Vinyl is better than paper.(dewdrop dazzle)

[Vinyl Scratch]

Books. They teach things. There are things to learn in them. Some might say that there were, in fact, interesting things to learn in books. Vinyl Scratch was not one of those ponies. She questioned whether she was even distantly related to one of those ponies. But still here she was, in the home of the books, a library. Out of her element. She was even looking at books: DJing books, music books, magic books, Magic magic books with pop up pictures(she actually enjoyed those). Despite being an absolutely great DJ she still needed to practice, keep up on some new techniques and heck her fundamentals. Sure she could learn through word of mouth, but then she would fall behind. So she was forced to read up. She did this once every few years...and could never find the exact books she wanted. She looked around for the geekiest pony she could find, that she could feel deep in her party heart. "hey!" she said, a bit too loud for her current environment. She walked up to her chosen mare "Do you know how to find books in this place? I've been here for, like 20 minutes and have no idea what I'm doing." she said, light gleaming off her shades.

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As far as geeky ponies go, Vinyl had a keen eye. The DJ beelined towards Dewy, one of the few ponies in library circles to have a 'rep' among the book-loving crowd. She was rumored to have read every single book in the non-guarded areas, on every topic, and was also said to have memorized each title and author. It was even said that she was working on a new sorting system to find any book quickly and effectively, using numbers. This was the reputation of Dewy Decima. Unfortunately, however extensive her knowledge of the library might be, it was utterly dwarfed by another trait, not as well spoken of. Dewy Decima had an ego that was at least five times as big as Canterlot itself, and she did not wish to be spoken to when she was reading a new release. "Hey!Do you know how to find books in this place? I've been here for, like 20 minutes and have no idea what I'm doing." "I have no doubt of it." hissed the haughty Decima, acidly. "It is plain to everyone present by your behavior that you have never been in a Library before in your life. So let me educate you on proper Library conduct. One: We do not raise our voices above a low murmur. It disturbs the other patrons, all of whom have come here to read. Two: It is disrespectful to wear your sunglasses in here. The same rule applies to hats as well. Three: if you need help, which clearly you do, there are librarians at the checkout counter who are paid wages to assist you; there's no need to trouble innocent bystanders whom possess the intelligence to find books on their own. Good Day, Madam. " And all this, in an angry hiss of a whisper before the unicorn mare stormed off to find a less Djfied area of the library. As she passed by an aisle of M's, another unicorn, with a puzzled and wary expression and a pink-and-gold mane, peeked her head out from around the shelf. She glanced from Decima to Vinyl, and then came forward with a shy smile. "Thank Celestia you made her leave," this mare said to Vinyl, quietly but gratefully. "That pony terrifies me. I once checked out a new release before she could get her hooves on it, and she stalked me for a week, asking if I was done with it yet." The aquamarine pony extended a hoof cheerfully. "I'm Dewdrop Dazzle." she offered. "I'm no librarian, but it would be my pleasure to help you, as you've just helped me. What kind of books are you looking for?"

[Vinyl Scratch]

Vinyl was pretty good at making bad choice. But this was another level of bad. One might even say that it was a mistake, though that might be going a bit far. Either way, this mare was definitely not who Vinyl needed and there was NO way she was gonna talk to a...a Librarian. Librarian's were evil. Vinyl knew! One time she had lost a book and to this day some of the librarians knew her by name and book name!!! They were scary. Almost as bad as doctors. No, she wouldn't be asking them...time for plan B. Luckily Plan B made itself before Vinyl had to figure out what Plan B was going to be. A cute dorky looking mare popped out of no where to tattle on the mean mare. Vinyl took it as a warning 'renting books is dangerous' she noted in the back of her head, a note to quickly be forgotten until it was least convenient to think about. Despite this clear and important warning, Vinyl smiled at the mare. "Well I'm Vinyl Scratch and I'm glad I could help!!!!....er help." she was suddenly reminded about her current status of 'in a library', as several shushes came in from around the room. "I'm looking for anything new on electronic music." she whispered to Dewdrop Dazzle, crouching just a bit, as though she was ready to sneak around the other patrons. She also, gingerly, shook Dazzle's hoof. "You can't tell anybody though. It's super top secret and, uh, I'll cast an 'if you tell anyone you'll explode spell' on you....also, do you know where the spell books are, or if a spell like that exists?"

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Dewdrop Dazzle studied this Vinyl Scratch pony and liked the look of her. Well, that is, she already liked her for vanquishing the dragon Dewy Decima. But she looked pretty cool, too! The unicorn thrilled with the secret conquest of having made a 'cool' friend! That tallied: Noble and Handsome Friends:2 Great and Powerful Friends: 1 and Cool Friends: 1! Only the best kinds of friends for Dewdrop Dazzle! "Spellbooks are separated into three groups by the amount danger they pose" she explained to Vinyl. "Simple little harmless spells are generally mixed in among the normal books, because they're no risk to caster or target. Also because a lot of times the spells are just tossed into a book that's mostly about a similar subject, like this book on 'Males'. Here's a little charm in it to 'read the general mood he has towards you!' but mostly its about how to understand a guy's mindset." Dewdrop's glance dropped down to the book and she blushed furiously and stumblingly tried to shove it into place. "N-n-not that I need a book like that. I just.. I just... needed something to pass the time until she went away." Dewdrop cleared her throat carefully. "A-anyway. More complicated and dangerous spells would be in their own section, away from the other books. Spells like that are usually in a collection, to discourage the casual magician from firing off a hard spell without caution. And Extremely dangerous or violent spells are usually locked away all together in the forbidden wings. A spell to make a pony explode if they told your secret would probably... be in that wing. Sorry!" Dewdrop wasn't quite as sorry about this as she claimed, She hadn't liked the direction the conversation had been heading. "Electronic music, though... That'd be in this row, in the M's." The unicorn continued in a much brighter tone. "You were almost there already. But if you're looking for information about what's new in the field, I'd say go for more of these magazines than the books. Books take a while to publish, so while their information is usually tried-and-true, its always dated. Magazines come out quickly, so while some of it's rumor and gossip, its always cutting-edge stuff."

[Vinyl Scratch]

Vinyl had never considered herself smart. In fact, as long as she could remember she had considered herself simple minded. Today was not that much different. Her knew acquaintance seemed to know this place inside out, and if she knew how the spell books were organized, she probably knew a lot from the spell books too. Usually Vinyl didn't like smart ponies, but those were the ones of the stuck up variety. Her new friend seemed quite eager to help. She was also pretty knowledgeable. Like, really knowledgeable. Vinyl quickly got the feeling that this mare spent A LOT of time here. Not just 'A lot of time' but A LOT of time, easily rivaling the mare who had just left, maybe beating her out....but nerds were cute, so Vinyl sat through the mare's speech on books and put on a brave face. She tried to catch as much as she could, but it REALLY wasn't her wheel house. Vinyl had learned most of her turntable skills, initially, through trial and error and had only resorted to books once she realized that catching up on several decades of trial and error wasn't going to end well, even if she was an absolute prodigy at finding errors. And for the record, she was. "Book on stallion's huh? Darn. Dashing my hopes already." she said flirtatiously at the already blushing mare. She was mostly joking, but then again, she was pretty much always mostly joking and definitely wasn't one to turn up any opportunities that arrived at her hooves. "You should teach me that spell, not to mention one for mares!" she said happily. Then the mare quickly went from a nerdy friendly fellow...to a possible mad scientist. She just seemed a little too knowledgeable about those wings with the 'exploding' spells in them...that wasn't to say Vinyl wasn't interested in those spells, just that somewhere deeeeeeep within her she still had enough sense to figure out that being around someone with a spell like that might get hairy. Fortunately Vinyl LOVED giving ponies the benefit of the doubt, and decided to disregard the comment about making ponies explode and where that book might be. Besides, the last bit was what she wanted. "Nice, thanks!" she said, hopping slightly. She looked upon her options and her smile faded, realizing that her time with this mare was beginning to run short "Hey, could you help me out in looking for cool stuff? You seem like a quick reader." she said. "plus I'd like to hang out more."

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Fortunate or not, Vinyl's flirtatious remark about dashed hopes only elicited a curious, slightly puzzled expression. Dewdrop Dazzle wasn't nearly as experienced enough in romance to recognize flirting that wasn't painfully, barn-red obvious. What she did notice, however, was that suddenly Vinyl was giving her a slightly cautious, wary look. A look that began exactly at the time Dew was explaining where any exploding spells might be hidden away. But! But! Vinyl was the one who wanted those spells, wasn't she?! Why was she looking at the aquamancer like she might be the dangerous one?! How did it get all turned around? It was with a feeling akin to relief, therefore, to learn that Scratch was willing to recklessly disregard this opinion of Dazzle. She even wanted to extend their time together, a feeling that brought a bright smile to the face of the tropical-colored pony. "Sure, I'll be glad to help!" she replied enthusiastically, then almost automatically cringed at her own volume. "They have some study rooms for collaboration we might use" Dew added in a much more muted tone as she studied the wall of references and began pulling a combination of magazines and books off the shelves. "Or there's an outdoor balcony with tables and chairs we can use. It's generally accepted that ponies can talk normally out there."

[Vinyl Scratch]

Score!! Vinyl now had a study buddy, someone to keep her on track. Vinyl had a serious case of not being able to focus unless there was something KEEPING her focus somewhere. One of the best things for her was having somepony with her that wasn't quite as willing to switch subjects at the drop of a hat, or a beat. With someone expecting her to stay on subject, someone that might be disappointed if she switched subjects, it was a lot easier to focus. She watched Dewdrop grab many books and magazines as she worked at her own, slower, very clueless pace. Her picks were selected one by one after taking out a magazine and looking at the cover to see whether or not it looked cool. She also chose a few books that had neat titles and then a few extra ones that looked really technical, just so she didn't look dumb. "well, we should probably go outside, if it's not hot out. I've been told my voice can be super exuberant~" she said proudly, puffing her chest out as if what she had just said qualified her for a badge that might read 'very exuberant'. "So, dewdrop, you might know, me as DJ-p0n3 but, uh, what do you do for a living if you aren't a librarian? I mean, you seem to be pretty good at it." her pile of books growing steadily, "oh, and why were you hanging out in the library?"

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Dewdrop eyed up Vinyl's growing stack of books in some puzzlement. She'd been hoping for some kind of narrowing down on what it was the other unicorn was looking for based on the books she chose, but Vinyl seemed to be picking them based on some criteria known only to her own cryptic mind. Dewdrop selected a few more, then moved away from the shelf eagerly when Scratch suggested they should go outside. When the white unicorn asked her what she did for a living. Dewdrop stumbled and dropped everything she was holding in her telekinesis with a loud clatter. For her, it was literally like being slapped. You wouldn't think an aqua blue pony could go neon pink, but Dew managed it as she hurriedly scrabbled to get her books and 'zines together again. "I... I don't have a job..." she whispered shamefacedly to her new cool friend, who would probably disown her in the next five minutes. "I've been trying everything I know, but...I don't seem to be good at anything but living off my family's estate." Sudden hot tears of frustration and self-dislike welled, and with an apologetic sniff, she met the seemingly impassive shades of Vinyl. "S-sorry." she added, "You caught be off-guard. Lets get outside before I break down. I'm a wreck."

[Vinyl Scratch]

Vinyl nearly dropped her own books as Dewdrops magica failed her. The library was filled with the sound of the sudden page-alanche. A moment later a plethora of shushes and tsks and general scolding filled the air. It was almost as loud as the initial fall of books, hypocrites! Fortunately Vinyl was more than used to being told to be quiet. It was a prerequisite of her career of choice. If she hadn't been being told to be quiet since she was a filly, she would never have stood a chance on the professional level. She helped Dewdrop gather up the scattered books while listening. No job, that sucked, but at least she had a place to live!! "hey, that's no problem." she said happily, ignoring glares given for her volume. "we're all a wreck in one way or another." she continued, giving the mare a small pat before continuing outside. She felt pretty sympathetic to the mare's plight. Vinyl had felt pretty bad back in the day when she didn't have a way to make her own path in the world. Of course, she played her cards a bit farther from her horn than most, perfectly willing to find herself on the street when plans didn't pan out right. Upon reaching the external reading area Vinyl set her books down and sighed for a solid ten seconds. Reading really wasn't her strength but it was needed. She waited for Dewdrop before starting. "okay, so pretty much anything made in the past year or two is what I'm interested in but feel free to try to pick up what you can while we read. DJing is a lot of fun and I could help you out if you ever want to try it out~"

[Deleted]

Vinyl's casual, but not too casual response to Dewdrop's stumbling hit just the right note. It let her know that, hey, every pony has moments like this, but it wasn't so smothery-consoling as to be embarrassing. The unicorn took a deep breath, gathered her things together, and even found a smile as they headed outside to the balcony. "okay, so pretty much anything made in the past year or two is what I'm interested in but feel free to try to pick up what you can while we read. DJing is a lot of fun and I could help you out if you ever want to try it out~" Dewdrop studied their piles of reference material and expertly sorted out anything obviously published beyond a couple of years ago, setting it to one side. That narrowed down their research considerably, but there might be somethings worth checking out in the older pile. If they had time, they could go through it. In the meantime, she sorted the remaining piles into two perfectly equal stacks with unicorn precision, and gave one to the DJ, keeping one for herself. "Anything new made in the last two years, got it!" The aqua mare paused thoughtfully for a moment as she floated a quill and notebook nearby, and opened her first reference, a magazine. "How did you ever get started?" she asked, curiously. "I mean, I could see being made to practice an instrument as a kid, but being a DJ? What was your source of inspiration?"

[Vinyl Scratch]

Vinyl Was glad to have Dewdrop with her. While Vinyl's usual plan was flipping through pages for a few hours, stumbling back and forth through books until she was confident she had found everything(a process that sometimes took all weeks to complete), Dewdrop seemed to really know what she was doing! She had piles and was quickly sorting through her books. Vinyl looked at her own large pile of book and decided to split them up by which were her usual favorite's to look at: magazine's being her favorite, and large no picture books being the least so. Her system wasn't quite as spread out as Dewdrops and made a lot less sense, but it was still a system. Unfortunately it didn't work to well and left Vinyl looking at a lot of things she already knew about which COULD reveal some lost gems...but almost definitely would just lead to wasted time. Vinyl wad pretty positive she knew the not so new tricks. Dewdrop couldn't know this, but Vinyl was INCREDIBLY prone to being distracted and being distracting for large periods of time. As Dewdrop asked of Vinyl's musical history, she slowly lowered what she had been skimming. "Well, I used to play a few instruments, my parent's are both musicians in Canterlot and wanted me to be one too, but...there was a lot of pressure so I never really liked playing most the instruments they put in my hooves, or my magic. Buuut one time I let them cut my hair and acted all good at a big musician gathering, so they got my some turntables and they were soooooo cool. I started spending ALL my allowance on records and then one time at school I took over during a dance and boom! she said, throwing her hooves, and the book, into the air. She also managed to get glares from inside the library. "That's when I got these" she said, adjusting her shades, "and this." she stood and pointed to her flank proudly. "So...I guess my inspiration was...doing something all on my own, instead of being pushed and prodded along."