Octavia stifled a yawn for the twelfth time as her eyes began to droop, once more, before they snapped awake yet again. She had managed only a measly three hours of sleep at Vinyl's apartment, and cursed herself for falling so far from her disciplined routine. At one point, it was like clockwork to her - a finely tuned and oiled machine, ticking the days away until her next out-of-the-ordinary event, and she had grown to admire its rigid construction and foundation that planned out every event as to avoid any unwanted surprises.

In the past few days, however, she had completely disregarded any semblance of order and self-care in her life as she frequently missed the afternoon cello practice, as well as dinner at times. She began to wonder if this change, trying to establish herself as a separate entity from her mother, may be the cause. Was she acting out against her mother's teachings, subconsciously? Or perhaps she had always been this undisciplined, at heart, and found nopony to keep her on such a track. Octavia could not come to a solid conclusion, and instead allowed her mind to wander, freely, until it wiggled its way back to Vinyl and the night before.

Her feelings of the white unicorn were conflicted, to say it simply. She cared about Vinyl, as a friend, and was incredibly proud of the mare when she finally managed to open up and speak about her problems, but part of Octavia worried that it would only get worse if she continued, and the gray mare fearfully recalled Vinyl's outburst. Am I pressing too far? Octavia thought, feebly. How am I to gauge her level of comfort if she always appears uncomfortable?

Octavia rested her chin in her upturned hoof as she analyzed her thoughts, being too engrossed within her own mind to be aware of her uncouth posture. Was it wrong of me to follow her home? She opened up, in the end, but perhaps I forced her hoof... Octavia frowned. Perhaps it was worse that I stayed the night - I doubt I would have allowed the same, given the circumstances. Still, she did end up...

Octavia's focus snapped back to reality as a furious red blush spread out across her snout, only to quickly be covered by a hoof as she replayed the morning's events in her mind: Vinyl pressed comfortably against her chest, her cool white fur intermingling with Octavia's gray, and the mare's snout making its home against her neck as affectionately warm air penetrated her fur and spread out across her skin. If anything, Vinyl appeared to have appreciated Octavia spending the night, but the gray mare still had her doubts as to if it was the most appropriate decision.

"Miss Philharmonica?" a calm and neutral voice came from the front of the class. Her teacher, an older earth pony mare with a faded red mane and a bluish-gray coat stood before all her students, staring at Octavia expectantly as the class fell silent.

That blasted name, again. Octavia frowned as she squirmed in her seat and placed her hooves in a more presentable manner. "Yes?"

"Very good, then." Mrs. Bellweather nodded, before turning back to her book to continue asking questions regarding last night's reading.

Octavia's eyes narrowed as her mouth turned agape, slightly. She felt as though she had missed an important part of the conversation, but was hopeless to put what pieces remained together long enough to form a coherent picture before a snide whisper sounded from behind her.

"There goes Miss Philharmonica, again: a prodigy who can't even pay attention in literature class." spoke a quiet pony behind her, followed by a cruel snicker. "What do you suppose her mother would say if she saw how her daughter was acting?"

Octavia let her glare be known as she felt fury rising within her chest. This was the last straw, the straw that broke the camel's back. She was tired of being compared to her mother, by her teachers, by her classmates, by common ponies simply wishing to say hello. She was her own mare, Luna damn it to Tartarus, and she would establish herself as such with no regard to the feelings of others. She turned to address her disparaging peers, a piercing gaze cutting through any and all obstacles, as words crawled their way up to her mouth - intent on speaking her mind once and for all.

"Pay them no mind, Miss." a careful, calm voice began from her left. She turned to face this new voice as her animosity washed away, taking in the sight of an almost-gray-with-hints-of-purple earth pony sporting a carefully parted, wavy white mane and two content orange eyes. His ever so slight smile spoke well of a confident yet reserved stallion. "Their own mothers would think poorly of them, speaking so negatively of their classmates."

Octavia swallowed whatever spiteful words had risen from the depths of her stomach before she returned to face the front of the classroom.

"Are you alright?" the stallion continued, quietly, as his eyes remained glued to the teacher. "I could not help but notice that you appear very troubled."

Octavia's brow furrowed as she considered discussing her worries with her classmate. Part of her knew that ignoring the teacher for her own conversation was rude and spat in the face of her education, but Octavia relented when she realized that she could not focus on the lesson, regardless, as her thoughts swam with strife.

"I... No. I am not alright." she began, with a quiet sigh as she bowed her head, raking her mind for the right words to adequately paint a picture of her concerns. "A friend of mine, whom I admittedly have only know for a few days, is in a rather strangling situation and I want to help her but am not sure how."

The stallion gave a small nod to show he was listening despite keeping his eyes forward.

"I feel as though I am encroaching too far, but my desire to help another pony in need frequently destroys any social barriers I am aware of. On top of that, I feel trapped in my own life: I have been unable to hold myself to the routine I have lived for the last fifteen years, and every time I try to live my own life somepony decides now is the best time to compare me to my mother." Octavia sighed. "It is unfair - I am my own mare, yet everything I try to do that would establish myself on my own gets twisted into something about my mother not being proud of how I act. I am sick of being held to such expectations, yet I cannot seem to escape them."

The stallion remained silent as she finished, his careful eyes revealing nothing but years of experience in keeping his opinions well-guarded, before he whispered his reply. "I admit that I am unfortunately unfamiliar with such experiences. Have you considered seeking professional help from the university psychologists?"

"I have not." Octavia admitted, with a sigh, as she turned to face the teacher once more. She felt only somewhat worse than before, having sought help from another only to receive a referral.

"I apologize, Miss." the stallion whispered, casting a concerned glance at Octavia. "I truly wish I could be of assistance but, sometimes the best thing we can do is guide another to better help."

"Mister Riff and Miss Philharmonica." the teacher interrupted, catching Octavia in an understanding nod. "Are you two quite done? May I have my classroom back, please?"

"My apologies, Mrs. Bellweather." the stallion spoke up, bowing his head respectfully.

Mrs. Bellweather simply gave the pair a cold gaze from her emerald eyes before returning to her lecture.

"Royal Riff, by the way." the stallion whispered, so quietly that Octavia would have missed the comment, completely, had she not caught the movement in the stallion's lips.

"Octavia Melody Philharmonica." she whispered back, just as quiet as he, and the two shared a smile.

"I do not believe I have your number. Only fitting for two musicians to stay in contact." he whispered.

Octavia's eyes slightly widened at the boldness of his request, and how calmly it had rolled off of his tongue, as though he were ordering dinner. That confidence spoke to Octavia, and she withheld a smile as she spoke. "I do not recall giving it to you. How silly of me."

Royal Riff's smile broadened as Octavia began wriggling her pencil in her mouth.

A small smile crept onto the unicorn's snout as she squirmed atop her bed, clearly enjoying her dream of- Squawk!

Vinyl Scratch's eyes winced open at the invasive sound, thankful for her black-out curtains that fought off the mid-day sun that threatened the peaceful dark of the unicorn's lonely apartment bedroom. She gave a slight groan at her pounding headache as she rubbed her eyes free of the gunk that bodies were known to produce during sleep and fumbled around for her glasses, finding them beside her headset atop her bedside table.

Something foreign, an ever so slight difference in the unchanging stillness of Vinyl's life made itself known under her hoof, and the unicorn upturned her foreleg to inspect the strangeness: a thin white band of lace with a cute pink bow stitched in the middle.

Octavia? Vinyl wondered, to herself, as she pieced together last night's events. Octavia chasing her down after her anxiety-induced outburst, Vinyl reluctantly letting the gray mare into her home, at least one bottle of alcohol downed in almost an instant, and then...

Squawk! came the cry, again, snapping Vinyl from her thoughts as a scowl adorned her snout with the pulling back of her curtains. A decently sized raven sat perched atop her windowsill, and turned to face the unicorn as the two were revealed to each other. The bird hesitated, for a moment, before taking flight as Vinyl watched it soar higher and higher into the sky until it vanished behind a building.

The symbolism was almost lost on Vinyl, whose mood soured even further as she drew the curtain close and turned back to survey the bed where she had slept beside her friend, thankful for her company, just the night before. But Octavia wasn't here, and that realization was only made worse by the lingering fear that Vinyl had perhaps scared her off for good, that her outburst had been too much and sent the little gray mare who only wanted to help Vinyl stop hating herself scurrying for cover. The emotional pain was soon accompanied by physical as Vinyl made her away around the bed, letting out a pained gasp as something sharp tore into her hoof.

Idiot. she told herself as she winced, lifting a hoof to carefully step over the shards of glass that littered her carpet at the foot of her bed as she limped into the bathroom to tend to her wound. Shards came out easily with magical persuasion, blood clotted and was soon bandaged, but Vinyl still felt the burning sensation in her hoof as she stared into the sink and washed down the mistakes of last night.

Vinyl found herself looking up into her surprisingly clean mirror as a wave of pity fell over her. Her mane was disheveled, her fur matted in odd locations and directions, a semblance of a frown constantly adorned her snout, and her head hung rather dejectedly. This is how Vinyl walked through life, hopes dashed as she made her way to the next big distraction.

But today is different. Vinyl thought, furrowing her brow as she stared into the reflective purple lenses of her glasses. With a tentative pause, she slowly enveloped her glasses in her magical aura and slid them off of the bridge of her nose; staring into her vibrantly red eyes. Though tired and half closed, with bags underneath, Vinyl's heart skipped a beat as she noticed a glimmer from her iris, a momentary shimmer that told her she had taken the first step. It told her that she had done well.

But Vinyl's frown remained as she replaced her glasses, the negative part of her conscious quickly beating any feelings of hope she had into a pulp. She had felt periodic joy, of course, but whenever it wasn't drug induced it was soon squashed as life threw another curve ball her way, and Vinyl knew it would only be a matter of time before the curve ball came flying.

She stepped into the hallway as she mentally placed the day: Thursday. It was a free day for Vinyl, before two nights of gigs would occupy most of her time, and today was usually spent zoning out at the television or drinking until a party later in the night.

But today is different. Vinyl thought, once again, fighting back against the oppressive voice within her. I took a step in the right direction, damn it! That has to count for something, doesn't it?! Vinyl shook her head in an attempt to dislodge the voice, knowing she was losing the battle, until a soft buzzing sound came from her bedside table which attracted the dulled unicorn; thankful for a distraction.

Two new messages. read her screen, obscuring either message as the device dutifully notified its owner. Vinyl was slow to unlock her phone, fearing one of her fake friends was asking her to attend another event, and Vinyl wasn't entirely sure what her answer would have been. Her fears were soon put to rest, however, as the twin messages appeared in summary: one from Octavia, and the other from Neon Lights. The unicorn did her best to ignore the first message, instead looking over Neon Light's as she carefully began picking the glass out from within the carpet.

Hey, Vinyl. How was your first week of school?

From Neon Lights, received at 3:12 P.M.

Vinyl's worries faded away as she replied to Neon Lights, providing him with a hefty summary of the last four days. She winced as she forced herself to explain how she had missed the second day of school and how she had hurt her new friend, already, but found her mood improving as she told him of the night before despite her outburst.

I'm proud of you, you know? Listen, I'm in the area for the next few hours and was wondering if you wanted to catch up at The Feed Bag? 4?

From Neon Lights, received at 3:20 P.M.

Vinyl nodded at her phone as she responded, as though Neon could see her. She slipped into her hoodie once more and stuffed her pockets with a notebook, pencil, and her phone, but stopped short as she reached for her headset. She had placed Octavia's bow on her bedside table, and Vinyl hesitated to entertain the thought of inviting Octavia to meet her ex.

Is it weird? Vinyl mused as she shook her head clear of the nonsense and grabbed her headset as she turned to the door, before a feeling won over the mare as she returned for the bow; stuffing it inside her hoodie. I'll ask her if she's busy after Neon and I are done.

"Miss Philharmonica?" the gentle voice of the receptionist sounded, pulling Octavia from her worries as she adorned a polite smile and slid off of her chair. "Professor Starry Night will see you, now."

Octavia gave a respectful nod in appreciation as she passed the desk, making her way down the hall and into the office of her school psychologist. He was a short, pudgy earth pony with a dark blue coat and a short, spikey yellow mane. He smiled at Octavia as she entered, and adjusted his wide-brimmed glasses as she sat. "Miss Philharmonica, welcome! My name, as you may have guessed, is Starry Night. I am your psychologist for the year."

The stallion laughed in a friendly tone that betrayed his age as he shifted some loose papers on his desk into a rather large file. "Now, before we begin, I do have a few questions that I hope you can answer. I've been going over your file-" the stallion explained as he patted the bloated manila folder.

There must be over five hundred pages in there! Octavia thought, in disbelief, as she eyed the folder with shocked eyes.

"And I must say, it is quite impressive. But there are a few gaps." the stallion noted, as his tone grew serious. He paused and gauged Octavia's reaction as she turned her attention back to him and saw a small gulp of worry travel down her throat. "You have an extensive psychology report but I'm not seeing any completion letters in here, and my worry is only compounded by the fact that you specifically requested my help rather than that of your own psychology teacher, Professor Steel-Shield. Miss Philharmonica, do you feel any of your previous concerns have been properly addressed and resolved?"

Octavia found herself dumbfounded at the direct approach of this stallion. It was true that she had seen many psychologists in her younger years, all at the behest of her mother for sometimes silly things such as feeling sad over the loss of a toy, but all of her previous psychologists had allowed her to take the lead and scarcely paid any concern to the issues that preceded them. Perhaps that is what dulled the mare's faith in clinical help, and what forced her to look at this stallion in a new light as her mouth hung agape.

"...I do not believe so, in truth." Octavia began. "Most of the other psychologists my mother employed were shooed away once my mood improved, or focused on my mother's concerns more than mine. I choose you over my teacher because part of my problems stem from an assignment he issued."

Starry Night simply listened as his client spoke, twiddling a pen in his mouth as he scribbled a few notes until a short silence befell the pair and the professor seized the opportunity to speak up. "Would it help you more to start with those unaddressed issues from your childhood?"

"Actually, I would like to focus on some specific things, today." Octavia began as she sat up straight in her chair and found herself struggling for words and where to begin. Her eyes were drawn back to the large file as an inkling of doubt dashed across her mind: Could I have more affecting me than I know?

"Would you like me to put the file back in my cabinet?" Professor Starry Night spoke up as Octavia blinked, free from her thoughts.

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry, I'm just trying to find a place to start." Octavia mumbled with a sigh, scarcely noticing the perplexed look on her psychologist's face as he scribbled another note down. "I suppose we start with the biggest: my mother was an overbearing pony who had a hoof in absolutely everything I did. Ponies see her through me, and it's bothering me a great deal because my entire purpose for coming to university is to carve my own path out of life."

Professor Starry night nodded in understanding as he scribbled out notes, following along as Octavia continued. "Any time I do something typically regarded as uncouth, it's always 'oh, what would her mother think?' or 'does her mother knows she's doing this?' and I am sick of it! I want to break free but I don't know how."

"Can you give me some examples of what you're doing when ponies compare you to your mother?" the professor asked.

"Well, just this morning I was speaking to another classmate during a lecture, and two other students began whispering about what my mother would think if she saw me like this." Octavia explained. "And another was about three weeks ago at a recital, where it was entirely too cold, and I was shaking enough to impact my performance. Those in my string quartet muttered something about my mother being able to play better - my own string quartet! And my mother plays the piano, not the cello!"

"Hmm." Starry Night mused as he finished writing. "And which seemed to hurt or make you aggravated more?"

"The incident this morning, I believe." Octavia admitted. "Because it... Because I was on my own, so to speak. At least with the quartet, I was still under my mother's influence. But here, she has no control over anything I do or say."

"Really?" the professor inquired, with a hint of surprise. "Were the members of your quartet friends, or more so coworkers?"

"Hardly friends, though we did have a few activities outside of performances." Octavia explained. "We were acquaintances through passion, nothing more."

"I see. Do you have anypony you consider a friend?" he continued.

"I do, now. Or, at least, I think I do." Octavia began. "Her name is Vinyl Scratch, and we share psychology class, together. She is actually also one of my concerns, today." Octavia paused as she expected the earth pony to push forth a question, but received only a patient look before she pressed on.

"Well, she is the first pony I can actually consider a friend in a long time as my mother made it a point to keep as many positive influences as she could out of my life." Octavia muttered before calming herself. Now was not the time to tear into her mother. "Although I'm not sure if she considers me a friend, especially since we've only known each other for less than a week."

"And... Why do you think you two may not be friends?" the professor asked, pausing mid sentence to circle a previous note.

"Well, aside from how little we know about each other in addition to the fact that we only met on Monday, I feel like I'm being a little too... Invasive?" Octavia sheepishly admitted. "She's struggling with herself and I'm doing my best to help her, but sometimes she snaps at me."

"In what ways do you think you're being invasive?" Starry Night asked, leaning back in his chair as he set his pencil down.

Octavia suddenly felt very insecure as her psychologists' calm eyes bored into hers, and she found herself full of guilt as she imagined what Vinyl would do if she found out that Octavia had spilled her secrets to a shrink, of all ponies. Vinyl is the kind of mare to keep things quiet and to herself when she can... Octavia thought. But, if her problems are affecting me, too, do I have a right to tell someone else?

"Miss Philharmonica?" Starry Night quietly questioned as Octavia took a deep breath.

"Please don't call me that. I... I think that's part of the reason ponies keep comparing me to my mother, because they know I'm a part of that family even if they've never seen me." Octavia concluded.

"Understandable. What would you prefer I call you?" Starry Night asked, finding a small smile growing over the mare's gray snout.

"Octavia Melody. I'm dropping the family name."

"Well, Octavia Melody, I think you've found an answer to your first problem." Starry Night informed her, sharing the same beaming smile. "Discover and establish yourself!"

"Vinyl!" Neon Lights beamed with that charming, suave demeanor as he looked up from his milkshake. His short, spikey gray mane remained motionless as his head turned to greet the unicorn, slick with generous amounts of styling gel, and his light blue-gray coat was short and clean as he pulled the mare into a friendly hug. "I'm really glad you came."

Vinyl gave a somewhat forced smile at him as the pair took opposite seats in the booth, and the mare hurried to free her notebook from her pocket as a waiter approached. "What can I get for you two, today?" he inquired, a forced smile of his own adorning his face that spoke of years of customer service.

As the two placed their orders, Vinyl found herself zoning out on Neon as he debated between potato fries and onion rings. It was strange being here like this, with Neon, just sitting down in a friendly place on friendly terms. It was true that they had stayed in touch after their breakup, but Vinyl stayed true to her nature and kept him at bay as she dealt with the stress of her breakup in the only way she knew how. She couldn't place the last time Neon had actually spoken to her, but she quickly crushed that fear as she scribbled her order for the waiter.

The situation was even stranger to the mare as she found herself studying the unicorn while his lips moved in speech, but Vinyl sent no power to her ears. Her eyes locked onto the cool black shades that sat on his head, propped up by his horn. Vinyl had bought them on a whim on one of the couples' frequent outings, and now they were old and scraped in places, with the slightest wrapping of tape holding one of the arms to the rest of the frame. But she found some comfort in the fact that he was still wearing them after all these years, after everything that happened between them.

And then, Vinyl chose the road most traveled as she began comparing herself throughout the years, how she had been a much more carefree and outgoing mare, how she took life as it came with great strides and a plan to push through resistance. And now, here she was, sitting in a busy little chain restaurant with a cheesy name, meeting with someone she never wanted to let go but being powerless to keep. Feelings of bitterness welled within Vinyl as she realized how close, yet how far, Neon was to her.

"Vinyl? You in there?" Neon whispered as he held the same sweet, charming smile that had captivated her way back when he was a rising star. "Don't tell me you've fallen asleep on me behind those glasses."

Vinyl snapped-to as she shook her head clear and scribbled out her words. Sorry, I zoned out again. What were you saying?

Neon gave a small sigh before he took a sip from his milkshake. "I was saying that I've missed you, you know? And this: just sitting down and meeting with a pony I care about. Have you taken my advice for those focusing treatments?"

No, sorry. I've been pretty busy. she wrote. ...I've missed you, too.

"Yeah..." Neon whispered, staring into his glass as he idly swirled his straw. "Listen, Vinyl, I don't want this to be awkward. If you want me to go, I will. We can keep things between us to texts."

No, it's not that! Vinyl hurriedly reassured him as her eyes met with his worried gaze. I'm just working through some things, right now. Got a lot to think about, is all.

"Well, you know I won't press if you don't want me to, but you also know I give great advice." Neon reminded her as he flashed a toothy, friendly grin. "What's up?"

Vinyl found no hesitation like she had with Octavia because she knew Neon, and she trusted him. There's this mare in my psychology class. She's my assigned friend for the semester, and we're supposed to open up to each other and learn all we can. So you can see the issue, yeah?

Neon nodded thoughtfully as he read over Vinyl's words, resting his chin in his hoof as he thought aloud: "Have you tried dodging sensitive stuff? I know most of what you think's important is sensitive, but you have other stuff, right?"

Vinyl shook her head, slowly, as Neon gave her a pained look. "Come on, Vinyl, you've gotta look at the positive. You and I both know it's there." the stallion softly pleaded. "I mean, you're going to school, you've got reliable work, you've got your own apartment."

And I missed my second day, my gigs are netting less and less people, and my apartment is a pigsty. Vinyl scribbled. Every time I try to look at the positive I'm reminded of the negative.

"That's why you're going to have to actively challenge that thinking. It's not going to be easy, and you're going to... relapse-" Neon said, wincing at the poor choice of words. "But nothing worth having in life comes easily. How many times have I told you that?"

Vinyl didn't touch her pencil as she considered his words with her head hung low. She knew he was right and there was no fighting that, but she felt trapped by the compounded failures to the point of giving up. As though sensing her thoughts, Neon reached across the table and placed his hoof before her eyes to grab her attention, once more.

"Listen, Vinyl. I know you." he began, in a comforting, caring whisper. "And I still care about you. I've seen you when you're up, and if I didn't think you had it in you to rebound, we wouldn't be sitting here. We all have rough times, some more rough than others, but the reason you and I lasted as long as we did was because you're a strong mare who doesn't let anything stop her from getting what she wants."

I don't know what I want, anymore. she lazily wrote, before she pushed her notebook to the side in order to clear room for her arriving food. She didn't wait for Neon to speak as she levitated her sandwich to her mouth and graced it with a large, hungry bite while Neon stared at her with an amused smile.

"You certainly wanted that sandwich." he stated, as-a-matter-of-factly, as he dug into his own onion rings.

It's not the same. she wrote, shooting him a playful glare as they ate.

"It may not be as big of a decision as you were hoping for, but sometimes the little things pile up into a great big thing." Neon explained through bites, Vinyl only finding his charm growing as he spoke with food in his mouth. It was a rugged, carefree kind of charm. "But we just found at least one thing you know you wanted. So, what's another?"

Vinyl caved in to his persuasive ways and tilted her head to the side in thought as she took another bite. What do I want? she asked herself. I want Neon... No, don't go there. He's just a really good friend, now, and I don't want to lose that. I...

Neon's ears perked as Vinyl righted her head and set her food down, grabbing her notebook with a determined furrow of her brows. I want a friend.

"That's a much better start." Neon agreed as his eyes silently scanned the purple, reflective lens of Vinyl's glasses. She knew what he was searching for as she carefully removed her glasses and raised a hoof to shield her eyes from the light to show Neon exactly what he was searching for: that same spark that she had seen this morning. But now Neon saw it as constant as ever. "So what's keeping you from that?"

Vinyl replaced her shades as a dim smile graced her lips. She was feeling oddly invigorated, like she was picking up where she left off all those years ago. But she couldn't shove the negative voice within her head that easily, and worries and reasoning came crashing down on her logic, flooding her mind with flawed fears over why she couldn't have friends, why she wasn't deserving of them.

"Tell me about this mare." he started up without missing a beat. He truly knew Vinyl better than herself, and it was the comfort of that knowledge coupled with the fact that he still believed in her that kept her going; that whispered to her that she could change, despite the torrent of self doubt that washed over her in her life. "What's her name, first off?"

Octavia. Some fancy pony from a lot of wealth who thinks she understands how the world works outside of her mansion on the hill. Vinyl wrote.

"Mhm. Now tell me something nice about her, something you like." he pressed.

She... She's really innocent. And I don't want to hurt her. Vinyl wrote.

"That's good!" Neon reassured the mare as he leaned forward in his seat. "Don't focus on the bad, just the facts about her. Tell me some more things you like about her."

She's kind, and she seems to really care about helping me. Vinyl continued. And she hates her mom, just like me. I really don't know her that well, so that's it.

Neon simply nodded as Vinyl's pen fell silent at her notebook's side, letting the air of the busy restaurant fall over their table as the two munched in thought. "So what's keeping you from getting to know her?"

Vinyl shot Neon an unseen glance that questioned if he had really just asked that, as though he'd gone stupid, before her pencil wiggled to life. I told you, I don't want to hurt her.

"Yeah, you mentioned that, but what specifically are you afraid of? Walk me through the worst interaction you can think of." Neon instructed, sensing the worried look Vinyl was shooting him through her shades before reassuring her. "We're going to challenge your thinking and get you to plan positively."

Vinyl shrugged her shoulders, slightly, but her trust in Neon was strong as she brought the pencil to the paper once more. She wants a real friendship, like a go-out-and-do-stuff thing, then she see what a piece of shit I am. She sees how dull and boring I am, then I take her to a party to liven myself up and she sees how bad I can get. Then I lose her, like you

Neon's eyes softened as his smile faded, while Vinyl hastily scribbled out the last line of her fears in ashamed frustration. "You know, I've never stopped caring about you, Vinyl. I wouldn't be here if I didn't care." Neon whispered. "And you know that the reason I left was because you didn't come to me for help when I felt you should have."

"But this mare, she doesn't know you. You're a complete stranger to her." Neon continued, not allowing Vinyl a moment to beat herself up. "Yet she still cares about you like you're her childhood friend, Vinyl. You and this mare have nothing to lose and everything to gain from a friendship, but now it's your turn to take those steps; she's already done her part for this act, and she's waiting on you to catch up."

But I- Vinyl began to write, wincing back as Neon snatched her pencil from the paper as he stood with his forehooves on the table, looming towards her with a serious gaze in his eyes.

"Don't let this mare get away from you, Vinyl. If you want her to be, this will be your shot to bettering yourself because you'll feel like you have to do better than you are now to keep her from running." Neon explained with a quiet, stern tone. "You've told me that you have no one in your life except me, but you still don't help yourself because I'm just barely within your reach that it's comfortable for you. So this mare is your lifeline. She's going to be your motivation to change, since I am obviously not."

Vinyl stared at Neon with wide eyes, completely taken back by his sudden shift in demeanor as she found herself sinking into the back of her seat, before the unicorn stallion retreated to his side of the table and rolled Vinyl's pencil back. A pleading, powerful, pained look shot through Neon's eyes as they locked with Vinyl's, and things began to fall into perspective for the bewildered mare as Neon resumed eating.

Neon, I'm sorry. I didn't mean- she began, before the unicorn shook his head.

"I'm not upset with you, Vinyl." he promised. "I just need to you understand how much it hurts me to see you like this, day after day. I thought breaking up would force you to face reality, but it hasn't, so that's why I just said what needed to be said. You need to change yourself if you want to keep this mare out of harms way, because shoving everypony away isn't going to make you happy."

The two sat in relative silence for a few minutes more, each munching their food until they parted ways with a friendly hug, and Vinyl sat alone in the booth. Her mind was swimming with thoughts, pouring over what Neon had said to her; the impact of his demeanor ringing as loud as his words, and the white unicorn mare found herself pulling her phone from her hoodie, but paused as she found a white lace with a pink bow tie wrapped around the device.

Vinyl gave a deep, resolving swallow as she carefully pulled the lace from her phone and began drafting a message.

Author's Note

This chapter dedicated to CommanderCuddle, who couldn't find the fic they wanted :(