Working Class DJ

by Lise

10. Just a few friends...

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"Vi!" Lyra hugged her the moment she jumped out of. After a few moments of feeling awkward, Vinyl decided to cautiously join in. "For a while I was worried you wouldn't make it." The musician let go, then examined her from head to hoof. "Love what you've done to the mane. You'll definitely be the the talk of the party."

"My mane?" Vinyl asked puzzled. Stars! I'm such an idiot! Glitter changed my mane as well!

"Glitter, how long has it been, pone?" Lyra went on to peck the other unicorn on either cheek. "Never expected you to show up. Haven't seen you at a party in, like, five months."

"Well, I work now." Glitter smiled. "You know how it is. Actually, scratch that. You don't have a bucking clue what work is, do you?"

"Ouch! That hurt!" Lyra shoved her in the shoulder jokingly. "Anyway, glad you made it! Things are just getting started, so everything is set up for your grand entrance. And since this is Vi's first time, I'll give her the grand tour!" She winked a Vinyl who only managed to mumble something in thanks.

"I'm sure you will." Glitter shook her head. "Before that, though—"

"I know, I know." The musician made a circle in the air with her hoof. "You’re a bunch of friends I used to hang out with. Sheesh! Learn to give me some credit, Glitter. I'm not that dim."

"It's not that." Glitter's expression darkened. "Is he here?"

This is interesting, Vinyl thought and instantly felt bad for doing so. Nopony, let alone one of her stature, should put her muzzle in another's personal life. It was rude, inappropriate, disgusting... and so tempting. Vinyl's parents had had several long conversations with her on the subject, explaining in great detail why it should never be done. Of course, they were hypocrites. Nearly every evening, when they were alone, they discussed the private lives of domestic and foreign dignitaries. Lately, Princess Luna had been the topic of gossip, along with her disastrous attempts to fit into modern society.

I really shouldn't eavesdrop, Vinyl told herself, then guiltily performed a sound amplification spell.

"I don't want to go through a repeat of last time," Glitter whispered, a few steps away from Vinyl. "Just because that jerk has 'feelings' all of a sudden doesn't mean I haven't moved on! If he gets drunk and nibbles my ear in public one more time, I swear—"

"He won't, I took care of it," Lyra assured her. "It's his shift, and I've told a few ponies to keep an eye out, just in case. If he even thinks of coming here I'll know and deal with him."

Drama! Vinyl felt both curious and ashamed. Real life was so much better than novels. Scary, but at the same time so full of colour she could hardly resist getting involved. Maybe she should have a long talk with Glitter on the matter? Come to think of it, the amount of talks she wanted to have with Glitter was getting dangerously high.

"Vi?" The sound of Lyra's voice brought Vinyl back to the here and now. "You okay? You're zoning out..."

"Oh." Damn you, brain! Learn to cope and focus better. "I was just thinking about something," she smiled. "We've brought some treats," she levitated her food basket forward in the hopes it would deflect any following questions. "Nothing much, just—"

"So sweet of you." Lyra covered her smile with a hoof. Her horn flashed briefly, at which point the food basket suddenly vanished. "You shouldn't have, though. I have all the food we need!" She put her hoof round Vinyl, literally dragging her into her home. "Come, there are lots of ponies I want to introduce you to!"

"But, but, Glit—" Vinyl began, trying to keep up. Where is she getting all this energy from?!

"Not to worry, she'll be nearby," Lyra assured. "Besides, Glitter can mingle on her own."

The statement didn't make Vinyl feel any more at ease. As long as this was more like a soiree than a party everything would be fine, yet the unicorn still had an unpleasant feeling in her stomach. Trying to slow Lyra's advance, she glanced at Glitter over her shoulder. The maid just nodded with a smile and whispered "don't drink the punch". The words would have remained unheard, hadn't it been for Vinyl's sound amplification spell. A shade of pink appeared on Vinyl's face — she was so busted; Glitter knew she had been eavesdropping all along.

"Hey, phones!" Lyra announced loudly, upon entering her living room. "Let me introduce two very special friends of mine!" Vinyl could feel her throat go dry. "Glitter and Vi!" Here we go. Oh, no this is not embarrassing at all.

The ponies greeted in turn. There were far more of then than Vinyl expected. When Lyra had said "a few friends" the logical thing to assume was a few dozen at most. Looking around, there were at least thirty only in this area of the house. One major difference from Vinyl’s experience in the nightclub was that the majority here were unicorns. Pegasi and earth ponies were far less common, and, judging by their cutie-marks, all musicians. At least that part is true, Vinyl thought.

"Let me introduce you to a few ponies," Lyra dragged Vinyl on, thankfully far more gently this time. Her enthusiasm really was out of this world. If Glitter had behaved like that even for a second she would have been fired on the spot.

The place itself was quite unusual. Originally, it must have been a calm, conservative home for the upper-middle class. The musician had changed more than a bit. All walls that could be knocked down had been, creating one huge space on the ground floor reaching up to the roof itself. Smaller rooms were scattered all over the second floor — bedrooms, possibly. No hint of a kitchen — if such existed, it probably had been removed during the "renovation.” Little wonder that Lyra was a regular at Donut Joe's.

"How in Canterlot did your parents agree to this?" Vinyl managed to ask. Is that a crystal chandelier made into a table? With a pole in the middle?!

"Oh, it's my place. I can do whatever I want with it," Lyra chuckled. "As long as I don't set it on fire, and have the walls covered with sound reduction spells during a party."

"Right." I'm beginning to regret coming here. "About that. I believe you mentioned you were inviting a few close friends. That's hardly 'a few' by any stretch of the imagination."

"Vi, you really need to learn to live a bit." Lyra ruffled her mane, causing Vinyl to freeze for a moment. Only her manestylist was allowed to touch her mane like that! "And they are from the music scene. Well, in some manner of speaking."

"Please, do tell." Vinyl narrowed her eyes.

"You see that group over there?" Lyra pointed at the far corner, where five ponies were dancing wildly. "That's the brass section. The most promising in their field. Some have already had concerts. Out of this room, they are strict and snobbish as you could expect, but every once in awhile they go to a party to stress out."

Some of them did seem familiar. Possibly they had been present at one of the concertos Vinyl had been at. None gave her the impression of being particularly special — she would have remembered them if they were.

"That there is Neon Lights." Lyra pointed to a light cyan unicorn among a crowd of mares. "Great DJ, super crowd warmer, and quite the playcolt. He tends to get a bit too close to his fans, if you know what I mean."

"There seems to be a lot of that going around in the DJ scene," Vinyl said quietly. Octavia's recent experience came to mind. I wonder if her... temporary partner is anywhere here? Or maybe he was just a fan?

"Yes, it's definitely the wild life," Lyra chuckled. "Baby steps, Vi. You'll get there eventually."

I certainly doubt I would follow that particular path, the white unicorn thought, indignantly.

"Oh, that one is quite interesting." Lyra moved her head indicating a blue maned stallion. "Royal guard by day, superb guitar player by night. And I do mean superb. Great thing is, since he is a guard, he can't dream of doing any funny business... unless he's very discreet. Maybe you should check him out sometime?"

"Somehow I doubt it." Is she seriously suggesting that I...? Surely it can't be. It has to be the music. Yes, definitely the music. This wasn't good. A few minutes in, and Vinyl could feel her mind shutting down. A bit longer and she would transform into a walking puppet again.

No! she thought, then bit her tongue. That quickly focused her senses, causing her to forget any make-belief fears. This was a civilized Canterlot party — nothing could go wrong here. Especially not with with Glitter around. All her fears were in her mind, and nowhere else!

"So what now?" Vinyl asked, waiting for the mental fog to lift slowly. Keep it genetic. That way no one would be able to see the difference.

"Now?" Lyra laughed. "Vi, you really are too much!" She hugged her, much to Vinyl's dismay. This is ridiculous! What are we? In kindergarten?

"I am quite serious!" The white unicorn pushed Lyra off her. "If you remember the whole reason I came here was to learn how to become a you-know-what." Uttering it in public still caused her some discomfort.

"I know, I know." Lyra kept on laughing. "It's just. You're so stiff that you might be an ice princess."

Narrowing her eyes, vinyl glared at her. Her body urged her to snort in disapproval. Years of strict training and manners kept against it, resulting in an expression three-quarters between annoyance and snobbishness.

"There!" Lyra pointed at her. "That's it! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You keep everything in — good or bad. There might be a storm raging inside you, but all you do is give that look. Believe me, I know how it is. I had to act the same way, while I lived with my parents. At parties you have to loosen up. On the dance floor you really have to loosen up. That's pretty much the difference between classical and modern."

Vinyl's ears perked up. Finally something worthwhile. One simple sentence and her negative opinion of Lyra had vanished. Instead, now she was looking at her like a schoolfilly focused her attention on a teacher, expecting to learn the secrets of the universe.

"With classical the performer expects to feed the crowd," Lyra continued. "With modern — you feed off the crowd. All the noise that would ruin a concerto acts like pure adrenalin in a stadium. Your whole life you have been trained to block everything out. Perfect for classical, useless anywhere else. Until you start to relax and let go, you won't get anywhere much."

"That's utter nonsense!" Vinyl said, although deep inside she was already giving it serious consideration. "Surely—"

"Lyra!" A pegasus dashed to them, interrupting Vinyl mid-word. "It's bad! Really really bad! Some idiot mentioned about the party at Clubdance. From there somehow it got to River Tail and..." The Pegasus stopped, swallowing guiltily. "He knows. And he also knows that Glitter is here."

"Well, that's just perfect!" Lyra's sunny disposition was suddenly replaced by the snarl of an angry manticore. "What the hay, Cloud Trail?! It was supposed to be kept under wraps!"

"I know! Can't explain how it happened."

"Don't bother. If I know him, he's already on his way here. Shit!" Lyra stomped on the floor hard. "Glitter's gonna kill me. Listen, try to hold him up or something. I'll be there in a sec." The Pegasus nodded, then flew out of a window just as quickly as he had appeared. "Vi," Lyra turned to Vinyl, "really sorry about this, but there's something I must take care of. You go ahead and enjoy the party. Promise I'll come back the moment I settle things."

Before Vinyl could protest or even voice a question, Lyra had pecked her gently on the cheek and teleported out of the room.

What just happened? She stared blankly into the distance. Every time she thought she things figured out, reality twist her horn in an entire new way. Slowly, Vinyl touched her cheek, as to make sure it was still there and intact. Part of her was disgusted how unhygienic it was, the rest — wondering if she shouldn't explore further.

"It's silly," Vinyl said out loud, hoping her own voice would ring some sense into her. "This is hardly the time to—"

"Princess?" The word caused Vinyl to freeze petrified. Her years shot up in alarm. Terrified, she turned towards the source of the voice. Less than a few steps away stood none other than the waitress from the Lunar Twin.

"Astra?" she asked, in disbelief. This was the first time vinyl had seen the waitress au naturalle, and was she different! Light hazel coat, straight golden mane, a theatre mask for her cutie mark. As if somepony else was standing there. "You are... blonde?" The first thought came out of her mouth. "I thought..." she stopped. There was no unrude way to continue that sentence.

"I told you I came from a small town," Astra smiled. "Also, it's a good idea to have a different look for work. A lot less questions that way."

"I can imagine, but," she examined her mane closely, "blonde? So all that was makeup, not just the sparkling mane?"

"Necessities of the job." The other smiled and took a drink of the cut she was holding. "Tips are way better. Believe me, I learned the hard way. After all, remember the way you stared at me the first time you saw me?"

"Oh." Vinyl tilted her head down slightly. "My apologies for that, I didn't mean to be rude." Should I give some explanation? I don't want to appear like it sniveling. But I mustn't be cold either. Maybe I should take this chance to get to know her better? But should Come too strong or—

"Princess, you never chill, do you?" Astra laughed. "The guest of honour at Lyra's party and you still treat this as punishment."

"I most certainly do not!" Vinyl lifted her head up high again. "I happen to be extremely grateful to Lyra for inviting me here! She has been nothing but nice and understanding!"

"Well, you could have fooled me," the earth pony sighed. "Listen, I don't know why you are here, but it’s certainly not to have fun. The same like when you went to the Twin. Something is driving you there, yet you also regret it. Take it from me, until you make up your mind you'll never be happy one way or the other."

"It's hardly that simple!" Stars, I sound like my father. Each time he goes off on one of his excavation trips he constantly tells me how much he misses me, yet it's never as simple as spending a few days with me. "Actually, you know what? You are right. I came here to have fun, and I intend to do just that!"

For several seconds, she just stood there, determined, uncomfortable and clueless, until she finally dared ask the question.

"What do you usually do at parties?" she whispered to Astra.

"To loosen up? Try some of this?" She offered her cup to Vinyl. The mere thought of drinking from somepony else's drink was repulsive, yet gritting her teeth, Vinyl levitated it towards herself.

"What is it?" She asked looking at the purplish substance.

"Punch." Astra smiled. "A few gulps and you'll be all set."

* * *

"Mother, why do I have to go to these events?" Vinyl asked as a stylist and three maids carefully levitated her dress onto her. It was composed of so many elements, that it might have been quicker to take all the stars from the sky and wear them.

"Your aunt has organized it, Vinyl," he mother explained calmly. "Therefore, it is our duty and obligation to go. Furthermore, she had expressed desire to see your cutie-mark."

"But, Mother, my cutie-mark is shameful!" Vinyl sulked. "It is not noble like yours or fathers." Even my stupid cousin got a star compass!

A sharp aether slap hit vinyl right on the cheek. This was the first time she had know her mother to do that to her. The experience was more surprising than painful, causing her to freeze up in shock.

"What is shameful is to deny your talent," her mother's tone didn't change one iota. "Although it might not be what any of us had hoped, it is your stars-given destiny, and you will not shame yourself and your family by claiming that it isn't suited for you." Slowly, the duchess went in front of Vinyl, and lifted her daughter's face up, so as to look her in the eye.

"Now listen to me," she started, every word crystal clear. "You are going to go to this special soiree and act as if it's the most magnificent thing you've ever seen. Your cousin will be there, as well as the Princess herself. I expect each of them to welcome you in some fashion. You will not make any sarcastic comments regarding your cutie-mark, nor will you show any displeasure in having it. If your cousin tries to ridicule you, accept it with humility, the same way I taught you. Is all that clear?"

"Yes, your Grace," Vinyl answered through her facade.

"Good. I expect your behaviour to be superb." Her mother nodded. "Especially tonight. Such events only happen once in a lifetime, so be sure to make it a success, or you will live with the regret your entire life."

"I understand, Mother."

"My dear, Vinyl." The duchess passed a hoof gently over Vinyl's still sore cheek. "I am sure you do. And that is why you must always be prepared."

"Might I ask a question, Mother?" Vinyl asked, then receiving a nod proceeded. "How do I enjoy such an event?"

"Simple." Her mother's eyes softened for a moment. "You pretend you are the only one there."

* * *

"It was only half a cup!" Vinyl heard somepony say in a panicked voice. For some reason, it seemed so hilarious. "Less than that, even! I had no idea it would gave such an effect!"

"That's just perfect," Lyra sighed, keeping Vinyl up with her magic. Without it, the white unicorn would instantly return to being a pile on the ground, as she had for the last ten minutes. "First Fire tries to crash my party, now this. What the buck were you thinking, Cherry Mask?!"

"I just wanted to help her loosen up a bit," the blonde earth pony said, full of worry. "I knew she couldn't handle the strong stuff, but a sip of punch!" She placed both forehooves on her temples. "I didn't expect that! Honestly, Lura, I—"

"You really messed up, Cherry!" Lyra moved forward, levitating Vinyl behind her. "Vi's never touched a drop in her life."

"How was I supposed to know?! Who does that? Look, I knew she was sheltered, but not this much. Half the snobs I know have been secretly drinking since they got their cutie-marks! She's eighteen, for Celestia's sake!"

"Will you just help me get her to the terrace?" Lyra snapped at her. "I'll deal with this. You just... just make sure no one goes there. And for string's sake, don't let Glitter learn of this! It's enough she almost tore Fire's feathers off!"

"Everything's moving!" Vinyl announced joyfully, her accent not in the least affected by her drunken state. "Just like the huge merry-go-round mommy gave me for my seventh birthday."

"Yes, Vi, just like that." Lyra rushed up the stairs. There were far fewer ponies in this part of the house — most preferred to party in the main area, yet still there were plenty of times Lyra had to struggle to get Vinyl through safely. And all the time Vinyl was acting like a mare which had downed a barrel of hard cider.

"You know," Vinyl lifted a hoof, only to have it brought back down by Lyra's Magic once more, "you and Glitter are my best friends! My truly best friends in all of Canterlot!"

"That's good to know." Lyra concentrated, opening the terrace does in front of her. "Let's just get you outside. Some cool fresh air will make you feel may better."

"My parents don't love me!" Vinyl continued, her drunken cheer suddenly replaced by sadness. "They leave me all alone in that big manor, as if I'm a piece of furniture. Never come on my birthday. Not once in five years! The only reason they are there for Hearth's Warming is because the Princess expects it from them!"

"Now, Vi, I'm sure—" Lyra moved her closer, shutting the terrace doors behind them.

"Hate me!" Vinyl didn't allow to be interrupted. "Because of my cutie-mark! Think that music is shameful! Well, it isn't! It's beautiful, magnificent, divine! A river of sounds that flows to the stars and back!" She started sobbing on Lyra's shoulder. "I just want to swim in a river of sounds."

The sobbing changed into full blown crying. It was as if all the emotions Vinyl had kept bottled inside wanted to get out. All those years keeping a perfect front, lying to others and herself, that she could handle it all, relied on the unicorn's ability to maintain full control. Now her control was gone, causing her "marble facade" to crack like cheap clay in a fireplace.

"Octavia hates me!" Vinyl continued, not even sending Laura's attempts to calm her down. "She can do such beautiful music, but will never teach me, because she hates me! All my life those stupid exercises — 'young miss, tact three', 'young miss, tact four'!" She waved a hoof in the air. "Useless! Once in my life I meet somepony who could teach me, and she rejects me!"

"There, there, Vi," Lyra whispered softly, gently stroking her mane. "There are others who can teach you."

"Not like Octavia!" Vinyl paused a moment to take a breath. The recent crying had exhausted her to the point she had calmed down, but a fraction. "She is a genius. She takes third rate equipment and composed something beautiful. My own voice! She used my own voice as an instrument. And she said no. Why, Lyra? Why did she say no?"

"Hush. Life is like that sometimes," Lyra held her tightly. "It will pass. Octavia is good, but just not for you. She always says no. She doesn't hate you, Vinyl, nopony hates you—"

"I destroyed a club!" The white unicorn, just couldn't let go of her sadness. "A whole club! I just had to say yes. A foal could do it. But did I? No! I am a disappointment! To my parents, to Presence, to Octavia..." Still off balance she made a step back, so as to look at Lyra. The action nearly caused her to topple over, fortunately her friend held her in place with her magic. "I'm a disappointment to Chef, to Glitter, even to you!"

"Vi, Vi!" Lyra held her firmly. "You'll never be a disappointment to me!" Gently, she brushed away Vinyl's tears, moved her mane off her face, then sensually kissed her on the mouth. The experience lasted no more than a few seconds. When it was over, Vinyl was sound asleep.


Author's Note

Next chapter: Lyra knows best

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