Surprise!

The cool, crisp air of Ponyville nipped at Vinyl Scratch's face. Her body was damp with the sweat of adrenaline, and her heart was still pounding from the concert. Only performing could do that to her—give her the excitement and rush of energy every DJ dreams of achieving.

"Boy what a crowd!" she announced to the empty street. She barely heard her words over the ear buds in her ears blasting music into her head. Vinyl took a deep breath and quickened her pace, eager to get home after such a fun night. Her bed was practically calling her name! A few turns and sometime later, she reached the end of Apple Avenue.

She withdrew a key from her saddle bag with her magic, slid it into the keyhole of the door of the largest music shop in town, and turned the lock. She walked in and tossed her music player to the table next to the coat rack and wriggled her saddlebag to the floor. Tapping into her magic energy, she started a small spell. In an instant, every light in the shop flicked on.

"SURPRISE!"

Vinyl's heart nearly shot out of her chest, but instead took her to her rear hooves prepared with a Plasma Bolt for the nearest attacker. She relaxed a bit when she realized that it was just all of her friends and family. The glowing attack in her horn faded and she got back down on all four hooves, which caused some laughter rippled through the crowd.

"Okay…now that I know I'm not being mugged", Vinyl said to the crowd, "why are you guys all here?"

The reply was more laughter and, before anypony could speak, Pinkamena Diane Pie had appeared instantly in front of her. She pushed a party blower to the side of her mouth. "Well, duh! It's your birthday silly!" she explained with a generous blow of the party blower. "You know, candles, friends, presents, cake—" She stopped in a look of horror. "Oh no!" she gasped, "I was so busy with everything I forgot the cake! NO PONY MOVE UNTIL I GET BACK!"

In another instant Pinkie Pie disappeared, only to reappear three seconds later carrying a large, DJ decorated cake on her back. "All is well the cake is here!"

Some of the ponies humored her with a round of applause. She bowed to them, sliding the cake off of her rump and onto the table nearest her. She then disappeared again into the crowd to do Pinkie Pie things. As some of the others started to swarm her with happy birthdays and hugs, Vinyl found there was something amiss. It seemed as if Pinkie Pie had forgotten one other crucial, and aural, ingredient for the party.

"Hey, where's the music?" she asked looking around. "Is Strings going to play?"

"Not this time, Vinyl", said a blue unicorn emerging from the crowd carrying a guitar on his back. "Pink and I know how much more you prefer techno over rock, so we got in touch with one of her old friends. Besides, most of the Shooting Stars couldn't make it tonight anyway."

"Aww that bites. Well, then, who's playing?"

As if she said the magic word, a low beat sounded throughout the shop. The lights flicked off and neon colored laser lights filled the darkness. Everything started glowing when black lights buzzed to life somewhere near the back. Many of the ponies cheered and turned to the rear of the shop, where a large, yet portable, DJ stand was set up.

Static followed the beat and was soon replaced by quickened electronic notes, intricately placed one after the other. Vinyl was instantly drawn to the electric music. She navigated the crowd while fighting the urge pushing anypony aside. The stage came into full view as she cleared the final row of spectators. It was then she saw the pony responsible for putting out such vivid music shuffling from side to side in the stand.

He was a vibrant pale blue Earth Pony. His short mane and not-so-short tail sported a pale creamy color. On his head sat a black hat with a white blank front panel. His ears were covered by a large gray pair of headphones with a microphone attached to them.

"This is a little something I cooked up just for the birthday girl!" he announced loudly. His voice was magnified three times too much for the room's size. Apparently he couldn't hear it due to his headphones, and for some reason he didn't see some of the partygoers recoil against the sound wave. It even shook Vinyl up.

Everypony forgot it when he started back on the keyboard. The palpable notes were put out a second time, producing terrific trance music. It wasn't much longer before everypony started to dance in time to his keyboard-striking hooves. The music was both slow and energetic, so the dancing started off somewhat rocky, however, everypony soon got into the groove and tried their best to impress the others. The colt alternated between his keyboard and his records, and Vinyl—using her professional knowledge—found that he wasn't the best mixer in the world, or at least, he hadn't been at it for long.

Vinyl scooted her way to the stand, hoping to get a better look at this DJ. As she closed in on him, she knew for a fact he was a beginner. The way scratched was too rough. If he kept it up, he would certainly permanently damage his records. She stepped into the booth just as he turned around to play the keyboard again. He saw her and pushed a button on the console. The music switched to a prerecorded verse that he had recorded with the keyboard some time before.

"So", he said with a removal of his headpiece, "Do you like what I've put together?"

"I think you need some practice", Vinyl teased.

His smile faded.

"But", Vinyl continued, "Everypony's liking it. You're not half bad, kid."

"Kid?" he echoed, somewhat offended, "Pinkie Pie says I'm only a year younger than you are!"

"Yeah, but you aren't all that tall." She gave his head a rub. For more aggravation, she added with a toothy grin, "Kid."

He grumbled slightly, but just shrugged it off with a roll of his eyes. "Do you really like it?"

She nodded, "For somepony that's just starting off, you're pretty good. How long?"

"Two months."

"I take that back." Vinyl stared widely at him. "You're really good. Just two months?"

"Well", he replied, "Just on the discs. I've been a keyboarder for most of my life. Started out on piano. I'm pretty sure you can tell."

Vinyl cocked her head to the side. Of all of her questions, she had forgotten one. "What's your name?"

He jumped slightly. "W-well, that depends…" He swallowed nervously.

"On?"

"Do you want my real name or my stage name?"

Vinyl found his sheepish smile kinda cute, so she asked, "Why not both?"

"Ok", he gulped, "M-my name is Trance Jammer."

"And your stage name?"

"K3ybord LIghtz."

"Lights?"

"I'm a light show artist too." He forced himself to smile.

"Ah", she replied, "Well, my name is—"

"Vinyl Scratch." He smiled wider. "I already know that."

"That doesn't surprise me", she said with a small giggle.

Suddenly, the music stopped. The recorded song had finished playing through.

Instinctively, Trance jumped back on his keyboard. At the same time, Vinyl jumped on the discs. The crowd went wild as both the keyboard and the mixer blasted their sound waves in a musical explosion. Trance hit a button on his overhead dashboard and the lights on his stand started dashing around the room and flicker over the crowd.

The two musical ponies were completely in sync with each other despite only being slightly aware of the other's existence for the collaborative performance. Their music blended evenly: one producing one beat as the other dropped a beat. The song suddenly picked up and continued to get faster and faster until Vinyl threw up her hooves and Trance slammed his down onto his keyboard, officially ending the song with a loud boom. The lights froze in place.

Applause roared from the crowd followed by whistling and finally shouts for an encore. Vinyl looked at her friends and just realized that she had just given them the best performance she had ever put on. She spun around to see Trance still hovering over his keyboard. His hooves were still firmly planted on the keys. Then she noticed him shaking.

She walked over to him. "Hey, you okay, Kid?"

Upon seeing his face, she saw that there were tears running down his eyes. He muttered something.

"What?" Now she was starting to get concerned.

"My first applause." He flashed her a bright smile. "Thanks, Vinyl."

T

"I take it you're not much of a stage goer, huh?"

Vinyl and Trance were walking through the shop. The Earth Pony had set his control panel to autopilot, leaving a steady beat vibrating through the floor, walls, and the ponies themselves.

Trance smiled sheepishly. "No, just not a good one…"

"Stage fright?"

He nodded. "I'm a big scaredy-cat onstage", he sighed.

Vinyl decided not to go deeper into it. She knew that stage fright could be pretty embarrassing and hard on a pony. She shuddered at the thought of her amateur days. "I really liked the song, kid", she complimented.

His eyes widened in realization. "Oh, that reminds me." He removed his hat and rummaged through it until he withdrew a small, white cassette tape. He had taped a red bow to it. He hoofed it to her. "It's a mix tape of my, umm, 'Pinkie Pie proclaimed' greatest hits. I hope you liked it…"

She turned it over. Scribbled on the other side in the keyboarder's hoofwriting, he had written:

To My Biggest Idol,

From Your Biggest Admirer,

T.J.

1. Light Up Your World

2. Forecasting Dreams

3. Mountains of Hearts

4. Special Someponies

5. Tell Her (About Your Love)

6. Just for You

7. Figure Me Out

"Don't call me weird, but they're all love songs", Trance said as she read over them. "They're also the only songs I've produced that have lyrics…"

Vinyl looked at him. Even through the black lights, she could tell that he was blushing fiercely. She glanced back at the tape. "You're really full of surprises, huh Kid?"

"I should probably get used to that nickname, huh?"

She grinned. "Yep. That is, until it gets old. I give it a week."

They came to stop at the snack table. A card sat upright on the table. Vinyl levitated it up to her. She read aloud, "Hope this satisfies your sweet tooth, love, the Cakes."

"Ooooh, Sugarcube Corner goodies, the gifts just keep coming!" Trance exclaimed.

"Gifts?" Vinyl gave him a very confused look. This was her birthday, wasn't it?

"Oh, I guess Pinkie Pie didn't tell you." The look he was receiving from Vinyl definitely confirmed that. "It's my birthday too…"

"Oh, really? Happy birthday!" Vinyl cheered happily. That explained the many unfamiliar ponies in the shop.

He grinned. "Thanks."

"I just wish I had a present to give you", she pondered to herself, "With the song and the tape I kinda feel bad."

"Nah, that's okay. I got to come here to play, I got my first applause, and I got to meet and play beside my hero! I can't ask for anything else."

"'Play beside your hero?'" she asked with a slight giggle. "That's flattering."

"I really mean it. You're the pony that gave me the love of music. You're the reason I took up keyboarding and DJing."

Vinyl saw that behind the admiration his void purple eyes held, something more lay. What it was, though, she couldn't tell. She knew there was definitely something.

"You know, Kid. I think you and I are gonna be real good friends."

T

Three hours later…

The lights were now back on in the shop, and everypony had since started to leave the awesome party. Trance packed up his stand, and Vinyl was beginning to pick the place up. She grabbed a broom and got to sweeping when Strings walked up carrying a passed out Pinkie Pie on his back.

"Scratch, we're gonna bale. Pink had a sugar overload. Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"You guys go home, I can handle this", she said over her shoulder.

He nodded and walked away, being careful not to wake Pinkie Pie.

Trance waited until everypony had gone, then started pushing shelves back into their respective places.

Vinyl heard him, and called, "You can go, I can get it by myself later!"

He popped his head around a corner. "I'll stay. Besides, there's a lot to do and you're probably already tired."

"Aren't you tired?" She kept her back to him. If she turned around, he would see how tired she was even through her shades. For some reason she didn't want to burden him with cleaning.

"I'm a pony of the night", he explained, "I can stay up for a couple more hours."

She didn't say anything, so for a while the two just cleaned in silence with only the sound of sweeping and shuffling to accompany them. It was after maybe ten minutes when Trance decided to speak up.

"So, um, I was wondering…" He stopped cleaning to look at her.

"Yeah?" Her back was to him again; she was busy emptying her dust pan into the trash.

"Do you think that maybe Saturday we could hang out?" He bit his lip. "I mean, if you're not busy."

She perked up and turned. Giving him a huge smile, she said, "That'd be awesome!"

Trance turned back around. "Yes!" he silently cheered. Vinyl pretended not to hear him. It would only have embarrassed him.

She let him have his joy, because for all Trance knew, this was the most perfect birthday ever.

And we have our next story up! This was written a few years ago, so you'll notice the difference in writing styles until after chapter three.