Chapters Octavia and Vinyl Scratch: A Love Story
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE *smack* Octavia yawned as she got out of bed and stretched her legs. She decided to start the day off with some coffee, so she set hoof to the kitchen.
She raised the mug, taking a long drink, closing her eyes as she did. When she lowered the mug she looked around the kitchen a-bit, surveying it, she steadily drank the warm drink as she let her mind wander.
She was thinking about what her schedule was today, of course, she had recital, but she couldn't think of what else she had to do. "I guess i've got free time tonight," she said aloud, reasuring herself of her non-busy schedule.
••••
Vinyl rolled on out of bed, practically sleeping as she lazily dragged her hooves into her bathroom to throw some cold water in her eyes, after the deed she walked into her kitchen and poured some of yesterday's left-over coffee into a plastic cup, to lazy to make some fresh.
She took a drink of the cool, tangy liquid. As she drank, she thought about her schedule, since she works at night she had nothing big to do, realizing this she drank the day old coffee with more enthusiasm, thinking about what she would play tonight at her turn tables.
••••
Octavia was walking home with the black case that held her cello on her back, she strolled carelessly, thinking about her plans tonight, she thought that she might go eat out somewhere, she knew many good bars and restaurants that were fairly close to where she lived. She thought some more, mulling it over inside her head as she walked home.
••••
Vinyl was lying on a couch watching T.V. as she pondered her gig tonight, it was going to be at this one bar that had recently gone under new management, the new owner hadn't really taken a liking to the once classy type of bar, so he decided to start hiring DJs, to add some new and modern music to the bar. Vinyl smiled in anticipation, almost unable to wait to play tonight.
••••
Octavia had made up her mind as she was getting ready to go out. She had decided on this nice, quiet bar she knew that was right down the street, it was more or less a classy place, so she put on her pure white collar, along with the bright red bow tie, her usual attire. She looked in the mirror real quick to fix her mane, then off she went.
••••
Opening the door, Vinyl found her way to the front of the dance pit and up onto the stage where her legendary turn tables sat, pristine, not a speck of dust on them.
She put on her headphones, adjusting the size to a better fit, then she played a few test sounds to make sure EVERYTHING was tip-top. Happy with her work she set the headphones back and went back stage to wait for the bar to open.
••••
Octavia arrived at her favorite place to find the door was locked, sighing, she knocked a couple times and was welcomed by a stallion with a light brown coat,
"Hello miss, uuh, we don't open for another 15 minutes," He said as we rubbed the back of his head with his hoof.
"I know, I just haven't been out for a while and I was kinda excited about it, heh," Octavia said, looking down, blushing slightly.
The stallion looked at her for a while then moved to the side,
"You can sit and wait at a table, would you like a drink?" Asked the stallion, seeing Octavia to a table near the stage.
"Oh, no, no, I don't drink much, I'll wait a while." She stated to the stallion.
"Ok, suit yourself," he said as he walked away towards the bar.
••••
Vinyl heard the conversation and peeked behind the light curtain and saw a mare sitting alone, she had a light tanish coat and a straight, charcoal colored mane. Vinyl walked out from behind the curtain, and headed towards the mare. Octavia spotted her and turned her head towards Vinyl and slightly smiled.
"Hi, I'm Vinyl Scratch," she said as she extended her hoof towards the mare.
"Uh, hi, I'm Octavia," she reached out to shake the white unicorn's hoof.
"This seat taken?" Said Vinyl as she pointed to the opposite seat.
"Oh, no, go right ahead!" Said Octavia, perking up at the thought of somepony to talk to.
Vinyl had sat down, looking at the mare on the other side of the table, realizing that she was just gawking like an idiot, she shook her head a-bit and looked back at the mare,
"So, you, Uh, come here often?" The DJ said blankly, hoping she didn't screw up.
"I've come here twice before, it's changed quite a bit since I haven't been here, actually." Octavia said as she took around, her eyes stopping at the turn tables and squinted a-bit in confusion. Vinyl followed her eyes and grinned a goofy, toothy grin. Octavia turned back to the white furred mare, noticing her wide smile, Vinyl obliged.
"Those are my turn tables," stated simply by the DJ.
"Turn .. Tables?" Octavia scrunched up her face in confuzzlement.
"Ya know, what DJs use to make their mixes," Replied Vinyl.
"Dee .. Jay?" said Octavia, completely oblivious.
"Never mind," Vinyl said, pondering up a new conversation when she noticed Octavia's cutie mark.
Octavia and Vinyl Scratch: A Love Story
"Your special talent is music to?!" Vinyl said, mouth agape.
"Yeah, I play the cello." Octavia replied, not really seeing the immediate shock Vinyl had felt.
"The cellowhatsit now?" Vinyl said, perplexed at this new word that was about to be added to her knowledge base, to an extent.
"The cello is a classical instrument, mostly recognized during the Baroque Period..." Octavia trail off into the history of the cello, and it's importantness. Vinyl, of course, listened as hard as she could, without falling asleep.
Ponies began storming in through the doors, some in couples, some in large groups of almost more than four. Octavia grew wide-eyed at the new ponies, she looked back to her company, to find that she had left the table
"Everypony ready to party!!"
Octavia heard a familiar voice and she looked back over towards the .. Turn tables .. To find that Vinyl was on stage standing behind them, fiddling with the many knobs and slides.
Octavia jumped in her seat as a loud thumping noise started emitted from the surrounding speakers, it wasn't what she was used to, but the beat was infectious, she bobbed her head in tempo with the deafening song.
••••
Vinyl loved this song, and she had it mixed perfectly. She looked at the table where she had left the light tan mare and saw that she was enjoying her beats. Vinyl smiled that toothy grin and turned it up, receiving obvious praise from the crowd.
••••
Octavia got up and started dancing near the table she had waited at, she had no idea what this song was, but she just couldn't resist getting up to dance.
She looked back up at the stage to see Vinyl bobbing her head, her eyes closed. Man she must really love this music.
••••
Vinyl witnessed Octavia get up to dance, "Atta Girl," Vinyl said to herself, finding that she was grinning once again.
About 4 hours later …
The place was starting to clear out after the manager had mentioned it being close to closing time, Vinyl spotted the cellist sitting at the same table they had met. She was drinking some colorful thing, Vinyl walked back over to her and sat down.
"So ... Did you like the music?" Vinyl asked.
"OF COURSE! That was great Vinyl! And you do this for a living?!" Octavia asked, still sweating from dancing during the last song.
Vinyl's face turned back into a normal smile, "Yeah, I get that a lot about my music."
"Well, if you have anymore dates with your, Uh, turn tables, just let me know, and I'll be there!" Octavia said, just as she finished writing her number down on a loose napkin.
Vinyl took the napkin as Octavia hoofed it to her, "Thanks!" Vinyl beamed, grinning once again.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that smile," Octavia said, "Oh, and you're welcome!"
"Heh," Vinyl laughed slightly, "Well, I'm gunna go home and hit the hay," Vinyl managed to yawn out.
"Likewise," Octavia replied, as her and the DJ parted. "Don't forget to call!" She yelled out before the white unicorn was out of sight.
"Will do!" Vinyl yelled back, then the two took separate paths.
Octavia arrived at her apartment, exhausted, she fell right into bed, not even bothering with the covers. She lie in bed, thinking about the next time she would meet the blue maned DJ, she dosed off into a deep slumber.
••••
Vinyl flopped down onto her bed, taking off her shades and closing her eyes, all she could do was count treble clef cuties marks to help herself fall asleep.
About 3 days later …
Ring ring .. ring ring .. rin, "Hello?" Octavia answered putting her phone up to her ear. A short pause followed before a familiar voice replied.
"Hey," "What's up?" Vinyl shakily answered.
"Oh, nothing much," Octavia got out after pausing for awhile.
"Am I interrupting something?" Vinyl asked, preparing to hang up.
"OH! No, no, I'm just trying to tune my cello." After some flat notes are played and corrected Octavia replied again, "Ok, I'm done. So .. You got some parties coming up?"
"Yeah, just a couple," Vinyl said, her enthusiasm rising a bit.
"Great! I'll see if I can make them, I haven't really been busy as much as I usually am." Octavia said, perking up as well.
"Oh, well, that's good," Vinyl replied, chewing her bottom lip. "Well, I guess I'll call you later." Vinyl finished.
"Oh, wait, you didn't tell me what time I should come!" Octavia blurted before Vinyl hung up.
"Just come at 7 and come around back, if anyone asks, just say you're with me." Vinyl replied.
"Ok, sounds simple enough, I'll be there at 7." Octavia stated. "Bye!"
"Bye." Vinyl said as she hung up.
••••
Octavia smiled to herself as she readied her sheet music and began to play Bach's Prèlude Suit No. 1, in F minor.
Octavia and Vinyl Scratch: A Love Story
Octavia raised her hoof and knocked on the door, it soon swung open, with a very happy Vinyl Scratch standing in the door way.
"Hello Vinyl," Octavia said as she smiled.
"Hey.." Vinyl trailed, "Oh! I'm sorry, come on in!" Vinyl gestured back with her hoof.
Octavia walked in and looked around the back stage area.
"Well, this is pretty new," Octavia stated. "I've never been back here before.."
Vinyl watched Octavia in silence, her eyes slowly drifting to her flan - STOP! - Vinyl thought to herself, SHE'S A FRIEND! JEEZ VINYL, CONTROL YOURSELF.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Vinyl's eyes following where ever Octavia's eyes fell upon.
Octavia, after looking around, turned to look back at Vinyl, who, for some reason, was looking up and and blushing a deep red.
IT'S NOT POLITE TO STARE! ITS NOT POLITE TO STARE! Vinyl screamed in her mind. She looked back to the tan earth pony to find her looking directly at her, CRAP!
Octavia giggled at the red faced unicorn, "You, Uh, ok there, Vinyl?"
"Yeah, heh, I'm good." Vinyl said, trying to relax herself.
"Soo .. Where do you keep your turn tables?" Asked Octavia.
"On the stage, why?" The DJ inquired.
"Nothing, I was just, Uh, wondering if you could, Uh, show me how to do some stuff." Octavia stuttered as she was looking down at her front hooves, blushing slightly.
"Sure!" Vinyl grinned her goofy grin as she took Octavia's hoof in hers and led her to the stage. Vinyl took her time to get the turn tables ready for use. After the deed, Vinyl placed her headphones atop Octavia's head.
Octavia fixed the headphones to better fit around her ears.
"Ok, now, I'll just play a test track." Vinyl said, still preparing everything.
All of a sudden a simple electronic sounding song played softly through the headphones.
Vinyl felt Octavia jump as the noise came through the headphones, she giggled a bit.
"So now you can just mess with whatever settings and functions you want." Vinyl said getting behind Octavia to point out some main controls.
"You got your tempo control, you can change the reverb, and you can cycle through the different beats." Vinyl stated as she changed the tempo herself, reaching over Octavia.
Octavia blushed as the DJ reached over her, she ducked down slightly and looked up at the unicorn.
Vinyl noticed the movement and looked down, seeing Octavia's face right below hers. She quickly realized this and moved backwards, blushing deeply.
Octavia giggled, still blushing, "It's ok Vinyl, you don't have to be so embarrassed. Now come on, I don't know how to work these things." Said Octavia.
"Ah .. Ok," Vinyl murmured as she trotted back over to Octavia. She got behind Octavia to help her out encase she ran into a problem.
Octavia messed with the tempo, and turned up the bass. She then started bobbing her head some, mimicking the DJ when she is on stage.
Vinyl backed off a bit to give the cellist some room.
Octavia's head bobbing grew faster as she messed with more of the level controls. Vinyl got pretty curious after awhile and walked back over to retrieve an extra pair of ear buds from under the mixing table, she floated the jack into the 'Audio Output' plug-in and floated the ear buds into each of her ears.
It was an electronic sort of song with a tune that played after every beat.
"You like?" Octavia asked as she removed the headphones and hung them around her neck.
"Yeah, its good, for a noob," Vinyl said as she winked at Octavia.
Octavia rolled her eyes at Vinyl's remark, "It's not like I do this all the time."
"I guess you're right," Vinyl replied. "HEY! You know what?!" Vinyl practically yelled.
"What?" Said Octavia, who jumped at the spontaneous loudness.
"You should teach me how to play the cell, and I could teach you how to mix!" Vinyl said, grinning enormously.
Octavia thought for a moment then gave her opinion, "That sounds pretty fun. Let's do it!"
"Yeah, it'll be fun!" Vinyl answered as she held out her right hoof, "Lets shake on it!"
Octavia extended her right hoof as well and placed it atop Vinyl's. They both stood there and shook for a while until they heard people arriving at the bar.
"Party time," Vinyl said to Octavia, smiling.
••••
Octavia found herself a good seat, right next to Vinyl. After ponies began to show up, Vinyl made a proposition …
~~~
"You know what?" Vinyl asked after her and Octavia went back behind stage.
"Hm?" Octavia murmured.
"How's about you do the show, and I'll be right next to you the whole time. DJ'ing isn't just about the music, it also about how the DJ is, you don't want a depressed DJ playin' music do you?" Asked Vinyl.
"Well, no. But I don't think I'm quite ready for that." Said Octavia.
"You do concerts and recitals, right? Vinyl challenged.
"Well, yeah," Octavia followed.
"This is no different from those except a different crowd, and different music." Reasoned Vinyl.
~~~
And that's how Octavia got here, standing next to Vinyl as she got everything set up.
Vinyl's horn stopped glowing and she turned to Octavia, "She's all yours." She then moved back to give Octavia some room.
Octavia poked the mic to make sure it was on, as soon as she did, there was a thumping noise which told her it was on. She put her head down and spoke into the mic.
"Uuh.. I'm Octavia, and I'll be filling in for DJ P0N-3.."
The crowd replied with conversations of questions as to why this new pony was going to DJ. This noise was soon stopped by Vinyl cutting in.
"This is my uuuh.. apprentice?" She spoke into the mic.
The crowd-noise was then filled with "oooooohs" and "aahs".
Vinyl turned to Octavia and shrugged, "Meh". Octavia giggled lightly and turned back to the crowd smiling cheerfully, "Let's get this party started, shall we?"
The crowd paused at this different way of being addressed, "Sure, yeah," the crowd replied. Immediately Octavia played a deep cello solo with a constant drum beat in the background, the crowd began stamping hooves and dancing to the beat, the music began building and before they knew it, the heaviest and most grimiest bass drop began rumbling the whole club.
Octavia was stunned, she hadn't done anything, she looked back to Vinyl who was mixing on an alternate table behind the curtain. Vinyl looked up at Octavia and grinned widely, Octavia couldn't help but smile back, laughing a bit.