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

I waited like a dope for a few minutes in Sweet Apple Acres for Rainbow Dash to return with the new, more accurate data, as Applejack was still processing that her marefriend isn’t the only pony in town who is supersonic.

“Say, Rhythmia, any idea how a colt like you became the second pony in recorded history to become supersonic?” Applejack asks me, a bit bewildered.

“Frankly, I have no idea. I think I just got lucky. Maybe the fact that I am originally from another universe has something to do with it, but I don’t know for sure.” I reply, hoping that this answer proves to be satisfactory to her.

“I’m back, Rhythmia!” Rainbow Dash says, landing next to me and handing me over the data I need to bring back over to the studio.

“So, what exactly are you gonna do with this doo-hickey anyways?” Applejack asks me, a bit confused as Rainbow Dash re-attaches the device to my body to return it to Vinyl.

“Uhh. We are making a fancy speaker that can also use magic to defeat sirens who want to take over the world. That’s basically it.” I reply, leaving the two mares bewildered.

“The Dazzlings, like From Sci-Twi’s planet?” Rainbow Dash asks, confused.

I don’t know what a Sci-Twi is. I just assume that these sirens have also been doing multiversal shenanigans. “Uhh, sure, but I don’t know who Sci-Twi is,” I say, a bit confused.

“Uhh, I think it’s that other universe similar to yours where we exist as humans, but there IS magic, unlike yours where there isn't’ any.” Rainbow Dash says, trying to remember what Twilight told her about this other universe.

“Okay, that makes sense. I mean, the multiverse is real, so a similar universe to my own doesn’t seem out of the ordinary in my books.” I say, bolting out the window on my way back to my studio.

“See ya whenever!” I say, trying to fly more slowly this time to avoid unnecessary attention. Well, I have the data I need now, and it’s probably more accurate than when I did it a few minutes earlier. Even at my slower clip, it only takes me five minutes or so to get back to 315 Octave Lane. When I finally make it back to the studio, Octavia and Vinyl are waiting for me at the door.

“Uh, Rhythmia. Did you break the sound barrier? I could have sworn I saw (and heard) a music staff in the sky playing a melody.” Octavia asks me, her eyes comically large, excited to hear about my aerial accomplishment.
Wait, my Sonic Crescendo PLAYS the notes I create as I fly? That’s AWESOME! I must have been too busy focusing on the data to notice.

“Wait, you did WHAT!” Vinyl says, flabbergasted that I went supersonic. I mean, Dashie did the test, so it doesn’t really matter, but I digress...
“Well, I DID go supersonic, but Dashie procured the data set for you,” I say sheepishly, removing the instrument from my body and handing it to her. Vinyl teleports the device into the studio and looks me dead in the eye.

“Well if Dash found the data, why did you go supersonic? I didn’t even know you could do that! I thought she was the only pony in history who could break the sound barrier.

I try to think of a good quip. “Well, it makes sense that a musician could be the second to break the SOUND barrier, right? Jokes aside, I was actually pretty close to doing so the night we went on our date, but I kinda slowed down to avoid drawing negative attention. I think it might have something to do with my other-universal origin. I can ask Princess Twilight about it the next time I have a meeting with her.” I say as Vinyl and Tavi go inside.

When we enter, I see that in the short time that I was gone, Vinyl has been working overdrive, trying to put together her newer version of the bass cannon. Obviously, it is nowhere close to finished, since I couldn’t have been gone for more than thirty minutes, but the amount of progress she made was quite substantial.
“Woah! You made a lot of progress on the bass booster cannon!” I say, amazed at how much my marefriend has worked on this in less than an hour.

“Well, yeah! I mean I just need to rebuild the thing again and tweak one or two key things, like the frequencies and pitch, that’s it!” Vinyl says.

“So, what do you need me to do, anyway? I brought the data, and you seem to have everything under control.” I say, unsure of what I need to do next to help Vinyl.

“Well. I need you to check the software and stuff. Even an awesome mare like me can’t do everything on my own! My DAW is on the desk in the recording booth. Check all the parameters and then give me a hooves-up, okay?” Vinyl says, signaling for me to enter her recording booth. Damn! She is so cute when she is working!

Anyways, I do as Scratchie asks, and I go to her recording booth and I see a magical screen in front of me with all sorts of data scrambled in front of me. Stuff about individual cents (The cent is a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals), frequency changes, and the range of what a pony’s ear can perceive. Apparently, in this universe, pegasi can hear slightly higher pitches than earth ponies, and unicorns can hear lower frequencies. It kind of makes sense, because each race is somewhat unique. I wonder what Twilight can hear since she is an alicorn? Anyways, I am getting distracted again! I jot down some notes about what needs to be fixed (namely the range of pegasi frequencies), and I fly back with my findings to Vinyl.

“Well, you know how Pegasi can hear higher pitches? You messed up that value by 3.46, I wrote down the correct inputs for you. Hope you appreciate it!” I say, handing my findings to Vinyl, who looks at them intrigued.

“Well, I actually didn’t know that! I guess it’s good having a pegasus stallion as a coltfriend! I wouldn’t have possibly known this otherwise! Thank you!! Vinyl says, planting a kiss on my cheek in gratitude for my musical findings.

“Umm, can you two ponies stop with the lovey-dovey crap and work on this bass booster. Your concert is in 36 hours! Time is of the essence!” Octavia says, reminding us of our goal to both entertain the masses and prevent a musical calamity Equestria-wide.

“When you’re right, Tavi, you’re right. Back to work we go!” I say, using my advantage of flight to plug in certain auxiliary cables that I don’t think Vinyl would have been able to reach, even with magic. We continue working on the bass booster for the rest of the day, putting our recording duties aside. I think preventing a catastrophe could take precedence over our bit-making schemes.

When the bass booster cannon is finally finished, I take a look at it in all of its majesty. The thing is around 10 meters tall! I actually thought it would be too big to transport on the train for our concert, but Vinyl had a trick up her sleeve.
She used some kind of spell to compartmentalize the device, shrinking it down to the size of a briefcase that can be fit as a saddlebag!

“Holy cheeseballs! How did you do that!” I ask, a bit shocked.

“Magic, dingus!” Octavia answers on behalf of her friend.

“Now it can fit anywhere, and I can just wear it around. You couldn’t have possibly thought I was going to bring a ten-meter tall bass boosting cannon fully assembled on the Equestrian rail service, now did ya?”

Well, she does have a point. The thing is HUGE.

“Well, would ya look at the time, it’s 8 pm. What do you say? We have dinner at your place, and then you and I can practice your rhythm again, now that you are sober.” Vinyl says mischievously.

“Wait, how do we do that? You can’t fly!” I ask, a bit confused as to how a unicorn can make it to Cloudsdale. I mean, it’s not like a pony the same size as me can be flown around like a kid.

“Well, I know your address, 2003 Cumulus Drive, I can just teleport, silly!” Vinyl says, teleporting herself to my humble abode.

“Damn it! I have to get there posthaste!” I say, bolting out the door of my studio as Octavia chuckles to herself.

“He does need to improve his rhythm in bed...Vinyl wouldn’t shut up about how drunk Rhythmia was a few nights back. Hope he can hold his own tonight.” Octavia says, watching me break the sound barrier much closer this time, with my Sonic Crescendo amazing her.