We were lucky enough to hit very few “Do Not Walk” signs on the trek to the club, so our walk was only about 15 minutes. We reached a stretch of the block between 59th and 60th street which seemed to be the Marecca of the club scene in Manehattan. Fancy facades, each emblazoned with their own special custom-lit signs displaying the name of the club, lined the wide sidewalk. Ponies of all walks of life seemed to be lined up outside various clubs hoping to get in. It was quite an interesting sight to see. As we walked past each club's doors, a faint thumping could be heard from the music within. It was like it's own condensed hive of bees ready to burst out onto the street.

We reached the entrance to our club in question, Cloud9. The exterior was themed as a cloud palace. Columns adjoined to antiquated architecture surrounded the large, heavy looking front doors. Smokey abruptly stopped walking, which made us subsequently stop too. We were adjacent to the line of many mares and stallions waiting to get in, and the only thing that separated us was a thick, velvet wrapped set of ropes. Smokey turned to us and to overcome the street noise had to half-yell to us;

"Wait here, Imma talk to tough guy over there so we can get in." He pointed towards a gargantuan stallion with a buzz cut mane standing upon a small incline of stairs. He was wearing a pristine white shirt, and on it a black suit jacket. It honestly looked like something out of a movie. I was so astonished by his muscularity. I thought Dyno was a big stallion! This guy could crush Dyno with his eyes closed!

We watched as Smokey walked about 15 feet away, and up the small incline towards the bouncer. At first, he held a massive hoof up to Smokey to stop him in his tracks, but he proceeded to say something to the bouncer. I couldn't hear any of their conversation, but I could see lips moving. Smokey then pulled something out of his beanie, and flashed it to the bouncer. I watched as Smokey then turned to face us and point us out to him. The bouncer tilted his mirrored shades down to get a better look, and then said something to Smokey. He had a smile on his face so I assumed it was good. Smokey turned fully towards us and yelled.

"C'mon guys, let's go!"

"Aww, buck yeah!" Astro seemed very excited. We picked up a slow gallop to catch up with Smokey, and we followed him through the large double doors that the bouncer had kindly opened for us. I faintly heard murmurs from the line of ponies waiting. I'm sure they were very jealous.

The entrance was very elegant to say the least. It almost seemed like a luxury hotel. A foyer with a marble floor and a very high ceiling was what first came to sight.

"Wow..." Jetty mumbled to herself. "I've never seen a place this fancy before."

"It's great isn't it?" Smokey replied. The circular room was capped by a faux domed roof, with 8 cloud columns surrounding the room. I glanced to my left to see a hallway with "Coat Check" labeled above it. None of us had coats or anything so I doubt we'd need to go there. I glanced to the right to see another hallway with a sign labeled "Bathrooms". Straight ahead was the third and final hallway. Smokey took the lead once again and we followed behind him. I overheard the two mares whispering behind me;

"Ohhh, I'm so excited~!" Jetty whispered.

"I know right? So... you gonna hook up with somepony?" I could just hear the smirk on Berry's face.

"Oh, I don't know..." Jetty replied timidly.

"C'mon, I bet you can find somepony your type."

"Ehh, well... I do have a type of pony in mind..."

I wonder who that lucky stallion was going to be.

As we turned right, we were met with a more official "entrance". There were two smaller doorways. One labeled "Pegasus Entrance" and the other labeled "Non-Pegasus Entrance". The Pegasus entrance was sort of "stacked" on top of the non-pegasus entrance. My curiosity got the best of me, and I approached a small sign next to the ground-level entrance. It read:

"Earth ponies, Unicorns, and all other non-winged species please enter this way. A cloud-walking spell will be cast upon you that lasts approximately 8 hours. This will allow you to experience Cloud9 to the fullest extent. Cloud9 is not responsible for injury sustained by cloud-walking outside of this club property. Have a great night!" Huh, neat.

Astro was clearly very excited, and started getting ahead of us.

"See you guys on the other side!" He then proceeded to fly up and through the Pegasus entrance.

"I forget that he's a grown stallion and not a little filly sometimes." I joked as I nudged Jetty on her side. "Right?"

She giggled softly, and followed suit by taking off gently with a flap of her wings and following the long-gone Astro through the Pegasus entrance. Seeing her laugh never failed to bring a smile to my face. I looked back at the trio of ponies still in front of me.

"Well," Berry Blast said, "Aren't you gonna follow them?"

"Yeah, in a sec." I replied. "I kinda wanna see how this works." The three walked into the small entrance-way, and stood together in a small square on the ground labeled "Stand Here". Smokey pressed a button on the wall which sounded a buzzer, and two small mechanical arms folded out of the wall on either side. The points of the arms resembled a unicorn's horn, but metal. The tips lit up a bright sky blue, what I assume is the matching color to the Cloud9 sign outside. The aura engulfed the three for about 5 seconds, and then faded. The arms folded back into the walls, and a high-pitched "ding" was audible. The frosted glass door blocking their way then opened up automatically, and they started stepping through. Seeing as the process was done, I took off with a quick flap of my wings and quickly followed through the Pegasus entrance. After a sharp right, the entrance-way turned into cloud flooring. No way! Everything is made of clouds? I guess that explains the need for the spell. The hallway turned back left, and had a set of stairs leading downward. The two entrance-ways converged back into one, where my five friends were waiting.

"DUDE! THIS IS WHAT CLOUDS FEEL LIKE?" Dyno yelled aloud, repeatedly mashing his hooves into the floor.

"Right?" Berry added, "This is like, the softest thing EVER." She was sprawled out on the floor, rubbing the cloud with her hooves.

"It's cool, isn't it?" I said.

"You've got all night to feel the clouds, let's gooo!" Smokey said to the two distracted ponies. As he started walking, we followed behind. The music that had been thumping through the walls this whole time was getting louder at this point. There was one final right turn about 10 feet ahead, and I assumed this was the last one. It was, in fact. What we walked into was quite a sight to behold.

A small stand held a map of the room:

An absolutely massive room filled with easily hundreds of ponies, decorated as a cloud palace was the best way to describe it. It was all open too! We had entered on an elevated level above what I assumed was the dance floor. To our left was a large elevated area filled with classy tables and various seating. To our right was the equally impressive bar area. Shelves at least three ponies high of boutique alcohols and mixers adorned the back wall. Past the bar was a small cloud staircase that led up to a catwalk of some sort. There were floating platforms with railings that sat above the farther corners of the room. Each platform had a hoof-full of ponies dancing along to the beat of the music. Speaking of the music, it was very loud, but somehow not intolerable like I was expecting it to be. Even from this distance from the stage, the bass was still thumping in my chest. Directly ahead was a grand staircase that led down down to the lower level. From what I could see, the dance floor was already packed with ponies.

The room as a whole was fairly dark, aside from the flashing lights and lasers of the dance floor, and places like the bar and the lounge, which had small accent lightning to make it just bearable enough to see.

Smokey got our attention, "Alright, I got some quick bid'niss to attend to, you guys have fun. I'll be right back."

"Alright. Well, I don't know about you guys," Berry started, "But I'm tryna get hammered tonight sooooo, I'll head to the bar. Astro, Dyno, come with me. Cali and Jetta, go claim us a booth. Also, what do you guys want to drink?" She asked.

"Oh, I don't know Berry I-"

"Listen here!" Berry interrupted me with a poke to the chest, "You're not gonna be some prude this whole night. You're gonna let loose like the rest of us. Now, what do you want to drink?"

"I guess I'll take a Mareibou Lou then." I replied defeatedly.

"I'll have a Moscow mule, please." Jetta requested.

"Sounds good. Meet you guys there in a bit." With that, Berry, Astro and Dyno all trotted off towards the bar. That left Jetty and me to find a booth.

The booths were large, reddish overstuffed clouds shaped in a semi-circle like in an old-school bar. We found an empty one rather quickly, and sat down. We slid towards the middle of the booth and sat rather close to each other. We sat in silence (as silent as a raving club can be) for some moments until I jumped slightly as something brushed up against my right side. Jetty had apparently been a little too excited, as one of her wings had unfurled just slightly and made contact with me. She blushed and pulled her wings back in tight.

"Ohh, uhh... sorry..heheh" She said sheepishly. "I'm just really nervous... and excited. Nervous-cited I guess you could say." I moved my head lower down closer to her so she could hear me better.

"Hey, don't worry. How do you think I'm feeling right now? I ate one of Smokey's stupid buckin' brownies and I don't even know what's gonna happen to me." I said, trying to soothe her anxiety.

"Haha, yeah. That sounds soooo bad." She said in a seemingly mocking tone, "I MEAN, UH, totally. That sucks." She corrected herself, and broke eye contact, trying to find something other than me to look at at that moment. I turned to face forward as well, returning back to the silence that was previously there. Thankfully, the trio returned with two trays of drinks. One tray had 5 mixed drinks on it, one being Jetty's Moscow mule, easily recognizable by the copper cup. The other tray had 6 shot glasses with clear liquid in them. Oh no, shots...

Astro sat to my left, and Berry and Dyno entered in the right side of the booth. With five ponies in the booth, it became fairly snug, with only a little more than a hoof's width of space between everypony. Berry picked each drink off the tray on the table and set it in front of the expecting pony. First was Dyno's which was a bright blue drink in a tall, cylindrical glass, topped with a mini beach umbrella and an actual blue raspberry stabbed through by the straw. I guess I know what flavor it is... Next came Jetty's drink. The copper mug clinked as it touched the glossy wooden table. The tables interestingly enough, were one of the few things not made of clouds. My Mareibou Lou touched down next. I didn't want anything too crazy, unlike the shots Berry had lined up. Astro's drink was next, which was a faint yellowish brown color, sort of like half-and-half lemonade iced tea. Lastly was Berry's own drink, which was one I did actually recognize, a Long Island Iced Tea. She definitely wanted to get hammered.

"Hope you guys enjoy your drinks," Berry stated, "They weren't cheap."

"I mean you didn't have to get shots along with it." I retorted.

"I wanted to give everyone an extra kick, especially if you were getting a weak drink." She emphasized the word 'weak' while looking directly at me. I looked away from her and towards my drink. I took the straw and stirred the liquid a few times and took a sip. That's pretty damn good, not gonna lie...

After a few minutes of sipping in silence and watching ponies pass and go, I glanced around the table to see what everypony was up to. Dyno and Berry seemed to be having a nice conversation, despite not being able to hear it. Craning my neck farther, I saw Jetty with her eyes closed, slowly bobbing her head to the music and swaying along, all the while having a gracious smile on her face. I then turned to my left to see Astro eyeing up pretty much every mare that came past. As a group of three mares passed us, Astro whistled to himself and turned to meet my gaze.

"Look at the flank on that one, eh?" He nudged my side playfully.

"I-uh...yeah, sure." I replied, slightly flustered. I hadn't been staring at them like that, so I didn't really know. I always felt...I don't know...creepy? Disrespectful? When I stared at mares like that. Astro on the other hoof was quite the hound-dog and wasn't afraid to show it.

As I was looking down at my drink once again, a voice came from the front of the table;

"What's up guys? Nice booth ya got here." Smokey had returned and was standing at the edge of the table holding a tray in his magic green aura. The tray had six more shot glasses, this time with a blue liquid in them.

"Oh sweet Celestia, MORE shots?" I groaned.

Berry raised both her hooves in the air, "Buck yeah!"

"We haven't even done those yet!" I said while pointing to the tray of six shots sitting on the table.

"Oh... I see. Well, like three of these were for me anyway. Ya been havin' drinks already, I gotta catch up." Smokey chuckled, and placed his tray on the table. He moved to the left side of the booth near Astro, and made a waving motion inward towards the booth with his hoof. Wordlessly, everyone in the booth (minus Dyno who was already at the opposite edge of course) slid over to make room for Smokey. After the slide, everypony was even closer to each other than before. Less than three inches separated Jetty and I now, and any small fidget from either of us would make contact with the other. Astro was also close to my other side as well.

Berry slammed her hooves on the table, making her somehow already empty cup bounce slightly.

"Alright, let's get these shots GOING!" She yelled out in excitement. Smokey picked up the six original shots and hovered one to each of us. He released his aura on them all, except for his own. Each of us picked up our respective glass and toasted in the center of the table. The slightly offset clink of everyone's glass was followed by each one hitting the table (as is "shots" tradition) and we each downed the drink. The immediate burning sensation I felt was very recognizable: vodka. I tried my hardest to stifle my coughing as I felt the burning travel down my throat. I quickly glanced around the table, and saw that Dyno, Berry and Astro had seemingly handled it well. Smokey wiped his mouth and made a slight face.

"I like shots, but vodka ain't my shit." He said. Jetty seemed to not enjoy it so much either, but once she noticed my hacking she smiled and laughed at my misfortune.

Through the coughs I managed to get out: "Ha ha, cough very cough funny." I picked up my other drink and took a sip to quell the burning. My 'Lou was practically juice compared to it.

"Round 2!" Berry shouted.

"Oh boy..." I trailed off.

"Don't worry," Smokey reassured, "This won't be as bad." He floated two over to himself, and as he reached Dyno with one, he waved his hoof dismissively.

"I'm okay, I don't want another one." Dyno said. Berry then swiped the shot from the air and put it down in front of her.

"Yoink! More for me!" She exclaimed.

"Ho ho, wait a minute. Astro, did you want that one?" Smokey asked.

"Nah, I'm good Smokey. Plus, I'm feelin' kinda...weird right now. Like, I feel like I'm floating," He then turned to each of his sides to look at his wings. "I'm not flying or anything."

"Ha haaaa! It's kickin' in now isn't it? Feels nice doesn't it?" Smokey put an arm around Astro and shook him slightly.

"Yeah... yeah it does. I feel like I'm one with the universe..." Astro trailed off with his words.

"Alright, stop bein' such a drama queen." Smokey let go of him and hovered the other two shots in the air.

Berry then brought the attention back to her. "I volunteer Jetty and Cali have the last two."

"What, why?" I asked.

"You two are the least experienced here. Like I said, I wanna see you two get loose. Especially you, Cali." I looked down at the table, feeling somehow slightly ashamed at what she said, despite it not being in mean spirit.

"Plus, I haven't seen you two drunk yet." She gave me a wicked grin as I met her gaze. I looked away back at my empty Mareibou Lou glass. I then turned to Jetty to gauge a reaction. She met my eyes, and merely smiled and shrugged as the last two shots plopped down in front of us. She raised it in her hoof, as did I. Berry and Smokey both followed suit. We tapped the glasses on the edge of the table and downed them. This shot, unlike the last, was very sweet and didn't burn nearly at all. It tasted fantastic, in fact. It might have even been what Dyno's drink was made of.

I licked my lips as the taste faded from my mouth. Berry and Smokey had both downed their double shots, and Jetty finished hers. She licked her lips too, and that's when I noticed her tongue.

"Hey, Jetty, your tongue is blue!" I said, surprised.

"Is it really?" She stuck out her tongue in response. "Let me see yours." I stuck out my tongue in response, and she smiled with her mouth open, as she became excited. The blue color seemed to stain our tongues as if we all had been enjoying a hard candy.

Astro seemed to think now was a great time to interrupt our moment. "Dude, this feels GREAT." He looked over to Smokey. "We need to do this more often."

Berry then took her turn. "What we need to do..." She twisted her head back and forth making sure everypony was listening. "Is get on the dance floor! Jetty, I saw you bumpin' along earlier. Let's go!"

"Sounds good!"

"Hell yeah!"

Dyno simply nodded his head in agreement. Smokey however, had news to break to us.

"As much as I'd love to dance wit' y'all, I've gotta drop out again. Have to take care of somethin'."

"Aww," Berry frowned, "really? What keeps dragging you away?" She asked.

"Nuttin'. I'm tryna keep it a secret. You'll see soon enough."

How cryptic.

Smokey was the first to stand up out of the booth, and faced us at the table.

"I'll have to bid y'all an adieu." He proceeded to take a mock bow, and walked away. He went down the grand stairs and out of sight once again.

Berry pushed on Dyno's shoulder, signaling him to stand up. One by one, Dyno, Berry, and Jetty slid out of the booth. Astro had slid out of the other side, and I followed behind.

I didn't want to dance, and Berry sure as hell knew it, but she was going to do everything in her power to drag me along. I had to come up with an excuse.

"Let me get some water before I go down there." I said, pretending like I really needed it.

"Fine, we'll be down on the floor. We won't go too deep, so you'll still be able to find us." Berry replied. As we approached the center of the mezzanine, I split off from the group and headed towards the bar. I watched as the four ponies turned and trotted down the wide staircase. The coast was clear.

I guess I might as well actually get water while I'm at it.

I grabbed the bartender's attention and got him to pour some water for me. Thankfully water was free. I brought it back to the booth where we were sitting and took my spot back in the middle of the booth. I put my lips to the glass and chugged the cool liquid rather quickly, and plopped the glass back on the table. I decided to sit for another minute or two to really milk the "getting water" thing.

Little did I realize, I had started daydreaming whilst looking at nothing in particular. Mediocre thoughts and ideas sprung in and out of my conscience as I unknowingly spent almost 10 minutes sitting there. What broke my daydream however, was an angry looking Berry Blast accompanied by Jetty.

"Dude, what the buck? How long does it take to get water?" She scowled at me, and rightfully so.

"I- uh, I'm sorry. I just got lost in my thoughts is all." This time I wasn't lying.

"Well get your flank out here already!" She never failed to remind me of a hot-tempered mother disciplining their young child for the eighth time in a row.

I slid out of the booth, and came face to face with Jetty, who seemed to be rather enamored with me, or at least something in my general direction. She stared into my eyes, blushing furiously with her mouth slightly agape. I looked around nervously, trying to see if I had misunderstood what she was looking at.

"Uhh, Jetty, you okay?" I waved a hoof in front of her face with no reaction.

Moments later, she shook her head and darted her eyes between me and Berry.

"I-I uhh, havetogousethebathroom BERIGHTBACK!" She then took off running towards the hallway attached to the bar area.

I turned my head towards Berry; "What's her problem? Didn't she use the bathroom before we left?"

Berry put an arm around my back; "Trust me Cali, even I don't fully understand a mare's need for the bathroom sometimes." I looked at her awkwardly. With an inflection of confusion and a cock of my eyebrow I said, "Uhh... okay? I'll keep that in mind..." The hoof over my shoulder turned into a hoof on my backside, pushing me towards the stairs.

"You're coming to dance. Now."

I knew better than to argue with her. I regrettably made my way down the stairs to the lower level. That's when I got my first true look of the dance floor.

Was it ever a sight to behold.

Author's Note

Had to split the main club scene into (at least) two chapters as I felt one huge chapter would be fatiguing. Happy clubbing!