Vinyl woke up the next day to the sound of Octavia opening and closing drawers, packing their bags for Canterlot. She rolled out of bed and gave her a helping hoof.

After lunch Octavia and Vinyl met Beauty, Parish, and Frederic at Ponyville station. As the only unicorn in the group, Vinyl helped load their bags and instruments onto the train.

The journey to Canterlot only took twenty minutes. While Octavia discussed details of their performance with the rest of the band, Vinyl gazed out of the window, lost in thought. Canterlot came into view, the castle towering over the rest of the city which was built into the mountainside on multiple levels, giving Equestria's bustling capital a deceptively compact appearance. The city looked almost charming, bathed in pink through her shades.

The train pulled into the station and Vinyl helped unload their stuff onto a pair of trolleys which would be pushed by porters. "Careful!" complained Parish, "you're going to scratch the gold leaf!" Vinyl sighed — Parish was almost as bad as Beauty.

Octavia intervened before it had a chance to escalate. "Parish, leave Vinyl alone!" She looked at the station clock. "Come on, we need to get a move on. We're meeting Concerto and Symphony at the hotel. They'll have the room keys." Vinyl loaded Octavia's cello onto a trolley. "Vinyl, remember, gentle… it's a delicate instrument."

Parish Nadermane grumbled. "So you're allowed to complain and I'm not?" he said under his breath.

Vinyl had feared walking the streets of Canterlot for so long, but now she was doing it they were just ordinary streets, the same as in Ponyville or any other town in Equestria.

Soon they arrived at the hotel to find the band's violinists arguing with the poor earth pony behind the hotel's desk. "Check your books again!" said an angry-looking Concerto.

Octavia walked up behind the violinists and looked at the hotel mare's name tag. "Now, Miss Luckette, what seems to be the problem?"

"This foalish mare has misplaced one of our bookings," complained Concerto before the receptionist had had a chance to answer.

The nervous mare behind the desk stammered, "I-I have a twin room booked for Messrs Nadermane and Horseshoepin, a single room for a Miss Brass, and a double room for Concerto and Symphony Sounds. There is n-no booking for an Octavia Melody."

"I made the booking myself," said Concerto. "A double room for Octavia and Vinyl."

The string section looked around when they heard a cough behind them. "And I cancelled it," said Vinyl. She looked at Octavia. "Sorry, probably should have told you. I found us somewhere else to stay."

Concerto looked angry for a moment but immediately softened and he and his wife started trying to apologise to Miss Luckette. Octavia sighed. "Well, I guess we'll be leaving you lot here and going to whatever hotel Vinyl's booked. Bye, guys. See you tomorrow." Beauty Brass stared daggers at Vinyl.

Vinyl trotted happily along the streets, pulling their bags and equipment behind her on the trolley with her magic. Any day she could wind up Beauty was a good day. She checked out street signs as they walked along, finally coming to the one she was looking for. "Royal Procession," she announced, pointing at the sign. "This is the one we want." She turned the corner and started trotting down the street with Octavia following closely behind.

The street was full of very exclusive-looking shops and cafés, and Octavia worried about how much a hotel on this street would cost. Octavia tried to read the menus outside the restaurants and cafés as they went past, but Vinyl was going too quickly and she only managed to steal passing glances, seeing dishes far more sophisticated than anything the Hayburger or any other establishment in Ponyville had to offer. Some of the items on the menu she'd never even heard of — what in Equestria was a 'cherrychanga'?

Octavia saw the very finest produce Equestria had to offer behind the plate glass windows of the boutique shops lining the wide street. To see ciders from Ponyville alongside wines from the vineyards west of the White Tail Woods, Smokey Mountain cheese, and fruit preserves from Dodge City, made her feel proud of her home town.

After trotting for a few minutes, the shops and other business establishments thinned out, replaced by grand looking houses with large gardens. Octavia slowed down. "Vi, I… I think we should turn back. We must have passed the hotel." She came to a stop. "We're nearly at the end of the street. The only thing left is…" She looked up at the large tower looming in front of her. "… the castle."

Vinyl grinned.

Octavia was stunned. "No… you? The castle? Really?!"

Vinyl nodded, unable to wipe the grin off her face.

"But… but how did… how did…?" Octavia was rarely lost for words.

Vinyl smirked. "I guess Twilight must have really wanted me."

Vinyl had struck a hard bargain with the princess, but the castle wasn't even the best part.

❧

A friendly mare who had introduced herself as Raven showed them to their suite and left them to settle in. When Twilight had agreed to arrange a room at the castle for them, Vinyl had never imagined anything like this. The decor was rather more fancy than Vinyl would choose to decorate anything herself, but the suite was so luxurious that to decorate it any more simply would have done it an injustice.

There was a small, but opulently decorated sitting room containing two sofas and a coffee table, and a large window onto the castle gardens. An archway led through to a bedroom larger than their one at home containing a four-poster bed draped with purple velvet in the middle of the room, a red chez lounge in the corner, and two matching dressing tables by one wall. To one side of the bedroom was a doorway to a small but well-appointed bathroom.

Octavia hardly took any of that in though — what stood out for her were the large glass-panelled double doors, leading out to a balcony. She half walked, half galloped to the doorway and pushed it open, stepping out onto the white tiles. Stretching out before her seemed to be all of Equestria — she could see Saddle Lake, almost directly below Canterlot, and the Great Western River flowing to Ponyville and the Everfree Forest beyond it. Further to the right were the foothills of the Unicorn Range and behind them, in the distance she could see Smokey Mountain. Looking further right were the lush meadows fed by the rainbows dripping off Cloudsdale. The sun was beginning to set behind the Unicorn Range, casting a red haze over the land.

Octavia didn't know how long she'd been out there, staring at the view — it could have been two minutes, it could have been an hour — but she snapped out of her reverie only when she felt Vinyl nuzzling her. "I've finished unpacking," the unicorn announced. "They've brought us up some dinner."

Vinyl led Octavia back to their little sitting room where a delicious looking meal of salad, hay, fruit, and oats was laid out, along with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

The two ponies sat and ate their meal and chatted about their plans for tomorrow. Octavia would be meeting the rest of the band first thing at their hotel. They had a conference suite there which the band had hired for the morning to use as a rehearsal space. After lunch, they'd set up in the castle ball room.

Vinyl had a much simpler day planned. She'd just be hanging out in the castle most of the day. Early afternoon she'd set up and test her equipment. Then she'd head off to the Gala to watch Octavia.

Octavia interrupted Vinyl while she was explaining her plans. "What are you wearing?"

Vinyl shrugged. "Dunno. Hoodie?"

Octavia was horrified. "To the Gala?! You cannot wear your 'hoodie' to the Grand Galloping Gala! Go through my dresses — right now. I insist."

Vinyl put down her apple on the table. "Me? In a dress?"

"You wore one to Raindrops' wedding," said Octavia, trying to convince Vinyl.

"I was being ironic."

"Well, that wasn't very supportive of you. She's supposed to be our friend. I'm sure she didn't need your 'irony', even if the wedding was a farce." Octavia stood up and took Vinyl by the hoof, walking her over to the wardrobe.

Vinyl protested. "I've seen your dresses. I unpacked. Remember?"

Octavia opened the wardrobe door. "But did you really look at them?"

Vinyl looked over the dresses that Octavia had brought. "We're only here two nights. Why did you need all these?"

"Well," said Octavia, gesturing to a few elegant black dresses, "I wasn't sure what to wear for the Gala itself." She pointed to a couple of more revealing outfits. "I thought I'd want something a little less formal for your afterparty, and after that, I'd maybe slip into something a little more uncomfortable?" She took out a coat hanger from which hung a red lacy négligée that Vinyl hadn't seen her wearing in years.

Vinyl's jaw dropped.

Octavia smiled, having gotten the intended reaction. "Besides which, I wanted to make sure I had plenty of spares because I knew you wouldn't bring anything appropriate for the Gala."

Vinyl regained the power of speech. "Bring? I don't think I own anything appropriate for the Gala!" she laughed.

Octavia pulled out a long black evening dress with a slit up one side that went all the way up to her flank. "I think I'll most probably wear this."

"That's a little, umm…" Vinyl gulped. "… racy, isn't it?"

"It will be fine, Vi, but what about something for you?" Octavia pulled out a hanger. "How about this?"

Vinyl regarded the dress that Octavia had selected. It was smart and black, but was decorated with shimmering black and dark blue sequins. "It's nice," she commented.

"Nice? That's all?"

Vinyl shook her head. "Sorry, I meant it's a beautiful dress. I'll try it on now." She used her magic to slip it over her and fasten the zip. She looked at herself in the mirror which was built into the wardrobe door. She hadn't been enthusiastic about the dress, but now it was actually on her, she could see it was stunning. It fitted her body like a glove, clinging to her curves. It was short at the back, revealing her legs and just a glimpse of tail. The sequins complemented her mane colour beautifully. She spun around, trying to keep her reflection in view. "It's amazing… thanks, Tavi," she said and turned to look at her marefriend.

Octavia's eyes were wide open, mesmerized by Vinyl. She shook her head and snapped out of it. "Good, I'm glad you like it. You shall wear that then."

Vinyl pulled on her shades. "Just to complete the look, Tavi."

Octavia tutted and shook her head, but didn't say anything. She knew Vinyl wouldn't be comfortable around all those people without them.

❧

Later, Vinyl stood on the balcony, gazing at the castle gardens. It was night and Luna's full moon shone down from a dark sky decorated with myriad twinkling stars, so bright that it made the dozens of lanterns lighting the gardens and the small zoo within them seem fairly unnecessary.

It was down there, years ago, that it had all happened — the changeling pinning her down, the Octavia who was not Octavia, watching her being attacked, her burning love and her despair at not being able to defend her marefriend. Tears welled up in Vinyl's eyes.

"No!" Vinyl shouted, spinning around when she felt a movement against her side. Octavia jumped back. Vinyl instantly saw who it was and pulled Octavia into a hug. "I'm sorry, Tavi. Just feeling a bit jumpy."

Octavia hugged Vinyl back. "No, I should be the one to apologize. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that." She looked out at the gardens, which looked so serene in the moonlight. "So, this is where you were that day?"

Vinyl nodded and wiped her eyes with a hoof. A shiver ran down her spine. Octavia looked at her. "Vinyl, you're freezing cold. You've been out here for nearly an hour, you know?"

Vinyl sniffed. "An hour? I lost track of time."

"Let me get you a blanket." Octavia trotted back into the hotel suite and emerged moments later dragging a cosy-looking blanket with her teeth. She pulled it over the two of them and they sat on the balcony watching the stars, with Vinyl resting her head of Octavia's neck.

"You must think I'm such a coward," said Vinyl.

Octavia put a foreleg around Vinyl. "I don't think you're a coward. I think you're the bravest pony I know."

Vinyl straightened up and chuckled nervously. "Tavi, I'm scared of a garden."

"Having no fear doesn't make somepony brave. You're afraid, yet you came here anyway. That's what makes you brave."

Vinyl rested her head on Octavia's shoulder and closed her eyes.

Hours later, Octavia tried her best to help the sleeping unicorn into bed without waking her up too much. She'd have a long night tomorrow and needed to rest. She pulled the blanket over them both and wrapped her forelegs around her marefriend. She hadn't been there to protect Vinyl before, but she was there now.

❧

Vinyl stepped into the ballroom, dressed dazzlingly. As a concession to Octavia's sense of good taste, Vinyl had made a last minute dash to the city centre to buy an outrageously priced pair of shiny black shades to replace her usual magenta ones, and she had to admit, they did make her look more than just a tiny bit spectacular. She hoped she could claim them as an expense if she wore them during her gig.

She'd be lucky to get an opportunity to talk to Octavia at the Gala, but would at least be able to watch her once the band came on stage. In the mean time, she decided to help herself to some canapés. Levitating a cheese straw into her mouth, she spotted a familiar face at the next table and, having finished chewing, trotted over.

Vinyl tapped the magenta-coated mare on the shoulder. "It's Amethyst, right? From Ponyville?"

Amethyst Star turned around, and Vinyl could see her trying to mentally place her, to figure out why she was familiar. "Of course, DJ PON-3! I almost didn't recognize you dressed like that. What are you doing here? You're a bit far from home."

Vinyl motioned towards the stage. "My marefriend is in the band. They'll be on soon. I could ask the same question of you though — why so far from Ponyville?"

Amethyst gestured to a pair of ponies at the same table as her. "I'm here with my cousins," she answered. Cousins, of course — there was a certain resemblance. "This is Lemony Gem — she got us the tickets — and this is Diamond Mint."

"Nice to meet you." Vinyl nodded at Amethyst's cousins. She turned her attention back to Amethyst. "You have a little sister, right?" Amethyst nodded. "Did she go to Noi's party?"

"Of course! Dinky and Noi are such great friends — they're like sisters to each other. Banana's actually looking after Dinky tonight," answered Amethyst. "Say, would you like a drink?"

"No, thanks though. I really need to cut down." Vinyl looked around. "I'm surprised you didn't bring Banana along tonight."

Amethyst rolled her eyes. Why did everypony always assume she and Banana Fluff were a couple? No wonder nopony ever asked her out on dates. She considered flirting with DJ PON-3, but she'd just mentioned having a marefriend, so that didn't seem to be very appropriate.

In the distance, Amethyst spotted Rainbow Dash. She shifted uncomfortably and tried to hide behind Vinyl, but it was no use. Lemony Gem jumped out of her seat and squealed. She pointed at Rainbow Dash. "Wait, is that Rainbow Dash? Is she dressing in style?!"

Diamond Mint groaned. "Don't be ridiculous, she never dresses in style."

Lemony Gem grabbed Amethyst by the hoof and dragged her away. "Come on, Amy, it's time for you to introduce me to an Element of Harmony!" The two mares trotted off, Amethyst wishing she'd never told her cousin about the time she'd met the famous Rainbow Dash. Diamond Mint ambled along behind them.

Vinyl looked around the room. A pink pony with a pale blue mane swept back into a bun had arrived and was getting quite a lot of attention from the trio of reporters who were covering the event. Vinyl recognized one of the reporters as Action Shot, the mare that had interviewed her the last time she'd been in Canterlot.

She hung around at the other side of the room, evesdropping on a conversation between an older looking grey stallion dressed in a ridiculous top hat and monacle, and a fairly stunning young cyan mare with magenta eyes and a light blonde mane with swirly tufts that reminded Vinyl of whipped cream. As much as Vinyl loved Octavia, she couldn't help admiring this mare. Just looking didn't hurt, did it?

Vinyl heard movement on the stage and looked up to see Parish wheeling out his harp, that grumpy old bastard. As far as Vinyl could tell, the gold plating was undamaged. Vinyl wished Lyra would come back and join Octavia's band again, like in the old days. She'd love to wave goodbye to Parish Nadermane forever.

Vinyl wondered about how Octavia must feel playing at parties like this. Normally when she performed, it was in front of a seated audience who had paid to come and listen to her. So when she played, they paid attention — they didn't stand around chatting, drinking, eating, and laughing. While Vinyl no longer relished being the centre of attention like she used to, she still appreciated that when she had a gig, people listened, danced, and enjoyed the music. Vinyl felt bad that nopony would be paying much attention to Octavia.

Soon Beauty came out, walking awkwardly with her enormous sousaphone wrapped around her, and the violinists, Concerto and Symphony, who Vinyl didn't really know very well, followed by Frederic. Frederic was a quiet pony. Vinyl had developed a grudging respect for him ever since a few years ago when he'd played one of her favourite dubstep tunes to her on his piano. He'd transformed it into a beautiful hypnotic melody and Vinyl had been enraptured by it before he abruptly stopped playing and dismissed the tune as 'hogswaddle'. Vinyl might not have agreed with his taste in music, but holy Celestia could he play!

All the heads in the room turned as Octavia ambled onto the stage, pushing her cello. She looked devastatingly beautiful, and Vinyl wondered why she'd ever been concerned about Octavia not being the centre of attention.

Parish began to play and after the first few bars of music, the string section came in, with Concerto, Symphony, and Octavia providing a lush backdrop to his harp. Vinyl had heard Octavia practising this tune at home and knew that she had a solo half way through. She sat on a seat and watched, captivated by Octavia's music, and the elegance of her movements as she played.

After a couple of pieces, most of the audience were no longer paying as much attention to the band, and had returned to mingling and networking with the other important ponies of Canterlot. Only Vinyl was really watching, spellbound. She barely even noticed the entourage of ponies heading towards her.

Vinyl heard a familiar voice above the chatter. "Please, if you could just give me five minutes." The crowd of ponies dissipated and the owner of the voice sat down beside Vinyl. "I'm sorry about that. None of these ponies even knew I existed when I lived in Canterlot, but now I have a crown and a fancy title, suddenly they're all trying to act like my dearest old friend." The Princess of Friendship sat listening to the music for a few moments. "She plays well."

Vinyl smiled. "I'll tell her you said that."

Twilight looked at Vinyl. "We should discuss your 'payment' for tonight." Twilight turned her attention back to the stage. "So she's got a wing fetish, eh? You know, not a lot of mares would do what you're doing — to set all this up for her."

Vinyl looked at the princess. "I love Tavi, and I want to make her happy. I mean, I know she says she's happy now, but she deserves more than what I can give her."

Twilight thought for a moment. "My sister-in-law might be the expert when it comes to questions of love and romance. But I think Octavia's pretty lucky to have a mare like you. And I'm sure that she knows it." Twilight stood up. "Come on, let's go somewhere a bit more private before those other ponies come back." She led Vinyl away.

❧

Having rushed back to the suite to get changed after her performance, Octavia now stood in her short black dress at the back of the club, feeling somewhat out of place. Lights whirled around and, as usual, Vinyl's loud music made it hard to think. But she had an excellent view of Vinyl's area on the small stage, and she couldn't help smiling as she watched the mare at work. She had such passion for her music and it showed in everything she did up there.

She downed the rest of her drink, and headed out to the dance floor. Vinyl's music might not be what she would usually choose to listen to for pleasure, but she couldn't deny it was great for dancing. She trotted her hooves and swayed her flanks in time with the music before spotting a familiar face in the crowd and walking over. "What are you doing here?" she shouted. At least she'd have somepony to hang around with during the party.

In the dark room, hundreds of ponies danced, drank, and ate. Although Donut Joe no longer hosted the Gala afterparty, the venue had been well-stocked with doughnuts and milkshakes as a concession to the celebration's origins, along with plenty of stronger drinks too.

Vinyl, now back in her usual hoodie, opened with a selection of downtempo tracks and acid jazz before moving on to the main part of the set which was based around garage and dubstep tunes. As it got later, she moved on to some crowd-pleasing bubblegum pop. She had been hired to play until half past one in the morning, and as that time approached, Twilight Sparkle flew up to the stage and approached Vinyl.

"One more song," she shouted into the DJ's ear, "and then you're done." Vinyl nodded and slipped out a record she'd been saving up as a surprise for the princess. It was one that Bloo had been particularly fond of as well, and the little filly had encouraged her to add it to her set.

Twilight was about to swoop back down to the dance floor before she heard the opening bars of a song that took her back to a happy night years ago, before she'd been a princess, and she couldn't help but seize the microphone from Vinyl's deck with her magic. "Love is in bloom," she sang, "a beautiful bride, a handsome groom…" She smiled at Vinyl for remembering the song she'd sung at her brother's wedding. Vinyl lifted her shades for a just moment to wink back at the princess.

At the end of the tune, Twilight kept hold of the microphone. It was the first time in hours that the room had fallen quiet and all heads turned towards the princess. "Thanks for coming, everypony! That was the last song for the night. Now go home!" Pinkie Pie sprung out of nowhere and whispered something into Twilight's ear. "There are plenty of leftover doughnuts," she continued, "please take some home with you."

Ponies started filing out the doors and Twilight trotted over to Vinyl's mixing deck to returned the microphone. "Last year I got stuck with hundreds of leftover doughnuts. Spike raided them while I was out and he was sick for a whole week. I don't want a repeat of that. Why don't you go and find your marefriend — tell her about our surprise!"

Vinyl smiled at the princess and shuffled uncomfortably in her hoodie. "Thanks Twilight, for everything." Vinyl left her equipment and trotted off in search of Octavia.

Octavia was waiting towards the back of the club, and Vinyl was surprised to find that she was chatting to Frederic. "I didn't know you were a dance music fan, Frederic!" said Vinyl.

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Vinyl," the stallion replied. He yawned. "Anyway, I'd best be off — this is way past my bedtime. I'll see you both tomorrow afternoon. Goodnight, Vinyl. Goodnight, Octavia." He walked away.

"Let's go back to the castle," suggested Vinyl. Octavia was pretty tired, so nodded her head in agreement. The two ponies left the club and headed back up Royal Procession towards the castle. The guards let them through the gates and they trotted along the castle corridors to their suite. Vinyl used her magic to shut the heavy doors behind them.

Vinyl used her magic to take off her shades and set them down on the coffee table in the living room part of the suite. "Hey, Tavi. I've got a little surprise for you. Wanna see?"

Octavia had been tired, but the fresh air had woken her up a little, and the prospect of a surprise from her marefriend put any thoughts of sleep completely out of her head. She loved surprises.

Vinyl slowly unzipped her hoodie with her magic, reared up onto her hind legs, slipped the garment off and stretched out a pair of beautiful white wings.

Octavia's jaw dropped.

❧

A few minutes later, Octavia had finally calmed down. "So let me get this straight. You're saying that this is how Twilight has paid you for this evening?! By making you an alicorn?"

Vinyl nodded. "Yes, well, no. I'm not an alicorn, I'm a winged unicorn. And it's not permanent — Twilight's spell will wear off at sunrise."

Octavia shook her head in disbelief. "And you did this for me? Why in Equestria would you do that?"

Vinyl's wings ruffled slightly. "Well, I've always known you had a bit of a wing fetish. I just thought you might like to see what they're like. For one night."

Octavia blushed. "I must admit, they are pretty stunning."

Vinyl smiled and fluttered her eyelids. "Well, clock's a-ticking. Why don't we see what they can do?" She stood up and walked towards the bedroom door, swaying her hips and letting her tail swish from side to side. She looked back at Octavia, still shocked on the couch. "You coming then, Tavi?"

Octavia sprung up and ran after her.

Author's Note

The Princess Vinyl cometh, behold, behold. A princess here before us, behold, behold, behold…

Yes, I know the stuff about "revealing" clothes doesn't make a lot of sense for a species that walks around naked 99% of the time. But we're talking about magical talking ponies, so I think you, my dear readers, are already well-trained in suspension of disbelief.

Chapter 4 is a just one long sex scene. If you don't want to read it, then skip straight to the epilogue.