Octavia felt the first rays of dawn as a glowing warmth on her muzzle. She raised a hot mug of tea in her forehooves, but she didn’t sip it, instead savoring its aromatic notes of cardamom and citrus as they wafted upward. Her thoughts wandered as peacefully as the steam from her mug, or the faint flecks of dust dancing in the light that pierced the gauzy drapes.

The moment was fractured by a heavy thump from the floor above her. Octavia took a brief sip of the tea, as if it could ward away what would likely come next. But then, sure as death, Octavia heard more hoofsteps from on high, heading eastward, toward the staircase….

“Tavi,” shouted Vinyl Scratch, bursting through the door at the other end of their eat-in kitchen. Octavia took another sip as she regarded the manic mare’s deep grin and unkempt mane. “Tavi, I [i]finally[/i] know how I’m gonna break into the big time!”

From experience, Octavia knew not to ask ask what her roommate was on about before finishing her morning ritual of tea and sun-praise.

“It's so easy,” Vinyl said, gesticulating with a fury that seemed undeterred by Octavia’s silence. “Princess Twilight got her wings ’cause she created magic, right? Or like, finished making some that some old dude was working on.”

If she concentrated hard enough, Octavia could almost feel the coziness of her bathrobe subsuming all unnecessary senses—

Vinyl ducked back through the door. Loud tromping on the stairs was followed by mechanical pops and screeches from above. Octavia took the opportunity to slam back most of the tea and mutter a quick thanks for the dawn while she could.

Then Vinyl was back, hauling a load of equalizers, keyboards, and cables in her magic. Octavia felt glad her mug was empty when Vinyl dumped most of the load unceremoniously on the table before her, scattering the mug, some salt and pepper shakers, and a wide red bottle emblazoned with a mustachioed pony under a huge sombrero.

“Okay, so, [i]technology[/i]. All this phat-beat techno-wizardry I drop? It might work ‘magic’ with the [i]ladies[/i], but it isn't magic. It's just like… electricity, and stuff.”

“Isn’t the electrical grid [i]powered[/i] by magic?”

“[i]Technically[/i], yeah, but that’s just where it comes from. Everything on top of it? That's science. [i]Or is it?![/i]” Somehow Vinyl’s grin grew deeper.

Silence. Long, awkward silence. Octavia’s throat tickled but she refused to clear it on principle.

“...And so,” Vinyl at last continued after tapping her horn, “basically, I’m gonna use my magic to repro what I do on [i]these[/i] babies, with [i]this[/i] one. [i]Then[/i] I’m gonna be the Princess of Gettin’ Down, and life’s just gonna be one sick drop all day and night.”

“I see,” Octavia said, glowering at her empty mug. “So you’ve finally done it.”

“Yeah! I know, right?

“No, I mean you’ve finally gone arse-over-knickers insane…excuse my Prench. That's not [i]really[/i] creating new magic, is it? Imagine casting a spell to work the blender, then calling yourself the Princess of—”

“—Smoothies!”

“...I was going to say, Blending Things. I mean, if everypony who ever contributed the tiniest bit of magical research ascended to Alicornhood, shouldn’t the world would be teeming with them?”

“Or maybe it [i]is[/i], but it’s like a VIP-only thing?”

Octavia rose from the table and fished her mug out from the bric-a-brac. “Vinyl, you’re very dear, but [i]do[/i] try not to be disappointed when—”

“Gettin’ me some blings, wings, and wubs tonight!” Vinyl interrupted, heading for the stairs. “WOO!”

And Octavia sighed, cradling her head in her hooves.

[hr]

Princess Celestia had tried to welcome the newest Alicorn with a traditional, if hastily assembled, song and photomontage. But finding her attempts to summon the newling into the void rebuffed by a throbbing wall of sound, she instead teleported to the Alicorn’s location in the mortal realm, where a raucous party was unfolding.

Standing outside the small house at its epicenter was a haggard-looking grey earth pony holding a chipped mug. As Celestia approached her, the pony turned with eyes that made it clear [i]she’d seen things.[/i] And slowly, the pony offered her the mug.

“Thank you… oh, that’s lovely. But… what's going on here?”

The pony turned back toward the ever-growing party with a sigh. “Have you ever lived with a pony who you loved dearly on the one hoof, but who drove you bloody mad on the other?”

Celestia took a long sip. “Yes. Yes, I suppose I have.”