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

The rest of the day was rather boring, to be totally honest. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom were not that good at their respective instruments, and their demo track was subpar at best, and atrocious to the ears at worst. I didn’t say anything, but I can see that Vinyl was also cringing at their music. I think Scootaloo composed the track? Regardless, we have something to laugh about after, once the fillies leave.

“Damn, those kids were pretty bad, not gonna lie,” I say to Vinyl after they leave.

“I was thinking the same thing, Rhythmia. No talent, no syncopation, but they are cute, and all three of their sisters are Element Bearers, so we gotta be nice to them, or else!” Vinyl says with a dry, sarcastic voice typical to her. She found the fillies to be endearing, but their musicality was horrendous.

“Yeah. I get that. I have a better question. You said that you need me to tour, right? Well, where and when are we going? I have to compose some original pieces, ya know!” I ask my marefriend, who shrugs.

“Well, I am in high demand everywhere, from Manehattan to Applepaloosa, to Canterlot, and I have to fit everything in a two-week tour. I was thinking we leave for Manehattan in two days or so, to set up all my equipment, and the first show will be at the end of the week. I assume that works with you?” Vinyl asks, using her magic to summon her calendar, just to make sure her dates were accurate.

“Yeah, I am totally okay with that. DJ-P0N-3 and BPM, the Equestrian Tour! It’s gonna be awesome!” I say.

“Speaking of which. Did you try putting the new drumline on StableBand over my recording, Rhythmia?” Vinyl asks me, opening her DAW and showing me the new update, which I presume dropped last night.

“Oh, I didn’t see that at all. Gimme a minute, Scratchie!” I say, flying over to my drumkit. Vinyl enchanted the drumkit to have a MIDI-input/output, even though it is acoustic, so whatever I play on the drum kit gets turned into MIDI data. This is extremely helpful!

Now, I get to play even cooler drum solos, and they are literally MAGICAL, being turned into MIDI data thanks to my marefriend. It’s insane if you think about it for a bit. MAGICAL drums? Pretty cool for a human-turned pegasus, if you ask me! I did something moderate for the percussion in Vinyl’s track, and it magically transcribed to MIDI for her to add to her track.

“Ya know, Rhythmia, because you helped with the drumline, I am actually putting your name on this one. It’ll be the first DJ-P0N-3/BPM collaborative work! Isn’t that cool?” Vinyl says, smiling at the idea. She did a few collaborations with Octavia before, but the two never toured together.

“Yeah, that is cool!” I say, hovering in the air out of excitement.

“Ah, chill out, man. I get that you're excited about touring, but keep it INSIDE, not out. Got it?” Vinyl says, half-serious. She thought it was actually cute. I can tell based on her smile.

“Say. It’s almost time for our lunch break. Did you bring anything to eat today, or were you too busy fawning over me during breakfast?” Vinyl says, using her magic to take out a sandwich that she made for herself, presumably while I was still asleep.

“As a matter of fact, I did make something. A cheese sandwich.” I say, flying over to my desk on the other side of the studio and pulling out a Ziploc bag with a cheese sandwich inside.

“Okay, good!” Vinyl says, with a mouthful of her peanut butter sandwich making her speech slurred.

“Don’t talk while you are eating, Scratchie!” I say BEFORE I take the first bite of my sandwich. I have to say, the food in Equestria hasn’t been as bad as I initially thought when I got quantumly sent here. It’s pretty good, actually.

Vinyl sees someone galloping over to the studio as fast as she could. “What is Tavi doing here today?” I ask myself. Isn’t it her day off?

“VINYL, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE COMPETITION FOR YOUR TOUR!!” Octavia says, panting heavily.

“Hm? Go on, Tavi?” I say, intrigued by this. I didn’t know there was some sort of music rivalry in Equestria. I mean, it makes sense, but I never thought about it too much.

“Uh, yeah. Remember those sirens that Twilight and company beat back in that other universe? They are back, and they are touring at exactly the same time you guys are going. They are going to try and brainwash everypony again!” Tavi says, freaking out. Saving the world was not really her thing, let alone mine. Does Vinyl have a plan?

“I don’t care. The Elements dealt with those “Dazzlings” before. I am sure they can handle it again, no?” Vinyl asks rhetorically, in her typical dry fashion.

“Well, they apparently broke into Princess Twilight's patent library and took your patent for the bass booster. They want to use it to amplify their magic!” Tavi says, handing her friend an urgent letter, signed by Twilight Sparkle herself, all but confirming the allegations made by the grey earth pony.

“SHIT! I spent two years on that thing, and they want to weaponize it? I just wanted to make music. Now, this IS personal!” Vinyl says, using her magic to find her copy of the bass booster blueprints.

“Rhythmia. Are you good with technology or anything? I need somepony to help me with this. I know Tavi knows nothing about engineering, no offense Tavi.” Tavi nods, she doesn’t know anything about engineering at all.

“Uhh, I mean back on Earth I worked with the technicians at my high school to set up and configure the sound systems, so I guess I know a thing or two?” I reply, trying my best to focus on the task at hand, that being avoiding a potential musical cataclysm.

“Well, I need you to help me make a modified version of the bass booster, and I need your musical genius to make it even cooler!” Vinyl says, writing down a bunch of notes, presumably regarding her new ideas.

“Well, I haven’t even seen the bass booster yet, so what the hay am I supposed to do?” I ask, to which Vinyl just kisses me.

“Trust me, Rhythmia, okay? That’s how we have gotten along so well. Trust.” I kiss her back and think carefully about what I need to do.

“So, what modifications do we need, and do we know where these sirens are going, and when?” I ask, to which Tavi interjects:

“Well, they are going to be in Manehattan in three days, at exactly the same time as you guys. I’d get my flank over there first, and see if anypony has spare parts for a bass booster 2.0!” Tavi says. “I have to go now, I have my own concert to prepare for. Good luck, you two!” Tavi says, galloping off to prepare for her concert.

“Well, I know that the first version of the bass booster I made uses sonic magic, to amplify the sound waves in the air for maximum awesomeness, but how are these sirens going to reverse engineer it for mind control?” Vinyl thinks aloud, to which I have an idea.

“432 Hz frequency!” I reply.

“432 what now?” Vinyl says, confused by the concept I just brought up.

“Okay, standard pitch for music is 440 Hz, because of a lot of math stuff that I don’t understand. I just remember my music teacher talking about it. If you lower the frequency by 8 Hz, you get some weird psychological shit going on in your head, which some ponies claim gives you peace of mind. Obviously, that isn’t the case, but if they enchant their music at this frequency, they could get mind control effects!” I say, realizing the disastrous effects this could have on Equestria.

“As you know. I can’t do magic. How are we going to fix this problem?” I ask my marefriend, who smiles and says:

“Leave the magic to me, got it? Here’s what I need you to do. Go find Rainbow Dash. I need somepony fast to help measure the individual frequencies of sound waves.”

Hey! I am fast, too. What the hell? I mean, I can’t go supersonic, but I am faster than over 75% of all pegasi, at least, that is what Dash herself told me. I know my marefriend will probably be mad if I lie to her, but I have an ego. So I would measure the soundwaves myself.

“Okay, where is the instrument to measure that? I mean, I have never seen anything like it before. Do you need to make one, conjure it? I don’t know!” I say, a bit baffled by Vinyl’s request.

“I have it here. I asked Dashie to do this when I made the first version!” Vinyl says, using her magic to strap the instrument on my body. “Just give this to her and come back, okay?” Vinyl says, opening the window for me to leave.

“GO, GO, GO!” Vinyl says, to which I take off and try to find Rainbow Dash. Now, where could she be? That is the real question haunting my mind. I haven’t seen her in a month, so I don’t know what she is up to right now. Would Twilight know?

“Damn it, I have to find her. How do I get a pegasus’ attention?” I think to myself. “Wait a minute. I can just try and break the sound barrier myself. I hover in midair and look at the instructions taped to the instrument: “When breaking the sound barrier, push the red button, and the machine will measure the frequencies in the air. Data will then be sent back to Vinyl’s workstation for further analysis.”

Okay, now here’s the test. I think I got close to the sound barrier when I was going to the HayBurger elated at my date prospect, but I held back.

“Okay, let’s try and go supersonic!” I say, zooming off towards Sweet Apple Acres, where I assume Dashie is right now, based on previous times I saw her. I flew quickly, but I didn’t see the aircone forming around my body like last time. I needed to exert myself more!

“Think of Scratchie! Maybe we can do cool music stuff if I get back.” I say to myself, noticing the aircone forming around me.

The ponies below me noticed the aircone, and began to look at what they were seeing.

“Are we going to see the second pony to ever to break the sound barrier?” One earth pony asked his little sister.

“I don’t know,” said the filly.

I didn’t really hear what the ponies beneath me were saying, I was too focused on getting to my destination as fast as possible. The aircone got narrower and narrower. I must be extremely close to breaking the sound barrier.

“C’mon! Do it for Scratchie!” I say, pushing the red button on the device attached to my stomach.

“BOOM!”

I was kind of expecting rainbows like Dash, but as I looked behind me, I saw music notes, clefs, and a staff? I guess the sonic boom caters differently based on your talents? I don’t know, but I am calling mine the SONIC CRESCENDO! The rush is exhilarating, and thirty seconds after my sonic crescendo, I landed at Sweet Apple Acres. I didn’t see Rainbow Dash, but I saw Applejack.

“Howdy, Rhythmia. Was that you who broke the sound barrier? I coulda sworn I saw music notes trailing you?” Applejack asks me.

“Yeah, it was me. I needed to do a soundwave test for Vinyl. Ya know, work stuff.” I say, scratching my head.

“So, what do you need, Rhythmia? Another Apple Pie?” AJ says, laughing.

“Actually, I wanted to find Rainbow Dash. I needed her to do this test, and I broke the sound barrier by accident. I think her results might be more accurate than mine. I figure since you two spend so much time together, you might know where she is?” I ask the orange pony, who laughs.

“Dashie? She’s inside. C’mon!” Applejack says, beckoning me to follow her inside the Apple clan estate. I see Rainbow Dash inside the main barn of the estate, and she looks shocked.

“Rhythmia, was that YOU who broke the sound barrier?” Dashie says, freaking out over my nascent talent.

“Uh...Yeah, but it was by accident. That wind tunnel you set up for me must be giving me super speed or something. I don’t know. You are still faster, though. I actually need you to do an airwave test for my marefriend.” I say, unstrapping the instrument and resetting the parameters.

“Wait, you have a marefriend, and it’s Vinyl Scratch!?!?” Dashie and AJ say in unison.

“Uhh, yeah. We went on a date last night, actually.” I say, chuckling.

“Well, that makes sense. Two musicians.” Applejack says to her marefriend.

“Yeah, it makes sense.” Rainbow Dash says.

“I can do that test for ya. I mean, Vinyl recorded my pep anthem!” Rainbow Dash says, taking the instrument from me, equipping it, and flying out the door, instantly breaking the sound barrier.

“How do you put up with this, Applejack?” I ask the earth pony, who just shoves me playfully.

“I don’t. But it works. I guess?”

Well, I just hope Vinyl doesn’t get mad that I did a Sonic Crescendo...