Taming Strange. Or: How I learned to stop worrying and make love in public

Neon Lights'd had a hell of a night. He'd had to clear out two hundred ponies. Thank Celestia they were still hyped up about PON-3'S marefriend's strip tease, or there would've been a riot. A packed house had to be emptied at eleven fucking thirty, goodbye juicy commission. PON-3's marefriend had drank something like a hundred and fifty dollars in Haynessy. Oh yeah and there was that little matter of a unicorn FUCKING O.D.ING IN THE FUCKING V.I.P. ROOM. Who the fuck had allowed authorized that? He wondered. Thank Celestia the owner was in Las Pegasus or they may have lost their contract over this.

The guards had of course needed to hear the exact same story five different times. Everypony who worked at the club had been up all night answering questions, most of which were answered. "I dunno?" And on top of everything else. Now PON-3 had written a cryptic letter to meet her on the western balcony. During the day. He'd always hated the sun. Nothing against Celestia mind you, but he was a night pony. Natural light seemed alien to him.

He'd not slept in two days. "But sure let me drop everything and come have a tea party on the balcony with you and your classy bitch." He complained loudly to Royal Blue, who had only tagged along to try to speak more Prench to Octavia.

They saw Vinyl sitting alone on the very edge of the balcony near the railing and she was. "Oh no." She was smoking. PON-3 only ever smoked when things got totally fucked. She'd not smoked since they left Manehattan together. This did not bode well. "Alright PON-3 what's so fucking important you can't just stop by the club?" Neon asked business first as always.

Royal Blue looked around. "Where's Oc-." He was interrupted by Vinyl raising a single hoof. She gestured for them to take a chair. Neon did. Roy sat on the tile floor of the balcony. He didn't want to break the thin spindly chair.

Vinyl put out her cigarette, and Neon noticed the several other cigarette butts. This did not bode well. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a minute. The two stallions staring at the mare. The mare staring at a point on the horizon. It was a small village. She wistfully thought to herself how nice it would be to live there. With her Octavia. They'd buy a little house dirt cheap and they'd be happy. Just the two of them.

Finally Neon got fed up with the quiet game and repeated his question. "Alright PON-3, out with it. What's the bad news? Give it to me now while I'm in such a cheery mood."

Vinyl was so caught up in her pipe dream she almost missed the question. Neon was about to repeat the question when they heard the softest. "I quit."

Neon went through several different emotions very rapidly. Shock, then rage, then skepticism, then desperation, then finally the wheel stopped back on rage. "Umm no. No you fuckin don't." He scoffed.

"I'm out. I can't do it anymore." She said still not looking at them.

"No! No you fuckin don't. Vinyl don't do this to us." For the first time in as long as he could remember he used her real name. "Don't fuck this up for us just as we get our hooves under us. I have worked TOO FUCKING HARD FOR YOU TO FUCK THIS UP NOW."

Vinyl hadn't moved. She just kept staring at that little village on the horizon. She said nothing now. Neon ground his teeth and threw his chair over the balcony. "VINYL FUCKIN LOOK AT ME!" He screamed. "You're just gonna walk away from everything we've built just got some high class piece of ass. Is that what this is? Can't have the commoners embarrassing her? Well tough shit. I'm not gonna let you walk away from this when I had to kiss the ass of EVERY CLUB OWNER IN FUCKING CANTERLOT to get this gig."

Finally Vinyl turned to look at him. She didn't seem the least bit concerned about what he was saying, her face a perfect portrait of detachment. Neon could see this wasn't working. He sighed heavily and tried to reason with her. "Vinyl for fuck's sake don't do this to me. I. CAN'T. DO. THIS. WITHOUT. YOU! Nopony else is anywhere close to as fresh a DJ as you. I can't make music like you do. I need you!"

She looked him dead in the eye. She levitated her laptop out of her saddle bag and placed it on the desk. "Three hundred songs. All yours."
Neon was dumbfounded. She had just abandoned years of work, and rep building. And for what some piece of ass?

"Vinyl." He had to trot around the table and throw another chair. "VINYL! CELESTIA DAMNIT! Don't give up your whole life for some bitch. She's just gonna get tired of you and find some other classy pony. Then what? You don't just throw away your rep, your career, your life, over some.-"

A foreleg the size of a tree trunk wrapped around Neon's neck cutting off his tirade. Royal Blue had heard enough. No Prancofile could stand for this assault on romance. "The lady." He punctuated every line with a hard squeeze to Neon's neck. "Has chosen.. . . Love. . . Over. . . Her career. And you're. . . Gonna be. . . Fuckin. . . Happy for her." Neon struggled underneath the crushing force of the bouncers leg.

"You're both wrong." Vinyl's voice cut the air. "I'm not doing this for her." Royal Blue released Neon's head in shock.

Neon rubbed his neck angrily but didn't lose sight of the issue. "Then what the fuck Vinyl?"

"I can't do it anymore Neon. I just don't have it in me. Not after that." She finally rose from the table.

"What the thing with the- Oh Vinyl come on! You know that's not what this is about. Bitches OD SO WHAT?" He snapped, throwing his hooves up in exasperation.

"EXACTLY! THAT RIGHT THERE. We're used to it Neon. We're just okay with ponies dropping dead in our clubs. Don't you get how fucked up that is?" Tears started to well up in her eyes. "What are we doin with our lives Neon? What's our plan? Play three shows a week forever? All I do is go to the club get fucked up and go home."

Neon was too business savvy to be distracted. "You're bored with your life? Okay, get a fuckin hobby. We made a deal PON-3. A deal were never gonna fuckin get again. Now you can leave, and lose your contract, your friends, your job, and everything you've worked for. Or you can suck it up, and have your little crisis on your own time." He ran his hooves through his spiky mane. "Damnit Vinyl." He plopped down into a chair he hadn't thrown. "Look I get that you're unhappy, but this isn't gonna help. Your really gonna throw away three years of busting your ass for nothing?"

"I'm not doing it for nothing. I'm doin it for me! For the first time in my life I actually care what happens to me. I wanna actually think about what I want. And it's not this. Getting fucked up every night. It's stupid Neon. It's fuckin stupid."

The unicorn was hopeless. He threw his hooves up in the air but said nothing. He felt a hoof on his shoulder. Vinyl looked him in the eyes. "But I'm not just gonna leave you high and dry. No, we're gonna put on a goin away show like nopony's ever seen. Spread the word. DJ PON-3'S Last show. We're gonna make enough money to buy me out of my part of the contract, and if all goes well, hire some new DJ."

Neon looked hard at her. It was a shitty thing to do, but it was manageable. "And what'll you do." As annoyed as he was with Vinyl she was still his best friend. He had to know.

She walked to the edge of the balcony and sighed. "I'm gonna go find her." She looked back to the dot on the horizon.

Neon put a hoof on her shoulder. "And if she says no?"

Vinyl shook her head with thought. "Anything else. Apparently I've got a really good music memory. I could produce. I could mix. I don't know.I DON'T CARE! But I just can't do this anymore." She walked off to go get ready for tonight.

And then. Who knows.