• Published 16th Apr 2012
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The First Steps of the Rest of Your Life - Rhino



A vet, an engineer, and a power company intern all walk into a town... it's not a joke it's a story.

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Chapter 38: Clubbing

***Sunday, Day 29, just after sunset***

Navy leads our little group through the darkened streets of Canterlot to his mysterious friend. I tune out the rest of the group as I glance around, slight paranoia about being in an area I don’t know well, at night especially, causing me to be on the lookout for threats. My ears twitch and I let out a slight breath of relief as I hear Navy announce our arrival, only to sharply take that breath back as the details of our destination make themselves known to me.

It is a relatively non-descript building, hardly noticeable and barely identifiable if not for the bright neon sign boldly shoving the name “Blur” to all passersby. The dull outside proves to be due to all the effort being put into the inside as two mares stumble their way out the doors giggling madly while revealing an interior of darkness, flashing colored lights, and above all a bass that rattled the streets until the door closed to muffle the sound to an occasional barely noticeable thump.

Oh Luna, it’s a nightclub!

Our group makes its way towards the building as I go slower and slower until I stand about twenty feet from the door while the others are about to go in. My heart races and my pupils shrink as my mind screams at me to get away from the building while my friends notice my absence and make their way back to me.

Navy cocks his head to one side as I continue staring at Blur, “Rhino, you coming?”

I jerkily shake my head side to side.

Hydro looks back at the building then to me as he speaks, “I just thought about it, but this is pretty much the kind of place he tends to avoid like the plague.”

Atom probably raises an eyebrow but I can’t tell behind his shades, “Why’s that? Music, dancing, drinks, what’s not to like? Seems like a fun place.”

I rattle off the list of reasons why I decidedly do NOT think this is fun, “Music at levels that assault the eardrums and cause deafness later in life, alcohol to lower decency and common sense while fueling the random dancing of rubbing up against strangers on a crowded floor all adding up to an adrenalin rush so high that anypony is only a small bump away from having a random pony beat the hay out of you for no reason, and a crowded setting giving the image of a soon to be out of control frenzy of ponies that anyone would be hard set to stop should they get crazier than they already are.”

The group goes silent for a moment after my little rant before Navy speaks up, “Well, I’m not the biggest fan of these kinds of places either but this is where we need to meet my friend, and surely it’s not as bad as all that?”

Volt adds in, “Yeah, I love the music, plus all the lights and colors remind me of being electrocuted!”

I gulp to myself as Hydro says matter-of-factly, “Rhino, we need to go in there, so you either stay out here by yourself or you go in and bite the bit until we leave.”

Like that’s much of a choice if I don’t want to stay out here and get mugged…

I gulp again before responding, “Ok, but can I at least hang near some of you so I don’t completely panic?”

Atom replies, “Well, I was gonna hit the bar and Hydro was gonna come with me so I think we’re out.”

Navy smiles apologetically, “Sorry, I have to go wait for my friend to finish work so I can come get you guys when she’s ready.”

Volt smiles, but reassuringly, “Article 27 of the Bro Code: If you need to stick with bros, then bros will stick with you. I don’t really drink and Baltimare being a party college gives me a little resistance to this kind of thing, I’ve got your back.”

Blue nods, “Yeah, suffice to say due to something that happened when I was younger I don’t drink either, I’ll join you, Volt.”

I calm down slightly knowing I’ll have some things to base myself around in that place so I don’t go insane, “Thanks you two… just warning you though… I’m probably going to be very twitchy the whole time we’re in there.”

Blue and Volt shrug at my comment and the rest of us head towards the door to Blur while Navy heads inside before us. As the simultaneous assault on my eyes and ears begins, I try to scout out what could relatively be described as the “quiet” part of the establishment. Navy comes back before we even move from the door and lets us know that we still have about 15 minutes to kill before we can see his friend, he then dives back into the sea of ponies and is soon lost to sight. Hydro and Atom stay true to their word and proceed to the bar to kill some time while the three of us that are left head to a likely table I had spotted in a corner away from both the dance floor and the bar.

The music still drowning us in its presence results in us having to speak a little louder than normal for us to hear each other, as I find out when I have to try several times to get Blue’s attention hoping my questions will evoke a response that will distract me from our surroundings and my paranoid glances at anyone who looks to be heading our way, “So, what was it that happened to you when you were younger when you mentioned it earlier?”

Blue, after finally hearing me, answers with the air of it’s-no-big-deal, “Oh that, well, let’s just say I woke up hanging upside down from a ceiling fan with the words "BUCK ME" on the side of my flanks after I got involved with a small amount of weed. Kinda stayed away from anything like drugs after that.”

I give him an understanding smile as my paranoid eyes see a young unicorn waitress saunter up to our table, holding a notepad in her magic, “Can I get you boys anything?”

I shake my head as I respond, “Nothing for me thank you.”

If I don’t drink anything, I can’t be slipped anything.

“Just some water please,” the blue pegasus orders.

“And for you~?” She says, smiling coyly at Volt.

“Just some soda water please.”

She winks as she trots off, “Alright, be right back.”

She returns about 5 minutes later with the two glasses for Blue and Volt, handing them to their respective ponies, while I still keep a lookout for anyone approaching our table, “Anything else for you boys?”

Volt answers for us, “That’ll be it thanks.”

She nods, scribbling in her notebook, ripping out a page, and floating it over in front of the electric unicorn, “There you go.”

He eyes the page a moment before turning back to her, “Is this the bill or your street address?”

She winks at him, “My address.”

“Oh,” he says, floating the page back over to her, “No problem, easy mistake. Now how much do I owe?”

She frowns slightly before telling him the cost and him getting the bits from his saddlebag to give to her. She pockets the money before huffing in exasperation as she walks back to her station.

About 5 minutes after the waitress leaves, my still paranoid eyes spot Navy with Atom and Hydro in tow heading towards us. He lets us know that we can see his friend now, so Volt and Blue finish their drinks and we all follow the dark blue pegasus through a door off to the side of the stage stating “Employees Only”. As the door closes behind us, the music is muffled to a dull rhythm much as it was outside. We make our way down the hallway behind the door and towards another door with a musical note on it.

Navy knocks on the door and a mare’s voice answers, “Who is it?”

Navy rolls his eyes, “The Ghost Writer, who else would it be?”

“Well hurry up and phase through the door then Ghosty.”

Navy chuckles as he opens the door, letting us follow him into what I would describe as a dressing room, but is about 3 times too big to be called that. As we enter we see a white unicorn mare with an unruly two tone dark and ice blue mane putting some records back in their sleeves before she turns around. When she faces us, we see that she has a pair of purple shades over her eyes and a rather large grin on her face.

She greets us in a very casual voice, “Sup Navy, feels like we just talked 5 minutes ago, oh wait, we did.” She turns to the rest of us, “Hey everypony, name’s Vinyl Scratch, resident mistress of the musical night.”

Navy translates, “She’s the DJ.” The rest of us let out a simultaneous ‘Oh’ and he introduces us, “Vinyl, meet Blue Breeze, Hydro Pump, Voltage Surge, Rhino, and Atom, whom I already told you about.”

She nods her head at each of our names, almost like she’s head banging to a song, “Cool, nice to meet you all.” She turns to Atom, “So your Atom huh? Heard a lot about you, now what’s this Navy tells me about a conspiracy that got you arrested?”

We briefly explain to her the situation.

She whistles, “Sounds rough, well looks I might be able to help you. Like Navy said, couple of guards got wasted here one night a bit too close to the DJ stage. I won’t bore you with the details because frankly I’m bored just thinking about ‘em, but here’s the gist of it: these guys were laughing it up over Green Shade’s situation and one of ‘em how they knew the evidence was enough to convict him. The other guy says “that’s why we made sure there was a witness” now I am the farthest thing from a lawyer but you don’t make sure there’s a witness unless you either knew what was gonna happen, or you got someone to pretend to be a witness. From what I overheard between songs, the witness to your supposed one pony assault on the treasury is a mare called Silver Tongue.”

We perk up at finally having a lead to follow as I ask, “So where do we find her?”

Vinyl levitates a slip of paper from her bag and waves it in front of her face, “Let’s just say, her name may be Silver Tongue, but she gets to be a bit of a blabbermouth when she gets a few drinks. I asked around and a bartender friend of mine knew where she lived thanks to her hitting on some stallions in his place.” Atom goes to grab the paper but Vinyl pulls it back, “Ah ah ah, not so fast. The only way you get this is if I come with you.”

Blue raises an eyebrow, “Why would you want to come with us?”

Her smile sharpens to be not so pleasant, “Simple, my coltfriend in the Royal Guard was also complaining about some stuff he was accused of at work. Nothing as bad as what they said you did, but enough to keep suspicion on him. I haven’t seen him since he told me that. It’s a long shot, but if the same thing is happening to you, then I want to know if little Miss Silver can tell me anything.” Her smile softens again, “I miss that lug of mine, and my roommate having her coltfriend around all the time only makes it worse. At least Octy cooled it a little once I told her…” We stare at her a moment as she gets lost in thought before shaking her head and continuing, “So, I’m coming with, agreed?”

Navy nods his head, “Deal. Let’s go.”

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