Rhythm Of Love

by RIPTID3

Rating: everyone
Tags: Romance
Length: 5102

Octavia and Vinyl Scratch meet their genderbent selves.

Octavia and Vinyl Scratch meet their genderbent selves.

Thanks to JaquelinDreamz and StaticWave12 for allowing me to use their characters.
Octavio belongs to JaquelinDreamz
Record Scrape belongs to StaticWave12

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-05 16:31:53 UTC

First Impressions

It was a fine afternoon, perfect for a bit of exercise and some outdoor activities. Down in the fields of apple trees in Sweet Apple Acres was Applejack, Element of Honesty bucking the apple trees as usual alongside her brother Big Macintosh. She worked hard as the rays of sunlight continued bearing down on her.

Not far away was a cyan blue pegasus. She zipped around the air leaving a trail of rainbow behind her. She had taken care of the pesky clouds and was now working on practicing her new tricks. Afterwards she would most probably go take her afternoon nap. This pegasus was Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty.

On the outskirts of the Everfree forest was a cottage. It's inhabitant, Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, outside her cottage. Taking after her animals generally looking after them. She made sure they didn't venture off to far or start a fight with one another. Everything was in check.

In the town, a huge pink building stood. Inside were various manikins and dresses. This building was none other than the Carousel Boutique. Run by Rarity, the Element of Generosity. She ran back and forth and transitioned from sewing, to sketching some designs on a pad of paper, then she ran to her chest and levitated a bunch of diamonds out.

Nearby, just a couple of blocks away was the town's bakery, Sugarcube Corner. Inside, a pink mare bounded around while her fluffy pink cotton candy mane bounced to and fro as the mare herself bounded around the building. This energetic pink mare was none other than Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter.

Most ponies seemed to be active some played a game of tennis, a couple of pegasi had a small race around the town. It seemed like a fine day to go outside.

But a certain lavender unicorn wasn't going to have any of that. She was going to stay cooped up in her library like the egghead that she was. Today, she was planning to try some of the spells that she had faked in her magic battle with Trixie.

      "Ready Spike?"

First up on the list was cloning. She had made Spike her guinea pig for this experiment. Spike stood before Twilight with his eyes shut. Twilight lowered her horn. It charged up with lavender light and soon a beam of magic shot out of her horn. It zipped towards Spike but missed by an inch and hit the window.

The spell ricochet'd around the room like Pinkie after a cup of coffee. It bounced around while Spike tried to take cover. Twilight panicked and shot another spell out at random. A ball of lilac light flew off Twilight's horn, bounced around and eventually merged with the beam Twilight had originally cast.

Twilight panicked and opened the window. The mutant spell zipped out the library and flew off. Twilight calmed herself down and tried to keep her breathing steady. Nopony was hurt, that's all that matters at the moment.

Twilight simply blinked and tried to comprehend what just happened. Okay, first she shot a ball of light and it bounced all around and flew out the window. Okay, as long as it didn't hit anypony Twilight would be fine.

      "What just happened?" Spike asked

      "The spell flew out the window. We're safe."

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down.

      "Okay, let's get back to practice shall we?"

Meanwhile, in Octavia's apartment...

Octavia had just returned from a concert. She and the band had been asked to play at a formal gathering at Canterlot. Her roommate and long-time friend, Vinyl Scratch was on the couch reading a book. As soon as Octavia stepped in, Vinyl Scratch shot out of her chair and trotted up to Octavia, the book being levitated by her magic.

      "Yo 'Tavi what's up?" The white mare asked with a huge smile on her face

      "Oh nothing much. Just another performance is all."

      "Hey you have to check this story out! It's awesome."

Octavia took a look at it. It was labeled as romance, the one genre Vinyl would never ever in her life touch.

      "Vinyl, I didn't think you were interested in romantic stories."

      "Well, not usually, but this is different."

A smile spread on Octavia's face upon seeing how enthusiastic Vinyl Scratch was. She flipped the book open and read the story. It was rather interesting.

      "I never imagined I would agree with you but this story is rather cute."

      "I know right? I wonder how it would be like to meet my gender swapped self."

      "Vinyl, you do know that it's impossible right?"

Right on cue, a lavender lightning bolt zipped in the window and started bouncing around. Vinyl Scratch ran over and clutched Octavia in a hug. She tried to keep her eyes on the mysterious bolt of light but it was way too fast. Before she even knew it, the lavender lightning bolt had struck both Octavia and herself. Dust and debris went up as if a grenade had gone off. Vision was limited under these conditions.

Vinyl Scratch had stumbled and fell from the impact. She groaned in pain and got up. She rubbed her head and shook of her daze, unsure of what had just happened. She looked up and came face to face with a white colt. His mane was a mixture of dark blue and electric blue. Just like Vinyl Scratch's. He had blood red eyes and a pair of shades were on his head.

      "Um, hi?" The colt said

Somewhere across the room, Octavia found herself in a similar predicament. She cursed and got up. She was in a state of shock after the lightning bolt went off like a hand grenade. She brushed herself off and rose up from the ground. Her collar was still on, which was good news.

The grey mare walked a few steps, she felt fine, no broken bones or anything. She walked a few more steps through the dust and bumped into another pony. She looked up at the figure and saw a grey colt, he had a collar with a red bow tie. His mane was jet black and done in a classy manner. The two ponies locked eyes, completely stunned.

Icebreaker

Art belongs to JaquelinDreamz and StaticWave12

Octavia stood face to face with the grey colt. He seemed just as stunned as Octavia, his eyes filled with disbelief. Octavia was about to say something until Vinyl Scratch emerged from the dust. A huge grin on her face.

      "Oh thank Celestia, Vinyl are you alright?"

      "Yea I'm fine. Hey check it out! That lightning bolt gave me a hot new boyfriend!"

Right on cue a white stallion walked into view and took his place beside Vinyl. He had a brilliant smile on his face, but the weird part was that he looked just like Vinyl Scratch, everything from the dark blue and electric blue mane and their cutie mark, the mirror image of two bridged eighth notes. He had a pair of shades on his head, but unlike Vinyl's, his was square. Vinyl hooked an arm around him and flashed Octavia a smile.

Already one of them is enough of a headache. But two? Celestia save me.

      "Vinyl, you don't even know him and already you've decided that he's your boyfriend?"

Octavia stared at the two ponies and then glanced back at the grey colt who seemed to be just as scared. Apparently even he knew that two Vinyl Scratches were bad. Octavia took deep breaths and calmed herself down.

      "Alright, let's just calm down and try to reassess the situation shall we?" Octavia said

She walked over and sat in a recliner while the two colts sat on the couch. Vinyl took her place on another recliner.

      "Okay, let's just introduce ourselves first. I'm Octavia." Octavia said

Octavia motioned for Vinyl Scratch to continue.

      "Name's Vinyl Scratch."

Vinyl's clone was next.

      "My name's Record Scrape."

And then there was Octavia's clone.

      "My name is Octavio."

By now Octavia had finally settled down and was now piecing together the puzzle.

      "If I'm not mistaken, the both of you..." Octavia said pointing at the colts. "are gender bends of me and my friend Vinyl here. So, basically speaking you're like our clones, but you're colts."

      "And you said it was impossible!" Vinyl Scratch sneered

      "Not now Vinyl! So, since we are technically responsible for creating you, you're staying with us I guess."

      "Sweet!" Vinyl said while doing a hoof-pump

      "Thank you Miss Octavia, I hope me and my roommate..." Octavio nudged Record Scrape "won't be any trouble for you."

Suddenly, Octavia's eyes drifted away and landed on the crater on the floor that the lightning bolt had made.

      "Well, if you boys are going to live here you might as well help out."

Everypony stared at the crater. It took Vinyl about five seconds to make out a plan.

      "Hey, I know! Octavia, why don't you take Octavio down to town and order more tiles and get the repair colt. Me and Record here will stay back and start cleaning the place up!"

      "The only thing your going to do is burn the apartment down." Octavia grumbled

Octavia wasn't exactly wild about the idea of going out into town, with the supposed colt of her dreams. But she had no choice, she couldn't just leave the two colts at their home and neither could they be trusted to go out. They were literally born just minutes ago.

Octavia sighed and trudged back to her room. The repair colt wasn't open now, maybe in an hour or two. Octavia planned on practicing her Cello for a bit.

An hour later...

On the side of a tall mountain, the high and majestic city of Canterlot stood. The city was truly a masterpiece to behold, inhabited by millions of ponies born with silver spoons in their mouths. Being the capital of Equestria and home of the Princesses of day and night themselves, this was where all the bigger events took place.

Sadly, the posh lifestyle and the abundance of priviliges have made the inhabitants rather spoiled, making them believe that they – like the city – was above everything else. There were a few exceptions of course, like Fancy Pants, Fleur-de-Lis and even the Princesses themselves.

It was a sunny afternoon when Miss Octavia was trotting along the streets, with a dashing gentlecolt by her side. Everypony in her immediate surroundings just stopped and stared in amazement over how said gentlecolt looked. However, they weren't flabbergasted by his beauty…

It was the fact that he looked just like Octavia… as a stallion. Even down to his cutie mark, almost every single detail was similar.

The posh ponies started gossiping about this, seeing as how they haven't heard anything about her either having an identical twin brother, or a coltfriend. But of course, the two ponies just continued on their merry way, talking about their number one passion in life: music.

      "It is such an honor to speak with a fellow musician like yourself, Miss Octavia." the stallion said.

Octavia turned her head and gave him a relaxed smile.

      "I couldn't agree more, Mr. Octavio. You play a devine cello." she responded.

      "You too." Octavio said with pride. "I was close to tears when I heard you play. You handled Warlander impeccably."

Octavia smiled.

      "And you're such a gentlecolt, too." she paused. "But I bet you say that to all the mares, don't you?"

      "Miss Octavia, I wouldn't dream of it." Octavio responded assuringly. "I'm not that easy to impress."

      "Neither am I." Octavia responded with a light chuckle."

After that, there came a small pause between the two. It lasted for about a minute, until Octavio decided to break the silence once again:

      "May I ask you a question?" he asked.

      "Why, most certainly!" Octavia responded.

      "Did you have any idols growing up?"

The question took Octavia slightly by surprise, but she responded:

      "Well, I was raised in rich conditions and my family was an early influence. But the one that really inspired me was none other than Lead Wheelerstein. I listened to all his recordings, went to all his concerts and I even got my music lessons from him."

THE Lead Wheelerstein?! Octavio was impressed beyond comprehension.

      "Wow! It must've cost a fortune!" he exclaimed.

      "Like I said; we weren't exactly the poorest family in Canterlot. My family spent all money necessary on my education. And it paid off in the end, too, because I received my cutie mark shortly after that."

      "Why, that's a very inspiring story!" Octavio responded in amazement.

Octavia smiled, as she asked him:

      "What about you? Did you have any idols growing up?"

      "I had more than one, actually: Shire, Fratello, Salerno..." he responded.

      "The most important ones." Octavia said, smiling.

      "Exactly!" Octavio responded with great pride.

This conversation continued for what felt like hours, all the while everypony looked at them with big eyes. They would talk about their interests, their dreams, their likes and dislikes, and they would discover that they had a lot in common. But then Octavia said:

      "Your roommate, how's he like?"

      "Oh, he's a DJ... makes terrible music, though." Octavio responded.

      "Vinyl Scratch is no different I'm afraid."

      "It's frustrating to be woken up at 3:00 A.M. by his horrible music." Octavio sighed

      "Tell me about it."

Soon, they had placed the order for the tiles and the company would send a repair pony over by tomorrow afternoon. On the way back, Octavia heard the sound of a stomach rumbling.

      "Say, I am rather famished. Care for some lunch?" Octavio said

      "Why certainly!"

Scratches and Scrapes

Art belongs to JaquelinDreamz and StaticWave12

As soon as Octavia and Octavio left the apartment, Vinyl Scratch and Record Scrape practically leaped into the air and did hoof-pumps.

      "So, whadya wanna do first?"

      "Music?"

      "You read my mind."

Vinyl Scratch bounded over and pulled a sound board over. Her hooves immediately flew across the controls and began working. Soon enough she was busy producing wubs and basically making music. Record Scrape wasn't one to sit and dwell however, he went beside the white mare and soon the two began working in perfect harmony, like a well oiled machine.

Vinyl Scratch seemed to know exactly what Record Scrape was about to do and vice versa. The two DJ's filled the apartment with their music as they continued working in complete perfect harmony, as if they could read each other's minds. When they were done, they found out that their music was so loud it had literally blew the dust away. The two DJ's gave each other high fives.

Not long after, there was knocking on the door. Vinyl Scratch walked over and opened the door. Standing at the doorway was a purple colt with a black mane. This colt was Watchdog, the landlord. He would've kicked Vinyl out already if it hadn't been for Octavia. She was the only reason Vinyl was still here.

      "Vinyl, must you make such a racket?" The purple pony asked

      "Um, yes?"

      "Well I'll need you to cut it out if you want to continue staying here."

      "Sure can do Watchdog!"

Watchdog grumbled something about degenerates and left the apartment to head back downstairs. Thank Celestia he hadn't noticed Record Scrape or he might've had a heart attack. Already Vinyl Scratch was a nightmare for him, with the addition of Record Scrape? Watchdog would've rather moved out and given made somepony else the landlord than live with that kind of stress.

After some more partying that clearly defied Watchdog's rules and restrictions, the two ponies got the wonderful idea of downing some alcohol. Vinyl tossed Record a bottle of cider. They popped the caps, *clinked* their bottles and proceeded to get drunk. One can only imagine what kind of madness ensues.

      "You *hic* look just like *hic* me, hehe." Vinyl Scratch slurred

      "Damn, I make a *hic* pretty sexy mare."

      "You don't *hic* look too bad your-*hic*-self."

Vinyl Scratch proceeded to throw her arms around Record Scrape's neck. She gave him a small peck on the cheek and then let out a giggle. Record Scrape however proceeded to mumble something about turtles. Completely unaware of the sign of affection.

The two ponies continued their debauchery about the house. At one point, Record was licking the walls while Vinyl took a jar of sugar and poured it all over his head. Then, Record tried to jump out the window, but ended up missing and crashing into the wall. He seemed to be unfazed by the impact. The two ponies continued their debauchery.

Eventually, Watchdog had enough of this nonsense and decided to put a stop to it. He was expecting anything, from Vinyl doing a little "renovation" to her perhaps playing around with fireworks. What he wasn't expecting was Record Scrape. Watchdog knocked on the door and held a list in his hooves.

       "Dear Vinyl, the tenants of the apartment have been complaining about the following: Loud music, being able to hear your festivities, er, so to speak, and- WOAH!"

Only now had Watchdog realized that he was talking to Record Scrape.

       "Hehe, you *hic* look funny."

Record Leaned forward and gave the shocked Watchdog a big wet kiss on the lips, further confusing the landlord.

      "You taste *hic* like dog food."

Record closed the door, he then proceeded to stumble around the living room. Vinyl however was walking against a wall, seemingly making no progress. Record Scrape then proceeded to try and headbutt the wall down. Needless to say he failed miserably.

Vinyl had eventually stopped trying to walk through the walls and was now trying to bust through the door to her bedroom. Apparently being drunk means not being able to use doorknobs. Eventually she managed to crash it open. Vinyl stumbled in, unaware that Record Scrape had also followed her in.

Meanwhile...

Octavio and Octavia sat in a restaurant. The lights were dim, a candle stood in the middle of the table alongside a vase of roses. Quite romantic looking actually. Octavia was not pleased by this however.

But the thing that irked Octavia was that Octavio supposedly knew everything she knew. So what that meant was he knew what this restaurant looked like and he purposely chose this restaurant. That cursed colt.

Octavia and Octavio ate in silence. The level of awkward was just off the charts. The two ponies made no eye contact whatsoever. Eventually, they finished their meal and continued their journey home. Suddenly a horrifying thought crossed Octavio's mind.

      "Um, Miss Octavia, do you happen to have any alcohol in your household?"

      "Why, yes. Why do you... oh no."

      "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

      "The DJ. Her new boyfriend..."

      "If you value your home we'd better hurry."

The two grey ponies picked up the pace and soon they were at the apartment. Octavia unlocked the doors as fast as she could, when she did open the door, she almost wished she hadn't.

On the floor was an assortment of things the two DJ's had knocked over. Some books, a bottle of cider. Vinyl Scratch was nowhere to be seen. Octavia stared at the destruction, her mouth agape. Octavio didn't look too happy about it either.

      "Oh dear, correct me if I'm wrong, but those bumps on the wall seem to resemble Record Scrape's face."

Octavia sighed and shook her head. She already had a gender swapped version of herself, a crater in the living room and now this?

       "I'm afraid I don't have the patience for this anymore. I'll have to deal with this headache tomorrow."

       "Oh yes, about that. Um, Miss Octavia, where shall I be sleeping?"

Octavia led her to Vinyl's room. She had already decided that the two colts would sleep together in Vinyl's room while Octavia and Vinyl would sleep in Octavia's room. Unfortunately for Octavia, that plan crumbled apart.

Octavia opened the door. She flipped the light switch and saw Vinyl and Record in bed, fast asleep. Vinyl had her back turned to Record while the colt had his hooves on her hips. They seemed to be quite content in that position. Octavia almost considered waking Vinyl up, but she decided against it.

      "Well, I guess you're sleeping in my room then Octavio."

The colt blushed slightly, Octavia could feel the blood rush to her face too. She quickly lead him to her bedroom. It wasn't much, just a simple bedroom. But it was much more organized than Vinyl's.

Octavia hopped into the bed and threw her covers on, her back facing Octavio. The colt had also gotten in bed and had his back against Octavia. The two ponies were fully aware of this. Octavia pushed that thought aside and eventually managed to drift off into sleep.

Debut

(Insert picture here 'cause I'm all out of them)

It only continued to go in and out of Vinyl’s mouth. Frothing with white liquid. Vinyl never stopped as is only went faster and faster, then she pulled the toothbrush out, she spat into the sink and rinsed her mouth (You perverts. Don’t pretend you weren’t thinking about it). She smiled and stared into the mirror. Her teeth were pearly white as always. Record Scrape walked in and yawned.

      “Hey, got a brush I could borrow?” Record Scrape asked

      “Buck no.”

      “Aw c’mon, I’m like, you. There’s no difference.”

Vinyl Scratch contemplated it for a while before finally giving in.

      “Fine.”

Meanwhile...

In the room of Octavia Philiharmonica, the grey mare was only just beginning to stir. She rolled onto her side and felt her nose rub with that of another pony’s. She opened her eyes and found herself face to face with a very much awake Octavio.

Octavio was just as flushed as Octavia. His eyes were wide and filled with shock. The two grey ponies simply stared into each other’s eyes before finally Octavia looked away. Octavio followed heed. The two pony’s faces burned red. Octavia sat on the edge of the bed and cleared her throat. Octavio remained in his spot on the bed. Cheeks still burning rosy red.

      “So are you gonna go wash up first or-”

Octavia simply got up and walked into the bathroom before Octavio could even finish.

      “Well, guess that answer’s that.”

Half an hour later...

The four ponies sat around a mahogany table. Octavia and Octavio were sitting on the table, a stack of pancakes in front of them. They paid it no attention though as their eyes were fixed on the two DJ’s.

      “Where’s the cereal?” Vinyl asked

      “*sigh* You poured it all into the toilet thinking it was a bowl.” Octavia explained

      “Oh. So, what do we do now?”

      “Why, you have to go do whatever-you-do and I have a performance with the band.”

      “What about me and ‘Tavio?” Record asked

      “Stop calling me that.” The grey colt said

      “Annoying isn’t it?” Octavia asked

      “Tell me about it.”

      “So, what DO we do?” Record Scrape asked

Octavia stared at them for a while. Though it was never made official, between her and Vinyl, they had decided that Octavia was WAY more suitable for leadership.

      “Simple. We’ll bring you to our jobs and see how you fare.” Octavia said

      “Sounds fine by me.” Octavio said

      “Alright, just let me finish up and we’ll get going.”

      “Can’t wait to introduce you to the club!” Vinyl said squeezing Record Scrape’s foreleg.”

An hour later...

Vinyl Scratch and Record Scrape walked through the empty club. The only ponies there were themselves, the two bouncers, Juggernaut, a muscular red colt with a blue mane, and Musclemass, a black colt with a grey mane who was just as muscular as his friend, were hanging out by the bar, the bartender, Aftermix, a black and white colt with a mane that resembled blazing fire was making a drink for himself, he waved at the two white ponies as they walked past. And finally, some of the employees were sweeping the floor.

      “Real lively place huh?” Record Scrape whistled

      “That’s ‘cause it isn’t night yet.”

      “Oh right.”

      “Don’t you know?”

      “Not until just now. Weird, it’s like my mind is downloading info every five seconds.”

Vinyl Scratch and her genderbent self walked towards the stage. Close to the edge sat a familiar grey box made of metal.

      “Remember that?” Vinyl Scratch asked

      “Yea. The Bass Cannon.”

      “How’d you know?”

      “I dunno. I just do.”

      “Oh well, let’s do a sound test to make sure the equipment’s okay.”

Vinyl Scratch turned on the speakers and her soundboard. She began pressing a few buttons, spinning a couple of disc. The sound came out loud and clear. She continued and soon a catchy little beat was formed. Record grinned, Vinyl flashed a smile.

      “C’mon, don’t be shy.”

Soon Record Scrape jumped in and soon they were spinning disc, flipping switches and basically making music in general. They never bumped into each other or messed up even though they did not say a word, it was as if they were reading each other’s minds. Soon they were producing beats that any top level DJ would’ve found intimidating.

They finished up and looked each other in the eye. Vinyl Scratch had a certain flash in her blood red eyes (Yea I know they’re supposed to be magenta, but blood red looks better darn it). Record Scrape had an almost maniacal grin on his face.

      “Looks like we’re ready to get this party started.” Record said

Meanwhile...

Octavia and her genderbent self walked through the backstage area. The other band members continued polishing, practising and basically prepping themselves for the performance. Most of the band members gave Octavio a long stare before going back to whatever they were doing.

      “Why are they staring at me like that?” Octavio asked

Octavia took one look at him, now that she actually had time to slowdown and take a good look at him, she found out that he was everything a colt could be. Shiny black mane, well built body, not too muscled not too out of shape or skinny either. Maybe, just maybe...

Octavia shook that thought out of her head. Octavio was staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

      “I’m fine.” Octavio

      “Are you sure? I mean your face was turning all red and all-”

      “Yes I’m fine! Now move along. We have to go find Cribler and see if he has an extra cello we could borrow.”

Within a matter of minutes, Octavia and Octavio had arrived at the storage room where Cribler usually hung out in. Octavia knocked on the door and entered. Inside was a dark blue colt with a black mane. His cutiemark was a black line that resembled that of a life line.

      “Good afternoon Cribler.” Octavia greeted

      “Why, hello there Octavia. Who’s that? Your coltfriend?” Cribler asked in his English accent

      “N-no!”

      “Your brother?”

      “Then who is he?”

      “Some random colt I met. Anyways, would you happen to have an extra cello by any chance?”

Cribler turned around and opened an enormous cupboard. He began rummaging through the contents within.

      “Ah! Here we go!”

Cribler pulled out a cello. It was a bit dustier but condition-wise it was identical to Octavia’s.

      “A tad bit dusty, but it should play fine.”

      “Thanks.” Octavia said

Octavio swung the instrument across his back and followed Octavia as she walked through the door and back outside to the backstage area.

      “So, what do we do now?” Octavio said

      “Simple. We practise.”

Go crazy

Octavio and Octavia sat in the dressing room. Both practicing in perfect harmony, not a single note out of place. They didn't need to practice, but, they had nothing better to do anyways.

      "Want to go again?" Octavio said as he played the last note of "Sad Romance".

      "I think we're fine." Octavia replied

      "If you say so."

The two grey ponied simply sat opposite each other, the dressing room wasn't too roomy so there was nowhere else to sit save for face to face with each other. There was a knock on the door, a brown colt with a white mane opened the door poked his head in.

      "Warm-up starts in five minutes."

      "Got it." Octavia said

The brown colt exited and left the two gray ponies alone again.

      "Shall we leave?" Octavio said

      "I suppose." Octavia said

The two ponies grabbed their instruments and left the room.

Meanwhile...

      "Um... Twilight, aren't you worried about the spell?" Spike asked as Twilight continued reading, completely ignoring the dragon

      "Don't worry Spike. The spell will only last for two weeks. Tops." Twilight said

      "What if it hits somepony?"

      "The book said that if a clone was about to um... expire, they'd start showing signs like limited strength and energy, no appetite and maybe even mental instability. Then, when the time comes, they'll simply crumble to dust."

      "But won't the spell botch from travelling such a long distance?"

      "The book said that there would be a slight glitch or two, maybe the clone will have a second head or something. But whatever it is, it won't turn out an exact replica."

      "Um.. Are you sure?"

      "Spike, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing."

      "Okay then."

      "Now, would you mind fixing me a glass of orange juice?"

      "Comin' right up."

Meanwhile...

Vinyl and Record were sitting at the bar, having a drink as Aftermix wiped the glasses.

      "So Vinyl, who's the new guy?" Aftermix asked

      "Oh he's my friend. Record Scrape." Vinyl answered

      "Coltfriend?" Aftermix asked

      "Um, yea I guess." Vinyl said

      "Well, nice to meet you." Aftermix said as he shook Record's hoof.

      "Back at ya'." Record replied

The trio continued chatting until suddenly a scroll appeared out of nowhere. Aftermix opened it up and read it before closing it and keeping it in his non-existent pocket.

      "Sorry I gotta go, Cocktail says there's something he needs help with, gonna be gone for a while, I'll be back before the crowd. If you want a drink or something, help yourself. Go crazy." Aftermix said as he put the cloth down and left.

As the white colt left, Vinyl and Record watched him. When the door shut, Vinyl and Record looked at each other then at the wall of alcoholic beverages that lay in front of them.

      "Help yourself..." Vinyl said

      "Go crazy..." Record said

      "Boy is today a bad day to be Aftermix." Vinyl said as she shook her head