EWYHP: Even When Years Have Passed

BoltStreamZero Presents

Even When Years Have Passed

/-/-/

It was late morning in Canterlot. A young grey filly was struggling to escape from her brother who was pulling her by her tail, but failed to do so. She was pulled along the cobblestone road of the streets of Canterlot and the filly was not liking it. Tears were forming in her lavender eyes due to her frustration. She tried to kick her brother's face using her hind legs but her short legs couldn't reach him. The filly saw a streetlight pole and an idea popped inside her mind. She wrapped her hooves around the pole, thinking that it would stop her brother, but the filly's strength was no match for the grey stallion, she desperately tried to grab the pole again, but she failed.

She whined, ignoring the look ponies gave them. "Brother, I don't want to go to the park! Please let me go!" she kicked wildly, but her legs still couldn't reach her brother. She knew that she disobeyed the rules of being polite, but she ignored it.

"No, Octavia," Quarter Note stomped his hoof gently to her tail to prevent her from escaping and sighed in frustration. He had pulled Octavia for five minutes, but to him, it felt like five hours. "You need sunlight!"

Octavia gave him an incredulous look, she thought that her brother was crazy. "We have sunlight, why I should go to the park when we have sunlight inside our house?"

Quarter Note rolled his green eyes, he knew that his sister was very stubborn, but he still can't get used to it. "Direct sunlight, Octavia. Goodness! I just can't ignore you staying under the shade all day! Plus, the only room we have that has glass roof is the music room and you need to exercise!" he groaned and continued pulling.

But Octavia continued to throw her hooves around to try to escape, she could feel the friction between the ground and her body but ignored it. She shouted for help to the ponies passing by, but their noses were sniffing the sun, they didn't give a care. She grabbed a stone and threw it backwards, hoping to hit her brother, but she failed. She muttered an apology to her brother for trying to hit him.

Quarter Note sighed, regretting, once again, of being an older brother. The park was a hundred meters away, still a long way to endure. He was running out of patience, but good thing his mother taught him manners and trained him to be a gentlestallion. "Okay, Octavia, choose: Do you want to go to the park or do you want Mother to teach you good manners and proper etiquette for the rest of your life?" he gave her a stern look.

"I—" she paused for a second, she knew that her mother would become a monster when if it came to teaching manners. She gulped hard, neither were favorable, but she decided to pick the one that would not make contact with her mother. "—fine," she uttered then stood up, removing the dirt from her fur and her black mane.

He smiled, knowing that Octavia would fall for that trap. "Come on, let's go. I'll treat you ice cream when we get there -- as a reward."

Octavia's eye twinkled, then she climbed her brother's back and messed Quarter's slick, brown mane, much to Quarter's chagrin. She pulled her brother's mane harshly. "Yeehaw!" she giggled when Quarter Note yelped in pain.

He put his hoof to his face, wincing as the back of his head was abused by Octavia. "Rewards are more effective than punishment," he muttered to himself as he folded the mental note and put it neatly away in his mental pocket then continued walking.

"Brother," Octavia furrowed her eyebrows, her brother's eye twitched, but she didn't notice. Her brother was always an enigma to her, but she couldn't get used to it. "Did you say something?"

Quarter Note turned to his sister, worried that Octavia heard him say something. He searched for an excuse to get away from the topic, but fortunately, he was trained. He put his emotionless face on before opening his mouth to speak. "I was just muttering the flavors you might like, so, do you like cookies and cream?"

Octavia started drooling when she heard her favorite flavor, but she remembered that such an act was improper. She closed her mouth and made sure nopony had seen her besides her snickering brother. Excitement still flowing inside her, she said, "I don't like it, I love it!"

"Blimey, so gullible," Quarter Note turned his head forward and laughed, he admitted to himself that Octavia's love of cookies was so adorable, even though she could be annoying. He remembered that one time when he spied on Octavia because he suspected that it was Octavia who was emptying the cookie jar, and indeed he was right, Octavia begged him not to tell their mother about it, and in exchange, she controlled her inner cookie monster.

The pair talked for a while, mostly about cookies and how Quarter Note got his three quarter notes as a cutie mark until they reached the park. It was a glorious sight, there was an ivory fountain in the middle of the park, surrounded by a group of fillies and colts, playing with the water. Elderly ponies sat down on the white bench provided, watching the sky silently. The park was surrounded by nature, mostly by flowers. There was a cobblestone path provided for the ponies who intended to go to the other side of the park.

Quarter Note closed his sister's mouth for her and laughed. "I told you it was beautiful," he pointed at the mockingbirds, toucans, hummingbirds and other kinds of birds. He watched them in fascination. He watched as a butterfly fluttered to his sister's nose. Octavia giggled scaring the butterfly away.

Octavia's attention was drawn to a group of fillies and colts beside the fountain. She watched them laugh together and splash the water. Sadness filled Octavia's heart, she had no friends. She could never make friends because of her social ineptitude. Octavia looked away slowly and watched the birds once again. She hoped that Quarter Note hadn't see her staring idly at the ponies. If he had, he would force her make friends with them

"Go on, Octavia," Quarter Note smiled warmly at his sister, he knew that Octavia had no friends and always failed when it came to making friends. He didn't understand why fillies and colts in this generation ignored Octavia's intelligent, collected and organized attitude, not to mention she was adorable. "Talk to them."

She sighed and got off from Quarter's back, it was no use confronting him to just move on and forget making friends. She gave Quarter Note the puppy eyes look, begging him to ignore the fillies and colts. Quarter Note shook his head, Octavia sighed as she trudged slowly to the group of ponies. One of them was a cream colored pegasus with wild, orange mane, she stopped playing and looked at Octavia, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Uh, who are you?" The cream filly asked, wiping the water away from her nose.

Octavia gulped hard, she turned to look at Quarter Note, who was nodding excitedly, she looked at the filly pegasus again, who was staring her, she looked bored. "H-hello, my n-name is Octavia," she shyly asked, hoping that she will make a good impression.

The filly sweat cold drops. She wanted to go back to her four friends, who were staring at her as if calling her back, but she needed to get rid of Octavia first. "Oh, okay then. Well, I have to go now. My friends are waiting for me," she took off and flew back to her friends.

"Hey, Spitfire," the light blue coated colt with blue mane asked, walking beside his friends. "Who's that? She looks boring."

The other fillies and colts laughed, as if they agreed to what the light blue pegasus said. Spitfire stopped laughing in order to talk properly. "You're right, Soarin'. Hey guys, who wants to race with me? My wings are itching to fly."

The four friends raised their hooves, smiling widely. Spitfire flew away with her friends hot on her heels. Leaving Octavia shocked and sad. Tears were forming in her eyes as she looked back to Quarter Note, who was frowning and giving her a sympathetic look. She sighed sadly as she went back to her brother, fighting the urge to cry.

Octavia wiped the tears from her eyes. She silently sat down on the chair her brother was sitting on and gave him a pitiful look. Quarter Note caressed her cheeks the brotherly way, hoping that it will comfort Octavia in her distress. Octavia looked at him again. "I told you, it's no use. She didn't even give me her name!"

Quarter Note sighed, ruffling her mane before standing up. "Wait here, I'll go get your ice cream," he walked silently to the ice cream vendor who was happily selling ice cream to various ponies.

She laid back on the back of the bench, crossing her hooves as she looked at the sky, sighing exasperatedly. "Come to the park' he said, 'It will be fun' he said," Octavia mimicked Quarter Note's actions and voice earlier in the morning while forcing her to go to the park. She's used to having no friends, but she just couldn't get used when fillies and colts rejected her. She looked at the bush beside her, as if talking to it. "That's why I hate going out into public!" she shouted at the inanimate object.

Octavia groaned, looking at the birds again, she wondered why birds have no problems making friends with other birds. She thought that it was part of surviving the wild, but what if one of them was a backstabber? She laughed at the thought, then stopped when she thought that birds have little intelligence to do that. She wrinkled her nose when she thought why ponies ignore her despite of her intelligence.

"Why do they ignore me?"

/-/-/

A white filly took her saddlebag and went out from the train. She scanned her surroundings, ivory sky-rise towers and the breathtaking waterfall in the edge of Canterlot. She looked back to the white unicorn mare behind her, carrying a saddlebag similar to hers. She furrowed her eyebrows and yawned, waiting for the mare to get out from the Canterlot Train Station. "I don't get it, why should we visit uncle when he is so busy?"

The black-maned mare ran to the filly, levitating the filly's baggage in order for the filly to relax without her heavy saddlebag and stared at the filly's red eyes. "Because uncle really loves to see us," she said nonchalantly, ruffling the filly's wild, electric blue mane before continuing to walk.

"Well, I don't want to see him, so bye!" before she could trot to a random direction, she was stopped by a white aura surrounding her, lifting her beside the mare. She gave her an annoyed look, ignoring the glare the mare gave her.

"Behave, Vinyl, we will stay here for just two days and then we'll go back to Manehattan, and for your information, uncle is the one who gave you the blue headphones! You should thank him for the birthday gift," she dropped Vinyl on the ground, leaving her rubbing her back.

Vinyl Scratch stood up, rubbing the slight pain in her back. "Snow Beat, you can't be serious," she followed Snow Beat, who was smirking at her, she hates it when she does that. She doesn't understand why her cutie mark is an eighth note surrounded by snowflakes when her talent was picking on her, well, not really, her talent was singing. She wondered why there are snowflakes in her cutie mark. "That blue mustache doesn't have anything to do with my sixth birthday!"

Snow Beat laughed heartily when she heard the term 'blue mustache', her sister really doesn't want to meet their uncle. "Well, he gave you a gift, he just really wants to see you."

She sighed as she followed her sister. The two silently walked in the streets of Canterlot, finding the house of their uncle. Vinyl Scratch's stomach started to rumble while they were walking. Snow Beat flashed her a concerned look, receiving an emotionless stare from Vinyl. "What?"

"Don't fake it Vinyl, I heard you," Snow Beat levitated her sister to her back, making her feel comfortable. They continued walking, but this time, they were going to the candy stand.

Vinyl cocked her head, staring idly at Snow Beat's blue eyes when she turned her head around. "I'm not faking it, I'm hungry, go get me food," she ordered nonchalantly, receiving a smirk from her sister. She widened her eyes, that's the smirk she hated. "But that doesn't mean you have to go to the candy stand! Have pity on your sister! I'm hungry and you're giving me candy?!" she stared at her in disbelief.

Snow Beat giggled, her sister was the only filly in the world who hates candy, well, she doesn't hate candy, but Vinyl hates it when she's having too much. "Weird, you're the only filly in the world who hates candy," she teased before trotting towards the candy vendor, who was surrounded by fillies and colts.

"It's not like I hate candy!" Vinyl blushed in embarrassment, she tried to stop her sister using her magic, but she couldn't even channel the magic into her horn. She gave up and tried to bite Snow Beat's ear, hoping that it will stop her, but she failed. "Argh, this feels so wrong, why are you the one encouraging me to eat candy?" she glared at her when Snow Beat bought candies and gave some to her. She opened one and silently chewed the chewing gum. She admitted that it was good, especially when the flavor was mint.

She chuckled when Vinyl said that she was encouraging her. She continued to walk towards their uncle's house, surveying the beautiful surroundings. As she walked, she heard Vinyl saying hello's and hi's to other fillies and colts. She thought that they were her friends, she remembered that she made a big circle of friends in Canterlot when they visited their uncle last time. In Vinyl's seven years of living, she made numerous friends all over in Equestria. "Seriously, Vinyl, how many friends did you make here?"

Vinyl Scratch shrugged, she spat the chewing gum in the trash bin but it failed to shoot in the bin. She knows what will happen if you spat things on the ground of Canterlot, so she hid herself with her mane. "I don't know," she crossed her hooves and scanned her surroundings, checking if someone saw her spitting on the ground. According to her sister, if she was found out, she will go to jail, and she doesn't want that.

Snow Beat stopped on her tracks, eyeing the ivory, tall building in front of her. It was a fancy building with the feel of modern Greek in that house. She checked Vinyl on her back, fearing that she might escape. When she saw that Vinyl was behaving perfectly on her back, she turned and pushed the doorbell, making a peaceful sound. She put on her best smile before she heard the sound of the gate opening.

The pure white gate opened. Vinyl gulped hard and hid in her sister's mane. "Don't tell him I'm here!" she whispered quietly to her sister, but she knew that it's not going to happen because Snow Beat rolled her blue eyes. The white stallion with a monocle grinned widely when he saw the two ponies standing in front of him.

"Snow Beat! I'm glad you can make it!" he hugged the mare, and noticed that Vinyl was hiding in her mane, scared what will happen to her. "Where's my favorite nephew?" he laughed and levitated Vinyl out of Snow Beat's mane, he was surprised that she could fit in her sister's mane.

Vinyl put a hoof in her face when she heard the term 'nephew', the correct term was 'niece', but she knows that her uncle was very ridiculous, she really wanted to get out of the scene. The only thing Vinyl liked about her uncle was that he was a retired rockstar, and he was pretty famous back then, even now.

Snow Beat laughed and looked at her uncle, who was busy ruffling Vinyl's mane. She noticed that Fleur de Lis was not with him. "Uncle Fancy Pants, would you mind telling me where did Fleur de Lis go?"

Fancy Pants stopped ruffling the dizzy Vinyl Scratch and adjusted his necktie. He loves wearing tuxedo, whether it was a formal occasion or not, he loves wearing them. He gestured them to follow him inside his house. "I don't mind at all, dear. Come, this is not the best place to talk."

The pair nodded and followed after him. The garden was very breathtaking and there was a fountain in the middle of the garden. They walked on the stone road with Fancy Pants chatting happily with them. They reached the front door and opened it, revealing a very classy interior. He gestured them to sit on the couch while talking to the maids for drinks.

When he was finished talking, he fixed his dark blue mane and went to the luxurious, red couch, sitting on it. "The reason why Fleur de Lis is not here because she's in Fillydelphia to attend on her highschool reunion, she will not be back for a few weeks," he smiled at them and looked at Vinyl Scratch, who sighed in relief. "By the way, Vinyl, belated happy birthday! I'm sorry I couldn't go to your birthday party, I was really busy yesterday."

Vinyl rolled her eyes and received a smack from Snow Beat, wincing at the pain and glared when Fancy Pants laughed. Snow Beat flashed him an apologetic smile and laid back on the couch back. "That's fine with us Uncle, besides, Vinyl really likes the gift you gave to her!"

"Oh really?" Fancy Pants smirked, not noticing Vinyl Scratch who was getting out of the couch. "Well, I'm happy to hear that! I've never thought that Vinyl would like my gift," he thanked the maids when they gave him wine, Jaru wine, so classy. It was one of Fancy Pants' favorites.

"She even said that it was the best gift in the world!" Snow Beat chuckled and looked to her side, only to find out that Vinyl was no longer with them. "Where did she go?! That filly is so fast!" she looked at Fancy Pants who was chuckling at her.

Fancy Pants stood up, placing his wine glass on the table. "Ah, so good to be young, let her be. We will find her later after you unpack your luggage. That's one of the reasons I like Vinyl, she reminds me of my younger self, including the appearance," he laughed heartily.

Snow Beat snickered when Fancy Pants told her that she looked like Fancy Pants in his younger days, she followed Fancy Pants and looked back, she's used of Vinyl escaping from Fancy Pants' house, but she was still worrying that Vinyl might run into weird ponies again. She shrugged and continued following Fancy Pants.

/-/-/

Octavia shifted uncomfortably in her seat, she was not used to be alone, especially when she was in public. She avoided the eyes of random ponies who were staring at her. She tried her best to remain her calm posture, but she waited for her brother to come back for ten minutes. She was counting, but she wondered why it would take ten minutes just to buy ice cream. Maybe because many ponies were buying, or maybe the ice cream flavor was sold out and he was finding another ice cream stand to buy. That stallion will never break a promise.

She couldn't take it anymore. Getting down from her bench, she stretched her back until she heard the satisfying crack. She scanned her surroundings, finding her brother. When she didn't find him, she trotted towards the direction Quarter Note went. She thanked Princess Celestia for giving her good memory, or else, she'll wait for eternity. When she was trotting fast, she bumped into a white filly, sending her flying.

She stopped, completely shocked. She heard that earth ponies are stronger and have a lot of stamina, but she was surprised that a filly like her can send someone flying. She snapped out of her amazement and ran towards the poor filly. Octavia uttered words of apology to her and helped her stand up. "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I'm not looking where I am going!"

Vinyl shook her head, snapping out of her dizziness. She looked at Octavia, who was apologizing to her. When she let go of Vinyl, she fell back on her haunches, causing a terrified look on Octavia's face. When she was about to say something, Vinyl stopped her and flashed her a big smile. It was only morning but many things happened to her, plus, Octavia was the first filly who apologized for bumping into her, unlike other fillies, saying a bland 'sorry' then continuing their daily lives, they're not even helping her to stand up. "I'm fine and thanks for helping me," she extended her hoof to Octavia, smiling widely. "Name's Vinyl! What's yours?"

Octavia stared at her for a few seconds before cocking her head. "What?" she couldn't believe her ears. Someone just introduced herself to her and she's not even mad for sending her flying. Millions of thoughts rushed into Octavia's mind, she doesn't know what to do, especially when meeting a very friendly pony.

She giggled, then she stood up, brushing the dust away from her coat. "I said, my name's Vinyl, what's your name? I like you! Can we be friends?" Vinyl extended her hoof again to Octavia, hoping that she will shake her hoof. While she was outside, she thought that the best place to go before lunch was the park to kill boredom, or meet her other friends. She didn't expect to bump into someone she didn't know, because almost every fillies and colts in Canterlot were her friend.

Octavia's heart popped. Vinyl just asked her to become her friend and she likes her. She wanted to burst out of happiness and tell the world that she made a friend, only if she approved to be her friend. She remained her calm posture but she couldn't hide her smiling face.  "M-my name's Octavia! Pleasure to meet you!" she extended her hoof and shook Vinyl's hoof, receiving a wide grin from Vinyl.

"Cool! Does that mean we're friends?" Vinyl Scratch's eyes twinkled, making a new friend was always an excitement for her, but then she realized why Octavia was trotting. "Wait, are you in a hurry?" Vinyl frowned when Octavia nodded silently.

"I'm sorry, Vinyl, but I need to find my big brother," Octavia said, feeling a pang of sadness when she remembered her brother. She made a friend but she needed to find Quarter Note. She knew that her brother will be happy if he knew that, but he will be sad if she left him alone lost in Canterlot. That's what she thought.

When she was about to leave, Vinyl trotted beside her and smiled. She had taken an interest on Octavia. "Can I help you find him?" Vinyl grinned again when Octavia stared at her for a few seconds, as if thinking what words she will say.

"Yes," Octavia smiled before continuing to trot towards the direction she chose earlier, with Vinyl Scratch hot on her heels. She was surprised that she wasn't nervous when speaking to Vinyl. She didn't even realize that her brother was back because of her chat with Vinyl while trotting.

"Well, that was new," Quarter Note said, balancing the two ice creams with his hooves.