Scratched

Chapters

Close Friends
A Career Filly
First Rate Accomodations
Welcome To The Show
New Contacts
Unwelcome Discoveries
A Quiet Evening
Captive Audience

Close Friends

The city of Manehattan sprawled in the failing light of dusk as thick sheets of snow fell amongst the narrow streets. A stiff wind blew from the north, swirling the tiny flakes and battering them against the massive city. This far from the city center, the concrete high rises fell away to the old buildings of the original town; wood and brick apartments trailing plumes of smoke into the air as if they were living things. The dense snowfall started collecting against leaded glass windows and brick stoops as the city settled properly into the storm.

Hardly visible in the dark of night and the falling white snow, a single filly picked her way through the streets and alleys. She may have been completely obscured if it weren’t for the electric blue tail trailing behind her as she trotted quickly between buildings. She obviously knew her way, but struggled in the fresh snow and her overburdened saddle bags. The leather packs were stuffed full, and a large, carefully wrapped square object balanced precariously on top.

The small pony merely grunted and reached back, cinching the packs tight as she hurried on. “They’ll be there…” she whispered to herself. “They’ve got to be there.”

This far removed from downtown, the streets were deserted this time of night. She was glad. The filly had no intentions of talking to anyone on the street tonight. Turning a corner she headed into a particularly dark and narrow alley, thankful to be shielded from the wind. The state of the gloomy back street didn’t faze her at all. Navigating between bits of paper and refuse being slowly engulfed by the falling snow, the pony trotted to a well-lit building at the end of the row. Flaking green windows dotted the cream colored bricks long turned brown from the smog of the city. The filly could smell the earthy, fragrant smell of burning wood as smoke billowed out of a dilapidated chimney.

She gripped her pack tightly, and walked up to worn green door. Breathing deeply, she knocked loudly three times, the sharp sounds being lost almost immediately in the blizzard.

“Please be here, please be here.” The filly repeated to herself, shivering as she felt flakes of snow melt on her fur.

A wave of relief washed over her as she heard hoofsteps inside the door. There was a rattle as the pony inside attempted to free the old lock, pushing the door outward as hard as they could, before freeing the bolt. As the door opened, Vinyl saw a portly stallion inside, a faun pony with an unkempt chocolate mane. He beamed at the mare, adjusting a pair of well worn glasses.

Vinyl groaned. The absolute last pony she wanted to see.

“Hey Scratch. Haven’t seen you around for a while. What are you doing out this late in the cold? Daddy finally throw you out?” He said, grinning widely at her.

She ignored the insult. “Treble, just let me in. I’m here to see Tavi.”

“Sure, sure.” He replied, standing to the side in the narrow hallway. Even with him hugging the wall, it still was a tight fit past with her overstuffed saddlebags. As she squirmed past, she was acutely aware of him watching her plot. “You’re looking as good as ever.”

Vinyl sighed slightly, still walking down the hall. “I thought I made it clear last time.”

The stallion merely shrugged. “And yet here we are.”

“Whatever…” Vinyl said as she turned away from him. She headed upstairs, the only light a dimly flickering oil lamp on the wall. This place was a deathtrap by modern standards, she thought. Honestly the mare was amazed somepony had remembered to refill it at all.

She walked along threadbare carpet runners as she walked to her friend’s room. She knocked lightly on the flaking yellow door, before letting herself in.

A stoic grey filly looked up at her as she entered. She lounged in an overstuffed chair, resting on her back as she read some music magazine from the city.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, Vinyl.”

“Tavi…I…” Vinyl said, standing in the doorway as she searched for words. She knew she was asking a lot. But she didn’t have many options at this point. “I finally did it, okay? I told him off for the last time. I can’t go back there now…”

Octavia’s eyes softened as she looked at her friend standing there in the hallway. The almost comically oversized pack on her back. The defeated look on her face.

“You really did it, huh?” She said softly, placing the magazine down. She hopped up, walking to her friend. “It’s about damn time. Come on in.”

Vinyl sighed, placing her pack down on the floor. She paused at her friend’s side, the other mare pushing her weight against hers, placing her muzzle on her back. Octavia gasped at the cold touch of the other pony. She must be almost frozen through and through.

The white unicorn’s tough exterior broke a little, and she felt suddenly weak, grateful for her friend supporting her body. Her eyes filled with tears, as Octavia cradled the pony against her soft fur. She walked her to a nearby red velvet couch, placing her on threadbare cushions. Crawling next to the other mare, Octavia nuzzled up against her neck, feeling the soft sobs as Vinyl choked back her tears.

“That bad, huh?”

“It’s okay, Tavi. I’m…I’m glad, really. Ever since he started living with mom, I just couldn’t be there anymore. I knew it would end up like this.” Vinyl whispered, burying her head in the couch, tears staining the velvet upholstery. The other filly was silent against Vinyl’s side.

“He yelled at me again for practicing in the house again. I told him to buck off, and when I came back from school today, all my things were in the trash. He tossed my turntable, amp, everything. I salvaged most of it, and waited for mom to come home.” Vinyl continued. Tavi could feel her shiver as she got choked up again.

“She took his side, Tavi. She never did that before. She told me he was right. That I needed to stop, that I needed to focus more on school. She told me I was ruining my life, that I was ruining hers. That she was worried about who I was hanging out with.” Vinyl said, turning her face to look at Tavi. The other pony could see her eyes in the glow of the single gas lamp, reflecting off tears as they flowed freely down her muzzle. “Mom was always on my side before. It hurt so bad when she said it. And he just stood there, looking at me.”

“I couldn’t stay…”

Leaning in towards the other filly, Octavia cradled her head against her own. She felt her neck grow damp with tears as she held Vinyl against her as she sobbed softly.

“It’s alright. It’s going to be okay. We knew you had to leave weeks ago, right?” Octavia said softly.

Vinyl didn’t acknowledge her.

“You’ll stay here tonight, okay? We’ll figure something out tomorrow.” Octavia said as she rose from the couch. “Come here, you feel like a block of ice.”

She guided the other mare to her old four poster bed. Octavia pulled back white cotton sheets, helping her settle down onto the well filled hay mattress. She climbed in after her, snuggling against the other pony as she brought a heavy down comforter over them. They sat in silence for a long time, Octavia occasionally feeling the shiver of the other filly against her side.

“Thanks Tavi.” Vinyl whispered as she started to doze off, exhausted.

Octavia said nothing as she cuddled in close against her friend. Only until after the other pony fell asleep, and Octavia could feel her rhythmic breathing, could the pony let herself nod off.

A Career Filly

Sun streamed in through the old windows, piercing the dirty, wavy glass as the beams caught in lazy motes of dust in the air. Octavia blinked her eyes, yawning as she adjusted to the bright light. The feeling of soft fur against her side caught her off guard. She wasn’t used to ponies sleeping in her bed these days. This morning Vinyl’s soft snoring didn’t seem to bother her much at all. She could feel her chest moving softly as the small wheezes filled the room.

Sighing slightly, she settled into the sheets, letting the sun warm her face as she nuzzled against the other mare. She missed this more than she remembered. It had been a long time since she woke up with someone to share the morning with. Sliding against the white mare, she could feel her body against her own chest, the warmth flowing through her as Vinyl pushed back against her in her sleep.

She felt like she could stay this way all day.

Octavia wasn’t sure how long it was until the other pony started to stir. She felt Vinyl’s body stretch as she pulled away under the covers. Pulling back the comforter, Octavia felt a cool breeze as she hopped off the mattress.

She looked back at her friend, the sun shining off her white coat. She was smiling at least.

“You look happy this morning.” Octavia said.

“Mmmm, slept great.” She replied, as she thrust her front legs out in a long stretch. “It was nice to be back here.”

Octavia narrowed her eyes slightly. “Just for the night, remember?” She said, tossing the covers off and hopping to the floor. “Let’s go get breakfast. We have some work to do today.”

The two took turns at the shared bathroom, Octavia finishing first and setting the pot on boil. She busied herself in the small kitchen, setting out a small breakfast. She put four thick slices of dark oat bread on a small rack in the oven, before she deftly lit a match to start the flame in the burner. She watched the old stove come to life as tendrils of steam started to rise from the tea kettle.

“Where’s Twitch?” Vinyl asked as she trotted into the room.

“You know her. She may still be at the club.” Octavia replied. Both ponies shared a small chuckle at the thought.

“And Treble will probly sleep til noon…”

“Probably.” Octavia agreed. “You still like your coffee black right?”

“Sure.”

Octavia opened a steel canister, placing a good portion of grounds in the kettle. The smell of fresh coffee slowly filled the room as she reached in and took the toasted bread from the oven. She placed a couple pieces in front of her friend, offering her a small wedge of soft cheese. The unicorn ate greedily, and Octavia couldn’t help but smile to herself as she carefully poured two mugs of strong coffee from the kettle through her strainer.

A blue glow caught one of the old earthen mugs as Vinyl levitated it to herself. “Thanks!” She said, beaming at her friend.

The two sat at the small wooden kitchen table, eating their breakfast quickly. Octavia could feel the anxiousness from her friend across the table. She could feel the old floorboards vibrate as Vinyl tapped her hoof on the floor repeatedly.

She put up a strong front, as always. Vinyl had already finished her first cup and was filling her mug a second time. Despite her smile, Octavia could see the worry written on her face.

Reaching out to take her friend’s plate, she stacked them in the center of the table. She placed her hoof gently over Vinyl’s.

“It’s going to be ok, alright? It’s not like we can kick you out on the street. I just…I can’t live like we used to…” Octavia said, her voice quietly trailing off.

“I know.” Vinyl replied. She looked her friend in the eyes. She did look stronger than before, Octavia thought. It was hard to say though.

“We’ll talk to Twitch. She practically lives at that club anyways. Sparks might be able to help. He might be a little gruff at times but he’s a good pony. And he has a soft spot for you, I think.” Octavia said, placing the dishes in the ceramic sink. She wiped a few errant crumbs from the table, smiling slightly as she saw the table shine in the morning sunlight.

New fallen snow crunched underhoof as two walked down the street. A few ponies were out and about on the deserted streets, shoveling snow or slowly finding their way across the unplowed cobblestones. Vinyl cinched her pack up tighter as they headed further downtown. Thankfully the load was much lighter; she only needed her turntable and rest of her setup today.

“Do you think she’ll be there?” Asked Vinyl.

“Heh, there’s only one place to go after spending the entire night at Spark’s place. Well, especially for a bat…”

Octavia led her friend to a nondescript storefront. The walk was unshoveled, but heavy hoof traffic had flattened the snow into a slippery sheet of ice. Steel chairs and tables were piled errantly outside, catching the snow in awkward shapes. Pushing through the old heavy door, Vinyl recognized the place immediately. It was the Verona Café next door to Sparks. She knew ponies that went here, but she never had the time really. Not with her parents usually expecting her at a certain time.

She had to grin to herself a bit at the thought. Guess it didn’t matter much today…

A few ponies dotted the small café, noticeably tired or even still strung out from the night before. The snow kept away the normal breakfast regulars. Tapping snow from their hooves, the two made their way to the back of the building; the darkest booths at the rear of the café.

Vinyl could see a singular shape seated there, well out of the glare from the front windows. Nestled into a booth blocked from most of the establishment lights, a black furred pony slumped into her seat, both appearing to be sleeping and eating all at once. A clawed wing deftly darted out from her oversized hooded shirt, spearing a nearby strawberry and quickly popping it into the opening in her hood, where the fruit disappeared.

“You still awake over here?” Octavia asked with a snarkish tone.

The seated figure didn’t seem to move much. “That you, Octavia? You should know by now I hate sleeping…”

“I know, I know.” Octavia replied, sitting down at the opposite side of the booth. She patted the booth next to her, motioning for Vinyl to follow. The pony sat down quickly as she placed her pack beside the end of the booth.

The strange black pony didn’t seem to acknowledge her at first, stealing sideways glances as she greeted Octavia. Vinyl had met Twitch before, but she never had really gotten used to her. She was the only bat pony she had ever run into. Her strange leathery wings always seemed to be moving, snatching a few pieces of fruit even as she talked. Her fur was almost jet black, strongly contrasting with a bubblegum pink mane shaved smooth on one side, and left long on the other. Twitch let it hang over her face, concealing the right side of her face, and trailing down past her muzzle.

“So what’s with your little marefriend here, Octavia?” Twitch said with a grin. Vinyl blushed a bit, turning to her friend.

“Just a friend, Twitch, remember?” Octavia corrected her. “And anyways, she needs a job.”

“A job, huh? She’s a bit young for working the tables. Does she even have her little butt tattoo yet?” Twitch asked, chuckling. A wing shot out quickly from behind her. Vinyl could feel a claw run along her rump, only for a moment, before Twitch pulled it back.

“Not THAT kind of job.” Octavia sighed. “She won that junior artist contest Sparks threw a few months ago.”

Twitch seemed to think a moment, her wing claw reflexively reaching up to brush her mane from her eyes, scratching her forehead. “Oh yeah! Sure, sure. I remember that. You were pretty good for a small fry! What was your name again?”

“I…I didn’t have a stage name or anything. Names just Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch.”

“Yeahhh, alright, I remember now. Ole Sparks liked your set but you were just too young for him to let you work in a place like that. What makes you think he’s going to let you in now? Did this little pony do a whole lot of growing up in three months?” Twitch asked, chuckling.

Vinyl hit her hoof on the table hard. She never had had this long of a conversation with Twitch before. And she was starting to see why.

Octavia placed her hoof on her friend’s, attempting to calm her down. “Twitch, we’re not going to get into it now, but just believe me that we need to find something for her, okay? I’m asking for your help on this.”

Deftly snatching the last grape from her fruit plate, Twitch popped it in her mouth, looking over at the two ponies. She sat there in silence for a few seconds before a smirk grew across her muzzle. “Heh, you guys are damn lucky I’m in a good mood today. Could be the hot stallion I met last night, could be the non prescription pharmaceuticals. Either way, I’m not quite ready to hit the sack, and I think I can help you fillies.”

Rising to her feet, the bat pony pushed past the pair, motioning with her wispy pink tail. “C’mon ladies. I can take you to see old man Sparks. He’s usually up this time of day.”

Vinyl and Octavia followed her out through the back of the café, walking around through a dimly lit back alley. Snow overhung precariously from the rooftops above, nearly blocking out the light completely. Twitch seemed to meld into the dark; her pink mane and tail the only parts still visible, except for the few moments she turned around to look at them, flashing her slitted yellow eyes.

She fidgeted with a heavy steel door for a moment, before popping it open. The three entered quickly, tapping snow from hooves. Vinly immediately recognized the smell of the place. The electric scent of countless cheering ponies. She could smell the spilled gin on the floorboards, and the stink of sweat stuck to the walls from ponies dancing.

They were in the backstage area. Little more than a loading zone, the floor was lined with thick and heavy planks, worn down and pitted by years of use. Small beams of light fell down from long closed windowpanes near the ceiling.

Twitch sensed her excitement. “Been a while since you were allowed in the Argos, huh? Usually it’s strictly off limits for kids. Don’t embarrass me, okay?”

Vinyl nodded, following wordlessly. Twitch led them inside, down a hallway where the performer rooms were. The place was so silent at this time of day. They walked past a shabby green room, finally reaching the main office at the end of the hall. Twitch opened the door, letting them follow inside.

Neither Vinyl or Octavia had ever seen the inner offices of the place before. Surprisingly non descript, an old drafting desk sat to the side, stacked high with papers haphazardly placed in some crude filing system. There was a large stack of various posters and banners stuffed in a corner. Some looked older than Vinyl herself.

Unlike the rest of the place, the office was well lit. A few long lines of lights buzzed overhead, lighting the whole place with a bright artificial glow.

Twitch shrugged angrily, hiking her hood up over her head. She pointed a hoof at some old green clad chairs, before walking upstairs.

Vinyl and Octavia looked at each other before taking a seat on the chairs. Octavia could tell her friend was nearly beside herself at this point with anxiety. She was moving her hooves quickly now, practically beating the floor boards.

She walked over to her, standing near her friend, as she reached over and put a hoof around her shoulder. Vinyl sighed, slumping down slightly at the contact. Wordlessly, Octavia just started stroking her back slightly, ruffling her electric blue mane. She’d never seen her like this before, and she hated feeling like she couldn’t do anything about it.

“Hey kid.” Twitch yelled out. “C’mon. Sparks wants to talk to ya.”

Vinyl immediately shot to her hooves, looking back at Octavia apprehensively.

“Vinyl…it’s okay, remember? I’ll be down here…” Octavia said softly, ruffling Vinyl’s mane once more. The unicorn smiled back at her, before walking up the worn wooden steps to the main office.

Twitch held the door open for her, as she walked inside. She immediately found herself coughing, as she breathed in the harsh scent of pipeweed with a lot of something extra added to it. A few coughing breaths and she almost felt herself light headed, struggling to take a seat as Twitch helped her to a waiting chair.

She glanced around, seeing the walls absolutely covered with famous acts of ponies throughout the years. A thin layer of grunge from years of smoke covered the walls and even the skylights in the ceiling, creating a strange sepia tone to the room. Vinyl became aware of a large oak desk arranged at once end of the room. Sprawled in a chair behind it, a gangly Pegasus lounged, taking another deep puff of his pipe. Smiling, he breathed in deeply, holding it long and deep before breathing out, sighing.

Vinyl remembered him immediately. Sparks was a pony few could forget. Years of partying and apparently never eating solid foods had left him with the physique of what could only describe as a well fed skeleton. Bony limbs and hooves crossed across his ribcage, an old tattered leather vest hanging loosely over his frame. One might have assumed he was at one point bright green in color, but years of club life and pipeweed had turned him a stately shade of greenish-grey mud. A few wisps of grey beard formed a crude mockery of a goatee.

Twitch coughed, bringing Sparks’ attention to the filly. He glanced over at her, smiling immediately. He hopped down from his desk, walking towards her. She was amazed at how spry he was. Although it was difficult to tell just how old he was.

“Well well well. Look at what the ole bat dragged in. I remember this lil’ poppet.” He exclaimed, looking over the filly.

“Last I ‘member, you was winning the lil’ junior talent show we had over at the café. A right decent show ya put on, for a foal!” He said, laughing. Vinyl cringed slightly as he hacked and coughed through his little chuckle.

“Vinyl Scratch! That was it, right, my lil’ poppet? A proper lil’ stage name she had, right off her mum’s teat, huh Twitch?”

Twitch laughed, but didn’t reply. She had already busied herself near Spark’s nearby makeshift humidor, looking for something….exotic.

“So what’s got this sweet lil’ thing back to ole’ Sparks? I trust she knows we can’t have no foals round the place. Bad for business!” He exclaimed striding around the room. “All I need having to explain to those blasted guards why my ole’ Argos is flashin’ filly flank on stage!”

Steeling herself, Vinyl got to her hooves. She made sure to let the club owner see her freshly minted mark.

“I’m old enough now. I promise nothing is going to happen if I stay here.” She said trying to sound as confident as she possibly could. She hoped nopony could see her tapping her hooves nervously on the floorboards.

“I…I’m good too. Better than at the junior contest.”

Sparks looked over at her, giving her a wild eyed stare. He eyed her up, making sure to get as close to her as possible. She could smell the stink of old weed on him, making her cough slightly.

“Hey! Hey hey hey! Twitch ole’ girl, yer all right sometimes, you know?” Sparks said, suddenly smiling broadly.

“This lil poppet’s got guts. Marching in like a cheeky lil tart. I can find work for a gutsy lil’ filly like this.” He exclaimed, taking Vinyl’s hoof into his own suddenly. Vinyl backed up slightly as he suddenly flexed his wings, blowing the wispy trails of smoke in the room into strange patterns.

“Show er’ the ropes, Twitch. We’ll see ow’ she does.” Sparks led Vinyl back to Twitch, motioning them out of his office. Vinyl found herself what wondering what exactly he did in there all day…

First Rate Accomodations

“You’re serious?” Octavia deadpanned.

Twitch motioned grandly as she opened the door, finding it hard not to crack a smile. “Your chateau, Madame!”

Vinyl walked past the bat pony, or rather, squeezed past her. The door was barely wide enough to allow a filly to sneak inside. She was greeted by a small space that could be generously called a ballroom sized broom closet. Bricked up walls led up to a leaking ceiling; the only light being allowed inside was from the thin door and a dubious looking light sconce hanging off a wall.

“There’s not even a lock!” Octavia pointed out.

“Hey! Be thankful yours even has a door! It’s big enough for her to crash inside. I’m being dead serious when I’m telling you it’s the best we got. I can’t kick out real talent to put her up. I’d get my hide tanned. Put another light in here, maybe some potted plants…” Twitch said, kicking a mummified rat carcass out the door.

“It’ll have a good feel to it once you stay here a while.”

“It feels like a rape scene.” Octavia replied.

“Well look at miss hoity toity over here!” Twitch said, mocking the pony. “Look, it’s this or you’re sleeping on the floor in the common areas. I don’t want to put a cute little filly out there for…reasons…”

“It’s good guys. Don’t worry. It’s more than I need.” Vinyl said. She already was dropping her well used turntable, amp, and a few other things from her back. “There’s plenty of space. It’s no problem.”

After placing her few belongings, Vinyl tried to sit down but found there was not enough space left in the tiny room to do so.

“We’ll put in a shelf.” Said Twitch. “Here, let’s look around.”

The three turned, walking into the common space. “Can she seriously leave her things there?” Octavia asked. “This looks like a place with a lot of light hooves.”

“Pfft, don’t worry about that. Lot of worse things to worry about around here than stealing.” Twitch replied, leading them into the main gathering space. The upper floor of the Argos was set up as a communal living space of sorts. Old converted offices were now apartments for various staff and performers. The newer or less prominent ponies just crashed in makeshift beds in the common space. Old mattresses or even piles of hay with blankets spotted the edges and windows of the place.

On the second floor, old leaded windows let in plenty of light. Sealed up tightly from the cold, the place was almost cozy, owing to the old steam heating system keeping all the warm air forced to the top of the building. Rows of old sofas and chairs were dragged to create a main seating space of sorts. Even in the early afternoon, a few ponies busied themselves in the makeshift area, making food or relaxing.

“So you can hang out here if you like. I’d be mighty careful if I were you though. Lots of smooth talking colts and mares come through here, trying to pick up the talent.” Twitch motioned as she walked past.

She led the pair to the main elevator, and old freight lift converted to carry ponies.

“So you can use the lift or the stairs to get up. Stairs are kind of rickety so most ponies take the lift. Just gotta lower the gate here, and then hit the button.” She took them inside, pulling a heavy metal grating down. When they were inside, she tagged an old green button with her wing. The three immediately felt the lift start to descend.

“It’s lets us out near the back, where we all came in.” Twitch said as they reached the bottom. She showed Vinyl how to work the grating.

“Look kid, I’m just going to be honest with you. Sparks isn’t doing this out of the kindness of his heart. He gets free talent to play the club by letting ponies stay here. You’re not the first filly that went into that office of his and walked out feeling like they had the world by the tail.” Twitch said as she led them to the door. Octavia glanced over at her friend.

“It’s…look, I know. It’s fine. I can take care of myself. I’m not some doe eyed foal. I can handle myself.” Vinyl said, looking into Twitch’s slitted eyes.

“Not the first time I heard that.” Twitch said, chuckling. She opened the heavy iron door, letting the pair into the alley. “Remember. This door closes when the club does. There’s no keys except for Sparks and me. You can try to find me in the café, but no promises. Got it?”

Vinyl just nodded as Twitch deftly shut the door with her wing, leaving the ponies out in the alley. They turned and started walking, headed for Octavia’s house.

They walked nearly half the way home in silence, before Octavia finally spoke. “Vinyl…you know I wasn’t serious before. If you want to stay in the house, I’ll…”

Vinyl just looked over at her, smiling. “You’ll do what? You know that’s not going to work out. Look Tavi. You bailed me out before, but this time I’m not letting you. I knew what I was getting into weeks ago when I stood up to that bastard at home. I knew it would come to something like this.”

Octavia looked back at her as they walked. Well stomped snow crushed underhoof as they crossed a deserted street.

“I’m going to do it. Okay?”

Octavia turned away, sighing. “Of course you are. I knew that. I never could talk you out of anything…”

Vinyl smiled over at her, rubbing her should against her friend. “Nopony ever could!” She said happily, humming to herself.

True to her word, Twitch had a couple old wooden shelves placed on one of the walls. Vinyl happily moved her equipment to the lower shelf, placing her few clothes and other belongings on the top.

Stepping back, she took her little space in. It certainly was…tight.

It’s not so bad. She said too herself.

Nearly crawling on her knees, she found she could just about fit under the bottom shelf. She had drug a small hay mattress into the space, and curled up on it. If she was careful and tucked her hooves and tail in, she found she could even close the door.

With the shelves placed above her, nearly all the light was blocked out. She stared over at the dusty brick wall, watching a thin sliver of light trail down from the sconce above. She tried to close her eyes, only to have a loud beat of drum and bass shatter through the wood door. Her eyes went wide with surprise.

“Buck this.” She mumbled, opening the door. She headed over to the common space to see what the commotion was.

As the early evening set in, she was surprised at the amount of ponies that had gathered. She hung out near the edge of the ring as she watched two mares in the center try to have a dueling competition between a set of drums and a synthesizer.

The tall cyan mare playing the drums would play a beat, before the pony to her side, a pale yellow mare with a nearly shaved mane, would attempt to copy the riff on her synth.

Trying to trip up her friend, the cyan mare started inter spacing cymbals and snare in with the rhythmic bass drum beats. Smirking at her, the other mare started trying to match the sounds by changing the distortion. The crowd that gathered started laughing as she matched the beat as best she could.

Vinyl leaned against a nearby chair, feeling herself relax a little. For as scary as this place was, it also could be pretty cool. She was going to get to meet a lot of other artists. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad…

She really was thinking that. Until she felt a familiar feeling hoof place itself on her ass.

Blushing, she jumped away in shock, turning to face the pony behind her. A familiar, slightly rotund colt stood there, smiling widely at her.

“Treble!?” She said, shocked.

“You know it!” He said happily. “I heard you moved in to Sparks place here, and figured I’d come help you settle in.”

Vinyl narrowed her eyes at him. “Does Tavi know you came here?”

“It’s a free country. I come here a lot. I know a lot of the ponies living here. You knew that?” He said. He nodded at a nearby group, sitting watching the show.

Vinyl felt her face flush as she tried to ignore him. Of course he was going to be here. She screamed at herself. He practically lives here.

“So where did Twitch stick you? Somewhere with a door I hope?”

Sighing, Vinyl pointed over to the nearby closet.

“Oh!” Treble said, whistling. “Nice and cozy! I like it.”

Vinyl simply walked away from the colt, trying to pretend to be interested in some nearby ponies handing out some sandwiches. Seeing the little filly, the nearest stallion smiled at her, offering her one. She gladly took it, nibbling at the tofu and spinach that generously spilled over the edges.

She shivered as she felt a hoof creep along her spine.

“C’mon. I’ll introduce you around if you want.” Treble offered.

Vinyl just buried her muzzle in the sandwich. She wasn’t getting away from this, was she?

Allowing the insistent colt to lead her, she followed him back to his circle of friends. He sat down on a chair, motioning for her to sit on his lap. Rolling her eyes, she decided to stand.

Beaming, Treble motioned towards her. “This is that filly I was telling you guys about. She won that contest a few months back. She’s pretty cool, for a filly.”

The other two stallions seated around the circle looked over at her. Vinyl immediately felt uncomfortable around them. The first was a tall, gangly looking unicorn with a faded grey coat. He looked like he had dyed his wispy mane black, wearing it off to the side. He nodded at her, grinning slightly.

His friend was nearly a complete opposite. A well built pony, she could see his muscles as he moved, toasting her with his glass. Nearly stark white, with some speckles of brown, he seemed slightly out of place with the others. He looked as if he could have just walked out of a gym.

“These are my buds, Hiatus and Skyline.” Treble said, motioning first to the unicorn, then to the stocky pony. “I’ve known Skyline since we were foals. Hiatus is a cool dude too though. Always willing to buy a pony a drink!”

The three stallions looked at each other, laughing. Hiatus glanced over at Vinyl. “I heard you at the junior contest. I always check it out, to see the new talent. You were good. I think you’ll be fine playing the big stage.”

Skyline nodded. He took a long swig of his drink. “Trebs talks a big talk about you. Can’t wait to hear you play!”

Reaching under the chair, he pulled out a bottle and some spare disposable glasses. Offering the filly one, she nodded. Her eyes grew wide as he filled it nearly to the top.

“Something to take the edge off!” He said.

Polishing off her sandwich, she accepted the glass, looking around at the trio before taking a deep sip. Surprised, she found it tasted just like a glass of fruit punch. She could taste the pulp of the mixture, slurping down chunks of fruit as she drank.

“Something Skyline mixes up.” Treble added, taking a top up for his own glass. “The fruit really hides all the cheap alcohol!”

Coughing, Vinyl slowed down, looking at the nearly half filled cup.

“Well she can definitely party.” Added Hiatus.

Feeling her body warm up almost immediately, Vinyl resolved herself to nurse the cup from then on. She didn’t want to get destroyed her first night here.

“Got to say, I was pretty happy when I heard Trebs finally met a decent little filly. You two are super cute together. Happy for you!” Skyline said loudly.

Vinyl glared over at Treble. The colt shrunk under her gaze.

“W…well, it’s not like we’re a couple or anything. Nothing serious! We just had some fun, right, Vinyl?”

“Fun. Sure.” She replied, taking another swig. The mixture was growing on her the more she drank. Anything to take away this embarrassment…

Hiatus lit a hoofmade cigarette, lighting it with a spark from his hoof. He glanced over at Vinyl. “So you’re a DJ too, huh? You make your own stuff?”

“Nah. Nothing too fancy. I um, I do a lot of work with old records. I add music to them and add some of my own singing sometimes.” She said. “I guess sometimes I do some original things. I’m not the best singer though.”

“She’s lying!” Treble interrupted her.

“No, seriously! I dunno, maybe I just don’t like singing in front of that many ponies?” Vinyl trailed off…

“You should practice right now. We’ll clear a spot in the middle. Get your stuff!” Skyline exclaimed, suddenly hopping to his hooves.

“N…no way! I just got here! I don’t even know anypony here!” Vinyl protested. She took another drink of her glass, staring at the large colt incredulously.

“You think you’re gonna know the ponies down in the club when you’re on the stage? You realize that performing for strangers is sort of important if you want to make it in this place?”

Finding herself blushing hotly, Vinyl looked over at the large group. Maybe it was the cheap booze or her dislike of showing any weakness in front of Treble, but she suddenly found a grin coming to her muzzle.

“Alright. Alright, you’re on. I’ll get my stuff. You just get everyone set, okay?” Vinyl said, trotting over to her room. She hastily grabbed a few records, and her well used synthesizer.

Sliding her turntable off the shelf, she carefully ran her hoof over it. An old Techclop model she rescued from a flea market, it had a large crack down the side that she had stuck back together by carefully remelting the plastic. Scarred up from years of abuse, it still worked perfectly, the motor still strong no matter how she turned it.

Downing the rest of her drink, she suddenly felt a wave of confidence sweep over her.

She hadn’t felt this way since the night she told her step father to buck off.

It felt good.

Carrying her records, she levitated the synthesizer and turntable over to the couch circle. Hooking in to the set of speakers there, she plugged into a nearby outlet, jiggling the loose plugs to try to make sure they stay put. A large crowd had gathered, as all the ponies present were eager to hear the new filly play.

Treble walked past, clapping her on the back as he placed another drink in front of her. She eagerly took a drink, flipping her mane up in the air as she brought her first record over, dropping it on the turntable.

With a thought, she lit the turntable with her magic, spreading light blue sparks as she started tapping her hoof to the beat as it came alive through the room. The familiar scratch of the record brought the mare to life. The tinny echo of a swing band snuck out form the speakers. Focusing on her synth, Vinyl distorted it down, driving the bass as low as it would go. With a grin, she turned a few knobs, bringing the higher pitch down. As the floor shook from the bass, she turned quickly as she moved in the small circle, making sure to look everypony in the eye as she started singing.

♪♫ Let’s end your time to lay low.

Your Hooves are bending so,

It’s time to get up and let go!

The filly flipped her mane across her face, letting her magic lit up her features. She moved towards the edge of the ring as she sang, putting a hoof against the muzzle of a nearby colt.

♪♫Your plot is shakin, you know.

Your head has no right to say no,

Tonight it’s…ready, set, go!

Vinyl brought her lungs to full volume at the end, releasing the colt, and trotting around the small makeshift stage. Shaking her plot, she flipped her mane once more, leaving tendrils of blue magic in the air. She grinned widely, looking over her shoulder at Treble and his friends.

“Dude, your marefriend is hot.” Hiatus said.

Treble just sat wordlessly. He had never seen her like this before.

♪♫Baby can you move it around the rhythm,

So we can get with em’

To the ground, and get us a rock and roll around.

Vinyl was losing herself in the song, as she did a little spin, flashing her spiked tail and mane in a circle. She created a small blur effect with her magic, making them leave small trails in the air as she danced. She focused on the synth, speeding up the rhythm.

♪♫ Just a downtown body baby,

Coming with a super hottie,

Let’s go, yes, hell no!

Just turn up all the beams when I get up on the scene!

Accentuating her singing, she focused on the lights above her, making them alternate to her electric blue as she walked through them. Looking out at the crowd, she moved back to her turntable, lighting the record with her magic. She deftly spun it back, belting out the same words in tune to the record. She killed off the treble, accenting the base as she sang in tone with the floor thumping rhythm.

Ponies around the room started moving to the beat, as she instantly started carrying the crowd. She wound down her song by driving the beat faster, until she ended it with a little flourish of her horn, changing the lighting to all sky blue.

The small audience cheered her on, with some of the more senior performers nodding at her. She gave them a little wave, before taking another deep drink. Feeling giddy from the performance, and possibly the shots of cheap alcohol in her bloodstream, she walked over to Treble feeling light on her hooves.

“That was pretty killer.” Hiatus said, taking a puff of his cigarette.

“Awesome.” Skyline said. “Just awesome. Don’t let anyone tell you different, Vinyl, but you’re easily at the top of this place. You’re going to get a lot of jealous attention if you keep that up.”

Treble just looked over at her, trying to give her a grin. He couldn’t believe she had improved that much since he last heard her.

Looking over at him, Vinyl could feel his surprise. “Treble, you have to remember, I couldn’t do much at the junior competition. You had to stand still, and you were limited to what you could play.”

“Heh. Yeah. I know. You’ve gotten a lot better since I remember.” He replied softly.

“Yo, Yinyl? You want some help with your stuff?” Hiatus asked.

Nodding, Vinyl walked with him over to her few pieces of equipment. He easily levitated them with him magic, holding them in a golden aura. Vinyl looked back over towards Treble.

“Hey. Don’t worry about him, okay?” Hiatus said. “That’s the look of a colt that realized he never had a chance. Trust me, I know. Nothing you can do about it.”

Hiatus carried her belongings back to her room. Walking back to the circle, Vinyl finished her glass once more. Looking over at the filly, he took once of his cigarettes from a small case stashed in his mane, offering her one. She took it with no objection, already feeling her body warm and blurred from the alcohol. He lit it for her, and she immediately could feel the smooth burn of the pipeweed in her lungs. As she breathed out, her body felt light as her head spun.

Hiatus helped her to the circle, letting her sit next to him. "I’ve been around this place for a long time, Vinyl. I’ve seen a lot of fillies come and go. I think you know that could make it though. You’re confident on stage.”

Levitating the joint to her muzzle, she took another drag. “Yeah. I feel different on stage. I can do anything there.”

Leaning over, Hiatus stroked her mane gently with a hoof. For the first time Vinyl could smell him; the faint scent of smoke and old leather. She could feel his unclipped fetlocks brushing against her forehead.

“That’s normal. Everypony feels like that. Anypony that’s cut out to be a performer that is.” He moved his hoof around her head, turning her muzzle to face his so he could look into her eyes. She could see his steely blue eyes now, piercing her. He reached forward to kiss her.

Her mind already swimming from the alcohol, she didn’t refuse. Expertly he parted her muzzle right away, nibbling her lip slightly as he pushed against her tongue with his. She could taste stale cigarettes as he pushed against her, starting to pull her body on top of his.

Vinyl’s thighs straddled his leg as she slowly pushed up against him. Breathing against his muzzle, she could feel herself react as he keep rubbing her mane, moving down her back. She gasped as she suddenly could feel his magic on her, tracing down her teats…

Her mind finally screamed out at her. This wasn’t right. Not like this.

“N…no!” She cried, backing him away from her. She rolled off to her side, hopping off the couch. The mare became aware of the golden glow of his magic on her plot as she turned over, and she kicked out instinctively to try to get him to release her.

“Hey! Take it easy! We’re just hanging out, right?” He said, sliding towards her. He grabbed a hoof playfully as she tried to kick him, easily taking control of the drunken filly. Vinyl could feel him moving along her plot, caressing her dock and circling her tailhole.

Focusing herself, she shoved him away from her as hard as she could. He still held onto her, dragging the filly along with him. She flailed a hoof at Hiatus, striking him in the muzzle. Flinching slightly, he just grinned at her, reaching out and grabbing her front hoof, pulling her against him once more.

Her mind racing, Vinyl suddenly remembered she still held a small object levitating in front of her. Focusing, she brought her still lit cigarette down as hard as she could on Hiatus’s exposed inner thigh.

“Bitch!” He yelled in surprise. The filly immediately felt his magic fall away from her body, as she jumped to her hooves, backing away from the sofa. She could see the now angry expression of Hiatus, as he brushed the errant ash away from his thigh.

She backed away from him as he got to his hooves, following her. Vinyl prepared for another fight with him, as she suddenly realized she had backed into the sizable body of Skyline.

“Everything okay?”

Looking back at him, she still found she struggled for words. Her mind was still in a haze as she tried to come back down from her shocked state. As if he could sense something was wrong, Skyline put a hoof on her shoulder, helping her brace herself.

“Drink too much?”

She nodded. The speckled stallion walked over and filled a glass with water, holding it out for her. The grateful filly took it and drank the whole glass in one go.

“There we go. C’mon, just sleep it off. That’s the way to do it.” He said, leading her to her small room. Struggling slightly from the alcohol, she crawled inside and curled up on her straw mattress.

She could see Hiatus glaring at her from the sofa as Skyline closed the door gently for her. She curled up tightly, clutching her tail in her hooves. She tried to focus straight ahead as she closed her eyes, fighting the spinning in her mind. The exhaustion and drink had the filly nodding off in no time at all.

Author's Note

Please note I will be using lyrics from some of my favorite songs that I think fit the mood.

If you want links, please PM me. I don't want to include them here, since I think it will be fun for readers to try and guess the songs.

Welcome To The Show

Twitch hurried down the hallway from Sparks’ office, mind racing.

Was he serious? Take Jet Star off the billing that evening? There was no one that could take the spot? She screamed inside her head.

Sure, she had a little problem with being indecent on stage. Everypony does once in a while? Just because there was a report made to the guards about her bringing ‘special toys’ on stage and doing a set with her turntable, and then with them, that wasn’t any reason to go flying off the handle.

She hurried to the lift, eager to head upstairs and figure this out. Pushing some colts out of the way, the bat pony walked over to the corner of the room that Jet had set up as her personal living space. Old tarps and sheets created a sort of mix between a pillow fort and a homeless flophouse.

Flipping open a flap of sheets, Twitch peered inside. Her yellow eyes became even more slitted than usual.

Jet Star was laying straddled across the ground, still half riding a happily vibrating pony sized sybian. Twitch recoiled slightly as she realized she had stepped in the now spreading pool of marecum, as the pony appeared to be half in and out of consciousness as she rode the saddle.

“Hmpff? The mint and cream colored mare mumbled as she flopped off the side. She woke quickly as her entire side became covered in the cooling sticky liquid.

Stumbling to her feet, she glanced over at herself. “Haha, gross…” She said, before wiping the sleep from her eyes with her other hoof.

“Twitch? What the hell do’ya want?” She said, angrily looking over at the bat mare. “You’s weren’t peeking at me, were ya?

“Jet. Pack it up. I think we’re done.” Twitch deadpanned.

“Haha, real good one, ya old bat bitch. Real funny. Go tell that ta ole’ Sparks. Sees what he thinks.”

“I just came from him.” Twitch replied. She turned around, letting the flap shut closed.

“H…hey! Wait up!” Jet yelled after her. She frantically started wiping herself off with a nearby towel. Reaching her tail, she realized it had hardened into a solid clump of cum. “Damnit!”

“Not talking about it, Jet.” Twitch called out as she walked away. “You’ve had too many chances. Sparks told you we’re not about to turn the stage into a donkey show.”

“You’re out.” She yelled back, walking across the room.

Glancing around the room, Twitch thought for a moment. Not a lot of ponies left that could fill the spot. She couldn’t put a colt in that time slot. The bar was mostly filled with men during the later weekday slot, coming to the club to release stress after work. She had to have mare fill it.

“Hey Twitch.” A voice called out behind her. Spinning, the pony was almost face to face with Vinyl Scratch. The filly smiled cheerfully at her as she gobbled a piece of toast.]

“Kind of early for a bat to be up, isn’t it?” Vinly said with a grin.

Twitch smirked back at her. No way, she thought. Don’t do it, Twitch ole girl. She can’t handle that slot yet.

And yet she had heard some ponies talking about Scratch from last night. Maybe?

That’s like throwing a piece of meat to the wolves.

It’ll be some good experience for her.

A filly shouldn’t even be in the bar at that hour, let alone on the stage…

She came here to perform, right? Well…

Replacing her smirk with a sickly sweet smile, Twitch leaned down closer to Vinyl. Actually I was here on business. I’m looking for a fill in for a slot tonight.”

Vinyl’s eyes lit up. “I can fill a slot…”

“It’s going to be tough, Vinyl. It’s late, this crowd will have quite a few drinks in them, and it’s going to be mostly males.”

“I can handle colts just fine!” Vinyl replied, motioning with her hoof that it would not be a problem.

“Who said they’re colts?” Twitch said with a grin. “We get males from all over the place. They’ll probably be species you never even knew existed. You’ve never been in the place after dark, Vinyl.”

“I’ll be able to handle it Twitch.”

The bat stared down at her, smirking. “I’m sure you can, little filly. Sure you can. Just remember, you wanted the spot. I’ll give it to you. But I’m going to warn you as well. Don’t screw it up. Okay?”

“Why did I agree to this?” Vinyl repeated to herself.

The mare sat on her haunches in the loading dock. She had already headed down the hallways to the stage.

Twice.

She saw what was waiting out in the bar. There were ponies, sure. But there was also a group of very unruly looking griffons. There was a pair of green skinned things that walked on two legs that towered over the rest of the club goers. A group of diamond dogs had been shouting loudly from one of the tables near the stage. There was all manner of creatures from around the world.

And they all were pissed that Jet Star wasn’t performing.

“Alright Vinyl, you said you were going to do this. You’re going to go out there. You got this.” She said to herself.

“What the buck are you doing in here still?!” Twitch said, shocking the pony to her hooves. “Get out there! They just want a mare out there singing. They don’t care which one!”

“I’m starting to have second thoughts about this Twitch…” Vinyl said.

Wait was she moving? She thought.

Twitch was through putting up with the filly. She started pushing her down the hallway to the stage.

“H…hold on!” Vinyl cried. She tried to dig her hooves in, but found the steel of the walkway unyielding.

“Get…out…there…!” Twitch yelled. She pushed the filly past the protection of the staging areas, directly onto the steel stage.

Vinyl had pictured it many times. She had been in the club during the day, admitting the size and scope of it. The Argos was made to house hundreds of ponies, or slightly less, depending on the size of the creatures inside. Two large bar areas flanked the sides of the entry, some sort of enchanted stone letting off a dim green light through the smooth surface. A few server ponies stood behind each side, taking orders and serving up drinks.

The club area itself was massive.

It was largely open in the center, with no tables or chairs. A large dance area was made of the same enchanted stone, dimly glowing green in the dark of the club. Dozens of spotlights trailed down from the ceiling, moving swiftly and lighting up most of the area as they played off the floor and walls.

Near the edges of the room were booths, mostly purchased by ponies looking for more privacy. Walls of dirty brick loomed up over everypony, before meeting in a huge arched ceiling, painted black to hide the gangplanks and lighting.

The stage was simple. It had once been a classic theater, but had since been covered over in metal once the old floorboards rotted out.

A large booth lay on one side of the stage, where most of the DJs plugged in. The booth had a short wall to provide some small semblance of a barrier from the main hall, other than the height of the stage.

There was no real protection from the crowd.

She’d never seen the place so…filled.

“Where the fuck is Jet?!” Yelled a particularly angry stallion near the front of the stage.

“I waited through all the shit earlier, and now they send this little filly out? What is this crap?!”

“We paid to see a mare screw herself silly on stage!”

“Maybe this filly will!”

“Get some real meat on the stage, Twitch!”

Vinyl’s heart was beating so fast.

The feeling of the crowd was intense. She could feel the pounding of their hooves and feet, shaking the metal stage. The vibrations echoed through her body, making her mane and tail stand on end.

Rather than feel terrified, she had never felt more energized.

Trying to control her breathing, she trotted to the DJ booth, seeing her familiar equipment already set to go. She pulled the mic from its stand, levitating it to her with her magic. Knowing exactly what she had to play, she eschewed her turntable, instead queuing up a tune on her synthesizer. Bringing the mic, she moved to the main stage, moving close to the jeering males clambering towards the edge.

Smirking, the mare reared up, bringing both hooves down on the metal. Focusing her magic, she created a bright blue wave, amplifying the sound through the mic. The club goers immediately fell away from the stage as her booming entrance echoed though the hall, wisps of magic flowing off the stage before evaporating in the air.

Her music had already started. She focused, adjusting the dials on her equipment by heart. Moving the bass to the maximum, she started moving her hooves to match the pounding beat. Already capturing the audience, she brought her magic to her body, highlighting her mane, tail and eyes in a light blue electric sheen.

Bringing the mic to her muzzle, she got as close to the edge of the stage as she could. She turned across the entire audience as she started to sing to the beat.

♪♫I want you,

To make believe it’s the first time!

♪♫And I gotta say to you,

Love will find a way, and that’s always true!

Her voice echoed off the walls, matching the driving rhythm from the speakers. She turned on the stage, flipping her tail towards the table of Diamond Dogs, watching them hoot in appreciation.

♪♫Want you!

Want you!

She sang hard into the mic, floating from one side of the stage to the other. She let her mane flop over her face as she brought her head down towards the fans, looking into their eyes as she moved from side to side. The magic effect mad her pupils light up, piercing through the dim light.

♪♫Take it down and turn it up!

Take it down and turn it up!

Party it up!

Getting into the feel of the club, Vinyl moved quickly to the center of the stage, moving her plot to the crowd. To a chorus of hollering, she bent down, presenting herself as she covered her bits. Snaking her head around to face the crowd, she sang to them as her tail glowed electric blue against her plot.

♪♫I want you,

To make believe it’s the first time!

Love will find a way, and that’s always true!

Flipping around, she moved confidently across stage, grinning smugly as she swished her tail back and forth. Brushing her mane to one side, she brought the beat to a slow constant thump, looking out at the audience.

Erupting, they started cheering for the young filly. All thoughts of Jet vanished as the clamored for another set from the filly. Soaking in the energy, her mind raced as she felt a huge surge of adrenaline course through her young body. She started heading back to the booth, planning her next lead in as she picked up the pace, adding some treble to her set.

As she moved across the stage, she found herself fixated on a tall, slim form standing against the nearest booth. The only one of their kind in the room, he was standing near the edge of a booth, staring at her intently. Almost losing herself, Vinyl found herself drawn to his stare. She knew she had seen him before…maybe at her juniors competition?

Completely unlike the other members of the room, he stood tall on his hind legs. He wore clothing, an unusual trait for Equestria.

Continuing with her set, she felt herself still drawn back to him.

Such an unusual creature…

Vinyl finished her set a couple hours later, breathing quickly as she walked off the stage to the cheers of the crowd. She could feel the breeze of the backstage hallway wash over her, her entire coat drenched with sweat from her performance.

Twitch looked at her as she walked off, a wide smile on her muzzle.

“Aren’t you glad I kicked your plot out there now?”

“Yeah…” Vinyl said, still exhausted from her show.

“You did great. I watched the whole thing. You’ve got a real future if you keep that up, kid.” Twitch said, giving her a playful punch to her shoulder with a wing. “There’s a shower off behind the elevator. It’s kind of wide open back there, but you definitely can use it.”

Smiling gratefully, Vinyl pushed past her, walking across the loading dock. She could see the staff restroom there, heading off to the mare side.

Surprisingly well kept and clean, the restroom sported a small changing area, a long line of stalls, and at the end, a wide open shower area with a few shower heads sprouting down from the ceiling. The white tiling was old and worn, grout graying with age, but still clean under her hooves. Sighing, she turned on the nearest shower head, finding the water already running warm from the tap.

Muscles instantly relaxing under the warm spray, she let her mane and tail mat down against her coat as she just stood there, letting the water wash over her.

She still felt her veins coursing with excitement. She had actually done a real live set. In the Argos.

And everypony there had loved it.

She couldn’t resist chuckling to herself as she used her magic to wash herself off, making a mental note that she would have to remember some bath necessities when she got paid. The water alone would have to make do for now.

Turning off the flow, she shook her body, trying to shed the water as best she could. Focusing magic on her mane and tail, she wring the water from them, flipping the still wet mass of hair over her shoulders. A wave on contentment she hadn’t felt in a long time flowed over her as she walked out of the tiled shower.

Her contentment froze in her veins as she saw a single form standing in the hallway of stalls. Tall and lanky, she felt she knew exactly who it was, even in the dim light.

“That was really good for a filly.” Hiatus said softly.

Vinyl felt a pit in her stomach as she heard him speak. Her entire body froze in fear as he slowly walked towards her.

“I would have liked to see Jet more, I think. That mare knew how to entertain a room of stallions.”

She could see his body clearly now in the light. His tail flicked back and forth as he advanced on her. His eyes were focused on her, intense and bloodshot. Before she had a chance to speak or even act, she could see a golden glow light from his horn. An invisible force gripped at her muzzle, holding it fast.

“Mmphh!?” She gasped in surprise, trying to pull the force away with her hoof in vain. Realizing it was his magic, she lit her own horn, trying to force his magic off her body.

“Heh. You’re too weak, Scratch. That’s not going to work. You were exhausted after your set. I can always tell. That’s the best time to pick up mares.” He said, walking towards her. He had a sickly sweet smile on his face. “Hard to turn down a pony when you can barely stand.”

Glaring at him, she tried to focus on his body, trying to keep him from reaching her. Hiatus merely smiled, concentrating on her weak barrier of magic, pushing through it with a golden shimmer.

Standing almost on top of her now, he reached out with a hoof, touching her stringy mane. She recoiled as he ran his hoof down her side as he walked past her. She tried to move away from his touch, but suddenly felt his magic grasp her tail near the dock, pushing her body against his.

“Haha, so forward for a filly! Practically throwing yourself at me now, huh?”

She grunted into the magic muzzle, feeling his head snake around her haunches, pushing in near her dock. The mare’s eyes widened in surprise as he pushed his tongue against her tailhole, running down to her slit. She flinched at his hot breath against her nethers, struggling against him as he tasted her.

Grunting in pain, she managed to finally pull her tail from his grasp just enough. She bounced sideways on her hooves, pulling away from his muzzle. Retracting her rear hoof as far as she could, she managed to land a sideways kick to his face, catching him square in the nose. She could feel his magic loosen at the blow, but not falter.

Staying on his feet, the stallion immediately was on her. Feeling his magic grasp on her rear hooves now as well, he held her close to him as he rested his now bleeding muzzle on her back.

A few errant drops of blood fell on her snow white coat, leaving small splatters as they fell.

“That was not a good move, Scratch.” Hiatus said, his voice suddenly husky and annoyed.

She felt him pull away from her for a moment, as her eyes searched frantically for any sign of what he was doing. His magic still held her muzzle painfully facing forwards, and she found she could not wrench it free, no matter how she struggled.

As she panicked, she suddenly felt his weight on her back, long gangly hooves reaching around her midsection like an octopus. Fear coursed through her as she felt him positioning himself, pushing his length against her. Vinyl could feel him stroking against her teats, feeling the warmth of his member sliding against her stomach as he savored the moment.

“Did that little bitch Treble ever take you like this? I bet he didn’t.” Hiatus said, moving his muzzle against her neck, biting her nape. “It’s something only a real stallion would do. Showing a mare her real place.”

Whimpering, Vinyl could feel him pulling back, suddenly pushing forward against her marehood. His dick struggled to push inside her, moving up and down her nethers, trying to find entry. She could feel his magic pushing inside her, trying to pry her open so he could enter.

The next moments were hard to remember for the filly. She could recall a dull thud and a jarring impact, followed by the upsetting sound of bone scraping on porcelain.

She remembered feeling all his magic falling away suddenly, leaving her to fall to the cold tile of the floor. Gasping, she opened her muzzle at last, taking long breaths as she tried to regain herself. Glancing over at Hiatus, she saw a familiar creature on top of him.

Vinyl however did remember vividly the scene of Hiatus getting the holy hell beat out of him.

The strange bipedal creature from before had wrestled Hiatus off her, pinning the pony to the ground with his weight. He had obviously already hit the stallion in his muzzle hard enough to daze and confuse him, and was now raining punches down as the pony struggled to realize what exactly was happening.

Flashes of gold lit up the stranger, but did little to stop him. Hiatus struggled in confusion, obviously not sure why his magic was failing him.

The creature pulled back one of his upper appendages quickly, slugging the pony in his solar plexus. Instantly the fight was out of him, as the stranger slammed his head down on the tile, knocking him out.

Vinyl felt a twinge of fear as the strange creature rose up. Easily standing several feet taller than her, she could see now that he was stocky and well built. She struggled to her hooves, trying to pull herself together as he glanced over at her.

“Are you alright?” He spoke to her. His voice was rough, but still kind, despite the violent act he had just committed.

The pony was still too stunned to respond. She just stood there on shaky hooves, trying her best to not appear like an easy target. He may have defended her, but what was he doing here, anyways?

The figure paused, before slowly reaching out to her. Vinyl flinched momentarily, but did not shy away as he reached out to touch her muzzle. With curious eyes, she looked at his strange appendages. Ending with five small digits, his limbs almost resembled a griffon, but was so drastically different. They ended with soft, rounded ends, rather than claws.

She could feel the thought in her head to pull away, but she let the creature touch her, moving his digits along her muzzle, running along her mouth until he cradled her head, gently rubbing her chin.

“I…I’m fine.” She finally felt the courage to speak back. The feeling of his digits along her fur was strangely relaxing.

Wordlessly, he placed a hand on her back, as the pair walking out of the restroom area.Vinyl found it difficult to walk, as her exhaustion finally overcame her. Finding her limbs moving slower, she gasped in surprise as the creature next to her reached down with an arm, easily picking her up. He cradled the pony to his chest as he walked towards the lift. Vinyl felt her fear fading away as he held her closely. She could feel the strength in him, but also sensed his gentleness too.

“Thanks…” She mumbled, letting her head rest against his body. He adjusted his pony burden as he reached out to shut the grating, hitting the button for the elevator.

“It’s fine. I’m just glad I was there.” He said quietly as they rode upwards.

“I saw you at the show. Did you get to see it?”

“I did.” He replied.

“Did you like it?” She asked.

Pretending to think for a moment, he looked down at her. “Better than Jet.”

Vinyl grinned up at him. She finally got to see his face. A strange thin layer of hair covered most of his chin and sides of his head, leading up to a shortly cut head of hair. She was surprised just how little of him had no fur at all. She could see his skin, slightly dark from too much sun, reflecting in the dim light of the elevator. He had intense light blue eyes, but his expression dulled them into a kind gaze.

“Why were you there, anyways? You weren’t planning to do the same…” Vinyl asked.

“I heard a struggle. I usually go out the back alley. Less hassle that way.”

Reaching the top floor, he hoisted her close to him after closing the grate to the elevator. Carrying her, she motioned to her makeshift quarters, feeling ashamed as he pushed the door open with a foot.

“You…live in here?” He asked.

“Well…not when I can avoid it.” She replied. “It’s not so bad. I got room for all my stuff, and there’s a bed on the floor.”

Glancing down, he noticed the pile of straw, covered with a thin blanket.

“Bed. Sure.”

“You can put me down now.” Vinyl said. He placed her on her shaky hooves, watching the unicorn immediately flop down on her mattress.

“Thanks for the help tonight…whatever you are. I appreciate it.”

Hesitating, the biped struggled for a moment, waving good night to her as he took a few steps, only to quickly walk back before she closed her door.

“Hey. I don’t feel comfortable just leaving you like this. Will you meet me tomorrow in the café? Just so I can make sure you’re doing alright.” He asked.

The pony chuckled. “Heh. Look at prince charming here.” She said, looking up at his eyes. She thought for a moment. “Yeah, sure. You seem normal enough. For a weird hairless monkey looking thing.”

“Is ten okay?”

“Sure. I’ll see you there.” Vinyl replied. She watched him walk away quickly towards the elevator.

She couldn’t quite place why she did that. There was something strange about him, and his story. The way he moved, and the way he acted around her. Nothing seemed normal. But at the same time, she felt a strange excitement being around the strange creature that she hadn’t felt before. The newness excited her.

And anyways, she wasn’t about to turn down a free breakfast. She hadn’t been paid yet after all.

Settling down on the bed, she lay on her side, feeling her fatigue wash over her suddenly. Eyes fluttered shut as she drifted off within a few moments. She didn’t even realize she hadn’t curled up quite so tight that evening on her straw mattress.

New Contacts

Despite her aches from the previous night, Vinyl found herself in a cheerful mood the next morning as she went about combing herself, using a shared mirror in the corner. She could still feel the aches of the previous night all over her body with each brush stroke down her coat.

Anytime she moved her back legs, she could still feel the soreness from her attacker radiating down her rump. Any hoofstep in the lofted area made her turn in panic, knowing full well that Hiatus would still be lurking around the Argos somewhere.

The normally independent pony felt fear well up in her as she thought back to the previous night. Watching over her shoulder, she slid the gate shut for the elevator, riding it down.

She was grateful the place was so quiet this early. Most of the other ponies seemed to sleep well past noon usually. She could slip out the back door without anyone noticing her, trotting down the alley quickly to the small café.

The day was surprisingly pleasant, as the sun had come out early, starting to melt away the snow that had lingered from the last couple days. Vinyl smiled as she tromped through some melting snow, kicking a small pile off the curb as she walked.

Opening the door, she noticed there were surprisingly few customers today. The creatures that were there, seemed to be congregated near the bar seats near the middle of the cafe, eating their breakfast mostly in silence.

Walking through the small restaurant, she noticed the familiar creature from last night before he saw her, happily trotting over to the corner booth where he sat. Drinking coffee from a well worn ceramic mug, he glanced up at her, giving her a small smile as she walked over. He motioned to the seat across from him in the booth, and the filly gladly sat down, wincing at the pain from her flanks.

She noticed the way he was dressed, finding it immediately odd, but yet somehow fitting for him. He wore a simple white shirt of cotton, stretched out slightly where he had pulled it over his head. He wore a dull, well scarred oiled hide coat over it. Whatever beast the hide was from was anypony’s guess. She got a glimpse of his rear limbs, covered in some sort of tightly woven cotton, dyed a dark blue.

“You feeling okay today?” He asked, immediately noticing the pain on her face.

“It’s nothing, really. That creep got to me a bit more than I thought.” She replied.

The creature gave her a slight nod, taking another drink from his cup, as if he didn’t want to push the matter any further.

“I’m glad you decided to meet with me today.” He said, after a few moments of silence.

Vinyl felt herself blush slightly. “Well, you did save my hide at the Argos. You don’t seem like a pony murderer or anything to me.”

The male laughed at the comment, giving her a grin. “I’m glad I made the cut on that one!”

Feeling herself ease up, Vinyl settled back into the booth. The male pushed a menu towards her, and the pony suddenly realized how famished she was. She hadn’t eaten for almost half a day.

“So, forgive me for being rude, but what the heck are you exactly anyways?” Vinyl asked absently, as she looked over the menu.

“It’s not rude. I get that a lot. I’m a human. It’s not like there are a ton of us around here”

“Does that mean there are lots more humans somewhere else?” Vinyl asked.

“Not exactly. I’ve never seen another one, actually.”

Vinyl stopped looking at food choices, looking over at him. “Are you serious? You’re the only one ever? How the hey did you get here then?”

“Not sure. All I remember is growing up in Manehattan. I can’t remember anything else.” He replied. “Sorry if that’s not the answer you were looking for.”

“That must really suck, being the only one?” Vinyl said. “Do you get lonely?”

“No. I get out a lot. I might not have a lot of friends, but I know a lot of other beings. I don’t feel alone anymore.” He replied, looking over at the filly. She felt herself relax the longer they talked. His voice was slightly gruff, but he had such an easy way of speaking to him.

The waitress stopped by, a young filly wearing a white apron hitched tightly around her chest. Popping a pencil into her muzzle, she asked for their orders.

The human waived his hand, asking for nothing more than a refill on his coffee.

Excitedly, Vinyl pointed at a selection on the menu. “I’ll have the avocado toast please!” She said happily.

“Anything else?” The waitress asked.

“Maybe a couple eggs? Over easy?”

The waitress jotted down on her paper pad.

“I could probably do with some fried tofu, too?” Vinyl asked, looking sideways at her dining companion. He merely smiled at her.

“And orange juice! Definitely orange juice!”

The waitress looked over at her. “Anything else?” She deadpanned.

“Two pancakes?” Vinyl said, blushing as she handed the menu back to the waitress. The waitress sighed, taking the menu and orders back to the kitchen.

“Hungry?” The human asked her.

She smiled back at him sheepishly. “They uh, they didn’t pay me yet.” She said. “I’m really sorry…I didn’t mean to…”

Grinning, he chuckled slightly. Today was the first time she had seen him laugh. Almost everything he did seemed so strange and exotic to her.

“It’s fine. It’s the least I can do. I’m sure you’re not having a great day.”

The waitress came back with Vinyl’s juice, the filly levitating it to her muzzle and taking a deep swig. The pair sat in silence for a while, merely watching the few patrons in the café leave and enter. The morning and noon rush was picking up, and the place was slowly filling up.

“So, I never got your name.” Vinyl asked, looking back at the male next to her.

She could see him fumble for a few moments, obviously a little lost at the question. “That’s kind of a hard question. I’m not comfortable really just giving it out, if that’s alright.”

The filly thought that was really strange, but pushed no further on it. Her eyes lit up as the first couple plates arrived; a couple thick cut slices of well toasted bread, piled high with mashed avocado, feta cheese and sliced cherry tomatoes. The waitress also deposited a small side plate with two over easy eggs. Vinyl immediately levitated the eggs onto the toast, taking a large bite. She could feel the warm yolk run down her muzzle, but didn’t care. This was absolutely heaven.

“You uh, you got something right there…” the male pointed out, trying to get her attention. Sighing, he reached out, dabbing at the yolk with a napkin, as the filly spread a blob of butter on her toast. He managed to catch most of the yolk with the napkin before she went in for another bite.

The two plates had been polished off when the pancakes and tofu arrived. Wide eyed, Vinyl flipped the tofu onto the cakes, before slathering the whole stack with maple syrup. She dug in, taking large wedges of pancake into her muzzle, practically shoveling the food down her gullet.

“Well that was something.” The human said quietly.

“Sorry.” Vinyl said, grinning back at him sheepishly. “I said I was hungry!”

Smiling at her, he reached out one of his limbs. The strange digits extended towards her, but the filly found no fear or inhibition as he gently touched her mane. He ran the digits through her spiked mane, ruffling it slightly as he dug deeper, stroking her scalp as he smoothed back the electric blue fluff.

She felt her body relax almost instantly as he stroked her. He grazed her ear, scratching slightly behind it, and the filly felt herself start to melt into the vinyl booth.

“It’s no problem.” He said. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

Looking over at his limbs, she watched him set them on the table in front of her. She looked at them curiously.

“Hands.” He said, chuckling.

He motioned to the waitress, and paid the bill immediately when she stopped at the table.

“I’ll walk you back up to your room again. If that’s alright?” He asked.

“Sure. I’d appreciate that.”

Vinyl felt her heart drop as they opened the door to her room.

She saw her few possessions broken and scattered on the floor. Her synthesizer was busted into a million pieces, scattered over the mattress. She could see her well used turntable tossed into the corner. Whomever had done this, the obviously hadn’t counted on its sturdiness, seeming to be content with snapping the tonearm off and tossing it. Her few toiletries and personal items were crushed and torn, tossed haphazardly back into the space.

Trying her hardest to choke back tears, she looked around the room frantically, finding it strangely deserted. Still too early for most, she saw a few ponies walk over, watching the scene with curious looks.

She focused her magic near her muzzle, pinching herself to hold herself from crying. Reaching out, she gathered a few pieces of her life, trying to gather them together. She felt the male next to her set one of his hands on her back, stroking her slowly. Sighing, she felt herself lose her weight as she leaned against him, letting him brace her body as he pet her slowly.

“Your friend from last night?” He finally asked.

“Maybe. I know he knows other ponies around here. He was well known at the party the other night.”

“I don’t think anyone is going to be much help around here. These ponies don’t seem to be in a big hurry to help.” He said, looking around.

“He was popular…” Vinyl replied softly.

“Hey. It’ll be okay, alright?” He replied. “I can probably help. I know lots of ponies and other creatures around town. If it’s okay with you?”

Vinyl’s mind wandered quickly.

There was no way she could go back to Octavia. That wasn’t an option. Octy had done way too much already. She knew all too well what happened when she started to become indebted to the grey pony.

Twitch and Sparks?

No. She wasn’t going to make herself look that weak. They gave her an opportunity. She could make this work herself. She could handle things.

She wasn’t the best gauge of character, but this guy seemed harmless enough.

Vinyl was really enjoying the backscratch too…

“Alright. I’d really appreciate it.” She said Reaching out with her magic, she gathered up her turntable. Placing a few other items she could salvage into her saddlebags, she turned to face the human.

“I think we can save this still.” She said softly, placing the broken turntable in his hands. “It means a lot to me.”

He took it carefully, cradling it under a limb. “Sure. I completely understand.”

The pair walked out of the shared space, leaving the broken room behind her. Word had spread quickly, and pairs of eyes peeked out from makeshift spaces around the room, watching the strange creature leave with Vinyl.

He opened the grate for her, shutting it behind them, before pushing the down button.

Vinyl immediately found herself leaning against him once more on the way down. She felt her body ease up at the solid feeling of his body holding her up.

“Are you alright? Do you want me to carry you again?”

Her heart fluttered at the thought. She very much did want to be carried again. But maybe not right now…

“No. I just like leaning against you.” She said quietly.

He chuckled. “Is that a pony thing?”

“Yeah.” She said, sighing.

“So this is really your place? We’re not breaking into it or anything?”

The human laughed. “Nope. You can call the guards if you like, but they know me around here too. We all get along pretty well.”

“I just wasn’t expecting…this.”

“It’s pretty modest for this part of town. At least I think so?” He replied.

Vinyl watched, muzzle agape, as they walked across the street towards her new friend’s house. Just a few blocks from the Argos, the old grime on the bricks was washed away, giving way to cream colored row houses, neat and tidy, spaced out with plenty of room for side yards and outdoor spaces. Walking towards the human’s house, she saw lush planters packed full of hardy evergreens and ivy for the cold months, spilling over the sides and running down onto the sidewalk.

She could see a short brick wall separate the house from the street, affording the house a small front yard. A well varnished green door was pushed open by the human as he allowed her inside. Her nostrils were filled with the scents of evergreen and scented lamp oil as she entered, feeling her body immediately warm up with the sharp glow of blazing oil lamps and a crackling fire.

The house was sparsely furnished, but inviting. She could see a few overstuffed chairs near the fire, as well as a sturdy end table. A few lavish items were scattered about, including a very grand looking clock, a few display tables with some carefully carved statues placed on them of various creatures, and a grand chandelier above them, accenting a curved staircase to the upstairs.

“So this is home.” The human said, following her in. “It’s mostly the same as when I got it. Except I had to make the doorways higher.” He said with a grin.

He motioned to the right, showing her the kitchen and a first floor bathroom, before leading her up the stairs.

A plush rug muffled her hoof steps as they walked up the staircase. The house grew noticeably more warm and cozy as they headed upstairs, walking down a long hallway to the bedrooms.

Vinyl felt herself hesitate as he opened a door, showing her inside. Glancing inside, she felt a strange comfort wash over her. The room was covered in some strange wallpaper of stars and moons, giving it a warm and comforting feel. She could feel the heat of a nearby radiator happily bubbling away. The sole window in the room looked out on the house courtyard, covered in window dressings of dark velvet. A large four poster bed sat in the corner, already made neatly with some dark colored duvets and pillows.

“I thought you were just going to help me with my stuff?” She asked, walking around the room hesitantly. She dropped her saddlebags on the floor as she looked around the place.

“I am helping.” He replied, placing her turntable on a corner table. “I thought you could stay here while we figure things out.”

“That’s a little weird, don’t you think?” she asked. “I barely know you.”

The human moved over towards her. She could feel him press against her, but didn’t back away. There was a strange warmth in him as he ran his hand against her body, caressing her side. He went lower this time, running over her flank and stroking her tail.

“I felt strangely drawn to you after last night. I thought maybe you felt the same way?” He said, continuing to caress her with his hands. He reached down, scritching her behind her ears again.

Dear Celestia, the filly thought to herself. Stay strong!

She tried to resist leaning her body against his strong frame, trying to balance herself. She didn’t protest as he continued petting her.

“I felt like you were a kind creature.” She replied. “When you said you were going to help me, I could sense I could trust you...”

“Depends on what help you need.” He said softly. She could feel him run his hands under her now, scratching her stomach. He trailed a few digits along her stomach, making her gasp slightly as he touched her teats. He pulled back slightly, rubbing against her velvet skin on her stomach.

“You think I’m ugly?” He asked out of the blue.

“N…no!” She said, stammering. “Just. Different. Really different. It’s kind of interesting in a way.”

She had to admit to herself, even without any other ‘humans’ to judge with, there was a strange attractiveness to him. His face seem imposing and kind at the same time. His strength and size scared her, but at the same time turned her on.

Her mind raced in her head. How old was this thing even? Was this creepy? She realized she was just assuming it was even a male. Did they even have a dick?

“Interesting…” He repeated. “How so?” he reached down lower suddenly, grasping her firmly under her teats now, rubbing against her nethers.

“I’m not sure…” She said, protesting slightly as she pulled away. The human grasped her closer, making her gasp as he gripped her body. She could feel him reach around her now, caressing her flanks as he ran his hands around her inner thighs. The filly inhaled sharply as he moved along her folds, slipping a digit in between. She could feel her body heat up as he started massaging her marehood, gently teasing her as he stroked up against her clit.

“Just relax.” He said softly, easily picking the filly up. He placed her gently on the bed, letting her fall against the duvet as her hooves spread limply to her sides. With a smirk, he doubled his effort on her, hooking one of his digits and pushing inside her, making her tense suddenly as he hit her g-spot from inside, stroking her quickly.

“You’re so warm.” He said in a husky voice, as he increased his pace.

Vinyl felt her inhibitions falling away as he caressed her body with his hands. She had never felt anything remotely like this before. The human ruffled her chest fluff as he masturbated her, using the other digits on his hand to circle and tease her anus and dock while he stroked her velvet tunnel from inside. The pony melted into the covers as she was worked into a frenzy.

“Ah! Shit!” She cried out, kicking out with her legs as a spasm of pleasure ran through her.

She felt herself thrashing against the bedspread as she reached the most intense orgasm of her life, breathing quickly as she came on his hand.

“Nghhh!” She cried out, shocked. She felt herself squirt on his limb a couple times, as powerful contractions rippled through her. He rode her through the entire orgasm, stroking her insides as she came. She felt her limbs turn to putty as she continued her climax, almost becoming too sensitive as her partner kept up his motions.

As she rode the afterglow, he let her rest against the bedspread, easing out of her. The filly looked up at him with glazed over eyes, her mane matted out against the bed, her coat glistening with the sheen of sweat.

“That was just the hand.” He said, grinning.

Vinyl found herself smiling back at him, pushing her thighs together as she felt waves of pleasure still rumbling through her body. She tried to gather her breath as she came back to earth.

As he left her be, the human sat down next to the filly. She had rolled over to face him, and now found herself snout to crotch with the biped. She could see the outline of his member straining against his woven pants, pushing towards her. Almost reading her thoughts, he took a hoof and placed it on his leg, letting her run upwards towards his thighs. The filly felt his warmth against her hoof as she touched him, feeling him twitch.

She moved up, fumbling with the odd closure on the front.

“S…sorry. Not too used to clothes.” She mumbled. Chuckling, he watched her struggled to undo the garment. She eventually gave up, lighting her horn and moving the strange piece of metal downwards, hearing it click through tiny teeth as the front opened with a zip.

Expectant to see him presented to her, she snorted in annoyance as she was met with another layer of clothing.

He laughed, hopping up out of bed suddenly. “Sorry, sorry! You should have seen the look on your face though. Here, let me.”

Looking over at her with his pale eyes, he lowered his underclothes along with his pants. Glancing forward in anticipation, he sprang free, bopping the tip of her muzzle with his dick as it freed itself. He could hear her gasp as she suddenly felt it against her, smelling him deeply as she moved her muzzle against the tip. He could feel warm breath as her nostrils flared against him, smooth fur stroking him as she moved.

Reaching down, he ran a hand through her mane, scratching her ears again. The filly looked up at him with dreamy eyes, before she moved back down to his member. It was so different than any stallion’s. Similar in size, but not quite as thick. Instead of a flared head, it tapered to a rounded tip. The strongest difference was the smell. Wearing clothing all day had trapped his musk against the rod, almost intoxicating the pony as she breathed deeply against him.

She reached out her pink tongue, wrapping it around the tip, teasing the underside as she brought him inside her mouth. She heard him sigh as she started bobbing on the tip, making sure to work her tongue around the bottom.

The filly hadn’t had many partners, but she had given her share of head before. She had joked to Treble that it was her second special talent.

Delighted by the human continuing to stroke her ears, she started working deeper on him. He was shocked as she could take almost his entire length into her muzzle, feeling himself bottom out at the back of her throat. She backed off, coughing slightly, before taking him right back in, sucking lightly on him as she wrapped her tongue around the base, teasing his balls slightly with the tip of her tongue.

Owing to his large size, he found he could reach his other hand behind the filly, rubbing against her now dripping hindquarters. He could feel her wink against his hand as she started getting worked up again. Vinyl kicked her leg out behind her at the sudden touch, inhaling suddenly, sucking him deep inside her once more as he could feel her throat close on his tip. Shuddering, he held her head closely against him, letting the ripples of her throat masturbate him.

He felt a sudden hot flare from her nostrils as the filly had to back off, gasping deeply for breath. She didn’t miss a beat however, now bobbing on the end of his dick, letting her soft muzzle graze against his balls.

How the hell long does he take to cum?! Vinyl thought to herself. Stallions would have been finished and outside taking a smoke by now.

Not that she minded. He was making absolute magic with her mare bits again. She felt herself nearing the edge again, as she kept up with her blowjob. She decided to play with him a bit more, but felt a strange sense of surprise and disappointment when she lit her horn, and found she couldn’t touch any part of him with her magic. She only felt a strange emptiness when she tried to reach him.

Shrugging it off, she decided to do things the old fashioned way, cupping his balls with the frog of her hoof. He was surprised at the softness of the underside of her hoof, as she ran the soft velvet like flesh against him. Moaning, He could feel her clamp down his tip with the end of her muzzle, suckling on it like a foal on a teat.

The sudden intense sensation made him curve two fingers inside her, pushing hard against her g-spot once more. The pressure combined with him doing laps around her clit with his thumb, brought her to another smaller orgasm. She could feel her nethers twitching as her body tensed again in pleasure. Her partner could feel her warm breath around his slickened shaft as she came, before she was back on him with a renewed hunger. Aw wave of pleasure coursed through his thighs as he felt the rippling of her lips as she suckled him, working her tongue into the mix as she lapped quickly at the underside of the tip.

“Vinyl…” He groaned, clutching her head tightly with his hand, gripping her velvet ears and wispy strands of blue mane. She could feel him twitch as he came, filling her mouth with the first couple spurts. Drinking greedily, she drank it all, letting him pool inside her muzzle before drinking his seed. She found his orgasm a great change from a stallions, forgoing the sudden monumental ‘discharge’, instead having a more slow and regulated flow. She drank all he could offer her. He found himself suddenly weak on his knees as she continued to suckle him after his orgasm was through. He pulled back, his dick popping free from her muzzle with a plop, as he settled down on the duvet next to her.

The mare suddenly felt empty as he pulled his hands away from her, leaving her still dripping onto the bedspread.

“That was amazing …” He said softly, still breathing quickly. “I think we both needed that.”

She walked over to the window, glancing out. Fashionable ponies of all sorts were in the street now in the early afternoon. The streets were well cleaned of any snow, neatly shoveled. She could see a town guard nod happily to a couple as he walked past.

Despite the strangeness of the whole day, she felt strangely safe here. She had precious few other options, at any rate.

This human seemed like a decent person. She felt a strange affection for him after all he was trying to do for her.

And the sex wasn’t bad…

“I think I’ll take you up on your offer. If you really meant it…” She said softly, turning to face him. He was already pulling up his pants, zipping himself up. He walked over to her, placing a hand on her back.

“I’m glad.” He replied. “It’s lonely here sometimes, with just me. I think it’ll be nice having a pony around the place.” The human reached down and scratched her ears again. He could feel her body soften every time he did that. She leaned against his leg again.

“You have to tell me your name though. Only condition.” She said, sighing as she fell against him entirely, letting him brace her weight. She wished he would move lower again with his hand.

“I only give it out to those I really care about.” He replied.

“So you can tell me then.” She cooed.

“Hmm. I suppose so.” He said chuckling. “You can call me King.”

The filly laughed at the word. “Is this some kind of bucked up sex thing? Are you serious?” She asked, looking up at him. He smiled back down at her, still scratching her back.

“That’s not very nice!” He replied with a grin. “I never really had a name. No parents, and the only human growing up around here. So I gave myself my own name. And I only tell it to ponies or creatures that I let live here with me.”

“That’s pretty damn weird.” Vinyl replied, thinking on it. “I do like weird, though.”

She looked up into his eyes. “It’s kind of fun too, to be honest. I’ll call you King, if you like.”

“I’m glad.” He said, grinning back at her. Leaning down, he found he had to actually get to one knee to get close to her muzzle. She sensed him, and they met for a deep kiss. The pony moved against him slowly at first, finding his mouth surprisingly nimble as he parted her lips. She let him push back against her as he held her head close to him, grasping her mane tightly as he pushed his tongue against hers. She could feel her whole body loosening as he kept scratching her back as he kissed her.

The filly could have sworn she was a puddle on the floor when he pulled away, afternoon sun reflecting off his eyes as he kept kneeling in front of her.

“Let’s see about getting your stuff in order.” He said, getting to his feet. “You play tonight right?”

“Yeah. The late spot again…” She replied, trying to snap back into reality.

“This thing looks shot.” He said, inspecting the turntable. “You sure you want to fix it?”

“Yeah.” She said, taking it from his hands with her magic. She looked over it. The Techclop letters were still all there, even though they were badly faded. The main body was still fine, and luckily the arm had snapped cleanly off. She glanced around, finding an outlet, and plugging it in. She was delighted when the motor fired right up.

“You can’t get em like this anymore.” She said, placing it carefully on the bed. “We’ll get a new tonearm and we’ll be set.”

“Alright. Let’s go get some things. I’ll help you out for now and you can pay me back when you start getting checks from Sparks.” He said, walking to the door and gesturing for her to go first.

“Well thank you, King.” She said, giggling. The name was actually growing on her already.

King followed her out and down the hall. “I may need to wash my arms first though…”

Unwelcome Discoveries

“You cant be bucking serious…” Tavi sighed, looking at Vinyl’s new equipment. She could tell it wasn’t cheap. She might play instrumental, but she’d been around enough to recognize the substantial amp and synthesizer Vinyl had brought with her to the Argos.

Octavia had planned on showing up to encourage her friend at her new digs, but now she was especially glad she had come. This was going way too far.

“Hey, I’m going to pay him back, alright? It’s not like it’s free.”

“That’s not the point.” Octavia said, forcing her friend to stop toying around with the new gear for a moment. “You don’t know who the hell this guy is. For Celestia’s sake, you don’t know what species he is!”

“Well duh, he’s a human, silly.” Vinyl replied, smirking at her.

“What the buck is a human?”

“Er…it’s kind of a monkey looking thing…without the hair? And a cute face…” Vinyl said. “Oh! And a weird looking dick!”

“Gods damnit Vinyl…” Octavia said, slapping her hoof to her face. “So what, you’re fucking him already? What’s it been? A day?”

“Maybe like twenty hours…” Vinyl said, coyly.

Octavia sat down, sighing to herself as she watched Vinyl continue to fiddle with settings, trying to make sure she could control everything properly for her set. She’d been friends with her long enough to know when she was hiding something.

“I talked with Twitch. Nopony knows why you left this morning. Treble said he heard some rumors but nothing for sure.” Octavia asked softly.

“What happened last night? This isn’t like you, Vinyl. You know better than this…”

The unicorn stopped what she was doing, looking at the other pony intently. She got to her hooves, walking over to the loading bench where Tavi was seated.

“And what is like me, Tavi? To run back to you like a little foal? That’s what you really want, isn’t it? To have things be like they were?” Vinyl said, trying to hold back her anger as she glared into her friend’s eyes.

“Vinyl…”

“Don’t! I damn near got raped last night, but lo and behold, my good friend Tavi was nowhere to be found again!” Vinyl shouted at her. “What would you have done to help, huh? Tell me to go cry home to mommy again?”

“You know damn well you’ve got no place to talk to me about what I need to do. You almost ruined my life last year. Things never went back to normal after that, and you think you can talk to me about what’s best for me?!”

Octavia rose up from the concrete, looking her friend squarely in the eye.

“I don’t remember hearing you protesting…” She replied, with a hint of venom to her voice.

“Hard to do that when you can barely walk straight!” Vinyl yelled back at her.

“Don’t blame me if you couldn’t handle it. I just showed you the door. It’s not my fault you went tumbling into it, head over flank!” Octavia said.

Vinyl wanted to say something awful to her friend. In that moment she hated the other pony, hated her for everything she had gone through the last year. She knew deep in her heart, she still blamed the filly for a lot of things.

She blamed her for failing at school.

She blamed her for being passed around at parties when she was too high to remember.

Most of all though…

“You’re the reason my mom gave up on me, you know that?” Vinyl finally said, softly.

“No…” Octavia said, eyes going wide. “Don’t even…”

“Quiet! She hated me for what I was doing back then. I didn’t care, because I always thought I had you next to me…” Vinyl said, brushing a tear from her eye as she got up next to Octavia’s muzzle.

The grey filly just stood there, looking back at her. There was nothing she could say in response.

“And you made me go drag myself back to her, and that fat bastard sleeping with her! Begging for my spot back in that broken, twisted cell of a house!” Vinyl was openly crying now, tears streaming down her neck.

“I tried to help you…” Octavia replied, glancing away from her friend’s stare. “You couldn’t go on like that. I was worried…”

Vinyl pushed away from her, going back to her equipment. She heard the end of the previous set, hoisting her gear into the air with her magic.

Vinyl glanced back at her friend over her shoulder, her magenta eys glinting in the dim light of the loading dock. “Here’s some advice, Tavi. Don’t worry about me. I’m doing fine.”

Twitch popped her head past the curtain, snacking on a large nectarine as she glanced at the two ponies.

“I’m not…disturbing anything am I?” She asked, sneaking a quick bite as she watch Vinyl walk to the stage.

“Scratch. You alright?” She asked, noticing her tear stained face.

“No. But it doesn’t matter.” Vinyl replied. She focused her magic on her coat, forcing the moisture from it, fluffing it up to hide her tears. She pushed past the bat pony, heading onto stage, trying to let the roar of the crowd gathered inside drown out her thoughts.

Octavia walked towards the staging area, stopping next to Twitch.

“You don’t know what happened to her last night, do ya Tavi?” Twitch asked. “I heard some stories from the ponies upstairs, heard she got in a little spat with a colt after her show.”

“No. It was worse than that…” Octavia said, watching her friend place her equipment down, connecting plugs with a thought as she connected to the Argo’s sound system. “I don’t know exactly what happened yet, but I’m really worried about her.”

“I’ll keep an eye on the little firecracker. Nothing’s happening to her under this roof.” Twitch replied.

Octavia smiled slightly at her, nodding to the mare. She knew well enough that the bat kept her word. At least when the reputation of Argos was concerned.

She turned and headed for the elevator, hearing Vinyl start her set just as she closed the grate and headed up. The sound echoed through the concrete loading bay, filling the elevator shaft with sound as she headed up.

Octavia had to admit to herself, some part of her felt a surge of happiness as she heard her friend’s sound fill up the building.

She stood there quietly as she listened, faintly hearing the grate of metal cables as she reached the loft.

The place was mostly deserted this time of night, except for a few ponies hanging around the center lounging area, talking loudly. It was almost impossible to sleep inside the building until the show ended for the night, so everypony that wasn’t a night owl usually just hung out, drinking or smoking until the early hours.

Sighing, she saw the colt she was looking for. Of course he was here. The early crowd always drew the youngest of the crowd, fresh off the turnip truck as it were.

Treble had his arm around a small filly, waving a bottle of cider as he talked himself up. He was very clearly already drunk. The filly couldn’t have been much older than a foal; a cute little pony with a neatly curled mane of bright green curls. She put on a brave face as Treble wormed a hoof around her plot, pulling her closer to him.

Glowering, Octavia trotted over, putting a hoof firmly on Treble’s shoulder. He craned his neck, smiling as he turned around.

“Hey babe, I’m busy. You’ll have to wait your…” He froze as he saw Octavia staring down at him.

“H…hey! It’s you! Coming to join the party, Tavi?”

“I’m good right here, thanks.” Octavia replied, putting another hoof firmly on his other shoulder. Treble could feel her weight bearing down on him in the upholstered chair. She may have been a filly, but the earth pony was still built solidly enough.

Treble glanced around, looking to Skyline, but the colt only smiled back at him, shaking his head. He turned back to another colt he was sitting with, offering little help to his friend.

“Hiatus is missing tonight?” Octavia asked. She moved her hooves closer to his neck, placing pressure on his collarbone. The green haired filly next to him slunk away, merging into the rest of the small party.

Treble craned his neck, looking back at Octavia nervously. “Yeah. Not sure where he’s at…”

Octavia pulled a hoof up suddenly, bringing it crashing down against his ear. The colt tried to pull away suddenly, but found himself still held fast by her other hoof. He winced as the harder edge caught the ear, cutting into the sensitive skin and crushing it against his head. He cried briefly at the pain, dropping his cider as he flailed a hoof up to try to push her off.

The mare simply batted his hoof away, using her full strength to push him down once more. He slid down the chair, finding his flank on the ground, placing his head and shoulders on the seat of the chair. Octavia bared down on him, able to look him directly in the eyes in this position.

“Not what I’ve heard!” Octavia said, pressing her muzzle against his.

“Tavi, come on. We’re friends, right?” He whined, trying to push her off. The pudgy pony found he was having trouble getting himself off the ground.

“We’re roommates.” She said, correcting him.

“That counts for something, right?”

“It means I didn’t smash your muzzle into your throat first.” She said firmly. "I still need rent this month..."

Taking quick stock of his situation, Treble seemed to reconsider things quickly.

“Okay, look, he took off after he smashed up Vinyl’s room. He was completely off his rocker, yelling about how he was going to pay her back. How she still owed him something.” Treble said.

Octavia continued holding him as he spoke. She knew the spineless colt would sing to her.

“Owed what?”

“How the buck should I know?! Look, he had the hots for her. No secret there. Take that for what you will…” Treble said, looking away from the filly as he spoke. He still felt a little indignation at the thought of another colt having her.

“Gods…” Tavi said as her eyes went wide. “So that’s what…”

She pulled off the colt, letting him flop over himself as he tumbled to the floor. She turned and headed back to the lift.

Octavia could already hear Vinyl’s set in full swing as she headed downstairs again. The beat of the bass pounded through the metal shaft, ringing clearly. As she neared the bottom, she could hear her friend singing slowly, fading into the beat.

She headed over to the backstage area once more, finding it abandoned this time. Sitting down on a nearby bench, she watched her friend perform, fully into her set at this point. Vinyl had left her booth behind, taking to the stage as she sang and danced to her beats.

Octavia never got tired of watching her dance. Vinyl could move into a room, take it over, and command everypony’s attention with just a few lines of song and a shake of her mane. She was absolutely fearless in front of crowds.

Octavia always envied her for it.

She sat quietly as she waited for her friend to finish.

Vinyl had taken the stage with a strange mix of anger and frustration flowing through her. Slamming down her new gear, she had made sure everything was set up, before starting her set. The filly had resolved to break everything in, sticking mostly to a mix of beats from the new synthesizer. She desperately wanted to see what it could do.

She hated to admit it, but she wasn’t angry because her friend had spoken to her like that.

She was angry because she was probably right.

As much as she hated Tavi for some of the things she had done, the worst feeling was that at the end of the day, she had a nagging feeling in her head that the prim filly was always right.

Shaking it off, she started to play a treble tempo, slowing adding in a slow bassline as she looked out into the crowd. It was full once more.

“That’s a good sign…” She said to herself.

She glanced over at the booths, seeing King glancing back at her. He held a tall drink, nodding at her.

“You got this Scratch.” She said quietly to herself. “This is one thing I can do for myself...”

Picking up the bass suddenly, she trotted into the middle of the stage. She focused on the lighting, pulling beams of golden light down towards her, making her sparkle on stage as she started banging her head to the beat. She approached the edge of the stage, timing her song with her magic as she opened her muzzle and sang to the audience.

♪♫I get the feeling I'm in deep

Troubled waters but they're only thigh-high

This kind of mare don't get no sleep

She picked up the bass during the parts where she stopped singing, breaking into dance. Turning to the crowd, she ran a hoof along her plot, twitching her tail back and forth as she gyrated nearly to the floor. She bobbed her head up and down, letting her mane fly. With a thought, she lit her tail and mane with a glowing blue light, killing the spotlights. She started strutting around the stage in the dim light, illuminated only by her magic. She smiled as she worked her way over, staring at King as she continued to sing.

♪♫That's it, baby, take control

You're so enticing, mesmerizing

You're gonna steal my very soul

Feeling lost in her song, the filly dropped to the stage, letting her legs splay out as she moved up and down against it. She moved her plot against the metal surface, using her magic to flip her tail out sideways, teasing the crowd as she presented herself.

She rolled onto her back, moving her hooves in a cycling motion, before planting herself firmly, pushing her stomach into the air. Exposing her teats and stomach to the crowd, they erupted, entranced by her on stage.

♪♫Lie down baby

Arch your back now

Maybe you can help me get what I want

Curve your little spine and tell me that you're mine

Vinyl reached down, running a hoof along her stomach and chest. She brought a single spotlight on her, bright blue, accentuating her snow white coat. Rising to her hooves, she moved to the stage edge, shaking her haunches as she kept the spotlight on her.

The crowd was roaring at her now, shouting for her to keep going.

Smiling widely, she obliged, launching into her next set.

Octavia waited patiently for her friend, watching her show intently.

She wasn’t very happy about how overtly sexual her dancing had become, but wrote it off as the filly just growing up and getting used to the scene of the Argos.

What happened on the stage was different than what happened off it. She knew that better than anypony.

Octavia was surprised the club hadn’t emptied at all by the time Vinyl finished. The place usually wound down quickly on a weekday, regardless of who was playing. But the place was still packed and definitely still in high gear when the stage lights finally went out on her friend.

She trotted over quickly to the booth, catching her as she started unhooking her gear. The low drone of ponies partying still filled the hall. Octavia could see her friend glistening, positively soaked with sweat after her show, her mane matting down against her coat.

“Vinyl…” Octavia said loudly, tapping the pony on her shoulder.

Still amped up, she turned to Tavi, her eyes still wide and bright. “Tavi!” She exclaimed, beaming. “Did you see the show?”

“I did! It was...intense…”

“Hah! Didn’t get you turned on, did I?” Vinyl replied, grinning at her.

“Vinyl…we have to talk…” Octavia said, trying to brush off her comment.

“About what?” Vinyl said, busying herself with her gear.

“I talked to Treble. I know what happened last night…” Octavia said flatly.

Vinyl ignored her, continuing to bundle up cords for her gear.

“He knows it was Hiatus. We need to go to Sparks about this. Or the guards.” Octavia said.

Vinyl turned to face the other pony, her smile quickly diminishing. “I told you, I have it handled. I can take care of it myself.”

“Take care of what? Run away from it and shack up with that…human?”

“He saved me from Hiatus. I feel safe there. That’s all I need to know.” Vinyl said, pushing past her friend to gather a long mic lead from the front of the stage.

“Why was he even there? By the mare’s showers? What the buck was he even doing back there?” Octavia retorted, raising her voice.

Vinyl didn’t reply, finishing her packing. She jammed the bundled cords under the handles of the amp, making a neat stack she could easily carry with her magic. She concentrated, gathering her gear in the air.

“Vinyl…” Octavia said, moving after her as she crossed the stage.

The white filly turned to face her, all semblance of a smile gone from muzzle.

“I just don’t want anything to happen to you.” Octavia said, moving closer to her. She could feel the heat of the other filly against her, still warm from her performance. “I still love you. I hope you know that still.”

She reached out towards Vinyl, pushing her muzzle to hers. For a brief moment, she could feel her fur against her own; the light brush of tiny droplets of sweat touching her skin. She cradled her head against her friend’s neck, rubbing against her gently.

The other filly didn’t say a word. Octavia could feel her pulling away from her, catching herself from stumbling as her friend trotted off the side of the stage with her equipment. She could see the strange looking human waiting for her, placing his hand on her flank as they walked out of the dock.

Octavia stood on the stage for a while, alone with herself and the slowly dying din of club goers finishing their last calls. She was usually so good at maintaining herself. Nopony ever got to her. She was her own little rock.

She couldn’t fight it though. Almost a stabbing sensation went through her body. She found tears welling up in her eyes, as much as she fought back against it. Wiping errantly at her muzzle, she held them back, gathering herself as she walked off the stage.

“Damnit Vinyl…” She muttered to herself.

A Quiet Evening

“You alright?” The human asked Vinyl, as they walked slowly back to his house.

The pony was walking alongside him, levitating her bundle of equipment. He could feel her push up closer to him each time he scratched her flank, running his hand against her back. King could still feel the sweat on her back cooling quickly in the chill of the winter night.

“Just talking with a friend. Somepony I’ve known for a long time.”

“She looked like she meant a lot to you.” He replied.

“Yeah. At one point she did.” She said softly.

He decided not to push too much farther on the matter. They walked along in silence on the deserted street, Vinyl’s hoofsteps being the only sound as they echoed softly off the brick facades.

“You were amazing at the show tonight.” He finally said. “You didn’t dance like that before.”

“Heh. Thanks. I just felt like I needed to let off some steam.” The filly replied, grinning.

“I could tell everyone loved it. I know a few patrons around the club, and the word is really good from what I hear.”

“Yeah. But it was good for Jet too, I’m sure…” She said, chuckling.

“Maybe.”

Arriving at his house, he opened the door, allowing her to bring her things inside. The pony trotted up the stairs to place her things in her room.

King moved around the house, carefully lighting some lamps, before tending to the still smoldering fire. He opened the bottom vents, allowing a fresh burst of air to bring the coals to life before placing a few thin logs on top.

He headed to the kitchen, grabbing a couple white mugs form the cupboard, placing an old green tin teapot on the stove. He lit the burner, busying himself with a canister of coffee.

After a few minutes, he had a couple steaming glasses of coffee. He added a generous splash of cream from the fridge to each mug. With a grin, he took a bottle from above the stove, adding a couple shots of whiskey to each mug.

He headed upstairs, finding the filly’s door open. She lay in her bed, paging through the voluminous manual that came with the new synthesizer.

Handing the mug to her, she took it gratefully, holding it in the air in front of her. “Thanks.” She said with a small smile.

“Do you want to join me downstairs?” He asked.

She looked back at him with a slightly uneasy look on her face.

“Look, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about this. We had some fun this morning…” She said, blushing slightly. “I’m not sure if I can do anything serious right now. We can be friends…maybe spend some more time together..."

"I just don’t know very much about you.”

“Hm. So let’s change that.” He said, suddenly grabbing her hoof. He pulled her firmly from the bed, hoisting her into his arms.

“H…hey!” She cried, struggling to hold onto her drink with her magic. The pony didn’t protest as he carried her downstairs, placing her in a chair next to the fire. She gave him a look as he sat down next to her, placing his own drink on the end table.

“You’re lucky I’m still in a good mood from that show.” She said, glowering at him.

“Sure.” He replied. “I just was hoping we could talk for a while. You’re right. We don’t know much about each other.”

“Well I can already tell you’re a night owl. What kind of guy makes Irish coffee at three am?" She said coyly, taking a sip of the warm drink. She could feel the warmth through her chest. The fire felt amazing, as her coat slowly warmed up in the glowing heat.

“I’ve always been like that.” He said “I’ve been going to that club since I was a child too, just like you. Although you wouldn’t have seen me. I’m not really a performer.”

“What did you do there?” She asked.

“Mostly just barkeep stuff. They didn’t want me behind the bar, but I move the crates of alcohol and keep the cider lines working and the barrels tapped. I’m strong enough and good enough at fixing things to be more than useful around the Argos.”

“That sounds like a lot of work.” She said

“It’s not all bad. I get to see everything, working behind the scenes. I’ve got everything working well enough that I can watch the shows for the most part.”

“Seems like a nice perk.” She said. Vinyl suddenly grinned at him. “Were you there when I did the filly competition? Did you watch me?”

He brought his mug to his face, shielding his expression from her. “I mean…I see all the tryout competitions. Those are the best parts. The new talent is always the most interesting.”

After a short silence, the pony decided not to push him on it.

Vinyl hopped down from her seat, walking over to a nearby rounded table. A strange wooden carving sat on top of it. She could see the intricate design in the low light of the fire. It showed a strange horned creature, being shackled and bound to the rock it was sitting on. Even though the subject was very strange to her, she had to admit it was beautiful in its own way.

“You’ve got some really weird stuff around here.” She said.

“Hey! I made that you know!” He said, getting out of his chair. He walked over, turning it slightly for her. “I do some carving too. That’s probably where I get most of my bits. They paid for this house, for sure. I guess hands account for something in this city.”

“What is it?”

“This guy? I’m not really sure. The ones that end up around the house, I made them for myself. I just carve what I think I can get from the wood.” He said. He carefully brushed a few errant motes of dust from the statue, turning it back to its original position.

Vinyl moved to another table, seeing a much lighter colored hunk of wood, carefully carved into some strange winged creature, which appeared to be escaping from some sort of prison. King had carefully formed the base into a square looking cell, showing the creature ascending from it as the wood flowed upwards.

“They’re beautiful.” She said, examining it. She turned it slightly to see the back. “I can see why you’re able to sell them for so much.”

“Thanks.” He said, moving quickly to position the statue back to how it was. “What about you? I really only know you from the club. Do you do anything else during the day?”

“No. Not really. Although I need to work on that. Something to do during the day. I have debt to pay off, and the Argos isn’t paying much for a first week performer…” She said, moving back to the fire, she took another deep drink of her coffee.

“I can ask around tomorrow. I’m sure I can find you something.” He replied. He reached down, scratching her head affectionately. He could feel her push against his body as he smoothed her mane down against her neck.

“Thanks. I’d appreciate it.” She said. They sat in silence for a while as he slowly ran his hand along her neck, scratching her coat.

“So what was it like, being the only human growing up?” She finally asked, breaking the silence.

He just chuckled at the question. “Not great. There’s a system in town to help foals and fillies that get found on the street. But not one for young humans, of course. Social services tried to place me with a few families, but I usually just left. They always ended up treating me as some sort of beast. Not like one of their own.”

“That sounds awful.” She replied softly. The filly looked up at him, seeing a sudden softness in his complexion. It was hard to read him though.

“Ah, it’s alright. I made my own friends, and took care of myself. I couch surfed a lot as a kid. Finding odd jobs that fit my…unique traits.” He said. “Eventually I ended up making enough connections that I could start selling my art, and I moved in here.”

“That’s why I like calling myself ‘King’. I’m the king of the humans as far as I can tell. And now I’m king of my own little castle in town.” King said, walking to take another drink of his coffee. "It's also strangely therapeutic to have others call you King."

“So you have friends at the club? You must know someone there to be able to get in like you did.”

“Well, sure. I know Treble and a few other colts that hang around there. Nothing major.” The filly replied

“Who was that grey filly? I know I’ve seen here around. She doesn’t play the Argos, but a lot of ponies know who she is. Who her family is, at least…”

Vinyl sighed, pulling away from him, leaving his outstretched hand in midair. She placed the empty mug down on the coffee table. “Not right now, okay? I don’t want to get into that.”

“Sorry.”

“It…it’s nothing. Just not tonight.” She said softly, walking up the stairs. King could hear her door close on the second floor, and the soft creak of springs as she lay down on the bed.

He quickly gathered her mug from the coffee table, making sure it left no mark behind. He moved to both statues, making sure they were exactly as they had been before. Placing both cups in his old farmhouse sink, he washed them carefully, placing them on the drying rack.

He sat back down at the fire, watching the dancing flames until he was sure she was asleep. Only then did he walk up the stairs, gently pushing her door open.

The excitement welled over him as he took his first step inside, seeing the room still lit with the light of a nearly full moon streaming through the large windows. She had pulled the comforter aside, sleeping on top of the covers. He could see her white fur shine in the moonlight, as her chest rose and fell softly.

He watched her for a few minutes, listening to her quiet snoring. Sleeping on the bed, he could get a sense of how petite and fragile she really was. He’d had company before in the guest bed, but all curled up as she was, she looked quite small indeed.

Thinking to himself, he realized he didn’t know much about the differences in anatomy in ponies, really. Maybe she was small and light because she was a unicorn? Or was she younger than he thought? As he watched her sleeping form, his mind flashed back to just how easy it was to lift her up…

Looking like he was second guessing himself, he stepped back and closed the door behind him. He yawned, walking down the hall to his own room.

Vinyl’s eyes snapped open as she lay on top of the bed, hooves sprawled out to her sides. She glanced around, finding the walls even blacker than usual. She could barely even see the edges of the room. Searching, she looked out the window, finding the sky outside pale and fading out.

The edges of the room blurred together, the dark wallpaper merging into one shadowy canvas. She couldn’t make out the door any longer. Looking up at the ceiling, it felt like it fell away into the sky.

Vinyl became acutely aware of a leaden feeling in her limbs, as she found it difficult to move on the bed. She craned her neck and looked down at her hooves, seeing nothing binding them. She concentrated, trying to will them to move, but found she could not.

Lighting her horn, she searched for some way to move herself, but suddenly found her magic failing her. Although her horn still glowed brightly, she felt a wall she could not push through gather around her.

She saw a dark shape looming over her. An intense pressure on her chest as she bore down into the mattress.

Unable to act or speak, she could feel a heavy touch on her nethers, as she felt digits stroking along her tail and dock, working around to her sex. She felt a familiar touch as the figure ran along her folds and started gently rubbing her clit. Pushing her magic at the attacker, she felt it dissipate in the air as it reached him.

A strange mix of desperate fear and anticipation welled in her throat as she felt the figure clamp one of his limbs down on her throat. She could see a hand pressed against her now. Thoughts of King flashed through her head, but she could not see for sure.

With strange feelings of not being able to fight back or even move, she felt herself resign to let the figure do anything they wanted. She felt a strange fullness as they pushed more digits inside her. Vinyl struggled against the hand around her neck, feeling herself start to become light headed from the lack of oxygen. She could feel the shadow push all four digits inside now, filling her up, leaving the thumb to gently stroke her. The filly clamped down hard on him as he started thrusting inside.

Breathing quickened from her state, Vinyl felt an electric twinge of fear as she fought for breath. She closed her eyes as she felt the whole world greying out as she neared her orgasm, head flopping back against the bed as she arched her body.

Coming to her senses, Vinyl opened her eyes once more.

She immediately found she could move her limbs once more, as she thrashed her legs wildly as she woke. The blinding white light of early morning streamed in through the window.

Without the shades pulled shut, the beams of sun the next morning fell directly on her as she woke with annoyance, trying to cover herself with sheets. Pulling hard, she found she couldn’t quit reach her muzzle, deciding instead to just turn around and burrow into the blankets and sheets, leaving her plot sticking out from under the blanket. She found she had to make a concerted effort to avoid the large damp spot on one side of the bed.

She grumbled at the pent up feeling after the dream. Exposed to the air she could feel her tail still damp and plastered to her plot, thighs matted and sticky.

Mumbling, she nodded in and out of sleep for a while longer, enjoying the feeling of a bed after spending the few evenings trying to sleep in the Argos. Even after she woke, she found herself just content to close her eyes and stretch out on the sheets.

Yawning loudly, she hopped down out of the bed, popping open her door and wandering down to the bathroom. The house seemed quiet that morning. She had no idea where King might have gotten to.

Vinyl was shocked slightly at how the bath was set up. She never had really considered everything would be different. In contract to the rest of the place, the bathroom upstairs was quite plain, most likely owing to the strange modifications made to it. Done in mostly white tile, there was a large walk in shower near the back. The shower head had been moved to the ceiling, so that a much larger creature could use it.

She stared at the toilet for a moment, puzzled. Every one she had used before was simply a squat type affair on the floor, but there was some strange white stool fashioned onto this one, presumably so he could sit?

Sighing, she tried to mimic a human, sitting on the tall stool. She was grateful of her magic helping to hold her tail and keep her balanced on the cold seat. After hopping down, she searched for a moment, finding the lever. The stool made a satisfying noise as it flushed, filling up the bowl again with water.

Searching for towels, she came up empty in the storage space under the sink. She decided to just air dry once more. She needed to shower. Badly.

Captive Audience

Turning off the shower, Vinyl sighed contentedly. She glanced around, suddenly remembering the lack of towels. With a thought, she concentrated on her coat, shaking from tail to snout as she tried to wring the water from her fur with her magic. She fluffed her fur up as she shook, managing to get mostly dry, save for her tail and mane.

With a flip, she tossed her mane behind her shoulder, heading down the hall and downstairs. She hadn’t eaten since last night, and felt a ravenous hunger as she headed for the kitchen. Searching around, she found the still partly filled French press, draining the coffee inside into a washed mug.

She rummaged through the heavy duty icebox, surprised at the lack of food in the place. She wondered to herself exactly what a human ate?

She managed to find a half loaf of bread and a small jar with a few remnants of strawberry preserves inside. Humming to herself happily, she sliced the bread carefully, placing the slices on the old stove to toast them. She concentrated on her coffee, heating it slowly until it steamed lightly.

Taking a white plate from one of the higher cupboards, she took her small breakfast up to her room. She was surprised she still hadn’t seen King. She hadn’t heard from him since the previous night.

Placing the toast down on a nightstand, she flopped back on the bed, her damp mane and tail plastering to the sheets. She quickly inhaled the toast, sipping on the mug of coffee as she kept studying her synthesizer manual.

As she read she found she still couldn’t shake the thought of the strange dream from the night before. Even after the shower, she still felt a heat in her nethers as she lay on the bed.

Buck it, she thought. Time to take care of business.

Shutting the door, she pulled the top sheet back, laying down on her back, propping her head up against the headboard with a couple pillows. She looked down at herself, running a hoof slowly down snow white fur until she met the soft velvet touch of her stomach and teats.

She sighed as she first touched herself, running the harder hoof along her folds, until the softer underside mashed against her clit. She breathed in deeply, lighting her horn and focusing on the sensitive organ. The unicorn liked to gently circle the base with her magic, but today, she remembered the fingers of King, and simulated the act, pressing against her walls, putting pressure on the nub from inside.

Kicking slightly with her right leg, she moaned softly as tingles of pleasure ran up her spine. Trying hard to relax, she went back to just massaging herself gently with the hoof, smirking slightly as she felt her sex wink against it. She could feel her juices running down her flanks, cooling at the base of her tail and against the cotton sheets.

Moving her hoof up slightly, she rubbed it against her snow white chest fluff, before moving down to her teats. She circled them slowly, as she started teasing herself with her magic once more.

Gyrating her hips off the bed, she started humping her body against her magic digits. She fought to hold her focus as she got more worked up, spreading her folds apart to give her more access. She could feel her powerful contractions grip her magic, feeling it’s resistance as she tried to move inside.

She closed her eyes and bit her upper lip, backing off slightly. The filly still wasn’t sure she wanted to finish just yet. Sighing, she settled back against the pillows, trying to breathe slowly once more as she ran her hoof against her inner thighs. Settling her rump down on the mattress, she spread herself wide as she caressed herself.

Suddenly finding the digits returning to her sex, she murmured happily, pushing herself back against them. As if reading her, they thrust back, filling her up.

“Ahhnn!” She cried quietly, feeling the intense pressure back on her g-spot. She lit her horn to play with her folds again, only then realizing…

Her eyes snapped open. King was seated at the end of the bed, hand deep inside her pussy, giving her a playful grin.

“H…Hey!” She pulled away, only to have him quickly move up the bed, pushing against her side. She felt an emptiness as he left her, only to feel his hand cup against her slit as she stopped, trapped against the backboard.

Instinctively she tried to use her magic to push him away, finding it impossible to focus on him. It was the same as before; a magic void all around him.

“What do you think you’re…” She said, turning to look at him. Before she could finish speaking, he placed a finger on her muzzle.

“I thought you could use one more.” He said calmly. Immediately the filly felt his fingers on her again, rubbing quick and hard against her.

Glancing down at his hand, she gasped suddenly as she felt her body tense with another jolt of pleasure.

He did make a convincing argument.

As if reading her, he added in his thumb, gently parting the hood from her clit, pressing directly on it. It was more than the pony could take, and she pressed her rump out from the bed against his hand, cumming hard. He continued to hold her, thrusting three fingers in and out rapidly as she got off. Two large squirts of marecum landed on her tail and bed, before she settled her haunches down, letting her juices trickle slowly against Kings still moving fingers.

“That’s the one thing I like best about ponies.” He said, getting up. “They can be…explosive.”

Vinyl looked up at him with glazed eyes, still twitching slightly from the intense orgasm. She ran her hoof along her stomach, caressing herself as her chest rose fast and deep.

King slid down his pants, discarding them next to the bed. Vinyl glanced over, suddenly entranced by his already erect dick.

“Let’s try something else, ok?” He said, straddling her on the bed. As he reached down with his hands, he ran them along her wispy chest fluff, reaching her upper limbs, trailing them along her fur. Still sensitive from her intense orgasm, the filly sighed softly as he gently stroked her.

Reaching down under the mattress, King fished a strange strap out from underneath, running it along Vinyl’s muzzle as she looked at it, puzzled. He smiled at her, trailing it along her neck, before opening a small loop in the black leather, placing it around her hoof.

Trying to pull back in shock, she found herself tightly bound to the corner. Grunting in frustration, she lit her horn to pull the strap off her hoof. She felt a strange warmth on her horn as King reached out, and easily grasped the entire length of her horn with his hand, covering it. Vinyl tried to push past the void of his grasp, but found it impossible. She looked back over at his face, finding a calm smile as he reached for the other corner of the bed, repeating the process, pinning her upper hooves against the bed tightly. She tried to struggle, but with his weight still on her, she found herself held fast.

“Let me out of these!” She yelled, pulling against them. “I don’t want to do all this…”

Her words cut out as he pushed his member between her teats, pushing his balls against her clit. The sudden sensation made her cut her sentence short as she tensed against him. Her mind flashed back to her dream the night before. A sudden guilty sensation of pleasure flooded over her, as she realized how she looked right now to King. Pulling hard at the straps, the leather pulled at her fur, rubbing her hooves. The sensation of being in such a vulnerable state with this large powerful creature…her defenses feel away as she focused on the strange mix of emotions welling inside.

Her snatch winked its approval.

Feeling the pony clamp against him, King started moving slightly against her, thrusting past her velvet soft teats, feeling the soft fluff of her stomach tease the tip. His hand fell away from her horn as her muzzle opened in a slight ‘o’, as he trailed his fingers along her neck, scratching her softly as he moved.

Holding her tightly around her waist, he pulled her lower body easily against him, moving her splayed thighs against him. Vinyl relaxed back against the mattress as he started moving her slit against his dick, thrusting up past her dripping folds and rubbing his tip against her winking clit. The filly gasped, arching her back up towards him.

Effortlessly, he moved his hands lowering, grasping her around her haunches. She saw his member dip down, feeling his heat against her tail and dock. She could feel him press against her tailhole as he moved up, rubbing past her thighs. Her muzzle hung open as she felt him against her snatch. He smiled as she winked against the tip, pushing softly against her as her body tried to pull him inside.

Looking into her eyes, he could see her pleading to him as she gently pulled against the straps.

“Just take me…” she said softly, voice husky and short.

He pushed slightly against her, holding her body firm as he sank the tip slowly inside. She tensed immediately, pulling at her straps as she felt the sudden pressure inside her, filling her.

“You can call me by my name, if you want to keep going.” He said, suddenly halting inside her.

Vinyl’s muzzle hung open slackly as she felt her body clench on him again, trying vainly to pull him inside her further. Nearly panting, she looked up into his eyes.

“King…” She panted. “Please…just…keep going…”

He smirked back at her, pushing forward slowly inside her. She could feel her legs tense and her hooves stretch out as he filled her, nearly hilting her on the first go, as worked up as she was. She clamped down on him like a vice, holding him fast inside her, as her muscles rippled along him.

Not content to let her control the tempo, King pulled back against her, rubbing her tightened walls with his shaft, making Vinyl close her eyes in ecstasy as he pushed out past her g-spot, only to plunge back inside. He started working into a slow rhythm, moving his hips to push hard against her upper walls. Throwing her head back into her pillow, the filly came again, rapidly clenching down on the member inside her, coating her thighs in cum.

At the feeling of her orgasm, King dropped his hands from her hips, running them along her body, grasping her chest firmly as her wispy chest fluff flowed through his fingers. He could feel her chest heaving as she rode through her orgasm, feeling her muscles tighten. He finally felt his thighs tough against her fur as he hilted inside the pony, making her gasp again at the sudden fullness.

He remained still for a moment, listening to her breathing as her pussy kept rippling against him, clamping down on the whole length.

“Gods…” He said softly. “You took all of it.”

Muzzle still hanging open, the pony smirked up at him, her mane plastering to her face and neck with sweat. He felt she shuffle her haunches against him, pushing her body back and forth as she bucked back against him.

“You didn’t think…I was a virgin, did you?” She murmured back, still trying to catch her breath.

Smiling back, King started to move inside her again, taking long strokes as he started screwing her again. The filly settled back and relaxed, finding herself almost exhausted already from the session.

“Ahnnn…how…how long do humans last…” She sighed, craning her head back into the pillow again as she felt another wave running through her nethers.

“Let’s try something else.” King said, moving his hands through her wet mane, running gently along her neck.

Feeling his strong hands behind her neck, her eyes fluttered open. She could feel her third orgasm coming quickly as he moved swiftly back and forth inside her, feeling a strange sense of alarm coursing through her body as he encircled her neck with his hands. She stared into his blue eyes as he gently started applying pressure, making her breath catch in her lungs as she struggled to catch her next breath.

King grunted as he came inside her, quickly filling her up. Her whole body was contracting against him as she struggled for breath, milking him hard as he continued to pump inside her. He kept moving slowly as his cum ran out of her, dribbling down against her ponut and pooling near her dock.

Pulling vainly at the straps, she felt the leather hold her hooves fast. She could feel her airway constrict further, barely letting any air through. A strange euphoria flowed through her as her body approached her peak. The lack of oxygen combined with her fear heightened everything, making her entire lower body radiate with warmth and intense pleasure. It rode up her spine and into her brain, making her orgasm nearly instantly. She could feel her whole body shaking with the intense feeling, muzzle hanging open and tongue lolling to the side.

“S…stop…” She managed to gasp out, voice muffled from hands around her neck.

Immediately King let her down, letting the filly settle down into the pillow as her whole body still twitched from the intense feelings. She gasped quickly as she regained her breath, pulling away from King as his member plopped out of her, already softening. She felt a rush of his cum run down onto her leg, matting down the white fur, leaving sticky strands between her thighs as she moved.

She stared back intently at him as she recovered, sitting up against the backboard slowly. Barely winded, he sat down at the foot of the bed. Trying to move a hoof to her throat, she glanced down, realizing she was still bound to the bed. She lit her horn, slowly undoing the straps. Reaching up, she rubbed her throat softly.

“Why did you…”

He reached out a hand to one of her legs, touching the hoof gently. She pulled back slightly, before she let her hoof settle back against his touch. He ran a hand up her leg, stroking her softly.

“Did you like it?” He asked.

Confused at the intense rush she had during their love making, she hesitated. She knew he shouldn’t have done what he did. Vinyl could feel her brain screaming at her that this male she had just met the other day had already violated her trust. In that moment she felt her safety fall away and leave her tumbling free in space.

And for some reason it felt mother-bucking amazing.

So she didn’t say anything. Vinyl let him scratch her leg as he moved up against her, running his hands over her cum slicked thighs. He held her warm body against his, letting the feel of her sweat laden fur rub against his skin. Wrapping an arm around her fluffy chest, he gathered her close. He picked her up, carrying her back to the shower.

“I already…” Vinyl suddenly said, protesting. Glancing down, she realized her entire lower half was covered in human and pony cum.

“Okay, maybe I could use another one.” She relented, settling into his arms as he turned on the shower.

Still feeling physically drained but satisfied, Vinyl sat patiently on a chair in the living room as she waited for King, tucking her hooves under her as she watched ponies walk past the house in the afternoon sun. She glanced over at the staircase as he walked down to join her, wearing the same odd blue pants, and donning a light green shirt that buttoned up the front.

“I thought maybe we could go out and have a little dinner.” He said, grabbing a small purse of bits from the table.

Vinyl’s ears perked up at the thought. She couldn’t remember the last time she had gone anywhere for an actual sit down night out with anypony.

“I could go for that…” She replied.

“We’re meeting a couple of my friends too.” King said. “Old friends. From way back.”

Her ears drooped again.

“Alright. Sounds…fun!” Vinyl said, feigning excitement.

Walking over to her, King reached out, brushing her mane back behind her ears, scratching her softly.

“Hey, don’t worry, we’ll ditch them later on. I figured you’d be too tired.”

The filly blushed as she looked up at him. “It’s not…” She stammered. “I just was hoping for a quiet time out.”

“Don’t worry. I think you’ll like them. It’ll be fun.” He replied. Leaning down suddenly, he scooped the pony up out of the chair, making her gasp as he held her closely.

“Want me to carry you again?”

“Don’t you dare…” She said angrily, squirming free as she dropped to her hooves.

“Alright, alright…” He said playfully, grabbing his key from the end table. Motioning out to the street, he locked up carefully behind them, joining the filly as they walked down the street into the heart of downtown.