“Alright you crazy ponies! Let me hear you scream one more time! Three, two, one– Go!”
My magic smacked just about every button on the board at the same time, sending everything from the strobe lights to the subwoofers and the fog machines into overdrive. It didn’t take long for the capacity crowd to become nearly totally obscured in the thick haze, but their frenzied screams and roars of approval told me they were right there with me for this moment. That frenetic, otherworldly moment that all of my sets build up to, a release of stress and frustration, rage and joy, energy and despair, and everything in between.
I re-looped the tempo a few more times, building to one last, climactic bass drop, and when it hit, I jumped up and down with the crowd one last time. The house lights came on then as the last notes slowly faded, and I donned my trademark shades before grabbing the mic.
“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Thank you so much, Canterlot! Until next time, you crazy kids!”
I offered a few bows as the crowd roared their approval for a final time. A few “Vinyl! Vinyl!” chants rang out too, and I eagerly egged them on for a minute. I leaned over the side of the DJ booth to sign a few autographs before powering down the various mixer boards and amps that lined every available inch of the booth. Some of the house technicians popped in after a few minutes to assist, and I made way for them to grab some water and a towel. “Hmph, and Tavi used to say DJing isn’t hard work.”
She still says that, to be honest. But now instead of trying to get under my hair, she says it because she knows she’ll get an equally sarcastic remark in return - and maybe a kiss or two as well.
A year and a half of dating will do that to a mare.
I still remember that Comet Day like it was yesterday. Well, most of it, anyway. We missed the comet fly-by itself, as our attention was too focused on admitting our mutual crush on each other to look up at the glowing ball of space rock whizzing by overhead. On the other hoof though, Princess Twilight had given everypony the day off at the time, so we had plenty of time to talk afterwards.
Well, not all of the talking was done with words, now that I think about it. I took another chug of water and tried to refocus my mind. I was trying to cool down a bit, not heat up even more.
It took another thirty minutes to wrap up the rest of the gear and sort out the gate receipts with the club manager, but soon enough I was exiting the Silver Shoe club with a significantly heavier wallet, and just enough caffeine left in my system to get me home and into bed.
Which is why I couldn’t help but groan a bit when I heard a voice call out my name. “I’m glad you enjoyed the show,” I sighed, “but I really gotta get going.”
“Is that any way to treat your most important fan, Miss Scratch?”
I turned around just in time to see a very tall mare seem to literally step out of the shadow of a nearby streetlight. Even with the simple dress she wore, there was no mistaking who this was.
“Princess Luna? W-What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”
The princess stepped forward into the light, a bemused look on her face. “Yes. Apparently, even in retirement a princess can’t seem to go anywhere without somepony assuming disaster is mere seconds behind her.”
“Hehe, oh! I- er…” I stumbled on my words, “Um, sorry about that, princess.” I bowed anyway, just in case. I really needed to ask Tavi what the rules were for retired royalty. She’s always more up to speed on cultured stuff like that anyway.
“Worry not, Miss Scratch. No disasters await Equestria on this night. And please, call me Luna.”
“Okay! Sure, prin– er, I mean Luna.” I took off my glasses and quickly stuffed them into my saddlebags. “Really though, what brings you out here specifically?”
“Your show, of course,” she replied.
“Wait, you were in the crowd?” I had to clench my jaw to keep it from hanging open. “I never saw you! Oh gosh it’s so hard to see anything through the fog and everything. I would have talked to the manager, made sure you got bottle service, or at least your own table or something!”
“You wouldn’t have seen me in any event.” Luna flashed a sly grin before lighting her horn and instantly transforming herself into a tall white unicorn with an inky black mane tied into a whip-tight braid and a moderately cropped tail.
Okay, now I had to let my jaw drop. Not just because of the spell, but at how quickly my mind conjured up images of Tavi with a braided mane and cropped tail of her own.
Then just as soon as she had transformed, Luna blinked back to her natural state. “Subterfuge is one of my specialties, afterall.”
“Fair point,” I answered, doing my best to pull my mind away from ‘braided mane Tavi’ and back to the moment at hoof. “Well, I hope you enjoyed it as much as everypony else.”
“That I did!” Luna smiled. “I regret that I did not more fully discover this kind of music sooner. But, in truth what drew me here tonight wasn’t entirely your music.”
I arched my eyebrows at that. “Oh?”
“Yes. I’m also here because I received your recent letter.”
“Recent letter? I’m sorry, Luna, but I don’t remember sending you a lett–” my face blanched as some pieces fell into place in my mind. “Wait, I addressed that to Princess Cadance! Or, I could have sworn I did? Oh buck how did it– er, why–”
“Calm yourself, Vinyl.” Luna nudged me with a wing. “You did indeed send that letter to Cadance. She’s the one who sent it to me.”
“S-She did?” I stepped back a bit, my mind spinning at the possibilities here. “But, why you?”
Luna’s nonplussed look at that sent me scrambling. “Er, um, that’s not- I mean, uh… Look, I didn’t mean any offense. But surely you can’t fault a pony for naturally assuming the Princess of Love is best suited to answer love questions, right?”
“And that’d be a correct assumption, Vinyl,” Luna replied. “Indeed, despite Tia’s protestations, Cadance is far and away better suited for questions of the heart. What she isn’t best suited for, however, is stellar phenomena. And that, my dear deejay, is why she forwarded the letter to me.
“So,” Luna continued, “you wish to propose to your marefriend, I take it? A Miss Octavia Melody?”
“Umm, yes. I mean Yes! Yes I do!” I replied a bit louder than I perhaps needed to. But I still wasn’t sure just where Luna was going with all this.
“And if your letter to Cadance is anything to go by, you have quite the proposal in mind too.”
My brain unjammed a bit more as the letter I had sent off to the Crystal Empire over a month ago, after burning through nearly as many ciders as potential proposal plans in my head, came back into focus. The rest of the pieces clicked together and I couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment.
“Er, yes. I think. L-Look, princess…” I looked around us quickly, thankfully seeing nopony within earshot. “Yes, it’s a crazy idea. I know. I was just frustrated, I guess. I go through fewer drafts and redos making a record for pony’s sake! I can spin award-winning tracks in my sleep, but asking one mare a simple question?” I sighed and let my saddle bags slide off of me onto the ground.
“I mean, I get it. It’s not just a simple question. It means a lot. Tavi means a lot. Everything, really. When we first began sharing that cottage we could barely stand each other, much less each other’s music. But now we can’t imagine a day without each other. And I love it. Just as much as I love her.”
Luna nodded. “Neither Cadance nor I have any doubt of your love for each other, Vinyl. And you are quite right; though it is a simple question on its face, it is one of profound import to you both. Cadance thought your idea was adorable, and I have to admit, it is quite clever. And very original too.”
Luna stepped over and draped a wing over my withers. “And that’s why I’d like to help you make that happen.”
My heart jumped halfway up my throat. “Y-you will? For real?”
“Yes. For real,” Luna chuckled. “Now pray tell,” she continued, “is there a place to get some coffee around here? This retired princess is not used to keeping such late hours anymore, and we have much planning to discuss.”
“Are you sure you want me to sit out in the lawn area? There’s never been an issue before with me sitting in the VIP area as your guest.”
“Yes, I know, Tavi. But just trust me on this one, okay?” I kept one eye on my marefriend while I talked, and the other on my master control unit, making sure all the settings were dialed in just right. I knew they would be, having checked them at least a dozen times before. But when you’re closing out the mane stage at Coltchella, there’s less than zero room for error.
Even with one headphone on an ear I could hear her exasperated sigh. “Alright, alright. Whatever you say. But you know I won’t be able to see you well from way back there, even with the binoculars.”
“I’m aware,” I replied while tweaking a few sliders a hair.
“I’m just saying, I like being able to see you up there performing, wowing the crowd like you always do.”
“And I’ll do it again this time too, love. I promise. But this time I need you back there.”
Tavi scrunched up her nose a bit at that. I’d remind her how adorkable it made her look but I didn’t have time for the mock indignation that would arise from that particular joke. “What, is this all about whatever special light show thing you have planned? Is it really that big that I have to be back in the nosebleeds to see it? If it is, I don’t see how the rest of the crowd is going to see it too.”
“Well, yes. Mostly. But enough of ‘em will see it. Believe me.” I offered her the most reassuring smile I could. “Look, I gotta get to the staging area. I’m on in less than fifteen. Now go find a good spot out there, alright?” I leaned in and gave her a deep kiss. “Love you, Tavi.”
“You too, Vinyl.” She bumped her flank into mine as she stepped past me to make room in the small dressing room. “Go rock it out there.”
And rock it I did. Through nearly a dozen songs, some old, some never before heard, I had that entire crowd on their hooves and going nuts from the very first bass drop. Every creature screaming, dancing, chanting, and singing along. Flags from towns and nations all over Equus waved at me from the crowd, and like always, the lights, the fog, and the setting sun all did their best to keep the energy flowing. But I couldn’t fight the growing butterflies in my stomach as the big finale grew closer and closer. And before I knew it I was queueing that last song into the board, listening to the transitions one more time on my monitor, making sure they were just right. I glanced over at the small clock on the table beside me. “Two minutes…” I muttered to myself.
“Show time for us both, Luna.”
Smooth as butter the penultimate song faded away, giving way to a gentle synthwave riding atop a rolling white noise clip, the combo giving off a soothing, almost spacey vibe. Just slow enough to let the audience catch their breath for a moment but maintaining a tension for the next big drop. A few more clicks set the melody on a slow repeat and I grabbed the mic up in my magic.
“How we doing, Coltchella?!”
The crowd yelled its approval. I held a hoof up to my ear and leaned forward in the booth.
“That’s good, but I’ve been playing this awesome festival for five years now, so I know this crowd is louder than that. So, one more time... how we doing, Coltchella?!”
The crowd screamed back twice as loud, and I pumped my hoof in the air right along with them. “Oh yeah! That’s more like it! Y’all have been simply amazing tonight, and it’s been an honor to close out another year of this awesome festival. But before we hit the homestretch, I just want to say one thing…”
I took a deep breath and flipped off my shades. If she could see me in those binoculars, I wanted to make sure she saw me for real.
“This last piece is a bit of an unannounced premiere I guess. It’s a song I know you all know, and I can’t thank the original artist enough for letting me remix it on such short notice. So if you’ll allow me a bit of self indulgence, I want to send us home tonight with a song for my biggest fan, and the love of my life, Octavia.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as the crowd broke into the biggest “dawwww!” I've ever heard.
“Tavi and I got off to a, pardon the pun, sour note when we first met. But as time went on we grew more and more in sync, and now her presence has become the beat that my world runs on.” I glanced down just long enough to cancel the repeat function and begin rolling in the last song.
“This one’s for you, Tavi, my love. And remember to look up.”
It didn’t take the crowd more than a few beats to recognize the song and they went absolutely nuts instantly. The sections nearest the stage started to sing along, and before I knew it the entire crowd, all ten thousand plus of them, became a mostly unified choir, swaying and waving hooves, claws, and wings in time with the beat.
I jumped the volume another few notches as we approached the peak of the song, and right on time, I saw some bright flashes off in the distant sky. I grabbed the mic and boosted its gain as high as it’d go. “I promised a light show to close us out! Everyone look up!”
Seconds later the night sky lit up with dozens of shooting stars, each one leaving a different brightly colored trail in its wake. The air above the stage seemed to glow, with every color imaginable mixing together to create a beautiful floating canvas that left the audience literally starstruck.
“And now…” I whispered to myself, “the big finish.”
Another wave raced in just behind them, but instead of zooming past us they slowed to a stop above the huge field, then rose up higher and higher still.
BOOM
A bunch of them burst like firecrackers and a giant purple treble clef lit up the sky.
BOOM
The rest of them exploded in a shower of white light, leaving brightly glowing motes in the air that spelled out a simple, but profound, question:
“Marry me?”
