Chapter 1- What Could Go Wrong?
Manehatten was the City of Lights for all Equestria. Nightsong had always heard that growing up, but she hadn’t truly appreciated the statement till she saw it for herself. Standing at the top of a hill, the little azure unicorn gaped down at the vast array of city settled out before her. Towering skyscrapers stretched skyward, surrounded at the tops by clusters of white clouds. Peering closely, Nightsong saw more than a few pegasi winging nimbly through the skies, and the sight brought a warm smile to her face. Flight would always be a mystery to the unicorn, but she enjoyed watching her fellow ponies take such joy in it. Scanning around once more, Nightsong eyed the urban sprawl with awe, trying to spot out her meeting place before she made the journey into town. A little red building, rising up near the Main Park… there!
Brightening upon spotting her new home in the mass that was Manehatten, Nightsong gave a firm tug on the wagon attached to her back, beginning the long journey down and into the city. Not that the journey to get here hadn’t been long, in and of itself. Nightsong was an instrument maker, and her wagon doubled as both a workshop and as her home for the last few years while she made and sold her various musical instruments to needy musicians across Equestria. It wasn’t a glamorous job, but it was certainly her passion, and Nightsong hadn’t minded the lack of money or proper home. At first.
Nightsong sighed softly as she made her way down the hill, biting her lip and flicking her violet bangs out of her eyes with a toss of her head. She had always been a fairly shy mare, even as a filly, more likely to be found listening to a classical record than to be out playing with other foals. When she had gotten older, Nightsong had found that had an aptitude for “feeling out” the dimensions to various instruments she got her hooves and magic on and, after months of careful study, she had carved out her first violin. And it sounded awful. Ponies had hated it, but Nightsong had said ‘buck it’ to them all, a smile on her face. Ponies didn’t get things right on the first time, and she firmly believed that she only had to practice and get better. Her cutie mark, a musical score, had appeared that night, much to her and her family’s delight.
Instead of opening her own store in her hometown of Trottingham, Nightsong had opted to buy out a wagon, and see the sights of Equestria while selling her steadily improving stock. Things didn’t often go to well: Nightsong had grown accustomed to sleeping hungry many nights, or with the only warmth provided by a single wool blanket and her cluster of cold wooden instruments. An austere life? Perhaps. Lonely? Very much so. And it was very likely that that loneliness had been the deciding factor in Nightsong’s decision to move to Manehatten in the first place.
Tugging her wagon through the busy streets of Manehatten was an ordeal in and of itself. Yelling ponies and screaming cabbies were one thing, but Nightsong had never seen the sheer amount of police ponies in one place; used to the occasional sheriff, and she wasn’t exactly used to three police ponies yelling at her at one time to speed up or she would be detained for holding up traffic. She started to think that maybe bringing her entire operation to Manehatten had been a bit of a mistake. Nightsong was just glad she had stowed away her big sign, so people wouldn’t remember her as ‘that crazy mare who backed up Main Street for two and a half hours.’
The little red building was hardly anything special to most ponies, but to Nightsong it was the end of a fairly long journey, and the home of one of her best buyers and pen pals. Carefully locked her wagon’s wheels and undoing her harness with a flick of her horn, Nightsong gave a nervous whinny before slowly trotting up the home’s front steps. She shouldn’t be this nervous, really. Her pen pal had always been quite nice, and very respectful of Nightsong’s gifts and talents. She had even invited Nightsong to stay while she set up shop in Manehatten!
Letting out a breath, Nightsong shakily knocked on the solid oak door with a dainty hoof, blushing at the minimal noise the admittedly shy action sounded. Sighing in frustration, she raised her hoof and jerked it forward… and violently swished empty air as the door was yanked open.
“Eep!”
“Whoa!”
The charcoal mare on the other side of the door jumped back in surprise, a wide smile spreading over her face when she saw who stood on her doorstep.
“Nightsong? Is that you?” she asked eagerly, her high-class, Canterlotian accent making Nightsong blink and smile widely.
Finally she wouldn’t sound out of place!
“Y-yes, that’s me,” she sheepishly replied, trying to will her blush away.
‘Come on Nightsong, don’t give it away now. Don’t need to be kicked out quite yet...’
Octavia Philharmonica was a famed cellist with the Canterlot Symphony, and had been buying from Nightsong ever since she had taken her shop into Canterlot during the Gala. Though Nightsong hadn’t been able to meet Octavia in person at the time, she had answered the cellist’s commision flyer via phone call, and had set aside the time to create for her a masterwork cello. Even calling the piece to mind made Nightsong smile. Spruce top, with a willow back, with the neck and end piece painstakingly carved from rare ebony wood, with a hoof-embossed signature of Octavia’s treble clef cutie mark on the side, also made of ebony wood. The bow was yew wood, made light enough for Octavia’s work, but sturdy enough that it would take a Minotaur’s hoof to snap it. Octavia had been so impressed that she had paid Nightsong double, and the two had been writing each other ever since.
Octavia giggled and rushed forward, hugging Nightsong’s neck tightly… and doing very little to help the unicorn’s blush go down. Octavia was a very beautiful mare- that had always been a given, Nightsong had seen her likeness on posters- but in person, it was redoubled in Nightsong’s mind. Octavia’s eyes were a bright violet, tinged with the slightests of blue in the center that just drew one’s eyes in and didn’t let them go. Her dark mane hanged down to her withers, neatly brushed and gleaming in the lamplight. Her coat was a charcoal grey, and its silky softness was heavenly to Nightsong’s road-stiffened hooves. It took a good bit of self-control for Nightsong to step back at an appropriate time, giving Octavia a shy smile.
“I-it’s good to finally meet you, in person, I mean,” Nightsong managed after a moment, ears perking up, “Sorry it took me so long to g-get here.”
Octavia scoffed, waving a hoof dismissively at Nightsong and stepping back, allowing a thankful Nightsong to trot inside.
“Think nothing of it. It was well worth the wait,” she replied simply, “I have the guest room all ready for you, and the space behind the house should be adequate for your wagon. Vinyl is even willing to help provide some of your tool needs!”
“Oh, I have plenty of t-” Nightsong started, then slowly blinked as what Octavia said dawned on her, “Who’s Vinyl? Your s-sister? Roommate?”
That seemed to stop Octavia cold. Her eyes widened, and her breath hitched in her throat. The cellist cleared it after a moment, a faint blush on her cheeks as she rubbed the back of her head.
“Oh, well… Vinyl Scratch is… she’s um…”
“Her wubbtastically awesome marefriend!”
A white unicorn mare stood at the bottom of the stairs of Octavia’s home, grinning widely over at the pair of mares. Octavia shot her a faint glare before slowly turning to give Nightsong an apprehensive look. Nightsong’s stunned stare didn’t help matters, and Vinyl’s grin slowly turned to a frown, and she quickly moved to put a protective hoof over Octavia’s shoulders. Of course, Nightsong was hardly on the road to hate at that moment, instead, rather… stunned. A good stunned. A slow smiling, near-hysterical giggling stunned, in fact. Vinyl Scratch frowned at Nightsong, storming right up to Nightsong and smacking her horn across the giggling unicorn's own, causing her to jump back in fright.
“Hey!” Vinyl snapped, “This isn’t a joke you little-”
Nightsong cursed herself deeply for the misunderstanding, laying her ears back quickly and shaking her head.
“W-wait, wait, please!” she squeaked out, quailing from Vinyl’s building wrath, “I-I’m gay t-too, I just… I was just so w-worried that… you’d be against it, I-”
Octavia slipped past Vinyl without a word, hugging Nightsong again and gently stroking her mane; Nightsong peered shyly up at Vinyl, nearly melting at the understanding smile on her face.
“Alright, kid. I guess you’re alright.”
Thank Celestia…
*******************
“Oh um, excuse me!”
“Ow, h-hey!”
“That’s my purse!”
“And that’s w-why you don’t t-take things that aren’t yours! Made me dent my best violin…”
Nightsong sighed heavily as she struggled through the mass of bodies that slithered through every conceivable stretch of Manehatten, keeping her head low and a magical grip on the bit purse hanging from her new blue vest. The day had not been going well. For some odd reason, everypony Nightsong had run into, sometimes literally, had been quite rude, or in a rush to get somewhere. ...or trying to steal something from her. She shot a sad look back at her dented violin case.
At the very least, Nightsong had managed to set up some wood suppliers from the dockyard, though the prices were alot higher than she realize. Though it pained Nightsong to do it, she would have to charge higher prices for some of her works, just to make ends meet. She had always enjoyed selling new instruments at lower prices to foals just learning of their skills in music. But if her instruments were higher in price, she wasn’t exactly sure if their parents could afford them. With a soft sigh, Nightsong scuffed a hoof. Maybe she could lower them for some clients…
Deep in thought, the down-trodden mare didn’t notice the stopped stallion in her path till she slammed into his side, sending both skittering to the ground with pained, shocked yelps.
“O-Oh, I’m so-”
“For BUCK’S sake, bitch!” the stallion snarled, glacial eyes glaring daggers at the wincing Nightsong as he got back to his hooves, “Use those dumb-cow eyes for once in your bucking life!”
Pale with fright, Nightsong eeped as the stallion stormed into her face, jabbing a hoof into her chest.
“What do you got to say for yourself, huh!?”
Doing her best to steel her courage, Nightsong peered back at the enraged stallion, “I-I’m s-so sorry, sir. I wasn’t watching where I was going, and-”
The stallion’s muzzle had slowly scrunched up in disgust as Nightsong spoke, and he finally took a step back, shaking his head.
“Oh for buck’s sake… buckin’ tourist!”
He spat the word like it was the vilest curse he knew.
“This ain’t yer town, and it’s not gonna be! Go home!”
And with that, he tossed his head, still shaking it as he merged back into the teeming mass of ponies around him, many of whom were eying Nightsong with something mirroring disgust as well. Even in the center of the busiest city in Equestria, and despite having slept once in the Badlands themselves, Nightsong had never felt more alone in her life. With shaking hooves, she picked herself back up, then turned to slowly trudge back to Octavia and Vinyl’s, trying and failing to stymie the tears flowing thickly down her cheeks, leaving a trail of sorrow behind each hoofstep.
*********************
Octavia bit her lip as she sat beside Nightsong, gently stroking her violet mane as the unicorn buried her face in the pillow of her bed. Poor thing. Only one day in, and Nightsong had already seen some of the worst of Octavia’s hometown. Pickpockets, ruffians and… She shuddered a bit. The rude. And not the Vinyl-Scratch-endearing kind of rude, but the plothole kind of rude. The nerve of some ponies.
“It’ll get better, Nightsong,” Octavia whispered soothingly, leaning down to give her ear a gentle nuzzle, grinning despite herself at the blush that ran through them.
Knowing that Nightsong found her attractive was quite flattering, but threesome partners were up to Vinyl. Besides, she wasn’t quite sure sex is what Nightsong needed at that moment. She just needed companionship. Ponies that liked having her around, that wanted to have fun, not expect… anything… from her. A smile slowly formed on the cellist’s muzzle, and she gave an evil little giggle. She knew just the place.
“Nightsong,” she ventured softly, nudging her side, “Come on, get up.”
“D-donwanna.”
Octavia rolled her eyes, smirking down at the grumbly mare.
“Come on now, it has musiiiic,” she baited, giggling a bit, “Vinyl’s style at least, but you might actually enjoy it. Unlike myself, of course.”
Uh-huh. Octavia was such a charlatan. Constantly speaking and upholding the tenets of classy, classical music, and yet, when the sun went down and Octavia let her hair down- metaphorically speaking, of course-. she could be found in the back of marefriend’s clubs, hoodie hiding her head… as it bobbed. Such a little liar!
“...y-yeah?” Nightsong mumbled, bloodshot eyes peeking up at Octavia curiously, “W-what is it? Where?”
“Weeell…”
A nightclub. This couldn’t possibly go wrong!
Chapter 2- A Scarlet Night
Holy bucking Luna. Nightsong was floored, practically having to be pushed into the throbbing, excessively loud building by a giggling Octavia. The shy unicorn had been a bit… apprehensive, considering the club’s building was rather dark and foreboding to the outside, with only a single, neon D glowing outside with a bright blue light. The ponies outside had been chatty and friendly enough, at the very least, though Nightsong had noticed many seemed to be somewhat drunk, or otherwise… off. And the outfits… Nightsong had always thought her midnight blue vest and fetlock bracelets were a bit above the norm for most ponies. But at D, the city-sheltered mare saw everything from ponies with dozens of piercings, to wildly bright colored clothing, to pony with glowsticks glued to their coats. Glowsticks!
Octavia, dressed in a black hoodie and sporting a fedora with a pink stripe along the rim, smiled over at Nightsong as blue strobelights lit up her face in faerie fire. If it wasn’t for the fact that Vinyl Scratch could probably see them too, Nightsong might have stared all night at the interplay of light on her charcoal coat. All around them danced and bounced ponies of all sexes and tribes. Though all had their own style of dancing, similarities could be picked out among the tribes. Many Earth Ponies were bobbing and stomping their hooves, centers of the beat as the music washed over them. Often intertwined with the Earth Ponies were Unicorns, their horns glowing brightly in the darkness and flashes of color. Heads held high to keep sharp horns from goring, they seemed more inclined for dancing techniques, deft hooves spinning them gracefully around partners. But it was the pegasi that truly caught Nightsong’s attention.
Slimmer and sleeker than their tribal counterparts, the pegasi were able to dart and roll acrobatically through the bouncing crowd, rowdy voices and raucous laughter following them wherever they went. A smile broke over Nightsong’s face as she watched a few take flight in the narrow space between dance floor and ceiling, the strobing lights shining through feathers and creating unique patterns across the backs of the ponies around them. Nightsong was having quite the few ideas for patterns for her newest instruments as she began to turn towards the bar… and saw Her. At first, there was little to see but a pair of eyes, cat-slitted and bright gold, locked firmly on Nightsong. When gold met blue, a haze seemed to slither into her mind, and her hooves remained stone-like on the floor as the figure moved.
Dark-colored wings, unclear of their true color in the shadow of the club, unfurled, revealing a slim, attractive mare body, undressed, which allowed Nightsong… quite the look. Especially as the mare approached, a toothy smile spreading on an attractive- no, beautiful- face. She was thin, but not skinny, with more of a corded, muscular look that spoke of long hours in flight, or some other strenuous activity. Closer up, Nightsong could see the wine color of her shortened mane, some of it plastered to her head with sweat. A musical giggle cut clean through the beat of the dubstep around them, and Nightsong found herself shaking as the mare sidled up to her, golden eyes gleaming with curiosity.
“Well hello there,” she purred softly, and Nightsong stiffened at the soft tone, a deep blush firing through her spine, “You’re a new face around here. What’s your name?”
Nightsong wasn’t entirely sure she trusted herself to speak, her throat swallowing and making awkward squeaking noises. A slim wing-claw trailed down her back, the sharp point leaving a tingling fire as it traced her spine, and a slow whine spilled out of Nightsong’s clenched muzzle.
“Not a talker, eh?” the batpony teased, giggling softly, “S’okay. I’ll talk for the both of us, hrm? My name’s Scarlet Wing. Scarlet’s fine, though.”
Scarlet was more than fine for Nightsong. Scarlet’s sleek tail gently brushed down Nightsong’s foreleg and fetlock, and the batpony grinned slyly up at Nightsong before she circled out of her sight.
“Strong hooves… craftspony?”
The trembling unicorn gave a tentative nod, blushing self-consciously. Like this goddess of sexy batponyness would care about instruments. A muzzle pressed into her hair, taking a deep sniff and making Nightsong immediately freeze in shock.
“Hrm… wood shavings. Oil. Hint of char from wood-burning… artist? Instrument builder?” Scarlet guessed, her husky voice inches from Nightsong’s-
The tiniest of nips dragged a needy groan up from the depths of Nightsong’s soul, and the embarrassment tore through the spell the batpony had on her. With a shaky mewl, she stumbled back, tears threatening to break free while she squeaked and stammered.
“I-I’m so s-sorry, I just… I-I need a drink!”
Before she could see the look on Scarlet’s face, Nightsong turned tail and fled to the bar, leaving a small, wet trail behind her. This was a stupid idea. So freaking stupid! Nightsong was terrible out in the public, and now she had gone and outed herself in front of the possibly hottest mare in the club. True, Scarlet had been coming on to her, but still. She was probably just drunk, not sure what she was doing. That super-hot batpony deserved to wake up with a truly worthy stallion or mare in her arms, not… her.
“Appe Acre’s Hard,” Nightsong mumbled, just loud enough to be heard over the throbbing music, jerking her eyes away from the sympathetic look of the barkeep stallion, “L-lemme just-”
“Hey Big Tony, make that a double. My tab.”
Scarlet was fast! Nightsong looked up in surprise as the mare slided up onto the stool beside the young instrument maker. Scarlet was smiling, one of her sharp eye-teeth gleaming in the light, but her eyes were… apologetic? Wait, what?
“Sorry about that, back there,” she told the stunned mare, chuckling faintly- a throatier version of her giggle, not as ephemeral and actually quite charming- “I know I laid it on a little thick. Got a biiiit music drunk.”
“Music d-drunk?”
Scarlet’s -rather adorable- tufted ears flicked towards Nightsong, and she nodded.
“See, our hearing is a bit sensitive, but not… quite how you think. Music like this? Deep, throbbing, primal…”
Oh Celestia.
“Well, batponies kinda lose ourselves to it. Let’s our base selves out.”
Scarlet grinned slyly, “Which is a ton of fun. But not all ponies are used to it, so I’m truly sorry if I overwhelmed you.”
Overwhelmed? More like totally obliterated any sense of decorum Nightsong had worked up.
“I-it’s…” Nightsong drew in a deep breath, practically tasting the spicy scent of pegasi sweat around her, “It’s okay. I-I’m just not… used to that. O-out in alot of the v-villages I’ve been to… well, talking to m-mares that way was… not looked on… well.”
The molten gold of Scarlet’s eyes hardened, and a slim hoof reached out to take Nightsong’s tightly.
“It’s not wrong, you know,” she whispered faintly, the urgency of the tone sending a shiver down Nightsong’s poor spine, “To feel this way about mares.”
That, finally, made Nightsong smile, and she squeezed back.
“I know. Made peace with that… a long time ago. J-just… well, other ponies haven’t.”
Both mares nodded, and their eyes met once more, both searching, probing the others’ depths. Nightsong could get lost in the exotic, predatory beauty in Scarlet’s eyes, and she nearly felt like she had. The young unicorn knew that, surely, it had to be rude to stare so blatantly, but it was so hard to look away. It finally took a soft pressure on her hoof to drive her eyes down, and she blinked in surprise. A small card had been taped to her hoof, and Scarlet’s musical giggle reached her ears.
Big Rico’s Pizza
Nopony makes a pizza like Big Rico.
Nopony.
231 South Street, Manehatten, Equestria
Nightsong’s mind spun, and she peeked shyly up at Scarlet, who was grinning so widely she was fairly certain her face should be splitting.
“W-what’s-” she started shyly, only to eep in surprise as Scarlet darted forward, a feather-light brush of her tender lips on Nightsong’s.
“Tomorrow at 8. Outdoor cafe, second table on the left. Got it?”
Head numb and ears on fire, Nightsong nodded, eyes wide as she watched the thestral smile slyly in response, and then… she was gone, practically faster than the eye could follow. Nightsong… had a date. A date.
Holy Celestia.
