Author's Note

Not going to make you guys wait for me to finish Sonata Rondo. I hope to have that done... soon. Maybe tonight, even.

Scherzo

~~~~~Vinyl’s Room, That evening.~~~~~

As night fell upon the city of Manehatten, so too did the Hidden Heart rouse itself from slumber for the night of entertainment to come. Mama Charity had graciously offered Vinyl her old room for the night, and given that there was nowhere else in Manehatten she’d rather be staying, Vinyl had readily accepted. Besides, it would give her a chance to talk to Tavia, who had been incredibly quiet since Poppa had shown up.

That alone would have been worrying, but the fact that Tavia had been walking away from Red with a sort of determined look on her face hadn’t helped. Vinyl could only imagine what Red Velvet had said to her, and was hoping this whole thing wasn’t going to turn into one giant clusterbuck. Actually, it’s probably already a clusterbuck. Vinyl mentally sighed, flopping down on the faintly spicy smelling sheets, attesting to the normal business that would have been going on in here were this any other evening.

Vinyl was suddenly very glad for the thick, well insulated walls that separated herself from the usual goings on in the club, as memories of the activities that went on here flooded back into her mind. She only hoped Octavia wouldn’t get too scandalized before she reached the room, but given what was probably already going on out there, she didn’t have much hope of that.

The door swung open quietly a few moments later, and Octavia slipped in. “By Celestia’s mane, what in the name of goodness is this place!?” she exclaimed, leaning against the door as though bracing it from any of the wildness outside coming in. Vinyl rolled to her belly and couldn’t help but grin at her beloved, who was giving Vinyl a startled sort of look that soon narrowed into a more suspicious look. “This is one of those things where I really do not wish to know the answer, isn’t it?”

Vinyl stifled a giggle, shaking her head slowly. “Jeeze, Tavia. I thought you’d have picked it up by now. It’s a burlesque club and brothel, darlin’.” She paused as Tavia’s eyed widened just a fraction. “Course, I’m pretty sure it qualifies as a fetish club too, but that’s kinda beside the point. Mama Charity has to keep this place in bits somehow, and there ain’t a lot of better ways to do it.” Vinyl tucked her hooves under her chin and rested her head for a moment.

Watching Tavia work her way through something shocking to her sensibilities was always kinda fascinating. Her face made all sorts of interesting expressions ranging from horrified to pitying, but tonight Vinyl was looking for something else. “ ‘Sides, we got other stuff to talk about, I think.” There was something about how those words affected Tavia that worried Vinyl pretty badly.

Tavia’s face settled into a mask of calm and determination, a look Vinyl instantly recognized from Tavia’s earlier attempts at hiding her real emotions. Having observed her sister doing this before, spotting the signs was as easy as remixing electric guitar to her. “Ah… yes, I spoke with Red Velvet earlier, Vinyl. It was quite apparent just how deep her feelings for you ran, and…” Octavia hesitated over her words, giving Vinyl enough time to feel her shock. “And I think we ought to have a discussion about-”

“Whoa, whoa whoa!” Vinyl burst out, practically launching herself off the bed and toward Octavia. “Hang on a minute! Hold the bucking show, what in the world you talkin’ about, Tavia?” Octavia’s words died in her throat, her eyes widening and her hooves backing up a step and bumping her into the doorway of the room. The shock on her face was quite clear, and Vinyl felt an absurd bit of anger at it. “Octavia Piano, just what do you mean how I felt about her?” There was a degree of anger in her voice, despite Vinyl’s best attempt to squash it.

And boy did Tavia not take that terribly well. “Oh, come now, Arpeggio!” she snapped, her tone flaring with heat. “You are simply not that physically comfortable with very many ponies! Blessed Celestia, unless you’re crawling all over them for intimacy, you won’t even accept a hug from-” Octavia’s mouth snapped shut and a look of mortified horror flashed over her face.

Vinyl felt her gut sink into her hooves, not even bothering to hide the coldness in her tone. “You ever think there might be a reason for that?” It was widely believed she was really, really physically comfortable with other ponies. It was a good sort of reputation to have in her field, but the truth was there hadn’t been that many. Oh, she’d had a lot of sex over the years, that was true. But there was sex, and there was comfortable intimacy. “You think there might be a reason why I choose to only let a few ponies get close to me like that?” she continued, advancing another step and forcing Octavia to press her back up against the door.

Viny took a deep breath, and exhaled it. She wasn’t going to let her temper ruin what she had with Tavia, no matter how pissed she might be. “Yeah, Red Velvet means a lot to me, Tavi. She’s a hell of a pony, and she’ll always hold a special little place in my heart.” Vinyl kept her eyes fixed to Octavia’s, determined to drive home how she felt right then. “She was there for me when I was alone and scared, and both her and Momma Charity showed me a love our parents never did.”

She flung up a hoof and shoved it right into Octavia’s mouth, forcing it closed just before it could squeak out a word. “Octavia, shut up and bucking listen to me.” Vinyl growled, and thank Celestia she did, nodding meekly back at Vinyl. “I told you before, and I’m gonna tell you again. You’re the only pony I fucking love, Octavia Piano. You’re the pony I want to marry, you’re the pony I wanna spend the rest of my life with, raise a coupla foals and grow old and silly together with.” Vinyl slammed her hoof into the door next to her, dropping her head and her voice at the same time.

She had to be calm about this. She had to keep her emotions in check. “Red’ll always be special to me, Tavia. So will Charity and a lot of other ponies. I can’t stop how I feel about them any more than I can stop how I feel about you.” Vinyl took in a deep breath and exhaled it again, calming slowly. “I don’t care what Red might’a said to you. We’re an us now, Tavia. That means we stick together, remember? No regrets.”

Vinyl peeked up and half smiled at Octavia, whose face was a mask of conflicting emotions ranging from shock to anger to sappy love. Vinyl lifted her hoof to take Octavia’s chin and lift it up so she might look right into those gorgeous eyes. “Tavi…” she began softly, wishing not for the first time that she could read Octavia’s mind, if only to make moments like this easier. “If you really, truly, personally want to start somethin’ up with Red… Hey, I’m not gonna complain.” Vinyl grinned a little as she said it, trying to inject some much needed humor into the situation.

Octavia stared at her and sighed dramatically. “I swear to Celestia, you are an incorrigable pervert, Vinyl!” And a grey hoof came up and smacked her upside the head, with Octavia’s mouth set in a moue of anger. “And you’re also an impossible mare to live with sometimes, and…” The hoof came up and smacked her on the other side of the head, but Vinyl never let the grin waver until Octavia finally cracked with another sigh. “And I am so very confused about everything that’s happened today, and I think we need to sit down and talk with one another about this.”

Vinyl nodded and gently took Octavia’s hoof in her own, pulling her toward the bed. “Okay. First thing, I wanna apologize about… all of this.” She waved her hoof airily at the room and the club in general as she planted her butt on the edge of the bed. “Charity really did ask me not to bring it up. This place is kept secret for a lot of reasons, Tavia.” Octavia soon followed suit, sitting with much more primness than Vinyl had shown before fixing her with a slightly icy stare.

“Vinyl, I need to know exactly what is going on in this place,” Tavia stated as boldly as she’d ever said anything before in her life, and Vinyl nodded minutely. Just before the night had come, she’d made sure that spilling the beans had been cool with Charity. Of course, the next bit… “And I need to know what happened between you and Red Velvet.” Vinyl did wince at that one, but she nodded again.

“Okay, well…” Vinyl began hesitantly, and then sighed. In for a bit… “I’ll tell ya what Charity told me. The Hidden Heart is a place for abused or unwanted foals. Runaway fillies and colts come from every corner of Equestria to Manehatten.” She crossed her hooves over her belly and looked straight at Octavia, trying to keep her voice as calm as she could. “There’s a lotta ponies out there who don’t treat their kids real well, Tavia. It ain’t always intentional either. But Charity takes in any youngin’ who’s deformed or is being abused, or just plain can’t take care of themselves. Anypony in trouble can come here, and Charity’ll give ‘em a new name and hide ‘em.”

Octavia looked as predictably shocked as Vinyl would have thought, and half smiled. “The problem is keeping the place running is expensive, and she can only take in so many who can’t do work just yet. So anypony who’s got a talent in somethin’ is expected to use it to contribute. Some of us were good as performers, and others were good at… other stuff.” She sighed and turned her head away then, knowing what Tavia would be saying after this next line. “She keeps the local muckity mucks from nosing in by selling ‘em favors. Nopony here does anything they’re not willing to do, but there ain’t many here who wouldn’t give a little bit of themselves to help the rest.”

Octavia’s voice came a moment later, bursting out in shock. “But… Vinyl that’s… Insane! Illegal! And quite possibly-” Then Octavia stopped, and Vinyl turned her head in confusion. Octavia’s hooves were pressed over her mouth and she looked oddly thoughtful amidst all of that shock and disbelief. “Goddess, so that’s why,” she half whispered, looking up at Vinyl. “That’s why you didn’t come back to the piano… why you couldn’t play for so long.”

Vinyl nodded a little, amazed that Tavia had caught on so fast. “Like I said, we all pitched in. But I was so scared of being caught, I had to find something else I could do to help. Enter Red Velvet.” She shrugged her shoulders a little, feeling a ghost of a real smile cross her face. “It wasn’t much to jump from loving her as a friend to loving her in other ways. I was pretty ignorant already about what sex was in the first place, and Red was all too eager to teach me.” She sighed softly, rubbing at her head and tossing her shades onto the side table.

Maybe it was pointless, but she had to say it anyway. “Don’t judge Red too hard, Tavia. She was…” She paused… did she have any right to tell Tavi about this? Red gave me that right when she horned in on us. “She was brought up as a… special kind of servant, Tavia. Born to it, quite literally, for some high and mighty noble. She’s never really known any other life.” Vinyl winced a little at telling Tavia that, but… Well, sometimes you had to do the hard stuff.

Octavia looked dumbly fascinated as Vinyl continued to speak, rubbing at her shoulder in discomfort. Even now, the story sickened her every time she thought about it. “Charity told me once that sex was pretty much the same thing as love to Red. So… so I tried to give her more than that. I was losing hope that I’d ever see you again, and I…” She stopped and shook her head faintly, lowering her head. How could she say it?

“You made promises,” Octavia said softly, a gentle hoof touching Vinyl’s shoulder a moment later. Vinyl leaned into that touch, and a moment later she could feel the warm body of Octavia leaning against her. “You… said you’d be back, didn’t you?” Vinyl nodded, not wanting to admit just how low and how weak she’d gotten back then. But it was important to be honest, especially with your very special somepony.

Especially when it was as important as this. “Yeah. I figured it’d only be a couple of years till I had a career good enough to make it in Manehatten. Then I started getting a line on you, and…” Vinyl snapped the words off, closing her eyes and taking a shuddering breath before continuing. “I lost track of what I’d been doing. My career was a lot harder to launch than I thought it would be, and I got distracted trying to nail down word of where you were. Things got bad by the time I found out, and…” she gestured helplessly. “The rest is history and all that jazz.”

The silence that came after that was a little comforting. At least Tavia wasn't jumping to any immediate conclusions. “Oh, Vinyl,” Octavia said with an exasperated smile. “You lovable idiot. “ She reached over and smacked Vinyl upside the head, rolling her eyes as she did so. “I swear, you’re worse than Bon Bon when you get your silly head wrapped around something.” Well, that was technically true, but she didn't have to hit her.

Tavia plopped her butt down next to her own and wrapped a foreleg around her shoulder. “I suppose I cannot blame her for wanting you so badly, then. You are quite the catch.” She was quiet, but it wasn’t the dangerous sort of quiet. It was more like the sad sort of quiet. And she was making her blush too, the scamp. “As much as I love you, it still hurts to know I have to take you away from somepony else to have you myself.” Yeah, that was all too much like Tavia.

Vinyl sighed. She had to agree the last part sucked seriously bad. “Red’s not a bad pony, Tavia. Just…” Just what, Vinyl? Just somepony you made a promise to and now you gotta break it? She tapped her hooves together, trying to think of… of something. Of anything. Red deserved better than this, dammit...

“You should go talk to her.” Octavia sounded firmer than before, and when Vinyl looked up she was giving her that stern look that Aunty Eleonore had mastered a long time ago. “She needs to hear it from you, Vinyl. And then we…” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “We need to go see Mother.”

That… Vinyl didn’t want to do that. Ohhhh no. Meeting Dad had been hard enough on her, and he’d actually given enough of a shit to come and find out she was alive. Mom had bailed on her, and that was that. But… “You got somethin’ you need to tell her, Tavi? Because I don’t.” It was hard to be blunt like that, but she had to make sure.

Octavia nodded. She even looked all stubborn and cute about it, and... Damnit. “Aright, aright…” she grunted and threw her hooves up. “We’ll need to go through Canterlot anyway. If she ain’t there though, we’re not stickin’ around to wait her out. I wanna get home and plan the wedding now that Dad and Aunty are comin’.” The rest could be dealt with later. She wanted to be done with this now, especially after this crap with Red. Crap she shouldn't have had to deal with, but Vinyl supposed it was just that kinda day.

Octavia touched her hoof, and she sucked in a deep breath. She wasn’t going to let anger get the better of her, she wasn’t going to go off on a tear… she was gonna deal with it and then get over it so she could go back to her life. Why’n the blue hell did I think this was a good idea again? Oh yeah, cuz I wanted to put the kibosh on my old life… An look what ghost I conjured up because of it. Teach me to try and solve shit with words.

Then a kiss touched her cheek, and she turned to face the mare of her life. “Vinyl…” Tavia’s voice broke on the word, but only a little. “Your heart was wholly in the right place to try and make amends with Poppa and Mum. You couldn’t have known our travels would bring us here, either.” Two gentle hooves cupped her cheeks and her vision was filled with Tavia’s bright eyes. “Don’t allow that good heart of yours to go hard because things have gone a touch sour on us.”

She opened her mouth to rebut that ‘a touch’ business, but it snapped shut at the pleading look in Tavia’s eyes. “Ugh… Why are you so cute!?” Vinyl snapped in mild frustration, wanting nothing more in that moment than to punch a pillow. But instead she grasped Octavia’s shoulders and pulled her close, pressing her head against Tavia’s. “This isn’t fair, Tavi. Not to you, not to her, and not to me.” She knew she was just grousing now, and that the crap she was bitching about was pointless to bitch about.

Tavia’s smile said she knew it too. “This from the mare who constantly lectures me on the absurdity of fairness.” Her voice teased her gently, and Vinyl felt her cheeks flush. Okay, so maybe that line had been a bit… dumb. “Vinyl, we can but do our best to deal with the hoof life has dealt us.” Her hooves came up to ruffle her already ruffled mane, and Tavia kissed her horn sweetly. “Now go deal with your old marefriend. I shall discuss my strategies with Aunty.”

Vinyl nodded, and tried to stifle the pain in her gut. ‘Dealing’ with Red Velvet wasn’t gonna be as simple as all that. Probably.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Hidden Heart was as raucous as she remembered it. Young waitresses scurried about the working floor, flouncing tails up at customers and delivering food and drink with a remarkable efficiency. Then again, that was a job she’d done once upon a time, though she could never remember looking quite so… flirty. Well. Okay, maybe she’d been a little flirty, but still.

The air exploded with laughter as the Gagsworth brothers hit the deck with a bit of their trademark slapstick. Li’l Gagsworth had just given his brother Biggun a face full of cream pie and sent him tumbling to the stage. A classic that never failed to draw guffaws from the crowd, and that usually meant they were about to lead into a rapid-fire insult showdown.

But Vinyl had no time to enjoy their work, because somewhere around here Red Velvet would be plying her trade. Unless she was on stage tonight, which would be a trifle awkward. Wait. Had she just thought the word ‘trifle’? Okay, she seriously needed to stop hanging around Tavia so damn much, she was starting to talk like her. Ugh. She needed to go on tour or something.

Damnit, Vinyl, focus. Where was Red? She wasn’t tending bar or working the tables. She could be doing hoofdances, but… nah. She probably wasn’t that bored on a Saturday night. So that meant she was either already upstairs with a customer, or… Crap. That meant she’d have to go find Mama and get tonight’s schedule.

Working through the crowd wasn’t too hard, but what was a little tougher was dodging the familiar faces. Sure, a few performers had come out of the Hidden Heart clubs to make names for themselves but… Well, the last thing she needed was to start scandalizing Tavia by having her old life interfere with her new one. Especially when she recognized a coupla rather enthusiastic old favorites that knew a few things about how to use their stallionhood’s and… Gah! Focus, Vinyl! She nearly slapped herself.

Instead, she focused on finding Mama Charity. There was Bluebell and Sweet Nips, and… Ah! There she was, working the door and glad-hoofing some glitzy visiting noblepony. Her eyes sparkled and she laughed at some stupid joke, grinning even though the stallion had turned his nose up at her. Vinyl always admired Mama’s ability to work with the rich set, much as she stunk at it herself. How she managed not to slap the shit out of those jerks…

Vinyl’s hooves had carried her to the door, and she tried not to bounce on her hooves in nervousness. The last thing she wanted to do was confront Red Velvet after she got pent up on stage. There was no telling what that mare might be capable of when she got worked up after a show. “Psst.” She hissed, trying to catch Mama’s attention while keeping one eye on stage. Li’l Gagsworth had broken out the breakaway furniture, which meant they were almost done with their act. “Psssst!” She hissed harder, and finally Mama turned an eye towards her.

“Ah, excuse me a moment, Lord Lemon.” She cooed in a silky voice before slipping over to Vinyl with an arched eyebrow. She took one long look at her before sighing faintly. “You’re going to give Red the bad news, I take it.”

Vinyl wanted to be surprised, but she really wasn’t. “Yeah.” She muttered and almost kicked at the floor. Why on earth should she feel bad about this? Red, of anypony in the world, ought to have known the score… Maybe it was because… well...

Before she could finish the thought, Mama Charity shook her head. “She’s going on stage after one of the new girls does a little drama routine.” She turned and eyeballed the crowd. “You’ll have about ten minutes. I’ll see if I can buy you an extra ten with an impromptu farce.” She paused, then touched Vinyl’s shoulder. “Two-tone… if you wanna slip out tonight, I wouldn’t blame you. Neither would she.”

Maybe she wouldn’t… but Vinyl’d blame herself. “Nah.” She shook her head and half smiled. “I gotta be a grown up now, Mama. Even if it sucks balls.” She stuck her tongue out and Mama Charity giggled faintly. “Seriously, though. I love her, Mama. I can’t not tell her.” She huffed out a breath and looked towards the stage where the red curtain and fallen and the crowd was milling about. “She deserves t’ know.”

Mama Charity squeezed her shoulder. “They know to let you in back stage, Two-Tone. Try to stop by and give me a hug before you leave though, okay?” And then she was gone, doing the job she’d done for as long as Vinyl could remember her doing. Who was gonna take over when she passed on? A question for another day, maybe. But Vinyl really, really didn’t want to think too hard about a world without Mama Charity in it.

Finding her way backstage was all too easy, even in the thick crowd of a busy night. She’d done it so many times, it was almost like a reflex. Round about the central staircase, up to the second floor and past the hidden door in the break room. Down the interior staircase, watch out for that bum third-to-last step, and there you were.

The smell was deep and musty. Old curtains and sweat, sweet cider sitting in barrels for the performers, cloth and greasepaint, makeup and silk. The dim light of backstage was a home to her unlike anywhere else had been and just standing there brought back memories of a simpler time that seemed all too far away. Familiar faces grown older smiled at her as they passed by, and the whole place seemed to whisper welcome home, into her ears. It would be so bloody easy to slip back into Two Tone’s hooves. Piano performance in ten, Two-tone…

But that was another life and another time.

She skittered behind the curtains, watching the younger foals set up for the dramatic show. Looked like some play on the usual romance schtick. Something to keep the fillies happy when the colts were whistling at Red. Speaking of Red, finding her was just a matter of… figuring out where they’d moved her dressing room. Huh. She’d loved this spot just offstage. She liked to come out as fresh as she could manage.

A quick glance from side to side showed the signs of time marched on: New names on the doors, new stars on the ascendant. But Red really wasn’t that much older than she’d been when she got here, was she? Fortunately, there just wasn’t that much real estate to go searching in, and finding Red tucked away in the corner might’ve been a surprise if it hadn’t been her dressing room that Red had moved into.

Her cutie mark was even still painted on the door, same place she’d left it. Just barely kneehigh and a little messy. Vinyl facehoofed. Red wasn’t gonna make this easy on her, obviously. She knocked twice, then shoved the door open. No shenanigans allowed during work hours back here, and Vinyl was starting to get a little annoyed at how hard Red was tugging at her heartstrings. The smell of the room hit her like a cartload of Rarity’s perfume, and she nearly hacked herself silly fighting past it.

Red was perched on her stool and turned to face her with a look equal parts hopeful and sad. For a few long moments, Vinyl couldn’t say a word. Oh, she tried alright. She hemmed and hawed and huffed and puffed, but nothing was coming out that could be reasonably called ‘words.’ She bit at her lip after a few moments, Red’s hooves folded politely across her lap. She wasn’t going to help Vinyl say it, which was both good and bad.

Finally, she shoved the door shut behind her and glared into one corner. Maybe not looking at her would make it easier. “I’m sorry, Red.” She muttered, barely distinct enough to be considered coherent. But breaking the silence made the rest a little easier. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out the way I’d planned ‘em an’ I’m sorry I gotta be the one who leaves you at the…” A hoof pressed into her lips, silencing her.

Red’s eyes were… red. She was half smiling, a touch of wetness gathered about her eyes. “You two look awful cute together, ‘peggio.” Her voice shook a little, but she was smiling for real at least. “I just couldn’t let it go without givin’ it one more shot, you know? I’m sorry if your mar-” Her voice broke on the next word, and she swallowed and kept going. “If I got a bit frisky with your Marefriend. I’ll go apologize tonight, okay? W-we’re still gonna be friends, right?”

Her hooves were shaking, and it was all Vinyl could do to not hug her and tell her it was gonna be okay and they’d figure something out and- No, Vinyl. But she did hug her. “Yeah.” She muttered, trying to give a very special somepony some kind of comfort, somehow. “Yeah, we always will be, Red. You’re still an awesome somepony.” It wasn’t easy to talk for her, how bad must Red be feeling? “You need some time?” She quietly asked, touching a hoof that had more than once lulled her to sleep with its touch as a filly. But you couldn’t stay a filly forever.

Red nodded a little. “Yeah, I… Wouldn’t give a good show tonight, I think.” She cleared her throat and moved towards the door slowly. “I don’t know who else I can get to cover for me though…”

Then, Vinyl had an idea. A really stupid idea that her mouth ran away with before she could stop it. “I’ll do it.” She said, almost not believing her own voice. Red blinked at her in surprise and Vinyl couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll do a little something for old times sake, yeah? Be good for me, I think. Don’t gotta be afraid of my parents finding me out anymore.” She put on her best cheesy grin, and Red blinked at her.

But right now, the only thing she had in mind was… was she had to get this out of her system before it all came down around her ears. “Go tell Mama, yeah? The piano still in the same place?” She hurried along, and Red nodded absently before stepping to the door. Vinyl pulled her shades off and checked the room. Sure enough, tucked away in the corner… “And go ask Tavi to come down too.” She half choked out.

Red looked like she had something she wanted to say, but her mouth closed around it and she nodded. Then she was gone, leaving Vinyl alone in the room she’d spent so much time in, so very long ago.

♫ It’s… funny. ♫

The words echoed in her head as she pulled the white collar tight around her neck, buttoning it up with care. The notes echoed through the room with a hum that came from nowhere. It was Blue. Not pink, like Tavia’s. But… A touch of the hair gel from the bottle on the vanity slicked back her wild mane into something a bit more formal. She glanced once into the mirror as the words echoed around her head with an old tune she’d played one too many times.

♫ A cold, rainy day… ♫

The piano was just where she’d left it. A little more battered, a little more worn, but she touched a single key and it sang as sweetly as it had the day she’d left her behind. Somepony had been keeping her in tune. She was an old Coltswain that had seen way too many years on the stage. Too many amateurs who had no appreciation for the gentle tones it could produce, banging out melodies for comedy bits. But in spite of all that abuse, all those years of misuse… somehow the old girl still could croon like a pro. Not unlike a certain showpony standing next to her.

She put her hooves into it, pushing it on the old oiled rollers towards the stage. Stunned looks followed her all the way there, though maybe they were seeing her tears that she let fall to the ground unheeded. She’d wipe em away before she got out there, but right now… right now they had to flow. Promises kept and broken, she’d done them all in her lifetime. But never quite like this.

♫ It’s funny… ♫

The other performers gave way, the applause from the dramatic bits hitting her ears with a surprising suddenness. Had they called it on account of her? That’d be all too much like Red to do that to her, but maybe it was best this way. The Piano rolled onto the stage with her pushing, the familiar feel of the polished wood slipping under her hooves. A stool was pushed next to the piano by a smiling filly with a busted up wing, and Vinyl couldn’t help but smile back at her. She hopped up onto the thing and grabbed the cloth to wipe away her tears and then wipe the dust from the keys. The curtain slowly parted, and a gentle voice split the air.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, please welcome back to the Hidden Heart… For one night only, Lady Two-Tone.”

Silence swept the club, and the bright lights focused on her. Her hooves came up and she pressed them to the keys. One more time, Red. She whispered silently, and began to play.

♫ “Maybe… I should’ve saved those leftover dreams.” ♫

The words slipped out in a gentle tone, and the keys flowed under her magic. She closed her eyes and let the music swing, wishing she’d had the time to strike up a band to help with the bass. But this was good enough for now. She couldn’t have seen the crowd anyway, and there wasn’t much time to think. She had a song to sing.

♫ “Funny… But here’s that rainy day…” ♫

Life was never predictable. She’d learned that pretty young. But it never stopped hurting when you had to give up on a dream, even if you’d found another dream. It never stopped hurting to know that not everypony could win. Somepony had to end up on the wrong end of the stick somewhere along the line. It just really sucked that it had to be Red…

♫ “Here’s that rainy day they told me about….

And I laughed….

When they said that it might turn out this way…”♫

~~~~~The Friendship Express~~~~~

The gentle rush of wind past the windows of her train car threatened to lull Octavia to sleep, but she wasn’t going to do so until she was sure poor Vinyl had gotten to sleep too. The poor dear had been fighting with tears since they’d left the club some hours beforehoof, with only a promise from Aunty to come visit in Ponyville quite soon. They were going home now, with just a short stop in Canterlot to deal with one last problem… a problem that Octavia was quite determined to keep Vinyl out of.

Vinyl was staring out the window with that lost puppy look of hers, and it made Octavia quite furious. Mother. I expected better of you. Surely, mother had never been the most flexible of ponies, but really. To snub her like this was unconscionable, and then that business with Red Velvet… Yet how could she not understand? A love, born from need and loneliness was no less a true love than the bond they shared. Vinyl. I never meant to break your heart. It was a sad thought, but a genuine one.

But Vinyl would recover in time. It was never easy to leave your heart behind somewhere, only to find that your heart had grown beyond that place. Octavia had seen it before, and doubtless she would see it again. No, time and love would heal her mate. Speaking of which, she gently pressed her head up into Vinyl’s chin and the distraction elicited a gentle snuggle from her love. It was a good sign at least.

No, for now she needed to focus on how she was to deal with mother so as to not cause undue harm to Vinyl’s heart. The last thing she needed was for Vinyl and mother to come to blows over what had happened, especially given her beloved’s emotional state. Vinyl might very well lash out if mother got overly abrasive, and that was almost certain to happen in this tense moment.

“Tavia.” Vinyl croaked softly, instantly pulling her attention away from the problem of her most rude parent. “Did I do the right thing?” That was an odd question given what had happened today, but perhaps not an unexpected one.

Answering this correctly would be difficult. Vinyl did not simply wish to hear the practical problems with Red Velvet’s involvement, since she obviously already knew those. No, she was far more concerned with what she’d done to somepony she considered a friend. Not that it wasn’t necessary, but she certainly doesn’t want to hear that. “You did what you needed to, Vinyl,” she began slowly, trying to parse her words. “I know that’s not always simple or easy, but…” Oh, fie. She was mangling it already. The last thing she needed to do was-

Vinyl snorted faintly, leaning her cheek against the window. “Not always? Try never.” Her words came out bitter, but at least she wasn’t deadpan about it. “Tavia, I know I did what I had to do. I love you, and I’m with you, an’ that’s the long and short of it. But…” Her voice tripped again, and Octavia wondered what was going on behind her shades.

But the words put things into perspective. “Was it the right thing to do? I don’t know, Vinyl. I can’t tell you that.” Best to be upfront and honest. Maybe it would help. “What I do know is that it wouldn’t have helped anypony for you to lie to her or mislead her. She deserved better than that sort of nonsense.” And that was the truth, even if she’d gotten a bit forward with her.

Vinyl turned back to stare through the window silently, her jaw working as she chewed the words over in her mouth. “Maybe.” She conceded, bumping her head against the glass. “I still feel like shit about it.” She muttered a moment later, and her chest heaved just once in a restrained sob. Damnit, why did she do that? It was always… Octavia wanted to huff and smack her.

Instead she gently squeezed Vinyl’s shoulders and held her close. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things. She could smack Vinyl about later, when they got back to Ponyville and all of these nightmares were firmly in their rear window. Right now… “You wouldn’t be the mare I love if you didn’t.” She scolded, as gently as she could. “But right now, you need to sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning for it.”

Vinyl turned her head, hiding a smile behind her hoof. “I suppose it has been a super long day.” She grumbled, pulling her shades off and wrapping her hooves around Octavia. “Maybe I’m just tired…” She continued to grouse, leaning back into the cushions of the train-car seats.

“You’re always tired.” Octavia fired back, unable to help the grin on her face. “Perhaps I should make you get a regular job like normal ponies so you’re not awake at all hours of the night. You’d make a lovely piano instructor.”

Vinyl bonked her head on the back of the seat. “Oh hell naw.” She snarled, and Octavia giggled. Now that was more like the mare she loved.