~~~Seventeen Years Ago, Ponyville~~~

“Where you headed kid?” the kindly faced station master said as he peered through the iron bars at the filly who now stood in front of his booth. All around them, the rain poured down around the eves of the ticket office as though the skies themselves were weeping for the loss of the little white filly who hoofed a little pile of bits through the window. She wore a pair of outsized shades that hid her distinctive eye color, and her mane tucked under a cute little cap.

“Manehatten,” she piped up as she dropped the dozen bits that the ticket would cost on the counter, and the ticket master arched an eyebrow at her. “I’m goin’ to see my sister there!” Arpeggio proclaimed in the most convincing voice she could muster at that moment. In truth, she didn’t know where her sister was. Momma and Poppa had refused to tell her, and she couldn’t get anypony to tell her back at the orchestra either. But Manehatten was a big city full of musicians and that’d be a good place to start looking.

The station master eyed the bits then shook his head. “Youngin’, yer slingin’ a load a’ bull so big it’d make an Apple blush. Where’re yer parents?” he asked in a dubious voice… a question which immediately conjured a look of fear upon the little filly’s face. His eyes narrowed a little. “Youngin’ what’re you runnin’ from?” he asked in a soft but not unkind voice, trying his best to project some soothing understanding towards the filly.

The white filly shook her head frantically. “I can’t! If Momma and Poppa catch me…” She clutched at the straps of her saddle bags, unable to process the words. The phrase ‘deal with you’ had appeared in no few of Arpeggio’s favorite comic books, and she knew what the bad guys meant when they said it - and it was never, ever a good thing. “Please! You gotta let me go!” she pled with the stallion, hoping beyond hope that maybe just this once, an adult pony would show her a little bit of kindness.

The station master blew out a sigh and chewed on his mustache for a moment… before shoving the bits back across the counter. For a moment, Arpeggio felt her heart sink into her hooves until the sound of a ticket being torn from the roll brought her head back up. “Ain’t gonna take your bits, youngin’. Train leaves in ten, an’ I’ll let the Engineer know not t’ bother ya. Go find a lady named Charity Heart when ya get t’ Manehatten. She’s a good ‘un, an’ she’ll give ya a place t’ hang yer hat.” His voice spoke with a brusque sort of understanding, and Arpeggio felt her eyes fill with tears as she collected both bits and ticket. She turned towards the train when his voice called her attention back for a moment. “An youngin’? If ya can’t find a safe place, tell one ‘a the station masters tha’ Steam Stack said t’ bring you on. We’ll keep ya safe if nopony else will.”

Arpeggio nodded, and then in a burst of completely uncharacteristic exuberance yelled as she cried without shame, “Thank you so much, sir! I will never ever forget your kindness!” Then she ran through the rain towards the awaiting train, oblivious to the sad but understanding smile of the station master. She didn’t know what her future held - but she was going to find Tavia.

No matter what.

~~~~Present Day, The Friendship Express~~~~

Vinyl Scratch woke up with a start, her breaths coming in rapid and uneven heaves as she clutched at her chest. Her hoof came up to her eyes and felt the wetness there, and then went with lightning speed to check for the warmth and softness next to her - finding the sleeping form of Octavia right where she was supposed to be. Vinyl breathed a short sigh of relief and tried to will her heart to slow down, wondering why the hell that particular dream had produced such a reaction.

Vinyl looked out of the window of their little sleeper car as the world drifted by them, the moon hanging high up in the sky and giving all the world beneath it a ghostly hue. It was late. Late enough that Vinyl really couldn’t tell how late it was by the moon was because she was still so damned tired. So she sank back down next to Octavia and pressed herself up to her as best as she could, but could not convince her body to go back to sleep quite yet.

She hadn’t been to Manehatten since she’d left for Los Pegasus… Shit, had it really only been five years ago? Sheesh. Time sure flew when you weren’t paying attention to it. She’d been following her dreams then, convinced that time and her parents had irrevocably separated her from her sister. It had hurt to leave it behind, but at the time the only thing she had been worried about was staying fed and alive. Sure, she could’ve stayed at her old job… heck, she probably could’ve had quite a future there. But music was a tempting mistress, and one did not forsake her lightly.

And now here she was, stuck on that very same train she’d talked her way onto heading to that very same town where she’d had her view of the world rather rudely uprooted. Still, she wouldn’t be the mare she was today if she hadn’t gotten the shiny scrubbed off of her by that rough-and-tumble town. Vinyl could feel her heartbeat slowly steadying as she closed her eyes and tried to focus on the same sound coming from Octavia. Gentle, soft - rhythmic and calm, just like the mare herself. Vinyl would never admit it to anypony else, but Octavia had done more for her than most knew.

It wasn’t just the love - though that was certainly pretty boss. It was… well, Tavia grounded her. Like, in a good way - not a lame-o way. Taking club drugs, getting pissed every single night, staying out till all hours and crashing hardcore, not eating enough and definitely not eating anything good for her… yeah, Vinyl’d been guilty of leading that kinda life for a long time. Nowadays? She still didn’t sleep THAT much… but she got her sleep more regularly. She still drank - but it wasn’t to get drunk so she’d forget how much it hurt to be alone. She still dabbled a little with the illicit stuff… but now it was to have fun, not to escape.

And as for the eating? Well, where ‘greens’ had once meant dried and packaged peas covered in spicy stuff, now it meant real salads and the like. Good stuff, fulla’ vitamins and shit. And no matter how much she sometimes ached for a bowl of rosemary and thyme ramen noodles in veggie broth, Tavia would bop her on the nose with a spoon and tell her to wait for dinner like a good little filly. It was a new kind of life for Vinyl… and she’d come to like it. Like it a whole, whole lot… but always in the back of her mind, there’d been one piece of unfinished business.

Momma and Poppa.

She’d meant it when she said she didn’t need anything from them ever again. She’d meant it when she’d said the last thing she wanted was to see them ever again. But like to admit it or not, Vinyl had to accept the fact that she had to put this piece of her past to rest. She’d run off into the wild blue yonder seven-teen freakin’ years ago. She hadn’t said a word to either of her parents in the interim - not even when she’d come to live with Tavia. She’d just… avoided them whenever they swung into town. She didn’t want Tavia to get shit on because of her.

Even back then, she’d been trying to think of some way to deal with how she felt about Tavia… and more importantly, about what she would do about her parents. For all Vinyl knew, she’d been declared dead long ago. That could get a little messy with the paperwork, but just about any documents could be fabricated if you were willing to pay the price for it. Now though, all of her problems and worries had vanished into the ether except for that one. Well… okay, not all of her problems, but Vinyl was realistic enough to know that the everyday problems of life were never going to go away. The best you could do was work to keep them from getting out of control.

This one had long since passed the barrier of ‘out of control’ and right into looneyville. She’d been avoiding the subject more and more as the years went by, to the point where she didn’t even want to think about seeing her parents again. But with all that had recently happened… that whole kerfluffle at the Royal Wedding had been one hell of a thing, the kinda event which made a pony step back and look at their life in a new light. And well… Vinyl had come to the conclusion that the time had come to put this chapter of her life to bed.

She wanted to marry Tavi. Wanted to raise a couple of cute fillies with her and build a home and a life with her. But if she didn’t settle this now, it’d hover over that life and those kids as surely as a rain cloud hovered over a picnic, and Vinyl didn’t want that. So she’d written a letter. Actually, she’d tried to write a letter and ended up with a lot of wasted parchment and several broken plates - then, Octavia had written the letter while Vinyl had cleaned up the parchment and glued the plates back together. Vinyl had then admitted she probably should’ve just gotten Tavi to write it in the first place.

The jist of it? She wanted to meet with them. Tell them what’d happened and maybe make some tentative steps towards amends. Maybe it’d work - Vinyl privately doubted that - and maybe it wouldn’t, but she was going to try Celestia damnit. If it all fell apart, at least she could finally turn her back on the whole thing once and for all. She’d actually half hoped they just wouldn’t reply… and then they had. Well, Poppa had - writing back to say he and Momma were going to be in Manehatten and asked if they wanted to meet. It was a nice enough gesture, even if Poppa didn’t know a damn thing about her history with the town.

Vinyl felt her eyelids getting a little heavier, and snuggled up close to Tavia’s back. Whatever happened, at least Octavia was here. She’d make sure Vinyl didn’t fall down too hard… and even if she did, Tavia would be right there to pick her back up again. Which was the way things ought to be.

~~~~~

Morning in Equestria came, just the same as it always did - the sun slowly lifting in the eastern skies and setting the world ablaze with a curtain of light. With the morning came the sharp smell of the sea as the train swung into the last leg of its journey towards the biggest city in all of Equestria - Manehatten. Octavia Piano drank in the sight of the glittering blue sea as the train chugged along the coast, a slight smile curved across her face. It was really just as beautiful as Vinyl had described to her.

Of course, thoughts of that mare immediately drew Octavia’s smile into a small frown as she gently stroked her hoof along Vinyl’s mane. The DJ had her own weird set of hours, and there was something about the look on her face and the way she was still holding tightly onto Octavia’s waist that told Octavia that Vinyl had probably not slept terribly well. Nor had she slept well the previous night, and ever since she’d insisted upon this mad little crusade of hers. Still, Octavia knew the reasons why - even if she thought Vinyl was perhaps putting a bit too much emphasis on such things.

She sighed, still quietly running her hoof through the two-toned mane of the mare who had sent her well-ordered life tumbling down the rabbit hole. How is it one pony can cause so much havoc… and yet I cannot help but be thankful for her? An interesting question for her, to be sure - but still not easily answered. Which was not to say that she had minded some of the changes Vinyl had brought into her life. Just that even now, almost a year since that fateful night at the club, Octavia was still trying to figure out how everything had gotten so tangled.

But now wasn’t the time for that. She was happy for one of the first times in her life, and Vinyl was very distinctly not. There would be time to self-examine later. Right now, the mare she loved needed her and that was what mattered. What am I going to do with you, love? Octavia thought with a mild despair, gently hugging the soft and still slightly too thin Vinyl close to her. You’re so tied up in trying to get all of this behind you, trying to have a clean slate… I fear what mother and father’s foolish thoughtlessness will do to you. How can I possibly protect you from them?

It was a sticky thought. Vinyl clearly just wanted to close the book on the entire affair with their parents and move on to building her life anew. In order to do that, she had become convinced that she had to finally confront them… and tell them what had happened. Why? Octavia did not know. Vinyl had been silent on the subject until pressed, at which point she had said this was ‘something she had to do’ before refusing to speak further.

So it had gone - tickets had been bought, arrangements made, and suitcases packed. Before Vinyl could lose her nerve, Octavia had chivvied her up into the train, and they had set off on the two day ride to Manehatten… and every mile since they’d left Ponyville had been filled with Vinyl becoming more and more agitated. Even now, even as she continued to sleep, Vinyl looked as though she wasn’t resting at all.

Gentle love and worry gripped Octavia’s heart, and so with infinite care she gently pulled the white mare up into her lap, working hard not to disturb her rest. It took a while, but soon enough Vinyl was cradled in Octavia’s hooves and the gray earth pony was gently hugging her close, hoping that perhaps her warmth… or maybe just her presence would lend some comfort to the sister she loved so much. Much to her delight, Vinyl’s face softened a bit and she curled up against Octavia tightly with a gentle sort of smile crossing her face.

“Vinyl…” Octavia said softly, feeling her heart melt a little at the sight. “You’ve given me so much. I can but hope to return the favor.” They were quiet words, but sometimes the quietest words were the ones that mattered the most. Octavia looked up again through the window to see the approaching skyline of the city of Manehatten… and wondered what had happened to Vinyl here, so very long ago.

~~~Manehatten, 17 years ago.~~~

“Excuse me, are you Charity Heart?” Arpeggio piped up with as bright a smile as she could manage. As scared as she was, she knew that her mission to find Tavia would be successful. It had to be - she and her sis’ had promised to stick together forever, and Arpeggio didn’t break promises no matter what. But first, she had to find someplace safe to stay while she searched Manehatten. The city had proven to be much, much larger than Arpeggio had first thought.

The tall and sleek looking earth pony mare that turned to face her was absolutely beautiful. Her bright red mane was super curly and done up in some pretty style, and her cream colored coat reminded Arpeggio of aunty Eleonore. Her eyes were a bright emerald green, and she smiled softly. “Why yes, little filly. I am. What can I do for you?” Her voice was as smooth as butter, and also very pretty. She probably had a beautiful soprano voice to sing with, and Arpeggio instantly liked her.

“Um… Mister Steam Stack said I should come find you.” Arpeggio pawed at the ground with her hoof, kicking up a little non-existent dust from the smooth and polished wooden floors of this strange place she’d wandered into. “An’ Mister Stub said I could find you here! Uh… wherever here is, anyway. Where is here?” Arpeggio peered around the quiet and dimly lit room, the place smelling strongly of perfume like Momma used to wear.

The sleek looking mare laughed softly - it was a very pretty sound. “This is my place of business, little one. So, old steam for brains sent you here?” Her voice changed subtly - it was still as rich and velvety as before, but now it was also kinda gentle and caring. Arpeggio decided she liked the sound of it - especially coming out of such a pretty mare. Charity’s smile was gentle to as she spoke. “So tell me little one, why did you come to Manehatten?”

Arpeggio ducked her head a little, shuffling her hooves. “Momma and Poppa… were gonna hurt me. They said they were gonna ‘deal with me’.” Arpeggio swallowed the lump in her throat, and kept speaking - trying to keep on the bravest face she could in front of this stranger. “An’ they weren’t gonna let me see Tavia again.” Even worse than the threats of harm had been that little addition to the letter. That had been the final straw, the last thing keeping her there - the promise of seeing her beloved sis.

She hadn’t even realized she was starting to cry until a soft silk kerchief brushed away the tears, Miss Charity’s voice firm and certain as she spoke “You need not fear anything, young one. I promise you’ll be safe here from any harm. What is your name then?” The mare gently ran her hoof through Arpeggio’s mane, causing the filly to giggle cutely. “And why are you wearing those silly sunglasses?”

Arpeggio ducked her head a little, feeling unaccountably shy all of a sudden. She’d worked very hard not to say her name since she’d left Ponyville but… She supposed she’d have to tell somepony. “Um, I’m Arpeggio,” she said shyly, kind of tucking one hoof behind the other. “An’ I’m really good at music. And I’m wearing ‘em cuz my eyes have a funny color, and I don’t want Momma or Poppa to find me.” The shades had seemed like such a brilliant disguise back in Ponyville, but she had to admit - in retrospect, they were just a little bit silly. Still, she’d gotten this far with them, hadn’t she?

Miss Charity seemed to find it cute though, since she smiled quite warmly. “Well, Arpeggio - would you mind letting me see your eyes?” Arpeggio felt a shy smile cross her face and with a concentrated little effort of magic she lifted the shades and perched them cooly over her horn. Miss Charity’s eyes widened at the sight of her vividly red eyes, and her smile grew quite wide. “Those are very beautiful eyes, little one, and you shan’t need to hide them here, for as long as you wish to stay. I will make certain nopony harms you here.” Miss Charity winked and offered her hoof to Arpeggio, who took it with a shy smile. Miss Charity giggled at the cute filly, before speaking in a gentle and understanding voice, “Welcome to the Hidden Heart.”

~~~~Manehatten Train Station, Present day~~~~

”Now Arriving at Platform Four - Friendship Express from Ponyville. Now arriving at Platform Four….”

Vinyl Scratch stepped out onto the hard stone and concrete of the Manehatten train station with a feeling of nostalgia. She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, inhaling all the smells of the city as they rushed up to greet her like an old friend. Fried falafel and freshly baked pretzels and cheesy-tomatoey pizza, the sharp tang of the salty sea and the stink of the cargo ship’s steam engines. The smell of sun-baked bricks and the odor of burning street lamps. It all sang to her in a chorus that rose to the heavens with all of the bustle and excitement of the city that never slept - a city she would forever call home.

“Egad! What is that stench?” Octavia exclaimed as she stepped out behind Vinyl, and Vinyl couldn’t conceal the grin as she sucked in another deep lungful of the air. No place in all of Equestria smelled quite like Manehatten. No place livable, anyway. “Oh, goodness. You’re enjoying it, aren’t you?” Octavia half glared at Vinyl, and Vinyl returned to her a grin instead. Octavia sighed expressively, and Vinyl couldn’t restrain her laugh. Poor Tavi, with her refined nose far used to the more sedate Trottingham and the rural Ponyville, was probably going to take a few days to get used to the awesomeness that was Manehatten.

“Course I am,” Vinyl said flippantly, flicking her tail and trotting away from the train. “This is my town. City of a million different stories. If you can make it here? You can make it anywhere.” She grinned as Tavia gave her a confused look and smiled a little. “Why don’t you look around, Tavi?” Vinyl jeered, and at that - Tavia began to actually look around them in earnest, her eyes going a trifle wide as she did so.

Manehatten Grand Station was an impressive sight to be sure. Towering columns of granite carved into the shape of art-deco style ponies and griffons, and walls bearing sweeping murals of the city of Manehatten slowly rising into it’s modern form held up the massive arched glass ceiling panels overhead. Towards one end of the station, massive ships coming from and going to the Griffon kingdoms loaded cargo and passengers alike. At the other end the Friendship Express stood with steam pumping from its stack alongside its brethren trains which ran along the lesser tracks all over the north of Equestria.

Even now, years later, she could remember the awe with which she had beheld the city. Sure - Canterlot had been beautiful, elegant - even divine in its inspiration. But Manehatten? Manehatten was gritty, down to earth, and tough. You knew, right in your soul, that the buildings here hadn’t been forged out of the will of a Goddess; they’d been forged out of the iron-shod hooves, blood, sweat, and tears of average ponies just like yourself. That every street here, no matter how clean or dirty, had been laid down by an average joe. This place was real in a way no other town she’d ever been in was.

Vinyl felt a grin splitting her face as her poise and carriage subtly altered - she hunched her shoulders forward a little and stretched out her neck. She adopted a casual sort of smirk with her grin, and walked in an unhurried sort of way. Everything about her projected that Manehatten ‘attitude’ that the city was famous for inflicting on the poor souls who weren’t ready for it. No matter how worried or unhappy she was about the reasons for being here, she couldn’t deny the surge of strength and pleasure at the fact that at least she’d face the hard words to come on turf she considered her own.

Tavia quickly trotted up alongside her, a quizzical look on her face changing into an amused sort of smile. Unlike Vinyl, Tavia already gave off an air of sophistication that would make sure most of the troublemakers in town wouldn’t give her any guff. Everything about her bearing was already aristocratic enough to send the unconscious signals of one of the many wealthy elites that walked through the town, and might even open up a couple of doors. As they passed through the gates of the Grand Station and into the hustle and bustle of morning in Manehatten, Vinyl snaked out a hoof to wrap it around Tavia’s neck. “Trust me, Tavi. You’re gonna love it here,” Vinyl said with a bright and cheesey grin.

Octavia shook her head, her beautifully long black mane swaying behind her in a way that made Vinyl want to… well, that wouldn’t be appropriate behavior in public. As hoofsteps took them down the Grand Station staircase, Vinyl scanned her eyes over the crowd with practiced ease. She’d been away for seven years now, but the old habits died hard. It was easy to spot the hucksters, the pickpockets, the ne’er-do-well types to avoid, and easier to spot- Vinyl felt her hooves root to the ground for a moment, astonishment hitting her like a sack full of bricks. “Vinyl? What’s wrong?” Octavia asked, the look on her face transitioning from wonder to worry in the space of a heartbeat.

Vinyl shook her head, stirred from her shock by Tavia’s voice, when a silken smooth voice cut Vinyl short from trying to explain. “Probably just surprised to see an old friend come to meet her at the station,” said a mare whose beauty had not flagged a single notch. The enigmatic lady before her looked exactly the same today as she had when they’d first met all those years ago - her mane still the bright red, her coat still creamy and smooth, and her eyes just as sparkling and full of humor and life. Vinyl felt a lump caught in her throat - the memories of that day so many years ago smashing into her with all the force of the train they’d just been on.

Luckily for her, the mare didn’t seem to be much bothered by that - sweeping through the crowd without a single misplaced step to gently wrap a hoof around Vinyl’s neck and tug her in close. For a moment, Vinyl felt like a little filly again - crying out her story to the strange mare that had taken her in without a second thought. Octavia looked confused at first, until Vinyl returned the hug firmly and tightly, holding onto it for just long enough to remember the sweet smell of strawberries and vanilla in that mane, before letting go and coughing in embarrassment. “Uhm… Octavia, this is Charity Heart. She… she took me in when I first ran away from home.” Vinyl felt a sheepish smile cross her face as Mama Charity let out a low and rolling chuckle. “She’s… she’s one hell of a pony,” was all Vinyl could say, gesturing lamely.

Octavia’s face cleared up instantly a moment later, as though she could read through Vinyl’s not-so-elegant words to the heart of the matter. A beautiful smile bloomed on Tavi’s face as she approached a step closer and extended a hoof to Charity, receiving a firm shake in return. “So, this must be the legendary Octavia Piano,” Charity said with a smile as bright as the sun above them. “By Celestia, Two-tone wasn’t kidding when she said you were beautiful and elegant. It is an honor and a pleasure to at last meet you.” Charity bowed over Octavia’s hoof and gave it a little kiss, sending Octavia’s cheeks to blushing. Vinyl couldn’t help but grin… apparently, not even Tavia was immune to Mama Charity’s charms.

“Quite charmed, I assure you,” Tavia said with a slight chuckle of her own. “It appears Vinyl has not told me the whole story of her adventures in Manehatten. She has not mentioned you at all.” And at that, Octavia fixed Vinyl with a slightly angry glare and kept it there, boring into Vinyl’s head with all the heat of a forge fire until Charity shook her head with a soft and melodious laugh. “What?” Octavia queried, her wrath stayed by the amusement of the mare before her.

“Oh, just that I’m happy to see Two-tone kept her promise.” Charity fluttered her eyelashes fetchingly at Octavia before continuing to speak, “I’m a rather private individual, Miss Octavia. I asked Two-tone to keep our time together to ourselves. Still, given that it’s quite obvious you’ve reunited in the way she had long hoped for - I would be happy to shed a little light on things.” Vinyl felt her cheeks suddenly color a very bright red, and before she could stammer anything out, received a stern but very motherly gaze from Mama Charity that immediately shut her up.

Octavia stared in astonishment at that byplay, her jaw dropping just a little. “I do not believe it,” Octavia said with wide eyes. “I did not think there was anypony other than Auntie Eleonore that could do that to Vinyl.” Then she paused, her mouth turned down a little in thought. “Which brings to mind… why do you keep calling her Two-tone? And how did you know we were going to be here?” Vinyl had to admit she was curious about the second part herself. She certainly hadn’t called Charity. She had been intending to drop in on her own to pay her respects and say hello. Who had told her they were going to arrive?

The answer to that came a moment later in the form of a brash and rough voice, much darkened by years of smoking and the distinct smell of a pipe stuffed with Trottingham tobacco and burning merrily. On reflection, Vinyl would later wonder why she hadn’t spotted the column of smoke rising up from the crowd. “That’s because I told her, girl.” Octavia’s jaw dropped in total shock at the sound of the voice, and Vinyl felt a little vindicated as a dark, dark-blue coated earth pony strode out of the crowd wearing her tightly tailored suit coat and dress in a brilliant blood red velvet with a spotless white cravat beneath her chin. Between her slightly aged lips was the curved pipe billowing out smoke like a factory firestack and a twinkle in her slightly beady eyes. “Git yer jaw shut, girl - else you’ll start attracting flies,” The older unicorn mare snapped, and Octavia’s jaw shut instantly.

Vinyl felt a warmth surge in her heart which hadn’t been there ever since she’d sent the letters to momma and poppa.“Hiya, Aunt Eleonore,” Vinyl said and then ran pell mell over to the older mare to embrace her tightly. The older earth pony hugged her right back, with just as much strength as ever. “Should’a known you’d show up.”

~~~~~The Hidden Heart, Manehatten~~~~~

“ ‘Ere ya go luv. Spot o’ oolong tea and a tray o’ fresh cheese crumpets,” the perky pegasi who had called herself Li’l Strumpet said with a happy charm, then whisked away with the tray before Octavia could get another word in. Still, the tea smelled absolutely marvelous and so did the freshly baked treats alongside them - which Octavia shamelessly grabbed and took an experimental nibble out of, the bright cheddar flavors of her youth exploding into her mouth and causing her to instantly relax.

Of course, the smell of Aunty Eleonore’s pipe smoke was doing that all by itself. It was rich and full and made Tavia itch for a cello in her hooves. Her instrument was packed along with the rest of their bags nearby, but hurriedly pulling the thing out in the middle of a conversation would be rude. With fortune, Aunty Eleonore would make some time for Tavia to pester her for more insights into her incredible skill.

For the moment though, they sat in the middle of a gently bustling room where ponies laughed, ate, drank, and worked in the strange place they’d found themselves in. There was a big stage at one end of the room, flanked by old style oil-lantern lights and a deep red velvet curtain that hung from the ceiling. On stage, a pair of wise-cracking pegasi - both of them missing a wing, Tavia noted with a wide eyed astonishment - were practicing a comedy routine much to the amusement of a large group of fillies and colts, none of whom were older than thirteen years old.

All around them, worn wooden tables polished to a deep and dark brown were occupied with ponies of every tribe eating breakfast or socializing in some way. Lists were being passed around from table to table, and chores were just getting underway - and all the while, a strong undercurrent of gentle love and acceptance permeated the air. None of the ponies in the room lacked some kind of oddity about themselves, if not outright disability. Unicorns with damaged horns, earth ponies with limps, pegasi with wing problems of one kind or another. It was both incredibly sad… and also incredibly moving.

“So like I was saying,” growled Aunty Eleonore in her thick-as-molasses Trottingham accent, interrupting Octavia’s line of thought. “I got a letter from my damnfool son a couple of days ago saying you’d finally popped yer head above water and wanted a little palaver.” Aunty Eleonore took a deep suck from her pipe and blew a pair of fine smoke rings high up into the air, much to Vinyl’s apparent amusement.

“Surprised the hell out of me, lemmie tell ya!” continued her aunt, a twinkle in her eye. “Thought he’d stuffed that head of his so far up his ass he couldn’t see th’ sunrise! But the boy sounded genuinely concerned for ya, an’ he asked me - Asked me! First time in damn near two decades the boy has asked for somethin’ from me, and damn polite doin it too - to meet’cha at the train station. An’ when I decided to call upon my old friend Charity here…” Aunty Eleonore eyeballed the mare next to her, who was smiling in a very pretty and mysterious way. “Th’ age defying witch that she is, an she tells me she knows a certain’ white unicorn filly who ran like a damnfool…” Then she took another deep puff of the fragrant smoke before stabbing the pipe towards Vinyl. “Which reminds me - Why’n’a hell didn’t ya come t’me, Arpeggio? You know I woulda’ given you a place t’stay.”

Arpeggi- Vinyl sighed deeply, pulling off her shades and rubbing at her eyes for a moment in sheepish shame. “I wasn’t thinking real clearly at the time, Aunty. To be honest, by the time I thought about it, I was sure they’d just take me away from you like they always did before.” She gestured around her, a gentle smile appearing on her face. “Besides… this place was home to me, by then.” Her eyes traveled across the room and Octavia couldn’t help but feel a little warmer knowing that, at the very least, Vinyl had not spent the intervening years completely alone.

“Don’t pester her, Ellie,” Charity Heart admonished, focusing her gaze on Octavia and causing her to swallow a little. There was something about that smoky look on Charity’s face that made Octavia feel… well, sort of how Vinyl made her feel when they were in one another’s hooves. All heated and- Octavia stomped firmly on that thought, trying to focus on the conversation. Charity giggled softly then, a sound that was instantly appealing to the ear. “Oh she’s such a darling Two-tone. You simply must let me try her.” Octavia felt her jaw drop for the fourth time since they’d gotten off the train, and fortunately Vinyl facehoofed in response to that statement - else Octavia might have gotten quite cross with her.

“Lay off it, Mama Charity,” Vinyl - or was it Vinyl? - muttered softly, giving Octavia a pained look. “Two-tone was my name when I was working here. See?” She pointed to her musical note cutie mark. “Two notes became Two-tone.” Vinyl grinned at Octavia for a moment, her bright red eyes practically glowing. “Not the first name I took on here either, but you wear a lot of hats when you do the kinda work I did.” Octavia blanked out for a moment, as Vinyl went silent - obviously waiting for her to cotton on, but Octavia just kept drawing blanks. Vinyl coughed once, twice, then snorted softly. “Sex work, Tavia. Exotic dancing, teases, the occasional stage show and more physical stuff.”

For a moment, Octavia couldn’t process that. Then the realization hit her hard, and she felt a lump drop itself hard into her throat. Arpeggio - My little Arpeggio - working as a prostitute? Octavia was not so naive to the ways of the world to think that everypony ended up in a perfect career for themselves. Life could throw a lot at a pony - and sometimes, it overwhelmed everything else. Equestria was not the idyllic paradise it was often painted as - there were always those who would fall between the cracks of society as a whole… but this, this she did not expect.

Luckily, Vinyl seemed to realize her distress - reaching over to gently squeeze her shoulder. “Hey, don’t stress over it Tavi. Nopony made me do anything I didn’t want to do.” She smiled a little over at Charity, who smiled back in that gentle and motherly way of hers. “I started on the piano here, actually. Playing music for the dancers and the other stage shows, but… well I was always kinda scared somepony would hear me and realize who I was - so I started sneaking into the other parts of the club looking for something else I could do.”

Charity giggled again, and even in her state of shock, Octavia couldn’t help but feel a little charmed by the sound. “Poor Two-tone snuck into my room while I was… entertaining a customer.” Vinyl, bless her heart, turned a beat red color in her cheeks and looked away, even as Charity eyeballed her with a sly smile. “Was quite the shock when I found her hiding in my closet when I was cleaning up. I had to explain why the nice stallion was spanking me, and why I seemed to be enjoying it.”

That got a bark of laughter out of Aunty Eleonore, and Vinyl slowly began to sink behind the table edge, her face still as red as a tomato. “So I explained a few facts of life to her and… well, Two-tone could never be persuaded to keep her nose out of something when she wanted to learn about it.” Charity chuckled brightly, sipping at her tea. “I eventually caught her getting double teamed by those pegasi brothers and… well, the rest became history.” Charity shrugged her shoulders with a sly smile as Vinyl sank completely behind the table, and Octavia had to admit it was kind of cute how embarrassed she was getting over this… even though Octavia was still trying to wrap her head around it.

Vinyl had often said she’d done some less than savory things in Manehatten but… Octavia had simply assumed she’d been a thief, or perhaps had worked as some kind of servant. But this? It shone an entirely new light on… everything. Dear Celestia, how could I have not seen it? Oh, Octavia did not doubt Vinyl’s love for her. Not any longer - they had both been through far too much now for that poisonous little thought. But Vinyl’s nightmares now suddenly had context, her constant worries about Octavia’s happiness now cast in a far more understandable light. Her insanely stubborn, self willed drive to protect and aid Octavia from the horrors she herself had experienced…

It was like that single dose of information set off a chain reaction in her brain. Obviously logical conclusion followed an even more horrifyingly logical conclusion in her mind, over and over and over again. Each facet of her beloved sister’s actions and personality now explained by this single, seminal event. She had barely been a teenager! She had never known anything about the world outside of the protective shell their parents had built around her! She’d been all alone and scared and unhappy and desperate and - “Octavia Piano!” thundered a voice almost right in her ear, sending her jumping in surprise out of her chair and damn near crashing to the ground, saved only by her hoof grabbing firmly onto the arm of the thing.

Her head swiveled towards the source of the voice, only to find Aunty Eleonore giving her a half glare behind the haze of the pipe smoke. Vinyl and Charity were nowhere to be seen, and Octavia felt panic race through her heart. Where had she gone? Had Octavia been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she’d - “If you keep panicking like that, girl, I’m going to rap your hooves with a ruler and send you to sit in the corner for an hour!” Aunty Eleonore once again cut through her thoughts like a hot knife with her words, now more amused than angry.

Out of pure reflex, Octavia sat up straight, reached for a non-existent cello and immediately said, “Yes ma’am, sorry ma’am,” before she could even form a coherent thought. Old habits really did die hard, or so it seemed. Octavia felt a momentary confusion when her cello was nowhere to be found, only to realize exactly what had happened. “Ah… Confound it, Aunty! You promised not to do that to me anymore!” Octavia huffed out, her moment of panic forgotten in the much more critical moment of sheer embarrassment.

Aunty Eleonore smirked at her, pulling out the worn and curved pipe to stab the stem at Octavia firmly, in the manner she always did when she was intending to make a point. “I promised not to do that to you so long as you behaved like a grownup. Since you have decided to act like a silly headed filly, I shall treat you like one.” She clamped her teeth back down on the pipe and gave it several impressive looking puffs before continuing to speak. “You’ve grown remarkably since I sent you out into the world, Octavia - but you still have much to learn about how the other half lives, I see.”

Octavia blinked, wondering why her thoughts felt slow and murky - understanding rather late that once again, Aunty Eleonore was trying to teach her something, and she simply wasn’t keeping up. Her aunt sighed and gestured with her pipe, a thin wisp of smoke wafting out into the still bustling and busy room. “Look at them, Octavia. They’re the ones our society has forgotten. The infirm, the imperfect, the lost. The ones who live far below the salt, who make their way in the world whatever way they can.” Her aunt looked distant and sad for a moment, and Octavia wondered what sort of memories this place was stirring up. “I was so surprised to find out our little Arpeggio ended up here, I forgot that I never educated you in these sorts of things. You were too young, I told myself - and my damnfool son and his damnfool wife would have used it as an excuse to horn me out of the family regardless.”

“Aunty… what on earth are you speaking of?” Octavia began slowly, looking to where her Aunt was gesturing. For a moment, Octavia detached herself from worries about Vinyl and tried to pay attention. All around her, the ponies she’d given only a casual glance before came into focus. Octavia - long accustomed to the act of spotting the relative social status of any given pony on sight - began to absorb some of what Aunty had just told to her.

There on the stage - a blue coated unicorn mare, just out of her teens and rigid with aristocratic bearing. She also bore a number of very fine scars around her neck and close to her horn that spoke of either some horrific accident… or abuse. Yet she was smiling, if only a little, and slowly letting go of that unconscious arrogance to laugh and go through the motions of a dance routine with the other ponies.

There, behind the bar - a very young earth pony colt with a bright orange coat was quietly counting bottles behind the bar and checking the level of liquor in each one. He didn’t look like he was older than one of the children in Cheerilee’s class. He had a grubby, heavily underfed sort of look but seemed cheerful enough as he went about his task - carefully measuring each bottle and then scribbling the information down on a chalk-slate. There were no obvious signs of harm, but the way he moved - the way he scurried - spoke of a pony who feared being noticed by others.

And there, sitting quietly at a table was an older powder blue coated pegasus mare with a pair of large bells for a cutie-mark. Next to her was a little pegasus filly with teary eyes and a wild, flyaway mane as they spoke gently to one another. The little filly had a bindle which she had attached to a stiff tree limb that leaned nearby, filled with all the sorts of things the young often thought of when running from home. A favorite toy, a photograph, a few juice boxes, and… “Oh,” Octavia voiced softly, the meaning of the scenes around her coming into focus.

“Mm,” Aunty Eleonore agreed, returning the pipe to her mouth with a nod of satisfaction. Eleonore had always been approving when Octavia didn’t need to have something outright explained to her… even if she needed to have her head pointed in the right direction. “So before you let that fine mind run away with you, Octavia, you’d best consider the reasons why something happened the way it did before you make judgements.” Aunty rapped her pipe on the table decisively, signalling an end to that particular lesson. “Now, stiffen your spine, girl. My son will be here soon and we can’t have you moping about like a filly without a prom date.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Octavia said primly and took a moment to focus on checking her appearance before… “Wait.” Octavia’s brain crashed to a halt, her eyes widening for a moment as the thought finally penetrated through her haze of self-realization. “Father is coming here!?”

Author's Note

Because you guys have been so patient, here is Part 1 of this story. Part 2 is nearly completed and will be published when it is. Further parts will be pubbed as finished, with no guarantee for publish dates. I know this is a little different than my usual publishing MO, but I thought you guys had waited long enough.

Sex tag is for future parts. But as anyone who's read this series knows, I put in the sex when it matters in the story.