Before we dove into this, I didn't give you too much detail on who I am did I? Right, right. Allow me to officially introduce myself: I'm Ethan Collier. Former student at Harvard University School of Engineering. President's List placer and Summa Cum Laude graduation candidate along with other honors. I would have received them if I didn't end up here. Oh well, am I right? I lived in Chicago, Illinois for most of my life before moving to Boston for college. Nice town. Good bars. Not that I spent all my time in them. Since I was a kid, I knew that I was smarter than most. I didn't know what it was, just that I could figure things out faster than the others. Yes, my hand was always raised first when the teacher asked a question.

My smarts got me bullied. A lot. In a town like Chicago, my intelligence drew a big ol' target on my back.

It affected my life pretty big, but eventually I grew out of it. Didn't let all that shit bring me down. Though, I wouldn't go so far to say that my awkward tendencies didn't evolve from those tough situations. My brain was my greatest tool. Even if it didn't help all the time, it could help most of the time.

Although, I can't really say that about this little situation.

To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the century. Or perhaps in all history.

In truth, this may not have been all that bad, but the way my heart was beating itself to death inside my chest, I'd say I have a fucking problem. And I didn't have a phone to call Houston for help.

So there I stood in the middle of the dance floor, among all these excited, jumpy ponies, with Rainbow standing next to me. Of course, she promised that breaking through my comfort zone would help me in the end, I'd be hard pressed to agree with her. Thankfully, at least she had the humility to keep up her end of the deal and stay here with me.

And thanks to that I haven't short-circuited completely.

But just standing down here, looking up at her... was incredible. She stood on that stage as if it was her throne, she was the queen, and we were her loyal subjects. And right now I'd be more than willing to be her king. Confidence radiated off of her as she grinned down at everyone in the crowd, her shades glinting from the bright lights. I became mesmerized by her goddess-like appearance, ignoring the multitude of noise and the outrageous amount of ponies occupying the dance floor.

Finally, she spoke, or might I say, hollered into her microphone. "Whoo! Wub a dub dub, mothafuckas! Yyyeaahh! How we all doin' tonight!?" More stomps and cheers. Especially from me. Except for the stomping part. Clapping would do for me. "Wow, that is loud! I want it louder!" Somehow, to my frustration, it got even louder in here. I swear, her voice is almost the same as Rainbow's, rivaling her own tomboyish tone, but with unmistakable feminine flare. "Awright! Now that that's out of the way, who's ready for the real party to start!?"

Every single pony in the room shouted for her to get a move on. Even me.

"I'm sorry what was that?! Didn't quite catch that!" She shouted. Oh come on! I get it! You like it loud! "Yeah, that's how I like it! But wait wait, hold up! Before I begin, I just got one question to ask all of you beautiful ponies!" And human, Vinyl. Don't forget there's a human "Tell me," she pulls out a record and sets it on the platter. "Are you ready..." I tightened every single muscle in my body to brace myself. "TO SCREAM ME SOME MORE?!"

The music blasted out from the speakers. I felt my face pushed back by the sheer force of the sound wave. When the needle dropped, quite literally every single pony started moving in some way or another. I glanced down at Rainbow to see her busting out a series of moves with a joyous grin.

And as for me? Well, I kinda just stood there really... arms tucked at my sides trying to avoid contact with other ponies and not knowing what to do at the moment. It's spooky how accurately this moment represents my whole situation in Equestria. Not knowing what to do with myself and trying not to get hurt in the process. I suddenly felt a pair of hooves on my left shoulder and I hear Rainbow yelling in my ear over the music.

"Ethan! C'mon, dance!" she hollered.

"I don't know how!" I yelled in reply.

"It's easy! Just move your body! Like me!" She got back down on all fours and demonstrated a few dance moves of swinging her head to and fro while stomping her hooves. "See?! Like that!"

My frustration reached an all new high. "I don't have four legs, dumbass! I can't dance like a pony!"

"I don't care! Just move to the music!" I was already close to crashing, my left eye twitching slightly, and my neck was really itchy. So I scratched it. "C'mon! Trust me, just let the music move you!"

This music was really hard to dance to. For me, at least. No one else in the club seemed to have a problem. The beat was indecipherable. I could not, for the life of me figure out a way to move my body to it. The last thing I wanted to do was to make myself look like a fool in front of everyone. Then again, why should I care? Most of these ponies probably won't remember tonight. And if I'm lucky, I won't either.

The music changed to a different song.

This time I did as Rainbow told me and I listened carefully to the music. With each and every beat, I could feel the bass pumping in my chest, the melody running through my head. I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath, and blocked out everything else, but the music. I lost myself in its rhythm, listening to every single note or whatever they call it in dubstep. And suddenly, there it was. I could feel the rhythm flowing through me and the strange thing about it- it scares me when I say this, it really does- I liked it. I was enjoying it! This scratchy, irritating noise was suddenly growing on me.

And I decided to show it. I opened my eyes. At first I made subtle movements, slowly swaying my body and nodding my head to the beat. Then I stepped it up a notch by tapping my left foot and swaying side to side even faster. I could see Rainbow smirking at me as I attempted to get my groove on for the first time in my entire life. Who knew it would take music from a unicorn to get me dancing for the first time. Not even Earth artists could make me move.

The disc scratched, the tune changed again, but this time into something softer.

Nevertheless, ponies still kept on jumping to the beat and I could feel the stomps of their hooves rumble through the floor. I remembered Vinyl's words. She wanted to see me move, to dance to her music. Shit, if she wanted to see me move, then by God she will see me move. No matter how ugly it looked! With that, I then proceeded to bust out as many moves as I could. Which, in reality wasn't that many considering I did not know many moves to begin with. In all honesty, I wasn't really pulling off any specific moves. My moves were just moving my arms and legs in such a fashion that I hoped they were somehow dance moves.

Hell, if I thought these moves were cool, then by human standards, they must be shit...

Either way, I didn't care. I was too focused on the music. Every song that Vinyl had on her set was breathtaking, and not because I was getting tired from dancing, but because there was just something about her songs that spoke to me. A few times I looked up at the stage to see her focusing on her music, putting her very soul into each and every song that she played. And she was so beautiful too, her mane shone from the blue lights illuminating the stage and every time she swung her head it seemed to leave behind tiny glimmers of light. She looked like she was having the time of her life and enjoying every second of it, all the while sporting a gleeful grin.

And you know something? I was enjoying this too. A grin crept it's way onto my face and it stayed there the whole time I was dancing. I remember Rainbow flew up in front of me, I grabbed a hold of her forelegs, and we danced around in a circle like little children playing ring-around-the-Rosie. Before I got too dizzy, we stopped and I continued on with our frivolity. I'm not too sure, but if my memory is right then there were a few times where Rainbow thought it appropriate to stand on her hind legs and lean against me while she ground on my body. I think I even got real into it by holding her by the hips and grinding along with her.

What, we were both a little drunk. What do you expect?

Sweat was forming on my brow. It got so bad that some of it got on my glasses. Instead of wasting time to clean I just decided to take them off completely until I needed to put them on again. Rainbow looked like she was sweating quite a bit as well. Shit, every pony was sweating! I could literally feel the heat emanating from their bodies.

I heard Vinyl speak up again over the music. "Aww yeah! Everypony having a good time?!" Everyone, including me, shouted 'yeah' in reply. "Awesome! It just warms my heart to hear that! Now before I finish up my set, I'd like to say a little something," The music paused and everyone stopped to listen. "Before I came up onto the stage tonight, I met a certain someone," I noticed how she said someone instead of somepony. "I'm sure you all know who he is. A long time ago he showed up in our town, lost, confused, and lonely."

Now I knew she was talking about me. "I got a chance to meet him and talked for awhile, ya know?" Vinyl said, a casual grin on her face as she leaned on her turntables, hoof supporting her chin. "A real cutie, too. You mares out there are probably missing out on something great." I heard a few mares scream loudly from the crowd. A shudder ran over me as I blushed profusely. In the corners of my vision, I could see a few ponies eyeing me up curiously. Last thing I needed right now...

"Real nice stallion too," she continued, adjusting her glasses. "I hope all of you have made him feel right at home. This is also his first time in my club." A few cheers came from the crowd. "So, in honor of the occasion, I'd like to turn this into an official 'Welcome to Vinyl's Club' party!" More cheers erupted. "First, let's hear some stomps for Mr. Ethan Collier!" Every single pony around me smiled and began wildly stomping their hooves. Some even came up to me and bumped their hooves against my fist. From my left came a light purple pegasus mare with a wild silver mane and tail; she floated up into the air and planted a kiss on my cheek and wrapped her hooves around my chest in a somewhat inebriated hug.

I swore I saw Rainbow's eye twitch.

"And secondly!" Vinyl continued, her voice booming over the sound system. "All drinks are on the house tonight! My treat!" Everyone in the bar cheered raucously. I spared a look over the sea of ecstatic ponies and saw Berry Punch's ears flatten against her head. She surely had a busy night ahead of her. "Now let's get this party jumping!" She placed another record on the platter and spun it, scratching it as another tune blasted out from the speakers.

The music raged on and on for what seemed like hours. Every so often Vinyl would let out her own cheers and yells while we bounced away on the dance floor. It became so very intense. My muscles started to burn from my vigorous movements. My legs felt like they were going to give out any second. My whole face was covered in sweat and my shirt was nearly drenched. Good thing I put on deodorant before coming out. I realized sometime later that my moves had become less snappy and quick, but now they were wide and slow. Later it evolved into head nodding and swaying to the rhythm. A few times Rainbow bumped into me, trying to force back into it. I couldn't. My exhausted body wouldn't allow it. But she continued dancing like she hadn't even broken a sweat.

Man. Dancing's hard. Really should have spent some time in the gym.

Suddenly, I felt the song that was playing rising into a fever pitch, the rhythm getting faster and faster. I think this is what ravers call 'the rise' in a dubstep song. And they were right, it felt like the speakers were about to explode if the music got any louder. It went higher and higher, ponies all around waiting for 'the drop' to come. Sweet Mary did it come. The whole place might as well have been set on fire.

My sweat came in large beads, soaking my cheeks and hair. And that's not the nervousness and anxiety at work. Thanks to Vinyl's music, I was actually sweating from something other than that. I feel that it is proper to say that her music changed me in a way.

From the powerful sound that came from the drop, I felt my body become rejuvenated. I proceeded to push past limits I didn't even know I had. And you know, I hate to say it, and I really hate to say it, but Rainbow was right. I wasn't going to get anything done for myself sitting at home. Here I am having quite possibly the greatest time of my life. She may be dumber than a sack of hammers, but she has her moments.

Before I felt that Vinyl's performance was going to last all night, and I'm sure she would if she could, the music felt like it was falling and falling until it stopped and everything was quiet. Or I had gone deaf and my ears clocked out permanently. I thought so until I heard Vinyl speak up once again. "Awright everypony! Hope you had an awesome night tonight, I sure as hay did!" More cheers and stomps. "Well, I hate to do this, but unfortunately, I have things to do in the morning. You know, the usual manager bullshit, yada, yada, yada," she said, waving her hoof dismissively. The crowd laughed at her little quip. "But don't worry my little ponies, I'll be back again next weekend! And the next one after that, and the next one after that, and every weekend after! Goodnight, everypony!" She disappeared from the stage, leaving the rest of us out on the dance floor to ride out our musical high. Roadies moved out onto the stage and began moving equipment off backstage.

The club seemed to deflate after that. Every single pony left the dance floor and either left or went back to their seats and drinks; the same generic music played from the speaker. As for me and Rainbow, we stumbled back over to the bar and plopped down onto a couple of open stools. Though, the bar was indeed a bit crowded. Since Vinyl's little announcement, everyone was excited to become even more drunk then they already were. It took me a few moments to realize how out of breath I was.

"Jesus Christ... how long were we out there?" I asked, a bewildered grin on my lips.

"I dunno," she said, shrugging her shoulders, "could've been an hour, two, or maybe even three hours. You're really out of shape, ya know that? I oughta make you go run in the mornings."

"You can do that anytime after tomorrow," I said, laughing, "'cause I'll be too busy sleeping off this hangover."

"Oh and another thing I need to ask you," Oh no. Here it comes, "how does Vinyl know you and why the hay didn't you tell me you talked to her?! I mean c'mon! Why didn't you tell me?!" Her eyes widened as she suddenly became irritated. Though, that could be an understatement. Remember how I said she can be a little mean when she's drunk? Consider this Exhibit A.

"Well, I'm sorry, alright!" I argued, holding up my hands defensively. "How the hell was I supposed to know she was a world famous DJ!? I barely found out as soon as she went onstage!"

"Still! I'm your friend you should've just told me!"

"Well, she basically told all of Ponyville so wish granted," I laughed, despite myself. Berry slipped me another cider and I took a sip from it. "Besides, it ain't no big deal, alright?"

"Whatever, it's fine," she snorted loudly and got off her stool. It wasn't fine. Even with mares in Equestria, 'its fine' basically translates to 'fuck you'.

"Where you going?" I asked as she began trotting away in a hurry.

"Don't worry I'll be back, I'm just heading to the little filly's room," she replied, "just try not to get into any trouble while I'm away, alright?"

"Mhm, I'll keep that in mind," I said, taking yet another sip from my bottle. With that she went off in search of the restroom, leaving me here with my thoughts. And my cider. Strangely, I couldn't decide if she was mad or excited that I met Vinyl. But why would she be mad? I mean, if Vinyl's that famous you'd think she'd have taken it easier. I decided not to dwell on it and enjoyed my drink. I just sat there and sipped on it until it was about halfway done. "Jesus, she's taking long," I said, turning around to try and spot her over the crowd.

That was until I saw a pair of sunglasses looking back at me.

"Gah!" I exclaimed, dropping my cider all over the table. "Damn, you have a really nasty habit of sneaking up on me!"

"Oop! Party foul!" she giggled, using her magic to clean up the mess. Much to my amazement. "Hey, its not my fault you scare easily!" She climbed up onto Rainbow's vacant stool. "So! How did you like the show?"

I took a second to compose myself before answering. "Well for one thing I feel like my ears are dying," I said with a laugh, rubbing my left ear, "but on the other hand, I enjoyed it. I really did."

"Aw," she tilted her head with a smile, "didja really?"

"Well, I don't know if you saw me dancing like a maniac, but yes I did," I responded, grinning at her, "you know, when Rainbow dragged me out there I was so damn nervous."

"Why is that? Were you that scared?"

"Yes I was," I shamefully admitted, my brow furrowing, "but when the music started playing I kinda got lost in it and just forgot about everything else. I forgot about the fact that I'm... away from home. Even if it was just for a moment. I forgot about all of it. For the first time since I've been here, I felt genuinely happy. And glad, too! I have you to thank for that!" I said, raising my bottle to her in a small toast.

"Well, besides all of that, I'm glad you had a good time," she said, giving me that same charismatic smile. Berry slid her a glass and poured a fair amount of whiskey. "You know, as a DJ I get a certain satisfaction seeing ponies dance to my music. It just feels good whenever I see anypony just simply move to it. I don't care how you move just as long as you do. Know what I'm saying?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah I do," I agreed, smiling at her, "and you looked like you were having the time of your life onstage. Is it like that for you in every performance?"

"Oh yeah, you have no idea, if I had the stamina of ten ponies then I would do all night shows every night if I could!" she said, laughing.

"Really? Then why didn't you?" I queried, arching a brow, "for a moment there, I thought you were going to play all night."

"Well, a usual night I would perform at least for another couple of hours, but I decided to cut it a little short," she said.

"Why is that?" I asked, curious.

"Dunno, just wanted to cut it a little short. Have other things to do tonight." A little red flag popped up in my brain. There was something written on it that I couldn't read at the time.

"Like what?" I didn't get an answer before another pony approached us. By the looks of it, it was a pegasus stallion with a light green coat, yellow eyes, and dark green mane and tail.

"Hey, Vi!" he greeted her with a hoof bump. "Great show tonight!"

"Aw, thanks Four Leaf!" she said, smiling, "glad you enjoyed it.

"I'm glad I came," he said, chuckling. His voice sounded young. Probably barely broke out of his adolescence. "You must be Ethan, right?" I nodded and bumped his hoof with a grin. "Great to meet you! I'm Four Leaf!"

"Pleasure's all mine, bro," I said, my words nearly slurring together. Looks like I was getting near the threshold. This guy, however. He seems nice. Actually, he's probably the first stallion I've met in a long time. Sans Applejack's brother and Spike, Four Leaf seemed like a guy I could get along with.

"So, you headin' out now, Four Leaf?" Vinyl asked curiously. The young stallion pursed his lips and nodded.

"Yep," he said, "Rainbow Dash has me on the early shift. Have to move all the clouds into position for this week's coming rain." So he's on the weather team? Rainbow hadn't mentioned him. "Well, I gotta get home. Nice meeting you, Ethan." We bumped fists (hooves) again and he turned tail towards the exit and stepped around a few drunken party goers.

"Well, he seems nice," I said, laughing, "do you know him?"

"Yeah," she replied, sipping her whiskey, "he just turned twenty this year. Since then, he's been coming and going ever since. He's a little annoying, though." This guy was annoying?

"How so?"

"'Cause, he's a real young dude," she replied matter-of-factly. I was confused by her response, but after thinking it over, I understood what she meant. "He's real cocky now that he's finally of age. I mean, he just barely graduated from primary school not two years ago. In the past, he's even tried asking me out." He must have a hard time walking around with those steel spheres under his tail.

"And, you said no?" I asked slowly.

"Yeah, he's totally not my type, either," she said, finishing off the rest of her drink with a sigh, "I've also got like nine years on the kid." So she's twenty-nine? What the hell? Even she's older than me. Rainbow acts like a teenager, but she's actually twenty-seven. I had turned twenty-five before coming to Equestria.

"Well, don't hate the kid for it," I said, causing her to peer at me, "I mean, how can you blame him for trying to go for you?" I tread carefully from here on. "Approaching a mare of your caliber, I don't think I could ever have the courage of asking you out so blatantly." My words came out steadily thanks to the six or seven ciders in me. Although, I felt like she could see right through me. Even with those shades on.

"You trying to butter me up, mister?" she asked, a coy smile sitting below her glasses.

"Is that a bad thing?" I chided.

"Nope, not in the slightest," she sighed and stretched her upper body out. Quite bendy, she is. "Say uh, you got anything else to do tonight?"

"Umm, no not really," I replied, "just waiting for Rainbow to come back from the bathroom. Now that I remember, where is she? Its been a good ten minutes."

"Its a busy night so there's probably a line to get into the bathroom," Vinyl suggested.

"Yeah, I wouldn't doubt it," I said, scoffing, "what about you? What are you going to do with the rest of your night?" Now the red flag's message came through to me. It read: 'you are taking a huge risk'. But to my inebriated mind, I couldn't care in the slightest.

"Well," Vinyl grinned thoughtfully for a second, "since you're not gonna be too busy and I want to know more about you, how's about we go backstage where my suite is? Its got a nice little sofa, wine cooler, and a bathroom in case you need it. It's great! I think you'll like it."

So I bet you're wondering as to why in the world I would ever agree to this. I would be going against my morals and ditching Rainbow Dash in the club. I didn't care. A good looking mare was inviting me to her private suite in the back of the club. Who was I to refuse? "Alright, sounds good."

"Shall I lead the way?" she asked, getting off her stool and flicking her tail at me like the way she did before.

"I would love it if you would," I finished off the cider I had in my hand and put it back on the counter. I was about to take out some bits to pay for the drinks, but I remember Vinyl said drinks were free tonight.

I then followed Vinyl backstage to her suite. Taking one last look at the bar, my winged friend still hadn't come back. Hopefully she won't be too mad at me for ditching her. I remembered what she told me. 'Well, looks like I got myself in a bit of trouble.'

Rainbow finally shoved her way out of the mare's restroom and back out into the club. "Sheesh! Since when did using a toilet become so hard for some ponies!?" she fumed to herself as she stepped out onto the club scene.

Something was off. Rainbow looked to her left where the bar was and there was a certain human missing from his seat. "Agh, Celestia damn it, Ethan!" she let out a snort as she stopped in her tracks and sighed. "Looks like he finally caved. Probably went back to his cottage. Maybe I'll go pay him a visit." Before she could leave, a drunk earth stallion stumbled in front of her.

"Heyyyy there, hot stuff *hic* you wanna take a ride on my-"

"No," Rainbow replied flatly as she trotted past the drunk stallion, who proceeded to collapse on the floor, passed out. She found her way out of the club, flapped her wings, and took off into the night sky to go back to her friend's cottage. "I sure hope he's back in his cottage. I'd never forgive myself if he gets in trouble."

Author's Note

Here's the edited version of chapter 2.

Enjoy.

-J.