Second Chances

Second Chances
By Hero541
Chapter 21: Time To Have Some Fun

Josh sat behind the stage, hearing the cheering of the large crowd of ponies waiting outside. The feeling of butterflies in his stomach, though nothing new, was a sensation he hadn’t felt in a long time. But now, he felt it. He began to wonder where the others were when he heard a voice call to him form nearby.

“Joshie!”

Josh turned to see Sweetie Belle run up to him excitedly. He smiled wide as she reached him and he picked her up, standing and swinging the little filly around. She giggled loudly as he did so.

“Hello, darling.” said Rarity, walking up to Josh, followed by all the others, including Fluttershy.

“Uh… Fluttershy,” said Josh, placing Sweetie Belle back on the ground and looking towards the yellow pegasus, “I don’t know that you’ll wanna be back here. Things can get pretty… rowdy.”

“I’ll be okay, Josh.” she said, smiling at him, “I can handle it… I hope…”

“Ya think ya’ll are ready to go?” asked Applejack, looking past the curtain to the crowd outside.

“I’d certainly like to think so.” replied Josh, “Has anyone seen Vinyl?”

“I think she was on her way up here when I saw her.” said Twilight, looking around for the cream colored unicorn.

“She’ll be here soon I’m sure.” said Rainbow, floating just above everypony.

As the words left her lips, Josh felt and saw a pair of hooves reach around his body from behind him and quickly turned around. Vinyl stood before him on her hind legs, a giant smile on her face.

“Hey there, beautiful.” he said, wrapping his arms around the unicorn, “Good to see you again.”

Vinyl giggled and leaned in for a kiss. As their lips met once more, the gathered ponies shared a collective “Aww”. Once they broke the kiss, Vinyl laid her head against her coltfriend’s chest, hearing his soft heartbeat.

“Good luck tonight, baby.” she said, a giant smile on her face, “I can’t wait to watch you.”

“I’ll be glad to have you back there with me.”

Josh and Vinyl released one another, and Josh turned back to Sweetie Belle.

“Hey Sweets,” he said, kneeling down and smiling at her, “It’s gonna get pretty loud up on that stage, okay? If you feel like you don’t wanna stay up there at any time, you don’t have to.”

“I’ll be okay, Joshie.” replied the filly, smiling up at Josh.

“Okay. Just making sure.”

He ruffled her mane a little, then turned in time to see Pinkie walk up the stage.

“Wow, Pinks. You really outdid yourself this time.” he said, looking the party pony up and down.

She wore a bright pink and neon green skirt, with fuzzy pink and green boots on her hooves. All around her neck and legs were glow stick rings, all of different colors. She also had a large pink whistle draped around her neck.

“This is one of my special party dresses!” she exclaimed, turning so everypony could see the entirety of the ensemble, “I didn’t think the green would go with the pink at all, but it worked out pretty well!”

“You look great, Pinkie.” said Josh, smiling at the pink pony as she beamed with pride.

“It’s almost time for you to go on, I believe, dear.” said Rarity, opening up the curtain.

Josh nodded, then rushed out between the cloth. Upon doing so, the crowd roared with excitement. There must have been almost 1,000 ponies there tonight. Josh ran around the stage for awhile, psyching himself and the crowd up, yelling, gesturing for more from them. As he did so, everypony backstage walked out and stood behind him.

“How you ponies doing tonight?!” he yelled into the microphone next to his equipment setup.

A loud roar answered him. Ponies were jumping around, screaming, going crazy, all waiting for him to begin the show.

“You guys think you’re ready for the XPLOSHUN?”

As he said the last word, a fireball shot up from in front of the stage, illuminating Josh’s face with a bright orange glow. The crowd roared one more at the sight.

“I’ve got a special treat for you guys tonight.” said Josh, looking behind him momentarily, “You’re gonna get a double dose of awesome tonight. Not only are you gonna hear my mixes, but you’re also gonna get a shot of the one and only, DJ PON-3, Vinyl Scratch!”

The crowd roared once more as Josh looked back to Vinyl and saw a shocked look on her face.

“Let’s spin this!”

A heavy kick and snare pattern blared through the speakers and Josh peered back behind himself to his stunned marefriend.

“Come on, babe.” he called over the beat, gesturing for her to stand next to him.

“I…I don’t know, Josh. I don’t think I’m ready for this just yet!” she called back, her ears pressed against her head.

“Vinyl,” he said, walking away from the board and kneeling down in front of her, “you’re more than ready. I can’t think of anyone more qualified than you to join me at the board.”

She bit her lip and looked into his eyes, fear marking her face. He gently took her hoof in his hand, staring into her crimson-magenta orbs.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, not taking his eyes off her.

“Y-yes. I trust you.”

“Do you trust that I won’t ever ever let you fail, no matter what?”

“I-“

“Vinyl,” he said sternly, “do you trust that I won’t let you fail?”

Vinyl stared into his eyes, seeing the sincerity marking them. A wide smile covered her face as she looked at her coltfriend.

“Yes.” she finally said, “I trust that you won’t let me fail.”

“Good, then you’ll need these.”

He reached out his hand and presented Vinyl’s black rimmed purple sunglasses. She took them, her eyes glazing over and a smile forming on her face. She hugged her coltfriend tightly.

“Then let’s get going. We’ve got a show to do.” he said.

Vinyl put her glasses on, and they rushed out to the board, preparing to add more to the beat.

“Just follow my lead, okay?” said Josh over the sound.

Vinyl nodded as Josh moved quickly, halving the second bass beat and lowering the pitch to make it rumble. He turned a knob to make it wobble, then began to change the speed and tone, spinning the jogwheel on his side to lower the pitch. Soon, he could feel the beat flowing around him, through him, and he looked to Vinyl.

She stood nervously watching him, unsure of what to do. Josh smiled at her, gesturing to the board.

“You know what you can do. This is no different from last night. Don’t be afraid.” he said, lowering the wobble bass.

Vinyl nodded, then turned back to the board. She twisted a few knobs, beginning a medium pitched synth sound. From there, she manipulated the sound with a few twists and turns of the knobs. A smile spread across her face as she fell in rhythm with the beat, moving and swaying with the music.

“Let’s up the ante a little here.” said Josh, loading another track on the opposite board.

Quickly, he moved the fader over to the other side, beginning the song. A quick synth track began, followed by several other noises. Josh looked to Vinyl, gesturing for her to make the first move. She pressed a loaded track button, making a short vocal clip play. Soon, she was feeling the music again, losing herself in its hypnotic sound.

“There you go, Vinyl!” shouted Josh over the beat.

She never even heard him as she began to drift away in the music. The bass echoed throughout her body, making her fall in time with its beat. Soon, she was manipulating the song like she’d been doing this for years. When the drop came, she felt a wave of ecstasy wash over her. Truly, she was in her own zone now.

The two producers stood on the stage, both lost in the music, both feeling their very essence pour out onto the board, turning knobs, pressing buttons, and manipulating sounds. Behind them, everypony gathered was dancing like they never had before, each lost in the music as well. Even Fluttershy was in a trance from the beat. Sweetie Belle danced and watched as Josh and Vinyl worked their electronic magic.

Josh gestured for more from the crowd, the entirety of which was going crazy. They yelled and cheered as the music flowed all around them, making them move in time with the beat. Occasionally, Josh would peer over at Vinyl, only to see her with a giant smile on her face, completely entranced by the beat. Over the course of the next hour, they both had the time of their lives. Neither one wanted this incredible feeling to end.

*****

Josh stood in the middle of Ponyville central, talking to several ponies after the show. It had been the best night he’d ever had in his life, made even better by the fact that he had Vinyl by his side through the whole show. He was so unbelievably proud of the unicorn for finally conquering her fear and performing with him. And, right now, they were both off talking to their new found fans.

“Well,” said a nearby familiar voice, “that certainly seemed to go well.”

Josh looked to his left and saw Octavia walking up to him, a sly grin on her face.

“It went better than well. That was easily the best show I’ve ever done.”

“Vinyl was absolutely incredible up there. I’ve never seen her so happy in all my life.”

“She did an unbelievable job.” said Josh, looking lovingly at Vinyl, who was a few feet away talking to some other fans, “She really did.”

“I figure I ought to let you know,” said Octavia, drawing Josh’s attention back to her, “I’ve paid your bar tab in full. Frosty was glad to finally receive his money.”

“Oh.” said Josh, the smile slipping off his face a little, “That’s… great, Tavi. Thanks for that.”

“Something wrong?”

“Well, I…”

Josh cut off as he thought about Octavia’s words. He finally had the chance to go home now, but did he really want to? He was happier here than he’d ever been back home, with a sort of family that loved him and had cared for him, and a beautiful girl to be with. What did his world even have to really offer him anymore? Though he was famous and had fans all over where he came from, he knew they didn’t truly care for him like the ponies here did.

Here, it didn’t matter to anyone whether or not he was famous, because they cared for him no matter what. Back home, without his fame, he was just another face in the crowd, a nobody to those around him. Back home, whether he wanted to admit it or not, his life had been one of sadness and loneliness. What reason did he even have to return?

“I don’t know if I’m quite ready to go back just yet.” he said turning back to the gray mare.

Her smile widened as she peered into his eyes, seeing the sincerity in them. Slowly, she walked forward, standing up and embracing him.

“I was hoping you’d say that for awhile now.” she said, hugging him tightly.

“I was always under the impression you’d want me gone by the time this was all said and done.” said Josh as Octavia
returned to four hooves.

“At first, perhaps I did.” she said, looking to Vinyl laughing with her fans, “But you make Vinyl so happy. I’d hate to see one of you without the other at this point. It just seems natural that you’d remain together.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without her.” said Josh, a dreamy look crossing his face.

“Well, I’d better go.” said Octavia, turning and walking away, “I’ll let you and your marefriend enjoy some time together.”

As she said those words, Josh turned to see Vinyl running up to him. She leapt up and Josh caught her in his arms.

“Baby, that was so awesome!” she said, planting kisses all over his face and nuzzling his neck, “Thank you for letting me do that with you. It means so much!”

“Anything for you, Vinyl. I was planning on having you come up there with me the whole time. I wanted it to be a surprise though. You did an unbelievable job!”

“Oh, darling!” called Rarity, walking up with the others in tow, “You two were absolutely fantastic up there!”

“Yeah! I normally don’t like music like that, but that was a lot of fun!” said Twilight, a glow stick wrapped around her neck.

“Same here, Sugarcube.” Applejack said.

“Hey, has anypony seen Fluttershy?” asked Rainbow, flying up to look for the timid pegasus.

Almost on cue, they heard someone nearby yelling very loudly.

“YEAH! WOOHOO! I LOVE DUBSTEP!”

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and nearly collapsed laughing at what they saw. The yellow pegasus was being held high in the air by a few other ponies, cheering and yelling wildly as she was carried away.

“I’m surprised that’s not Pinkie up there.” said Vinyl, wiping away a mirthful tear from her eye with a hoof, “Seems like her thing.”

As Josh and the others still chuckled at the sight, he felt a tug on his pants leg. Looking down, he saw Sweetie Belle’s smiling face looking back up at him.

“Hey there, Sweets.” he said, bending down to pick up the little filly, “Did you have a good time?”

“Uh huh.” she said weakly, a large yawn escaping her.

Sweetie had been bouncing around the stage next to Josh the whole time, cheering and dancing. Eventually, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had joined her up there and the three of them danced their little hearts out. Josh had even picked them up individually and placed them on his shoulders or Vinyl’s back while they mixed the songs. Every time, they would squeal with delight and wave to the crowd.

Now, however, they were tired from all their dancing and partying and were more than ready for some sleep. Apple Bloom walked up and got on Applejack’s back, while Scootaloo was with Rainbow Dash. As they took their places both began to drift off to sleep, their little eyelids fluttering closed.

“Just look at the little darlings.” said Rarity, grabbing Sweetie in her magic and placing the tired little filly on her own back.

“They’re all plum tuckered, I reckon.” said Applejack, smiling at the sight of her little sister on her back, “And for good reason. Ah’ve never seen anypony have so much fun in all my life.”

“Not even Pinkie?” asked Josh.

“Everything’s fun for Pinkie. That pony lives in a perpetual state of fun.” said Rainbow.

Josh smiled at that, looking all around for the pink pony. He was sure he'd seen her around there after the show ended...

“Well, we’d better head home, I suppose.” said Twilight, turning and heading for the library, “It’s getting late and I need some sleep.”

“Same here, plus Ah’ve gotta get this one in bed.” said Applejack, heading for the farm.

Everypony congratulated Josh and Vinyl once more for a successful show, then headed off for their respective homes. Josh turned to his unicorn mare, who smiled widely at him.

“You were great out there, baby.” he said, laying on the ground so Vinyl could lean against his chest, “I’ve never seen anyone handle their first show with that much poise in all my life.”

“Well,” she said, snuggling close to him, “it helped that I had somepony as awesome as you right next to me the whole time encouraging me. You have no idea what that meant to me, baby, to know that somepony out there had enough faith in me to let me take control like that.”

"Of course I had faith in you, Vinyl. How could I not?"

"I love you, Josh. I love you more than words can ever say."

Josh's eyes widened at her words. It'd been a long time since he'd heard those words genuinely said to him. This pony
on his chest who was snuggling close and nuzzling him truly meant it when she said it. He smiled wide and peered into her eyes as she looked into his.

"I love you too, Vinyl. I really really do."

They kissed once more, both feeling a warmth shoot through their bodies as their lips touched. Josh held the unicorn close, stroking her mane gently as she laid her head on his chest once more. He knew he'd have to get up soon and walk her home, but that could wait. For now, they both just wanted to sit and enjoy one another. If I feel as good as I do now every night, I’ll never leave this place he thought as he stroked his marefriend’s soft mane gently, relishing the feeling of her soft, warm body pressed against his own.