Crossfaded

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 2: Vinyl Scratch
Chapter 3: The Morning After
Chapter 1: First Impressions

Prologue

As Celestia's sun set on Canterlot, Cross took a step back to review his work. Grinning with pride, he scanned over the boxes stacked high and low; he'd been working hard all day organizing his possessions and packing them neatly into the miniature storage compartments. With a sigh of relief, he walked over to retrieve the only thing left unpacked, his white shutter shades. Having grown accustomed to wearing them everywhere, putting them on was simply habit at this point. His parents despised it, being Canterlot ponies and all. Stiffs, as he so 'endearingly' called them. Soon, however, he wouldn't have to worry about his parents for he was moving to a small town called Ponyville.

"Ponyville..." he said quietly with another sigh. Just the sound of it made him elated, so different from 'Canterlot.' Much less official, much less pompous, much less... stiff. It wasn't all pickles and daisies, however. Moving is tough on anypony and he definitely felt it. Having to leave everything behind isn't easy. Despite his distaste for Canterlot life he couldn't help but feel like suddenly getting cold hooves. He'd lived in Canterlot his whole life and now had to leave behind his family and friends (what few friends he had).

His thought process was broken when a shout came from downstairs. "Penny Pincher! Time for supper!" He winced, twenty years old and still getting called down for dinner, with the name Penny Pincher no less. He couldn't stand the sound of it. Most ponies were named quite aptly for their special talents to come and his father, Hoity Toity, had decided that he wanted his son to join the family business. 'A job for stiffs.' Cross thought, He wanted no part of the family business, fashion and clothing lines and such. He thought it all too tame and thus refused to abide by his father's wishes. Naturally, this caused a major divide between the two and as a result, they didn't get along. All he wanted to do was party. He wanted to feel the bass pounding in his ears and the synthesized leads coursing through his veins. Most of all, Cross wanted to share it with everypony. He shut his eyes beneath the glasses and began to bob his head a bit, imagining the rhythmic thumping of the bass drums and the-

“Penny Pincher! Immediately!” Cross snapped to attention.

“I’m comin’! Sheesh…” Cross started towards the door but stopped. He turned around and trotted into the bathroom connected to his bedroom. A quick self-inspection in the mirror revealed that he didn’t look presentable in the slightest. His cobalt fur and grey mane were matted with sweat from the previous labor. His mane was tangled and unruly and his fur pressed down from being sweaty. His mother wouldn’t allow him to eat in such a condition; she’d simply send him away.

“I’m gonna take a shower real fast! I’ll be down right after!” he yelled through the door, loud enough so it would travel down the stairs that laid behind it.

“Make it quick, darling! And be sure to scrub behind your wings!” her reply was typical of her. She made an attempt to sound motherly but the words were degrading, making the implication that reminding her son of such a thing was necessary at this point in his life. She didn’t mean it, of course, and he knew that. She tried her best and that’s what mattered. ‘Still a stiff.’ he thought. This made him chuckle a bit as he stepped behind the shower curtain.

After emerging from a quick shower, Cross looked himself over again. He made sure he’d gotten everything; from his mane to his wings (which he noted would need preening later) to his hooves, Cross was just as clean as before he started packing earlier in the day. The final step was to simply gel his mane back a little in an almost reverse spiky style. The gel made his mane seem almost silver, something he liked about it. A proud grin in the mirror signified that he was finished and the pegasus went to dinner.

Upon arrival to the dinner table, hooves clip-clopping on the white linoleum floor, Cross spotted his mother waiting patiently. Her eyes half-closed and muzzle tipped slightly upward, the mint-green mare sat on her floor cushion in front of a plate on the table.

“You didn’t have to wait for me, mom.” the pegasus said as he made his way to his place at the table, where a plate had been laid out for him.

“’Twas the polite thing to do, my dear.” her blonde beehive-styled mane bounced a little as she spoke. “And besides, tomorrow is the day you leave me; is it a crime for one to desire spending her final night with her son at supper?” Even though she wasn’t a talented mother, she was skilled at pulling guilt trips, especially on her son.

Cross shook his head a bit before starting into his food. “No mom- it isn’t.” he said between bites.

“You shouldn’t speak with your mouth full, honey. It’s impolite and frankly quite disgusting.” ‘Honey.’ Another thing he didn’t like being called. “And sit straight. It is uncouth to slouch in your chair.” With a roll of his eyes, the colt did as he was told and sat straight.

"So," Cross cleared his throat, "where'd you get these chrysanthemums from? I thought they weren't in season until September? These snaps too." he looked over his spread, chrysanthemums, snapdragons, and some strawberry oats. A beautiful monochrome blend of different shades of pink were strewn about his plate. Even for rich ponies like his mother, finding flowers that were out of season was extremely challenging.

The mare across from him swallowed before responding. "One just has to be in contact with the proper ponies, my dear. An old colleague of mine resides on the side of the Everfree Forest opposite of us. He's a botanist now and raises plants of all kinds on the edge of the forest, where the seasons are irrelevent." Cross knew of the forest's magical properties, how the plants and animals fended for themselves, and the clouds moved on their own. He wasn't against the idea of it, he just found it a bit... off-putting.

"They're delicious." he said with another mouthful of petals. His mother shot him a look and he swallowed. "Erm, sorry." A few minutes passed silently, the only sound being the eager chewing of food. A grey unicorn in a tuxedo soon entered, balancing a platter on his back. The platter was enveloped in a sparkling white light emitted from the butler's horn and it floated onto the table. On the platter were two small plates bearing vanilla cupcakes. "Cupcakes too? You must really want me to stay." Cross said. He laughed a bit at his own joke as the butler levitated the empty entree plates onto his platter and left.

"I knew the day would come." the mare began, "You'd leave me, just as your father and that physician did. Tomorrow I shall be without my family. I just want to make you aware of how much you mean to me, honey." Cross' ears flicked up at the sound of this. She was pulling the guilt trip again, but this time she was being honest. The colt looked up in time to spot a single tear run down his mother's face, taking a bit of her makeup with it.

"Aw, mom." The colt stood and walked over to his mother to embrace her. "Don't worry, mom. It's not like I won't visit."

"But what about when you aren't visiting? Why have such a magnificent home when it shall be only me? The help and myself..." For once, her muzzle wasn't pointed up in pride. Her head hung low, something Cross had never seen before.

"W-what about Uncle Vinny? He lives downtown in a small house with his family. Maybe you can have them come live here with you." His mother wrinkled her snout at the thought.

"Vincent? My brother? Here? Just the thought of having his atrocious paintings in my home is..." her voice trailed off.

Cross waited a moment for her to finish. "Mom?" he said, unsure of what was wrong.

"Y-yeah. Sure I'll visit. But I think you should be getting to bed, mom. You don't seem too well." They both stood and Cross guided his mother upstairs and to their respective rooms, leaving the cupcakes behind for the butler to tend to.

While laying in bed, Cross found himself contemplating his own feelings on the current situation. Different emotions filled his mind. He was excited for his move to Ponyville but what he wasn’t looking forward to was seeing his mother's face when he left. He loved his mother, despite her pompous nature. Having to sever old ties was tough for him to process as well. Old ties. The words brought his father to mind. The pegasus shifted his gaze toward the window across from his bed, which he'd decided to simply replace once in Ponyville. He didn't like the fact that he wasn't close to his father, both literally and figuratively. His poor relationship with Hoity did, however, make the fact that he left him and his mother two years earlier easier to bear. His parents were divorced because of a mishap involving another stallion. Cross cringed at the thought of his mother being unfaithful. It was so... uncharacteristic of her. Not at all prim or proper. 'No. Stop.' he thought. He didn't like thinking of his mother that way. Burying his muzzle into the plush feather pillow, Cross decided to ignore any more thoughts on the matter and slowly drift off to sleep.

No more thoughts, just slowly... drifting... to sleep...

Author's Note

A couple references here. One that won't be cleared up until later though. Also, to those of you reading, thank you! I'm happy if you're happy!

Special thanks to my prereaders!
The5Pieces, iStacyx, KFJ943, and my good friend Sidney

Chapter 2: Vinyl Scratch

More lights suddenly flared up, nearly blinding Cross. They were bright and circled the pony in the center of the room; they began to pulsate slowly as a low frequency bass note steadily climbed, getting louder and higher in pitch with each passing second. The colt was still trying to make out who it was standing in his house when a loud, familiar drop hit: Immigrants by The Mare Machine. Just as the song began, more lights turned on throughout the room, revealing that his home will filled with other ponies. It seemed as if all of Ponyville was there.

“Why are you all in my house?!” Cross shouted, but the music was too loud for anypony to hear. However, his question was answered anyway when the pink mare from earlier zipped over to his side.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! We didn’t really get to meet earlier. It’s just- I saw you and got excited because I love making new friends and I just had to throw you a party!”

“W-what?” The pegasus sat still for a moment, attempting to piece everything together. Pinkie running off, that hot mare- Rainbow Dash- whispering something to Twilight (which he’d forgotten about until now), and then coming home instead of visiting The Omni. “Ohh... Okay. Now it makes sense... Kinda.” He trotted inside, looking around. “Wait, where’s all my stuff? I wasn’t done unpacking.”

Pinkie looked over to him with a smile, “Oh, Fluttershy was kind enough to finish unpacking for you so we could party!” Cross’ ears dipped, he didn’t like the idea of anypony going through his stuff. He especially hoped that she didn’t come across his Hoofbeat collection, that’d be extremely embarrassing. “Hey! You should come meet everypony! There’s Applejack, and Fluttershy, and Rarity, and Lyra, and BonBon, and Colgate, and Ditzy, and-” Cross wasn’t interested in meeting anypony other than Vinyl Scratch at the moment. He still needed to talk to her, so as Pinkie was rambling off other ponies’ names he slipped away to find Twilight (who had already run off).

“Hey, Twi,” Cross was one of those ponies that gave everypony nicknames, “that DJ up there, that’s Vinyl Scratch, right?”

Twilight looked over to him, she’d been skimming through his bookcase. Nothing she’d read was in there but he had more books than the mare would have thought. “Her? Yeah. That’s her. Want me to introduce you?” That same smile from earlier grew on her face.

“Uh, no thanks. I think I can handle it myself this time.”

“Hm... Alrighty then.” The unicorn turned her attention back toward the bookcase.

The colt trotted over to the DJ’s station. Vinyl was standing behind her turntables on what seemed like a pedestal of lights, bobbing her head in unison with the music. The sliders and buttons were occasionally enveloped in a sparkling blue light, indicating that the DJ was a unicorn. Handy for her line of work. Mare Ghosts N’ Stuff by deadpon3 was playing; not something he’d use to follow Immigrants but it somehow worked. Being a DJ himself gave Cross common ground with the mare, making conversation starters easy. But where to begin? The colt thought it over for a moment, then came to a conclusion.

Cross stepped up behind the mare at work, “Y’know, if you throw a high-pass filter onto that track you can lay down some samples and cross over to some Fillex, to really get the crowd pumped.”

Vinyl looked back, “A fellow bass head! Alright!”

“I’m more than that, I’m a DJ.” The cobalt pony turned to show his flank, at which point the mare in front of him turned completely around, giving him a good look at her. It was hard to tell with the lights, but she was white, an almost alabaster color, with a spiky electric blue and white mane. ‘Hello, good-lookin’.’ She wore shades like he did, but they weren’t shutter shades. Just purple glasses, dark enough to hide her eyes.

“So you spin, huh? Show me whatcha got!” Vinyl stepped aside, giving way to the turntables. Cross saw this as an opportunity to show his skill, so as to improve his chances at getting a gig at The Omni. He walked up to the turntables and placed his hooves on the controls; not the records, however. Having hooves made the small controls difficult enough. He couldn’t manage scratching and then operating switches and knobs in quick succession. On the few occasions he did use the records, it was typically with his wings, which was less than comfortable. The two songs on deck were Mare Ghosts N’ Stuff and Immigrants. Vinyl hadn’t switched Immigrants for the next transition yet. Cross flipped the Immigrants record up off of the platter and found a Fillex record in the unicorn’s stack. His remix of Levels. As Mare Ghosts N’ Stuff approached its drop, Cross slowly put a high-pass on the track and played a sample of the laughing from the beginning of it. He placed a stutter effect on it and then cut it just as he played the drop from Levels. It wasn’t his best transition but it was all he could manage in the short time given. The crowd didn’t seem to care, however. In fact, they liked it. Suddenly the records on either side of the colt began to glow and he looked back to see Vinyl was jumping in to do the scratching for him. She quickly picked up on what Cross was doing and where he was going with each mix, following him appropriately. ‘She’s slick on those records.’ the colt thought. Then he did a mental face-hoof, ‘Of course she is. Her name's Vinyl Scratch.’

Together, the two ponies stood at the station, hooves and magic seeming to dance across the controls and records. They were in perfect unison. More importantly, they were enjoying themselves. Cross had never experienced DJing like that before and he loved it. His thoughts about getting a gig at The Omni slipped from his mind, as if he needed to worry by that point anyway. The duo were so in tune with one another that it almost seemed natural; why wouldn’t she have him work with her on stage? Each bass hit and every synth chord left them tingling, the sensation was phenomenal. Each drop was met with every ounce of anticipation they had within them and more.

Vinyl looked over to her partner, “Hey! Check this out!” Her horn began to glow and the speakers were enveloped in blue light. Suddenly, they burst out a magical discharge and the music seemed to materialize. They could literally feel it coursing through their veins. The whole crowd nearly buckled in unison, as did Cross. Nopony was expecting the sudden sensation they were feeling. “Yeah!!” The mare hoof-pumped, celebrating her success. “I’ve been workin’ on that spell for a while! It makes you feel the music! Isn’t it badass?!” As if on command, the crowd all looked up to the DJs and started hoof-pumping and dancing wildly. Cross was dumbfounded, what he was feeling was unbelievable. “I can literally manipulate the crowd with the music!” The song that was playing was Blood Sugar by Pendulum. Everypony felt unstoppable. It was... amazing.

The rest of the night continued this way, Vinyl’s insane magic combined with her and Cross’ DJing made the party one worth remembering. The pair played an hour and a half long setlist. Cross decided to leave his new friend to her work so he could meet everypony. Applejack introduced herself to him first, and then apologized for her brother’s absence, saying that he “wasn’t much for a hoedown.” The colt also got to meet the pony who sat upright, Lyra, and her marefriend, BonBon. He found Fluttershy huddled in the corner of the room. She informed him that she’d placed his... ‘magazines’ in the closet of his bedroom. She blushed hard and could barely say the words. ‘Cute.’ Cross thought. Next he met Rarity. She was like a Canterlot pony, prim and proper.

“Parties aren’t usually my forte but I can never resist one of Pinkie’s swarays!” She wasn’t as uptight as the stiffs back home, but close nonetheless.

It wasn’t long until Cross had met everypony in attendance, they seemed pretty social for the most part. Ditzy, he noted, was there with somepony. Somepony familiar, though he couldn’t quite remember. The stallion in question had a Trottingham accent and that’s really what got him. The pegasus just wasn’t sure though. Oh well, could just be one of those ponies.

It was only ten o'clock when the party came to an end, but everypony had to go home for the night. It was Tuesday so they all had work the following morning. Who parties on a Tuesday anyway?

“Hey,” Cross turned around, he’d been at the door, saying goodbye and thanking ponies as they left. Vinyl approached him with a smile, “nice moves out there, fly-boy. You got some real skill to use your hooves like that.”

“Not too bad yourself. I’ve never seen scratching like that before. You’re the only DJ in town, right?”

Vinyl turned to show her cutie mark, “A DJ, sure. But not the only one in Ponyville. At least, not anymore.” Her cutie mark was a black double eighth note. She had a nice plot too. The cobalt pony trailed his gaze down her legs and back up again. Nice. “You’re looking at my cutie mark, right?” Cross realized that he’d been too obvious, a rookie mistake. Vinyl flicked her tail at him and put on a sultry expression. But, instead of flirting, as he normally would, the pegasus became flustered and tried to recover.

“Uh- erm- yeah. Of course I was. What else would I be looking at? Nothing else worth looking at besides your cutie mark. Yup.”

Vinyl’s expression quickly faded, there almost looked to be a frown in its place. “Right. Yeah. Sorry. I should just go pack up my equipment.” With that, the mare slowly walked back to her station.

Cross face-hoofed hard. ‘The hell was that? She was totally flirting with you, man! Why did you get so choked up?!’ He was sort of mentally scolding himself. ‘And of all the things you could’ve said, “nothing worth looking at?” What’s wrong with you?!’ The pegasus shook it off, ‘You can still recover. Go get her.’ He started towards Vinyl, “Hey, need some help?” Suddenly, the colt stopped. Her equipment was enveloped in magic. “Oh... Right. Unicorn. Duh. Hehe...” The laugh was forced, and pretty obvious.

Vinyl looked at him, no sign of the frown from before, but no smile either. “Yeah... I’m gonna get going. See ya around.” He heard the mare muttering something as she walked past. The door opened for her and she left, not looking back.

Cross’ ears dipped and he trudged into his bedroom, eyeing the floor the whole way. ‘Well there went that.’ The pegasus was disappointed, getting with one of the locals on his first night in Ponyville would’ve been awesome. Especially if it’d been her. Yet, he found himself feeling a little differently than he normally would. He didn’t want to get with Vinyl, the colt wanted something different. Sure, he’d scored with lots of ponies back in Canterlot, even stiffs got a little wasted from time to time. But scoring didn’t seem right either. Cross racked his brain, painting her image in his mind. She had a nice, sexy figure. Curves in all the right places. She was a DJ, so that was a plus, and a great one no less. Vinyl was amazing when working her records, her technique was flawless. Her beautiful alabaster fur paired with that spiky, electric blue mane and tail. She was, in a word, perfect. Cross was falling for her, after only knowing her for a night. A few hours. He hadn’t realized it at the party because he was enjoying himself so much. Or perhaps that was just it, he’d never had so much fun with another pony before. The pegasus sighed, feeling that way about somepony was completely uncharacteristic of him. All of the ponies he hooked up with in Canterlot didn’t mean a thing. It was all just for fun. Some nice words and a few drinks would get him on his way home with a mare. Of course, he could never have real feelings for anypony back home anyway, they weren’t his type. At all. So this was a new feeling for him, something he’d never experienced before. The cobalt pony decided to just sleep on it, for he was surprisingly tired. Moving, exploring Ponyville, and partying seemed to have taken more out of him than he originally thought. Not to mention all he’d eaten that day were the snicker doodles and some snacks that Pinkie laid out for the party.

Just then, as Cross was going to lay down to sleep, he realized something. Something very important... He’d forgotten to replace his bed.

Buck.

Author's Note

Another reference in this one (aside from the music ones)! Hope you like what you've read so far!

Special thanks to my super dedicated prereader!
The5Pieces

Credit for Vinyl's music spell goes to him. Thanks for all your help, friend!

Chapter 3: The Morning After

A beam of light shone through a window right onto Cross’ face. The sun was up and, now, so was he. He didn’t want to get up. He had one foreleg draped over the side of his couch, for it was too small to accommodate his size. The colt had slept on it the night before due to the absence of his bed. His head seemed to weigh a ton, as did the rest of his body. The pegasus didn’t have the strength to lift himself from the couch to start his day, but he wasn’t worried. He had nowhere to be anyway. Groaning, he made an attempt to open his eyes, having turned himself away from the sun. No use. He laid there a while, mustering the strength to try again. ‘Okay...’ he thought. ‘on three...’ he turned to face upward again. ‘One... two... three!’ he threw his forelegs skyward and lifted his head but to no avail. The rest of him didn’t give, they just fell back down again. The morning grogginess had come out on top, as it usually does. Slowly, Cross felt himself slipping away. The warm sunlight from the window began to comfort him, instead of keep him awake, giving yet another reason to stay. Cloudiness reigned in his mind, the fog of sleepiness spread throughout until there was nothing. Nothing but quiet... and serenity...

Cross suddenly found himself back at the party from the night before, standing with Vinyl behind the turntables. She turned to him and spoke, “Hey, hotshot. You got some pretty slick moves.”

“You’re not too bad yourself.” Cross responded. A strange familiarity graced to the situation graced him.

“Y’know, I could probably use some help moving my gear back to my place after this. Sometimes if I carry it all with my magic I get a headache. Can you lend me a hoof?” a short smile grew on her face.

“Sure thing. It doesn’t look too heavy.” he gestured a hoof toward the equipment.

“Thanks, man.” Vinyl held her hoof out and Cross gave her a brohoof. To his surprise, she pulled him in for a hug. It was short, but Cross took the time to enjoy it. Her coat was soft to the touch, and her mane luscious (which was interesting, seeing as how it was spiked, was it her natural manestyle?). Her scent was sweet and alluring; she smelled of... haycakes.
Haycakes?

“Hey, do you smell hay-”

“I made you breakfast!” Vinyl chirped.

“Uh... what?”

“I always make haycakes for my new friends!” she put on a large smile, like Twilight’s. “Get up, get up!” the colt felt an invisible hoof prodding his chest, and in an instant, everything was gone. The party, the equipment, Vinyl, they were all gone. Instead, Pinkie was standing over him.

“Yay, you’re awake!” Pinkie beamed down at him.

“What are you doing in my house, Pinkie? There’s a little something called boundaries.” Cross was irritated, as anyone who’d just been woken up would be.

“The door was open so I let myself in...” she looked down at the floor for a second, then looked back at him with a smile. “But I made you breakfast!” Of course she could just walk in, nopony has locks, for nopony uses keys. How could they? Having hooves made it extremely difficult. Cross sighed, he didn’t feel like arguing.

“Fine. Just... put ‘em over there.” the pegasus gestured to the kitchen in the corner of the room, whilst keeping his free hoof draped over his face. The sun didn’t seem so comforting anymore.

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” the mare took her haycakes to the kitchen and set them down. “I brought you some orange juice and syrup to go with your haycakes!”

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks.” The colt groaned. Pinkie just stared at him with her head high, chest out, and grinning ear to ear, which was pretty big since ponies’ ears are on top of their heads. “Yes. Thank you. You may leave now.”

“Okay! Buh-bye!” The bubbly mare bounced off and out of Cross’ flat.

“Ugh..” The cobalt pegasus was still lying on his couch, still groggy and still completely unwilling to get up. “These ponies are great and all, but I think there’s bit of a privacy issue going on here.”

After another twenty or so minutes, Cross finally gathered the strength to drag himself off the couch and onto the floor. And, eventually, he was standing. The haycakes were the center of his focus for he wanted food. He made his way into the kitchen and sat down at the table, with the haycakes lying in front of him. Time seemed to slow as he ate in silence. The crunchy haycakes with the viscous, sweet syrup seemed to be the perfect combination. With the house quiet all throughout, Cross saw it in a different light, for yesterday’s events hadn’t allowed him time enough to feel at ease. The colt allowed his mind to float off, as he continued to eat almost unknowingly. When suddenly, a loud THUD! from the door broke his pseudo-trance. An unintelligible, muffled voice emerged from the other end.

“You gotta be kidding me. Ugh-- NOBODY’S HOME!” The voice responded, this time a bit louder, but still unintelligible. Cross begrudgingly stood and made his way over to the door and opened it, to find a familiar grey mare on the other side. What was her name? Dippy? “Oh. Hey.”

“Hi! Hello!” A dopey smile spread across her face. “I- uh- sorry about your door...” Cross turned to the door and noticed a crack in it, along with a bit of blonde hair and some feathers.

“Uh... Yeah. You should probably be a little more careful.” The cobalt pony was well aware of her ‘condition,’ so he tried not to be rude.

“Sorry... Anyway, you got some mail, Mister!” She stuck her muzzle into a satchel hanging from her neck and pulled out a letter. Cross looked it over and furrowed his brow.

“That says, “BonBon” on it.” Ditzy frowned and gave an apology that Cross couldn’t understand because of the letter in her mouth. She replaced it and grabbed another, this time with the correct name on it. “Thanks.” The colt said as he gripped it between his teeth.

“Buh-bye, Mister!” Said the mare as she fluttered skyward and flew off, just barely avoiding a nearby tree.

Cross shook his head as he returned inside. He set down the letter on the counter next to his breakfast and decided to deal with it later. He just wanted to finish eating and explore the town some more. Which is just what he did.

The day was warm and sunny. The town was buzzing with activity. Everywhere he looked, Cross saw somepony doing something. Carrot Top was tending her garden, the fillies and foals were at play, Applejack was selling apples, and Lyra was... sitting again? Is that all she does?

As the colt passed by Applejack’s cart, a little yellow filly rushed toward him and shouted, “BUY SOME APPLES!” The pegasus was so startled he nearly fell over.

“Uh... no thanks?” He said, not sure of how he should respond to the filly’s strange behavior.

Applejack approached and said, “Sorry, Sugarcube.” She gently coerced the filly back to the cart. “Applebloom’s been actin’ a might strange lately.” She gestured a hoof toward Applebloom, whom Cross assumed was Applejack’s sister. The filly had begun twirling round and round, muttering something about spin classes. “How ‘bout you just run along now and here, have an apple.” Applejack hoofed over a fresh, red apple and turned to tend to Applebloom.

“Yeah, thanks.” He said, and trotted off, wanting to put as much distance between the crazy filly and himself as possible.

The pegasus began wandering the streets of Ponyville once again. Almost aimlessly, but not quite. He was intentionally heading in the direction of The Omni, for he still wanted to visit, but he was taking as many detours and roundabouts as possible. The colt wasn’t sure what to do about the situation with Vinyl that he so skillfully handled the night before so he used his time wandering to think. Sure, she’d definitely still give him work at the club, but that’s not what he was worried about. The real issue was how to show Vinyl he’s interested, without making a fool of himself again. Clearly, she too was interested in him, judging by her flirtatious behavior. However, due to a handful of mistakes he’d made, he very well may have ruined his chance. But she was too special, too unique to pass up. Vinyl was pretty much everything Cross wanted. Everything. Maybe he could just be honest with her? Just tell her straight up... No. That wouldn’t work. It’s not Cross’ style and frankly, it’s almost a little weird. He barely knows her, but he feels that way regardless. Even so, that doesn’t guarantee that she feels as strongly as he does, so being completely straight probably won’t end well. ‘Where am I even at?’

Cross made a sudden realization about where he was, and it was that he didn’t know. Twilight hadn’t taken him to that part of town the day before. His surroundings had faded from colorful, friendly homes and ponies to dark, dingy, and empty. Nopony was around, and the sun was beginning to set. He’d rolled out of bed-- er, couch-- a bit later than he’d thought.

“I didn’t know small towns like this even had slums.” He said to himself. Of course, the colt had been in unfriendly neighborhoods plenty of times before, and wasn’t unaccustomed to them, for Canterlot had its fair share as well. He continued a bit more slowly, and definitely more aware of his surroundings.

The pegasus heard the occasional stray dog, or feral cat, some yelling in the distance. The expected ambiance of an area such as that. To his left, a door suddenly flung open and out came a familiar pony, she seemed to be struggling to carry a suitcase on her back with a couple more floating behind her. She stumbled and fell to the ground, dropping all the luggage in tow. Two more boxes flew out of the door and landed beside her, followed by some shouting, then the door slammed shut. After a moment, Cross walked over to the mare, nervously. That electric blue mane and alabaster coat undeniably belonged to the one he so admired. She had her back turned to him, trying to gather up her belongings that had spilled from the boxes.

When Cross got within a few feet of her, Vinyl said without turning, “Listen beatnick, I know your type and if you so much as touch me, you’re going to find walking to be much more difficult.”

“Uh-- No, Vinyl, it’s- it’s me.” Cross stuttered a bit, afraid not only of what she’ll think he’s doing there, but also of what she might do to him.

The mare looked back at him for a moment, “Oh. Hey.” then she turned back to continue floating various items back into their rightful places. “What’re you doin’ here?”

“Well, I was just walkin’ around when I saw what happened. You okay?”

“Welp, yeah. I’m fine I guess, considering I uh... don’t really have a place to live anymore.”

The colt was a little surprised. “You mean, you live here?”

“Lived, and yeah. Don’t sound so impressed.”

“I just... why? A DJ’s salary is typically pretty decent, especially if you work a club every night.” Cross explained.

“Yeah, I kinda know that. But a club can’t really pay you if they aren’t making money either. Nopony ever goes there anymore. That’s why I made up that spell, I was hoping that maybe ponies would start to enjoy the music again and come back. But it seems like ever since the Changelings attacked Canterlot, everypony’s been settlin’ down and doin’ their own thing. The club scene kinda died down.” Vinyl finished repacking her things, and latched her boxes and suitcases closed.

“So... what? You’ve been living here for a couple years then?” Cross asked.

“Nah, I used to live with my... friend, Octavia, and we had a nice place on the other side of town. She and I would get work wherever and pool the money to pay bills and stuff. After the club stopped getting business I would just get gigs outside of town and she’d help pay to get me there and back. But then we kinda got into it once, and sorta gave each other the silent treatment for a while. Then she got discovered or whatever, and left to be a cellist in the Royal Canterlot Symphony...” Cross saw something move down Vinyl’s cheek, but it was dark so he couldn’t quite tell what it was. He had a feeling he knew, though. “So uh... yeah. That was that. I couldn’t afford to keep going in and out of town for gigs anymore, then I couldn’t afford to pay the bills, so I had to move out here and rent this place... I lived off doing house parties every now and then when I could.”

“Wait, what about last night? Did you get paid for that?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t enough. I already had too much debt piled up. So, the boss man took what I earned last night and kept my furniture as payment, and gave me the boot. And now here we are...” She sighed, and her ears fell. “I uh... should get going.” Vinyl started down the street slowly, with her belongings floating behind her.

Cross was dumbfounded at what he’d just heard. That, and he felt terrible for her. But the colt had an idea. A crazy, stupid idea. It’d never work. Not a chance. Don’t even say it. No. Don’t do it--

“Wait!” he shouted, Vinyl stopped and looked back, her head hanging low. “You could uh... stay with me.”

Author's Note

Some more references here, but I guess they'll be in every chapter. Anyway, super big thanks to my prereader, The5Pieces, who, even after this long, is still by my side!

Chapter 1: First Impressions

Cross examined his new flat. It wasn't very spacious, of course, for he didn't have much of a budget. There weren't many business opportunities in Canterlot for DJs, as one could imagine. His mother offered to help pay for a nicer home but he declined knowing that if he couldn't afford it alone then future payments would be a serious issue. There were three rooms: the main living area (which accounted for the majority of the flat), a narrow bathroom on the right of a short hallway across from the front door, and his bedroom opposite the bathroom that was about twice its size. Perhaps a bit less. The kitchen was included in the living area, it was located in the corner to the right of the entrance. A waist-high counter separated it from the rest of the room. The pegasus exhaled in exasperation. Unpacking was always worse than packing. Before getting back to work, he heard a knock come from his door. Or more of a tapping, rather. Cross walked to the door and pushed it open with his hoof; on the other side he spotted a purple mare and small dragon to match. He was under the assumption that the dragon's claws were what made the tapping.

The purple unicorn eyed him from behind the dragon. "Hi there! You're the new pony in town, right?" Cross was confused, for he hadn't even spoken to anypony in town yet. How could she have known?

The colt stammered a bit, "Er- yeah. That's me. Just finishing up unpacking." It was then that he noticed the unicorn had a piece of parchment and a quill levitating next to her.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle! Pleased to meet you!" The pony gave him a cheesy grin and extended her hoof. He could swear he heard some kind of 'squee' sound when she smiled, but ignored it.

"Pe- er, Cross. Cross." The colt responded. He extended his foreleg and gave the mare in front of him a light brohoof. She put on a puzzled expression for a moment but shook it off. The dragon simply stood where he was silently. It was almost creepy.

"And this is my assistant, Spike!" Twilight gestured toward the dragon who just stared up at him. "But let's get to business, shall we?" The parchment and quill floated over to the pegasus.

He glanced at it, not caring to read anything. "What is it?" Cross said flatly.

"It's just something I need you to sign. I keep everypony in Ponyville well documented. Think of it as a census." Another grin.

"Uh... Alright. Sure." Cross didn't feel comfortable signing things for strangers, especially since he'd only just arrived. At this point, however, he was unaware of how things were run in Ponyville so he just played along. The pegasus took the quill between his teeth and scribbled his name onto the line at the bottom of the parchment. It read, 'Penny Pincher.' He knew he had to use his real name for official documents so he hoped Twilight wouldn't notice. Unfortunately for him, she did.

"But isn't your name-"

"Please, just don't ask." Cross' ears dipped a bit, displaying his disapproval of the topic. The mare got the message.

"Well," she began. "as long as I'm here, you want me to show you around Ponyville?" A hopeful smile grew on her face and Spike simply face-clawed, implying that he didn't want to go cantering about Ponyville giving tours. Cross looked back at the boxes that remained behind him, and then back at Twilight whose smile was noticeably larger.

With a long sigh, he said, "Okay... I guess I could use a break." There were quite a few boxes left and he figured being friendly to the locals would be the best approach for now. He didn't want to make a bad impression on anypony.

"Yay!" Twilight exclaimed, "Okay, Spike, where should we take him first?" The mare looked to her companion.

Spike turned and said, "I think we should show him the tree house first so I can go home and sleep." Cross made notice of the dragon's irritation and lifted a hoof away from him, as if to keep a safe distance.

"Uh- why don't you just head home and rest for now? You've definitely earned it!" Twilight smiled big, too big. It was clear that it wasn't an honest smile.

"Yeah, sounds good to me." Her assistant left in a huff; he'd be stomping away if his feet weren't so small.

The mare turned back to Cross, "Sorry about that. We've been on a busy schedule today so he's a bit cranky. Once I found out we had a newcomer in town I just had to squeeze in a visit. But now I guess I'm giving you a tour so everything will have to wait until tomorrow; which, luckily for me, is my planning day for the month so I can just hurry that up and get it done and finish my-" Cross put his hoof up, signaling her to stop. "Er- sorry. I tend to ramble sometimes... Anyway, should we get going?"

The pegasus looked back again before responding. "Yeah, let's go." He emerged from his house for the first time since entering that morning.

"Great! First I'll take you to Sugarcube Corner so we can grab a quick snack. I haven't had lunch yet." At this moment Cross realized how hungry he was, for he hadn't eaten yet either. He thought it had to have been three, four-o-clock? He wasn't sure but he had a general idea. "Uh, Cross, was it?"

"Yeah, that's it." The pegasus stretched his wings, they were stiff from lack of use all day. He'd taken the train to get to Ponyville instead of flying so as to keep better track of his things. "Is it cool if I fly?"

"Go right ahead!" Cross noticed that Twilight was unusually chipper. Not unusual for her, but for him. He was used to dignified Canterlot ponies. Sure, she almost seemed like the type, but not enough to make him uncomfortable. He spread his wings and flew low beside Twilight as she lead him down the cobblestone street.

They passed a number of different houses and shops on the way. The mare told Cross all about each one. Who lived here or there, what this shop sold and who owned that shop. They saw a couple mares sitting on bench outside some store called 'Beds and Lampshades.' The colt made a mental note to go back there later to replace his bed. He also noted that of the two mares, a vanilla colored one with a blue and pink mane and a mint-green one with a light blue and white mane, the green one sat in an odd position. Her rump rested on the bench and her hind legs hung down to the ground below. She sat upright? Ponyville just seemed to get more and more strange as the day went on. Soon after, however, Cross and Twilight reached their destination, Sugarcube Corner.

The bakery stood tall, Cross saw four sets of windows at different elevations. Four floors and maybe a basement. The roof of the main part of the building looked to be made of chocolate cookie with vanilla icing on its borders. In the center of the roof was a presumably two-story tower, a vanilla-colored base piece topped with... a giant cupcake? There were candles and everything... The cobalt pony was staring in disbelief. 'W-what? How? Why...?' his mental questions were left unanswered, for Twilight had gestured for him to follow her inside. Walking up the stairs, Cross eyed two columns at either side of the door that looked like candy canes. He hated candy canes.

Stepping in slowly, cautiously, the pegasus scanned the interior of the bakery. It seemed perfectly normal on the inside. No gum drop chairs or chocolate chip walls. There were, however, more candy cane columns placed as supports.

"Is this... y'know... safe?" The colt looked toward Twilight for some reassurance.

She looked puzzled. "What?" she squinted a bit, indicating that she was thinking. After a few moments, her face lit up. "Oh! You mean structurally? Is the candied building structurally sound? Of course it is! It was built by earth ponies so it's as safe as safe gets!" The mare smiled and planted her hoof to the floor to prove her point. They heard a muffled crash come from below. Her ears dipped and cheeks turned red from embarrassment. Not to mention she may have just broken somepony else's stuff. Just then, a blue mare with a swirly pink mane and tail appeared from two swinging doors behind the counter, the kind you'd seen in a saloon.

"Why, hello there Twilight!" She had a heavy accent.

"Hi, Mrs. Cake! I'm here on account of my friend," Twilight gestured to Cross. "his name's Cross and he just moved to Ponyville! I'm showing him around." The unicorn looked proud of herself, as if she'd done something noble.

"Is that so?" Mrs. Cake directed her attention to the pegasus in her shop. "It's nice to meet you, Mister Cross!"

"You too." the colt said with a smile.

"So what can I getcha?" The blue mare seemed eager to serve her customers.

"Just a couple snicker doodles will do. You like snicker doodles, Cross?" Twilight turned to him, looking for some sort of confirmation.

The pegasus cursed under his breath. "Uh... I forgot my money at home..." he said sheepishly. "I can just fly back and grab it real fast." He began to turn around when Mrs. Cake intervened.

"Nonsense! These doodles are on the house! In fact, I'll give you a whole batch. Think of it as a housewarming gift!" The mare gave him a grin and retrieved a paper bag from under the counter. It just happened to have a dozen snicker doodles in it.

"Well that was awful generous, Mrs. Cake. Thank you!" Twilight grabbed the baggy from the counter and brought it to her winged friend.

"Yeah, thanks Mrs. Cake." Cross took the baggy and held it beneath one of his wings. Just then, the door opened behind him and a pink pony bounced in. The colt turned to look. There stood a pink mare with a bubbly pink mane and tail, her eyes wide and jaw dropped to the floor. Literally. Her mouth stretched all the way to the floor, like in a cartoon. She gave out a sudden loud gasp and zipped away in an instant. Taken aback, Cross turned to Twilight for an explanation, an expression of slight fear on his face. "The buck was that?"

Instead of commenting on his language, Twilight just answered the question. "Oh, that's just Pinkie."

"Just Pinkie? Her jaw was literally on the floor!"

"Yeah... You kinda get used to that. There isn't really any explanation for it. Believe me, I've tried. I'm sure it'll make more sense later." She and Mrs. Cake giggled, as if some kind of inside joke were made that Cross didn't understand.

"Well, whatever. Ponies sitting upright, candied buildings, and complete disregard for the laws of physics... This place just keeps getting better and better." The colt meant it only half-sarcastically, for he kind of liked the oddities of Ponyville. It was an entirely different place from Canterlot.

Twilight laughed and said, "Yeah, that's pretty much how things work around here." Work.

Cross looked up suddenly and said, "Work! Is there a club or something around here?" He'd just remembered that he still needed a job.

The unicorn looked at him, confused a bit. "A club? You mean like... the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

"No, honey, I think he means like one of those dancing clubs. With the loud music?" Mrs. Cake saved Cross from having to explain himself.

"Oh!" Twilight exclaimed. "Yeah, there's one further down the road. But, it's a little early for something like that, don't you think?"

Cross face-hoofed. "No, I'm a DJ, see?" He turned to show his cutie mark, a record stamped upon his flank. "I need to see if I can get some work."

"Oh... Okay. That makes more sense." Twilight blushed a bit from embarrassment. "But, yeah. There's one down the road. If you want to do that, you'll probably have to talk to Vinyl Scratch. She's the town's DJ." A fellow DJ? This piqued Cross' interest. He'd only met a handful of other DJs in his life.

"Thanks. What's this place called?"

"The Omni. Want me to take you there?" The pegasus thought it over. Clubs don't start getting business until later at night, six or seven at the earliest. He looked around for a clock somewhere. A quarter to five. 'Wow...' He'd been out much longer than he thought. Though, if he got there soon enough, he could probably catch the DJ while she was still setting up.

"Yeah," he began. "let's see if we can get there while the DJ's setting up. I wanna see if I can talk to her real fast." Cross started walking back out of the bakery. "Thanks again, Mrs. Cake!"

He heard her shout a response as Twilight came out as well. "Goodbye! Nice meeting you!"

Cross heard a raspy voice come from above them, "Twilight!" A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail flew down to them at an incredible speed. "Is this the new guy?" 'How'd she know too?' Hovering above them, the mare looked over to the colt standing next to her friend.

"Hi, Rainbow Dash. This is Cross. He just moved in earlier today." Twilight said. "Cross, this is Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash lowered onto the ground and gave Cross a brohoof. "Nice to meetcha! You can call me RD for short."

Cross lowered his shades a bit, checking out the mare in front of him. "Twilight didn't tell me she had such good-looking friends." He gave Dash a wink and Twilight face-hoofed.

"Heh, easy there Romeo. You're not really my type."

"Aw, can't you make an exception?" The colt hadn't flirted with anypony in a long time, but he definitely wasn't rusty.

"Maybe next time, big guy." She turned around and flicked her tail at him. 'Tease.' he thought.

Dash walked back to Twilight. "Yeah, I just came to see who the new guy was but..." She turned back and gave him a playful look, "I'm pretty sure I got it now. So I'll see ya later." She leaned forward and looked as if she were whispering something to her purple friend. A mutual nod was exchanged and Dash flew off.

"Bye, Rainbow!" Twilight said; she was gone in an instant, a perfect rainbow left in her wake. "Well," the unicorn began as she started towards Cross. "that was... interesting." A half smile grew on her face, as if mocking the DJ. "But you'll have to excuse Rainbow, she's kind of always had to shake off colts making passes at her."

Cross put on a pseudo-innocent expression, forgetting about the suspicious whispers. "What? She into mares or somethin'?" She gave a small nod of confirmation. "Oh... That's pretty hot."

Twilight rolled her eyes and said, "C'mon, lover boy." She started walking in the direction they'd come from earlier.

"But I thought we were going to The Omni?" The pegasus was confused.

"Just a quick detour. We need to head back first."

"But I really need to talk to this DJ, I have to work y'know."

"Don't worry, you'll get your chance. C'mon."

The walk back was less interesting than the first time around. Twilight didn't give anymore explanations or info, for they'd already gone over it. It was growing dark and there were pegasi fluttering about, lighting the streetlamps. Most notably, the mare that sat upright was gone as well. Not that it came to a surprise, that'd be an awful long time to sit in one place. Still, Cross enjoyed the abnormality of it. After about twenty minutes or so, the two ponies had returned to Cross' flat.

"What're we doing back here?" The cobalt pony asked, his confusion worse than before.

"Just go inside." Twilight gestured to the door.

"Okay..." Cross was suspicious but he did as he was told. He raised a hoof to the door and slowly pushed it open. Inside was dark, as he'd left it. Except, there was one point in the center of the living room that was lit up. In the midst of the light, he saw something- no, somepony standing there. As if waiting for him...

Author's Note

Another reference here! Fellow music enthusiasts should catch it. To my readers, thank you! I'm glad you found the prologue interesting enough to continue!

Special thanks to my prereader!
The5Pieces