Playing With My Heart: How I Fell in Love With DJ PON 3

I was very lucky that Applejack was such a kind hostess. To make things even greater. Her family has this secret recipe for all sorts of assorted baked goods using apples, and I was given apple cinnamon oatmeal for brunch. It was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten in my life.

“Applejack, right? This apple cinnamon oatmeal is divine! I have never eaten anything this good in my life. Thank you so much!” I said in gratitude for this delicious meal.

“No problem, Anon. However, if Anon was yer’ name in yer’ universe, then maybe you need a new name here in Equestria. It’s not like you are going back anytime soon, sugarcube.” Applejack said. Perhaps the orange country pony is right. If I am not able to go back to Earth, Anon seems like a weird name. In the rather short time that I have been in this new universe, I have noticed that all the ponies’ names have something to do with their innate talents or skills (Applejack being an apple farmer, Twilight Sparkle being a mage, etc). If I am a musician, and I am supposed to be working with Vinyl Scratch, then what should my name be?

I take a few moments to think about Applejack’s suggestion, and I come up with a rather clever name for myself.

“Okay then, my new name is Rythmia, since I play the drums, and I am rather good at it.”

“Okay then, Rhythmia. Cool choice! If you have work now, I’d recommend getting yer’ flank over to the recordin’ studio right about now. You finished your meal, so git!” Applejack says, pointing towards the direction of Ponyville.

“Alright, thanks for the grub!” I said with gratitude, flying out the window, more stable than each of my three previous attempts.

“Damn, this Rhythmia stallion looks cool. Wonder if his musicality is good, too.” Applejack thinks to herself, before noticing that a certain teal pegasus knocks on the door.

“Ah, howdy, Dashie. It’s been a while.” Applejack said to the other pony, who opened the door and walked over to give Applejack a light kiss on the cheek.

“Indeed it has, AJ. I missed you. Wonderbolt stuff gets me busy, ya know! Random question, honey. Was that stallion Twilight asked you to host for a bit, uh, weird? I might have bumped into him by accident on the skyway.” Rainbow Dash asked her girlfriend.

“Uhh, maybe. Twilight said somethin’ about quantum tunnelin’ and other universes. Beats me. At least he’s figuring things out.” Applejack says
Anyways, I got much more comfortable with my new set of wings, and ti took me a solid 5 minutes to fly to Ponyville. I took out the card that Vinyl Scratch gave me, and looked around for the address that she gave me: “315 Octave Lane”. I found a storefront with a record player logo, and I assumed that this was the place. I landed quickly and opened the door.

What I saw inside was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life, even to this day. The entire 10,000 square foot building was a warehouse of all sorts of musical instruments, sound equipment, and cables.

“Oh, there you are, Anon!” Vinyl Scratch said to me, walking over to the front door, where I was nerding out over all the music stuff.

“Actually, I decided that I needed a new name since I am probably going to end up here for the rest of my life. I thought Rhythmia sounds cool, given I am a musician, heh!” I said, a bit embarrassed by the new name. I thought it was rather cheesy, but all these ponies seem to have names like this, so how bad could it be?

“Rhythmia, huh? Works for ya, big guy. Now, if you ARE going to be my colleague, I need to evaluate you for skill first. Come with me.” Vinyl Scratch said, beckoning me to follow her into her private recording studio, which was a small section of the giant warehouse. This studio looked as professional as any recording studio on Earth, if not more advanced! I had never seen anything as advanced as this one!
“Okay. I have very high standards for anyone who wants to work in the music industry. Sit down here, Rhythmia, and I will evaluate you.” Vinyl Scratch said, pointing towards the leather couch opposite the two of us. I sat down and listened to what my new friend had to say.

“I am going to play a series of chords. You’re going to close your eyes, and tell me what chords they are; whether they are major, minor, and what inversions they are.” Vinyl says, using her magic to attract the MIDI keyboard that was in the warehouse.

“Ready, Rhythmia?” Vinyl says, putting on her signature headphones.

“Sure!” I say, closing my eyes and putting my front right hoof over them to make sure I don’t accidentally cheat.

Vinyl turned on her keyboard and played three chords. The first one was really easy, it was a C major, 2nd inversion. The second one took me a moment to decipher, but I realized it was Fm7/E-flat, and the third one was the hardest yet, a B7add13 ( a very jazzy chord, mind you).

“Okay. Ready for me to knock your socks off, Vinyl Scratch? First chord wad C major 2nd inversion, the second one was Fm7/E-flat, and the third one was B7add13, how’d I do?” I said smugly, opening my eyes and watching the horror on Vinyl’s face as I got all three chords correct.

“Holy Faust! How did...nopony has ever...I am shocked!” Vinyl Scratch said, amazed at my innate ear.

“Even Octavia, my best friend, and bandmate, only can get 2 on 3. I am amazed!” Vinyl says, completely shocked by my perfect pitch.

“Well, back at home, I was always obsessed with music, so I took it up before I could even walk or read. Humans are weird like that. My mother got me a drum kit when I was three, and I have been playing ever since, along with piano, bass guitar, and a 6-string from the late 1960s! I said, flying out of the room to find a nine-piece drum kit.

“Hey! Where do ya think you’re going, Rhythmia!” Vinyl Scratch says, galloping after me, looking for a drum kit.

“I just wanted to show you my skills, Vinyl, no big deal, that is, if you don’t mind,” I asked, making sure I have permission before I go playing with Vinyl’s instruments.

“Yeah, go ahead, I am intrigued by you, and I think you might have talent. Go on, Scratchie won’t bite.” She said sarcastically, handing me a pair of drumsticks.

I accepted the two drumsticks and put them on the floor. I took a minute to adjust the throne (that’s what a drum chair is called) to my height, and sat down, grabbing the two sticks.

“Ever seen a stallion do two bass pedals before?” I said snidely, coming up with an extremely complex drum beat, using all 9 pieces of the kit. To be fair, I did revolve heavily around the snare medium tom drums and high hats, but I am not a perfectionist. Vinyl didn’t know what to say. She was amazed at my skills. The icing on the cake is when I caught one of the drumsticks using my right wing. I didn’t know wings could be used like that. The more you know!

“Where did you learn this? I don’t think I have ever met anypony who was as gifted a percussionist as you.” Vinyl asked me, in awe of my musical talent.

“Uhh, I just listened to a lot of music for my whole life, and I got better over time. That’s all.” I replied. I was telling the truth. Some people (or ponies) are just naturally good at certain things.

“Well, one thing’s for sure, you’re hired! I have seen a few musically gifted ponies, but you blow it out of the water! I just opened this place last year on my 17th birthday, fresh outta Canterlot High. I turned 18 this week, and now I own the place 100%! I want to use the money from the records I make to tour Equestria Djing. I am quite good at it, as you know! Vinyl says immodestly.

“Well, I wish you all the best at that,” I say, glad that this pony is happy with her professional music production.

“Ya know, I was thinking recently that I need a second pony with me on my act. My DJ alter ego is DJ-P0N3, and she parties HARD! I mean, I know you just came in today, but last month I got to perform for Celestia, and I won an award for “outstanding cultural enrichment of Equestria!”

I remembered from all my years of learning to socialize that it is very good to listen, so I listened to Vinyl brag about her accomplishments. These achievements are well worth bragging about! I mean, what she did is basically the equivalent of going to Carnegie Hall, or playing at the White House. It’s crazy if you think about it!

“I don’t see why not? I mean, I need to make a few bits to eat and survive. I can’t be freeloading off of Applejack forever. It’s not right!”

I lent out my forehoof: “You got yourself a deal, Vinyl Scratch. I am happy to work with you on music stuff and tour with you if you need me. I mean, I COULD work with a drum pad, I don’t care that much.” I replied.

Vinyl Scratch shook my hoof in agreement. “Pleasure doing business with you, Rhythmia!” I was thrilled, but it is way to soon to tell Vinyl I have the hots for her. I just met her today. I need to keep things purely professional for the time being. Having a friend is good, too.

“Ah, shit! I forgot I am recording Tavi’s album in 10 minutes. You might want to meet her. She is really good at the cello!” Vinyl says, quickly using her magic to preconfigure her recording booth to the correct settings for Octavia’s recording.

“Vinyl, I’m here!” A grey mare says, walking into the warehouse wearing a briefcase in her saddlebag. I assume the cello is in there?

“Ah, Tavi, lovely to see you. I just hired a new employee, his name is Rythmia. This stallion is a crazy talented drummer. You’ll love him!” Vinyl said, already fawning over my talent. “Maybe she can fawn over me, too? Not yet, Rythmia. Behave!” I reminded myself.

“Ooh, a new pony in town. Hiya, Rhythmia. I am Octavia Melody, nice to meet you.” The mare said, putting her briefcase on the floor, and opening the latches. “One sec, Rhythmia, I just need to tune my cello. We can chat in a bit, okay?” Octavia said, removing her cello from the case, along with her bow. She spent the next five minutes or so tuning her instrument to the C2 octave.

“Alright, You’re a percussionist? Haven’t seen many of those in a while. We had Rancho-Starr back in the day, but that was way before any of us here were born. I mean, you are probably our age, right? 18-19?

“Yeah, 18,” I said.

“Anyways, time to record. Talk to ya in a bit.” Octavia said, walking into the private recording booth with Vinyl.

“Ready when you are, Tavi!” Vinyl said over the intercom.

Octavia nodded and began to play “Cello Suite in G Major” by Bach. I had no idea how ponies had access to Earth’s classical music, but I didn’t really care that much. Music is music, and I love it! Octavia was really good at the cello and was honestly one of the most talented musicians I have ever seen in my life, even to this day. She played Bach’s piece flawlessly, and she reminded me a bit of Yo-Yo Ma with her tone and precision. When she finished playing her pice. Octavia nodded, and Vinyl pushed a button, ending the recording.

“Alright. Usually, it takes you two or three takes to get the master version, but I think this is good enough on the first take!” Vinyl said approvingly. Octavia was thrilled. Her excessive practice obviously paid off today. “Wow! I am so happy it worked out today. How long do you think it will take to produce the master record?” Octavia asked her friend.

“Uhh, 2-3 business days. As usual, maybe a bit less. I mean, I have Rhythmia helping me now with the DAW stuff, so it could be faster?” Vinyl says.

“Oh yeah, I am okay with DAW and music software. I think it’ll be fine.” I said. I mean, I was a pretty decent artist on SoundCloud, and I used Logic Pro, but Equestrian software might be different and I need to learn the ropes.

“Okay then, Tavi, recording notwithstanding, want to jam out a bit? You too, Rhythmia. I think Tavi will flip when she sees your drumming skills!” Vinyl says, teleporting me to the drumkit that I used a few minutes before.

“Sure, I don’t see why not. I DO work here, now.” I said, waiting for Vinyl to set up her DJ booth, and for Octavia to adjust the tuning on her cello.

For the next three hours, we did nothing but play stupid riffs, make jokes, and actually came up with a decent song together. We called it: “Unity of Ponykind”. We expedited the production of this track and dropped it on the market as a surprise release. We called our group “The Stable-izers”

I had a lot of fun that day, more fun than I had in years. And, I might be a bit delusional in thinking this, but I could have sworn that Vinyl Scratch looked at me in a certain way.

Maybe I could be overreacting, but there is a small possibility that Vinyl is falling for me, and I am falling for her. But I don’t have the guts to tell her!