EWYHP: Even When Years Have Passed

"I'm sorry, mother," Octavia looked down, holding back her tears as she recalled the incident. She just wanted to eat cupcakes, that was all, but she forgot to chew and then she choked. She was surprised when she swallowed the three cupcakes, they can fit in her small throat at the same time. She regretted what she did after her brother stopped her from choking, displaying a revolting sight when she vomited all over her brother's face; a mix of chocolate cupcakes and vegetables. She looked at her mother, who sighed in disappointment and worry. She bit her bottom lip as she traced circles on the floor, hearing cries of disgust from the bathroom.

Melody Heart looked at her daughter's big, lavender eyes, rubbing Octavia's furry back to give her comfort, perhaps she would continue teaching Octavia proper manners and forget about giving her a break. It was a rule in the Philharmonica family, the parents should teach their children proper etiquette and behavior, if the parents disobeyed the rule, they have lost the right to call themselves a 'Philharmonica'. Melody Heart loved fun and partying, but she must obey the rule, no matter how hard it was.

"Oh dear, you almost died! I'm afraid that I should continue teaching—" she paused for two seconds when she saw a small tear from Octavia's eye trickle down to her cheeks. Her heart softened, she remembered when she heard Octavia and Quarter Note having a discussion about how she turns into a monster when it comes to teaching manners. She gulped that time, wanting to retrieve the lost love by giving her a break for one month. "—fine, I'll give you one last chance, besides," she took Octavia with her hooves and lifted her up in the air, giggling, "everypony needs second chances, right?"

Octavia nodded happily while smiling, giving her mother a big hug. "Thank you, mother," she whispered, not breaking the hug. She remembered something important and broke the hug, her eyes twinkling. "I almost forgot, I need to go to the park later this two o'clock!"

"Why is that?" she asked her in a soft voice and tilted her head to the side. It was her first time hearing Octavia needing to go to the park and that intrigued her to know more. First, she thought that was because of her daughter's friend and her second thought was the new fountain in the park that intrigued Octavia to see it, but she already visited the park and probably has no interest on it.

Her tail wagged, smiling widely when she rubbed her left foreleg. "I will play with Vinyl today!" she squealed due to her happiness and resisted the urge to bounce around the living room. She stopped squealing, wondering if ponies could even bounce with their hard hooves. She shrugged nonchalantly, it didn't matter to her since it was unlikely for her to do that.

/-/-/

"I told you she would go there," Fancy Pants grinned smugly, levitating the fork into his mouth. He enjoyed lettuces, especially fresh ones, so he thanked the maid who bought the lettuces. The teal-coated mare gave a smile and nodded, receiving a smile from Fancy Pants.

Snow Beat groaned in defeat. "I hate losing..." she stared at Fancy Pants angrily when he chuckled.

Vinyl tried her best to ignore the two ponies and continued eating her vegetable. Her red eyes suddenly widened when she tasted the carrot. She wondered why it tasted good than the carrots back in Manehattan, because she knew that Manehattan had good quality products than Canterlot. She turned to Fancy Pants. "Blue mustache, why these carrots are more delicious than the carrots back home?" she asked in her squeaky voice.

Fancy Pants chewed for a second and swallowed, wiping his mouth with the napkin provided. "Oh, it's because that carrots are from Sweet Apple Acres. Their crops are always delicious and fresh."

Swallowing slowly, Snow Beat placed her fork down. "I thought they only sell apples?"

Fancy Pants gave a fatherly smile, putting down the napkin. "That's what you thought, filly, how can the farm survive when they only sell apples to the customers? Apples are not the only food ponies need, we need other foods too. If they sell apples to the customer who is interested buying carrots rather than apples, the customer will not buy them. They will get insufficient funds if they sell the same product twice, so they need to harvest other crops that other ponies need," he put on his best business-stuff look to Snow Beat, receiving an understanding look from her.

Vinyl formed a big 'o' in her mouth. "Oooohh," then she turned to Snow Beat who was staring at her oddly. "What is he talking about?" she whispered very quietly that only Snow Beat can hear, then she furrowed her eyebrows when Snow Beat facehoofed really hard. "Why you're hitting yourself? You're crazy."

Fancy Pants chuckled lightly, finishing his food quickly. "Vinyl, you're going to understand the stuff I'm talking about someday," he wiggled his eyebrows at Vinyl, receiving an aghast look from her. Fancy Pants laughed softly at his niece's behavior. With his food finished, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and put down his fork. "Sorry to say, but I must go."

Snow Beat glared at Vinyl when she was eating messily. She harrumphed and turned to Fancy Pants. "We understand, uncle, will you be back this afternoon?"

He nodded and stood up, putting down the napkin. He glanced on his watch and widened his eyes. "Well, goodbye Snow Beat and Vinyl, I promise I'll take you two to the Canterlot Movie Theaters this night," then he left the room.

Vinyl happily ate her cucumbers, ignoring the look Snow Beat gave her. With Fancy Pants gone, she would rule the entire mansion -- if Snow Beat was not beside her. Sighing, she politely asked the maids for an apple juice. "Remember, Vinyl, you need to earn these uniform ponies' respect before ruling this mansion! Better get rid of Sis first," she thought maliciously while staring at Snow Beat, who continued eating her lunch.

When the apple juice came, she thanked the maid and sipped the juice, then sunk deeper in her thoughts. When she swallowed, her eyes twitched and her body suddenly twisted -- throwing her apple juice to Snow Beat. Vinyl and the maids gasped in horror when the glass of apple juice slowly went towards Snow Beat who was completely unaware what was happening. Thinking quickly, Vinyl tried to levitate the glass away from Snow Beat, but realized that she couldn't even channel her magic.

And then a second later, Snow Beat's mane was dripping wet, completely shocked at the shattered glass on her mane.

Vinyl grinned sheepishly, mixed with fear and worry. "Uh, the... erm... too sour? I... guess?"

/-/-/

"Don't get too far!" Quarter Note shouted as Vinyl and Octavia ran away from him while they were laughing. He furrowed his eyebrows in worry, he was not sure if the fillies heard him or not, because if they didn't, he was completely sure that something bad was going to happen to them, especially to Octavia. He winced when he remembered Octavia puking on him, the scent still lingered inside his nose. He scratched the back of his head and sat beside Snow Beat who was reading a book on the bench. "Hello, Miss Snow Beat, right?"

Snow Beat stopped reading and looked at him. "Yup. What's your name?"

"Quarter Note," he smiled and yawned as the cool breeze touched his face. "They get along surprisingly fast," he commented at the two fillies splashing water at each other.

Snow Beat smiled at him and continued reading her book. She heard Quarter Note sigh and gave him a questioning look. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just... had a disgusting time with my sister," Quarter Note touched his mane, looking for puke even when he cleaned it thoroughly. He grimaced when he kept recalling the incident.

Interested, Snow Beat closed her book and sat properly and stared at his green eyes. "Tell me about it," she sipped the chocolate drink she bought earlier while they were going to the park. She raised her eyebrows when Quarter Note kept silent.

"You'll be disgusted, I'm sorry," Quarter Note crossed his hooves and looked up. He wondered why the birds were gone and why the sky was cloudy. "It's not supposed to be cloudy today," he clicked his tongue before turning his attention to Snow Beat. "I've never seen you two before."

"We've barely met each other," Snow Beat rolled her eyes, throwing her chocolate drink into the trash bin nearby.

Quarter Note chuckled, then cleared his throat. "No, I've never seen you two here in Canterlot before."

"That's because we're here to visit our uncle," Snow Beat replied flatly, looking up wistfully.

"Oh," Quarter Note stared at her for a moment and looked at the two fillies again. Seeing that they were fine, he thought angrily to himself. He cursed himself for killing the conversation with his 'oh' and not being able to put up a good conversation with mares. "Pardon me but, who's your uncle?"

Snow Beat hesitated a little but then decided to tell him. "Fancy Pants," she smiled at him.

Quarter Note put up a sad smile and looked away. Muttering to himself, he slightly frowned. "A friend of father..."

"Did you say something?"

His eyes suddenly widened and jumped slightly. He mentally smacked himself for being so jumpy -- only to hear a giggle from Snow Beat. "Um, I... er, sorry, and no, I didn't say anything," he stuttered, his dark brown mane dangling in between his eyes. He gasped in horror, receiving a look from Snow Beat. "It's not slicked back!"

"Um, we've just met and I think you're already having issues with me, I guess?" she raised her eyebrows at Quarter Note's messy tail, then looked at his mane.

"Sorry about that, Miss Snow Beat, but I'm just having problems with my mane -- I can't see properly," he tried to put the mane backwards, but it returned in between his eyes. Sighing in defeat, he stopped. "I need a manecut."

Snow Beat rolled her eyes, smiling. "Please drop the 'miss'. Oh, by the way, why your mane is not messy while your tail is?"

His face slightly flustered and hid his tail behind him. "It's hard to comb your tail when you're an earth pony, you know," Quarter Note's green eyes fixed on Snow Beat's cutie mark and wondered why cutie marks match the owner's name -- including his. He thought that maybe it wasn't the cutie mark that tells what the pony's talent was -- it was the name.

"Wait," Snow Beat blinked slowly, staring at Quarter Note's grey face. "You comb?" then she gradually snickered, receiving a look from Quarter Note.

"Yes, what's wrong with that?"

Snow Beat tried to control her snickering, but failed. "I thought stallions don't comb their mane? Only mares do that!" that received a hurt and offended look from Quarter Note.

"How are we supposed to keep our manes tame when we don't use a comb?" he narrowed his eyes and crossed his hooves, receiving a somewhat apologetic look from Snow Beat who stopped snickering.

"Sorry about that, I remembered that this is Canterlot," Snow Beat waved her hoof dismissively and gave him a sardonic smile, but Quarter Note raised his eyebrows at her. "How do earth ponies comb with one hoof?" she changed the topic quickly before Quarter Note could object something.

Quarter Note looked up wistfully and looked at Snow Beat again. He wasn't sure if a unicorn like Snow Beat would understand how they did it. "You grab it with your hoof and comb your mane, done."

Snow Beat furrowed her eyebrows, skeptical about what he just said. She tapped her hoof repeatedly on the bench to collect her thoughts. "But it will fall off."

He expected Snow Beat to question their logic, so he cleared his throat. "You need to grab it properly in order for it not to fall off," he looked around for an object that would demonstrate how earth ponies did it, then he found a rock under his bench. Grabbing it with his one hoof, he showed it to Snow Beat.

Looking more skeptical than before, she took the rock from his hoof by her magic, then she put it down. Remembering how Quarter Note did it, she held her hoof out. "Lemme try," Snow Beat grabbed the rock and tried lift it, instead, she pushed it to the ground. She thinned her lips, wondering how earth ponies did that. "It fell."

Quarter Note nodded in agreement, looking at the poor rock that was pushed by the white mare. He pitied the rock, but he didn't know why he should do that. "Indeed."

Awkward silence ruled over them -- both pitying the rock. They didn't dare to look at each other -- such an act would offend the grey rock. They both gulped, one was wondering whether he would continue teaching his or not, and one was wondering if she could change the topic.

Snow Beat broke the silence by giggling, ignoring the confused look from Quarter Note. "I feel bad for the rock," a pause, "Anyways, why don't you—"

Suddenly, they were both tackled by a screaming grey blur, followed by a laughing white blur. Quarter Note let out a yelp of pain as Snow Beat successfully protected herself with her magic. Quarter Note groaned and opened his eyes—only to be greeted by a white filly with a wild blue mane stepping over him. He grunted each step the filly made, making him almost vomit.

"You're it!" Vinyl screamed loudly, drawing in attention from the ponies around them.

Octavia gasped in shock. "That's not—" her voice cracked, "—fair!"

"It is!"

"No! It is—"

"Graaaahh! Why I am always tackled by you?" Quarter Note grunted as he recovered, receiving aid from Snow Beat. He looked at his black wristwatch and widened his eyes. "It's past four o'clock! Octavia, let's go home," he thanked Snow Beat while getting down from the bench.

Octavia stared at him with her mouth wide open—so was Vinyl. "But we just got here!" she looked at Vinyl for support, who nodded vigorously in return.

"That's right! Right Snow Beat?" Vinyl looked at Snow Beat who glared at her and shrugged. Vinyl winced, remembering that Snow Beat didn't forgive her yet for what she had done.

"Time flies quick, fillies, time flies," Quarter Note caught Snow Beat rolling her eyes, then he stared at her. "What?"

"Nothing," came the flat-toned reply from Snow Beat.

"Aww..." the fillies said in unison, giving each other sad looks.

Snow Beat patted Octavia's head. "I know, it's surprising how quickly time flies, but you need to go home with your brother," she turned to Vinyl, who was grimacing. She glared daggers at her that made Vinyl hide behind Octavia. "And you, don't you forget your punishment, you're lucky I let you play with her."

Vinyl and Octavia groaned.

"Well," Quarter Note took Octavia and placed her on his back and started to fear if Octavia might puke on him again. "Goodbye, Snow Beat, it was 'nice' meeting you."

"Yeah, goodbye," Snow Beat levitated Vinyl upside-down and ignored Vinyl's pleas. With that, she started to walk away.

Quarter Note walked away as the two ponies left his field of vision. His stomach started to grumble and furrowed his eyebrows, he just ate snacks on his way to the park and he was hungry again. He walked faster, making Octavia bounce slightly on his back, he saw her putting a hoof on her chin. He saw a hayburger stand and made his way there.

Suddenly, Octavia's hoof stomped hard on his back, making him yelp. "Brother, why you didn't act like a gentlestallion earlier?" she tried to find a comfortable spot for her to sit comfortably, but stopped when Quarter Note slowed down.

"I'm a gentlestallion in formal events, but I'm just a normal citizen today."

Octavia's nose wrinkled when he finished talking in a serious voice. "You're weird. Are you friends with Miss Snow Beat now?" she asked as Quarter Note bought two hayburgers from the stand—one for him and one for her. She happily took the hayburger he offered and began munching down.

Quarter Note started to walk again, eating his hayburger. "I don't know, I think she thinks that I'm weird or awkward."

"What makes you think that?" she stopped eating for a moment to hear her brother—the sound of munching was distracting her.

"Well, I started teaching her how to lift an object the earth pony way," he stopped chewing for a moment and continued. "She was the one who asked you about it, Quarter," he mentally facehoofed because he would fall if he had two hooves working.

Silence.

"You're really weird."

"I know."