’d have to ask Twilight. She told me to just read the books… and then I guess I’d talk to her again after?”

“Ah, okay. Wow, I want to go into a dream so bad! ” Vinyl said excitedly.

“Yeah… Me too…” Alica looked down as they walked, and as she started to think about how she was still having troubles with lucid dreaming, she closed her eyes in distress and disoriented hope.

“Uh… I thought you were the one who had a lucid dream. What do ya mean by ‘me too?’” Vinyl stopped Alica in her tracks as she looked at her with empathy. “You ok, Alica?”

“I… I… I don’t know. I had one, but it is still really hard. I wish it was as easy as just using a spell…” Alica said, evermore forlorn.

Vinyl looked at her for a minute, and then she lifted Alica’s head and said, “you know, sometimes dreams come true. Heh, a dream to dream, right? We can work together to dream, how about that?”

Alica could feel melodies dance inside her body. “You’d… you’d really be a part of it? I mean, that’s wonderful!”

They started walking again as Vinyl continued. “Well, I did say I was interested in it, and there are some things I haven’t told you yet.” She started to think, getting back on track. “So, you were going to talk to Twilight?”

“Yeah, and if that doesn’t work, maybe Luna,” Alica said. “Luna goes into dreams I think, so she should know something.”

“Sweet! Just tell me when you find something.”

They both stopped at the entrance to Alica’s house shortly after finishing the conversation. After Alica said her farewells and thanks, and also after she was inside and out of earshot, she squealed louder than ever before.The day had been utterly perfect, and she still had time to finish the books Twilight lent. With that in mind, she pranced happily up to her room to delve into infinite knowledge.

=     =     =

After countless hours, Alica finished two of the three books. The third and final one was the one on superstition, so she was rather rhapsodic as she picked it up. What curiosities were held in this great book? Is this what might have the answers she needs? These were the sorts of questions she had in mind as she started flipping to the first page.

It read as followed:

Close your eyes. What do you see? Black? Or do you see colors before the darkness? What if you were told that you go into a new world when you dream? That you access new worlds? New universes? It seems rather impossible, correct?

Now, what if you were told that the fragments you can see when you close your eyes are proof of these extra worlds? It is simply imagination, some can say, but who is to prove it wrong? Nopony, so it can be concluded that there is more out there to be seen.

Here we will discuss what sort of possibilities there are and what some individuals have experienced over the past centuries. Here, we will show how dreams and reality are two of the same thing. For one, there is very shocking proof of extra dimensions, so get ready for a perspective you’ve never seen before.

Hold onto your seats, everypony, for it is here where we dive deeper into where few even dare to consider looking...