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

I honestly don’t even remember anything that happened last night. I remember going to the HayBurger, getting drunk on ONE bottle of cider, and crashing at Vinyl’s house. I probably did some other stuff, too, but I was blacked out. Maybe Vinyl knows. I woke up and felt something strange on my chest. It was Vinyl! She was sleeping, her fur rising and falling with each and every breath. She looked so peaceful sleeping, with her heartbeat keeping me warm under the covers. After a few minutes of moving around slightly in the bed, Vinyl finally woke up, stretched, and looked me dead in the eye

“Ya know, Rhythmia. It must’ve been your first time. You had no idea what to do last night. I had to basically do everything for you.” Vinyl says giggling, still a bit raspy from just waking up.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I say softly, totally unaware that she was referring to the potentially “risque” events that took place after we crashed at her place last night.

“Damn, you really were wasted, Rhythmia. Let me spell it out for ya. We made love, and you sucked at it, horrendously! I don’t care. I found it endearing!” Vinyl says, using her magic to throw a pillow at me. I didn’t see that one coming, and it hit me in the face point-blank.

“Ack! What was that for!” I say, laughing and throwing the pillow back at Vinyl.

“Not to mention that you were playing the piano drunk! It was not that bad, actually, but you are much better when you are sober. New rule. Don’t drink alcoholic cider, okay, Rhythmia?” Vinyl says, kissing me on the cheek.

Aww, how cute.

“Okay, I won’t drink anymore. On a more professional note, do you know what time it is? I don’t want to be late for work.” I say, trying to deflect the conversation away from last night’s inebriation.

“I own the store, Rhythmia. It opens when I want it to, dingus!” Vinyl says, getting out of bed and going to her shower. Even though she claims that we made love, I am not stupid enough to intrude while she is showering, so I wait my turn to hose off. I don’t know why, but my right wing feels rather tight. I stretch it out, and I feel much better. I wait around like a dope for the next 10 minutes, as Vinyl finishes up in the shower. When she came out of the bathroom, I could have sworn she revealed a bit too much skin, teasing me. I didn’t comment. I am not a creep.

“I am making oatmeal. Want any?” Vinyl asks me. I didn’t know she made food!

“Sure, I guess, I just need to hose off first, okay?” I respond, with Vinyl nodding, moving out of the way so I can get into the bathroom to shower. A good thing about being a stallion is that I don’t take so long in the bathroom. I was in and out in 5 minutes, walking into Vinyl’s kitchenette.

“Do you like cinnamon?” Vinyl says, putting some cinnamon in her oatmeal.

“Yeah, I do. I love it, actually.” I reply as Vinyl puts some cinnamon into my bowl. Unlike last night, Vinyl doesn’t rush her breakfast, and actually took longer than me to finish eating! I didn’t rush, mind you!

“So, now that you aren’t wasted. Are you gonna come along as my backup act on my tour next week?” Vinyl asks me, genuinely intrigued if I am willing to go on tour with her.

“Well, sure, but I don’t have a stage name like you. You’re lucky I have been practicing with StableBand lately!” I say sarcastically. Vinyl thinks for a moment, realizing that I made a very good point.

“That’s true, you don’t have a stage name. How about BPM?” Vinyl says, trying to come up with a good suggestion.

“BPM, like beats per minute? Sounds cool! BPM, it is, then!” I say, laughing at the name. It isn’t as cool as DJ-P0N-3, but it is cool in its own right.

“Alrighty then, Mr. BPM. Today you’re going to teach me that cool drum solo!” Vinyl says, gathering her things and opening the front door, beckoning me to follow her to work. I am a nice guy, so I don’t zoom off to the studio immediately, and I actually take my time to walk with my new girlfriend to work. Apparently, I am not as discreet as I would have liked. Literally, everyone in town was noticing that Vinyl had someone with her.

“WOAH! Does DJ-P0N-3 have a boyfriend?” I heard someone say as we were walking towards the studio.

“Yeah, I thought she didn't date. This stallion must be special!” Someone else said as a crowd began to form around us, admiring the fact that Vinyl is finally seeing someone.

“Do we just run, or do you like this stuff?” I ask Vinyl, who just shrugs. “It’s fine. You get dull to it over time. We’re almost there, so just pretend it's the two of us walking, okay?” Vinyl says, reassuring me that everything is fine. Eventually, we do get to the recording studio, and we enter and see that Tavi is already there.

“So, how did it go, Rhythmia?” Octavia says in a very sing-song voice.

“It was fine. The colt can’t do jack in bed, but he’s sweet, so I’ll keep him.” Vinyl says, answering for me.
I blushed. I mean, I know Vinyl and Octavia are friends, but sometimes, things should be a bit more personal, no? Especially if it's things pertaining to intimacy.

“Aww, grow up a bit. You weren’t the WORST stallion I ever slept with, you were just drunk!” Vinyl says, shoving me in jest.

“Anyways, bedroom stuff notwithstanding. You gotta show me that drum solo!” Vinyl says, using her magic to move the studio’s drumkit over to her, while also adjusting the throne to her height. She sits down and conjured a pair of drumsticks.

“Okay, before we do anything. Have you ever played the drums before?” I ask my marefriend. “A few times, but I am not that good. I am more of a piano/digital musician, as you know!” Vinyl says, struggling a bit to hold the drumsticks. I guess having magic to hold things for you causes one’s hooves to atrophy for fine motor skills?

“Okay. Just ask Tavi to go into the booth and play our collab track. Try and follow along to the rhythm!” I say, as Octavia runs to the booth and plays our track “Unity of Ponykind”. The epic drum solo is a good two minutes or so into the song, but there is a solid, somewhat easy drumline throughout the piece, which Vinyl was able to mimic decently. For someone who claims to not be a good drummer, she is better than I expected!

Finally, the moment came, the drum solo was approaching. “Ready, Vinyl? Things get epic in three, two, one…”

It came, and for the first section of the solo, she butchered it, hitting the wrong drums at the wrong time intervals. After a few seconds, she finally figures out the rhythm, and once she gets the hang of it, does a much better job with the drum kit than before.

“Damn, your marefriend over there ain’t that bad,” Octavia says to me privately, in awe at her friend’s polymath level skills in music. The song finally ends, and we both applaud politely.

“Okay, now it’s Tavi’s turn!” Vinyl says, sending the drumsticks to Octavia with her magic.
“Me? I have only ever played the cello. Are you mad, Scratchie?” Octavia says, but she takes up the offer anyways, waiting for Vinyl to move out of the way so she can sit on the drum throne.

“Rhythmia. Go into the booth and put on a different track, okay?” Octavia says, and I quickly zoom into the recording booth and look at Vinyl’s selection of tracks.

“Hmm, I need to find something Tavi can deal with. Let’s see here. We have Poni Hendrix, Rancho Starr, the Rainbooms. Huh, who are the Rainbooms? I’ll ask later.” I say, plugging in the Poni Hendrix track into the sound system. I wait a few moments for the drum solo to start and see what Octavia Melody has to offer. Like Vinyl, she doesn’t do that well in the beginning, messing up the rhythm and color of the music, but she gets the hang of it, although a bit slower than Vinyl did. I have to say, she was pretty decent for a first-timer! I remember playing the drums for the first time back on Earth, and I wasn’t that good at three years old. I got better over time, that’s what practice is for!

Eventually, the song ended, and I left the recording booth to greet my friends.

“Not bad, Tavi, not bad at all!” I say, applauding her for her effort. In my opinion, she should stick to the cello, but I don’t have the guts to say that out loud.

“Alright, and now for the grand finale. I would like to see Rhtyhmia try using my DJ equipment! He said he might go on tour with me next week, so I need to see a dry run. It’s only fair he tries my area of expertise since I tried his!.” Vinyl says, teleporting me to her DJ booth. I put on headphones and adjust the system parameters to my liking.

“Ok, either of you play something I can use as a track!” I say, to which Octavia runs to get her cello. I press the record button, and she plays a few measures of “Cello Suite in G Major”. I record the sample and see what my options are. I can add a trap beat to it, dubstep, there are so many options. I am just going to keep things simple, for now.

“How’s this!” I say, playing the sample overlapping it with a trap-type beat. Vinyl was impressed! The beat I picked actually complimented the track quite well, and I even made sure to adjust the tempo accordingly! Then, to make things a bit more vibrant, I added some other string instruments to the track, and some bass boosting.

“Damn, Rhythmia! You are pretty good at this. Not as good as me, but close!” Vinyl says, teleporting herself next to me in the DJ booth. She took the controls and added her own personal touch to my track.

“You know, you two ponies make a good team!” Octavia says, smiling.

Then, just to make things as cheesy as possible. Vinyl plants the biggest kiss possible on my lips, completely catching me off guard. I reciprocate, embracing my marefriend and holding her tight.

“You’re awesome, Rhythmia!” Vinyl says.

“You too, Scratchie!” I say.

“Well, that was cute and all, but we have work to do!” Octavia says, motioning us to stop with the dramatics.

“Yeah, she’s right. Sweetie Belle and her friends are coming in 15 minutes to record a demo track. We gotta get ready!” Vinyl says, teleporting herself to the recording booth, trying to find what she needs for the appointment in 15 minutes.

“Alright, then, I’ll do some paperwork in the meantime!” Octavia says, going to see the balance sheet for the store.

I make sure the drum kit is in order, and the instruments are away properly before the young fillies come to record their demo track.

I am really enjoying this week!