Sunshine. Warmth. It was a bright sunny day in Manehattan, the temperature had begun to cool and snow began to fall, yet the sun shining down on the city brought a comfortable and familiar warmth to those upon which it shone. The very air itself alluding to a cold and beautiful winter being brought from the majestic city in the clouds. All was peaceful and calm, to those who found themselves in the right place at the right time. That is to say, every moment in life is a matter of perspective, and perspective can be a different thing for those in the wrong place at the wrong time. Couples laughed and loved over a cup of cocoa or coffee. Children played in the parks and playgrounds after school. The day would seem perfect to those blessed with a fun filled afternoon. However, for others, that day would be remembered as a tragic sight to be seen.

Pain. Agony. The cold gravely tarmac of the road pressed uncomfortably against the mare’s side as she lay in the street immobile, an overturned carriage just a few meters from where she lay. She couldn’t feel any her limbs nor could she move her head, yet she remained conscious no matter how painful it was for her. It did not, however, last long for her, as her mind started to slowly slip away. Onlookers stopped to view the scene of the crash as sirens blared nearby and paramedics rushed on scene. Her eyes passed over the concerned faces, then there was nothing. Nothing but black.

*****

The grey mare’s eyes fluttered open as she was roused from her dreamless sleep. As she slowly returned to consciousness she felt the bed she had found herself in. Such an alien feeling to her, as she’d slept in a simple bedroll on the ground for well over a month. Blankets had been carefully placed atop her to keep her warm. As she sat up, a damp wash cloth fell from her forehead, still cool to the touch. She raised a hoof to the spot it had rested upon her head and felt a heat emanating from herself, she had developed a small fever from the cold.

Part of her wanted to feel guilty for burdening a stranger so much, while another part wanted to cry for the fact that someone had gone to such great pains for her. The latter won out, she slowly and quietly sobbed from the amount of kindness she was experiencing in this cold world and she wished she had been awake to see whomever had helped her. After a few moments of crying she wiped away her tears and took account of her surroundings. The room was dark, but enough light flowed through a nearby window to partially illuminate the room. There wasn’t much to the room itself, next to her an alarm clock sat on a night stand next to a lamp, the clock displayed 2:30 as the time. To her right sat a simple dresser, next to it was what appeared to be a writing desk upon which rested her rolled up tent, her bedroll, and the lantern she had kept in her tent to illuminate the small dwelling. Perpendicular to the desk was what seemed to be another desk but with several buttons and levers that seemed strange to her, atop of which sat a pair of headphones. Putting two and two together, she assumed it to be some sort of rudimentary mixing table of sorts.

At last her gaze fell upon the window. As she stared out into the snowy night, she eased herself out of the bed and walked on shaking legs to the window. The snow was falling quick, the wind whistling audibly behind the glass. She looked out upon the city, the view wasn’t anything special, but she admired it nonetheless. Any view was welcome when it wasn’t from a tent out in a cold dark park. As she stared out the window she noticed her own reflection in the glass, her mane was disheveled and filled with leaves and small bits of twig. Her fur matted in places from the snow that had melted to her body. Her coated was covered in mud in some areas. The contrast from her messy appearance and the well-kept room made her feel out of place, as if she still belonged on the street.

As she continued to stare into the night she could hear a voice outside her door. She turned as the door began to open revealing a green unicorn with a turquoise and white mane. She held a damp cloth in her magic as she entered the room and noticed the mare at the window. He magic around the cloth dissipated as she leaned out the doorway, clearly addressing another pony.

“V, she’s awake.” The unicorn turned back to the estranged earth pony and approached her slowly. “Hey there. How’re you feeling? You gave us quite the scare, lying there in the snow and all.” Just as the unicorn had reached her, another had come into the room. Her coat as white as the snow outside the window, her mane an unkempt nest of two shades of blue, a pair of aurora purple sunglasses resting upon her face. “I’m Lyra, and this is Vinyl, this is her place.”

“T-thank you. I don’t mean to be a burden upon the two of you.” The grey mare bowed appreciatively. “I’m fine, I think.” She started walking toward the bed before she stumbled, nearly falling over if it weren’t for Lyra being there to catch her. “I…I’m sorry.”

The green unicorn giggled lightly, “Its ok. Let’s get you back to bed.” She shuffled over to the bed with the mare leaning against her. “You’re not a burden at all, neither one of us can just sit by and watch a pony suffer.”

“Yeah, don’t sweat it. You can crash here as long as you need.” The white unicorn, Vinyl, smiled warmly at her. “We never got your name.” The only reply she got was the mare staring down sheepishly. When no answer came, Vinyl decided to prod a little. “You do have a name…right?”

“I…think I do.” The mare in question shook slightly.

Lyra carefully helped the mare into bed. “You think? You mean don’t know?”

The mare seemed to be struggling as she thought to herself. Still nothing. Why can’t I even remember my name? After a moment had passed the mare finally answered. “I can’t remember. I…I don’t know who I am.” The two unicorns exchanged looks at that.

“Don’t remember?” Lyra asked. The grey mare just shook her head slowly at that. She started to feel the despair she had become so familiar with start to creep back into her heart. Sensing this change in mood the two decided not to poke any further.

“Hey don’t worry about it. You can crash here as long as you like, we’re not gonna send you back out there, especially not in this weather.” Vinyl walked over and put a hoof on her guest’s shoulder. “I’m sure your memory will come back.”

“Yeah, we won’t let anything happen to you.” Lyra rested her hoof on the mare’s other shoulder. “We’re gonna let you get some more rest. It’s been a long day for you. C’mon V. Just let us know if you need anything” The two exited the room and closed the door behind them.

The mare was alone in the room once again. She felt like crying once more from the hospitality she has been shown, but resisted the feeling. As she lay there she tried to recall something from her past but to no avail. I still can’t remember anything before waking up in that hospital.

*****

Vinyl looked through an electronics magazine as Lyra sat there reading a music magazine. “I’m telling you V, it can’t be easy being in her situation.” The green unicorn commented.

“I never said it was easy. Man, I can’t imagine not remembering my own name.”

“You kidding V? Last week you thought your name was Charlene.” Lyra quipped.

“I was drunk, not amnesiac. There is a distinct difference. Plus I was trying to impress that one chick.”

“The one that shot you down? Or the one that gave you the fake number?” At that the white unicorn stopped talking. “Chalk one up to Lyra.” The green unicorn gestured with her hoof as if she marking a point on a scoreboard.

“Hey if we’re keeping score, how about that time you tried to hook up with Neon and threw up on him after having too much?” Vinyl clearly was determined not to lose.

“That was over a year ago!” Lyra responded.

“I’m talking about last month.” This time the lyrist didn’t have a response. “Lyra one, Vinyl one.” They giggled at their little quarrel and continued reading their respective magazines. “Hey Ly, do you think she’s the one?”

Lyra looked up at her friend and cocked her head. “One what?”

Vinyl set her magazine down as she elaborated. “Y’know, the one from the papers? About a month ago. There was a cart accident, the pony lost control when one of the axes broke. The cart dragged him down a hill by the park you found her at and slammed into a pedestrian.”

“I don’t know, it’s plausible. We’ll just have to wait and see if her memory comes back. In the meantime, it feels good just to help somepony in need. I’m glad I was able to get through to you, I don’t think my magic would’ve been strong enough to carry her here and Bon sure couldn’t carry her.”

“Don’t let either one of them hear that, I don’t think Bon-bon would appreciate you saying she wasn’t strong enough to carry someone, nor do I think our guest would like being called heavy.” Lyra stuck her tongue out at the unicorn. Both mares broke out into laughter.

As they laughed at their own conversation the bedroom door opened. “Hey there, couldn’t sit still? Come on out, we won’t bite unless you’re into that.” Realizing that what she said might’ve been incredibly stupid Vinyl slammed her own hoof into her own face.

“Ignore her, she doesn’t have a working filter from her brain to her mouth most of the time.” Vinyl leered at her friend as the mare walked into the apartment proper. The place appeared to be well kept. A couch and two comfortable looking chairs surrounded a decently sized coffee table, all of which were angled toward and entertainment system with a large T.V. and two very large, very menacing looking speakers. The dining area was comprised of four chairs circling a sizeable dining table. The kitchen was a homely little alcove with a counter and sink on one side and a stove and fridge on the other side.

“I was wondering, um, if it’s not too much of a bother…” She looked between the two mares feeling like she was nothing but a burden. “…if I could use your shower?”

Vinyl stood up from where she sat and walked toward the grey mare. “Here I’ll show you.” She walked the mare to the bathroom as Lyra continued flipping through her music magazine. She helped the mare down the hall and let her into the bathroom. “It’s not much but the hot water works fine. Towels are under the sink, and feel free to use my shampoo if you feel like it. Also, if you need one, there is a spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet, not even opened.”

“Thank you, really. I’ve never seen such hospitality in my time.” The mare felt tears begin to well up in her eyes.

“Hey, hey, don’t sweat it. This ain’t the street, this is mi casa. And mi casa es su casa, which means, ‘heck yeah you can use my shower.'” The grey mare stared at her as she contemplated whether or not the unicorn actually knew what that phrase meant. “When Lyra called and told me there was an unconscious mare in the snow, the first thing I thought to myself was ‘Vinyl, babe, you WILL do whatever you can to help this pony.’” The unicorn patted her guest on the back. “In this city, ponies get over looked too much. Ponies are always too busy or too stubborn to lend a helping hoof. But not this Disc Jockey.”

“You’re a DJ?” The mare asked.

“Not just a DJ, the DJ. There ain’t nopony better at mixing than DJ-PON3.” The mare couldn’t help but chuckle at that boldness. “Hey, it’s not funny. C’mon I was being serious.” Vinyl couldn’t help but laugh with her new acquaintance. “A smile’s what I like to see. Now go on and shower filly, no offense but you look like you swam in mud and washed off in a storm then got hailed on.” The DJ laughed once more as she gave her guest a light swat on the flank eliciting a gasp and a blush from the pony as she walked back to the living room.

*****

Half an hour had passed before the mare had emerged from the shower looking and feeling so much better. She entered into the living room to find the DJ sitting on the couch reading a magazine, alone. She looked around and noted that the green unicorn was nowhere to be seen. She approached the couch where Vinyl was sitting and took note of the glass on the table and the bottle of scotch next to it.

“Where’s Lyra? I wouldn’t assume she would go out in this blizzard.” The grey mare startled the unicorn who was oblivious to the presence of the other mare until then. After Vinyl recovered from her fright she took the sight of her guest in with a sharp whistle.

“Somepony cleans up nice. Yeah, she left. She lives in the apartment below us so it’s not like she took a brisk evening walk in this storm.” She took a sip from her liquor. “Feeling better?”

The strange mare in question simply nodded, feeling a tad more comfortable in the presence of the DJ. “Much better. I haven’t felt this refreshed in quite a while.” She took a seat next to the unicorn, keeping a bit of distance from her out of habit. “It feels like years since I’ve been clean.” She looked down solemnly, as if trying to remember a time she wasn’t covered in dirt, but to no avail. After a while she started to shake as the memories failed to come to her. What is wrong with me? Before she could begin to cry, she felt a hoof resting on her shoulder. She looked up to see the DJ smiling at her reassuringly and immediately began to calm down. She had never had someone to talk to other than the odd homeless pony that sought shelter within her tent for a night.

“I wouldn’t think you would understand, but it’s so hard not remembering a single thing about your life.” She sat up straighter and looked at Vinyl. “I don’t know who I am Vinyl. I don’t know my passions, I don’t know if I was a good pony or a bad one. I-I…” She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the tears begin to well up once again. When she opened them she saw a glass floating in front of her filled with ice and scotch. She took it and gingerly sipped the liquid, the burn tingling her throat causing her to cough a few times. As her coughing fit ceased she felt that reassuring hoof on her again as Vinyl spoke up.

“You’re right, I can’t come close to understanding what you’re going through right now. One day you’re going about your business and enjoying life and the next, BAM, you can’t remember what you had for breakfast, let alone your own name. And to add insult to injury, you have no place to stay, no friends in town to help you out, and no family to contact. It’s hard, I don’t need to tell you that. But what I can tell you is you don’t have to be alone, filly. Me and Ly, we got your back. You just focus on finding out who you are, we’ll help you every step of the way. You’re my filly now, I ain’t gon’ let you sleep on the streets while others pass you by and ignore you.” Vinyl shifted over and wrapper her hoof around new friend’s neck with a big smile. “Saddle up filly, this is the start of what I hope to be a long and beautiful friendship.” She clinked her glass against the mare’s glass before knocking back the rest of her drink in one go.

“Ya’ know, now that a think about it…” Vinyl began to say as she filled her glass up again. “…you need a name. As much as I would enjoy it, I don’t think I could just go up and introduce you to ponies as ‘filly’ or ‘my filly.’ What should we call you?”

The mare thought for a bit as she drank from her scotch, letting the warmth of the alcohol wash over her tongue and throat. When nothing came to mind she simply shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve never thought of it until now, I guess it was never a big concern that others know who I am if I couldn’t recall my own name.”

“Lemme think. Your cutie mark is a treble clef so…something musical perhaps. Do you remember at all what you used to do? Like an instrument or write any songs?” Vinyl asked hopefully. The grey mare shook her head. “Yeah, I should’ve guessed that.” The DJ noticed the mare’s head lower apologetically at that and decided to quickly add. “That’s not a big deal though. We can just think something up. Hmm, stanza? No, notes? Maybe scales? No that makes me think of dragons.” After a moment of self-deliberation about whether or not a name that would make ponies think of a fierce fire-breathing lizard would be awesome, she finally settled on one. “I’ve got it. Octavia.”

“Octavia?” The mare looked at her puzzlingly.

“Yeah, like, as in an octave. A series of eight notes occupying the interval between two notes.” She sat back against the couch drinking more of her liquor. “Rolls off the tongue nicely and I think it fits you.”

“Octavia.” The mare repeated the name she was just given. “I like it. Greetings miss Vinyl, I am Octavia.” She giggled as she just thought of her name and how in just one day her life had gone from being full of despair, to being full of friends and joy. She finished her scotch and the unicorn poured her another one.

*****

“Really?” Octavia couldn’t believe what she had just heard from the DJ. “Surely you must have more friends.”

The two new friends had continued drinking and talking for well over an hour. Their faces flushed and their heads more than just a bit light from the amount of alcohol consumed by both parties.

“Nope, I only have Lyra and Bon-bon, and even then I only met them recently.” Vinyl was now laying back on the couch trying to balance the empty scotch bottle on her horn whilst Octavia sat on the arm of the couch amused by the sight of the unicorn effectively shoving her horn into the bottle. "I had just moved in to the building and was mixing some new songs. I have a spell to soundproof the room but I forgot to enchant the floor so next thing I know I have furious knocking on the door. I open it up to see these two angry mares, and I’m thinking I’m about to be evicted in the first week. As it turned out, they were mad because they thought there was a party going on above them and they weren’t invited. Sure enough we had a party then and there just the three of us.” She tilted her head to the side and the bottle slid off her horn. With a curse she reached for it and tried to do it again.

“I would love to meet this ‘Bon-bon,’ she sounds fun to be around. You say she’s a candy maker?”

“Oh yeah, she makes some awesome stuff alright. You name it, mints, chocolate, taffy, gummies, gum, licorice…” As the unicorn continued on to list off different types of candy, Octavia tilted her glass against her muzzle only to find it completely devoid of any liquid and realized that the bottle that Vinyl had been trying to balance on her horn was indeed the empty liquor bottle. “Hey, hey, hey, look. I’m a lamp.” With her horn once again stuck in the bottle, Vinyl ignited it, the light from her magic glowing in the bottle like a weird bottle shaped orb above her head.

Octavia clapped her hooves together and laughed at the delightfully drunk unicorn, only to lose her balance and fall off the couch and onto the floor. “Aw geez, Tavi are you ok?” The unicorn jumped of the couch and went to the grey pony’s aid. Octavia, in her drunken state, just laughed. “Ok, I think we’ve both had enough.” She helped Octavia to her hooves and helped her hobble to the bedroom. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Octavia continued to chuckle as she was led to the bedroom on wobbly hooves. “But Vinyl, you may have bought me a drink, but you haven’t even bought me dinner yet. Plus I don’t remember if I have a date or not.” She burst out laughing at her own joke as she was lowered carefully in the bed and a blanket pulled over her. She looked at the unicorn with pleading eyes, “But mom, I’m not even tired.” She continued to giggle as she yawned and snuggled under the blanket.

“Alright Tavi, I think that’s enough liquor for a while.” Vinyl smiled as the grey earth pony started to drift peacefully to sleep. As she turned away a grey hoof reached out and stopped her. She turned back to see her new friend smiling with tears once again in her eyes. “Tavi?”

“Thank you Vinyl. I had so much fun, and for once I have a memory. A memory I will never forget, one I’ll always cherish.” She once again yawned as she slowly pulled her hoof back.

With a smile, Vinyl brushed Octavia’s hair out of her face. “Goodnight Octavia.” She slowly and quietly walked back out of the room. Octavia turned over and looked out the window as she lay there on edge of consciousness. The howling blizzard had slowed somewhat to a more peaceful snowfall. She watched the snow with a smile on her face and joy in her heart as her eyes grew heavier and heavier. I’m no longer alone. She thought as her eyes drifted more and more, sleep finally claimed her.

Author's Note

Whoops, almost forgot to add an author's note here. After my prologue for this story I was surprised to see my story game such a decent sized following. After about a day of my story being up I had the pleasure of speaking to a few of the people that gave my story nothing but kind words. In those conversations I have met someone who had gladly agreed on being my proofreader so now I can stop stressing about being perfect in my writing and I can get a little sloppy with it. I also now have someone I can bounce ideas off of when I get a terrible writers block that can't be solved with a bottle of hard cider.
This chapter was proofread by my new friends, the legendary, ZephyrForWriting. If I had just thrown this chapter out you would've been met with a pleasant chapter full of missing words, added words from previous drafts and draft edits, and even a missing quotation mark at one point. I hope those of you that read this chapter enjoyed it. And to those that celebrate it, I hope you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day, and to everyone else I hope your day was fantastic nonetheless. /)