The train pulled into the Manehatten station, ponies of all kinds came and went on the busy platform. Two ponies, a gray earth pony, and a white unicorn made their way out past the crowd and into the busy street. Looking around, it didn’t take them long to find the ponies they were meeting, or rather it wasn’t hard to spot the minty green unicorn bouncing on her hind legs waving enthusiastically.

“VINYL! OCTAVIA!”

“Told you she would do that.” Vinyl said grinning.

“I suppose it can’t be helped, she always has been incorrigible.”

Vinyl just chuckled. I wonder why Bonbon isn’t raining her pet in?

Octavia waved back, this seemed to prompt a cream color hoof to reach up and yank the excited unicorn back down to all fours.

Ah, she was using her as a big neon sign, well done Bon.

Octavia and Vinyl made their way through the sea of ponies until they met up with Lyra and Bonbon, Lyra was bouncing in place barely held down by an amused looking Bonbon.

“I’m glad to see you two, it's been far too long.” Bonbon said with a smile.

“Ya! I tried getting Octavia to come out here ages ago, but you're here now!”

Vinyl chuckled. “Hey ya Bon, Lyra I see you're full of energy as always.”

“Somepony got into my candy this morning, so she might be more hyper than normal.”

Vinyl peered over her glasses. “You got into her candy, and she let you leave the house?”

“She needed me to be a sign for you guys, I regret nothing.”

“You say that now.” Both Vinyl and Bonbon said in unison, before laughing.

Octavia scrunched up her nose in confusion, she felt she was missing some large piece of information here.

“Vinyl, I know you said you knew Bonbon before she and Lyra moved out here, but you never told me how.”

Bonbon gave Vinyl a raised eyebrow, Vinyl responded by pointing at Octavia, more precisely her neck. Octavia didn’t catch the implication, which made the knowing look Bonbon gave all the more confusing.

“Ya me and Bon use to run in some of the same circles in Canterlot, we met there and have been buds ever since.”

Octavia gave Vinyl a flat look, Vinyl new she was looking for more information than that, yet she was purposely leaving her in the dark.

“Come on you two,” Bonbon spoke up. “Let's get some lunch and head to our place, you’re stuff will be here in the morning so you can crash with us.”

Lyra seemed to have a knowing smile as well, it made Octavia all the more frustrated, she hated being in the dark.

“Hey, can we go to that cafe near our place, I think they would really like it.”

“You're asking for favors after you got into my candy?”

“Add it to my tab.”

“What are you two on about?”

Both mares just grinned, that same cocky grin that Vinyl gave her every time she was hiding something, speaking of, Vinyl also had the same grin.

What are these three hiding?

The four friends headed out of the crowded downtown area, trotting into the northern part of town, where the tall skyscrapers changed over to short townhouses and small businesses. It was here they came to a pleasant-looking little cafe, it was a three-story building, painted in pastel colors giving it a warm feeling. The four friends were shown to a table, they placed their orders and began talking among themselves, or they were going to until Octavia gave all three of them a death glare.

“Alright you lot, you all are hiding something, and I want to know what it is.”

“Well, she at least waited until we got seated.” Lyra said poking Bonbon playfully.

Bonbon nodded. “I’ll tell you Octavia, however, what version of the story depends on how much you want to know. Also, I’m surprised at you Vi, you haven't told her something so big.”

Vinyl shrugged. “Priorities, making sure Tavi was safe was more important than telling her about our dominant preference.”

“Alright, point. Now how much do you want to know Octavia?”

“All of it.” Octavia said without hesitation.

“Alright then, I’ll give you a few blanket statements to see how much you might know on your own, and fill in the gaps from there. Vinyl and I are dominants, that is to say, we are the mares ‘on top’ in our relationships.”

Octavia nodded slightly. “I may not have had much time to myself in the last two years, but I have heard of such things, as well as reading a few novels. Although most of what I have read makes it sound like a strictly bedroom thing.”

Lyra shook her head. “Mind if I put in my two bits?”

“Go ahead.”

“For some, they make it a bedroom only thing, for others like us it's more of a lifestyle.” Lyra pointed to the black collar around her neck. “What does this look like to you?”

“It looks like a black choker.”

Lyra nodded. “It meant to look like that, but it's really a collar, I’m Bonbon’s sub, or submissive. She takes the lead in everything really, not just the bedroom.”

Octavia nodded in some understanding, though she had more questions. “So how does this all work then?”

“Honestly it's a little different for each couple, or herd in some cases, for us it's more of I’ve said to Bonbon that I want her to reign me in when I get a little bit too excited, remember that time in college senior year I knocked over the school hoofball trophy, ya she keeps me from doing stuff like that.”

“Ugh I remember that we spent the rest of our semester cleaning the hoofball equipment to pay for the repair.” Octavia said with an exasperated sigh. “So that's it? You wear a collar and Bonbon helps keep you in line?”

Both Bonbon and Lyra chuckled at that.

“Oh it's much more than that,” Bonbon began picking up the story. “Lyra has fully subbed to me, and while I don’t make her do anything bad or disruptive, I do insure she has certain things she gets done or errands she runs, that sort of thing.”

Octavia tilted her head, somewhat confused. “Sounds odd, it seems like you're controlling her, no offense.”

“In a way she is,” Lyra jumped back in. “But the flip side to things is that I give her that control, for ponies who are truly into the real lifestyle, it's all about trusting your dom, trust is a very important thing between us.”

Octavia nodded after she had gotten off of the musical influence, she hadn’t trusted Vinyl, but over the following weeks along with her new viewpoint, she had been able to forgive and even trust Vinyl again. Knowing how important trust was between ponies was something she understood very well now.

There was a lull in the conversation as their food was served, Octavia noticed that Lyra’s was rather different than how she remembered her friend eating before.

“When did you take up eating walnut berry salad? You use to be all about the Hay Burger and such.”

Lyra smiled and nodded. “I still like all that, but… Mistress had been making sure I eat healthier, a bit ironic since she makes candy for a living.”

“Just means I know what goes into some of that stuff you eat, my pet.”

Octavia had paused at the exchange, her food forgotten for the moment, she had a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks now.

“This is normal for them Tavi.” Vinyl added as she continued to eat as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Then something Bonbon said came back and hit her like a fully loaded freight train.

“Wait a second,” she said turning to Vinyl. “She said you were both into… whatever the correct term is.” she said gesturing her hoof in Lyra and Bonbon’s direction.

Vinyl had that smirk again, that same one she had when she was up to something.

“Yep Tavi, in fact, most ponies in here are, take a look at who’s all wearing collars, were just more subtle about it.”

Octavia glanced around, and in fact, at least one pony at each table was wearing a collar or choker looking collar of some description, the saffire one a mare a few tables over seems a bit much to Octavia. Slowly looking back to Vinyl, she was met with what had to be the smuggest look Octavia had ever seen on Vinyl’s face. Octavia gave her a flat look for several moments, then the gears started turning in her head, leading up to one inescapable conclusion and one equal reaction, Uh Oh.

“I think she is starting to figure it out Mistress Vi,” Lyra quipped in between bites. “Does this mean we're on to phase two?”

“Well that's up to Tavi now isn’t it.” Vinyl said never looking away from Octavia, who had an expression somewhere between curiosity, shock, and trepidation.

“Don’t worry, we won't do anything you're not comfortable with,” Bonbon added. “We’ll talk some more at home, for now, you should eat, you're going to need the energy.”

Octavia mumbled something as she went back to her meal, her now persistent blush did not go unnoticed by the others at the table.

Author's Note

This was originally the first half of the next chapter, but it turned out so long that I decided to make it a stand alone chapter, enjoy.