The bass thumping through the speakers was loud enough to be heard three blocks away, even from behind the thick, concrete walls of the club. Ponies closer than that could feel the vibration of the music pulsing through their hooves if they stood still on the sidewalk. The rhythm beat through the ground and spread out like the roots of a tree, making ponies miles away bob their heads to the tempo of something they couldn’t even consciously hear.
Far on the edge of town, the music thudded out from the popular nightclub ‘The Thoroughbred’ as bright, neon lights flashed behind its (plastic) windows and gleamed out of every crack and slit like water leaking from a barrel. Almost as deafening as the electronic music was the roar and cheers of the cramped crowd inside the club, their hooves stomping excitedly against the ground as they moved and to the rhythm.
On a platform high above the crowd, flanked by speakers the size of houses and silhouetted against a huge, flashing monitor of strobing colors stood a single mare behind a turntable. She wore an elaborate costume that covered her entire body aside from her head, revealing her wild shock of neon-blue hair and a pair of signature mirrored-sunglasses that shimmered against the strobe lights blinking from the ceiling. Her mouth was pursed in concentration as she bobbed her head to the music, using a combination of magic and her own two hooves to remix the synthesizer on the fly. Part of the appeal for attending her shows was that she never played the same song twice. Even her familiar hits were twisted and changed into something new and unique every show, and the crowds loved it.
The latest song came to an abrupt end in time with the stage lights blinking out. In the dark, the crowd cheered and stomped their hooves in a wave of applause. Vinyl Scratch took a moment to duck below her turntable and drink from the water bottle she’d hidden there before the huge screen behind her lit up in a bright white white. The DJ cleared her throat to the side before turning to the microphone to her left.
“Everybody havin’ a good time tonight!?” Vinyl shouted through the booming speakers and was met with a dull roar of cheers and applause. She cocked her head to the side and wiggled her ear toward the crowd, then tapped her hoof against the microphone. “Is this thing even on? ‘Cause I thought I asked if everybody’s HAVIN’ A GOOD TIME TONIGHT!” The entire club cheered in response, far louder than the first time.
“That’s more like it!” Vinyl Scratch laughed into the microphone. “Because you guys have been SO AWESOME tonight on my LAST SHOW OF THE SEASON…” A chorus of boos and disappointed groans followed that announcement, to which Vinyl waved her hoof toward the crowd. “I know, I know, I’m bummed about it too, guys. But ‘cause ya’ll have been SO AWESOME I’ll give you guys ONE MORE SONG to absolutely LOSE YOUR MINDS TO. How’s that sound!?”
The crowd of almost two thousand ponies cheered in unison, loud enough to even sting Vinyl through her earplugs. She saw sparks of magic from the unicorns fire off into the air and pegasi looping through the air between the crowd and the ceiling.
“Al-right!” she shouted back. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about!”
Vinyl Scratch leaned away from the microphone and used one of her back hooves to step on a pedal before slowly tracking up the beginning of her next song, a single wavering tone that sounded like Outer Space. It was matched by the slow spinning of the stage lights as they cast solid beams of light through the smoke in the air. It was like the music itself was holding its breath, climbing higher and higher like a rollercoaster before the drop the crowd waited for.
After a nearly a minute, the music faded out into silence as a hush fell over the club, the stage lights blinking slowly. Vinyl held the silence for however long felt right to her, tastingthe tension in the air, before finally hammering down the drop, a deafening explosion of sound that thundered from the speakers and shook ‘The Thoroughbred’ to its foundations. The crowd cheered as a twinkling star-field of magic sparks and glow sticks were flung into the air like neon confetti.
The final song was scheduled to last ten minutes, but Vinyl Scratch’s improvisationextended it to nearly twenty. Normally, a tech or stage producer would inform her how much she was going over, but it was her last show for the foreseeable future, so length was left entirely up to her. When the song finally reached its last crescendo, Vinyl leaned into the microphone and shouted over the music.
“I love you, Manehattan! You guys are awesome! Let’s bring it back home!” She twisted knobs and dials she was intimately familiar with as she ended the show with a rush of synthesized thunder that could have shattered glass. When the music came to a stop, the cheers of the crowd filled the space it had left, a thousand voices shouting Vinyl’s name and stomping their hooves on the ground in unison. She waited atop the podium and waved to the crowd before the stage lights lowered and the platform faded into darkness.
Vinyl Scratch breathed a deep sigh as she released the tension she’d built up over the show. She drank down the rest of her water bottle in a few gulps before she opened a second one and backed away from her turntable. A metal staircase descended from her platform to the backstage and she hesitated above it while sipping her water and catching her breath. She didn’t like to use the stairs without someone there to watch her, but the stage crew were busy galloping around to break down equipment as fast as possible. She waited until her show producers, two mares wearing headphones and lanyards around their necks, quickly galloped up the stairs to take Vinyl’s side as she carefully descended.
The DJ had good reason to be careful. Though it was disguised by her position on stage and partially obscured by her thick costume, Vinyl Scratch was very heavily pregnant. It was an open secret that the mare didn’t often bring up during shows, but the real reason her shows were ending for the season was that she was due to give birth within the next few weeks. The producers had hired a special medical team to stand by for Vinyl’s last three shows in case she went into labor while onstage. Fortunately, her foal had stayed put inside his mother long enough for Vinyl to finish up her season, which satisfied her. She hated the idea of not being able to perform through her pregnancy and was proud she’d managed to get through the entire tour without being slowed down.
“You did great, Scratch!” said the producer on her left, an exhausted looking pink mare named Tulip.
“Hope so,” Vinyl sighed as she carefully took each step slowly with her two producers on either side in case she stumbled. “I don’t know when I can get on stage again, so I figured I should give ‘em a good show to go out on, y’know?”
“I’d say ‘mission accomplished,’” Tulip said, gesturing toward the still-cheering crowd that were chanting the DJ’s name.
Near the bottom of the stairs, Vinyl misstep and her hoof slipped. She managed to catch herself just in time, but Tulip and her other producer, Moon Breeze, steadied her in case she fell.
“Ugh, we should’ve installed an elevator,” Moon Breeze sighed, her nerves already shot from managing the show from behind the scenes.
“As if I didn’t feel huge enough already, might as well put me in a cargo elevator,” Vinyl mumbled as she finally made it to the ground and pulled on her uncomfortable costume. She’d had it tailored to be stretchy and a few sizes too big to accommodate her pregnancy, but she’d gotten bigger than she anticipated and it pulled uncomfortably around her belly.
“It wasn’t in the budget,” Tulip said. “Renting out The Thoroughbred set us back a couple grand already, so we had to cut corners where we could.”
“Half this show was financed by Draft Punk anyway,” Moon Breeze argued. “We could’ve squeezed more out for Scratch in the name of safety.”
“I love those guys,” Vinyl said as she shuffled awkwardly across the backstage toward her dressing room, her costume constricting her like a spacesuit. “They paid for this show as a maternity gift, I wouldn’t wanna take advantage of ‘em.”
“And it’s her last show of the season, installing an elevator just for that would’ve been a huge waste,” Tulip said.
“Alright, alright, I get it,” Moon Breeze groaned, rolling her eyes. “Hindsight is 20/20, I guess.”
“It’s a good idea, Breeze,” Vinyl said as she stopped to catch her breath. “I would’ve agreed if I knew how far along I’d be by now.” Somewhere deep below the padded costume, she felt a gentle stirring from her foal as he turned over. He didn’t have much room to move anymore, but he still tried his best to flip around when he was getting uncomfortable.Vinyl smiled as she felt the baby move, knowing that he’d be kicking her incessantly in a few hours once he woke up and got hungry. At least he was still and calm during the show, thanks primarily to her costume.
“Hey, can you get some crackers or something brought to the green room?” she asked her producers, rubbing her belly idly through her costume. “I’m gonna get nauseous without something on my stomach.”
“We could get you a meal if you need it,” Tulip offered.
“Nah, something light, I’ve got plans later,” the DJ said, pulling on her costume again. “Ugh, I have got to get out of this thing.”
“Oooohhhhh,” Tulip smirked, batting her eyelids. “Special evening with ‘daddy?’”
“Well uh…not exac-”
“There she is!” called out a booming female voice from the other end of the backstage. “Equestria-famous electronic music artist, DJ Pon-Three!”
“Oh no…” Vinyl winced as Tulip and Moon Breeze shot a horrified glance at one another.
“I swear, Scratch, I had no idea she was-” Tulip stammered.
“Who let press past security?” Moon Breeze growled into a radio. “There were specificinstructions not to allow backstage-”
“Star Chaser here, for Canterlot Entertainment Tonight,” said a tall, well-dressed unicorn into a microphone as she was followed by a surly stallion with a camera over his shoulder. Vinyl rolled her eyes and awkwardly turned to face them. She would’ve been easily blinded by the light on the camera had she not still been wearing her mirror shades. Even beside the spotlight, Star Chaser’s beaming, artificial smile was just as bright. The unicorn wore what looked like pounds of makeup on her face that looked far better on-air than it did up close.
“Tonight, we’re here backstage at the legendary ‘Thoroughbred’ nightclub, catching up with master DJ and techno music sensation Vinyl Scratch, who just finished up her last show of the season whileeleven months pregnant. Tell Canterlot, Mrs. Scratch, how do you put on such a show-stopping performance with a foal on the way?”
“Uhh, well y’know, it’s all like, about perseverance and uhhh believing in yourself and what you can achieve I guess,” Vinyl mumbled into the microphone as a canned response, leaning away as the cameraman stepped far too close for comfort.
“Absolutely inspiring,” Star Chaser said with a rehearsed sigh. “I’m sure many mothers-to-be wouldn’t even dream of getting onstage so close to their due date, but you kept right on going!”
“Uhh, yeah,” Vinyl said, shifting in her costume. “Hey, uhh, can we do this in a minute? I need to go to my dressing room-”
“Oh of course, of course, of course, just one last question before you go-”
“No, I mean I really…uh…” Vinyl glanced over Star Chaser’s shoulder to see Moon Breeze talking to a large security stallion before pointing him toward the reporter. She took that as a cue to turn and start to waddle toward the dressing room. Normally, she’d easily be able to avoid the onslaught of paparazzi after a big show, but with her late-term pregnancy weighing her down, she had to rely on security to keep them off of her.
“Mrs. Scratch! Mrs. Scratch! Can you common on the current scandal regarding-” Before she could even get out what scandal had come to light that week, the security guard had crossed the backstage and planted himself firmly between Vinyl Scratch and Star Chaser, peering through dark sunglasses directly into the camera. Each time the reporter tried to duck around him, the stallion simply slid in front of her and blocked her path as Vinyl hurried into the dressing room and slammed the door shut behind her.
She barely had a second to catch her breath before a sudden popstartled her and a rain of confetti showered her from the ceiling.
“Congratulations!” cheered a slender stallion in the corner of her dressing room. His coat was a glossy silver that seemed to shimmer when he moved and he wore a pair of trendy, rectangular glasses over his golden eyes. His horn was glowing a similar shade of gold as he held up more party poppers and pulled their strings all at the same time to coat Vinyl in even more confetti.
“Aaagh, stop dude!” Vinyl shouted as she laughed and batted away the confetti with her hoof.
“I didn’t even get to the silly string yet!” the stallion said as he picked up a metal aerosol can and started to shake it.
“Don’t you even think about it, Silver Trance!” Vinyl protested. “That stuff will never come outta this stupid costume.”
“Who cares! You’re done with it anyway!” Silver reluctantly put the cap on the silly string and tossed it over his shoulder before happily trotting closer to Vinyl Scratch to peck her on the cheek and take off her mirrored glasses so he could look directly into her vibrant, red-violet eyes. Silver Trance was a former DJ himself who owned the record label that sponsored Vinyl. He was also her personal manager, best friend, fiancee, and, most recently, the father of her unborn foal.
“I’m proud of you,” he mumbled, nuzzling his head into her blue mane and trying not to gag at the overwhelming smell of hair spray and ruin the moment. “You saw it through to the end.”
“Eh, it wasn’t so hard,” Vinyl said nonchalantly. “I performed like I always did. I was just pregnant this time.” She wiggled out of his reach and waddled toward the closet with a sigh. “Wait ‘til I shower before you get so lovey-dovey, alright? I smell like a locker room.”
“Who says I mind?” Silver Trance said, slyly.
“Gross.” Vinyl craned her neck over her shoulder and used her teeth to pull on the nearest button of her thick costume. “At first, I thought you were more press that got in here. You almost scared the baby outta me.”
“…Wait, really?” Silver asked, alarmed.
“…No, not, like, literally,” Vinyl said. She grunted and rubbed her belly through her costume. “Though I think I’m about that far along, though. Squeeze me like a tube of toothpaste and the foal will probably come flying outta there.”
“That’s…not an image I want to think about,” Silver said, swallowing uncomfortably. He sat back and watched as Vinyl peeled herself out of her tight-fitting costume, revealing inch-by-inch her snow-white coat underneath it. With a relieved sigh, she let it drop to the floor below her and shook it off her hooves.
“Doesn’t leave much to the imagination, does it?” Silver said, glancing at the mare’s heavily pregnant belly as it swelled between her legs and rocked gently as she moved.
“It did,” Vinyl scowled before kicking the fabric into a corner. “Before I blew up like a hot air balloon.”
“At least it did its job, right?” Silver commented. He glanced at the open costume and could see the thick layer of extra padding that had wrapped around Vinyl’s belly from the inside. More than just aesthetics, the costume served the purpose of dampening the sound of Vinyl’s shows so that the loud music wouldn’t damage their foal’s hearing in the womb.
“Oh totally,” Vinyl said, poking at her belly with a hoof. “He usually sleeps through most of the show. It’s the only reason I put up with wearing the stupid thing.”
“I like you better without it, anyway,” Silver Trance smirked, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh shut up,” Vinyl said as she rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hide the blush on her cheeks. She stretched her legs out before waddling toward the bathroom at the other end of the dressing room. “I’m gonna get in the shower for a sec. I got so much makeup on I can barely move.” Even with the weight of a large pregnancy encumbering her, getting out of her costume made Vinyl feel far more limber and mobile than before, a side-effect she’d grown to like. With Silver’s foal nearly due, it was about the only time she ever felt limber or mobile.
Vinyl hobbled into the bathroom and into the shower without bothering to shut the door behind her. She winced slightly at the hot water, then sighed in deep relief as it relaxed her muscles, still tensed from the show. Her blue mane, naturally spiky and wild, flattened against her head as it got wet and the hundreds of dollars worth of hair product seeped out of it and swirled down the drain between her hooves.
“How much glitter you think they gotta suck out of these drains?” Vinyl asked, idly.
“Tons, I’m sure,” said Silver Trance’s voice, far closer than Vinyl expected. She spun around to find his head poking around the shower curtain, a slight smirk on his face.
“Oh, look who’s brave,” Vinyl chuckled. She turned away from him and let the water cascade over her back. “Do you like to watch your other clients shower?”
“Absolutely not,” Silver said. “I give all of them complete privacy and maintain a professional relationship.” He paused, then said, “The only exception is when I’m engaged to them.”
“And when they’re carrying your foal,” Vinyl said, swatting her fiancee with her wet tail.
“That too,” Silver said. He watched the water run over Vinyl Scratch’s bulging, rounded sides, so pleasantly plump and swollen with pregnancy. Her coat was almost as shiny as his was and, in the right light, she literally glowed. A silent part of him had worried that Vinyl’s pregnancy might put a damper on their relationship, but he was pleased to discover that he was more attracted to her than ever before. Sometimes, he even looked up paparazzi photos of her published in tabloids just for the excuse to look at her in a new perspective. She was still the same spunky, energetic, youthful mare he’d fallen in love with, despite the pregnancy she carried.
“That’s so much better,” Vinyl Scratch groaned as she turned off the shower and let the water drip off of her. “I finally feel like myself again.” She paused as she felt a sharp nudge from the foal poke her in the ribs before adding, “Well, plus a little extra.”
With Silver Trance’s help, she toweled off before leaving the bathroom with her hairdryer blaring loudly as she shook her mane beneath the warm air.
“Hungry?” Silver asked.
“Always,” Vinyl said. “Eatin’ for two and all that.”
“Good,” her fiance smirked before ducking into the closet and pulling out an enormous cheesecake in an elaborately designedblack box.
“No way,” Vinyl gasped, tossing aside the hairdryer and gazing wide-eyed at the box. “Is that from Valentini’s?!”
“I didn’t think we’d get a chance to go while we were in town,” Silver grinned. “So I ran by during the show to pick this up.”
“Ugh, c’mon, why are you so awesome in ways I can’t even keep up with?” Vinyl said as she kissed her fiance on the neck and snatched the box away from him.
“Well, you’re having my baby,” Silver smirked as he watched her tear open the box. “I’d say that’s pretty awesome.”
“Pfft, whatever,” Vinyl said, poking her belly. “This doesn’t even compare.” Using her magic, Vinyl Scratch carefully removed the paper separating the slices of perfect cheesecake and delicately took a small bite. Her entire body shuddered in ecstasy and she hopped in place as best she could while so heavily pregnant. “Oooohhhhhhh my Godit’s so perfect,”she whined through her full mouth. As she swallowed, the foal poked at her as she glanced down at her belly. “I really hope he can taste this, somehow.”
“If he can’t, that’s all the more excuse to get another one after he’s born,” Silver said. Vinyl carefully took the slice she’d bitten into and put it on a scrap of paper towel before she closed the box and slid it toward Silver while averting her eyes.
“Hurry, get this away from me before I eat the whole damn thing right this second.”
“It’s your cake, you can do that if you want to,” Silver said.
“But I wanna save it and make it last,” Vinyl said as she took another bite of her slice. “Who knows when we’ll be back in Manehattan again?”
“Then, next time, we can go to Valentini’s together,” Silver said as he moved next to Vinyl and gently stroked a hoof against her sensitive belly. “And get a table for three. How’s that sound?”
“Pretty dope,” Vinyl Scratch said, grinning. She blinked and glanced aside as a thought occurred to her. “What time is it?”
“A little after 10:30,” Silver Trance said, glancing at the clock on the wall. “I think you made the show run a little longer-”
“Hey, uhh, shouldn’t we get going?” Vinyl Scratch quickly said. “To beat the traffic? Can we get Tulip or Moon Breeze to take our stuff back to the hotel?”
“Um, I’m sure they will,” Silver said, raising an eyebrow. “What’s the rush?”
“No rush, I’m just worn out from the show, y’know?” She yawned long and unconvincingly, tapping a hoof to her mouth. “Oh man, being preggers really wears you out.”
“If you’re ready to go, then sure,” Silver said. He smiled warmly and nuzzled his head against his fiancee’s neck, then put his head to her belly. “I was looking forward to spending a quiet night in with the two of you, now that the tour is over.”
“Uhh, yeah, me too,” Vinyl swallowed. She shifted and her belly accidentally bumped Silver in the face as she hurried to the door. “Let’s get to the hotel before room service closes down.”
“I like the sound of that,” Silver Trance said as he easily overtook Vinyl’s pregnant shuffling with his long-legged stride.
“Oh! Wait!” she said before they left the dressing room. Vinyl stopped in the doorway before using her magic to lift her ever-present mirror shades from the counter and catch them on her face. “Alright, let’s hit it.”
As Vinyl Scratch and Silver Trance left the dressing room together, they both watched the scene at the edge of the backstage unfold as three security guards battled to keep back Star Chaser and her cameraman from getting any closer.
“Vinyl Scratch! Mrs. Scratch!” screamed Star Chaser from across the stage, still absolutely desperate to get a story. “What are you naming your baby!?”
“Hoof Licker!” shouted back Vinyl before cackling maniacally and shooting a devilish look at Silver. The stallion rolled his eyes, but was nevertheless amused as the two of them headed for the exit to the street.
The air outside was cold and bracing, which caused the skinny Silver Trance to shiver at the sudden drop in temperature, but the pregnant Vinyl Scratch was relieved at the cold air against her coat, having spent the better part of the last two hours suffocating in a thick costume. The hoof-traffic was thick, as it always was in Manehattan, especially as the crowd from inside The Thoroughbred began to pour out. Silver stood close by his fiance to instinctively protect her from the crowd, but Vinyl leaned around him and waved excitedly to her fans crowding the sidewalk.
“I love you, Scratch!” shouted a deep, male voice from behind a group of wide-eyed ponies who were climbing over one another to get a look at the famous DJ. Security guards trotted out from inside and stood between the two unicorns and the others. Silver grunted uncomfortably as Vinyl half-climbed up his back to stand on her hind legs and wave to the crowd of onlookers. His legs trembled underneath him; he wasn’t very sturdy at the best of times and Vinyl’s extra pregnancy weight wasn’t any easier to carry.
“Do you want to do autographs?” Silver asked, grunting beneath Vinyl’s weight.
“Nah, we don’t have the time,” she answered after dropping down to all four legs. Vinyl hesitated oddly and glanced around the block, peering above and below the surrounding ponies as if searching for something.
“Are you alright?” Silver asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, Yeah, I’m all good,” Vinyl answered quickly, waving a hoof dismissively before absentmindedly rubbing her belly with it, as she tended to do when feeling anxious.
“Did you forget anything?” Silver asked, leaning closer to her ear as he tried to parse out what was wrong.
“Nah, Tulip and Breeze can handle all my stuff,” Vinyl said. She turned to look up at Silver, her expression hard to read behind her mirrored sunglasses. She sighed and seemed disappointed before shuffling toward the sleek,black, luxury carriage waiting for them at the curb. Silver stood to the side and gestured for Vinyl to get in first so he could help her, butshe shook her head.
“I wanna get some more fresh air, you go first.”
“We’re in Manehattan,” Silver Trance said, skeptically. “How fresh can it really be?”
“It feels good! I’m getting hot flashes, okay? I’m all pregnant and sweaty and gross,” Vinyl grunted as she kicked a hoof anxiously at the pavement. Silver rolled his eyes and concluded that she wasn’t going to tell him what was on her mind, so he climbed into the carriage first and held the door open for his fiance.
“Scratch!” he yelled for her. “If you still want room service, we need to get going!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!” sighed Vinyl. She waddled toward the carriage and took a few deep breaths, wiggled her rear end, then hopped halfway into the carriage, her belly weighing her down too much for her to easily climb inside. She took Silver’s hoof and scrambled inside with his help, grimacing as she felt the sensitive underside of her belly scrape against the bottom of the door.
“Oohh, this is nice,” Silver moaned, kicking his hooves out on the cushioned seat and leaning back. “I’m glad your tour is over before the baby came.”
“I was kinda scared he’d surprise me in the middle of a show,” Vinyl said, grunting as she shifted to get comfortable under her belly. “I got a couple cramps at the last Canterlot show that made me-” Vinyl suddenly stopped talking as she glanced through the back window of the carriage. A rickety, yellow carriage had pulled up behind them with black stripes painted on the side, pulled by a tired looking stallion in a yellow hat. When a mare tried to enter the taxi, she found it locked and the cabbie shook his head.
“Uhhhh…Okay, Silver?” Vinyl Scratch said urgently as she sat up in her seat. “So I gotta tell you something and you’re not gonna like it.”
“Alright…” Silver Trance answered, hesitantly.
“So remember how when we got engaged we were out of the country and I couldn’t have a bachelorette party?”
“Right…”
“And how after I got pregnant we did this tour and we didn’t have time for a baby shower?”
“I remember…”
“Right. Okay. So all my friends are in Manehattan this weekend and I called them up and we’re having a Bachelor-Ternity Shower for me tonight and I knew you weren’t gonna agree to it since I’m like a million months pregnant so I made plans on my own. And now the cab’s here and I gotta go.”
“Wh-Wait, what?” Silver said, sitting up and shaking his head as he tried to process the amount of information Vinyl had just spat at him. “You’re going-”
“I won’t be too late!” Vinyl Scratch said. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before throwing open the back door of the carriage. “Thanks I love you I’ll be safe I’ll call you bye!” The heavily pregnant mare then hopped out of the carriage and quickly shuffled toward the side door of the taxi and awkwardly climbed in.
“You tha DJ?” the cabbie asked, glancing at Vinyl panting on her side, one leg thrown over her belly. “…You ain’t gonna have a foal in my cab, are ya?”
“Probably not,” she shrugged. “Take me to 16th and Broadway.”
“You got it,” he said before trotting off into traffic. He glanced back with a confused frown at the crowd of ponies waving at the taxi as it pulled away. “Ey, you famous or somethin’?”
“Kinda,” Vinyl shrugged as she sat up in the seat and rubbed her belly to soothe her foal, riled up from the sudden activity. “You listen to EDM?”
“Tha Equestria Dance Method?”
“Uh…no.”
“Then no.”
“…Oh.” Vinyl scratched her mane and adjusted her glasses and sat back to enjoy the sights of the city through the carriage window.
“I can’t wait to show you all this, little dude,” Vinyl muttered to the foal in her belly. “I think you’re gonna really like the world out here.” She winced at a kick toward her ribs before poking back at her belly with a hoof. “But yknow…take your time, okay? Tonight’s not a great time to make an appearance.”
The cabbie eventually stopped at the corner of 16th street and Broadway, directly in front of the swanky club she was heading for. Vinyl’s horn glowed as she ‘poofed’ a bag of money from the hotel room and tossed a handful of bits to the cabbie, with extra thrown in for a tip.
“You have a good one,” the stallion nodded as Vinyl awkwardly climbed down from the cab. “Thanks for not havin’ a foal in my back seat.”
“No problem,” Vinyl said. She paused, then asked, “Has…has that happened to you before?”
“Four times,” the cabbie said with a weary expression. The two stared at one another awkwardly before Vinyl closed the door of the cab and it pulled away without another word.
The club was an expensive, high-class bar called ‘The Fast Track,’ that was famous in the city. Not even Vinyl Scratch or Silver Trance would have been able to get reservations, despite their modest fame, so their spot was reserved by one of Vinyl’s more ‘connected’ friends. There was a line of ponies down the sidewalk, all well-dressed and hoping to snag a table from a canceled reservation. A bulky pegasus stood by the doorway with a clipboard on a stand in front of him. Vinyl felt under dressed and uncomfortably exposed, especially with how much she stood out with her enormously pregnant middle. Nevertheless, she stepped up to the door confidently and glanced at the bouncer through her glasses.
“Reservation?” he asked.
“Should be under ‘Spectra,’” she answered. “I’m Vinyl Scratch.” The bouncer checked his clipboard before glancing at her up and down.
“You’re on the list,” he nodded before stepping aside. “You have a plus one?”
“Technically,” Vinyl joked, tapping her round belly with a hoof and smirking. The bouncer did not smile back. “Uh… Okay, thanks.”
The Fast Track was dark and lit mostly by candles on the tables and bar. Vinyl could feel the thud of music from the dance floor in the basement while the tables and bar took up the two above-ground floors. Ponies mingled around one another in hip, fashionable outfits that looked more expensive than anything Vinyl owned.
“Uhhh hey,” she said, waving down a passing waitress. “Where are the rooms or tables for, like, private parties?”
“Upstairs,” the unicorn said, gesturing to the ceiling before hurriedly trotting away without a second glance. Vinyl waddled around the tables, trying not to knock anything over with her girth, before she found the spiral staircase leading to the second floor, dark and steep and not very wide.
“Stairs,” Vinyl Scratch grumbled. She stood to the side and waited for them to clear, then took a deep breath. “Okay baby, suck it in,” she mumbled to her foal before holding her breath and climbing the stairs as quickly as she could, the bulging sides of her belly scraping the left-side wall. A surprised looking mare with eyeliner stepped out of her way as she stumbled upstairs. Vinyl panted and leaned against the railing while her belly rocked slightly below her, the foal kicking impatiently at being squeezed.
“Mama Scraaaaatch!” shouted a loud voice across the otherwise quiet room. Vinyl jerked upright fast enough to nearly throw her glasses from her face and peered around for whoever had been shouting her name. Through the dim lighting of the club, she spotted a small mare with a black, slicked-back mane waving enthusiastically from roped-off, private table in the back. The pregnant DJ brightened at seeing a familiar face and shuffled across the room, waddling under the shape of her belly.
“You made it!” squealed the short pegasusas she flung herself over Vinyl’s shoulders.
“It’s my party, dude,” Vinyl chuckled. “No way I’d skip out.”
“Yo, be gentle, Rhyme,” said a unicorn before using her magic to jerk back the pegasus from Vinyl scratch. “You can’t be doin’ that when she’s that far along, y’know?”
“Agh, yeah, I didn’t think about that,” the pegasus groaned, smacking herself with a hoof. She flapped her wings and stood up on her hind legs to give Vinyl a more gentle hug, along with a soft poke to her belly.
“Wow, Scratch, is that all baby?”
“Pretty much,” she answered, glancing back at her bulging sides. “He’s about done in there.”
“That’s weird, dude!” Rhyme breathed before grinning up into Vinyl’s mirrored shades.
“I know, right?” Vinyl agreed.
“C’mon, let her sit down,” said the unicorn as she pulled Rhyme away. Rhyme turned and hopped back onto the seat, bouncing on the cushion next to her twin sister, Rhythm. The pair were identical twins, aside from their dyed manes and the fact that Rhythm was a unicorn and Rhyme a pegasus. The two of them were up-and-coming Djs in the indie music scene and Vinyl frequently collaborated with the pair to open her own shows. Though they were the same age, Rhythm was the more level-headed of the two who worked hard to keep her more rambunctious, wild sister in line.
“Scoot over,” Vinyl grunted as she climbed onto the seat next to the twins. “I’m takin’ up a lot of room here.” Rhyme flopped onto her side and wiggled closer to Vinyl’s belly, planting an ear flat against it to listen for the moving foal. The pregnant unicorn smirked and casually rubbed Rhyme’s back, between her wings. The young pegasus was always exceptionally cuddly.
“Your show’s blowing up online,” said the deep, sultry voice of an older mare sitting on the other side of Rhythm. A gorgeous pink pegasus with a long, slender face poked her head around the twins and smiled. “Sounds like you blew the roof off The Thoroughbred.”
“Spectra!” Vinyl Scratch gasped, trying to wiggle off the couch beneath the weight of her own pregnant belly and Rhyme’s weight pinning her down.
“Don’t, don’t, I’ll come to you,” said Spectra. She stood on her long, elegant legs and tossed her mane out of her face as she rounded the table and affectionately nuzzled Vinyl. “It’s been way too long.” Spectra was an Equestrian-famous pop singer with a level of fame far above Vinyl and her other musician friends. She’d sought the DJ out for a collaboration on her last album and the two had become close friends during the recording. It was her connections that had gotten them a reservation at The Fast Track to begin with.
“You’re always on tour,” Vinyl groaned. “It’s hard to get you to stay in one place.”
“I could say the same for you,” Spectra responded. She backed away and glanced down at Vinyl’s belly with a warm smile. “At least maybe now you’ll slow down a little.”
“As if,” Vinyl smirked. She blinked and looked around the room before grumbling and pulling her shades above her eyes. “Gah, it’s so dark in here! How did you guys expect me to find you?”
“We pretty much spotted you right away,” Rhyme said. “You weren’t hard to find.”
“B-because of your coat, y’know?” Rhythm quickly corrected her sister. “It’s white, it stands out in the dark well.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Vinyl said, snickering. “I thought it was ‘cause Silver’s baby blew me up like a blimp.”
“That’s what I meant!” Rhyme snickered as she sat up and giggled. Rhythm rolled her eyes.
“But look how big you are!” Spectra gasped, leaning down to coo next to Vinyl’s belly. “You look ready to drop any moment now.”
“Well, let’s cross our hooves that doesn’t happen tonight,” Vinyl joked, looking down as Spectra prodded her bump to feel for the foal.
“You were barely showing last time I saw you,” Spectra said. She looked up with an excited sparkle in her eye. “Are you excited to be a mother?”
“Eeeuuggh,” Vinyl shuddered, her horn sparking. “Don’t call me a mother. That’s too weird.”
“I don’t think that’s very avoidable,” Spectra said, prodding her friend’s belly. “Seeing how you’ve got a son in there.”
“I don’t think of him as my son, exactly,” Vinyl said, scratching the back of my mane. “He’s more like ‘my little dude’ or ‘my buddy.’ I’m gonna be a mom, but not like a mom mom.” Spectra just laughed and shook her head.
“You’re one of a kind, Scratch,” she said.
“Not for looooong,” Rhyme snickered, prodding Vinyl’s belly.
“Hey hey hey,” she responded, swatting the pegasus’ hoof away. “The bump is not public property.”
“Try and stop me,” Spectra said playfully as she gave Vinyl’s belly another quick rub before settling in a nearby chair.
“Did DB make it?” Vinyl Scratch asked, glancing around the private room. “I thought she was in town.”
“She’s up getting drinks,” Rhythm answered.
“Oh I see how it is,” Vinyl snorted. “Getting the party started without me?”
“Well it’s not like you’ll be drinking,” Spectra pointed out.
Before Vinyl could respond, another mare hobbled inside, carrying a tray of drinks on one hoof before settling it down on the table.
“Oh-kay, two hard ciders, a gin and tonic for Spectra, and my-” she stopped, then glanced to the right and peeked over her sunglasses. “Yo! Scratch!”
“DB!” Vinyl grinned back. She reached out a hoof, which the other mare bumped with her own to make soft ‘clop’ noise. DB was an earth pony with a dark purple coat and long, stringy black black hair kept in line by a flat-billed hat she wore backwards on her head. Tattoos climbed both her front legs and she always seemed to have a new one each time Vinyl saw her. Her full name was ‘Dawn Breeze,’ but she preferred her stage name, ‘Drum & Bass.’
“So hey,” DB said, nonchalantly. “What’s up?”
“Not much dude,” Vinyl said back, touching her belly. “Pregnant.”
“I can see that,” DB said, raising her glasses to get a better look. She whistled. “Wow. Real pregnant.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” Vinyl snickered. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“But you are like…I don’t know. Huge.” DB picked up her drink and sat on the cushioned bench across from Vinyl and the others. “Like, you could give birth tomorrow.”
“I think she gets that, DB,” Rhythm said, raising an eyebrow.
“I know, but like…it’s kind of freaking me out?” the mare said, shaking her head. “If I knew you were so far along, I’d have said we should take the party to your place, Scratch.”
“Nah, I needed to get out,” Vinyl said. “It’s just been from stage to bus to hotel room for like six months, now. I gotta live a little before I pop this guy out.”
“You’re just, like, the first friend I had to ever have a foal, y’know what I mean?” DB said, pausing to sip from her drink of something. “It’s wild.”
“I’m not gonna blow up,” Vinyl said, chuckling. “I’m not made of glass. I’m still the same person. Just knocked up.”
“I know, dude, I know,” DB said, waving a hoof. “It’s just a new thing. You want somethin’ to drink? I can go get you water or somethin’.”
“If I even get my tongue wet, I’ll be up to pee in like five minutes,” Vinyl said. “I’m good, you guys go ahead and get plastered for my sake.”
“Are you sure?” Spectra asked.
“We kind of felt weird drinking when you couldn’t,” Rhyme said, glancing reluctantly at her drink.
“I didn’t!” DB shouted before tipping back her drink and shuddering as it went down.
“Guys, it’s fine, I mean it,” Vinyl said to her friends. “I officially give you permission to get super drunk tonight for my Bachelor-Ternity party, okay?” She paused as her stomach gurgled, then flinched against a hard kick from the impatient, hungry foal in her womb. “…Though you gotta get me and the foal some food first, alright?”
The party wore on through the night as Vinyl Scratch watched bemusedly as her friends pounded back drink after drink after drink, toasting almost every single one to her baby. Within an hour, Vinyl was the only one of them still sober. While she wished she could drink and join in with her friends, it was just as entertaining watching them enjoy themselves. Rhythm had begun to lighten up and laugh more while Rhyme was hopping from seat-to-seat finding different people to cuddle. Spectra was trying to keep her composure but clearly failing, her laughter getting louder and more obnoxious the more drunk she was. DB was on the floor below Vinyl, who had stretched out to the side and was letting the mare curiously and drunkenly examine her belly.
“So…so like… uhhh…” DB was slurring as she carefully touched a hoof to her friend’s pregnant middle. “Do you, like, feel when he does everything or mostly…uhhh, like…when he kicks or whatever?”
“He’s gotten big enough that I can feel pretty much everything,” Vinyl explained. “Even when he hiccups.”
“Whaaaat?” DB gasped, nearly spilling her drink as her glasses fell off her face. “You can feel him do that? Duuude…”
“Ngh, okay, there he is,” Vinyl said, wincing as she felt a sharp tug from her belly. She reached down and carefully guided DB’s hoof to where the foal was kicking. “After I eat, he always gets excited and starts-”
“AaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA!” DB suddenly screamed while kicking her hooves against the ground as she felt Vinyl’s baby moving. “Oh my Gooood that’s so weird AAAAA!”
“Are you gonna be okay?” Rhythm asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know! That’s a baby, dude!” DB felt the foal kick for a few minutes before jerking her hoof away and rolling on her back on the floor while kicking her legs in the air. In the space left by DB, Rhyme hopped on the bench next to Vinyl and affectionately wiggled next to the DJ’s squirming belly.
“There he is…” Rhyme cooed, shuffling her wings as she watched Vinyl’s belly move. “There she is!” She suddenly gasped before sitting up and turning to her sister. “Rhythm. We should make an album for Scratch’s baby! Stuff he can like fall asleep to or whatever!”
“Yes,” the unicorn said, pointing at Rhyme. “Yes. I like it. Let’s do it.”
“I think I’m going to get another drink,” Spectra said, tossing her mane in what she probably thought was elegant, but most of it just ended up falling over her face. “Anyone else want anything?”
“Uhh, you sure you’re okay for another drink, Spectra?” Vinyl asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh, I’m fine,” Spectra said, waving a hoof as she stood up and fidgeted her wings. “I’ve got a bit of a buzz going, but it’s nothing much I-” Her excuse was interrupted as she instantly tripped over her own hooves, stumbled, and fell onto a nearby bench. Spectra’s mane fell over her eyes as she gave an un-ladylike snort and started laughing uncontrollably. “Alright, maybe I’m a little more drunk than I thought.”
Once she composed herself as best she could, Spectra rolled off the bench and sauntered from the private room toward the bar. However, just a few seconds later, she returned to poke her head around the corner.
“Scratch!” Spectra hissed excitedly. “You’re not the only future mother here tonight!”
“Eeeuugh, stop with the ‘mother’ thing,” Vinyl shuddered. She wiggled out of Rhyme’s grip and groaned as she settled her heavy body back onto her hooves and waddled toward the doorway. She peered through the dark lighting of the club as it had gotten more and more crowded through the evening. Vinyl trained her eyes downward and started scanning the middles of every mare in the room until her attention inevitably fell on a gray-coated mare in the back of the room with rounded, heavy swell to her belly similar to Vinyl Scratch’s own.
“Nooo…” she gasped, her eyes widening. “No way!” She steadied herself against Spectra for balance and began waving a hoof in the air. “Yo! Octavia! Octavia! Over here!”
The other pregnant mare looked up and curiously scanned the room before her deep, purple eyes met Vinyl’s and brightened in recognition. She carefully sidled her way through the crowd as Vinyl watched her awkwardly trot and wobble gently under the weight of her middle. The DJ knew she walked the same way, but it was still funny to see on someone else.
“Vinyl Scratch!” Octavia said in a measured, soothing voice with a slight accent that couldn’t hide the slight panting from the effort of walking while so heavily pregnant. “Not who I was looking for, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless.”
“Wassup, ‘Tavi!” Vinyl said, stepping forward to affectionally nuzzle her friend. As she did, she peeked down at the earth pony’s bulging, gravid middle. She’d gotten so much bigger since Vinyl had seen her last. “Geeze, you kinda blew up, huh?”
“W-Well, I’m certainly farther along than I was the last time we met,” Octavia said, blushing as she glanced aside. “But I should say the same for you. I thought all this time you must have had your foal by now.”
“Nah, he’s still hangin’ in there,” Vinyl said, glancing back at her rounded stomach and feeling the slight pinch of the baby moving inside her. “Well, barely. I think he’s definitely almost done baking.” She smirked and glanced back at Octavia. “I’m surprised you’re even out tonight.”
“So am I,” she sighed. “I was supposed to meet a friend tonight and they insisted on The Fast Track while I was in town. Trust me, I’d prefer to be back at my hotel room with a jar of pickles and a warm bath.”
“You got a thing for pickles, too?” Vinyl snickered.
“I used to hate them, but now…” Octavia shook her head. “I suppose the foal can’t get enough of them.”
“Same here. My little guy keeps making me eat onions, too,” Vinyl said. She quickly turned and gestured to the private room behind her. “I’m having a Bachelor-Ternity party tonight before I get married and pop out this baby. Come hang out! I’d have invited you if I knew you were gonna be in town!”
“Well, I’m supposed to be meeting someone…” Octavia said hesitantly as she glanced around the room. Her expression changed into an impatient frown as she shook her head. “Well, if they want to drag a pregnant mare out to a bar at nearly midnight, then they can wait on me.” She huffed before waddling past Vinyl and into the private room. Before sitting down, Octavia peered at the others sprawled out around the room and glanced down at DB, still lying on the floor.
“Oh…uh…yo,” said DB awkwardly.
“Guys, this is my friend Octavia,” Vinyl said as she shuffled inside next to the other mare, the small space of the room forcing them to stand close enough to one another that their mutually pregnant middles bumped. “’Tavi, these are my friends DB, Rhythm, and Rhyme. Spectra’s up at the bar.” She paused before glancing at her friend with a smirk. “They’re all really super drunk right now.”
“We’re super drunk right now!” Rhyme repeated as she flapped her wings impotently against the back of her chair.
“Clearly,” Octavia said with a smile. “Well, it’s a party. Why wouldn’t you be?”
“Oh my God,” DB said, wiggling on the ground as she looked up at Octavia’s belly from beneath. “You too?”
“Don’t be weird, DB,” Vinyl said, nudging the drunk mare with a hoof. Octavia seemed amused at the group of Vinyl’s friends as she carefully trotted to a nearby bench and settled in it with a tired huff. Vinyl did the same beside her and the two glanced at the similar way they were sitting, upright with the weight of their bellies distributed evenly in their laps, before they giggled together.
“I thought you were back home on leave getting ready for the birth,” Vinyl said, affectionately rubbing Octavia’s round stomach.
“I was, but we were scheduled for a last-minute performance in the city for the Princesses,” Octavia explained. “Our director wanted all the first-chairs in attendance.”
“Even now?” Vinyl said, raising her eyebrows. “When you’re like one hard sneeze away from your water breaking?”
“Our director is…very meticulous. Sometimes to a fault.” Octavia sighed, stroking her belly. “But I’ve made it clear this is my last performance before the foal is born.”
“I just had my last show tonight!” Vinyl said, grinning proudly. She leaned over and playfully shoved Octavia. “I guess neither of us really took a maternity leave, did we?”
“Believe me, I tried,” Octavia said, rolling her eyes.
“Are you a DJ?” Rhyme asked, cocking her head curiously at Octavia.
“Does she look like a DJ?” Rhythm responded. “She’s too…clean.”
“’Tavi plays the cello!” Vinyl said, excitedly. “She’s an actual musician.”
“Oh stop it,” Octavia said, shoving Vinyl. “Your music is just as valid as ours.”
“Hell yeah it is,” DB said from the floor, raising a hoof in the air.
“I’m the first-chair cellist in the Canterlot Philharmonic Orchestra,” Octavia answered with detectable pride.
“Hey, get this,” Vinyl said excitedly as she reached over and tapped a hoof to her friend’s baby bump. “The father is the second chair cellist.”
“Scratch…” Octavia said, blushing as she glanced aside.
“What? I just think it’s kinda funny,” the DJ snickered as she sat back and rested her hooves on her own belly. “My baby-daddy’s also my manager. It gets pretty awkward sometimes.”
“It’s a complicated dynamic between him and I,” Octavia said, brushing her hair aside.
“I still think it’s weird that I’m the one getting married,” Vinyl said, glancing down as she saw Octavia shift slightly from a kick inside her belly. “You’d think it would be the other way around.”
“Why?” Octavia said, raising an eyebrow and shrugging as she stroked her belly. “I wanted a foal before I wanted a husband. Sonata is a dear friend and I’m happy he agreed to be a donor, but it’s arbitrary to think we have to get married to whoever fathers our children.”
“A-men,” DB shouted from the floor, followed by a short hiccup.
“Eh, I get that. I guess,” Vinyl shrugged, idly drawing a circle around her belly. “I mean, our little dude was an accident, but one I’m happy with. Silver Trance and me were thinking about tying the knot anyway and neither of us wanted the foal to be without their parents, yknow?” She shrugged and looked down at her rounded middle, smirking to herself as a tiny, unseen hoof nudged her from within. “He was kinda the push we needed to get things moving along.”
“It’s fortunate things worked out so well for you,” Octavia said, smiling as she watched a small lump push out from Vinyl’s belly. “Of course, you’re much more adept at ‘going with the flow’ than I am.” She glanced up from her friend’s belly and met her eyes, the deep purple almost luminescent in the dark room. Octavia smiled and brushed back Vinyl’s blue mane out of her eyes. “You look good, Scratch. Healthy. Motherly.”
“I’m keepin’ it together,” she nodded. “Got more than just me to worry about, now.”
“You know, I was worried at first. You like to party, Scratch. I was hoping that having a baby would calm you down some,” Octavia said. She was often shamelessly blunt about what was on her mind, but never ceased to be polite about it.
“Nah, I’m taking care of myself,” Vinyl said, shifting in her seat. “No more crazy stuff until baby’s out of me.”
From the doorway in front of them, Spectra stumbled into the room with a tray of drinks balanced precariously on her wings. Her mane was even more disheveled than when she left and she seemed to have knocked back a few more drinks while she was at the bar. It always amused Vinyl to compare the elegant, poised, and put-together Spectra in the magazines with the sloppy drunk Spectra when she was actually having fun.
“Oh! Hi!” the drunken pop star said, blinking at Octavia. She set the drinks down and pointed at her with a hoof. “Hey! I’m Spuhh…Spectra. Nice to meet you,” she slurred as she shook Octavia’s hoof. She gestured to Vinyl with a wing, then said, “Our friend Vinyl Scratch is gonna have a baby too! Congratulations!”
“Spectra, I already know her,” Vinyl said, leaning over the wrap Octavia in a side-hug. “This is Octavia.”
“Ohhhh my God,” Spectra sighed, shuffling her wings excitedly. “You guys are friends and you’re having your foals together? Oh my God that’s so sweet!”
“Are you…the Spectra?” Octavia asked, raising her eyebrow. “The singer?”
“Yes! I am!” she chirped. “Are you a fan?”
“Well, I don’t usually listen to much more than classical music but…”
“Don’t take it personally,” Vinyl said. “’Tavi doesn’t listen to anything made sooner than a hundred years ago.”
“I think we performed together, actually,” Octavia noted. “I’m in the Canterlot Phil-”
“The orchestra!?” Spectra shouted, her jaw dropping open. “No way! You were there? I’m so stupid, I should’ve recognized you!”
“W-well…it was a big orchestra and I was probably third chair at that point so…” Octavia mumbled bashfully.
“You guys were amazing! That was a great show! Even Cady told me how much she loved it.”
“Cady?” Octavia asked, cocking her head to the side before it dawned on her. “…Princess Cadance? She…She was there?”
“She never misses a show when we’re in town,” Spectra giggled. She stumbled toward the bench on Vinyl’s side, then flopped down on her back and rested her head atop Scratch’s belly. “So how do you guys know each other?” Spectra asked, looking at Octavia upside-down.
“I stole some of her music,” Vinyl giggled, affectionately stroking a hoof through Spectra’s mane.
“I wouldn’t say stole,” Octavia said.
“I would,” Vinyl shrugged. “I just heard it one day and wanted to use it. So…yoink!”
“Wait…I’m confused,” Spectra said, glancing between the two mares with a puzzled expression.
“I sampled one of her compositions for a track a few years ago,” Vinyl Scratch explained. “Had no idea it was copyrighted, though. ‘Tavi’s lawyers came down on me like griffons.”
“They did that without my knowledge,” Octavia continued. “But when I actually heard the piece, I liked what Scratch did with it and let her license the sample instead.”
“Cheap, too,” Vinyl beamed before glancing at her friend. “I would’ve been screwed if Octavia hadn’t done that. This was before I was making any money.”
“Money should never come before art,” Octavia said, seriously. “If my music inspired her to create, that’s not something we should punish.”
“We still gotta do something official,” Vinyl said. “After we have our kids, lets hook up and work on some tracks. Have an excuse for the foals to meet each other.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Octavia beamed. “I look forward to it.”
“Let’s just make sure we get these guys out of us first, alright?” Vinyl snickered as she poked Octavia’s belly.
“Ahhh…Careful, it’s sensitive,” Octavia protested, swatting away Vinyl’s hoof.
“Sorry, I just never get a belly to mess with other than my own,” the DJ said. She then gently pressed her hoof to the side of Octavia’s belly before feeling a slight, soft nudge against her. “Is that her?”
“It is,” the mare smiled.
“Man…DB was right, it is pretty weird. Especially to feel it on somebody else.” Vinyl smiled as she saw a sharp movement thump from inside Octavia just as the mare winced. “Hey baby…hey little girl…”
“She’s quite active around midnight,” Octavia explained with a weary sigh. “I hope she doesn’t keep that up after she’s born…”
“Midnight?” Rhythm said, sitting up. She glanced at the table next to her and checked the time on Spectra’s cell phone, then leapt up from her seat, a white spark inadvertantly popping on her horn. “Midnight! We gotta go downstairs!”
“Why? What? Huh?” Vinyl spluttered, shaking her head. Spectra instantly sat up and rolled off the bench. “What’s at midnight?”
“There’s a set down in the basement we don’t wanna miss,” Rhyme said, fluttering up with her wings as she tried to drag DB off the floor.
“The dance floor?” Vinyl said. She groaned and rubbed her belly. “No, dude, I can’t go dancing. I weigh like a million pounds and I’m bigger than an elephant. I wanna stay here.”
“Scratch, you gotta come,” DB pleaded as she put her glasses back on. “You’ll love this guy, I promise.”
“This’ll be your last chance to party before you’re a mother,” Spectra noted. “Take advantage of it! I promise you won’t regret it.”
“Guys, I can barely get down the stairs,” Vinyl said, gesturing to the steps at the other end of the room. “How am I supposed to get all the way to the basement?”
Her three friends glanced between each other before Spectra shrugged.
“The elevator.”
“…There’s an elevator?” Vinyl sighed and shook her head. “Of course there’s an elevator.” The heavily pregnant mare glanced up at the pleading faces of her friends, then sighed and held out her hooves. “Okay, fine. This better be good. Help me up.”
As her friends helped Vinyl to her hooves, she grunted uncomfortably as her pregnant girth settled back down on her sore hips, the baby squirming as her weight shifted. They helped Octavia to her hooves too, who seemed much more comfortable with her pregnancy.
“You coming?”
“I don’t think I could handle it,” Octavia sighed, shaking her head. “I still have someone to meet. Go have fun with your Bachelor-Ternity party.” The mare waddled forward, her belly swaying slightly, and affectionately nuzzled Vinyl and glanced down at their matching bellies. “Hopefully we’ll be a fair bit slimmer the next time we meet.”
“Later, ‘Tavi!” Vinyl said, giving her one last hug before the two parted ways. The DJ followed slowly behind her friends, her hooves aching and her back sore, as they led her to the elevator. While other ponies were queuing up for the lift, they stepped aside as the doors open and let Vinyl in ahead of them.
“Preggers perks,” Vinyl said to her friends with a wink as she shuffled into the elevator and waited for it to descend.
A bright, flashing series of lights and blinded Vinyl as the elevator doors opened to the basement, but the DJ was well-used to stage lights and her eyes quickly adjusted. The music was a thudding bass that she couldn’t help but bob her head to as she followed her friends toward the dance floor, already packed with hopping, energetic ponies.
“Look how packed it is!” Vinyl shouted over the music into Spectra’s ear. “I’m gonna knock people over!”
“They’ll make room!” Spectra said as she took Vinyl by the hoof and dragged her out onto the floor. The pregnant DJ waddled uncomfortably into the mass of bodies and instantly felt uncomfortable at how much she and her round belly stood out. But the music thudding through the floor was so lively, so fast, so full of life that she quickly lost herself to it and began to move to its beat. Spectra was right, as eventually a small circle of space had formed around Vinyl to give her and her late-term belly space to dance. Even the foal inside her seemed to be getting into the music, kicking and moving enough that Vinyl could swear he was moving to the beat.
Her friends surrounded her and took turns dancing with her, bouncing excitedly bumping into her as all of them lost themselves to the music. When she shut her eyes and danced, nothing existed except her, the foal in her belly, and the music that pulsed through both of them, together. As she gave into the trance, the lines between all three of them began to blur and shift into each other until Vinyl Scratch, her unborn foal, and the music were all one being together.
Then, all of a sudden, the music slowed to an abrupt stop. There was a groan of confusion around the dance floor as the dancing stopped as well. Vinyl snapped her eyes open and grumbled in frustration.
“Ugh, c’mon! I was just getting into-”
Just as she began to complain, a new song began playing. It started with a thudding, quick-tempo bass with a synthesizer sliding in to fill the space. At a few seconds in, the deep, rich melody of a cello began and brought the piece all together. The rest of the club cheered and began to move to the rhythm again. Vinyl, however, stopped dancing completely and flicked her ears atop her head.
“Hey! Hey!” she shouted to her friends. “This is mine! This is my song!”
All four of her friends, unexpectedly, smirked knowingly before Spectra pointed toward the stage. Vinyl peered above the crowd at the podium set on the stage and looked at the DJ. He was a tall, silver-coated unicorn stallion with a pair of dark shades on and a pair of thick headphones clamped around his ears. Vinyl’s eyes widened as the DJ, Silver Trance, glanced up from the turntable and looked out into the crowd before meeting eyes with her and grinning.
“What!?” Vinyl shouted, spinning in place as fast as her pregnant body could move as her friends grinned back at her. She stared up at her fiance in shock before shaking herself and pushing her way through the crowd, the girth of her belly proving useful for once. It took a lot of pushing to make her way to the stage, but once she did, Silver Trance motioned for the security guards to let her through. They even helped her awkwardly struggle onto the stage.
“What are you doing here!?” Vinyl shouted at Silver Trance over the music.
“Did you really think Spectra wouldn’t invite me?” he shouted back with a sly grin. “I haven’t DJ’ed in years! This was a great opportunity for it!”
Vinyl blinked up at Silver, then beamed so wide she though her face would split in half as she fell in love with him all over again.
“You wanna cut in?” Silver offered, stepping aside to offer her a space at the turntable. “It’s your song, after all!”
“No, dude!” Vinyl said as she stepped on stage and nudged her fiance with her belly that held their nearly-born son. “It’s ours!”
With a glow of her horn, Vinyl magically summoned her mirrored sunglasses from upstairs and caught them on her face before sliding up next to Silver Trance.
While standing onstage with their unborn foal pinned between them, Vinyl Scratch and Silver Trance played their actual last show of the season. Together.
Author's Note
This was part of a commission series and technically one of the last, but I thought it worked well on its own and wanted to post it separately.
