Animus Vox smiled and looked around Ponyville square. She spotted the three fillies who had named themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were best friends, but Scoot was the only one with no sister; she had five older brothers, so this little Pegasus was tough. Animus grinned as she flipped her mint-green and black choppy-cut mane out of her face. Vox had always looked up to her sister, Vinyl Scratch. Even though they were twins, and Vinyl was a bit older. Both mares loved music, so it was no wonder that Vinyl's cutie mark was a music note and Vox's was a pair of DJ headphones. Both of the sisters had signature accessories: Vinyl had her purple sunglasses, and Vox had her headphones she wore strung around her neck. She really only used them when she was thinking, when she wanted to be alone, or both.
Vox lifted up a foreleg to shade her eyes against the sun, looking up into the nearly cloud-free sky for a certain Pegasus. The unicorn's gaze searched the skyline until she found the flying pony resting hind-legs crossed and forelegs under head on a cloud floating lazily around. Her stallion-friend, Sonus Unda. She smiled in spite of her self and called up to him, "Hey, Sonus! C'mere for a minute."
The colt quickly sat up, looking around for a moment before extending his wings and gliding down next to his mare-friend and taking a few steps before folding his wings in, settling them down so that the very tips of his longest feathers rested neatly next to his sound-wave cutie mark. "'Sup?" Sonus stuck to his monosyllabic greeting and question.
Vox faked a frown and said in a falsely hurt tone, "So now I need a reason to see my favorite colt?" She teased, bumping her flank next to his as they walked to a small café.
"Of course not! That's not what I meant and you know it." The colt widened his eyes, his wonderful, mixed-up eyes. That was one reason that Vox like him so much, he wasn't afraid to show them off. One a rich amethyst color, the other a golden yellow. The yellow one was often half-covered by his unruly shock of neon blue mane that fell into his face. He bumped Vox's flank back as the host led them to their favorite table in the back, nestled into a quiet corner. No matter how loud they blasted music for work, neither could stand loud noise anywhere else. The dark gray stallion grinned at the mare sitting across from him, her snow-white coat reflecting what little light there was.
"Hey, Vox, I've been thinking." Sonus began, knowing that she would respond with a playful jab about how that was a rare thing. She only sipped her water and hummed, "Hmm? About what?"
Sonus was shocked, to say the least, that his sassy mare-friend was actually listening to him. "Well, um," He was at a loss for words, looking foolish now. "I was wondering if maybe you and I could, I dunno, like make some music together?" He was floundering around for words like a shy little colt, asking the filly he had a crush on out on a date.
Vox was coll and slightly detached as always. "Yeah, sure. Sounds fun." Animus Vox was not known for being a filly who was kind, sweet, or caring. The two DJ twins never had a history of being nice. Believe it or not, Vinyl was the kinder of the two. Vox enjoyed watching movies with lots of blood and horror, some may have even called her cynical. She often wondered why Sonus had picked her of all ponies. No, it was wasn't because she was famous, she had rather small hooves, so she didn't understand him. They got along great, though.
Sonus grinned at her. "You really think so? 'Cause I was thinking something that started off slow a then built into maybe, like..." Vox tuned out for a a little bit, nodding whenever he paused to ask her opinion on something.
"What if I could just leave for a little? Get away from this little town. Nopony needs to know, not even Sonus or Vinyl." Vox began thinking.
"Voxie? Voxie my girl? You alright?" Sonus called from what seemed to be miles away, but was just the other side of the table. Vox looked up from the picture she was tracing with the tip of a slender hoof.
"Hmm? What? Yeah." Vox said, raising her head to look into a concerned eye and half of another. She reached across across and brushed the stray bangs behind his right ear. "Better." Vox whispered with a sad look in her topaz eyes. Sonus caught her hoof in his, and held it for a little, the identical pair staring into the two different ones.
"Dude. I know something's up. Spill." Sonus declared.
Vox sighed. "Not here. Too many ponies. My place." She motioned to the waiter for the bill, while Sonus nodded gravely. All they had were their drinks, so it only came to two bits, not bad at all. The two paid for their refreshments and began the walk to Vox's house in silence. Vox was thinking, and Sonus was flying a little above her, upside down. His friend Derpy Hooves had taught him how to in flight school. Derpy had a lazy eye and was quiet. She was much smarter than everypony thought she was from her appearance and manner of speaking. Sonus flipped over to see what Vox was doing. She had her headphones on, a thoughtful frown making her snout wrinkle and her lips poke out. As she walked along, the saddle bags she had over her back bounced and swayed, obviously holding her modest music player and various other items. He smiled and reached back for his sport headphones, specifically designed so that the world-famous Wonderbolts flight team could exercise while blasting their favorite jams. Or not. Regardless, Sonus loved 'em.
Sonus let his mind wander to when he and Animus Vox had met. It was after one of her sister's concerts, the one where she had made her musical debut. Sonus recalled being enraptured by the music the slightly younger pony had made happen with a few slides of some switches and a whole lot of energy. Then, all too soon, the rave was ended and he slipped by the guards with his VIP pass, wandering behind the black curtain that separated the organized chaos backstage to the unruly mess outside. He had been hoping to meet one of the sister, and was lost in his thoughts when he slammed into a thinner, smaller pony. "Oof!" He grunted as the breath was knocked out of him.
"Watch it, klutz." She growled around a pair of headphones she was adjusting. He glanced at her, and she glared at him. He felt his gut twist and writhe as he stared into these deep amber eyes. She looked right into his purple and yellow pair, a look of sheer amazement on her face. "Oh, uhm, sorry." She said, tearing her gaze from his to look at her hooves.
"No, no. My fault." He breathed. "I'm Sonus Unda." He said, extending a hoof.
"Animus Vox. You might know my sister, Vinyl Scratch." The mare shook his hoof with her own.
"So, you're the mystery mare with such great beats." He laughed along with her.
"That's me." She said modestly.
"Oh, who's this young colt?" Vinyl asked her slightly younger sister, raising her eyebrows.
"This is Sonus Unda. He's new back here." Vox said. "Doesn't know the first rule: move fast"
"Well Voxie girl, you've chosen a good one here." Vinyl said, calmly walking away towards a large red stallion with blond hair and an apple half as a cutie mark. She turned on the charm, swinging her flank as she walked right by him, only to back up and begin what Vox called "Vinyling". She shook her head at her sister and turned back to the pony in front of her. "So," the unicorn began. "Would you like to talk?" Sonus nodded and flew up above her, much like he was doing at the present moment.
He swooped to land a quick peck one Vox's horn when they got to the house. He zoomed over to the couch to ensure that Vox had to sit next to him. "You wanted to talk?" He said, reminded of the first night they'd spent together, talking long into the morning.
"Yeah. Dude, I'm going on a trip with Mom and Dad for a while. Don't know when I'll be back." Vox lied to his face. He smiled and it lit up his miracle eyes, truly bright for the first time in a while. They still looked sad, though. He said nothing but this: "Alright. That's cool, the song can wait. Family vaycay time? Not so much." He motioned with his front hooves for her to come to him. She obliged and snuggled into the couch next to him. He wrapped his forelegs around her and she scratched his wings a bit. She sighed happily as they both relaxed as far as they could into the couch to talk some more. She was ready to listen, for once, and let Sonus do most of the talking.