Play that Funky Music, Ms. Scratch

I was surprised to learn that the club was not that far away from the campus. In fact, one of the bus routes went by there. That fact did steel my resolve to, at least, check the place out. I thought it would be simple. If I did not find it to my fancy, I would just leave and wait for the bus or just simply walk back. I did a little research and found that the place opened about a year before and it had received much acclamation for owning its own unique and personal style, something that I would appreciate. Apparently, the owner of the club liked their privacy as much as I do because I could not find a name or personal information about them, but that did not matter to me. Overall, Moonlight Wilderness intrigued me enough to making me wanting to go. Who knows, I thought, I may end up liking it.

Satisfied with it, I looked through my wardrobe to see what I could wear. I pulled out a black plaid long-sleeved buttoned down shirt and wore it over my white undershirt. I settled on some light khaki pants over my usual blue jeans because I felt that I should be a bit classier for this kind of place. I looked over myself one more time in the mirror to see if I look presentable. I ran my hand over my short, red mane and straightened my small rectangular glasses resting on my nose in the middle of my beige face. I turned to my side and see my red, ankle-length tail and figured that I looked good enough. Happy with the results, I grabbed for my gray jacket and left.

The weather outside was unusually warm for winter, but there was a cold nip as a strong wind blew across campus from the ocean. Walking out of the building, I came across the large group of ponies still waiting for the bus to take them away again for one last time before Winter Break. When they saw me they made many catcalls, saying how they wished that they were in my hooves. My victory at the raffle yesterday made me somewhat of a celebrity at the dorm. The ponies all kept telling me that they, through a friend’s friend or any number of them, that everything about the club was like some kind of magical place, where everypony was cool with each other as they let the music soothe and excite them at the same time. The name, Moonlight Wilderness, convey some sort of mixture of peaceful existence and wild imagination that I found somewhat poetic. But, I was not going to let any amount of hype to convince me of what kind of place I should be expecting. I was just hoping that tonight would be a good night; nothing more, nothing less.

I sat at the front of the bus, looking out of the windshield so I would not miss it. As the bus turned off the route that I normally took to go into the city, my heart was getting louder as I could hear it drumming inside of my ears. It was then that I realized what I was doing, that I was going to an unfamiliar and uncharted territory for me to explore. I slouched back into my seat and try to calm my mind, but it was fruitless. Thoughts kept swimming around as images of me trying to act cool, when, in fact, I was acting like a fucking idiot appeared to me like movies. Several times I almost pulled down the cord to tell the bus driver that I wanted off. But, I sat over my hands to keep myself from reaching up. I told myself that I was going to do this, forcing myself to do this. I could hear my father’s voice shouting from the back of my head, telling me that I couldn’t do this, that I was a big fucking filly. I pushed him back into the recess of my brain to silence him. He was the last thing I needed to hear that night.

I took big breaths to calm my nerves, which did help a little. I kept repeating myself under my breath that I was going to do this, that it’ll be painless. I was going to get in and stay for a couple of hours. Maybe even dance, but I doubted it. And, when I get my fill, I would just get out and head back to campus where, I was sure, many ponies were impatiently waiting for me to tell them what the place really was like.
As the bus made its next turn, huge lights shined from the large building up ahead. As we got closer, I could read Moonlight Wilderness flashing in neon blue and white. A large crowd of ponies gathered underneath it, extending out into the street. I knew that I had arrived at my destination. I hesitantly pulled the cord down and the bus stopped just a few yards away from the huge crowd. I exited the bus and watched it leave me to fend for myself in this strange and new environment.

I looked over at the crowd, all of them looking much different than what I had anticipated. It was almost as if I had just stepped onto another planet. Many of the ponies had turned their manes into giant spikes that lined up in the middle of their heads in various different colors. Some had piercings in their eyebrows, nose, cheeks, and lips, or a whole line of them. One mare, who caught me looking at her, stuck out her tongue to show me the bolt that went through it. I just smiled and continued with my examination. I couldn’t tell what clothing they had as their coats or jackets hid them from me, but another mare was more than happy to show me what she was hiding underneath her big coat as she opened both folds to reveal that she wore a pink bikini suit that matched her natural coat so well that it appeared almost invisible. The crowd cheered at the exhibition she gave, but I turned to walk away, my face flushing really badly.

It was getting a bit too much for me to handle. My heart was attacking my rib cage like a lion trying to get. I wanted to get out of there myself, but I forced my legs to stop. I couldn’t understand why I was so afraid, why I wanted to get out of there. But, I had no reason for wanting to come here, other than that I had won a ticket at the stupid raffle. I told myself that I did not belong here, that I never should have come here. I did not understand why I even wanted to attempt something like this when it was clear as the flashing sign behind me that I do belong in this world, just as my father kept telling me that I did not belong anywhere but in Ponyville and that damn store of his. Might as well, since I did not have the balls to go do anything else, or that I was such a pussy and that I was more of a mare than a stallion, or that I was an embarrassment to him whenever I make the slightest mistake in front of him, or that I was not the son that he wanted me to be. What sort of achievement could I obtained by just staying for an hour or so at this night club? What was it that would convince me that my father was completely, not just 100% but an infinity percent, wrong about me? Could I actually find that in a place like this? So, I just waited there, waiting for a reason, any reason, for me to get inside the Moonlight Wilderness.

“Somepony stop that motherfucker!”

I picked my head up, almost thinking that this pony was referring to me. I looked and heard the crowd cursing as they were pushed to the side until a young stallion broke through them. He stumbled, but regained his footing and he sprinted down toward me. I saw his hand pulling out of something that was in his other hand. Almost immediately afterward, another pony broke through from the crowd, a white mare with a blue mane.

“Hey, stop him!” she shouted at me, pointing at the sprinting stallion. “He just stole my fucking wallet!”

I looked at the stallion and he looked at me. The white mare started to give chase, but there was no way she could catch up to him in time. His eyes was concentrating on getting the hell out of there, not even noticing I was there in front of him. Just before he past me, I extended my hoof out and caught one of his legs. I may be very shy, but that does not mean that I would just let some crime be committed if I could help it. I had to learn that lesson the hard way.

He fell down with a slam and slid a bit before stopping. The wallet flew out of his hand, landing just a couple of yards away. I left him there groaning to retrieve the wallet, which the white mare arrived at his side. She started kicking him in the stomach and groin and, from the sound of the impacts, convinced me that she was ready to break a bone or two.

“You fucking piece of shit!” she yelled at him, keeping him down on the sidewalk as she laid out her punishment. “I otta rip off your nuts and feed them to the squirrels so you don’t spread your shitty DNA all over Equestria!”

I quickly grabbed the wallet and ran up to her, wrapping my arms up underneath her armpits from behind and pulled her away. She was very light and about a half a foot shorter than me. She kicked the air, demanding that I should let her go so she can kill him.

“Easy, easy,” I said to her. “I’ve got your wallet.” I showed it to her as I released her. She calm down as she abandoned her will to kill and snatched her wallet out of my hand. I took a step back, thinking that she may explode again.

The wannabe thief slowly got up, but took his time as he continued to moan. The mare opened up her wallet and started counting her bits to make sure that all were there. I quickly grabbed the thief by the arm, which he tried to pull away but I gripped him tighter.

“Get your fucking hands off me!” he yelled, but I responded by twisting his arm behind his back, which made him squeal like a little filly.

“Look, buddy,” I said to him in my guard's voice, something that I had not used since I left Canterlot. “If you have any bits that don’t belong to you, I suggest that you give them back to the lady over there before she finish her counting.”

“Dude, I don’t have any on me!”

“Alright. I hope that you’re telling the truth,” I told him, giving him my best intimidation that I could without letting him see my uneasiness.
Soon, I turned my focus on the white mare, seeing that she is a unicorn with her horn protruding up through her frazzle and wild aqua mane extended down to her neck. Her tail swished back and forth, sweeping the snow next to her black pants that complimented her slender legs as they hug her thighs and calves. She wore a black jacket with the front open, showing a black top that wrapped around her bust, leaving her stomach exposed, showing off some small jewelry shining from her belly button. Her hands were covered in, guess what, black glovelettes, with her fingers free from the cloth and extended up along her arm and disappeared into the sleeves of her jacket. A pair of pretty expensive looking headphones rested around her neck. They were white.

With a snap, her wallet closed and she pointed her accusing glare at the thief with her arms crossed. “There are four bits missing,” she said with a tone chillier than the air around us.

“Oh, come on!” the thief exasperated.

I didn’t want to question her, but I didn’t want her to continue with her punishment. “Are you sure that you have bits missing?” I asked her.

She gave me an angry look that I thought she was going to kick me instead. “I counted each and every one before I left my apartment! So, I think I should know how much I have in my damn wallet!” I tried to calm her down, but she kept going, screaming at the both of us. “I’ll be damn if I’m going to let this asshole get away with my money!”

“Get the fuck off my ass, bitch!” the thief screamed at her. “It’s just four fucking bits!”

“Which I fucking earned every last one of them, you fucker!”

“SHUT UP, THE BOTH OF YOU!” I yelled. The two of them shut their mouths and turned their attention towards me. I turned to the mare, enforcing some authority over the situation. “Just calm down, Miss,” I told her. “But, if you try to kick him again, I’ll make sure that you are arrested along with him for assault. Is that understood?”

She could have just asked me for some identification, but my demeanor was convincing enough that she took a couple of steps back. She re-crossed her arms again and waited for me. I turned my attention to the thief.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” I told him. “I know you’re lying. I saw you pulled your hand out of her wallet as you were running towards me. Not a very smart idea. Now, if you would give the four bits back to her, I promise to let you go and you can be on your way.” I had to stop to silence the mare’s protest. “But, if you don’t, I’ll call the police and you get to spend the night in jail. What’s it going to be?”

He took a look at the mare, who continued to give him the death glare. After a few seconds, he relented. “They’re in the right pocket.”

I nodded and reached into it and pulled out the four bits. I handed them to the mare, which she half-heartedly accepted. As promised, I released him and he was on his way, empty-handed.

“You know he’s gonna try again,” she said to me as she returned her bits back into her wallet.

“I know,” I admitted. “Maybe he’ll learn his lesson after this.”

“Don’t count on it,” she shook her head as she pushed her wallet into her pocket inside of her jacket. “Thanks, anyway.” Her face finally softened, giving a kind tone to her look. She gave me a small smile, which made my heart fluttered a bit. As I took a closer look at her, she was the prettiest mare that I had ever seen. The outfit she wore had made her appear rather exotic in my eyes as I had never seen a mare look like her, or even come close.

I didn’t realize that I was dropping my Royal Guard demeanor. “I…uh…yeah, sure.” I scratched the back of my head, starting to feel so stupid that that was all I could say to her, even after what I had just done. It was high school all over again for me.

“Were you trying to get inside the club?” she asked.

I was a bit taken aback by the question, but I immediately answered her. “Oh, uh…yes. Yes, I was.” I could feel my face burning up.

She eyed my clothes, looking up and down my body like a bemused judge staring at a defendant on trial. Her smile went coy as she placed a finger on her lips as if to keep them shut from laughing.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked her, feeling her eyes crawling on me.

“No,” she answered. She looked at my face, with that smile still there. “I just never saw anypony who was as dressed up as you are coming to this place.”

I looked down at my outfit and compared it to her and saw the distinction. Next to her, I looked as if I was going to some business meeting across the city. “Oh,” was all I could say as I could feel my embarrassment rising. I tried to find something more interesting than her dark red eyes, but it was hard as I found them rather intoxicating. “It’s not good enough, huh?” I finally said, feeling a bit defeated.

“No, no, it’s fine,” she shook her head, trying to reassure me. “Course, you may not be able to convince the guards to let you in.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s a pretty exclusive place. In order to get in, you need to have some kind of invitation, or convince somepony to let you in as a guest.”

“Huh.” I couldn’t believe that I missed that information. Then, an uneasy thought occurred to me. “Wait. Then, how does one get invited into this club?”

“Well, usually, the owner of the club, whose identity shall remain secret,” she told me in her cupped hand, “would just randomly pick names in a phone book and send out invitations all over Equestria. If that pony does not want it, they could just give it to somepony else. It’s usually used as a free pass, just to see if that pony may like it or not. Then, they could get a membership card if they wish to continue visiting.”

“I see.” I start to figure out that the ticket I had with me was one of those invitations. “Then, what are those ponies doing?”

“Them?” she turned to the large crowd, which looked like it grew a bit with more ponies arriving. “They usually come here and wait, hoping to grab somepony who is a member here to let them in. Sad, really.”

After I nodded, I quickly pulled out my ticket and showed it to her. “Is this the ticket that you were talking about?”

She took a closer look at it, making sure that it was not some counterfeit. “Yeah, that does look like the real deal.” Then, her face changed to show that something was wrong. “Uh-oh.”

“What?” I asked.

She looked up at me, her face almost apologetic. “I forgot to mention that these tickets do have expiration dates.”

My heart nearly dropped as I pulled the ticket away, looking at it accusingly. She pointed at the bottom right hand corner, where it said that the ticket become expired after last night.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me?” I was dumbstruck by this. “I don’t…” I was at a loss for words as I crumbled up the useless piece of paper and threw it into the trash, letting out a frustrating growl. “I actually won this at a stupid raffle last night,” I told her, not sure why but she seemed to be attentive. I shook my head in sheer disbelief. I had come out here, in the freezing cold, at night, away from the last of my studies, for nothing. I was ready to walk away, to get the hell out before I embarrassed myself further in front of this beautiful mare.

“Do you still want to go in?”

I turned to look at her, who had a smirk on her face as she looked at me.

I just threw my arms into the air. “I can’t if I don’t have a way to get in.”

“I didn’t ask you if you can,” she said, moving closer to me. “I asked if you want to.”

I looked back at her as she pushed her body towards mine. I would have ended up in the street if it weren’t for the trash can blocking my path. Her face was so close to mine that I could only see her deep, fiery red eyes. My breath was leaving me and I couldn’t seem to bring it all back.

I was about to say “No,” but my tongue was numbed to that word. Just the way she was staring at me was almost like a tigress getting ready to pounce on her prey before she could let it get away. I could feel my heart pounding and my legs wanting to take me away as far away as it can, but a sense of desire within me overruled it. As I stared into those eyes, which I don’t know if I was imagining it or it was just wishful thinking on my part, I couldn’t help but to notice a bit of longing showcasing to me. And, all of a sudden, I didn’t want to be alone tonight. For the first time in my life, I felt more afraid of being alone.

“Y-Y-Yes,” I whispered my answer, my voice cracking from the cool air.

Satisfied, she grabbed my hand and pulled me along. “Come on, let’s go,” she said, giggling at my sudden reluctance.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I called out, confused by her action.

“Repaying the favor,” she answered as she looked back at me. “You helped me, I help you.” We both arrived at the edge of the crowd as I stopped next to her.

“What are you talking about?”

She turned her head and cocked an eyebrow as if I had just asked the stupidest question. “I’m gonna let you in, duh.”

“But-” she halted my protest with her one finger pressed upon my lips. They felt hot to the touch as she looked at me straight into my eyes as if she was figuring me out as I was with her.

“Just let me do all the talking, okay?” she gave me a playful wink before she took my hand again and started to pull. But, I stopped her.

“Wait-” I tried to say, but she interrupted me, her voice getting a little harsher.

“Fine, if you don’t want to go in, you could have just-”

I stopped her with my two fingers on her lips, which they felt soft and moist, which I was surprised by my action as she was as her eyes looked down at them. I pulled them away quickly, thinking that I had just violated her space, but she did not show it as she waited for me to speak.

“It’s not that,” I began, my heart pounding a million miles a second. I felt as if I was going to pass out into the cold ground. “I just…I would like to know your name, if you don’t mind.”

She apparently didn’t as she gave me a sweet smile. “Sure,” she extended out her hand for me to take. “I’m Vinyl Scratch.”

I took it and we shook. “Nice to meet you. I’m Red Badge.”

“A pleasure,” she curtly nodded, and then she turned around, pulling me as she swam through the crowd, with me faithfully behind her.
“Hey, Vinyl,” a stallion called out. “Don’t tell me that you’re taking that guy in with ya?”

“Yeah,” another stallion called out, who we had just passed by. “Why picked this shrimp when you could have a stallion like me?”

“Yeah, some stallion who couldn’t stop a simple thief from getting away,” she called him out, which the whole crowd gave their satisfaction with jeers. “Besides,” she continued, “I think he’s rather cute.” She turned her head back at me and gave me a truthful wink, which I turned away to hide my blush and my smile. This was the first time that a girl actually gave me a compliment like that and it made my body feel like it wanted to fly.

We made it to the front, where a large, black stallion stood blocking the entrance with several other guards. I don’t think the two of us, with her standing on my shoulders, would have been enough to even match his height.

“Hey, Big Shot,” Vinyl greeted him with a cheerful wave. I thought about greeting him with a simple wave, but I decided against it. The look he gave to me felt as if they could squash me like an ant if I did something to offend him.

As he turned to Vinyl, however, his features relaxed. “Hey there, girl,” his voice sounded gruff. “What are you doing here? I thought that you won’t be working till next week.”

She works here, I thought. I looked at her as if she had been lying to me. She must have caught it as she gave me a quick glance. She gave me a quick squeeze of her hand before turning back to the large guard. I dropped the issue there, figuring that it did not matter.

“Yeah, well, I got a little bored and I figured I could pass the time here,” she said.

He gave her a single nod before he turned his attention to me. I felt myself shrinking under his deadly gaze. “And, you are?”

I was about to answer, or tried to at least, when Vinyl jumped in. “This guy here,” she gave me a light pat on my chest with her other hand, “saved me from starving and possibly me losing my new apartment.”

He didn’t give his nod to me, almost as if he was not easily impressed by anything unless it was warranted. “Do you have an invitation?”

I actually thought that was the end of it until Vinyl jumped in again. “I’m vouching for him. He’s my guest.”

He went silent, as if contemplating, but he soon stepped aside to make a pathway to the green doors behind him. “Alright. But, you know the rules,” he threatened. “If he wants to come in again, he needs to buy a pass inside before he takes one step out. After that, you can’t vouch for him again.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know,” she waved at his threats as if they were flies. “Now, will you let us in? We’re freezing our tails off out here.”
He gave another curt nod and we went pass him. I looked behind in time to see him falling back into his place, causing the crowd to erupt in a whole series of “boo’s”

“Oh, don’t worry about them,” Vinyl said. “They’ll be gone before you know it.”

When she opened the door, I thought I was about to be blasted out into the street because that was the heaviest music I had ever heard in my life.