Musical Nights

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.